CHAP. 79.—PROVOCATIVES OF SLEEP.
Cato was of opinion that hare's flesh, [Note] taken as a diet, is
provocative of sleep. It is a vulgar notion, too, that this diet
confers beauty for nine days on those who use it; a silly play [Note]
upon words, no doubt, but a notion which has gained far too
extensively not to have had some real foundation. According
to the magicians, the gall of a she-goat, but only of one that
has been sacrificed, applied to the eyes or placed beneath the
pillow, has a narcotic effect. Too profuse perspiration is
checked by rubbing the body with ashes of burnt goats' horns
mixed with oil of myrtle.
