through
the beads and disperse itself through water and air, or, more
literally, to attach itself to the denizens of water and air. The
translation of Dr. Adolph Erman is as follows :75
[A red beadf ?of lapis-lazuli thereon.]
... a green bead ? of malachite is thereon.
a red bead of jasper ? is thereon
0,
ye beads! fall upon the haunches [of the . . .] in the flood; on the
scales? of the fish in the stream; on the feathers of the birds in the
heavens. Hasten forth ! nsw, fall upon the earth
Let
this text be recited over the beads?, one of lapis-lazuli, the other of
jasper?, the other malachite, which are drawn on a string of . . . and
hung upon the neck of a child.
Erman
does not venture to translate the name of the disease (nsw), but says
that another word derived from the same root signifies a discharge from
the nose. Possibly we have to do with croup or some similar disease of
the respiratory organs.
A curious prescription for the cure of cataract is given in the Ebers Papyrus,76 dating from about 1600 b.c. The
six ingredients are as follows : genuine lapis lazuli, verdigris
salve, a resinous substance perhaps similar to what is to-day called
tabasheer, milk, stibium, and "crocodile-earth," the slime of the Nile.
It is possible that the word chesbet, which usually signifies
lapis lazuli, was understood in this case as indicating some other
stone, such as that known by the name of lapis Armenus—this latter is a carbonate of copper and really possesses astringent properties.
For remedial use a lapis lazuli (cyanus) of deep hue is
n
Erman, " Zaubersprüche für Mutter und Kind," Philosophische und
Historische Abhandlungen der König. Pr. Akad. d. Wissenschaften, 1901,
Berlin, p. 9.
**
" Papyrus Ebers, Die Maase und das Kapitel über die Augenkrankheiten,"
by Georg Ebers. In the Abhandl. d. phil. hist. Klasse der Königl.
säche. Gesell, d. Wissenschaften, vol. xi, Leip., 1890, p. 318.
