Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES., CHAP. 78.—HAZEL-NUTS: THREE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. PISTACHIO-NUTS: EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. CHESNUTS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

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CHAP. 78.—HAZEL-NUTS: THREE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. PISTACHIO-NUTS: EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. CHESNUTS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

Hazel-nuts¹ are productive of head-ache, and flatulency of the stomach; they contribute, however, to the increase of flesh more than would be imagined. Parched, they are remedial for catarrhs, and beaten up and taken with hydromel,² they are good for an inveterate cough. Some persons add grains of pepper,³ and others take them in raisin wine.

Pistachio-nuts⁴ have the same properties, and are productive of the same effects, as pine-nuts; in addition to which, they are used as an antidote to the venom⁵ of serpents, eaten or taken in drink.

Chesnuts⁶ have a powerful effect in arresting fluxes of the stomach and intestines, are relaxing to the bowels, are beneficial in cases of spitting of blood, and have a tendency to make flesh.⁷

1 See B. xv. c. 24.

2 An emulsion of them fresh, with honey, might be useful, Fée thinks, in such a case.

3 Either of these additions would certainly neutralize the good effects of the emulsion. The addition of raisin wine, however, is recommended by Dioscorides.

4 See B. xiii. c. 10.

5 They are of no efficacy whatever for such a purpose.

6 See B. xv. c. 25. They are no longer used in medicine, and, as Fée says, it is extremely doubtful if they possess any of the properties here attributed to them.

7 They are still looked upon as very nourishing, as, indeed, is the case with all the feculent fruits.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 78.—HAZEL-NUTS: THREE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. PISTACHIO-NUTS: EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. CHESNUTS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 78.—HAZEL-NUTS: THREE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. PISTACHIO-NUTS: EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. CHESNUTS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.