Galen, Simple Drugs, Book 6, Chapter 2: Agnos or Lugos

Galen’s Simple Drugs 6, Chapter 2

Agnos (= “chaste”), or lugos, the shrubby plant, is hot and drying somewhere in the third degree; however, agnos or lugos is considerably fine-parted and tastes both acrid and at the same time is astringent. The lugoi [i.e., the branches themselves of the agnos bush] are useless as a medical treatment, but the leaves and seeds are dry and hot in capacity and fine-parted in substance; for this is evident from using the leaf, flower or fruit and by their taste which is acrid and at the same time somewhat astringent. The fruit is edible and clearly warms, in addition to inducing headache. If it is roasted, as it is also eaten this way with tragēmata [1], it affects the head less. Unroasted, it is aflatulent [2] in the stomach, and even more so when it has been roasted. Both the roasted and the unroasted fruit inhibit the desire for sex, and the leaves and the flowers of the shrub do this as well, so that not only have they been relied on to promote chastity when eaten and drunk, but also when used as bedding. Thus, the women in Athens spread the whole bush under themselves at the Thesmophoria, and hence its name.

From all of this it is clear, if you remember what I said in my comments above, that agnos is simultaneously warming, drying, and extremely aflatulent. Its capacity is an indication that it is genuinely composed of fine parts. For it is reasonable that it affects the head not by means of generating an abundance of vaporous pneuma, but rather by means of its heat and composition from fine parts. For if it were productive of a flatulent pneuma, it would inflate the belly and stimulate the sexual desire, just like arugula. Since however it not only does not stimulate sexual desire but in fact naturally restrains it, it should be the case that it is especially close to the capacity of rue in heating and drying, although not quite equal to it. For there is a slight deficiency in both, since rue is in fact more heating and more drying. It also differs in the combination of quality and capacity. For the seeds and shoots of agnos bring a certain moderate astringency, while rue, when it is dry, is genuinely bitter and acrid, and when wet, slightly bitter. It does not have any tartness or sourness additional to it, or if it should seem to someone that it does, I know that it will seem very faint and not at all equal to that of agnos. Thus, the seed of agnos rather than rue is suitable for the liver and spleen when they are hardening and obstructed.

However, [a discussion of] these matters belongs to the therapeutic method. It is impossible to assert that [this method] does not have any need of the capacity of drugs at all; to admit this quickly and get back to the task at hand would be the act of a prudent man. I will try to practice this even more on the drugs that follow, by which I mean I will infer (=ἐπιλογίζεσθαι) the general capacity from a few clear examples and not focus on individual actions. For it is sufficient for now to know that agnos is hot and dry, not moderately, but somewhere in the third degree, and it is considerably fine-parted. For knowing this, and then learning the therapeutic method in addition, one will discover how to use it to initiate menstruation, to disperse hardening parts of the body, and to prepare a relieving or warming ointment.

ἄγνος δὲ ἢ λύγος, τὸ θαμνῶδες φυτὸν, θερμὸς μέν ἐστι καὶ ξηραντικὸς κατὰ τὴν τρίτην που ἀπόστασιν, λεπτομερὴς δὲ ἱκανῶς καὶ γευόμενος δριμύς τε ἅμα καὶ στύφων ἄγνος, ἢ λύγος. αὐτὰς μὲν δὴ τὰς λύγους ἀχρήστους ἔχει πρὸς ἰατρείαν, τὰ δὲ φύλλα καὶ τὸ σπέρμα ξηρὰ καὶ θερμὰ τὴν δύναμίν ἐστι καὶ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν λεπτομερῆ. καὶ γάρ χρωμένων οὕτω φαίνεται καὶ γευομένων δριμὺ τε ἅμα καὶ ὑποστῦφόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ φύλλον καὶ τὸ ἄνθος καὶ ὁ καρπός. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐδώδιμος ὁ καρπὸς καὶ θερμαίνει σαφῶς μετὰ τοῦ κεφαλαλγὴς ὑπάρχειν. εἰ δὲ φρυχθείη, καὶ γάρ καὶ οὕτως ἐσθίεται μετὰ τραγημάτων, ἧττον ἅπτεται τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἄφυσος δὲ κατὰ γαστέρα καὶ ὁ ἄφρυκτος μὲν, ἐπὶ μᾶλλον δὲ πεφρυγμένος. ἐπέχει δὲ καὶ τὰς πρὸς ἀφροδίσια ὁρμὰς ὅ τε πεφρυγμένος καὶ ὁ ἄφρυκτος καρπὸς, καὶ τὰ φύλλα καὶ τὰ ἄνθη τοῦ θάμνου ταὐτὸ τοῦτο δύναται δρᾷν, ὥστε οὐ μόνον ἐσθιόμενα καὶ πινόμενα πρὸς ἁγνείαν πεπίστευται συντελεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑποστρωννύμενα. ταῦτ' ἄρα καὶ τοῖς Θεσμοφορίοις αἱ γυναῖκες Ἀθήνῃσιν ὑποστρωννύουσιν ἑαυταῖς ὅλον τὸν θάμνον, ἐντεῦθεν δὲ καὶ τοὔνομα αὐτῷ.

ἐξ ὧν ἁπάντων δῆλον, εἴ γε τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ὑπομνήμασιν εἰρημένων μεμνήμεθα, θερμαίνειν τε ἅμα καὶ ξηραίνειν καὶ ἀφυσότατον ὑπάρχειν ἄγνον. ὅτι δὲ λεπτομερὴς ἀκριβῶς ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ τεκμήριον. καὶ γάρ τὸ πρὸς κεφαλὴν ἅπτειν οὐ διὰ πλῆθος ἀτμώδους πνεύματος ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεννωμένου μᾶλλον ἤπερ διὰ θερμότητα καὶ λεπτομέρειαν εὔλογον γίνεται. εἴ περ γάρ ἦν φυσώδους πνεύματος γεννητικὸν, ἐνεφύσησὲ τε ἂν τὴν γαστέρα καὶ τὰς πρὸς ἀφροδίσια παρώξυνεν ὁρμὰς ὥσπερ εὔζωμον. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐ μόνον οὐ παροξύνει, ἀλλὰ καὶ καταστέλλειν πέφυκεν, εἴη ἂν κατὰ τὴν πηγάνου μάλιστα δύναμιν ἐν τῷ θερμαίνειν καὶ ξηραίνειν, οὐ μὴν ἶσόν γ' ἐστὶν αὐτῷ. βραχὺ γάρ ἀπολείπεται κατ' ἄμφω· καὶ γάρ θερμαντικώτερον αὐτοῦ καὶ ξηραντικώτερόν ἐστι τὸ πήγανον. διενήνοχε δὲ καὶ τῷ τῆς ποιότητος καὶ δυνάμεως ἐπιμίκτῳ. τὸ γάρ τοῦ ἄγνου σπέρμα καὶ οἱ βλαστοὶ στύψιν τινὰ μετρίαν ἐπεισφέρουσι. τὸ δὲ πήγανον ὅταν μὲν ξηρὸν ᾖ, πικρὸν ἀκριβῶς ἐστι καὶ δριμὺ, ὅταν δὲ ὑγρὸν, ὑπόπικρον. οὐ μὴν αὐστηρόν γε ἢ στρυφνόν τι πρόσεστιν αὐτῷ, ἢ εἰ καὶ προσεῖναὶ τῳ δόξειεν, ἀμυδρὸν παντάπασιν οἶδ' ὅτι δόξει, καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἶσον τῷ τοῦ ἄγνου. ταῦτ' ἄρα καὶ πρὸς ἧπαρ καὶ σπλῆνα σκληρούμενὰ τε καὶ ἐμφραττόμενα τὸ τοῦ ἄγνου σπέρμα μᾶλλον ἢ πήγανον ἁρμόττει.

τῆς θεραπευτικῆς δὲ ἐστιν ἤδη ταῦτα μεθόδου, ἧς τὸ μὲν μηδ' ὅλως προσάπτεσθαι φαρμάκων δυνάμεως ἀποφαινόμενον ἀδύνατόν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ ταχέως ἀπολείποντα πάλιν ἐπανέρχεσθαι πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον ἀνδρὸς ἔργον ἂν εἴη σώφρονος. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῶν ἑξῆς φαρμάκων αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο πρᾶξαι πειράσομαι, λέγω δὴ τὸ τὴν καθόλου δύναμιν ἔκ τινων ὀλίγων ἐναργῶν ἐπιλογισάμενος ἀποχωρεῖν τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐνεργειῶν. ἀρκεῖ γάρ τοῦτο μόνον εἰς τὰ παρόντα γινώσκειν, ὡς θερμὸς μὲν καὶ ξηρὸς ἄγνος τὴν δύναμίν ἐστιν οὐ μετρίως, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τρίτην που τῶν ἀποστάσεων, λεπτομερὴς δὲ ἱκανῶς. ὁ γάρ ταῦτα εἰδὼς, εἶτα προσμαθὼν τὴν θεραπευτικὴν μέθοδον, αὐτὸς ἐξευρήσει πῶς μὲν καταμήνια κινήσει δι' αὐτοῦ, πῶς δὲ τὰ σκληρυνόμενα μόρια διαφορήσει, πῶς δὲ ἄκοπον ἢ θερμαντικὸν ἄλειμμα δι' αὐτοῦ κατασκευάσει.

Galen, On the Capacities of Simple Drugs, VI.2, XI.807–810 K.

[1] τραγήματα: dried fruits eaten as a dessert according to LSJ. I haven’t looked into it more than this.

[2] ἄφυσος: unclear if this means gets rid of flatulence, e.g., by expelling it, or that it prevents it by causing it not to arise in the first place.

Galen, Simple Drugs, Book 6, Chapter 1: Abrotonum

The following is a translation of Galen’s Simple Drugs Book 6, chapter 1, on abrotonum (probably Artemisia abrotanum L.). While not a preface strictly speaking, this chapter (and book 6 chapter 2, up next week) still include useful summaries of what Galen has said he is up to in books 1–5 and also offer examples of his method in practice. It has been translated in part in an important paper, Philip van der Eijk 1997 “Galen’s use of the concept of ‘qualified experience’ in his dietetic and pharmacological works.”

Galen’s Simple Drugs 6, Chapter 1

Concerning abrotonum, it is not necessary to add anything about the form (idea) or particular activities (energeiai) of this herb to what has already been written by so many different men, since they have indicated them, if not distinctly, at least clearly [1]. I will also say more about it in my treatises on Compound Drugs and on Common Medicines (Euporistai), and now and then in the books on The Therapeutic Method when needed. However, I have proposed from the beginning to examine only the universal capacities (dunameis) of all drugs, which I will do in what follows, and, starting with abrotonum, state that it is hot and dry in capacity, placed somewhere in the third order and degree after the moderate ones, possessing a certain diaphoretic and cutting capacity. When taken, its powder has the same capacity as what is flesh-producing and stinging [2].

I have mentioned many times before that this rank is estimated relative to the well-mixed nature. I have discovered its mixture not least by inferring it from its taste, for it is considerably bitter. This kind of flavour, being earthy in substance, was shown to be thinned by abundant heat, so that it heats and dries in no inferior manner. Moreover, after testing it precisely using qualified experience, about which I have spoken many times, I found this drug to be composed from this same mixture [3]. For if you grind the foliage together with the flowers (for the rest of the stalk is useless) and apply it to a clean wound, it is obviously stinging and irritating, and if you soak it in oil and then want to apply it to the head or the belly, it will be found to heat intensely. And also, in the case of those who are seized periodically by shivering, if you rub them with it before the attack, they will shiver less, but the heating is sensed immediately when it is applied. And it is likely that it kills worms because it is bitter and this is clear even before the experience, if we recall my comments in the fourth book where I discussed the nature of the bitter flavour. You will immediately observe that it has a certain diaphoretic and cutting capacity. However, you will also be able to infer primarily from its taste that necessarily it has this quality more than absinth. For abrotonum shares very little in sourness, while absinth shares not a little. Furthermore, abrotonum is bad for the stomach, as seriphon also is, while absinth is good for the stomach. For concerning this point, it has been shown earlier that bitterness per se is completely bad for the stomach, while tartness or sourness or astringency in general is good for the stomach. When these qualities are mixed together with one another, the stronger one prevails.

