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A Whistle Stop Tour of Statistics Everitt Digital Instant
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Author(s): Everitt, Brian S
ISBN(s): 9781439877494, 1439877491
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Year: 2011
Language: english
 Statistics

A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics

A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics
A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics introduces basic probability and
statistics through bite-size coverage of key topics. A review aid and
study guide for undergraduate students, it presents descriptions of key
concepts from probability and statistics in self-contained sections.

Features
• Presents an accessible reference to the key concepts in
probability and statistics
• Introduces each concept through bite-size descriptions and
presents interesting real-world examples
• Includes lots of diagrams and graphs to clarify and illustrate
topics
• Provides a concise summary of ten major areas of statistics
including survival analysis and the analysis of longitudinal data

Written by Brian Everitt, the author of over 60 statistical texts, the book
shows how statistics can be applied in the real world, with interesting
examples and plenty of diagrams and graphs to illustrate concepts.

Brian S. Everitt
Everitt

K13590

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 A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics

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This page intentionally left blank
 A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics
Brian S. Everitt

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CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Version Date: 20111025

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-7749-4 (eBook - PDF)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Rea-
sonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and
publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences
of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all
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 To all my long-suffering doubles partners at the Edward Alleyn Tennis
Club

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This page intentionally left blank
 Contents

Preface xi

1 Some Basics and Describing Data 1

1.1 Population, Samples and Variables 1
1.2 Types of Variables 2
1.3 Tabulating and Graphing Data: Frequency Distributions,
Histograms and Dotplots 3
1.4 Summarizing Data: Mean, Variance and Range 8
1.4.1 Measures of Central Tendency 8
1.4.2 Measures of Variability 9
1.5 Comparing Data from Different Groups Using Summary
Statistics and Boxplots 10
1.6 Relationship between Two Variables, Scatterplots and
Correlation Coefficients 12
1.7 Types of Studies 15
1.8 Summary 17
Suggested Reading 18

2 Probability 19
2.1 Probability 19
2.2 Odds and Odds Ratios 21
2.3 Permutations and Combinations 22
2.4 Conditional Probabilities and Bayes’ Theorem 24
2.5 Random Variables, Probability Distributions and
Probability Density Functions 26
2.5.1 Random Variable 26
2.5.2 Probability Distribution 26
2.5.3 Probability Density Function 28
2.6 Expected Value and Moments 31
2.7 Moment-Generating Function 36
2.8 Summary 39
Suggested Reading 41

vii

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 viii Contents

3 Estimation 43
3.1 Point Estimation 43
3.2 Sampling Distribution of the Mean and the Central
Limit Theorem 44
3.3 Estimation by the Method of Moments 46
3.4 Estimation by Maximum Likelihood 48
3.5 Choosing Between Estimators 50
3.6 Sampling Distributions: Student’s t, Chi-Square
and Fisher’s F 51
3.7 Interval Estimation, Confidence Intervals 54
3.8 Summary 57
Suggested Reading 58

4 Inference 59
4.1 Inference and Hypotheses 59
4.2 Significance Tests, Type I and Type II Errors, Power and
the z-Test 60
4.3 Power and Sample Size 64
4.4 Student’s t-Tests 66
4.5 The Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit Test 72
4.6 Nonparametric Tests 75
4.7 Testing the Population Correlation Coefficient 76
4.8 Tests on Categorical Variables 78
4.9 The Bootstrap 84
4.10 Significance Tests and Confidence Intervals 86
4.11 Frequentist and Bayesian Inference 87
4.12 Summary 89
Suggested Reading 92

5 Analysis of Variance Models 93

5.1 One-Way Analysis of Variance 93
5.2 Factorial Analysis of Variance 96
5.3 Multiple Comparisons, a priori and post hoc Comparisons 102
5.4 Nonparametric Analysis of Variance 106
5.5 Summary 107
Suggested Reading 109

6 Linear Regression Models 111

6.1 Simple Linear Regression 111
6.2 Multiple Linear Regression 113
6.3 Selecting a Parsimonious Model 117
6.4 Regression Diagnostics 122

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 Contents ix

6.5 Analysis of Variance as Regression 126

6.6 Summary 132
Suggested Reading 132

7 Logistic Regression and the Generalized Linear Model 133

7.1 Odds and Odds Ratios 133
7.2 Logistic Regression 135
7.3 Generalized Linear Model 141
7.4 Variance Function and Overdispersion 146
7.5 Diagnostics for GLMs 146
7.6 Summary 147
Suggested Reading 148

8 Survival Analysis 149

8.1 Survival Data and Censored Observations 149
8.2 Survivor Function, Log-Rank Test and Hazard Function 150
8.3 Proportional Hazards and Cox Regression 158
8.4 Diagnostics for Cox Regression 161
8.5 Summary 162
Suggested Reading 164

9 Longitudinal Data and Their Analysis 165

9.1 Longitudinal Data and Some Graphics 165
9.2 Summary Measure Analysis 170
9.3 Linear Mixed Effects Models 171
9.4 Missing Data in Longitudinal Studies 177
9.5 Summary 179
Suggested Reading 180

10 Multivariate Data and Their Analysis 181

10.1 Multivariate Data 181
10.2 Mean Vectors, Variances, Covariance and Correlation
Matrices 182
10.3 Two Multivariate Distributions: The Multinomial
Distribution and the Multivariate Normal Distribution 184
10.4 The Wishart Distribution 186
10.5 Principal Components Analysis 187
10.6 Summary 191
Suggested Reading 192

Index 193

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 Preface

According to my Penguin English Dictionary, whistle-stop, used before a

noun, means ‘consisting of brief stops in several places’ and this whistle-stop
tour of statistics does just that, with the ten ‘stops’ being ten major areas
of statistics. In A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics quintessential accounts of
the topics which are the subject of each part are given with the summaries
at the end of each part collecting together the most important formulae,
etc. The book is intended as a quick source of reference and as an aide-
memoir for students taking A-level, undergraduate or postgraduate statistics
courses. The numerous examples included in the ‘tour’ may also be helpful
to instructors on such courses by providing their students with small data sets
with which to work. The book was partially suggested by the two excellent
‘Companions’ by A.C. Fischer-Cripps:

Fischer-Cripps, A.C. (2003) The Physics Companion, Taylor & Francis,

New York.
Fischer-Cripps, A.C. (2005) The Mathematics Companion, Taylor &
Francis, New York.

xi

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This page intentionally left blank
 Some
Basics and
Describing
1
Data

1.1 PoPuLATIon, SAMPLES

AnD VARIABLES
Population: The set of all ‘individuals’ (often humans, but not always so) that
are of interest in a study; for example, all men born in Essex in 1944, all
women between the ages of 20 years and 60 years living in San Francisco, all
companies in Paris with fewer than 20 employees.
Sample: A subset of the ‘individuals’ in a population; for example, 1000 men
born in Essex in 1944, 100 women between the ages of 20 and 60 living in
San Francisco, 10 companies in Paris with fewer than 20 employees. Samples
may be taken in various ways but in most cases we assume random sampling,
meaning that each individual in the population has the same probability of
being sampled.
Data: Information collected on members of the sample by measuring, count-
ing or observing the value (or values) of some variable (variables) on each
sample member where a variable is any quantity that may vary from individual
to individual; for example, weight of each of the 1000 Essex men, number of
sexual partners for each of the 100 San Francisco women, annual turnover for
each of the 10 Paris companies.

