COMMENTARY. See Dioscorides, with the commentaries of Matthiolus and Sprengel. Suffice it to say, that the _Sordes balneorum_ was nothing but the sweat scraped from the bodies of persons who were _shampooed_, in an apartment of the bath for this purpose, namely, in the Laconicum. (See Book I, 68.) Of course it would consist of nothing but animal sweat, mixed up perhaps with either natron or the flower of beans, which was generally used during the process. The _Sordes gymnasiorum_ is also in like manner treated of by Dioscorides, and it must have been the sweat collected from the statues and walls of the gymnasia. Dioscorides recommends it for crude boils (phymata), desquamated surfaces, and old sores. The _Sordes palestræ_ must have been pretty much the same as the _Sordes balneorum_, and accordingly it was used in a similar manner. The _Sordes ex gymnasio_ occurs in Celsus’s list of emollients (v, 15); and is treated of likewise by the Arabians. It appears singular that mankind should have so long retained a fancy for such an application, considering how easy it was to find a more agreeable substitute for it. Γλυκυρρίζα, Glycyrrhiza, _Liquorice_, is of a tepid and humid temperament, having also some astringency. Hence it smooths asperities, not only in the trachea but also in a scabious bladder. It also quenches thirst. * * * * * COMMENTARY. It would appear to have been rather the _Glycyrrhiza glandulifera_ than the _G. glabra_. The latter, according to C. Bauhin, contains more saccharine matter than the _G._ of the ancients. Dioscorides, in his usual empirical style, enumerates with considerable judgment the cases in which it may be administered with advantage; such as asperities of the trachea (hoarseness) in the form of a linctus, for ardour of the stomach, ulcerations of the bladder and kidneys, and so forth (iii, 9.) All the ancient authorities, from Dioscorides downwards agree in stating that liquorice quenches thirst; and this we believe is still the popular opinion in this country, and was the professional, down to a late date. See Rutty (Mat. Med. p. 221.) The glycyrrhiza occurs in the works of Hippocrates, Celsus, and the Arabians. As they all give it the same characters, we need not occupy space with extracts from them. See particularly Serapion (De Simpl. 147); Ebn Baithar (ii, 66.) According to the Greek Pharmacopœia the _G. glabra_ is the species now used in Greece. Γλυκυσίδη, Glycyside, _Pæony_, (called also Pentorobon and Pæonia); its root is acrid, somewhat bitter and desiccative, having also some astringency. Hence it excites the menstrual discharge, and cleanses the kidneys and liver when drunk, to the size of an almond, with wine; but if the wine be austere it restrains alvine defluxions. When appended as a periapt, it cures the epilepsy of children. * * * * *