These things are enough for you to know in this treatise, for I will show you in the books on the Therapeutic Method how someone should best use this kind of a drug. And for this reason, do not additionally seek to hear that when it is used as a poultice with boiled quince, [4] or with bread, it heals inflammations of the eyes, or that when it is boiled smooth with cornmeal it disperses tumours. For neither of these remedies nor any others are appropriate for this treatise. Rather, for those who adopt an Empiricist instruction, they are described in the works on Common Medicines, while those who want to practice the art rationally, they need the Therapeutic Method. For as with other drugs someone might do more harm than good with these kinds of reports.

When Hippocrates writes in the Aphorisms [VI.31, IV.570 L.], “pains of the eyes are resolved by drinking neat wine, bath, vapour baths, phlebotomy, or drugs,” although he did not specify what kinds of pains [are resolved by] drinking neat wine, which by baths, which by vapour baths, which by phlebotomy, which by drugs, I think someone might defer to him for three reasons. For, he composed an aphoristic teaching, in which, because of the succinctness of the form, it was mostly acceptable to write in this way; that he wrote about all cures for pains, even if he did not define which of them is suitable for which pain; and finally, very often in his other writings, he provided us with starting points for the specifications of what has been stated in this way [i.e., aphoristically]. Those, however, who write aphoristically and briefly without having written about those aphorisms in other books or in a long and detailed treatise, or who indicate to people a single drug from among the many available, they do more harm than good. For there are many differences among the kinds of eye diseases, and one of them requires the poultice I mentioned, while for other kinds it is harmful. The person who uses it on everyone indifferently will harm many more people than they will help.

In this way, therefore, we must describe not only abrotonum, but also all the other drugs, discovering their capacities for heating, cooling, moistening, or drying from the methods I have frequently mentioned, and, from experience alone, all those things caused by the specific quality of the whole substance. It has also been shown about the kinds of drugs that are deleterious and that are alexeteria and purgatives of the deleterious ones. For it is not possible to produce a rational discovery of these, while only in some cases is it possible to discover some plausible conjecture, for it surely cannot happen in all cases, as I have shown previously. But concerning the capacities discovered in this way, I will discuss them specifically in what follows, after I have gone through, for each kind of drug, the capacities of heating and cooling, moistening and drying, as well as whatever follows from them.[5]

For now, I will conclude the discussion about abrotonum once I have added this much more. The most marvelous Pamphilus, even though he describes this herb first and maintains that he himself has experienced, if not the ones he discusses later, at least this one, he nevertheless makes significant errors, believing it to be the plant called “santonicum” by the Romans. For abrotonum is different from santonicum, just as Dioscorides most accurately described in his third book On Materials, and as all physicians and dry-goods sellers are aware. For there are two types of abrotonum, the one considered male, the other female, as distinguished by Dioscorides, Pamphilus, and many others. Different from this is absinth, which itself needs to be classified into three types: one is called homonymously with the kind “absinth,” such is especially the Pontic kind; another is called “seriphon;” and another “santonicum.” But if someone calls a different one “absinth,” another one “seriphon,” and another “santonicum,” it would not make any difference to our present discussion. For we have not come to distinguish names; we are rather concerned with the things themselves. Since, then, these substances differ clearly from one another in their forms, tastes, and capacities, let them all be called by a single name if one wishes, but let the capacities be precisely described.

We have already stated that the forms have been adequately addressed by Dioscorides and no few others, so there is no need to write down what has been correctly stated before. However, if there is anything about these properties that they left undefined, I will attempt to add it here in order to come to the end of the discussion. Absinth is less hot than the substances we mentioned, as it possesses an extreme degree of astringency. But even if it is composed of finer parts than those, and for this same reason is less thinning than them, it is surely not less drying. Of the others, santonicum, which takes its name from the country of Santoneia in which it grows, is closest in capacity to seriphon, lacking a little bit in the ability of thinning, heating and drying. And seriphon is less warm than abrotonum, but warmer than absinth, while it is considerably bad for the stomach and gives off a certain saltiness with bitterness and has a slight tartness. So, both abrotonum and santonicum are both considerably bad for the stomach. For among them, only absinth, especially Pontic absinth, is good for the stomach because it shares most in astringency. Burnt abrotonum, on the other hand, is hot and dry in capacity, even more than burnt, dry colocynth and dill root. For these are suitable for weeping ulcers as well as those that are crusted over without inflammation, and for this reason it seems especially suited for those on the foreskin. The ash of abrotonum is stinging for all ulcers. And for this reason, it is also suitable for alopecia when mixed with an oil composed of fine parts, like castor oil, obviously, or radish, Sicyonian, or aged, and especially Sabine oil. It also promotes the growth of slow growing beards when combined with any of the oils just mentioned, and no worse than them when wet with mastic fruit oil. For it is rarefying in addition to being composed of fine parts, biting, and hot. It is also especially necessary to recognize these of its capacities, and with that, none of its particular capacities are yet lacking in this treatise.

ἀβροτόνου ταύτης τῆς πόας οὔτε τὴν ἰδέαν χρὴ γράφειν ἐπὶ τοσούτοις τε καὶ τοιούτοις ἀνδράσιν οὔτε τὰς κατὰ μέρος ἐνεργείας ὡς ἐκεῖνοι, κᾂν εἰ μὴ διωρισμένως, ἀλλὰ σαφῶς γοῦν ἐδήλωσαν. εἰρήσεται δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν ἐπιπλέον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ περὶ συνθέσεως φαρμάκων πραγματείᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν εὐπορίστων, ἔστι δ' ὅτε κᾀν τοῖς τῆς θεραπευτικῆς μεθόδου γράμμασιν, ὅταν ἡ χρεία καλῇ. μόνον δὲ, ὅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόκειται, τὰς καθόλου δυνάμεις ἁπάντων τῶν φαρμάκων ἐπισκέψασθαι, τοῦτο κᾀπὶ τῶν ἄλλων μὲν ἕπεται, καὶ νῦν δὲ ἤδη ποιητέον αὐτὸ καὶ λεκτέον ὡς θερμόν τέ ἐστι καὶ ξηρὸν τὴν δύναμιν τὸ ἀβρότονον, ἐν τρίτῃ που τάξει καὶ ἀποστάσει μετὰ τὰς συμμετρίας τεταγμένον, διαφορητικήν τὲ τινα καὶ τμητικὴν ἔχον δύναμιν. τῆς αὐτῆς δ' ἐστὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἡ τρίψις αὐτοῦ εἰληφυῖα, ὥσπερ τὸ σαρκωτικόν τε καὶ δακνῶδες. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὡς πρὸς τὴν εὔκρατον φύσιν ἡ τοιαύτη τάξις ἐξετάζεται πρόσθεν εἴρηται πολλάκις.

ἐξεύρομεν δ' αὐτοῦ τὴν κρᾶσιν οὐχ ἥκιστα μὲν καὶ τῇ γεύσει τεκμηράμενοι, πικρὸν γάρ ἱκανῶς ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος χυμὸς ἐδείκνυτο γεώδης μὲν ὢν τὴν οὐσίαν, ὑπὸ θερμότητος δαψιλοῦς λεπτύνεσθαι, ὥστε καὶ θερμαίνειν καὶ ξηραίνειν οὐκ ἀγεννῶς. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ διωρισμένῃ πείρᾳ, περὶ ἧς ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται πολλάκις, ἀκριβῶς βασανίσαντες ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς εὕρομεν τὸ φάρμακον τοῦτο κράσεως. εἴτε γάρ κόψας τὴν κόμην ἅμα τοῖς ἄνθεσιν, ἄχρηστον γάρ αὐτοῦ τὸ λοιπὸν κάρφος, ἐπιπάττοις ἕλκει καθαρῷ, δακνῶδές τε καὶ ἐρεθιστικὸν φαίνεται, εἴτε ἀποβρέξας ἐν ἐλαίῳ καταντλεῖν ἐθελήσαις ἤτοι κεφαλὴν ἢ γαστέρα, θερμαῖνον σφοδρῶς εὑρεθήσεται. καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ ὅσοι κατὰ περιόδους ἁλίσκονται ῥίγεσιν, εἰ καὶ τούτους ἀνατρίβοις πρὸ τῆς εἰσβολῆς, ἧττον ῥιγῶσιν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὴν αἴσθησιν εὐθὺς ἅμα τῷ προσφέρεσθαι λανθάνει θερμαῖνον. ὅτι δὲ ἕλμινθας ἀναιρεῖν εἰκός ἐστι πικρὸν ὑπάρχον αὐτὸ καὶ πρὸ τῆς πείρας εὔδηλον, εἴ τι μεμνήμεθα τῶν ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῶνδε τῶν ὑπομνημάτων εἰρημένων ὑπὲρ τοῦ πικροῦ χυμοῦ τῆς φύσεως. εἰδήσεις δ' εὐθὺς ὡς καὶ διαφορητικήν τινα καὶ τμητικὴν ἔχει δύναμιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς μᾶλλον ἀψινθίου τοῦτο ὑπάρχειν ἀναγκαῖον αὐτῷ συλλογίσασθαὶ σοι παρέσται πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῆς γεύσεως. ἐλαχίστης γάρ τινος μετέχει στρυφνότητος τὸ ἀβρότονον, ἀψίνθιον δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγης· ἔπειτα δὲ κᾀκ τοῦ κακοστόμαχον εἶναι τὸ ἀβρότονον, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸ σέριφον, εὐστόμαχον δὲ τὸ ἀψίνθιον. ἐδείχθη γάρ καὶ περὶ τούτων πρόσθεν ὡς τὸ μὲν πικρὸν αὐτὸ καθ' αὑτὸ παντελῶς εἴη κακοστόμαχον, τὸ δὲ αὐστηρὸν ἢ στρυφνὸν ἢ ὅλως στῦφον εὐστόμαχον. ἐπιμιγνυμένων δὲ τῶν ποιοτήτων ἀλλήλαις ἡ σφοδροτέρα ἂν ἐπικρατοίη.

ταῦτ' οὖν ἀρκεῖ σοι γινώσκειν ἐν τῇδε τῇ πραγματείᾳ. δειχθήσεται γάρ ἐν τοῖς τῆς θεραπευτικῆς μεθόδου γράμμασιν ὡς ἄν τις τοιούτῳ φαρμάκῳ κάλλιστα χρῷτο. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μηκέτι ἐπιζήτει ἀκούειν μήθ' ὅτι σὺν ἑφθῷ μήλῳ κυδονίῳ καταπλασθὲν ἢ ἄρτῳ φλεγμονὰς ὀφθαλμῶν ἰᾶται, μήθ' ὅτι διαφορεῖ φύματα σὺν ὠμηλύσει λεῖον ἑψηθέν. οὐδὲ γάρ τούτων οὐδέτερον οὔτε τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν τῆς νῦν πραγματείας ἴδιόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ἐμπειρικὴν διδασκαλίαν ποιουμένοις ἐν τοῖς εὐπορίστοις γράφεται φαρμάκοις, ὅσοι δὲ λογικῶς ἀσκῆσαι τὴν τέχνην βούλονται, τῆς θεραπευτικῆς ἐστι χρεία τούτοις μεθόδου. τὰ τε γάρ ἄλλα καὶ βλαβείη τις ἂν μᾶλλον ἢ ὠφεληθείη πρὸς τῆς τοιαύτης ἱστορίας.