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 2 A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics

Nearly all statistical analysis is based on the principle that one collects
data on the members in the sample and uses this information to make some
inferences about the population of interest. Samples are needed because it is
rarely possible to study the whole population. The relation between sample
and population is subject to uncertainty and we use probability concepts to
quantify this uncertainty (see Chapters 2, 3 and 4).

1.2 TyPES of VARIABLES

Four types of variable may be distinguished:

Nominal (categorical) variables: Variables that allow classification

with respect to some property; examples are marital status, sex and
blood group. The categories of a nominal scale variable have no
logical order; numbers may be assigned to categories but merely as
convenient labels for these categories.
Ordinal variables: Variables that have one additional property over a
nominal scale variable, namely, a logical ordering of categories; now
the numbers assigned to categories indicate something about the
amount of a characteristic possessed but not about the differences
in the amount. Examples of such variables are ratings of anxiety and
depression and assessments of IQ.
Interval variables: Variables possessing a further property over ordi-
nal scales, and that is that equal differences on any part of the
scale reflect equal differences in the characteristic being measured.
The zero point for such scales does not represent the absence of
the characteristic the scale is used to measure. Examples of inter-
val scale variables are temperatures measured on the Celsius (C) or
Fahrenheit (F) scales.
Ratio variables: Variables that differ from interval scale variables in
having a true zero point that represents the absence of the character-
istic measured by the scale. Examples are temperature on the Kelvin
(K) scale and weight.

The different types of measurement scales may require the application of dif-
ferent types of statistical methods for valid conclusions to be made.

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 1 • Some Basics and Describing Data 3

1.3 TABuLATInG AnD GRAPhInG

DATA: fREquEncy DISTRIBuTIonS,
hISToGRAMS AnD DoTPLoTS
The construction of informative tables is often one of the first steps in trying
to understand a data set.

ExamPlE 1.1
Eye colour collected on a sample of 22,361 children in Aberdeen,
Scotland. Eye colour is a categorical variable. How can we usefully tabu-
late the data?

Solution
Simply count the number of children in each category of the eye colour
variable:

EyE colour
BluE lIght MEdIuM dark
Count of 2978 6697 7511 5175
children
Percentages 13.3 29.9 33.6 23.1
NB: If only percentages are given, the size of the sample
on which they are based must also be quoted.

ExamPlE 1.2
The starting positions of a sample of 144 winners of eight-horse horse
races on circular tracks were recorded where starting position is num-
bered 1 to 8 with position 1 being closest to the rail on the inside of the
track. So the original data consisted of a series of 144 numbers from 1 to
8, i.e., 1,1,3,2,4,......4,3,8. What type of variable is starting position and
how can the data be tabulated to make them more transparent?

Solution
If the starting positions are equally spaced out from the fence, then start-
ing position is an interval variable but one that is discrete rather than

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 4 A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics

continuous. If the starting positions are not equally spaced out from the
fence then the variable is ordinal only. To tabulate the data construct a
table giving the number of winners in each starting position.

startINg PosItIoN
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number 29 19 18 25 17 10 15 11
of wins

ExamPlE 1.3
The heights in millimetres of a sample of 169 men have been collected.
What is a useful way of tabulating them?

Solution
Here we can count the number (frequency) of men falling into each of
a number of intervals for height to give a frequency distribution table.

class
INtErval FrEquENcy
1550–1599 5
1600–1649 12
1650–1699 36
1700–1749 55
1750–1799 35
1800–1849 16
1850–1899 9
1900–1949 1

Tables can often be usefully represented by various graphics:

Bar chart: A graphical representation of data classified into a number

of categories. Equal-width rectangular bars are constructed over
each category with height equal to the observed frequency of the
category. See Figure 1.1 for an example. Bar charts are often used
but it is doubtful that they provide any advantage over the corre-
sponding table of frequencies.

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 1 • Some Basics and Describing Data 5

30

25
Percentage (n = 22,361)

20

15

10

0
Blue Light Medium Dark
Eye Colour

fIGuRE 1.1 Bar chart of eye colour counts.

Pie chart: A widely used graphical technique for representing rela-

tive frequencies associated with the observed values of a categorical
variable. The chart consists of a circle divided into sectors whose
sizes are proportional to the quantities (often percentages) that they
represent. An example is given in Figure 1.2. Such graphics are pop-
ular in the media but have little advantage over the tabulated data,
particularly when the number of categories is small.
Dotplot: A graphic with horizontal line for each category of a cat-
egorical variable and a dot on each giving either the category fre-
quency or the value of some other numerical quantity associated
with the category. Examples are shown in Figures 1.3 and 1.4.
Dotplots are generally more effective displays than both bar charts
and pie charts.
Histogram: A graphical representation of a frequency distribution table
in which class frequencies are represented by the areas of rectangles
centred on the class interval. If the latter are all of equal length then
the heights of the rectangles are proportional to the observed class
frequencies. An example is shown in Figure 1.5.

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 6 A Whistle-Stop Tour of Statistics

Light

Blue

Medium
Dark

fIGuRE 1.2 Pie chart of eye colour frequencies.

Starting position 8

Starting position 7

Starting position 6

Starting position 5

Starting position 4

Starting position 3

Starting position 2

Starting position 1

10 15 20 25
Frequency of Winners

fIGuRE 1.3 Dotplot of horse race winner frequency by starting position.

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 1 • Some Basics and Describing Data 7

Crane drivers

Woodworkers

Leather

Electrical

Textile

Printing

Sales

Farmers

Clerical

Managers

Professional

50 60 70 80 90 100 110
SMR

fIGuRE 1.4 Dotplot of standardized mortality rates (SMR) for lung cancer in
several occupational groups.

60

50

40
Frequency

30

20

10

0
1550–1599 1600–1649 1650–1699 1700–1749 1750–1799 1800–1849 1850–1899 1900–1949

Height (mm)

fIGuRE 1.5 Histogram of heights of 169 men.

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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 CHAP. 21.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE VIPER.

