CHAP. 36.—REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SINEWS.
For nodosities in the sinews, the ashes of a viper's head are
applied, with oil of cyprus;[1] or else earth-worms, with honey.
Pains in the sinews should be treated with an application of
grease; the body of a dead amphisbæna, worn as an amulet;
vulture's grease, dried with the crop of the bird and beaten up
with stale hog's lard; or else ashes of the head of a horned
owl, taken in honied wine with a lily root-that is, if we believe
what the magicians tell us. For contractions of the sinews, the
flesh of ring-doves is very good, dried and taken with the food:
and for spasmodic affections, the ashes of a hedge-hog or weasel
are used. A serpent's slough, attached to the patient's body in
a piece of bull's hide, is a preventive of spasms: and the dried
liver of a kite, taken in doses of three oboli, in three cyathi
of hydromel, is a preservative against opisthotony.