Ἱπποκράτει μὲν οὖν ἐν ἀφορισμοῖς γράφοντι, ὀδύνας ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκρατοποσίη ἢ λουτρὸν ἢ πυρίη ἢ φλεβοτομίη ἢ φαρμακείη λύει· μὴ μέντοι προστιθέντι, ποίας μὲν οὖν ὀδύνας ἀκρατοποσία, ποίας δὲ λουτρὸν, καὶ τίνας μὲν πυρία, τίνας δὲ φλεβοτομία, τίνας δὲ φαρμακεία, συγχωρήσειεν ἄν τις, οἶμαι, διὰ τρεῖς αἰτίας. καὶ γάρ ἀφοριστικὴν ἐποιεῖτο διδασκαλίαν, ἐν ᾗ διὰ τὸ σύντομον οὕτω λέγεσθαι συγκεχώρηκε τὰ πολλὰ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἰατικὰ τῶν ὀδυνῶν ἔγραψεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ διωρίσατο πρὸς ὁποίαν ὀδύνην ποῖον αὐτῶν ἁρμόττει, ἢ καὶ πολλαχόθι τῶν ἄλλων συγγραμμάτων ἀφορμὰς ἡμῖν ἔδωκε τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὕτω ῥηθεῖσι διορισμῶν. ὅσοι δὲ μήτ' ἐν ἑτέροις βιβλίοις ἔγραψαν ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων ἀφορισμῶν μήτε ἐν διεξοδικῇ τε καὶ μακρᾷ πραγματείᾳ, γράφουσιν ἀφοριστικῶς τε καὶ βραχέως, εἴτε τὸ πρὸς τούτοις ἓν ἐκ πολλῶν δηλοῦσιν, εἰς πλείω δὲ βλάπτουσιν ἡμᾶς ἢ ὠφελοῦσι. πολλῶν γάρ οὐσῶν διαφορῶν ἐν ταῖς ὀφθαλμίαις, καὶ μιᾶς μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν χρῃζούσης τοῦ προειρημένου καταπλάσματος, τῶν δ' ἄλλων βλαπτομένων, ὁ χρώμενος ἐπὶ πασῶν ἀδιορίστως πολὺ πλείους βλάψει ἢ ὠφελήσει.

κατὰ τοῦτον οὖν τὸν τρόπον οὐ περὶ ἀβροτόνου μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων γραπτέον ἡμῖν ἐστι, τὰς μὲν κατὰ τὸ θερμαίνειν καὶ ψύχειν ἢ ὑγραίνειν ἢ ξηραίνειν δυνάμεις ἐξ ὧν πολλάκις εἴρηκα μεθόδων εὑρίσκουσιν, ὅσα δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῆς ὅλης οὐσίας ἀποτελοῦνται τῇ πείρᾳ μόνῃ. δέδεικται καὶ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὡς δηλητήριοὶ τὲ εἰσι καὶ δηλητηρίων ἀλεξητήριοι καὶ καθαρτικοί. τούτων γάρ οὐχ οἷόν τε λογικὴν ποιήσασθαι τὴν εὕρεσιν, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνον ὑπόνοιὰν τινα πιθανὴν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἐπὶ τινων· οὐ γάρ δὴ ἐπὶ πάντων γε, καθάπερ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δεδήλωται διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν οὕτως εὑρισκομένων δυνάμεων ἰδίᾳ ποιήσομαι τὸν λόγον ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς, ἐπειδὰν πρότερον ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ τὸ θερμαίνειν καὶ ψύχειν, ὑγραίνειν τε καὶ ξηραίνειν, καὶ ὅσα ταύταις ἕπονται διέλθω καθ' ἕκαστον εἶδος φαρμάκου.

τοσόνδε μέντοι προσθεὶς ἔτι περὶ ἀβροτόνου καταπαύσω τὸν λόγον, ὡς ὁ θαυμασιώτατος Πάμφιλος, καίτοι ταύτην πρώτην πόαν γράφων καὶ τάχ' ἂν εἰ μηδενὸς τῶν ἐφεξῆς, ἀλλὰ ταύτης γοῦν ἐθελήσας αὐτόπτης γενέσθαι, ὅμως ἔσφαλται μέγιστα, νομίζων ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων σαντόνικον ὀνομάζεσθαι τὴν βοτάνην. διαφέρει γάρ ἀβρότονον σαντονίκου, καθότι καὶ Διοσκουρίδης ἔγραψεν ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ περὶ ὕλης ἀκριβέστατα, καὶ πάντες ἴσασι τοῦτὸ γε ἰατροὶ καὶ ῥωποπῶλαι. τοῦ μὲν γάρ ἀβροτόνου δύο ἐστὶν εἴδη, τὸ μὲν ἄρρεν, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ νομιζόμενον, ὡς καὶ τοῦτο διώρισται παρὰ τῷ Διοσκουρίδῃ τε καὶ τῷ Παμφίλῳ καὶ ἄλλοις μυρίοις. ἕτερον δὲ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀψίνθιον, οὗ πάλιν εἴδη χρὴ τίθεσθαι καὶ αὐτὰ τριττὰ, ὧν τὸ μὲν τῷ γένει ὁμωνύμως προσαγορεύονται ἀψίνθιον, ὁποῖον μάλιστὰ ἐστι τὸ Ποντικὸν, τὸ δὲ σέριφον, τὸ δὲ σαντόνικον. εἰ δ' ἄλλο μὲν ἀψίνθιον, ἄλλο δὲ σέριφον, ἄλλο δὲ σαντόνικον λέγοι, οὐδὲν εἰς τὰ παρόντα διαφέρει. οὐδὲ γάρ ὄνομα διαιρήσοντες ἥκομεν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων σπουδάζομεν. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν καὶ ταῦτα καὶ ταῖς ἰδέαις καὶ ταῖς γεύσεσι καὶ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἕτερα σαφῶς ἀλλήλων ἐστὶν, ὀνομαζέτω μὲν, εἰ βούλοιτὸ τις, ἅπαντα διὰ μιᾶς προσηγορίας, ἐκδιδασκέτω δὲ ἀκριβῶς τὰς δυνάμεις.

ἡμεῖς οὖν τὰς μὲν ἰδέας αὐτάρκως ἔφαμεν εἰρῆσθαι Διοσκουρίδῃ τε καὶ ἄλλοις οὐκ ὀλίγοις, ὥστ' οὐ χρὴ γράφειν αὖθις ὅσα τοῖς πρόσθεν ὀρθῶς εἴρηται. εἴ τι δ' ἐν ταῖς τούτου δυνάμεσιν ἀδιόριστον ἐκεῖνοι παρέλιπον, οὗ δὴ χάριν ἐπὶ τήνδε τὴν ἔξοδον ἀφικόμην, ἐγὼ προσθεῖναι πειράσομαι. τὸ μὲν ἀψίνθιον ἧττόν ἐστιν τῶν εἰρημένων θερμὸν, ὡς ἂν πλείστης μετέχων τῆς στύψεως. εἰ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο λεπτομερὲς ἧττον ἐκείνων, καὶ λεπτυντικὸν δὴ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἧττον ἐκείνων, οὐ μὴν ἧττόν γε ξηραντικόν. τῶν δ' ἄλλων τὸ μὲν σαντόνικον ἀπὸ Σαντονείας χώρας, ἐν ᾗ φύεται, τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔχον ἐγγυτάτω τὴν δύναμίν ἐστι τοῦ σερίφου, βραχεῖ τινι λειπόμενον ἐν τῷ λεπτύνειν τε καὶ θερμαίνειν καὶ ξηραίνειν. αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ σέριφον ἧττον μὲν θερμὸν τοῦ ἀβροτόνου, θερμότερον δὲ ἀψινθίου, κακοστόμαχον δὲ ἱκανῶς καὶ ὡς ἂν ἁλμυρίδα τινὰ σὺν πικρότητι ἀποφαῖνον, ἔτι τε τῆς στρυφνότητος ὀλίγον μετέχον. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀβρότονον καὶ σαντόνικον ἱκανῶς ἐστι κακοστόμαχον. μόνον γάρ ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ ἀψίνθιον καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Ποντικὸν εὐστόμαχόν ἐστιν ὅτι πλείστης μετέχει στύψεως. ἀβρότονον δὲ κεκαυμένον θερμὸν καὶ ξηρόν ἐστι τὴν δύναμιν, ἔτι μᾶλλον κολοκύνθης ξηρᾶς κεκαυμένης καὶ ἀνήθου ῥίζης. ἐκεῖνα γάρ ἕλκεσιν ὑγροῖς τε ἅμα καὶ χωρὶς φλεγμονῆς τετυλωμένοις ἁρμόττει, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα τοῖς ἐπὶ πόσθαις αἰδοίου συμπεφωνηκέναι δοκεῖ. τοῦ δὲ ἀβροτόνου ἡ τέφρα δακνώδης ἅπασιν ἕλκεσιν ὑπάρχει. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς ἀλωπεκίας ἁρμόττει σὺν ἐλαίῳ λεπτομερεῖ, κικίνῳ δηλονότι ἢ ῥαφανίνῳ ἢ Σικυωνίῳ ἢ παλαιῷ, καὶ μάλιστα τῷ Σαβίνῳ. καὶ γένεια δὲ βραδέως ἀνιόντα προκαλεῖται μετὰ τινος τῶν εἰρημένων ἐλαίων ὅτου δὴ, καὶ οὐδὲν δ' ἧττον ἐκείνων σχινίνῳ δευόμενον. ἀραιωτικὸν γάρ ἐστι πρὸς τῷ λεπτομερὲς εἶναι καὶ δακνῶδες καὶ θερμὸν, ἃς δὴ καὶ μάλιστα χρὴ γινώσκειν τὰς δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ καὶ μηδὲν ἔτι τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐν τῇδε τῇ πραγμανείᾳ δεῖσθαι.

Galen, On the Capacities of Simple Drugs, VI.1, XI.798–807 K.

[1] Including many of the writers he has just mentioned in the preface to book 6. For the construction, see also Alim. Fac. VI.454 K.: " εἰ μὲν οὖν ὥσπερ ἐν γεωμετρίᾳ καὶ ἀριθμητικῇ συνεφωνεῖτο πάντα τοῖς γράψασι περὶ τροφῆς, οὐδὲν ἂν ἔδει νῦν ἡμᾶς ἔχειν πράγματα γράφοντας αὖθις ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τοσούτοις τε καὶ τοιούτοις ἀνδράσιν." If, as in geometry and arithmetic, everything was agreed upon by those who wrote about food, there would now be no need for us to engage in these works, writing about them again in addition [to what was said] by so many different men.

[2] On sarkotics (promoting the growth of flesh), see SMT XI.711.15–19; daknodes, see XI.621–627 K.

[3] pace van der Eijk translates ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς εὕρομεν τὸ φάρμακον τοῦτο κράσεως as “we will discover the medicinal power from its mixture itself” (284n16). I take Galen’s point is that one can find the mixture (krasis) of the drug using qualified experience, just as one can find the mixture using taste or smell, which would suggest the ἐκ here refers to what the drug is composed out of (ἐκ), rather than the ground of the discovery.

[4] Must be τὰ κυδώνια μῆλα, mentioned by Galen at Alim. Fac. 6.602.1-603.10 K; also, San. Tu. VI.285 K., VI.450 K. and MM, e.g., X.906 K. as an eye cure. The same cure (?) mentioned Comp. Med. Sec. Loc. XII.948 K. Dioscorides, Galen’s target, gives this as a poultice for eye inflammation, De mat. med. 3.24.3: βοηθεῖ δὲ καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν φλεγμοναῖς σὺν ἑφθῷ <μήλῳ> κυδωνίῳ ἢ μετὰ ἄρτου καταπλασθέν, διαφορεῖ καὶ φύματα μετὰ ὠμῆς λύσεως λεῖον ἑψηθέν. Also mentioned by Athenaeus of Naucratis (e.g., 3.20.17: τὰ δὲ κυδώνια, ὧν ἔνια καὶ στρουθία λέγεται; 3.20.39); Plutarch (attributing a saying about it to Solon), Moralia 279 F 4.