The application of a viper’s head, even if it be not the one that has
inflicted the wound, is of infinite utility as a remedy. It is highly
advantageous, too, to hold the viper that inflicted the injury on the
end of a stick, over the steam of boiling water, for it will quite
undo2573 the mischief, they say. The ashes, also, of the viper, are
considered very useful, employed as a liniment for the wound.
According to what Nigidius tells us, serpents are compelled, by a sort
of natural instinct, to return to the person who has been stung by
them. The people of Scythia split the viper’s head between the ears,
in order to extract a small stone,2574 which it swallows in its alarm,
they say: others, again, use the head entire.
From the viper are prepared those tablets which are known as
“theriaci”2575 to the Greeks: for this purpose the animal is cut away
three fingers’ length from both the head and the tail, after which the
intestines are removed and the livid vein adhering to the back-bone.
The rest of the body is then boiled in a shallow pan, in water
seasoned with dill, and the bones are taken out, and fine wheaten
flour added; after which the preparation is made up into tablets,2576
which are dried in the shade and are employed as an ingredient in
numerous medicaments. I should remark, however, that this
preparation, it would appear, can only be made from the viper. Some
persons, after cleansing the viper in manner above described, boil
down the fat, with one sextarius of olive oil, to one half. Of this
preparation, when needed, three drops are added to some oil, with
which mixture the body is rubbed, to repel the approach of all kinds
of noxious animals.
 CHAP. 22.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE OTHER SERPENTS.

In addition to these particulars, it is a well-known fact that for all

injuries inflicted by serpents, and those even of an otherwise
incurable nature, it is an excellent remedy to apply the entrails of the
serpent itself to the wound; as also, that persons who have once
swallowed a viper’s liver, boiled, will never afterwards be attacked by
serpents. The snake, too, is not venomous, except, indeed, upon
certain days of the month when it is irritated by the action of the
moon: it is a very useful plan to take it alive, and pound it in water,
the wound inflicted by it being fomented with the preparation.
Indeed, it is generally supposed that this reptile is possessed of
numerous other remedial properties, as we shall have occasion more
fully to mention from time to time: hence it is that the snake is
consecrated to Æsculapius.2577 As for Democritus, he has given
some monstrous preparations from snakes, by the aid of which the
language of birds, he says, may be understood.2578
The Æsculapian snake was first brought to Rome from
Epidaurus,2579 but at the present day it is very commonly reared in
our houses2580 even; so much so, indeed, that if the breed were not
kept down by the frequent conflagrations, it would be impossible to
make head against the rapid increase of them. But the most
beautiful of all the snakes are those which are of an amphibious
nature. These snakes are known as “hydri,”2581 or water-snakes: in
virulence their venom is inferior to that of no other class of serpents,
and their liver is preserved as a remedy for the ill effects of their
sting.
A pounded scorpion neutralizes the venom of the spotted
lizard.2582 From this last animal, too, there is a noxious preparation
made; for it has been found that wine in which it has been drowned,
covers the face of those who drink it with morphew. Hence it is that
females, when jealous of a rival’s beauty, are in the habit of stifling a
spotted lizard in the unguents which they use. In such a case, the
proper remedy is yolk of egg, honey, and nitre. The gall of a spotted
lizard, beaten up in water, attracts weasels, they say.
 CHAP. 23.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SALAMANDER.

But of all venomous animals it is the salamander2583 that is by far

the most dangerous; for while other reptiles attack individuals only,
and never kill many persons at a time—not to mention the fact that
after stinging a human being they are said to die of remorse, and
the earth refuses to harbour2584 them—the salamander is able to
destroy whole nations at once, unless they take the proper
precautions against it. For if this reptile happens to crawl up a tree,
it infects all the fruit with its poison, and kills those who eat thereof
by the chilling properties of its venom, which in its effects is in no
way different from aconite. Nay, even more than this, if it only
touches with its foot the wood upon which bread is baked, or if it
happens to fall into a well, the same fatal effects will be sure to
ensue. The saliva, too, of this reptile, if it comes in contact with any
part of the body, the sole of the foot even, will cause the hair to fall
off from the whole of the body. And yet the salamander, highly
venomous as it is, is eaten by certain animals, swine for example;
owing, no doubt, to that antipathy which prevails in the natural
world.
From what we find stated, it is most probable, that, next to the
animals which eat it, the best neutralizers of the poison of this
reptile, are, cantharides taken in drink, or a lizard eaten with the
food; other antidotes we have already mentioned, or shall notice in
the appropriate place. As to what the magicians2585 say, that it is
proof against fire, being, as they tell us, the only animal that has the
property of extinguishing fire, if it had been true, it would have been
made trial of at Rome long before this. Sextius says that the
salamander, preserved in honey and taken with the food, after
removing the intestines, head, and feet, acts as an aphrodisiac: he
denies also that it has the property of extinguishing fire.
 CHAP. 24.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM BIRDS FOR INJURIES
INFLICTED BY SERPENTS. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE
VULTURE.

Among the birds that afford us remedies against serpents, it is the

vulture that occupies the highest rank; the black vulture, it has been
remarked, being less efficacious than the others. The smell of their
feathers, burnt, will repel serpents, they say; and it has been
asserted that persons who carry the heart of this bird about them
will be safe, not only from serpents, but from wild beasts as well,
and will have nothing to fear from the attacks of robbers or from the
wrath of kings.
 CHAP. 25.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM POULTRY.

The flesh of cocks and capons, applied warm the moment it has
been plucked from the bones, neutralizes the venom of serpents;
and the brains, taken in wine, are productive of a similar effect. The
people of Parthia, however, prefer applying a hen’s brains to the
wound. Poultry broth, too, is highly celebrated as a cure, and is
found marvellously useful in many other cases. Panthers and lions
will never touch persons who have been rubbed with it, more
particularly if it has been flavoured with garlic. The broth that is
made of an old cock is more relaxing to the bowels; it is very good
also for chronic fevers, numbness of the limbs, cold shiverings and
maladies of the joints, pains also in the head, defluxions of the eyes,
flatulency, sickness at stomach, incipient tenesmus, liver complaints,
diseases of the kidneys, affections of the bladder, indigestion, and
asthma. Hence there are several recipes for preparing this broth; it
being most efficacious when boiled up with sea-cabbage,2586 salted
tunny,2587 capers, parsley, the plant mercurialis,2588
polypodium,2589 or dill. The best plan, however, is to boil the cock or
capon with the plants above-mentioned in three congii of water,
down to three semi-sextarii; after which it should be left to cool in
the open air, and given at the proper moment, just after an emetic
has been administered.
And here I must not omit to mention one marvellous fact, even
though it bears no reference to medicine: if the flesh of poultry is
mingled with gold2590 in a state of fusion, it will absorb the metal
and consume it, thus showing that it acts as a poison upon gold. If
young twigs are made up into a collar and put round a cock’s neck,
it will never crow.
 CHAP. 26.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM OTHER BIRDS.

