Book iii

.) Serapion speaks favorably of it in complaints of the eyes. (§ 381.) Servitor says, that sublimed arsenic is a septic and pungent medicine, which removes the fungous flesh of ulcers, and is a depilatory. He describes minutely the process of subliming and whitening it. Avicenna likewise makes mention of white arsenic. Geber also treats of sublimed arsenic, by which it is clear he meant the factitious oxide with which we are now familiar. (iii, 29.)

Ἀρτεμισία,

Artemisia, _Mugwort_; both varieties are heating in the second degree, and desiccant in the first. They are composed of subtile particles, so that they break down stones in the kidneys, and suit with fumigations of the womb.

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COMMENTARY. The three species of the artemisia described by Dioscorides are probably the _arborescens_, _spicata_, and _campestris_. He recommends the artemisia strongly as an emmenagogue, when given internally, in the form of a hip-bath, and as an injection into the vagina. He also makes it to be lithontriptic. (iii, 107, 118.) The same characters are given it by Galen and by Avicenna, whose _berengfef_ it appears to be. (c. 83.) Aëtius and most of the authorities describe only the first two species of the artemisia. Serapion and Avicenna describe under this head an oriental species, which, it is probable, was the _Artemisia Judaica_. Honain (ap. Avicennam), also describes the _A. Indica_. The famous _Moxa_ is prepared from the lanugo or downy substance which adheres to the under surface of the leaf of the artemisia. See Barrow’s ‘Travels in China,’ Woodville, Miller, and Pereira. That the artemisia long retained the character which Dioscorides gave it, of possessing powerful virtues as an emmenagogue and a lithontriptic, is evident from what is said of it in the work of Macer Floridus. Except as furnishing the moxa, (and it is now believed to be got from a particular species, the _A. moxa_) the species of artemisia here treated of are now wholly discarded from the practice of medicine.

Ἅρτος,

Panis, _Bread_; in a cataplasm it is more discutient than can be accounted for from the properties of wheat, owing to its containing salt and leaven. For the leaven is attractive of the deep-seated humours.

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COMMENTARY. We have given some account of the kinds of bread used by the ancients in the 78th sect. of the First Book. Oribasius gives an excellent description of the mode of preparing the bread poultice and its uses. He directs us to dissolve the bread in water until it acquires the consistence of gruel, and then, having added oil or butter to it, to boil it to the proper consistence. He adds, that it is the best of all applications with which he was acquainted for promoting suppuration. His account of the different kinds of cataplasms is most ample and interesting. (Med. Collect.)

Ἄσαρον,

Asarum, _Asarabacca_, has the same powers as the sweet flag, but more intense.

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COMMENTARY. This plant, which is certainly the _Asarum Europæum_, or common Asarabacca, is said by Dioscorides to be diuretic, heating, and emetic, answering well with dropsical cases and chronic sciatica and promoting menstruation; its roots drunk with mulse to the amount of six drachms, he says, purge like white hellebore. (i, 9.) Galen seems to have overlooked the importance of this article, for he is nearly as brief as our author in treating of it; and Aëtius and Oribasius follow him. Serapion, Rhases, and Avicenna recommend it in the same cases as Dioscorides, and also in obstructions of the liver and spleen, and as a stimulant ingredient in collyria. Modern authorities confirm the character of this medicinal article given it by Dioscorides. See Lewis (Mat. Med. i, 178); Rutty (Mat. Med. 43); Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. p. 38.) Although not excluded from our Dispensatories, less attention is now bestowed on the asarabacca than it would seem to deserve. See Royle (M. M. p. 548.) Ipecacuanha has nearly superseded it as an emetic in this country. The asarum is still retained in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia (p. 22.)

Ἀσβόλη,

Fuligo, _the Soot_ which painters use. It is taken from glassworks, and is possessed of discutient and acrid powers, so as to burn and occasion putrefaction. It cures burns, with rose-cerate.

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COMMENTARY. Dioscorides and some of the other authorities mention the _Fuligo_, or _soot_ of glassworks, in nearly the same terms as Paulus.

Ἀσκαλαβώτης,

Stellio, _the Swift_; this animal is useless for all other purposes, but they say that it is a good application to persons bitten by a scorpion. It is mixed also with venereal excitants.

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COMMENTARY. We have treated of this reptile in the Fifth Book. It is the spotted lizard, _Lacerta stellio_ L. Its aphrodisiacal faculty is alluded to by our author in another place. (B. III, 58.)

Ἀσκληπιάς,

Asclepias, _Swallow-wort_, being hot and dry as to its powers, and consisting of subtile particles, agrees well with tormina when drunk with wine, and in the form of a cataplasm it is a good application to the bites of venomous animals, and malignant ulcers in the uterus and breasts.

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COMMENTARY. There appears little reason to doubt that it is the _Asclepias vincetoxicum_, or Swallow-wort. Our author borrows its medicinal characters from Dioscorides. (iii, 96.) Galen candidly admits, that he had no experience of it as a medicine. Pliny, like Dioscorides and our author, recommends it for the cure of tormina and the bites of serpents. (H. N. xxvii, 18.) Until lately it held a place in our modern Dispensatories, with the characters given it by the ancients. See Quincy (p. 59); Rutty (Mat. Med. p. 44); Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. p. 57.)

Ἄσκυρρον is treated of under Androsæmon.

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COMMENTARY. We have stated under ἀνδρόσαιμον the difficulty there is in distinguishing the different species of _Hypericum_ described by the ancients. We cannot pretend to decide whether the present article be the _androsæmum_ or the _perforatum_. Dioscorides recommends the ascyrron as an emmenagogue, in sciatica, and as an application to burns. (iii, 163.) The Arabians treat of it only as being identical either with the hypericum or the androsæmum. See Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 59); Avicenna (ii, 2. 354.)

Ἀσπάλαθος,

Aspalathus, _Rose-wood_, is composed of heterogeneous ingredients, having acrid and astringent powers, and hence it is desiccant. On this account it is useful for mortifications and defluxions.

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COMMENTARY. We must not enter into the discussion regarding this article; suffice to say, that we have now arrived at the conclusion that it was either the _Lignum rhodium_, or a substance so near to it in qualities, that the latter came to be substituted for it. We need scarcely say, that there is great difference of opinion among the botanical authorities what tree or shrub it is which produces the _Lignum rhodium_. Upon the whole the predominence of evidence is in favour of some species of _Cytisus_. Dioscorides recommends the aspalathus when boiled in wine as a gargle in aphthæ, as an injection in spreading and impure ulcers of the genital organs (_chancres?_), in dysuria, flatulence, and other complaints. (i, 19.) Now it will be observed that the distilled oil of _Lignum rhodium_ has been recommended in similar cases by modern authorities. See Moses Charras (Royal Pharmacopœia, Chemical, iii, 1, 24.) The Arabians give the aspalathus the same characters as the Greeks. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 206); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 251.) The aspalathus of Celsus (v, 24) was, no doubt, the same as that of Dioscorides. It is probably the μέλαινα ῥίζα of Hippocrates.

Ἀσπάραγος,

Asparagus, _the Rock Asparagus_, or _Myacanthinus_, is detergent, but of a middle temperament as to heat and cold; it is deobstruent of the kidneys and liver, especially its roots and seed. It also cures toothache.

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COMMENTARY. See