Remedies that Prepare and Purge Phlegm

Abstract

If the phlegm exerts its force within us, and spreads externally to mar the complexion, then betony and savory, thyme and sage, wormwood, flowers of wild thyme, rosemary, lavender and origanum: calamint and pennyroyal, marjoram, maidenhair, colewort, galingale and hyssop, white and fragrant horehound, mint that is potent to kill worms in the belly, meadow-sweet, parsley, St. John’s wort, fennel, scabious, broom, germander, bugle, burnet, camomile with meon, elecampane, the centaury so aptly named after the cloud-borne centaur, and that herb named after Gentius, and the birthwort famed in promoting labour: and roots with power to open and relieve suffering: employ all these. Each warm seed, whether large or small, attenuates thick phlegm, makes it flow faster. Purge from the bowel with agaric, less violently with aloes, and strong turbith agitates all within: and colocynth fiercely plies the body, driving the fluid, thick or thin, into the lower belly.