CHAP. 3. (4.)—-ÆTHIOPIS: FOUR REMEDIES.
Æthiopis [Note] is a plant with leaves resembling those of phlomos, [Note] large, numerous, hairy, and springing from the root.
The stem is square, rough, similar to that of arction [Note] in appearance, and with numerous axillary concavities. The seed
resembles that of the fitch, being white and twofold; the roots
are several in number, long, fleshy, soft, and of a viscous taste;
when dry they turn black and hard, and might easily be taken
for horns. In addition to Æthiopia, this plant grows upon
Mount Ida in Troas, and in Messenia. The roots are gathered
in autumn, and left to dry for some days in the sun, to prevent
them from turning mouldy. Taken in white wine they are
curative of affections of the uterus, and a decoction of them
is administered for sciatica, pleurisy, and eruptions of the
throat. The kind, however, which comes from Æthiopia, is
by far the best, and gives instantaneous relief.