[5] So, we should expect the following structure to each entry: (1) heating, cooling, moistening, drying; (2) capacities that follow from these; (3) particular, non-predictable qualities. Would be interesting to see if the entries reflect this.

Galen on Designer Drugs

On luxurious preparations of drugs for nerve damage.

It would not be useless to know about these kinds of drugs as well. While perhaps not as frequently as budget drugs, there is sometimes a need for them. For wherever there is a man who is an amateur pharmacist or doctor, even if he does not have more than five hundred thousand denarii, the man would not consider it worth his while to use any of the budget drugs. All the more if one is rich or especially a king—they would want the drug to be fragrant and prepared along with a great deal of silver.

There once was a rich man, the same one I told a story about in the first book of On Prognosis by Pulses, whose name I did not mention then and will not mention now, but you will get a sense of the kind of man he was from this pair of stories about his conduct. He once tried to treat a slave’s malignant ulcers. When he was unsuccessful, he entrusted the person to me, and when he saw that I had cured him, he asked me for the prescription for the drug. He was not aware that there are many different kinds of malignant ulcers and many different kinds of drugs but thought that one drug would be able to cure everything. Yet, even though the one administering the drug does not need to have any skill to use it, when he heard what the drug was made of and that all its ingredients were inexpensive, he exclaimed, “Keep this one for your beggars and teach me about the more luxurious ones.”

Another time, there was a young child who had a chronic ear condition and the man had no success in curing him (since even though he used drugs many times, he used them without a method). And so he ordered the child to be brought to me for treatment. Later, when he had learned that I had treated the child with what was available, he considered it not to be worth his while to acquire the prescription for the drug. So, having witnessed for himself many cases of nerve damage—fingers cut off and gone septic, some even leading to death or permanent injury—and recognizing that none of the patients I treated were in danger but had all quickly become healthy, he still thought what was important was to get a drug from me that was soothing and luxurious and which he could also use to treat nerve damage at the same time.

I had already often given many rough and ready prescriptions to colleagues and amateur doctors following the method we wrote about earlier, so that the theory behind their composition had been confirmed by their results. I would not give to poor people the kind of luxurious drug that this man wants, since I consider it better when cures are prepared with what is readily available. But since the rich man considered it important to get a recipe for a soothing and luxurious drug, I gave him several prescriptions that I produced according to the method I mentioned before. He was eager to have them tested and ordered both freedmen and slaves to find him patients with nerve damage. When the drugs worked beyond all expectations, first he praised me for generously sharing my recipes with him, and then he honoured me with gifts, for he was also prepared for such things. The recipes for the drugs I gave to him are as follows.

Cinnamon, Cretan dittany and maron [1], each in the amount of 40 drachmas. For these also have a pleasant aroma and are composed of fine parts. As for marjoram, since it does not have a pleasant aroma, I did not intend to mix it in at all. And yet, since it was difficult to get in Rome, as was maron, and I noticed that things that were difficult to get made him happy, just like the luxurious ones did, I added one small portion of it to the recipe, a fourth or fifth, I believe. After chopping and sifting them with a fine sieve, I ordered them to be mixed into a cerate prepared with the finest balsam sap and Tyrrhenian wax. I figured the right balance was to make it with eight parts wax and ten parts balsam sap.

To prevent the drug from being brittle but to make it rather somewhat cohesive, I mixed in one part terebinth resin, which itself has a pleasant aroma when it is of excellent quality. Additionally, I said, if you wish to make the drug more potent, do not add only one part of each of the herbs we mentioned, but a bit more, about one and a half parts. This drug has been tested by experience.

In addition to it, a second was composed with the same cerate and the juice of Cyrene, the mixture produced with the same proportion of spurge; and another, third, composed from both; and in addition to them a fourth, once I had gotten hold of stacte myrrh. For those patients whose nerve was exposed, I prepared the cerate from what’s called perfumer’s wax and from the ointments called spicatum and foliatum by the Romans. I mixed into it a twelfth part of pompholyx, washed, either using the masculine (peplumenos) or feminine (peplumenēs) form of the word; for whichever you choose, you will not do the drug either any good or harm [2].

And there is another way you can prepare it with Tyrrhenian wax: it is also possible to make it without the perfumes previously mentioned, by melting the Tyrrhenian wax with good nard in, naturally, a double vessel, since this is common for all perfumes. Once the wax has been scraped, you mix it with spikenard, amomum, malabathrum leaf, and washed pompholux in equal amounts. As we mentioned, in the case of stabbings, one needs more acrid drugs, which always protect the open wound. For exposed wounds, one should administer moderate styptics that have a dispersing capacity without any sting. Among styptics, one is amomum, but better are spikenard and malabathrum leaf.

Περὶ τῶν πολυτελῶν σκευασιῶν τῶν πρὸς τοὺς νευροτρώτους φαρμάκων.

Οὐκ ἄχρηστον ἂν εἴη καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπίστασθαι φάρμακα. χρεία γὰρ αὐτῶν ποτε γίγνεται σπανιώτερον, ὥσπερ τῶν εὐτελῶν πολλάκις. ὅπου γάρ τις οὐ πλείους ἔχων πεντακοσίων μυριάδων ἀνὴρ φιλοφάρμακός τε καὶ φιλίατρος οὐδενὶ τῶν εὐτελῶν ἠξίου χρῆσθαι, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἤτοι πλούσιός τις ἢ καὶ μόναρχος, εὐῶδές τε ἅμα καὶ πολλοῦ σκευαζόμενον ἀργυρίου βουληθήσεται τοιοῦτον ἔχειν φάρμακον.

τοῦ δὲ ἱστορηθέντος μοι πλουσίου κατὰ τὸ πρῶτον τῶν περὶ τῆς διὰ τῶν σφυγμῶν προγνώσεως μέμνημαι χωρὶς ὀνόματος, ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν, ὁποῖός τις ἦν, ἐκ δυοῖν αὐτοῦ τοιῶνδε μαθήσῃ πράξεων. ἕλκος οἰκέτου κακόηθες ἐπειρᾶτο θεραπεύειν αὐτός. ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἤνυσεν, ἐνεχείρισεν ἐμοὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἰδών τε θεραπευθέντα τοῦ φαρμάκου τὴν γραφὴν ᾔτει μὴ γιγνώσκων πολλὰς μὲν εἶναι διαφορὰς τῶν κακοήθων ἑλκῶν, πολλὰς δὲ τῶν φαρμάκων, ἀλλ' οἰόμενος ἓν φάρμακον δύνασθαι θεραπεύειν ἅπαντα. μὴ γοῦν μήτε τεχνικῶς αὐτῷ χρωμένου τοῦ προσφέροντος, ὡς ἤκουσεν ἐκ τίνων συνέκειτο, καὶ ἦν ἅπαντα εὔωνα, τοῦτο μὲν, ἔφη, τοῖς προσαίταις φύλαττε, τῶν πολυτελεστέρων δέ τι δίδαξόν με.

καὶ μέντοι καὶ παιδαρίου χρονίαν ἐν ὠσὶ διάθεσιν ἔχοντος, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπὶ πολλοῖς οἷς ἐχρήσατο φαρμάκοις ἄνευ μεθόδου μηδὲν ὤνησεν, ἐμοὶ κᾀκεῖνο τὸ παιδάριον ἐκέλευσε προσαχθῆναι θεραπευθησόμενον. ὕστερόν τε γνοὺς αὐτὸ διά τινος τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων θεραπευθὲν, οὐκ ἠξίωσε λαβεῖν τοῦ φαρμάκου τὴν γραφήν. οὗτος τοίνυν αὐτὸς ἑωρακὼς πολλὰς τῶν νευροτρώτων, ἀποκοπέντας τε δακτύλους καὶ σαπέντας, ἐνίους δὲ καὶ τελευτήσαντας ἢ κυλλωθέντας, εἶτα γνοὺς ὅτι μηδεὶς ἐκινδύνευσε τῶν ὑπ' ἐμοῦ θεραπευθέντων, ἅπαντες δὲ διὰ ταχέων ὑγιεῖς ἐγένοντο, φάρμακον ἠξίου τι παρ' ἐμοῦ λαβεῖν εὔπνουν τε ἅμα καὶ πολυτελὲς, ᾧ τοὺς νευροτρώτους δυνήσεται θεραπεύειν.

ἐγὼ δὲ πολλὰς ἤδη πολλάκις ἐδεδώκειν ἑταίροις τε καὶ φίλοις ἰατροῖς γραφὰς αὐτοσχεδίους κατὰ τὴν προγεγραμμένην μέθοδον, ὅπως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκβάσεων ὁ τῆς συνθέσεως αὐτῶν λόγος βεβαιῶται. πολυτελὲς δ', οἷον ἐκεῖνος ἐβούλετο, πένησιν ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἂν ἔδωκα νομίζων ἄμεινον εἶναι διὰ τῶν εὐπορίστων γίγνεσθαι τὰς ἰάσεις. ὡς οὖν ὁ πλούσιος ἠξίωσεν εὔπνου τε καὶ πολυτελοῦς φαρμάκου λαβεῖν τινα σύνθεσιν, ἔδωκα πλείους αὐτῷ γραφὰς κατὰ τὴν προειρημένην μέθοδον ποιήσας, ὧν πειραθῆναι σπεύδων ἐκεῖνος ἐκέλευσε τοῖς ἐλευθέροις τε καὶ δούλοις ἀναζητεῖν αὐτῷ νευροτρώτους. ἐνεργησάντων δὲ τῶν φαρμάκων ὑπὲρ ἅπασαν ἐλπίδα, πρῶτον μὲν ἐπῄνεσεν ὡς ἀφθόνως αὐτῷ κοινωνήσαντά με τῶν γραφῶν, εἶτα καὶ δώροις ἐτίμησε, καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἕτοιμος καὶ εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα. τῶν δοθέντων δ' αὐτῷ φαρμάκων ἡ σύνθεσις ἦν τοιάδε.

♃ κινναμώμου, δικτάμνου καὶ μάρου ἀνὰ ἑκάστου δραχμὰς μʹ. καὶ γὰρ εὐώδη καὶ λεπτομερῆ ταῦτ' ἔστι. τὸ δὲ ἀμάρακον ὡς οὐκ εὐῶδες ἐνενόησα μηδ' ὅλως μιγνύειν. εἶτ' ἐπεὶ δυσπόριστον ἦν ἐν Ῥώμῃ, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ μάρον, ἑώρων δὲ ἐκεῖνον χαίροντα τοῖς δυσπορίστοις ὥσπερ γε καὶ τοῖς πολυτελέσι, προσέθηκα τῇ γραφῇ κᾀκείνου βραχύ τι μέρους ἑνὸς, ὡς οἶμαι τέταρτον ἢ πέμπτον. ταῦτα κοπέντα καὶ σηθέντα λεπτοτρήτῳ κοσκίνῳ μιγνύειν ἐκέλευσα κηρωτῇ δι' ὀποβαλσάμου τοῦ ἀρίστου καὶ κηροῦ Τυῤῥηνικοῦ. σύμμετρον δ' ἐστοχασάμην εἶναι τοῦ κηροῦ μὲν ὀκτὼ ποιήσασθαι μέρη, τοῦ δὲ ὀποβαλσάμου δέκα.

