286

Tables of Ancient Coins ,

of Raisin-water; where the change of the Measure is very remar-kable, and it seems very unaccountable to be so exact in the quan-tity of liquor, where a small error was of little concern, and tobe so loose in the Doses of powerful Medicines. If I were allow-ed to guess at the reason of this proceeding, I should believe thatthe Medicines being prepared by the Physicians themselves, andthe lotions or fomentations by the Nurses; he thought it was muchmore necessary to be exact with the one than the other; and youwill find through his whole Writingss that he is very precise andexact in ordering alimentary things; and likewise it is not impro-bable, but that he concealed the Doses of his Medicines from allothers but the Sons of the Art.

He is very nice in distinguishing the different qualities of hisPurges; he tells you that Hellebor is a better Purge than the Pep-lmm 3 but the Tellium was better against Wind,. He seems to havebeen the first, who divided Purges into Hydrotich , Purgers of Bile,

e I think there is one sort of Remedy which he uses in Drop-sies, to. the water of the Hydroplch, which he faith is a Remedyfor the Disease.

f There is mention made of {jlolmcl or Manna , not as a purg-ing Medicine; it is apply ed externally.

The next thing of which the Doses ought to be nicely determi-ned are Opiats, but tho’ he speaks of such Medicines as procureSleep, and ease Pain, he doth not determine their Doses; he namesthe fjLMM, and t/, by which he understands the Poppy and

the juice of it. 8 He speaks both of the white and the black Pop-yjy as astringents, but faith the black Poppy, or that with the blackfeed, excells most in that quality. h In another place he reckonsthe Poppy amongst the Spices. 1 Amongst the Opiats may be reck-oned the Mandragora , Hyosciamus , Henbane seed, the one he pre-scribes to melancholy people only with this caution, that it should

not

« Lib. de internis affedh'pnibus. , f Lib. de I &c. h De internis affectionibus. > De lo*nu'.ur. muliebri. s Lib. de nuioae victus, | cis in hojnine.