The flesh of pigeons also, or of swallows, used fresh and minced,

is a remedy for injuries inflicted by serpents: the same, too, with the
feet of a horned owl, burnt with the plant plumbago.2591 While
mentioning this bird, too, I must not forget to cite another instance
of the impositions practised by the magicians: among other
prodigious lies of theirs, they pretend that the heart of a horned owl,
applied to the left breast of a woman while asleep, will make2592 her
disclose all her secret thoughts. They say, also, in addition to this,
that persons who have it about them in battle will be sure to display
valour. They describe, too, certain remedies made from the egg of
this bird for the hair. But who, pray, has ever had the opportunity of
seeing the egg of a horned owl, considering that it is so highly
ominous to see the bird itself?2593 And then besides, who has ever
thought proper to make the experiment, and upon his hair more
particularly? In addition to all this, the magicians go so far as to
engage to make the hair curl by using the blood of the young of the
horned owl.
What they tell us, too, about the bat, appears to belong to pretty
much the same class of stories: if one of these animals is carried
alive, three times round a house, they say, and then nailed outside
of the window with the head downwards, it will have all the effects
of a countercharm: they assert, also, that the bat is a most excellent
preservative for sheepfolds, being first carried three times round
them, and then hung up by the foot over the lintel of the door.2594
The blood of the bat is also recommended by them as a sovereign
remedy, in combination with a thistle,2595 for injuries inflicted by
serpents.
 CHAP. 27.—REMEDIES FOR THE BITE OF THE PHALANGIUM. THE
SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THAT INSECT, AND OF THE SPIDER.

Of the phalangium,2596 an insect unknown to Italy, there are

numerous kinds; one of which resembles the ant, but is much larger,
with a red head, black as to the other parts of the body, and covered
with white spots. Its sting is much more acute than that of the wasp,
and it lives mostly in the vicinity of ovens and mills. The proper
remedy is, to present before the eyes of the person stung another
insect of the same description, a purpose for which they are
preserved when found dead. Their husks also, found in a dry state,
are beaten up and taken in drink for a similar purpose. The young of
the weasel, too, as already2597 stated, are possessed of a similar
property. The Greeks give the name of “phalangion” also to a kind of
spider, but they generally distinguish it by the surname of the
“wolf.”2598 A third kind, also known as the “phalangium,” is a spider
with a hairy2599 body, and a head of enormous size. When opened,
there are found in it two small worms, they say: these, attached in a
piece of deer’s skin, before sunrise, to a woman’s body, will prevent
conception, according to what Cæcilius, in his Commentaries, says.
This property lasts, however, for a year only; and, indeed, it is the
only one of all the anti-conceptives2600 that I feel myself at liberty to
mention, in favour of some women whose fecundity, quite teeming
with children,2601 stands in need of some such respite.
There is another kind again, called “rhagion,”2602 similar to a black
grape in appearance, with a very diminutive mouth, situate beneath
the abdomen, and extremely short legs, which have all the
appearance of not being fully developed. The bite of this last insect
causes fully as much pain as the sting of the scorpion, and the urine
of persons who are injured by it, presents filmy appearances like
cobwebs. The asterion2603 would be identical with it, were it not
distinguished by white streaks upon the body: its bite causes failing
in the knees. But worse than either of these last, is a blue spider,
covered with black hair, and causing dimness of the sight and
vomiting of a matter like cobwebs in appearance. A still more
dangerous kind is one which differs only from the hornet, in form, in
being destitute of wings, and the bite of which causes a wasting
away of the system. The myrmecion2604 in the head resembles the
ant, has a black body spotted with white, and causes by its bite a
pain like that attendant upon the sting of the wasp. Of the
tetragnathius2605 there are two varieties, the more noxious of which
has two white streaks crossing each other on the middle of the
head; its bite causes the mouth to swell. The other one is of an ashy
colour, whitish on the posterior part of the body, and not so ready to
bite.
The least noxious of all is the spider that is seen extending its web
along the walls, and lying in wait for flies; it is of the same ashy
colour as the last.
For the bite of all spiders, the best remedies are: a cock’s brains,
taken in oxycrate with a little pepper; five ants, swallowed in drink;
sheep’s dung, applied in vinegar; and spiders of any kind, left to
putrefy in oil. The bite of the shrew-mouse is cured by taking lamb’s
rennet in wine; the ashes of a ram’s foot with honey; or a young
weasel, prepared in manner already2606 mentioned by us when
speaking of serpents. In cases where a shrew-mouse has bitten
beasts of burden, a mouse, fresh caught, is applied to the wound
with oil, or a bat’s gall with vinegar. The shrew-mouse itself too, split
asunder and applied to the wound, is a cure for its bite; indeed, if
the animal is with young when the injury is inflicted, it will instantly
burst asunder. The best plan is to apply the mouse itself which has
inflicted the bite, but others are commonly kept for this purpose,
either steeped in oil or coated with clay. Another remedy, again, for
its bite is the earth taken from the rut made by a cart-wheel; for this
animal, it is said, owing to a certain torpor which is natural to it, will
never cross2607 a rut made by a wheel.
 CHAP. 28.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE STELLIO OR SPOTTED
LIZARD.

The stellio, in its turn, is said to have the greatest antipathy to the
scorpion;2608 so much so indeed, that the very sight of it strikes
terror in that reptile, and a torpor attended with cold sweats; hence
it is that this lizard is left to putrefy in oil, as a liniment for injuries
inflicted by the scorpion. Some persons boil down the oil with
litharge, and make a sort of plaster of it to apply to the wound. The
Greeks give the name of “colotes” to this lizard, as also
“ascalabotes,” and “galeotes:” it is never2609 found in Italy, and is
covered with small spots, utters a shrill, piercing noise, and lives on
food; characteristics, all of them, foreign to the stellio of Italy.
 CHAP. 29.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM VARIOUS INSECTS.

Poultry dung, too, is good as an application for the sting of the

scorpion; a dragon’s liver also; a lizard or mouse split asunder; or
else the scorpion itself, either applied to the wound, grilled and
eaten, or taken in two cyathi of undiluted wine. One peculiarity of
the scorpion is, that it never stings the palm of the hand, and never
touches any parts of the body but those covered with hair. Any kind
of pebble, applied to the wound on the side which has lain next to
the ground, will alleviate the pain. A potsherd too, covered with
earth on any part of it, and applied just as it is found, will effect a
cure, it is said—the person, however, who applies it must not look
behind him, and must be equally careful that the sun does not shine
upon him. Earth-worms also, are pounded and applied to the
wound; in addition to which, they form ingredients in numerous
other medicaments, being kept in honey for the purpose.
For injuries inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, and leeches, the
owlet is considered a very useful remedy; persons, too, who carry
about them the beak of the woodpecker2610 of Mars are never
injured by any of these creatures. The smaller kinds of locusts also,
destitute of wings and known as “attelebi,” are a good remedy for
the sting of the scorpion.
There is a kind of venomous ant, by no means common in Italy;
Cicero calls it “solipuga,” and in Bætica it is known as “salpuga.”2611
The proper remedy for its venom and that of all kinds of ants is a
bat’s heart. We have already2612 stated that cantharides are an
antidote to the salamander.
 CHAP. 30.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CANTHARIDES.