χάριν δὲ τοῦ μὴ ψαθυρὸν εἶναι τὸ φάρμακον, ἀλλ' ἡνωμένον πως ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τῆς τερμινθίνης ῥητίνης ἔμιξα μέρος ἓν οὔσης καὶ αὐτῆς εὐώδους, ὅταν ᾖ καλλίστη. γενναιότερον δ', ὡς ἔφην, εἰ βούλοιο ποιῆσαι τὸ φάρμακον, οὐχ ἓν μέρος ἑκάστης τῶν εἰρημένων βοτανῶν ἐμβάλλῃς, ἀλλὰ πλέον, ὡς ἓν καὶ ἥμισυ γενέσθαι. τοῦτ' οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς πείρας ἐμαρτυρήθη τὸ φάρμακον. ἕτερον δὲ δεύτερον ἐπ' αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς κηρωτῆς καὶ ὀποῦ τοῦ Κυρηναίου συντεθὲν, κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀναλογίαν τῷ εὐφορβίῳ τῆς μίξεως γενομένης, ἄλλο τε τρίτον ἐκ τῆς μίξεως ἀμφοῖν συντεθὲν καὶ τὸ τέταρτον ἐπ' αὐτοῖς τῆς στακτῆς σμύρνης προσλαβόν. ἐφ' ὧν δὲ γυμνόν ἐστι τὸ νεῦρον, ἐπὶ τούτων τὴν μὲν κηρωτὴν ἐκ κηροῦ τοῦ καλουμένου μυρεψικοῦ καὶ μύρων τῶν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ὀνομαζομένων σπικάτου καὶ φουλιάτου συνέθηκα. δωδέκατον δ' αὐτῇ μέρος ἔμιξα πομφόλυγος, εἴτε πεπλυμένου λέγειν ἐθέλοις ἀῤῥενικῶς, εἴτε πεπλυμένης θηλυκῶς· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὁπωτέρως ἂν εἴποις οὔτ' ὠφελήσεις οὔτε βλάψεις τὸ φάρμακον.

ἔστι δέ σοι καὶ διὰ τοῦ Τυῤῥηνικοῦ κηροῦ σκευάζειν αὐτό. πάρεστι δὲ καὶ χωρὶς τῶν εἰρημένων μύρων τὸν μὲν Τυῤῥηνικὸν κηρὸν τῆξαι διὰ νάρδου καλῆς ἐπὶ διπλοῦ δηλονότι σκεύους, κοινὸν γὰρ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν μύρων. ξυσθείσῃ δὲ τῇ κηρωτῇ μίξεις νάρδου στάχυος καὶ ἀμώμου καὶ φύλλου μαλαβάθρου καὶ πομφόλυγος πεπλυμένου τὸ ἴσον ἑκάστου. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν νύξεων, ὡς εἴρηται, δριμυτέρων ἐστὶ χρεία φαρμάκων ἀνεῳγμένον ἀεὶ φυλαττόντων τὸ τραῦμα. τοῖς γεγυμνωμένοις δὲ τὰ μετρίαν στύψιν ἔχοντα μετὰ διαφορητικῆς ἀδήκτου δυνάμεως προσφέρεσθαι χρή. στύψεως δὲ μέτεστι μέν τι καὶ τῷ ἀμώμῳ, μᾶλλον δ' αὐτοῦ τῷ τε τῆς νάρδου στάχυι καὶ τῷ τοῦ μαλαβάθρου φύλλῳ.

Galen, Compound Drugs by Place 3.8, 13.635–640 K.

[1] Lots of opinions, not much certainty about what μάρον / marum is. Nice note from Bostock’s Pliny (relying on Fée) available via this link.

[2] Suggesting some debate over the gender of the word, pompholyx, πομφόλυξ.

Do truffles come from thunder and other questions

1. Aristotle (4th century BCE, dubious)

Attributed to Aristotle in some 19th century collections of fragments, but I have no idea why. Maybe because of a tendency to assign to Aristotle things said by his student? Or maybe the collection includes the early Peripatos? Found it with a TLG search, but I didn’t find the edition it comes from. σκληρότερα might be a corruption, see e.g. the Athenaeus text below where he says that there are more truffles when the storms are σκληραί / severe.

“Truffles become harder when there is continuous thunder, as Theophrastus has said in his works on plants.”

τὰ ὕδνα βροντῶν συνεχῶν γιγνομένων σκληρότερα γίγνεται, καθάπερ Θεόφραστος ἐν τοῖς περὶ φυτῶν εἴρηκεν.

2. Diocles of Carystus (4th century BCE)

‘Diocles of Carystus says in the first book of Matters of Health: “wild plants to be boiled are beet, mallow, monk’s rhubarb, stinging nettle, orach, grape hyacinths, truffles, mushrooms.”’

Διοκλῆς ὁ Καρύστιος ἐν αʹ Ὑγιεινῶν φησιν· ‘ἄγρια ἑψήματα τεῦτλον, μαλάχη, λάπαθον, ἀκαλήφη, ἀνδράφαξυς, βολβοί, ὕδνα, μύκαι.

Athenaeus, The Sophists’ at Dinner, 2.57, 61c = Diocles Fragment 195 van der Eijk

3. Theophrastus (4th century BCE)

“The same differences (in the roots) exist among undershrubs, herbs and the rest, except that some have no roots at all, like the truffle, the mushroom, the bullfist, and the keraunion .*”

αἱ αὐταὶ δὲ διαφοραὶ καὶ τῶν φρυγανικῶν καὶ τῶν ποιωδῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων· πλὴν εἰ ὅλως ἔνια μὴ ἔχει, καθάπερ ὕδνον μύκης πέζις κεραύνιον.

Theophrastus, History of Plants, 1.6.5

*Keraunion (κεραύνιον), from the word for thunderbolt, keraunos, perhaps another kind of truffle.

“For it is not correct to call everything underground a root. For in that case the stem of the grape hyacinth and of the long onion and generally any part which is underground would be a root, also the truffle and what some people call askhios and the ouignon and any other underground plants, of which none are roots—for we must distinguish things by natural capacity and not by place.”

τὸ γὰρ δὴ πᾶν λέγειν τὸ κατὰ γῆς ῥίζαν οὐκ ὀρθόν· καὶ γὰρ ἂν ὁ καυλὸς τοῦ βολβοῦ καὶ ὁ τοῦ γηθύου καὶ ὅλως ὅσα κατὰ βάθους ἐστὶν εἴησαν ἂν ῥίζαι, καὶ τὸ ὕδνον δὲ καὶ ὃ καλοῦσί τινες ἀσχίον καὶ τὸ οὔϊγγον καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο ὑπόγειόν ἐστιν· ὧν οὐδέν ἐστι ῥίζα· δυνάμει γὰρ δεῖ φυσικῇ διαιρεῖν καὶ οὐ τόπῳ.

Theophrastus, History of Plants, 1.6.9

4. Dioscorides (1st century)

“Truffle is a root that is round with no leaves, no stem, light brown, dug up in the spring. It is both edible when raw and eaten when boiled.”

ὕδνον ῥίζα ἐστὶ περιφερής, ἄφυλλος, ἄκαυλος, ὑπόξανθος, ἔαρος ὀρυττομένη. ἐδώδιμος δέ ἐστιν ὠμή τε καὶ ἑφθὴ ἐσθιομένη.

Dioscorides, On Medical Materials, 2.145 (1.212,18–213,2 Wellmann)

5. Plutarch (1st century)

Why do some people think truffles are produced by thunder, and why do they think sleeping people are not struck by lightning?

‘Agemachos once offered us giant truffles while we were dining in Elis. Everyone there was amazed, and one person said with a smirk, “they’re surely worth the thunderstorms we’ve been having lately,” clearly poking fun at those who say truffles are produced by thunder. Indeed, there are some people who say that the earth is split by thunder, the air operating like a spike, and afterwards the truffle hunters use the cracks in the ground as a sign. From this arose a popular belief that truffles are produced by thunder rather than uncovered, as if someone were to think that snails were produced by rain instead of being lead out and made visible. Agemachos, however, held on stubbornly to the story and asked us not to think that what is wondrous is implausible. For there are many other wondrous things that come from thunder, lightning and related divine signs—things that have causes that are difficult or altogether impossible to discover.’

Διὰ τί τὰ ὕδνα δοκεῖ τῇ βροντῇ γίνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τί τοὺς καθεύδοντας οἴονται μὴ κεραυνοῦσθαι.

Ὕδνα παμμεγέθη δειπνοῦσιν ἡμῖν Ἀγέμαχος παρέθηκεν ἐν Ἤλιδι. θαυμαζόντων δὲ τῶν παρόντων, ἔφη τις ὑπομειδιάσας ‘ἄξιά γε τῶν βροντῶν τῶν ἔναγχος γενομένων,’ ὡς δὴ καταγελῶν τῶν λεγόντων τὰ ὕδνα τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ βροντῆς λαμβάνειν. ἦσαν οὖν οἱ φάσκοντες ὑπὸ βροντῆς τὴν γῆν διίστασθαι καθάπερ ἥλῳ τῷ ἀέρι χρωμένης, εἶτα ταῖς ῥωγμαῖς τεκμαίρεσθαι τοὺς τὰ ὕδνα μετιόντας· ἐκ δὲ τούτου δόξαν ἐγγενέσθαι τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὅτι τὸ ὕδνον αἱ βρονταὶ γεννῶσιν οὐ δεικνύουσιν, ὥσπερ εἴ τις οἴοιτο τοὺς κοχλίας ποιεῖν τὸν ὄμβρον ἀλλὰ μὴ προάγειν μηδ' ἀναφαίνειν. ὁ δ' Ἀγέμαχος ἰσχυρίζετο τῇ ἱστορίᾳ καὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἠξίου μὴ ἄπιστον ἡγεῖσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ἄλλα πολλὰ θαυμάσια βροντῆς ἔργα καὶ κεραυνοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ ταῦτα διοσημιῶν εἶναι, χαλεπὰς καταμαθεῖν ἢ παντελῶς ἀδυνάτους τὰς αἰτίας ἔχοντα.

Plutarch, Table Talk (quaestiones convivales) 4.2, Moralia 664B–C

6. Galen (2nd century)

“On truffles. It is necessary to include these among the roots and vegetables, although they have no evident quality. That’s why people use them as a base for seasonings, just like they use the other ones they call bland, harmless and watery in taste. They all share in common that their nutriment, when it gets distributed to the body, has no remarkable property. Instead, the nutriment is a bit cool, while in thickness it is itself similar in quality to whatever was eaten, thicker when it comes from truffle, more watery and thinner when comes from colocynth and likewise in the case of the others.”

Περὶ ὕδνων. Ἐν ῥίζαις ἢ βολβοῖς ἀριθμεῖν ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι καὶ ταῦτα μηδεμίαν ἔχοντα σαφῆ ποιότητα. χρῶνται τοιγαροῦν αὐτοῖς οἱ χρώμενοι πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν ἀρτυμάτων, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὅσα καλοῦσιν ἄποια καὶ ἀβλαβῆ καὶ ὑδατώδη κατὰ τὴν γεῦσιν. ἔστι δ' ἁπάντων αὐτῶν κοινόν, ὡς μηδὲ τὴν ἀναδιδομένην εἰς τὸ σῶμα τροφὴν ἐξαίρετόν τινα δύναμιν ἔχειν, ἀλλ' ὑπόψυχρον μὲν εἶναι, τῷ πάχει δ', ὁποῖον ἄν τι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐδηδεσμένον ᾖ, παχυτέραν μὲν ἐξ ὕδνου, ὑγροτέραν δὲ καὶ λεπτοτέραν ἐκ κολοκύνθης ἐπί τε τῶν ἄλλων ἀνὰ λόγον.

Galen, On the Properties of Foods, 2.66 (6.655 Kühn = 327,16–328,3 Helmreich)

“On Truffle. Truffles are known to everyone to have a predominantly earthy substance, possessing a small number of fine particles that have been mixed in to their composition.”

Περὶ ὕδνου. Ὕδνα πᾶσι γνώριμα γεωδεστέραν οὐσίαν ἐπικρατοῦσαν, ἐν τῇ συστάσει κέκτηται βραχέος τινὸς αὐτῇ μεμιγμένου τοῦ λεπτομεροῦς.

