CHAP. 19.—THE PITCH-TREE AND THE LARCH: EIGHT REMEDIES.
The leaves of the pitch-tree1 and the larch,2 beaten up and boiled in vinegar, are good for tooth-ache. The ashes of the bark are used for excoriations and burns. Taken in drink this substance arrests diarrhœa, and acts as a diuretic; and used as a fumigation, it reduces the uterus when displaced. The leaves of the pitch-tree are particularly good for the liver, taken in doses of one drachma in hydromel.It is a well-known fact that forests planted solely with trees from which pitch and resin are extracted, are remarkably beneficial for patients suffering from phthisis,3 or who are un- able to recover their strength after a long illness: indeed it is said, that in such cases to breathe the air of localities thus planted, is more beneficial even than to take a voyage to Egypt.4 or to go on a summer's journey to the mountains to drink the milk there, impregnated with the perfumes of plants.
