GALEN ON ANTIDOTES

BOOK I

...smell, and the arrangement of its parts. It is pale in color. In its consistency, it is neither thick and lumpy nor too liquid. It is uniform throughout and sticky. If you take some of it on your finger and let it flow, it should stretch out continuously like birdlime original: ἰξὸν (ixon); a sticky substance usually made from holly bark or mistletoe, used in the ancient world to catch birds. Here it describes the "stringy" or viscous texture of high-quality honey.. It does not break or snap apart.

Yet, honey is not the best simply because of these traits. Rather, the honey that is naturally the best always possesses these characteristics. For this reason, they become the identifiers of the finest grade.

Therefore, I say it is necessary to inspect each of the simple medicines original: ἁπλῶν φαρμάκων (haplōn pharmakōn). These are the base, single-ingredient drugs, such as specific herbs or minerals, used before they are mixed into complex medical compounds. many times. We must keep in our memory the exact degree of its pungency, sweetness, or any other sensory quality. The intensity of these qualities cannot be fully expressed in words.

There is also another way to judge the power of each medicine. This comes from long-term experience and is not aided by logical reasoning. For example, honey from Cnidus A coastal city in Caria, modern-day Turkey, famous in antiquity for its medical school and its local products. appears to be excellent according to the signs I just mentioned. It seems nearly equal to honey from Thasos or Hymettus Thasos, an island in the North Aegean, and Mount Hymettus, near Athens, were the two most celebrated sources of honey in the ancient world.. However, it reveals a significant flaw as it ages. It changes into a wine-like quality. A similar...