One of the most dangerous of maladies is that known by the name of "ileos:"[1] it may be combatted, they say, by tearing a bat asunder, and taking the blood, or by rubbing the abdo. men with it. Diarrhœa is arrested more particularly by taking snails, prepared in manner already[2] mentioned for cases of asthma; the ashes, also, of snails burnt alive, administered in astringent wine; the liver of poultry grilled; the dried craw of poultry, a part that is usually thrown away, mixed with poppy-juice—in some cases it is used fresh, grilled, and taken in wine—partridge broth; the craw of partridges beaten up by itself in red wine; a wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; a sheep's milt, grilled and beaten up in wine; or else pigeons' dung, applied with honey. The crop of an ossifrage, dried and taken in drink, is remarkably useful for patients whose digestion is impaired-indeed, its good effects may be felt if they only hold it in the hand while eating. Hence it is that some persons wear it attached to the body as an amulet; a practice which must not be too long continued, it being apt to cause a wasting of the flesh. The blood, too, of a drake has an astringent effect.

Flatulency is dispelled by eating snails; and griping pains in the bowels, by taking a sheep's milt grilled, with wine; a wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; the fat of an otis[3] in wine; or the ashes of an ibis, burnt without the feathers, administered in drink. Another prescription mentioned for griping pains in the bowels is of a very marvellous nature: if a duck, they say, is applied to the abdomen, the malady will pass into the bird, and it will die.[4] Gripings of the bowels are treated also with boiled honey in which the bees have died.

Colic is most effectually cured by taking a roasted lark with the food. Some recommend, however, that it should be burnt to ashes in a new vessel, feathers and all, and then pounded and taken for four consecutive days, in doses of three spoonfuls, in water. Some say that the heart of this bird should be attached to the thigh, and, according to others, the heart should be swallowed fresh, quite warm, in fact. There is a family of consular dignity, known as the Asprenates,[5] two brothers, members of which, were cured of colic; the one by eating a lark and wearing its heart in a golden bracelet; the other, by performing a certain sacrifice in a chapel built of raw bricks, in form of a furnace, and then blocking up the edifice the moment the sacrifice was concluded. The ossifrage has a single intestine only, which has the marvellous property of digesting all that the bird has swallowed: the extremity of this intestine, it is well known, worn as an amulet, is an excellent remedy for colic.

There are certain concealed maladies incident to the intestines, in relation to which there are some marvellous statements made. If to the stomach and chest, more particularly, blind puppies are applied, and suckled with milk from the patient's mouth,[6] the virulence of the malady, it is said, will be transferred to them, and in the end they will die: on opening them, too, the causes of the malady will be sure to be discovered. In all such cases, however, the puppies must be allowed to die, and must be buried in the earth. According to what the magicians say, if the abdomen is touched with a bat's blood, the person will be proof against colic for a whole year: when a patient, too, is attacked with the pains of colic, if he can bring himself to drink the water in which he has washed his feet, he will experience a cure.