CHAP. 23. (7.)—REMEDIES FOR ALOPECY, CHANGE OF COLOUR
IN THE HAIR, AND ULCERATIONS OF THE HEAD. THE SEA-MOUSE:
TWO REMEDIES. THE SEA-SCORPION: TWELVE REMEDIES.
THE LEECH: SEVEN REMEDIES. THE MUREX: THIRTEEN
REMEDIES. THE CONCHYLIUM: FIVE REMEDIES.
Ashes of the hippocampus, [Note] mixed with nitre [Note] and hog's
lard, or else used solely with vinegar, are curative of alopecy;
the skin being first prepared for the reception of the necessary
medicaments by an application of powdered bone of sæpia. [Note]
Alopecy is cured also with ashes of the sea-mouse, [Note] mixed with
oil; ashes of the sea-urchin, burnt, flesh and all together;
the gall of the sea-scorpion; [Note] or else ashes of three frogs
burnt alive in an earthen pot, applied with honey, or what
is still better, in combination with tar. Leeches left to putrefy
for forty days in red wine stain the hair black. Others, again,
recommend one sextarius of leeches to be left to putrefy the
same number of days in a leaden vessel, with two sextarii of
vinegar, the hair to be well rubbed with the mixture in the
sun. According to Sornatius, this preparation is naturally
so penetrating, that if females, when they apply it, do not
take the precaution of keeping some oil in the mouth, the
teeth even will become blackened thereby. Ashes of burnt
shells of the murex or purple are used as a liniment, with honey,
for ulcerations of the head; the shells, too, of other shell-fish, [Note]
powdered merely, and not calcined, are very useful for the same
purpose, applied with water. For the cure of head-ache,
castoreum is employed, in combination with peucedanum [Note] and
oil of roses.