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Table 4 Medical use of animals to heal malaria in Calabria, mentioned by historical sources used for the research.

From: Folk medicine used to heal malaria in Calabria (southern Italy)

Animals

Pliny

Dioscorides

Galen

Serenus Sammonicus

Cimex lecturalius

To cure quartain fevers

To cure quartain fevers

 

To cure tertian fevers

 

(Naturalis Historia XXIX, 17)

(De Materia Medica II, 36)

 

(Liber Medicinalis XLIX, 921)

 

[14]

[16]

 

[22]

Homo sapiens

 

To cure dropsy

  
  

(De Materia Medica II, 99)

  
  

[16]

  

Lumbricus terrestris

 

To cure tertian fevers

  
  

(De Materia Medica II, 99)

  
  

[16]

  

Spider

To cure quartain fevers

To cure quartain fevers

  
 

(Naturalis Historia XXX, 30)

(De Materia Medica II, 48)

  
 

[14]

[16]

  

Vipera aspis

To cure fevers

   
 

(Naturalis Historia XXX, 30)

   
 

[14]

   

Capra hircus

 

To cure hepatomegaly

To cure spleenomegaly and dropsy

 
  

(De Materia Medica II, 98)

(Galeni Opera Omnia XII, 297; XIII, 263)

 
  

[16]

[20, 21]

 

Erinaceus europaeus

To cure dropsy

To cure dropsy

  
 

(Naturalis Historia XXX, 30)

(De Materia Medica II, 2)

  
 

[14]

[16]

  

Cantharis vescicatoria

To cure dropsy

 

To expel urine

 
 

(Naturalis Historia XXIX, 96)

 

(Galeni Opera Omnia XII, 363)

 
 

[14]

 

[20]

 

Snake

To cure quartain fevers

   
 

(Naturalis Historia XXX, 30)

   
 

[14]

   

Bos taurus

  

To cure dropsy

 
   

(Galeni Opera Omnia XIII, 263)

 
   

[21]

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