But with reference to cantharides, there has been considerable

controversy on the subject, seeing that, taken internally, they are a
poison, attended with excruciating pains in the bladder. Cossinus, a
Roman of the Equestrian order, well known for his intimate
friendship with the Emperor Nero, being attacked with lichen,2613
that prince sent to Egypt for a physician to cure him; who
recommending a potion prepared from cantharides, the patient was
killed in consequence. There is no doubt, however, that applied
externally they are useful, in combination with juice of Taminian2614
grapes, and the suet of a sheep or she-goat. As to the part of the
body in which the poison of the insect is situate, authors are by no
means agreed. Some fancy that it exists in the feet and head, while
others, again, deny it; indeed the only point that has been well
ascertained is, that the wings2615 are the only antidote to their
venom, wherever it may be situate.
Cantharides are produced from a small grub, found more
particularly in the spongy excrescences which grow on the stem of
the dog-rose,2616 and still more abundantly upon the ash. Other
kinds, again, are found upon the white rose, but they are by no
means so efficacious. The most active of all in their properties, are
those which are spotted with yellow streaks running transversely
across the wings, and are plump and well-filled. Those which are
small, broad, and hairy, are not so powerful in their operation, and
the least useful of all are those which are thin and shrivelled, and
present one uniform colour. They are put in a small earthen pot, not
coated with pitch, and stopped at the mouth with a linen cloth, a
layer of full-blown roses being placed upon them; they are then
suspended over vinegar boiled with salt, until the steam has
penetrated the cloth and stifled them, after which they are put by
for use. They have a caustic effect upon the skin, and cover the
ulcerations with a crust; a property which belongs also to the pine-
caterpillar2617 found upon the pitch-tree, and to the buprestis,2618
both of which are prepared in a similar manner.
All these insects are extremely efficacious for the cure of leprosy
and lichens. It is said, too, that they act as an emmenagogue and
diuretic, for which last reason Hippocrates used to prescribe them
for dropsy. Cato of Utica was reproached with selling poison,
because, when disposing of a royal property by auction,2619 he sold
a quantity of cantharides, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces.
(5.) We may here remark, too, that it was on the same occasion that
some ostrich fat was sold, at the price of thirty thousand sesterces, a
substance which is preferable to goose-grease in every respect.
 CHAP. 31.—VARIOUS COUNTER-POISONS.

We have already2620 spoken of various kinds of poisonous honey:

the antidote employed for it is honey in which the bees have been
stifled. This honey, too, taken in wine, is a remedy for indispositions
caused by eating fish.
 CHAP. 32.—REMEDIES FOR THE BITE OF THE MAD DOG.

When a person has been bitten by a mad dog, he may be

preserved from hydrophobia by applying the ashes of a dog’s head
to the wound. All ashes of this description, we may here remark
once for all, are prepared in the same method; the substance being
placed in a new earthen vessel well covered with potter’s clay, and
put into a furnace. These ashes, too, are very good, taken in drink,
and hence some recommend the head itself to be eaten in such
cases. Others, again, attach to the body of the patient a maggot,
taken from the carcase of a dead dog; or else place the menstruous
blood of a bitch, in a linen cloth, beneath his cup, or insert in the
wound ashes of hairs from the tail of the dog that inflicted the bite.
Dogs will fly from any one who has a dog’s heart about him, and
they will never bark at a person who carries a dog’s tongue in his
shoe, beneath the great toe, or the tail of a weasel which has been
set at liberty after being deprived of it. There is beneath the tongue
of a mad dog a certain slimy spittle, which, taken in drink, is a
preventive of hydrophobia: but much the most useful plan is, to take
the liver of the dog that has inflicted the injury, and eat it raw, if
possible; should that not be the case, it must be cooked in some
way or other, or else a broth must be taken, prepared from the flesh.
There is a small worm2621 in a dog’s tongue, known as “lytta”2622
to the Greeks: if this is removed from the animal while a pup, it will
never become mad or lose its appetite. This worm, after being
carried thrice round a fire, is given to persons who have been bitten
by a mad dog, to prevent them from becoming mad. This madness,
too, is prevented by eating a cock’s brains; but the virtue of these
brains lasts for one year only, and no more. They say, too, that a
cock’s comb, pounded, is highly efficacious as an application to the
wound; as also, goose-grease, mixed with honey. The flesh also of a
mad dog is sometimes salted, and taken with the food, as a remedy
for this disease. In addition to this, young puppies of the same sex
as the dog that has inflicted the injury, are drowned in water, and
the person who has been bitten eats their liver raw. The dung of
poultry, provided it is of a red colour, is very useful, applied with
vinegar; the ashes, too, of the tail of a shrew-mouse, if the animal
has survived and been set at liberty; a clod from a swallow’s nest,
applied with vinegar; the young of a swallow, reduced to ashes; or
the skin or old slough of a serpent that has been cast in spring,
beaten up with a male crab in wine: this slough, I would remark, put
away by itself in chests and drawers, destroys moths.
So virulent is the poison of the mad dog, that its very urine even,
if trod upon, is injurious, more particularly if the person has any
ulcerous sores about him. The proper remedy in such case is to
apply horse-dung, sprinkled with vinegar, and warmed in a fig.
These marvellous properties of the poison will occasion the less
surprise, when we remember that, “a stone bitten by a dog” has
become a proverbial expression for discord and variance.2623
Whoever makes water where a dog has previously watered, will be
sensible of numbness in the loins, they say.
The lizard known by some persons as the “seps,”2624 and by
others as the “chalcidice,” taken in wine, is a cure for its own bite.
 CHAP. 33.—REMEDIES FOR THE OTHER POISONS.

