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1) CURES FOR HEAD AILMENTS

(a) For Beruksi, one makes a mixture of eye shadow and ground dried scorpion; this is applied 3 times (not more!) to each eye.
(b) For night blindness - one ties a rope of animal hair to his leg on one side, to a dog on the other side. Children bang pottery, an incantation is recited, and he collects meat from 7 houses, and eats it by the wasteheaps. The rope is removed from his leg, they blow into the dog's eye.
(c) For day blindness - 7 spleens are roasted on a bloodletter's flask. The patient requests them from a healthy person outside the house; after eating them, he breaks the flask (so the blindness will not return).
(d) For a nosebleed - one finds a Kohen named 'Levi', who writes 'Levi' backwards;

1. If not, certain other charms may be written by any person.
2. Alternatively, one may burn together fodder...to make ashes; in each nostril, one inserts a strand of wool dipped in vinegar are rolled in the ashes;
3. Alternatively, he straddles an irrigation channel that flows from east to west and takes in each hand mud from under the opposite foot. He inserts in each nostril a strand of wool dipped in the mud.
4. Alternatively, he sits under a gutter pipe; others pour water on him through the pipe and recite a charm.

(e) For a bleeding mouth: we take straw of wheat to see if the blood sticks to it.

1. If it sticks, the blood is from the lungs - this can be cured;
2. If it does not stick, it is from the liver - there is no cure.

i. Question (Rav Ami - Mishnah): If an animal's liver was entirely removed, or if the lung was punctured or lacking, the animal is Treifah. (We see, a wound in the lungs is more severe than one in the liver!)
ii. Answer (Rav Ashi): If the liver's blood is coming through the mouth, it must be that the liver has totally dissolved.

3. If the blood is from the lungs - one cooks a mixture of beets, etc. and eats it, then drinks strong beer made in Teves.

(f) For ailing inner teeth - one grinds garlic, oil and salt, puts the mixture on the thumbnail, and surrounds it with dough.

1. The garlic must not touch the flesh, lest it cause Tzara'as.

(g) For quinsy (a swollen throat with blisters) - first, one puts a certain root or leaves in the mouth to prevent excessive swelling;

1. One puts a nut's worth of bran, etc. in his mouth to gather the pus in the blisters;
2. Another person blows white cress seeds into the patient's mouth through a straw, to burst the blisters;
3. One takes honey mixed with dirt that was shaded by a Beis ha'Kisei.

(h) For an inflammation of the lining of the nose and throat - one cooks ammoniac, etc. until the ammoniac is fully cooked (for then it is all fully cooked), and drinks it.

1. Alternatively, he cooks milk of a white goat with twigs, and drinks it.

2. If neither is possible, he eats excrement of a white dog kneaded with balsam. (Preferably, one should avoid eating excrement - this disconnects the limbs.)

(a) For a sharp pain - one drinks water poured over an arrow shaped rock;

1. Alternatively, one drinks water from which a dog drank at night.

i. This should be taken from a place where snakes are not found, for the water was uncovered.
ii. One who drank exposed water should drink a Revi'is of undiluted wine.
iii. For an abscess, one drinks a Revi'is of undiluted wine mixed with red aloe.

(b) For heart palpitations - one eats 3 loaves of soaked barley bread, then drinks diluted wine.
(c) Question (Rav Acha mi'Difti): That will surely aggravate the problem!
(d) Correction (Ravina): This remedy is for a heavy heart; for a fluttering heart, one eats 3 loaves of wheat bread soaked in honey and drinks undiluted wine.
(e) For heart pain - one eats mint, cumin and sesame.
(f) For intestinal pain - for 3 days, one eats 100 peppers with wine each day.

1. Ravin of Nerash used 150 peppers of Bavel to cure Rav Ashi's daughter.

(g) For intestinal worms - one drinks a Revi'is of wine with a leaf.
(h) For white intestinal worms - one wraps a certain seed in cotton cloth, and soaks it in water. One drinks the water, making sure not to drink the seed, lest it puncture the intestines.
(i) To stop diarrhea, one eats a fresh mint plant soaked in water; to relieve constipation, one eats a dry mint plant soaked in water.
(j) For an inflated spleen - one dries out 7 water leeches, and drinks them in wine, in the course of 3 days.

1. Alternatively, one takes the spleen of a goat that has not borne children, sticks it to the inside of an oven and recites an incantation.

i. If he lacks an oven, he can stick the spleen between the bricks of a new house.

2. Alternatively, one takes the hand of one that died on Shabbos, puts it on his spleen and recites an incantation.
3. Alternatively, he roasts a fish on a smith's coals, eats it dipped in the smith's water, then drinks this water.

i. A goat that used to drink a smith's water was found (when slaughtered) to have no spleen.

4. Alternatively, he should drink much wine.
5. Objection (Rav Acha brei d'Rava): If he has much wine to drink, he will never have the problem to begin with! i. Rather, he should accustom himself to eating bread each morning - this helps the entire body.

(k) For hemorrhoids - one wraps acacia, etc. in flax or cotton and puts it on the afflicted area.

1. Alternatively, he drinks diluted beer.

(l) For haunches - one takes brine of small fish and rolls it 60 times on each hip.
(m) For kidney stones - one takes 3 drops each of tar oil, leek juice and clean wine, and puts them in the place of urination.

1. Alternatively, one hangs from the Ever the handle of a flask, or a red thread spun by a woman of bad repute, or a louse from a man and a louse from a woman.
2. The patient should urinate on a dry bush.

i. When the stone leaves, it should be kept - it relieves fevers.