colocynthis in water + honey
Toxicity is reported for this plant. Shown as a historical record for laboratory analysis only — not a preparation to make or take.
Original passage
There is another variety of the wild gourd, known as the “:” this kind is full of seeds, but not so large as the cultivated one. The pale colocynthis is better than those of a grass-green colour. Employed by itself when dried, it acts as a very powerful purgative; , it is a remedy for all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the loins, as well as for paralysis. , it is ; after which it is used as an injection, with perfect safety, in doses of four oboli. It is good, too, for the stomach, taken in pills composed of the dried powder and boiled honey. In jaundice seven seeds of it may be taken with beneficial effects, with a draught of hydromel immediately after.
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6): Books XVIII–XXIII, translated by John Bostock; H. T. Riley (1856 edition) · Book 20, chapter 8 · THE COLOCYNTHIS: TEN REMEDIES. · lines 8427–8438 · passage pliny-nh:b20:c008:001
What the pipeline extracted
- 1PlantProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.colocynthis“colocynthis”
- 2FormProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.other“used as an injection”
- 3Use (as written)ProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the loins, as well as for paralysis“all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the loins, as well as for paralysis”
- 4PartProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.fruit“The seed being first removed”
- 5Solvent / vehicleProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.Water + honey“boiled down in hydromel”
- 6HeatProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.boiled“boiled down in hydromel to one half”
- 7DurationProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.boiled down in hydromel to one half“boiled down in hydromel to one half”
- 8ProcessProvisionalNot independently validated. Read it as a lead, not a finding.decoction“boiled down in hydromel to one half”
- Fresh or driedNot stated in source
- FiltrationNot stated in source