Volume 1
A medicinal dictionary; including physic, surgery, anatomy, chymistry, and botany, in all their branches relative to medicine. Together with a history of drugs ... and an introductory preface, tracing the progress of physic, and explaining the theories which have ... prevail'd in all ages / By R. James.
- James, R. (Robert), 1703?-1776.
- Date:
- 1743-1745
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A medicinal dictionary; including physic, surgery, anatomy, chymistry, and botany, in all their branches relative to medicine. Together with a history of drugs ... and an introductory preface, tracing the progress of physic, and explaining the theories which have ... prevail'd in all ages / By R. James. Source: Wellcome Collection.
417/1128 (page 407)
![provoker, the Menfcs, and, apply'd to the Pedteh, it expels the Stone, helps Difficulty of Urine, and relieves under Coftive- nefs. Diluted with Oil of Rofes, it heals Fiffures in the Soles of the Feet, and clcanfes and incarnates Ulcers of the Teftes and Pudenda. Prepared without the Frugo, it rertrains phage¬ denic Ulcers, and is ferviceable, inftead of an Embrocation, in Fradturcs* as an Anodyne. There is alfo a very ufeful Medicine prepared of the Flowers, Which are like Rofes* in the following manner: They take the Flowers, and cutting off the Bottoms of the Leaves, firft bruife, and then pulverize them. Of this Powrder, they take twelve Parts, of Colophonia twenty-four Parts, of Wax fix, and Oil two Parts. Prepare them as diredted in the former, and work them well with your Hands. It is more convenient for Ule than the former, and a greater Anodyne. JEtius 2*etr. 4. Serm. 3. Cap. 14. An emollient Medicine. Take of Colophonia, Wax, each one Pound ; of Oil and Juice of Althaea, each two Pints. Aciuarius Metb. Med. Lib. 6. Cap. 9. Althaea has been the Occafion, that many have deceiv’d themfelves, who prefume they know it, and impofed upon others, who are credulous enough to take their Word for it; for when they would perfuade us, that Althaea is a common Herb, and known by every body, they prove their Ignorance by fo doing, and demonffrate, that they know no¬ thing of the Matter. The Greek Authors, on the contrary, who are to be found in clofeand feledt Libraries, allure us, that Althaea is a very fcarce Plant, and only to be met with in Afia and Sicily. I lhall give you their very Words : H pip AAfcWtf. ts pa.S'icof ivqio-Kijou, qvoy.iM \v 7oit 7ns ’Atias tottois n SmAietf, iveJ^KijcU fi \v 7 it SfU/fPil iV TO> S^SAi]/ 7To\a[J.CO. “ AlthcCa is M not eafily met with. It grows in Afia or Sicily, particularly “ near Smyrna, by the Banks of tire River Scbelis. ” Theo- fihrafius alfo hints, that it was a fcarce Herb, when he tells us, that it was to be met with among the Arcadians, who called it *A^’ia y.A\Ayn, “ wild Mallows, ” but the Sons of the Phyfi- cians gave it the Name of ’AAtWa, “ Althaea,” from the me¬ dicinal Virtues with which it is endued, Lib. 9. Cap. 14. Be- fides, he deferibes it by fuch Charadters as they are forced to confefs they never faw, namely, with a yellow Flower : «fe « ' AK$ai.A<pvhhov fid' oy-oiov (jt.a.\d%H,7rh))v y.Cfioi' ka] daevrspoy, •7«( £i kavKus y.stAetKiis, av$& y.nxtvov. “ Althaea has a Leaf like “ the Mallow, but larger and rougher, foft Stalks, and a “ Flower of a yellow or Honey-like Colour.” Dioficorides fays, it is poJ'o&Lii, “ like a Rofe, ” which we may underftand to be meant of the Figure of a Rofe, which it may have under a yellow Colour. Harpocration in his Book YUei tpvaiKvv S'vva.y.icov, 4C Of phyfical Powers, ” fays, that the Flower of Althaea is called a Rofe ; whether from its Colour or Shape, is uncertain [ ’OoSvgirtf dvn Isiv, nv ot fid oroQajriv -/.Axiatv, hi £i ovoy.oXoy^nr tcu]n fit 70 pocfor, £ ifi repam 'TAix.tstr/v Yaanvzs fi 7ai{ eop/tcif 7&V §iav, euAAet oy.ota. nfipn’ Tadjnv