Where persons have been poisoned by noxious preparations from

the wild weasel,2625 the proper remedy is the broth of an old cock,
taken in considerable quantities. This broth, too, is particularly good,
taken as a counter-poison for aconite, in combination with a little
salt. Poultry dung—but the white part only—boiled with hyssop, or
with honied wine, is an excellent antidote to the poison of fungi and
of mushrooms: it is a cure also for flatulency and suffocations; a
thing the more to be wondered at, seeing that if any other living
creature only tastes this dung, it is immediately attacked with griping
pains and flatulency. Goose blood, taken with an equal quantity of
olive oil, is an excellent neutralizer of the venom of the sea-hare: it
is kept also as an antidote for all kinds of noxious drugs, made up
into lozenges with red earth of Lemnos and juice of white-thorn, five
drachmæ of the lozenges being taken in three cyathi of water. The
same property belongs also to the young of the weasel, prepared in
manner already2626 mentioned.
Lambs’ rennet is an excellent antidote to all noxious preparations;
the blood, also, of ducks from Pontus;2627 for which reason it is
preserved in a dry state, and dissolved in wine when wanted, some
persons being of opinion that the blood of the female bird is the
most efficacious. In a similar manner, the crop of a stork acts as an
universal counter-poison; and so does sheep’s rennet. A broth made
from ram’s flesh is particularly good as a remedy for cantharides:
sheep’s milk also, taken warm; this last being very useful in cases
where persons have drunk an infusion of aconite, or have swallowed
the buprestis in drink. The dung of wood-pigeons is particularly good
taken internally as an antidote to quicksilver; and for narcotic
poisons the common weasel is kept dried, and taken internally, in
doses of two drachmæ.
 CHAP. 34. (6.)—REMEDIES FOR ALOPECY.

Where the hair has been lost through alopecy,2628 it is made to

grow again by using ashes of burnt sheep’s dung, with oil of
cyprus2629 and honey; or else the hoof of a mule of either sex, burnt
to ashes and mixed with oil of myrtle. In addition to these
substances, we find our own writer, Varro, mentioning mouse-dung,
which he calls “muscerda,”2630 and the heads of flies, applied fresh,
the part being first rubbed with a fig-leaf. Some recommend the
blood of flies, while others, again, apply ashes of burnt flies for ten
days, in the proportion of one part of the ashes to two of ashes of
papyrus or of nuts. In other cases, again, we find ashes of burnt
flies kneaded up with woman’s milk and cabbage, or, in some
instances, with honey only. It is generally believed that there is no
creature less docile or less intelligent than the fly; a circumstance
which makes it all the more marvellous that at the sacred games at
Olympia, immediately after the immolation of the bull in honour of
the god called “Myiodes,”2631 whole clouds of them take their
departure from that territory. A mouse’s head or tail, or, indeed, the
whole of the body, reduced to ashes, is a cure for alopecy, more
particularly when the loss of the hair has been the result of some
noxious preparation. The ashes of a hedge-hog, mixed with honey,
or of its skin, applied with tar, are productive of a similar effect. The
head, too, of this last animal, reduced to ashes, restores the hair to
scars upon the body; the place being first prepared, when this cure
is made use of, with a razor and an application of mustard: some
persons, however, prefer vinegar for the purpose. All the properties
attributed to the hedge-hog are found in the porcupine in a still
higher degree.2632
A lizard burnt, as already2633 mentioned, with the fresh root of a
reed, cut as fine as possible, to facilitate its being reduced to ashes,
and then mixed with oil of myrtle, will prevent the hair from coming
off. For all these purposes green lizards are still more efficacious,
and the remedy is rendered most effectual, when salt is added,
bears’ grease, and pounded onions. Some persons boil ten green
lizards in ten sextarii of oil, and content themselves with rubbing the
place with the mixture once a month. Alopecy is also cured very
speedily with the ashes of a viper’s skin, or by an application of fresh
poultry dung. A raven’s egg, beaten up in a copper vessel and
applied to the head, previously shaved, imparts a black colour to the
hair; care must be taken, however, to keep some oil in the mouth till
the application is quite dry, or else the teeth will turn black as well.
The operation must be performed also in the shade, and the liniment
must not be washed off before the end of three days. Some persons
employ the blood and brains of a raven, in combination with red
wine; while others, again, boil down the bird, and put it, at bedtime,
in a vessel made of lead. With some it is the practice, for the cure of
alopecy, to apply bruised cantharides with tar, the skin being first
prepared with an application of nitre:—it should be remembered,
however, that cantharides are possessed of caustic properties, and
due care must be taken not to let them eat too deep into the skin.
For the ulcerations thus produced, it is recommended to use
applications made of the heads, gall, and dung of mice, mixed with
hellebore and pepper.
 CHAP. 35.—REMEDIES FOR LICE AND FOR PORRIGO.

Nits are destroyed by using dogs’ fat, eating serpents cooked2634

like eels, or else taking their sloughs in drink. Porrigo is cured by
applying sheep’s gall with Cimolian chalk, and rubbing the head with
the mixture till dry.
CHAP. 36.—REMEDIES FOR HEAD-ACHE AND FOR WOUNDS ON THE
HEAD.

A good remedy for head-ache are the heads taken from the snails
which are found without2635 shells, and in an imperfect state. In
these heads there is found a hard stony substance, about as large as
a common pebble: on being extracted from the snail, it is attached
to the patient, the smaller snails being pounded and applied to the
forehead. Wool-grease, too, is used for a similar purpose; the bones
of a vulture’s head, worn as an amulet; or the brains of that bird,
mixed with oil and cedar resin, and applied to the head and
introduced into the nostrils. The brains of a crow or owlet, are boiled
and taken with the food: or a cock is put into a coop, and kept
without food a day and a night, the patient submitting to a similar
abstinence, and attaching to his head some feathers plucked from
the neck or the comb of the fowl. The ashes, too, of a weasel are
applied in the form of a liniment; a twig is taken from a kite’s nest,
and laid beneath the patient’s pillow; or a mouse’s skin is burnt, and
the ashes applied with vinegar: sometimes, also, the small bone is
extracted from the head of a snail that has been found between two
cart ruts, and after being passed through a gold ring, with a piece of
ivory, is attached to the patient in a piece of dog’s skin; a remedy
well known to most persons, and always used with success.2636
For fractures of the cranium, cobwebs are applied, with oil and
vinegar; the application never coming away till a cure has been
effected. Cobwebs are good, too, for stopping the bleeding of
wounds2637 made in shaving. Discharges of blood from the brain are
arrested by applying the blood of a goose or duck, or the grease of
those birds with oil of roses. The head of a snail cut off with a reed,
while feeding in the morning, at full moon more particularly, is
attached to the head in a linen cloth, with an old thrum, for the cure
of head-ache; or else a liniment is made of it, and applied with white
wax to the forehead. Dogs’ hairs are worn also, attached to the
forehead in a cloth.
 CHAP. 37.—REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE EYELIDS.

A crow’s brains, taken with the food, they say, will make the
eyelashes grow; or else wool-grease, applied with warmed myrrh, by
the aid of a fine probe. A similar result is promised by using the
following preparation: burnt flies and ashes of mouse-dung are
mixed in equal quantities, to the amount of half a denarius in the
whole; two sixths of a denarius of antimony are then added, and the
mixture is applied with wool-grease. For the same purpose, also, the
young ones of a mouse are beaten up, in old wine, to the
consistency of the strengthening preparations known as “acopa.”2638
When eyelashes are plucked out that are productive of
inconvenience, they are prevented from growing again by using a
hedge-hog’s gall; the liquid portion, also, of a spotted lizard’s eggs;
the ashes of a burnt salamander; the gall of a green lizard, mixed
with white wine, and left to thicken to the consistency of honey in a
copper vessel in the sun; the ashes of a swallow’s young, mixed with
the milky juice of tithymalos;2639 or else the slime of snails.
 CHAP. 38.—REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE EYES.