Galen, Simple Drugs 9.19, 12.147 Kühn

7. Athenaeus of Naucratis (2nd/3rd century)

‘Truffles. These are also produced spontaneously from the ground especially in sandy places. Theophrastus says about them: “the truffle, which some call geraneion* and any other subterranean plant.” And again: “this is the creation and nature of these earth-born plants, like the truffle and the thing that grows near Cyrene which people call misy. This is considered very sweet and has the scent of meat, like the oiton that is produced in Thrace. Something peculiar is said about these. For they say that they are produced when the autumn rains occur with strong thunder, and more when there is more thunder, as this is more their proper cause. They are not perennials, but annuals. They are useful and at their peak in the spring. Nevertheless, some people suppose that they start from seed. In any case, on the shores of Mytilene they say they do not grow before there is a heavy rain that washes the seed down from Tiarai, while this is a region in which many grow. They are produced especially on the shores and wherever the land is sandy, for Tiarai is also like this. They also grow in the Abarnis around Lampsakos and in Alopekonnesos and in Elis.” Lynkeus of Samos says: “the sea sends up sea-anemone, the earth truffles.” And Matron the parodist in The Banquet: “he has sent up oysters, the truffles of Thetis the Nereid.” Diphilos says truffles are difficult to digest, but juicy and relaxing, besides being laxative, and some of them can cause you to choke, in a similar way to mushrooms. Hegesandros of Delphi says that in the Hellespont there are no truffles, no glaukiskos, and no thyme. For this reason Nausikleides said “neither spring nor friend.” Pamphilos in Dialects says that truffle-grass is the herb that grows on top of truffles, by which the truffle is discovered.’

ΥΔΝΑ. γίνεται καὶ ταῦτα αὐτόματα ἀπὸ γῆς μάλιστα περὶ τοὺς ἀμμώδεις τόπους. λέγει δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν Θεόφραστος (1, 6, 9)· ‘τὸ ὕδνον (ὃ καλοῦσί τινες γεράνειον) καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο ὑπόγειον.’ καὶ πάλιν (fr. 167 W)· ‘καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐγγεοτόκων τούτων γένεσις ἅμα καὶ φύσις, οἷον τοῦ τε ὕδνου καὶ τοῦ φυομένου περὶ Κυρήνην ὃ καλοῦσι μίσυ. δοκεῖ δ' ἡδὺ σφόδρα τοῦτ' εἶναι καὶ τὴν ὀσμὴν ἔχειν κρεώδη, καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ δὲ γενόμενον οἰτόν. περὶ δὲ τούτων ἴδιόν τι λέγεται· φασὶ γάρ, ὅταν ὕδατα μετοπωρινὰ καὶ βρονταὶ γίνωνται σκληραί, τότε γίνεσθαι, καὶ μᾶλλον ὅταν αἱ βρονταί, ὡς ταύτης αἰτιωτέρας οὔσης. οὐ διετίζειν δέ, ἀλλ' ἐπέτειον εἶναι· τὴν δὲ χρείαν καὶ τὴν ἀκμὴν ἔχειν τοῦ ἦρος. οὐ μὴν ἀλλ' ἔνιοί γε ὡς σπερματικῆς οὔσης τῆς ἀρχῆς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν. ἐν γοῦν τῷ αἰγιαλῷ τῶν Μιτυληναίων οὔ φασι πρότερον εἶναι πρὶν ἢ γενομένης ἐπομβρίας τὸ σπέρμα κατενεχθῇ ἀπὸ Τιαρῶν· τοῦτο δ' ἐστὶ χωρίον ἐν ᾧ πολλὰ γίνεται. γίνεται δὲ ἔν τε τοῖς αἰγιαλοῖς μάλιστα καὶ ὅπου χώρα ὕπαμμος· καὶ γὰρ αἱ Τιάραι τοιαῦται. φύεται δὲ καὶ περὶ Λάμψακον ἐν τῇ Ἀβαρνίδι καὶ ἐν Ἀλωπεκοννήσῳ κἀν τῇ Ἠλείων.’ Λυγκεὺς ὁ Σάμιός φησιν· ‘ἀκαλήφην ἡ θάλασσα ἀνίησιν, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὕδνα.’ καὶ Μάτρων ὁ παρῳδὸς ἐν τῷ Δείπνῳ· ὄστρεά τ' ἤνεικεν, Θέτιδος Νηρηίδος ὕδνα. Δίφιλος δὲ δύσπεπτά φησιν εἶναι τὰ ὕδνα, εὔχυλα δὲ καὶ παραλεαντικά, προσέτι δὲ διαχωρητικά, καὶ ἔνια αὐτῶν ὁμοίως τοῖς μύκαις πνιγώδη εἶναι. Ἡγήσανδρος δ' ὁ Δελφὸς ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ φησὶν οὔτε ὕδνον γίνεσθαι οὔτε γλαυκίσκον οὔτε θύμον· διὸ Ναυσικλείδην εἰρηκέναι μήτε ἔαρ μήτε φίλους. ὑδνόφυλλον δέ φησι Πάμφιλος ἐν Γλώσσαις τὴν φυομένην τῶν ὕδνων ὕπερθε πόαν, ἀφ' ἧς τὸ ὕδνον γινώσκεσθαι.

Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Sophists at Dinner, 2.62

*γεράνειον geraneion – perhaps from geras = “old” and neios = “fallow land”?

8. Oribasius (4th century)

“On Truffles. They have no evident quality. That’s why people use them as a base for seasonings, just as they also use the other ones they call bland and watery in taste. They all share in common that their nutriment, when it gets distributed to the body, does not heat; instead, the nutriment is a bit cool, while in thickness it is similar to whatever was eaten, thicker when it comes from truffle, relatively more watery and thinner when it comes from the others.”

Περὶ ὕδνων. Οὐδεμίαν ἔχει σαφῆ ποιότητα· χρῶνται τοιγαροῦν αὐτοῖς πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν ἀρτυμάτων, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὅσα καλοῦσιν ἄποια καὶ ὑδατώδη κατὰ τὴν γεῦσιν. ἔστι δ' ἁπάντων αὐτῶν κοινὸν ὡς μηδὲ τὴν ἀναδιδομένην τροφὴν εἰς τὸ σῶμα θερμαίνειν, ἀλλ' ὑπόψυχρον μὲν εἶναι, τῷ πάχει δ' ὁποῖον ἄν τι καὶ τὸ ἐδηδεσμένον <ᾖ>, παχύτερον μὲν ἐξ ὕδνου, ὑγρότερον δὲ καὶ λεπτότερον ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνάλογον.

Oribasius, Medical Collections, 2.24.1 (35,5–11 Raeder)

9. Aetius of Amida (6th century)

“Truffles possess a prevalent, quite earthy substance, with some fine material in with it.”

Ὕδνα γεωδεστέραν μὲν οὐσίαν ἐπικρατοῦσαν κέκτηται, βραχέος τινὸς αὐτῇ μιγνυμένου λεπτομεροῦς.

Aetius of Amida, Medical Books, 1.397 (142,6-7 Olivieri)

10. Paul of Aegina (7th century)

“On truffles (hydna) and mushrooms (mycetai). The truffle produces a quality-less humour, but it is rather cool and thick. Mushrooms are cold and produce phlegm and bad humours. From this group, the boleti are less harmful and quality-less when they are properly boiled, while the amanitai are of the second order.* One should stay away from the other mushrooms, since many people have died from them. Even the boleti themselves are often hazardous when eaten if they are not properly boiled.”

Περὶ ὕδνων καὶ μυκήτων. Τὸ ὕδνον ἄποιον μὲν ἔχει τὸν ἀναδιδόμενον ἐξ αὐτοῦ χυμόν, ψυχρότερον δὲ καὶ παχύχυμον. οἱ δὲ μυκῆται ψυχροί τέ εἰσι καὶ φλεγματώδεις καὶ κακόχυμοι· τούτων δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ μὲν βωλῖται ἀβλαβέστεροι καὶ ἄποιοι καλῶς ἑψηθέντες, οἱ δὲ ἀμανῖται δευτέρας εἰσὶ τάξεως. τῶν δὲ ἄλλων μυκήτων ἀπέχεσθαι δεῖ· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπέθανον. καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οἱ βωλῖται ἀνεφθότεροι ἐσθιόμενοι κινδύνου παραίτιοι πολλάκις γίνονται.

Paul of Aegina, 1.77 (56,1–8 Heiberg)

Commentary by Adams. On mushroom varieties, see Athenaeus, The Sophists at Dinner, 2.56–57

11. Anonymous (late byzantine source)

“On truffles. They are quality-less and watery in taste. They are similar to amanitai. The nutriment from them produce phlegm and is cold, and if someone eats too many it produces bad humour.”

Περὶ ὕδνων. Ἄποιά εἰσι καὶ ὑδατώδη κατὰ τὴν γεῦσιν. εἰσὶ δὲ παραπλήσια τοῖς ἀμανίταις. φλεγματώδης δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἐξ αὐτῶν τροφὴ καὶ ψυχρά, καὶ εἰ πλεονάσει τις ἐν αὐτοῖς κακόχυμος.

Anonymous, On Food, chapter 74

12. Pseudo-Hippocrates (late byzantine source)

“On vegetables. Truffles and amanitai and the artichoke are productive of bad humours, difficult to digest and productive of black bile.”

Περὶ λαχάνων. […] τὰ ὕδνα καὶ οἱ ἀμανῖται καὶ ἡ κινάρα κακόχυμα καὶ δύσπεπτα καὶ μελαγχολικά.

Pseudo-Hippocrates, On the Differences of Foods to Ptolemy (De alimentorum differentiis ad Ptolemaeum), 491,9–10 Delatte (in Anecdota Atheniensia 1939)

Herodian on the long peak of the Antonine Plague’s second wave

I’ve stayed away from posts about plague recently, but it’s been nearly a year since Berlin went into its first lockdown and I’ve found myself revisiting stories about the Antonine Plague—especially about how the city’s doctors, politicians and ordinary citizens responded to a crisis that seemed to go on for ages (it nearly led to civil war according to some sources). Here’s a little bit from the historian Herodian on doctor-recommended treatments for the rich (the emperor Commodus) and the rest (the ordinary inhabitants of the city). The narrative is familiar: lack of social distancing, travel, close quarters with animals, awareness of a need for face-protection; but also, while the treatments for both rich and poor were roughly the same (viz., aromatherapy), the outcomes were not.

“It so happened at this time that Italy was in the grip of the plague. The suffering was especially intense in the city of Rome, as it was naturally overcrowded and received people from all over the world. And there was great destruction of animals and people.

“At that point, on the advice of some doctors, Commodus retired to Laurentum. For the town, being cooler and shaded by large laurel groves (hence the town’s name), seemed to be a safe place; and he is said to have withstood the corrupting power of the air by means of the fragrant vapours from the laurels and the pleasant shade of the trees.

“Meanwhile, at their doctors’ urging, those in the city filled their nostrils and ears with the most fragrant perfumes and continually used incense and aromatics, since some of the doctors said the fragrance, entering first, filled the sensory passages and prevented the corrupting power of the air from getting in; and if any should get in, it would be overpowered by [the fragrance’s] stronger power.

“Only—it made no difference: the sickness continued to peak for a long time, with great destruction of people and of all sorts of domesticated animals.”