T/AHVSf kak£<tiv ' AxbauAV. “ The Onothyrfis is an Herb, which “ fome call Onothure, others, Onomolocbe. It bears Rofes, “ which the Grecians weave into Crowns at the Feafts of their 4< Gods, and has Leaves like the Garden-mallow; this the 4t Greeks call Altbeea. ” But it is raoft reafonable to interpret oes£i< [rhodoeides] of the Colour. For fo Tr^y.aoeiS'is [pra- foeides] means fomething of a Leek-green Colour; and poLo&Lis, ^rhodoeides] apply’d to Metals, fignifies a Rofe-colour. In his following Defcription of Althaea, he makes its Flower to be like a Rofe: ”AvQ& yufiv po£a>. “ It has a fmall Flower “ like a Rofe.” Therefore by poFoesHs he meant the Colour, which an antientTranfcriber of Dioficorides expreffed by painting the Flower of Althaea of aRofe-colour. If this be fo, Dioficorides muff have fpoken of quite a different Plant from the true Al¬ thaea ; for that bears a yellow Flower. Some, I know not for what Rcafon, fuppofe it to be the Abutilon of Avifiena; but Avifiena fays no more of his Abutilon, than that it was a Plant like a Gourd ; to which his Arabian Expofitors add, that the Abutilon re.fembled a Gourd not only in Leaves, but alfo in its Fruit, which is not round, but oblong, and that it was to be found in the City of Gaza. This, you fee, is very different from the Althaea of the Greeks. Diofcorides lays, that “ It is 44 called Ebificus by fome. ” Why did he not fay by the Ro¬ mans, as he ufually does on other Occafions? For none but the Romans called the Althaea Ebificus, or Ibificus. The old Greek Horfe-Phyficians, in that Part which is wanting in the Editions: Aiyilou fid’AAQcua, Coro 7tvvv H Mo\oy»fiPay.xifi E[i/rib&t ’S.a^xatais <fe T'IIms d) A^uxth. “ It js called “ Altbeea ; by fome, Mcloche ; in Latin, Ebificus; by the Sar- ** matians, Getes, and Thracians, Arifipis. ” Neopbytus, ’AaQoJa ft ’ Ahitfixov, ot Jll y.AK&XW d^lAV, 'l,(t>y.cuoi‘l1rliio-K*y.. << Al- “ thaea is the Althifcum, fome call it the Wild Mallow, and “ the Romans Ebifcum. ” In the Gloffary, ’AaSal a is Hibifcum; in other Gloffarics it is, without an Afpiration, Ibifeus, Herba mollis ; thence comes the Italian Malvavijco, for Malva Ibifico, for which the French fay, Ibifico-malva ; for thence conies their VOL. I. Grimauve, We placing before what the Italians place after The Barbarians call it Bifimalva, which is plainly a Corruption of lbijco-malva. I don’t wonder, that PJiny, in the Place where hc'fpeaks of Hibifcus, -makes no mention of Althaea, nor fays any thin? of Hibifcus when he mentions Althaea. ’Tis plain, that he thought them different, as his Manner is in other Cafes. But I^can’t help being furprifed at his placing Hibifcus among the Kinds of Parfnip, and feeming willing to have it be like a Parfnip, and that in more Places than one. In Lib. 19. Cap. 5. treating of the Kinds of Parfnips, Hibijcum a Pafiinaca Gia- cihtate difiat ; damnatum in cibis, fied Medicines utile eft ; iff quartutn Genus in eadern Jimilitudine Pajlinaees, quam Galiicam vocant, Gresci vero Daucon. “ Hibifcum differs from a Parfnip “ on account of its Slendernefs : it is condemn’d as Food, “ but ufeful in Medicine. And there is a fourth Kind, re- “ fombling in like manner a Parfnip, which they call Gallic “ Parfinip, but the Greeks name it Daucus. ” He pretends, that the Hibifcum differs from a Parfnip only in Slendernefs, that is to fay, is more {lender than a Parfnip, but like in other refpedls. I his he repeats in another Place, that is. Lib. 20. Cap. 4- Pajhnaces fimile Hibificum, quod Molochen agriatn vocant, iff ahqui Plijtolochiam. “There is a Refemblance be- “ tween the Parfnip and the Hibifcum, which is commonly “ called the Wild Mallow, and by fome Plijlolochia, ” which by all is recorded to be like the Mallow, and to be a kind of wild Mallow ; but how it fhould come to look like a Parfnip, I am at a Lofs to