According to what the magicians say, glaucoma2640 may be cured

by using the brains of a puppy seven days old; the probe being
inserted in the right side [of the eye], if it is the right eye that is
being operated on, and in the left side, if it is the left. The fresh gall,
too, of the asio2641 is used, a bird belonging to the owlet tribe, with
feathers standing erect like ears. Apollonius of Pitanæ used to prefer
dog’s gall, in combination with honey, to that of the hyæna, for the
cure of cataract, as also of albugo. The heads and tails of mice,
reduced to ashes and applied to the eyes, improve the sight, it is
said; a result which is ensured with even greater certainty by using
the ashes of a dormouse or wild mouse, or else the brains or gall of
an eagle. The ashes and fat of a field-mouse, beaten up with Attic
honey and antimony, are remarkably useful for watery eyes—what
this antimony2642 is, we shall have occasion to say when speaking of
metals.
For the cure of cataract, the ashes of a weasel are used, as also
the brains of a lizard or swallow. Weasels, boiled and pounded, and
so applied to the forehead, allay defluxions of the eyes, either used
alone, or else with fine flour or with frankincense. Employed in a
similar manner, they are very good for sun-stroke, or in other words,
for injuries inflicted by the sun. It is a remarkably good plan, too, to
burn these animals alive, and to use their ashes, with Cretan honey,
as a liniment for films upon the eyes. The cast-off2643 slough of the
asp, with the fat of that reptile, forms an excellent ointment for
improving the sight in beasts of burden. To burn a viper alive in a
new earthen vessel, with one cyathus of fennel juice, and a single
grain of frankincense, and then to anoint the eyes with the mixture,
is remarkably good for cataract and films upon the eyes; the
preparation being generally known as “echeon.”2644 An eye-salve,
too, is prepared, by leaving a viper to putrefy in an earthen pot, and
bruising the maggots that breed in it with saffron. A viper, too, is
burnt in a vessel with salt, and the preparation is applied to the tip
of the tongue, to improve the eyesight, and to act generally as a
corrective of the stomach and other parts of the body. This salt is
given also to sheep, to preserve them in health, and is used as an
ingredient in antidotes to the venom of serpents.
Some persons, again, use vipers as an article of food: when this is
done, it is recommended, the moment they are killed, to put some
salt in the mouth and let it melt there; after which, the body must
be cut away to the length of four fingers at each extremity, and, the
intestines being first removed, the remainder boiled in a mixture of
water, oil, salt, and dill. When thus prepared, they are either eaten
at once, or else kneaded in a loaf, and taken from time to time as
wanted. In addition to the above-mentioned properties, viper-broth
cleanses all parts of the body of lice,2645 and removes itching
sensations as well upon the surface of the skin. The ashes, also, of a
viper’s head, used by themselves, are evidently productive of
considerable effects; they are employed very advantageously in the
form of a liniment for the eyes; and so, too, is viper’s fat. I would
not make so bold as to advise what is strongly recommended by
some, the use, namely, of vipers’ gall; for that, as already stated2646
on a more appropriate occasion, is nothing else but the venom of
the serpent. The fat of snakes, mixed with verdigrease,2647 heals
ruptures of the cuticle of the eyes; and the skin or slough that is cast
off in spring, employed as a friction for the eyes, improves the sight.
The gall of the boa2648 is highly vaunted for the cure of albugo,
cataract, and films upon the eyes, and the fat is thought to improve
the sight.
The gall of the eagle, which tests its young, as already stated,2649
by making them look upon the sun, forms, with Attic honey, an eye-
salve which is very good for the cure of webs, films, and cataracts of
the eye. A vulture’s gall, too, mixed with leek-juice and a little honey,
is possessed of similar properties; and the gall of a cock, dissolved in
water, is employed for the cure of argema and albugo: the gall, too,
of a white cock, in particular, is recommended for cataract. For
short-sighted persons, the dung of poultry is recommended as a
liniment, care being taken to use that of a reddish colour only. A
hen’s gall, too, is highly spoken of, and the fat in particular, for the
cure of pustules upon the pupils, a purpose for which hens are
expressly fattened. This last substance is marvellously useful for
ruptures of the coats of the eyes, incorporated with the stones
known as schistos2650 and hæmatites. Hens’ dung, too, but only the
white part of it, is kept with old oil in boxes made of horn, for the
cure of white specks upon the pupil of the eye. While mentioning
this subject, it is worthy of remark, that peacocks2651 swallow their
dung, it is said, as though they envied man the various uses of it. A
hawk, boiled in oil of roses, is considered extremely efficacious as a
liniment for all affections of the eyes, and so are the ashes of its
dung, mixed with Attic honey. A kite’s liver, too, is highly esteemed;
and pigeons’ dung, diluted with vinegar, is used as an application for
fistulas of the eye, as also for albugo and marks upon that organ.
Goose gall and duck’s blood are very useful for contusions of the
eyes, care being taken, immediately after the application, to anoint
them with a mixture of wool-grease and honey. In similar cases, too,
gall of partridges is used, with an equal quantity of honey; but
where it is only wanted to improve the sight, the gall is used alone.
It is generally thought, too, upon the authority of Hippocrates,2652
that the gall to be used for these purposes should be kept in a silver
box.
Partridges’ eggs, boiled in a copper vessel, with honey, are
curative of ulcers of the eyes, and of glaucoma. For the treatment of
blood-shot eyes, the blood of pigeons, ring-doves, turtle-doves, and
partridges is remarkably useful; but that of the male pigeon is
generally looked upon as the most efficacious. For this purpose, a
vein is opened beneath the wing, it being warmer than the rest of
the blood, and consequently more2653 beneficial. After it is applied,
a compress, boiled in honey, should be laid upon it, and some
greasy wool, boiled in oil and wine. Nyctalopy,2654 too, is cured by
using the blood of these birds, or the liver of a sheep—the most
efficacious being that of a tawny sheep—as already2655 stated by us
when speaking of goats. A decoction, too, of the liver is
recommended as a wash for the eyes, and, for pains and swellings
in those organs, the marrow, used as a liniment. The eyes of a
horned owl, it is strongly asserted, reduced to ashes and mixed in an
eye-salve, will improve the sight. Albugo is made to disappear by
using the dung of turtle-doves, snails burnt to ashes, and the dung
of the cenchris, a kind of hawk, according to the Greeks.2656 All the
substances above mentioned, used in combination with honey, are
curative of argema: honey, too, in which the bees have died, is
remarkably good for the eyes.
A person who has eaten the young of the stork will never suffer
from ophthalmia for many years to come, it is said; and the same
when a person carries about him the head of a dragon:2657 it is
stated, too, that the fat of this last-named animal, applied with
honey and old oil, will disperse incipient films of the eyes. The young
of the swallow are blinded at full moon, and the moment their sight
is restored,2658 their heads are burnt, and the ashes are employed,
with honey, to improve the sight, and for the cure of pains,
ophthalmia, and contusions of the eyes.
Lizards, also, are employed in numerous ways as a remedy for
diseases of the eyes. Some persons enclose a green lizard in a new
earthen vessel, together with nine of the small stones known as
“cinædia,”2659 which are usually attached to the body for tumours in
the groin. Upon each of these stones they make nine2660 marks, and
remove one from the vessel daily, taking care, when the ninth day is
come, to let the lizard go, the stones being kept as a remedy for
affections of the eyes. Others, again, blind a green lizard, and after
putting some earth beneath it, enclose it in a glass vessel, with some
small rings of solid iron or gold. When they find, by looking through
the glass, that the lizard has recovered its sight,2661 they set it at
liberty, and keep the rings as a preservative against ophthalmia.
Others employ the ashes of a lizard’s head as a substitute for
antimony, for the treatment of eruptions of the eyes. Some
recommend the ashes of the green lizard with a long neck that is
usually found in sandy soils, as an application for incipient defluxions
of the eyes, and for glaucoma. They say, too, that if the eyes of a
weasel are extracted with a pointed instrument, its sight will return;
the same use being made of it as of the lizards and rings above
mentioned. The right eye of a serpent, worn as an amulet, is very
good, it is said, for defluxions of the eyes, due care being taken to
set the serpent at liberty after extracting the eye. For continuous
watering2662 of the eyes, the ashes of a spotted lizard’s head,
applied with antimony, are remarkably efficacious.
The cobweb of the common fly-spider, that which lines its hole
more particularly, applied to the forehead across the temples, in a
compress of some kind or other, is said to be marvellously useful for
the cure of defluxions of the eyes: the web must be taken, however,
and applied by the hands of a boy who has not arrived at the years
of puberty; the boy, too, must not show himself to the patient for
three days, and during those three days neither of them must touch
the ground with his feet uncovered. The white spider2663, with very
elongated, thin, legs, beaten up in old oil, forms an ointment which
is used for the cure of albugo. The spider, too, whose web, of
remarkable thickness, is generally found adhering to the rafters of
houses, applied in a piece of cloth, is said to be curative of
defluxions of the eyes. The green scarabæus has the property of
rendering the sight more piercing2664 of those who gaze upon it:
hence it is that the engravers of precious stones use these insects to
steady their sight.
 CHAP. 39.—REMEDIES FOR PAINS AND DISEASES OF THE EARS.