συνέβη δὲ κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ λοιμώδη νόσον κατασχεῖν τὴν Ἰταλίαν· μάλιστα δὲ τὸ πάθος <ἐν> τῇ Ῥωμαίων πόλει ἤκμασεν ἅτε πολυανθρώπῳ τε οὔσῃ φύσει καὶ τοὺς πανταχόθεν ὑποδεχομένῃ, πολλή τέ τις φθορὰ ἐγένετο ὑποζυγίων ἅμα καὶ ἀνθρώπων. τότε ὁ Κόμοδος συμβουλευσάντων αὐτῷ τινῶν ἰατρῶν ἐς τὴν Λαύρεντον ἀνεχώρησεν· εὐψυχέστερον γὰρ ὂν τὸ χωρίον καὶ μεγίστοις κατάσκιον δαφνηφόροις ἄλσεσιν (ὅθεν καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῷ χωρίῳ) σωτήριον εἶναι ἐδόκει, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος φθορὰν ἀντέχειν ἐλέγετο εὐωδίᾳ τε τῆς τῶν δαφνῶν ἀποφορᾶς καὶ τῇ τῶν δένδρων ἡδείᾳ σκιᾷ. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν κελευόντων τῶν ἰατρῶν μύρου εὐωδεστάτου τάς τε ὀσφρήσεις καὶ τὰ ὦτα ἐνεπίμπλασαν, θυμιάμασί τε καὶ ἀρώμασι συνεχῶς ἐχρῶντο, φασκόντων τινῶν τὴν εὐωδίαν φθάσασαν ἐμπιπλάναι τοὺς πόρους τῶν αἰσθήσεων καὶ κωλύειν δέχεσθαι τὸ φθορῶδες τοῦ ἀέρος, ἢ εἰ καί τι προεμπέσοι, κατεργάζεσθαι δυνάμει κρείττονι. πλὴν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἡ νόσος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἤκμασε, πολλῆς ἀνθρώπων φθορᾶς γενομένης πάντων τε ζῴων <τῶν> τοῖς ἀνθρώπων συνοίκων.

Herodian, History Following the Death of the Divine Marcus Aurelius 1.12.1–2

About Ashes

“Ash. That’s what the remnant of burnt wood is called, which is a composite of contrary substances and qualities. For it contains within itself something earthy on the one hand, and on the other what is as it were smoky or sooty or whatever you want to call. These latter parts of it are very fine and when the ash is soaked in water and strained they are carried off with it; whatever earthy stuff remains behind becomes weak and not biting since it imparted the hot power to the lye water.

“Not all ash has precisely the same mixture; rather, it varies somewhat according to differences in the materials burned. Dioscorides—I have no idea why—says ash has an astringent power, but in fact fig ashes are free from any such quality because unlike oak, holm oak, strawberry tree, Valonia oak, mastic, ivy and anything else like these the fig tree itself doesn’t exhibit an astringent quality in any of its parts, but is mostly full of a strong, hot and acrid sap. Indeed, ash from astringent wood is very astringent and I’ve been known to use it on occasion to stop bleeding when no other drug was available; but no one should ever use fig ash for this, for since it is mixed with something detergent it is extremely acrid and caustic and differs in both respects from ash made of oak wood: first because the smoky material in it is much more acrid; and second because the (as it were) earthy material in it, which in the others is fairly astringent, is in this case detergent like in the ash of spurge.

“Lime is also a species of ash, being composed of finer parts than the ash from wood, inasmuch as stones need to be roasted much more intensely to be turned into ash—but for all that it also has a great deal of fire within it. And for this reason, when it is washed it becomes a drug that dries without biting, even more so if it is washed two or three times. It becomes considerably dispersing when it is washed with sea water. We’ll talk about it when we come to the discussion about things extracted from mines.”

δʹ. Περὶ τέφρας.

Τέφρα. τῶν κεκαυμένων ξύλων τὸ λείψανον οὕτω προσαγορεύεται, σύνθετον ὑπάρχον ἐξ ἐναντίων οὐσιῶν τε καὶ ποιοτήτων. ἔχει γὰρ ἐν αὑτῷ τὸ μέν τι γεῶδες, τὸ δ' οἷον αἰθαλῶδες ἢ λιγνυῶδες ἢ ὅπως ἂν ἐθέλῃ τις καλεῖν. ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν τὰ μόρια λεπτομερῆ τ' ἐστὶ καὶ βρεχομένης ὕδατι τῆς τέφρας καὶ διηθουμένης συναποφέρεται. ὅσον δ' ὑπολείπεται γεῶδες, ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἄδηκτον γίγνεται ἐν τῇ κονίᾳ τὴν θερμὴν δύναμιν ἀποτιθέμενον.

οὐχ ἅπασα δὲ τέφρα τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκριβῶς ἔχει κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τῆς καυθείσης ὕλης διαφορὰν ὑπαλλάττεται. Διοσκορίδης δὲ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως στυπτικὴν αὐτὴν ἔχειν φησὶ τὴν δύναμιν. καίτοι γε ἡ συκίνη πάσης ἀπήλλακται τοιαύτης ποιότητος, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ δένδρον οὐχ ὥσπερ δρῦς καὶ πρῖνος καὶ κόμαρος καὶ φηγὸς καὶ σχῖνος καὶ κισσὸς, ὅσα τ' ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, τὴν στρυφνὴν ἐπιφαίνει ποιότητα κατ' οὐδὲν ἑαυτοῦ μέρος, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὀποῦ πλῆρες ὅλον ἰσχυροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ δριμέος. ἐκ μὲν δὴ τῶν στρυφνῶν ξύλων ἡ τέφρα στυπτικὸν οὐκ ὀλίγον ἔχει, καὶ ἔγωγέ ποτε δι' αὐτῆς ἐπισχὼν αἱμοῤῥαγίας οἶδα, μηδενὸς ἑτέρου παρόντος φαρμάκου. τῇ συκίνῃ δ' οὐκ ἄν τις εἰς τοῦτο χρήσαιτό ποτε, πολὺ γὰρ αὕτη γε τὸ δριμὺ καὶ τὸ καυστικὸν ἔχει τῷ ῥυπτικῷ μεμιγμένον καὶ κατ' ἄμφω διενήνοχε τῆς ἐκ τῶν δρυΐνων ξύλων, ὅτι τε τὸ αἰθαλῶδες ἐν αὐτῇ πολλῷ δριμύτερόν ἐστι καὶ ὅτι τὸ οἷον γεῶδες, ἐν ἐκείναις μὲν ὑποστῦφόν πώς ἐστιν, ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ ῥυπτικὸν, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ τῶν τιθυμάλλων.

ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ τίτανος εἶδός τι τέφρας, λεπτομερεστέρα μὲν οὖσα τῆς ἐκ τῶν ξύλων, παρ' ὅσον ἀκριβέστερον οἱ λίθοι κατοπτᾶσθαι δέονται πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι τέφραν, ὅμως μὴν ἔχουσα καὶ αὐτὴ τὸ οἷον ἐμπύρευμα πολύ. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πλυθεῖσα ξηραντικὸν ἀδήκτως γίνεται φάρμακον, καὶ μᾶλλον, εἰ δὶς ἢ καὶ τρὶς πλυθείη. διαφορητικὴ δ' ἱκανῶς γίνεται θαλάσσῃ πλυθεῖσα. λεχθήσεται δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς κᾀπειδὰν περὶ τῶν μεταλλευομένων ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν γίγνηται.

Galen, On Simple Drugs 8.19.2, 12.138–140 K.

Aromatherapy for Headaches and Heartache

Some late antique aromatherapies for after a New Year’s celebration.

The text below on perfume ingredients comes from a treatise found in an 18th century manuscript at Athens: ms. no. 1494 , fol. 46–52. The treatise is called “On the Capacities of Foods” (Περὶ τροφῶν δυνάμεως), a title it shares with a work by Galen, Symeon Seth, and with sections from the compilers Oribasius, Aetius of Amida and Paul of Aegina. The contents, however, as Delatte points out (Anecdota atheniensia, 466–467), have little in common with the work of Galen or anyone else from the Greek or Latin tradition. It must be fairly late, since many of the ingredients listed below—musk, ambergris, camphor and clove—do not show up in Greek medical texts until very late in antiquity or the early middle ages (Donkin 1999, 2).

On Perfumes

Musk is hot and dry in nature. It is suitable for those who have a moist and cold mixture. It disperses every headache produced from phlegm. It is also beneficial for weakness of the heart, heartache and frailty. It is not suitable for those who have a hot mixture.

Amber [i.e., ambergris*] is hot by nature and strengthens the head. It pleases the heart and the stomach.

Camphor is moist and cold. It is beneficial for hot ailments of the head and the rest of the body. If someone drinks of it more than one should it produces sleeplessness. And it cools the kidneys, diminishes semen and generates incurable ailments in the parts of the body.

Sandalwood is cold and dry. It is beneficial for hot ailments of the liver and strengthens it, and it cools its hot bad-mixture.

Aloewood is hot and dry. It is also beneficial for weakness of the head and the stomach, especially when it is quite cool, and for the blockage of the stomach, also when it is quite cool, and for blockage of the liver and the rest of the parts of the body when they occur because of coolness and moisture.

Saffron is cold and dry. It is not good for the stomach and causes pain and heaviness in the head and causes sleep; but, it pleases the heart.

Clove leaf is hot and dry. They strengthen the stomach and the heart.

Walnuts** are hot and dry. The have the capacity and activity of clove leaf.

Rose perfume is also moist. It stops headache from heat or from drinking too much wine, and both strengthens the heart and is good for frailty.

*ἄμπαρ (amber) is the name for the waxy substance found washed up on beaches, which we recognize to be a secretion from the bile duct of sperm whales. ἤλεκτρον (electron) is the name of the fossilized resin we call amber (also often found on beaches).

**The name “κάρυα βασιλικά” normally refers to walnuts, but this is probably not the correct identification in this case given: (1) the description of them as ‘hot and dry’ (neither walnuts, κάρυα βασιλικά, nor hazelnuts, κάρυα ποντικὰ ἢ λεπτοκάρυα, are normally listed as hot); and (2) the previous entry is καρυόφυλλον, which everyone I’ve consulted believes is “clove leaf.” My guess is it’s a confusion for κάρυα ἀρωματικά or κάρυα μυριστικά, which are likely some other aromatic nut or nut-like spice (e.g. nutmeg or clove).

Περὶ μύρων.

Μόσχος θερμὸς καὶ ξηρός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν· ἁρμόζει δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσι κρᾶσιν ὑγρὰν καὶ ψυχράν. διαλύει δὲ πᾶσαν ὀδύνην κεφαλῆς γινομένην ἀπὸ φλέγματος. ὠφελεῖ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀδυναμίαν τῆς καρδίας καὶ τὸν καρδιωγμὸν καὶ ὀλιγωρίαν. οὐχ ἁρμόζει δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσι τὴν κρᾶσιν θερμήν.

ἄμπαρ ἐστὶ θερμὸν φύσει καὶ ἐνδυναμοῖ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον· τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τὸν στόμαχον εὐφραίνει.

καμφορὰ ὑγρὰ καὶ ψυχρά ἐστιν· ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὰ θερμὰ νοσήματα τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος· εἰ δέ τις πίῃ ἐξ αὐτῆς πλέον τοῦ δέοντος ποιεῖ ἀγρυπνίαν. καὶ ψύχει τοὺς νεφροὺς ἐλαττοῖ τε τὴν γονὴν καὶ τίκτει εἰς τὰ μόρια νοσήματα ἀθεράπευτα.

σάνταλόν ἐστι ψυχρὸν καὶ ξηρόν· ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὰ θερμὰ νοσήματα τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ ἐνδυναμοῖ αὐτὸ καὶ ψύχει τὴν θερμὴν δυσκρασίαν αὐτοῦ.

ξυλαλόη ὑπάρχει θερμὴ καὶ ξηρά· καὶ ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὴν ἀδυναμίαν τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ στομάχου καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ ψῦξιν εἴς τε τὴν ἔμφραξιν στομάχου καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ ψῦξιν εἴς τε τὴν ἔμφραξιν τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν μορίων τὴν ἐκ ψυχρότητος καὶ ὑγρότητος γινομένην.

κρόκος ὑπάρχει ψυχρὸς καὶ ξηρός· ἀδικεῖ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ ποιεῖ ὀδύνην καὶ βάρος εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ ὕπνον· εὐφραίνει δὲ τὴν καρδίαν.