imagine, efpecially of the Pliftolochia ; for this, in another Place, he ranks among the Ariftolochia’s, and makes a fourth Kind of it. As to Hibifcum being like a Parfnip, which Pliny affirms, I fancy, that I fee whence he derived his Conceit. He had read in fome Latin Author, that Hibifcum was a kind of wild Mallow, and parted with fome under the Greek Appellation of Moloche Agria, and differed not at all from the Paftinata, but only in Slendernefs. Now by the Paftinata is to be underftood the Garden Mallow, which is planted Pafiinato, “ in delved “ Ground.” All cultivated Things are larger than what are wild, and therefore the wild Mallow was flenderer than the fative, or pafiinata, “ planted in delved Ground. ” The Hb bifeum, he fays, was condemn’d as Food, that is, the wild Mallow; for we are affured, that the Garden Kind was for¬ merly eaten. Pliny therefore, having his Thoughts diverted an¬ other way, miftook Pafiinata for ~Pafiinaca, “ a Parfnip. ” ’Tis certain, and not a little material to the Purpofe, that the moft antient Manufcripts, in that Place, have Pafiinata in ex- prefs Letters; Hibificum a Pafiinata gracilitate differt. “ Hi- “ bifeum differs from the Paftinata in its Slendernefs; ” whereas in other Places, the fame Copies have the Word Pafti- naca, whole and uncorrupted. The Author from whom Pliny borrow’d his Account, doubtlefs wrote, Hibificum, id ejl, agrejlis Malva, a Pafiinata gracilitate differt. « Hibifcum, “ that is, the wild Mallow, differs from the cultivated, in “ Slendernefs. ” He omitted the agrejlis Malva, and read Pafiinaca for Pafiinata, as thefe two Letters are often ex¬ chang’d for one another, in Words of that Form ; for Example, Securiclata, fiecut iclaca ; hngulata, hngulaca ; pcrfionaca, per- fionata, » Trpocrejrrilis, [Profopitis] by fome called Perfionacia, “ a Perfonation. ” The Gloffary has Paftinatio, <pv\d, “ Pafti- “ nation [means] a Cultivation.” It is not to be doubted then that w fvlvsit, “ the planted, ” cultivated, and Garden Mallow, was properly called Pafiinata, « planted in delved Ground. ” Under the fame Miftake he afferts every-where, that the Hi¬ bifcum is like a Parfnip. I formerly took the Alcaea of the Greeks to be meant by the Name Hibifcum; for the Alcaea is a kind of wild Mallow, which fome, we are allured, have confounded with Althfea. For Neopbytus, under the Name of Althaea, has deferibed the Alcaa, which he furnifhes with Leaves, ijsKry.iva. orpos 7et fiojeem, “ indented like thofe of Vervain. ” Now I thought, that Pliny had reckon’d this indenting of the Leaves in Alcaea, which he took for Althaea, among the Charadters in which it refembled a Parfnip ; but nothing is more certain, than that he fell into this Miftake in the manner we have related. The fame Author, in another Place, thus diftinguifhes the Althaea among the other Mallows: Ex fiylvefiribus, cui grande Folium, iff Radices albes, Altbeea vocatur ab excellentia Effeclus, ab aliis Arifialtbesa. “ Of the wild Kinds, that with the large “ Leaf, and the white Roots, is called Altbeea, from its eXcel- “ lent Virtues, by fome named Arifialtbesa. ” An antient Manufcript indicates, that this laft Word is not rightly written, by reading ab aliis Plitolicia “ by others PlitoliciaT ” Hence it appears, that it ought to be read Plijlolochia, which is con¬ firmed by the Manufcript Index : Malva Altbeea, five Plfio- lochia, “ the Mallow Abhaea; or Pliftolochia. ” In another Place it fays, that Hibifcum is called by others Plfiokchia : Perhaps it took that Name from its Virtue in extracting the Secundines, which the Greeks call aoyfiA. Pliny, in reckoning the Kinds of Ariftolochia, makes Plifto¬ lochia the fourth, which is alfo called “ many- Hhhh “rooted;** 1](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30455625_0001_0418.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
