CHAP. 8. (7.)—THE ERYNGE OR ERYNGIUM.
In the first rank of the plants armed with prickles, the
erynge,[1] or eryngion stands pre-eminent, a vegetable production
held in high esteem as an antidote formed for the poison of ser-
pents and all venomous substances. For stings and bites of
this nature, the root is taken in wine in doses of one drachma,
or if, as generally is the case, the wound is attended with
fever, in water. It is employed also, in the form of a lini-
ment, for wounds, and is found to be particularly efficacious
for those inflicted by water-snakes or frogs. The physician
Heraclides states it as his opinion that, boiled in goose-broth,
it is a more valuable remedy than any other known, for aconite[2] and other poisons.[3] Apollodorus recommends that, in
cases of poisoning, it should be boiled with a frog, and other
authorities, in water only. It is a hardy plant, having much
the appearance of a shrub, with prickly leaves and a jointed
stem; it grows a cubit or more in height. Sometimes it is
found of a whitish colour, and sometimes black,[4] the root of it
being odoriferous. It is cultivated in gardens, but it is frequently to be found growing[5] spontaneously in rugged and
craggy localities. It grows, too, on the sea-shore, in which case
it is tougher and darker than usual, the leaf resembling that of
parsley.[6]
1. It has been thought by some that this is the Scolymus maculatus of
Linnæus; the spotted yellow thistle. But the more general opinion is
that it is the eringo, or Eryngium campestre of Linnæus. It derives its
name from the Greek e)reu/gein, from its asserted property of dispelling
flatulent erucatatins. It is possessed in reality of few medicinal proper-
ties, and is only used occasionally, at the present day, as a diuretic. See
B. xxi. c. 56.
2. See B. xxvii. c. 2.
3. By the word "toxica," Poinsinet would understand, not poisons in
general, but the venom of the toad, which was called, he says, in the
Celtic and Celto-Scythic languages, toussac and tossa. Fée ridicules the
notion.
4. Or rather, Fée says, deep blue. He identifies this with the Eryngium
cyaneum of Linnæus, the eringo, with a blue flower.
5. This, as well as the next, is identical, probably, with the Eryngium
maritimum of Linnæus; our sea-holly. The species found in Greece, in
addition to the above; are the Eryngium tricuspidatum, multifidum, and
parviflorum.
6. Pliny probably makes a mistake here, and reads seli/non, "parsley,"
for sko/lumos, a "thistle." Dalechamps is of this opinion, from an examination of the leaf; and Brotier adopts it.