Ref: Pliny on Iris
- To:
- Subject: Ref: Pliny on Iris
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 21:15:58 -0700
From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <jcwalters@bridgernet.com>
Anner wrote:
> All of which makes one wonder what the late great Pliny actually did
say...
You asked for it, and here it is! Pliny in his own words, from Book XXI,
Section LXXXIII of Historia Naturae:
"Iris rufa melior quam candida, infantibus eam circumligari salutare est,
dentientibus praecipue", et cetera . . .
Fortunately his works have been translated into all the modern languages,
and this is what he has been made to say in English:
"The red iris is better than the white one. It conduces to the health of
babies to have this tied on them, especially when they are teething or
suffering from cough, and to inject it into those suffering from tapeworms.
Its other properties are not much different from those of honey. It
cleanses sores on the head, especially abcesses of long standing. Taken in
doses of two drachmae with honey it relaxes the bowels; taken in drink it
relieves cough, griping, and flatulence; in vinegar complaints of the
spleen. In vinegar and water it is an antidote against the bites of snakes
and of spiders; against stings of scorpions two drachmae by weight are
taken in bread or water; for dog bites and abrasions it is applied in oil.
So prepared it is also applied to aching sinews, but for lumbago and
sciatica resin is added. Its nature is warming. Snuffed up through the
nostrils it promotes sneezing and clears the head. For headache it is
applied with quinces or with sparrow-apples. It dispels also the after
effects of wine and orthopnoea. Taken is doses of two oboli it acts as an
emetic. Applied with honey it draws out splinters of broken bone. For
whitlows its meal is used, wine being added for corns and warts, the
plaster not being removed for three days. Chewed it sweetens foul breath
and offensive armpits. Its juice softens all indurations. It induces sleep,
but dries up the semen. It heals cracks in the anus and condylomata
(Translator's note: small tumors), and all excrescences on the body.
Some authorities call the wild variety xyris. This disperses scrofulous
sores, superficial abscesses and swellings in the groin. It is recommended
that for these purposes it should be pulled up with the left hand, and the
gatherers should utter the name of the patient and of the complaint for
whose sake they are pulling it. While speaking of this plant also I will
make known the dishonesty of the herbalists. They keep back certain parts
of it and of certain other plants, such as the plaintain. If they think
their pay is insufficient and look for further employment, they bury in the
same place the part they have kept back, I suppose to make the complaints
they have cured break out again."
Gaius Plinius Secundus
District of Campania, Province of Italia, Imperium Romanum
with assistance from
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
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