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"[Plin. Nat. 26.35.] - EPITHYMON OR HIPPOPHEOS: EIGHT REMEDIES.
The two kinds of anagallis, taken in hydromel, are purgative; the same, too, with epithymon, which is the blossom of a sort of thyme similar to savory; the only difference being that the flower of this plant is nearer grass green, while that of the other thyme is white. Some persons call it “hippopheos.” This plant is by no means wholesome to the stomach, as it is apt to cause vomiting, but at the same time it disperses flatulency and gripings of the bowels. It is taken also, in the form of an electuary, for affections of the chest, with honey, or in some cases, with iris. Taken in doses of from four to six drachmæ, with honey and a little salt and vinegar, it relaxes the bowels.
Some persons, again, give a different description of epithymon: according to them, it is a plant without a root, diminutive, and bearing a flower resembling a small hood, and of a red colour. They tell us, too, that it is dried in the shade and taken in water, in doses of half an acetabulum; and that it has a slightly laxative effect upon the bowels, and carries off the pituitous humours and bile. Nymphæa is taken for similar purposes, in astringent wine.”
(The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.)