De Cepis.

They are beneficial for foul breath: they remove aversions to food.

And Dioscorides bids to apply these crushed on top.

Their juice clears the eyes of dimness.

Mixed with honey, spots: and also combined with vinegar,

It usually cleans them out if they are often rubbed with this.

Asclepius asserts them to be quite healthy,

Especially for the stomach: and they affirm that they create

A beautiful color, whenever someone has looked upon them.

And whoever has broken his fasts with them

Every day says: that it helps him without pain.

All affirm that, when chewed, they bring on sleep,

And they say that they healthfully soften the bowels.

They say that, when applied, they cure dog bites,

If they have first been ground with honey or vinegar.

Others apply them ground with wine and honey,

And after three days have passed, they remove the poultice.

Dioscorides orders ground salt and onions for a snake's

Bites to be applied: thus he asserts it is helped.

Their juice, mixed with a woman's milk,

Often drives away severe pains when poured into the ear.

This juice, mixed with water and drunk, will help

Those whom a sudden disease causes to forget.

The juice of these, merely drawn into the nostrils,

Compels the head's harmful humors to descend.

Chewed or drunk, they purge delaying menstrua.

And abrasions of the feet, which one is accustomed to or the hardness

Of boots cause, it will cure with their juice,

If you frequently anoint them with the fat of hens.

He who rubs his teeth with this juice in the morning,

They say that he never feels the pain of a tooth.

Eaten with bread, they restrain ulcers of the mouth.

He who consumes them cooked, dipping them in oil,

Soothes the gripes which dysentery gives within.

Frequently rubbing places denuded of hair with ground onions:

You will be able to restore the beauty of the head.

Physicians do not seem to agree about onions.

For Dioscorides said that they inflate, and make the head heavy,

And that onions kindle thirst when chewed.

Galen said that they are not good for the bilious,

But he thinks they are very wholesome for the phlegmatic.