CHAP. 86.—TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MELISSOPHYLLUM.
If the bee-hives are rubbed all over with melissophyllum[1]
or melittæna, the bees will never desert them; for there is no
flower in which they take greater delight. If branches[2] of
this plant are used, the bees may be kept within bounds without any difficulty. It is an excellent remedy, also, for the
stings of bees, wasps, and similar insects, as also for wounds
made by spiders and scorpions; it is used, too, for hysterical
suffocations, in combination with nitre, and for gripings of the
bowels, with wine. The leaves of it are employed topically
for scrofulous sores, and, in combination with salt, for maladies
of the fundament. A decoction of the juice promotes the menstrual discharge, dispels inflammations, and heals ulcerous
sores: it is good, too, for diseases of the joints and the bites
of dogs, and is beneficial in cases of inveterate dysentery, and
for cœliac affections, hardness of breathing, diseases of the
spleen, and ulcerations of the thoracic organs. For films on
the eyes, it is considered a most excellent plan to anoint them
with the juice of this plant mixed with honey.