Page 81 - My FlipBook

THE ROM.-INS ,S3

he applied to the tooth, composed of one part of popjn , two of pepper,
and ten ot sor\',' pounded and mixed to a paste with (^alhanum; or else,
especialh- in the case oi a molar tooth, the remed\- of Menemacus, result-
ing from saffVon, one part; cardamom, soot from incense, figs, pepper,
p\ rethrum, tma four parts; mustard seed, eight parts; or even a more
complicated remedy made with pyrethrum, pepper, and elaterium,-
aua one part; scissile alum,^ poppv, taminia grape, crude sulphur, hitu-
men, laurel berries, mustard seed, aiui two parts.
"If, says Celsus, the pain renders necessar\- the removal of the tooth,
this mav be made to fall to pieces, by introducing into the cavity a pepper
berr\- without its skin, or a berry of '\\\, pared in the same wav. The
same result mav be obtained in the following manner: The sharp bone
(aculeus) of that flat fish called bv the Greeks trxgon and bv us pastinaca,
must first be roasted and then reduced to powder and mixed with resin,
so as to form a paste; which applied around the tooth will make it fall
out. Likewise, scissile alum induces the fall of the tooth, when intro-
duced into its hollow. This substance, however, is best introduced
into the small cavity, after being wrapped around with a tuft of wool,
tor thus the pain is soothed and the tooth preserved."
Somewhat curious is the following passage, in which Celsus speaks
ot the superiority of a method of cure used by peasants, compared to the
remedies advised h\ the doctors. From his words we clearl\- see that
he, as we have already remarked, did not belong to the class of doctors
properly so called.
"These are the remedies accepted and held in account among the
doctors. But it is known through the experience ot peasants, that when
a tooth aches one must pluck up wild mint by the roots, put it into a
large vessel, pour w^ater on it, and make the patient sit near it, covered all
around with a blanket; and red hot stones should then be thrown into the
water, so that they be entirely immersed; and then the patient, wrapped
all around, as we have said before, and keeping his mouth open, receives
into it the steam evaporated trom the water. Thus protuse perspiration
is induced, and a great quantity of pituita flows from the mouth, and with
this a cure is obtained for a ver\- long period, often tor more than a \ ear."
In the six following chapters of the sixth book, Celsus treats ot the
diseases which atFect the soft parts of the mouth. Against tonsillitis,
he recommends, among other things, the application of a remedy prin-
cipalU- made of the juice of the sweet pomegranate, cooked, h\ a slow fire,
" Species of mineral. [An impure copper sulphide.—E. C K.]
- Condensed juice of the seeds of the momordica elaterium, a bitter, irritating, and
drastic substance.
^ According to De Giorgi (Sinonimia chimico-farmacotecnica, Milan, 1889), scissile
alum is one of the many names for blue vitriol or sulphate of copper.