A sheep’s gall, mixed with honey, is a good detergent of the ears.

Pains in those organs are allayed by injecting a bitch’s milk; and
hardness of hearing is removed by using dogs’ fat, with wormwood
and old oil, or else goose-grease. Some persons add juice of onions
and of garlic,2665 in equal proportions. The eggs, too, of ants are
used, by themselves, for this purpose; these insects being
possessed, in fact, of certain medicinal properties, and bears, it is
well known, curing themselves when sick, by eating2666 them as
food. Goose-grease, and indeed that of all birds, is prepared by
removing all the veins and leaving the fat, in a new, shallow, earthen
vessel, well covered, to melt in the sun, some boiling water being
placed beneath it; which done, it is passed through linen strainers,
and is then put by in a cool spot, in a new earthen vessel, for
keeping: with the addition of honey it is less liable to turn rancid.
Ashes of burnt mice, injected with honey or boiled with oil of roses,
allay pains in the ears. In cases where an insect has got into the
ears, a most excellent remedy is found in an injection of mouse gall,
diluted with vinegar: where, too, water has made its way into the
passages of the ear, goose-grease is used, in combination with juice
of onions. Some persons skin a dormouse, and after removing the
intestines boil the body in a new vessel with honey. Medical men,
however, prefer boiling it down to one-third with nard, and
recommend it to be kept in that state, and to be warmed when
wanted, and injected with a syringe. It is a well-known fact, that this
preparation is an effectual remedy for the most desperate maladies
of the ears: the same, too, with an injection of earth-worms boiled
with goose-grease. The red worms, also, that are found upon trees,
beaten up with oil, are a most excellent remedy for ulcerations and
ruptures of the ears. Lizards, which have been suspended for some
time and dried, with salt in the mouth, are curative of contusions of
the ears, and of injuries inflicted by blows: the most efficacious for
this purpose are those which have iron-coloured spots upon the
skin,2667 and are streaked with lines along the tail.
Millepedes, known also as “centipedes” or “multipedes,” are
insects belonging to the earth-worm genus, hairy, with numerous
feet, forming curves as they crawl, and contracting themselves when
touched: the Greeks give to this insect the name of “oniscos,”2668
others, again, that of “tylos.” Boiled with leek-juice in a pomegranate
rind, it is highly efficacious, they say, for pains in the ears; oil of
roses being added to the preparation, and the mixture injected into
the ear opposite to the one affected. As for that kind which does not
describe a curve when moving, the Greeks give it the name of
“seps,” while others, again, call it “scolopendra;” it is smaller than
the former one, and is injurious.2669 The snails which are commonly
used as food, are applied to the ears with myrrh or powdered
frankincense; and those with a small, broad, shell are employed with
honey as a liniment for fractured ears. Old sloughs of serpents,
burnt in a heated potsherd and mixed with oil of roses, are used as
an injection for the ears, which is considered highly efficacious for all
affections of those organs, and for offensive odours arising
therefrom in particular. In cases where there is suppuration of the
ears, vinegar is used, and it is still better if goat’s gall, ox-gall, or
that of the sea tortoise, is added. This slough, however, is good for
nothing when more than a year old; the same, too, when it has been
drenched with rain, as some think. The thick pulp of a spider’s body,
mixed with oil of roses, is also used for the ears; or else the pulp
applied by itself with saffron or in wool: a cricket, too, is dug up with
some of its earth, and applied. Nigidius attributes great2670 virtues
to this insect, and the magicians still greater, and all because it walks
backwards, pierces the earth, and chirrups by night! The mode of
catching it is by throwing an ant,2671 made fast with a hair, into its
hole, the dust being first blown away to prevent it from concealing
itself: the moment it seizes the ant, it is drawn out.
The dried craw of poultry, a part that is generally thrown away, is
beaten up in wine, and injected warm, for suppurations of the ears;
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