On Medical Matters

...in human beings, it becomes a cause of destruction. Therefore, the animals that have a destructive power are these: the cantharis 48, the buprestis, the salamander, the pine caterpillar, the sea hare, the toad, the mute marsh frog 49, and leeches that have been swallowed. Of the seeds: henbane, coriander, hemlock, love-in-a-mist, and fennel flower. Of the gums: poppy juice, opocarpasum a gum resin from myrrh, the juice of thapsia, elaterium squirting cucumber extract, and mandrake. Of the roots: chameleon, aconite, thapsia, hellebore, ixias, black agaric, and ephemeron meadow saffron, which some call colchicon because it grows in Colchis. Of the shrubby and herbal group: smilax, which some call thymalum, while the Romans call it taxus 52, mad nightshade, which is also called dorycnion, the Sardinian herb—which is a species of ranunculus—horned poppy, pharicum, toxicum, wild rue, and mushrooms. From animals: fresh bull’s blood, coagulated milk, and the honey produced in Heraclea in Pontus;

48. Thus Codex X; "cantharides" in the vulgate.
49. Vulgate: "the smooth toad, the mute marsh frog." Cf. below ch. 31.
50. Thus Codex X; "of herbs and vegetables" in the vulgate.
51. Vulgate: "spurge."
52. Vulgate: "naxium or taxus."
53. Thus Codex X; "Sarpedonius" in the vulgate.
54. Thus Codex X; "destructive" in the vulgate.

...in their use, man is led to destruction. Therefore, the animals which have a destructive power are almost these: the cantharis, the buprestis, the salamander, the pine caterpillar, the sea hare, the toad, or the mute marsh frog, and swallowed leeches. In the class of seeds, however: henbane, coriander, hemlock, love-in-a-mist, and fennel flower. From liquids: poppy juice, opocarpasum gum resin, the juice of thapsia, elaterium squirting cucumber extract, and mandrake. From roots: chameleon, aconite, thapsia, hellebore, ixias, black agaric, and ephemeron meadow saffron, which some call colchicon because it is born in Colchis. From the cohort of branched shrubs and herbs: smilax, which some call thymalum, but the Romans call it taxus, mad nightshade, which is also called dorycnion, the Sardinian herb which is a species of ranunculus, horned poppy, pharicum, toxicum, wild rue, and fungi. From animals: fresh bull’s blood, coagulated milk, and the honey generated in Heraclea in Pontus.