CHAP. 81.—TWENTY REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SAFFRON.
Saffron does not blend well with honey, or, indeed, with any
sweet substance, though very readily with wine or water: it
is extremely useful in medicine, and is generally kept in horn
boxes. Applied with egg it disperses all kinds of inflammation, those of the eyes in particular: it is employed also for
hysterical suffocations, and for ulcerations of the stomach, chest,
kidneys, liver, lungs, and bladder. It is particularly useful
also in cases of inflammation of those parts, and for cough and
pleurisy. It likewise removes itching [Note] sensations, and acts as
a diuretic. Persons who have used the precaution of first
taking saffron in drink will never experience surfeit or headache, and will be proof against inebriation. Chaplets too,
made of saffron, and worn on the head, tend to dispel the fumes
of wine. The flower of it is employed topically with Cimolian [Note] chalk for erysipelas. It is used also in the composition
of numerous other medicaments.