καρυόφυλλον ὑπάρχει θερμὸν καὶ ξηρόν· ἐνδυναμοῖ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ τὴν καρδίαν.

κάρυα βασιλικά εἰσι θερμὰ καὶ ξηρά· ἔχουσι δὲ δύναμιν καὶ ἐνέργειαν τὴν τοῦ καρυοφύλλου.

ῥοδόσταγμα ψυχρὸν ὑπάρχει καὶ ὑγρόν· παύει τὸν ἐκ θέρμης πόνον κεφαλῆς ἢ ἀπὸ πολυποσίας οἴνου ἐνδυναμοῖ τε τὴν καρδίαν καὶ ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν.

Anonymous, On the Capacities of Foods printed in Delatte, Anecdota atheniensia, p. 475–476

Dinner Advice for New Year’s Eve

Cabbage with Vinegar

“If you are at a dinner party and want to drink a lot and enjoy your meal, before dinner eat as much raw cabbage with vinegar as you like, and likewise, after dining eat around five [cabbage] leaves. It will restore you as if you had eaten nothing, and you can drink as much as you like.”

Si voles in convivio multum bibere cenareque libenter, ante cenam esto crudam quantum voles ex aceto, et item, ubi cenaveris, comesto aliqua V folia; reddet te quasi nihil ederis, bibesque quantum voles.

Cato the Elder, De re rustica 156.1

Appetizer suggestion: Rotkohl.

Baked Pork Lung

“To make those who drink a lot also not get drunk: eat baked pork lung.”

Πολλὰ πίνοντα καὶ μὴ μεθύειν· χοιραῖον πνεύμονα ὀπτήσας φάγε.

Attributed to Democritus, from the collection of Magical Greek Papyri (source here)

First course suggestion: Bopis.

Theophrastus on Art and Nature II – Natural and Artificial Ecology

“The fact that some plants also cooperate towards each other’s preservation and generation is also evident from the following considerations. Among wild plants, deciduous ones cooperate with evergreens since when their leaves decay the earth is, as it were, fertilized which is useful for both good feeding and for the germination of their seeds; while among cultivated plants, those cooperate which people sow among their plants when they want to remove excess moisture from their vines, and among their vegetables either for this reason or because there is an infestation of bugs as bitter vetch is sown among radishes to guard against aphids and whatever else similarly grows among others. For we should assume these kinds of things happen among nature’s spontaneous creations, as well, especially if art imitates nature.”

ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς ἔνια συνεργεῖ πρὸς τὴν ἀλλήλων σωτηρίαν καὶ γένεσιν καὶ ἐκ τῶνδε φανερόν· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἀγρίοις τὰ φυλλοβόλα τοῖς ἀειφύλλοις ὅτι σηπομένων ξυμβαίνει καθάπερ κοπρίζεσθαι τὴν γῆν ὃ καὶ πρὸς εὐτροφίαν καὶ πρὸς τὴν βλάστησιν τῶν σπερμάτων χρήσιμον. ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἡμέροις ὅσα τοῖς φυτοῖς ἐπισπείρουσι τῶν ἀμπέλων ἀφαιρεῖν βουλόμενοι τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ὑγρότητος καὶ τοῖς λαχάνοις ἢ τούτου χάριν ἢ τῶν γινομένων θηρίων οἷον ταῖς ῥαφανίσι τοὺς ὀρόβους πρὸς τὰς ψύλλας καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον ἑτέροις. οἴεσθαι γὰρ χρὴ τοιαῦτα καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐτομάτοις τῆς φύσεως ὑπάρχειν ἄλλως τε καὶ εἰ ἡ τέχνη μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν.

Theophrastus, Causes of Plants, 2.18.1–2

Shopping with Galen (and a bit on the epistemology of drugs)

With the holiday season approaching, why not check in with Galen for some shopping advice? Here is what he tells his friends to do to get the best drugs from the rhôpopôlai, the street vendors at the market (I’ve posted about them here). As a bonus, Galen tells us what he takes to be his own innovation in quantifying the active powers in drugs, even throwing in a bit of epistemology and some critical remarks against hair-splitting logicians.

Happy holidays ✨🎄⚗

Galen has just talked about where to keep drugs in the house and he’s reminded us not to keep them near the food…

I encourage my friends to copy me in the following way, too, at least if they want to produce their medical products well. You see, every year, in order that those damned hucksters sell me the very best drugs from all over the world, I thoroughly harass them. Maybe it would be better to complain not only to them, but rather to their wholesalers, and even more to the root-cutters themselves—that’s what they’re called, even though they import from the mountains and into the city not just roots, but also saps, juices, fruits, flowers and blossoms. These people are the first of all to adulterate the drugs.

Therefore, whoever wants to get their hands on remedies from anywhere easily needs to acquire experience with every material derived from plants, and every material derived from both animals and metals, and all those earthy bodies distinct from metals which we bring in for medical use, so that one can discern which of them are real and which are fake. After that, one needs to train following my book in which I wrote about the capacities of simple drugs. For if one turns to what is useful in these notebooks without having prepared, while he may go as far as a rational understanding with respect to the method, he won’t produce anything worthy of it.

For suppose someone knows the things which we mentioned before about tendon injuries, but, because of their ignorance, introduces adulterated drugs into the compounds, or doesn’t even know their capacities precisely from the start. Won’t it be necessary that they will more often go wrong than right? To me it seems completely obvious, but precisely knowing the capacities differs a great deal from knowing them. For merely knowing them means recognizing whether the drug naturally dries, moistens, cools or heats us, while precisely knowing means also recognizing, in addition to this, the quantity of the capacity. For some drugs have a capacity such that, when they come into contact with our bodies, it produces a warm heat, while others produce a moderate one only a little bit stronger than the former; and others even boil so strongly that they can burn. Accordingly, the doctor needs to aim to recognize not only the quality of the condition, but also, one might say, the quantity in it.

For, while quantity is clearly not properly said to be something in [the category of] quality,* it is said to be all the same, in the way a fever, too, is said to be big or small. And the practice of speaking in this way is so common that already these terms have the force of proper speech, like [the words] ‘boxwood,’ ‘coppersmith,’ ‘animal-drawer,’ ‘oakcutter,’ and, in short, like terms that started off as instances of what grammarians call catachresis, but ended up being taken to be said properly. I’ve said these things for the people who want to get into discussions about logic at inappropriate times, but what I was saying when they interrupted me is this: what needs to be heated does not simply need to be heated, but heated with an appropriate measure.

*i.e., quality is not predicated of quantity, e.g., three is no more a kind of heat than it is a shade of red.

τοὺς δ’ ἑταίρους προτρέπω καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο μιμήσεσθαί με βουλομένους γε καλῶς ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ τῆς τέχνης ἔργα. γιγνώσκετε γὰρ, ὅπως ἐξ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐθνῶν τὰ κάλλιστά μοι διακομίζεται καθ’ ἕκαστον ἔτος φάρμακα διὰ τὸ τοὺς ἐπιτρίπτους ῥωποπώλας, παντοίως αὐτοῖς λυμαίνεσθαι. βέλτιον δ’ ἴσως οὐ τούτους μόνους, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον αὐτῶν τοὺς κομίζοντας ἐμπόρους μέμφεσθαι, κᾀκείνων ἔτι μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς τοὺς ῥιζοτόμους μὲν ὀνομαζομένους, οὐδὲνδ’ ἧττον τῶν ῥιζῶν ὀπούς τε καὶ χυλοὺς καὶ καρποὺς, ἄνθη τε καὶ βλάστας ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν κατακομίζοντας εἰς τὰς πόλεις· οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ πρῶτοι πάντων εἰς αὐτὰ πανουργοῦντες.

ὅστις οὖν βούλεται πανταχόθεν βοηθημάτων εὐπορεῖν, ἔμπειρος γενέσθω πάσης μὲν τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν φυτῶν ὕλης, πάσης δὲ τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ζώων τε καὶ μετάλλων, ὅσα τε γεώδη σώματα χωρὶς μεταλλείας εἰς ἰατρικὴν χρῆσιν ἄγομεν, ὡς διαγινώσκειν αὐτῶν τά τε ἀκριβῆ καὶ τὰ νόθα, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο γυμνασάσθω κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν πραγματείαν, ἐν ᾗ περὶ τῆς δυνάμεως ἔγραψα τῶν ἁπλῶν φαρμάκων. εἰ μὴ γὰρ οὕτως παρεσκευασμένος ἥκει πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τῶνδε τῶν ὑπομνημάτων ὠφέλειαν, ἄχρι λόγου μὲν εἴσεται τὴν μέθοδον, ἔργον δ’ οὐδὲν ἄξιον αὐτῆς ἐργάσεται.

φέρε γὰρ αὐτὰ μὲν ἃ προείρηκα περὶ τῶν νευροτρώτων ἐπίστασθαί τινα, δεδολωμένα δὲ φάρμακα δι’ ἄγνοιαν ἐμβάλλειν τοῖς συντιθεμένοις, ἢ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπίστασθαι τὰς δυνάμεις ἀκριβῶς αὐτῶν, ἆρα οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἔσται πλεονάκις τοῦτον διαμαρτάνειν ἢ κατορθοῦν; ἐμοὶ μὲν καὶ πάνυ δοκεῖ. τὸ δὲ ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθαι τὰς δυνάμεις τοῦ μὲν ἐπίστασθαι διαφέρει πάμπολυ. τὸ μὲν γὰρ μόνον ἐπίστασθαι γινώσκειν ἐστὶν, εἰ ξηραίνειν τὸ φάρμακον ἢ ὑγραίνειν ἢ ψύχειν ἢ θερμαίνειν ἡμᾶς πέφυκε. τὸ δ’ ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθαι πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ τὸ ποσὸν τῆς δυνάμεώς ἐστιν ἐγνωκέναι. τινὰ μὲν γὰρ φάρμακα δύναμιν ἔχει χλιαρᾶς θερμασίας γεννητικὴν, ὅταν ὁμιλήσῃ τοῖς σώμασιν ἡμῶν, ἔνια δὲ συμμέτρου, καθάπερ ἄλλα βραχὺ ταύτης ἰσχυρότερα, ἕτερα δ’ ἤδη ζεούσης οὕτως ἰσχυρῶς, ὡς καίειν δύνασθαι. χρὴ τοίνυν τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐστοχάσθαι, μὴ μόνον τοῦ ποιοῦ τῆς διαθέσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὴν ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις ποσοῦ.

λέγεται μὲν γὰρ οὐ πάνυ τι κυρίως τὸ ποσὸν ἐν τῇ ποιότητι. λέγεται δ' οὖν ὅμως, ὅπως καὶ πυρετὸς μέγας καὶ μικρός. καὶ τοσαύτη γε χρῆσίς ἐστι τῶν οὕτω λεγομένων, ὥστ' ἤδη κυρίου δύναμιν ἔχειν αὐτὰ παραπλησίως πυξίδι καὶ χαλκεῖ καὶ ζωγράφῳ καὶ δρυοτόμῳ καὶ συνελόντι φάναι τοῖς ἀρξαμένοις μὲν ἐκ τῆς ὑπὸ τῶν γραμματικῶν ὀνομαζομένης καταχρήσεως, ὕστερον δὲ κυρίοις λέγεσθαι πεπιστευμένοις. ταῦτα μὲν εἴρηταί μοι διὰ τοὺς οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ διαλεκτικευομένους. ὃ δὲ λέγων ἀπέλιπεν ἔστι τοιόνδε, ὅτι τὸ ξηραίνεσθαι δεόμενον οὐχ ἁπλῶς δεῖται τοῦ ξηραίνοντος, ἀλλὰ σὺν τῷ προσήκοντι μέτρῳ.

Galen, On Compound Drugs by Kind (Comp. Med. Gen.) 3.2, 13.570–573 K.