^84 Tables of Ancient Coins,

Weights, (tho’ they are not ancient,) is not foreign to ourpurpose. See Bishop Hoopers Treatise of Weights and Mea-sures.

In the following computation of the Doses of ancient Medi-cines, I shall make use of the Weight of the Denarius and Drach-ma as Coins, both supposed equal to C z ?! Troy Grains. Thesixth part of this, or the Obolus Atticus, and likewise the sixth ofthe Denarius used by Celfus, is equal very near to 10,4 Grains*Sometimes Hippocrates mentions the Æginœan Weight, which isbigger than the Attick in the proportion of five to three,

I shall begin with a short account of Hippocrates's manner ofprescribing, who indeed very seldom mentions the Doses of hisMedicines: perhaps because they were commonly prepared andadministred by the Physicians themselves, or that the Sons of theArt were sufficiently instructed in these things, and the Doseswere likewise to be different according to the strength and othercircumstances of the Patient ^ yet this is somewhat surprizing, be-cause his Purgative Medicines are generally very rough and strong,such as Hellebor , not only the black but the white r Elaterium orthe juice of the wild Cucumber; Cnidian Grains, or the Berries ofthe Mezerium ; Peplus and Peplium , both Species of the Tythimalusor the greater Spurge. Besides those Purges, there were the Thap-jia, the juice of the Hippophaœ, which is supposed to be a sort ofRhamnus ; Coloqumtida, Scammony , Magnejian Stone , Cnicus a cartha-mus ; le Clerk mentions likewise a sort of purging white Poppy asa Medicine of Hippocrates .

Those purging Medicines, as said before, are often mentionedwithout naming the Doses; thus in an inflammation of the Lungs,when the spitting is suppressed, a he orders after the sixth, seventhor ninth day, to take white Hellebor , Thapjia, fresh Elaterium, ofeach equal parts; and to make the Patient vomit, but with aprediction of the great danger of the Patient.. b In a vehementpain of the head, the juice of the Thapjia in warm water for aVomit, without mentioning the Dose.

* He

*Demorkis lib 1. b Ibid.