Book III OF SVPHILIS 291

example, those at Albano or Poretta,'7! or ours near Verona,
since they can dry, deterge, subtilize, and induce sweat, my
answer is that, in my experience, they do little or no good. I
think, myself, that the reason is that they are too weak to liquefy
substance so thick and so viscous. It is true that, in cases of
milder cutaneous affections, for instance, scabies, impetigo,
and those that result from adustion of the liver or from salt
phlegm,'75 our baths at Calderiani (Caldiero)'"* may be strong
enough to cure them, but they cannot cure more serious mala—
dies. / For the same reason, those powders which I recommended
above for contagions, and which are cold by nature, such as
Armenian bole, sphragis, and precious stones, are of no value
for this disease; only those remedies are of value that are by
nature hot, such as incense, mastic, myrrh, scordium, dictamon,
etc., administered in any way you please.  Accompanying this
disease are certain accidents for which we sometimes need to
give special remedies; one of these is headache, which sometimes
attacks the whole head, sometimes only a part, and is due to
the presence of a mass of swollen substance which presses on
the scalp beneath what is called the pericranium. Often these
pains cannot be relieved by any remedy. In my experience,
nothing is more helpful than to rub the inner surfaces of the
arms, especially along the line of the cephalic veins, with the
following ointment: Juice of elecampane and bryony, liquid
styrax and turpentine, each 1 oz.; gum elemi I77 Lj oz.; bear!s—
grease, goose—grease and butter, each 118 oz.; incense and iris
each 3 drachms; oil of iris q. s. quicksilver one eighth of the
whole. Frequently there are gummata so hard that neither
the froth of guaiac nor any other of the usual liniments can re—
move them; sometimes they extend over the whole length of
the tibia, and are so painful that death seems preferable.  One
ought, therefore, to have recourse to the most powerful reme—
dies. Some doctors employ the fumigations mentioned above,
others sprinkle pyrites, made red—hot, with a decoction of guaiae
and vinegar, and apply the fumes to the part.''* — The follow—
ing plaster is also of service: Root of wild cucumber and of
iris, each q. s.; stew these till tender, then to 1 Ib. of this mix—
ture add ammoniae, serapinum, galbanum, each 2 oz.; liquid
styrax 1718 oz.; bear!s—grease and butter, each 1 oz.; quicksilver
one fourth of the whole compound. Mix, and make a plaster
according to rule.