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84 FIRST PERIOD—ANTIQUITY

to the consistency of honey. The same remedy is also of great value,
according to the author, for the cure of ulcers of the mouth, when they
are accompanied by inflammation, and are somewhat foul and of a
reddish color. But under such circumstances it will also be necessary to
keep frequently in the mouth an astringent decoction, to which a little
honey has been added. The exercise ot walkmg is also profitable, as
well as the taking of food that is not acid. When, however, the ulcers
begin to be clean, the mouth should be frequently filled with a softening
liquid or even with simple pure water. It is also helpful to drink genuine
wine and to eat rather freely, avoiding, however, acid food. The ulcers
must be sprinkled with a powder composed of two parts of scissile alum
to three of unripe gall-nuts. If, however, the ulcers are already covered
with a scab similar to those produced on burns, some of those composi-
tions should be used which are called by the Greeks antherce; for example,
a remedy may be formed of equal parts of cyperus,^ myrrh, sandarac,
and alum; or another which contains saffron, myrrh, ana two parts;
iris, scissile alum, sandarac, ana four parts; cyperus, eight parts.
" Much more dangerous, says Celsus, are those ulcers of the mouth
which the Greeks call aphthcp; they oftentimes lead to death in children;
in adult men and women, however, there is not the same danger. These
ulcers begin in the gums; then they attack the palate and the whole of
the mouth, and finally extend to the uvula and to the fauces; when these
parts are attacked, it is not very likely that a child will recover."
As to the ulcers of the tongue, Celsus says that those which are situated
at the borders of this organ last a very long time, and he adds: "It
should be seen whether there may not be some sharp tooth opposite,
which hinders the ulcer from healing; in case such a tooth exists, it should
have its edge taken off with a file."
He then passes on to speak of the diseases of the gums: "Often
small painful tumors, called by the Greeks paridides, are produced on
the gums. It is necessary at the very first to rub them softly with
powdered salt, or with a mixture of burnt mineral salt, cyperus, and
catmint, meanwhile keeping the mouth open until there flows from it
a good quantity of pituita; after which the mouth must be rinsed with a
decoction of lentils. But if the inflammation is great, the same remedies
must be used as are adopted for the ulcers in the mouth, and between the
tooth and the gum must be inserted a small tent of soft lint, on which has
been smeared someoneof those compositions which we have said are called
antherce. If this, owing to the hardness of the tumor, is not possible,
then by means of a sponge the steam of hot water should be made to act

'['file cyperus rntitudus, iccomnuiulcd liy Dioscoridcs in the treatment of ulcers in the
moutli. Esteemed also by the Arab medical writers Serapion, Avicenna, and f^hazes. Not
the cypress, cupressus sonperviri'tis.— E. C K.J