BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.
VOL. IV.
4J-
^
u;
THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF
PLINY. ^
TEANSLATED,
WITH COPIOUS NOTES AND ILLUSTEATIONS
BY THE LATE
JOHN BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S.,
AND
H. T. RILEY, Esq., B.A.,
LATE SCHOLAK OF CLARE HALL, CAMBEIDGE,
VOL. IV.
LONDON;
lENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
y MDCCCLTI.
CONTENTS
OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.
BOOK XVIII.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF GRAIN.
Chap. Pagf;
1. Taste of the ancients for agriculture i. 1
2. When the first wreaths of corn were used at Rome 3
3. The jugerum of land 4
4. How often and on what occasions corn has sold at a remarkably
low price 7
5. Illustrious men who have written upon agriculture 9
6. Points to be observed in buj-ing land 11
7. The proper arrangements for a farm-house 13
8. Maxims of the ancients on agriculture 16
9. The different kinds of grain 19
10. The histoiy of the various kinds of grain j'v.
11. Spelt 24
12. Wheat 25
13. Barley : rice 27
14. Polenta 28
15. Ptisan 29
16. Tragum ... ib.
17. Amvlum ib.
18. The nature of barley 80
19. Ariuca, and other kinds of grain that are grown in the East .. 31
20. Winter wheat. Similago, or fine flour 32
21. The fruitfulness of Africa in wheat 35
22. Sesame. Erysimum or irio. Horminum 36
23. The mode of grinding corn id.
24. Millet 38
25. Panic ib.
26. The various kinds of leaven ib.
27. The method of making bread : origin of the art 39
28. When bakers were first introduced at Rome 40
29. Alica 41
30. The leguminous plants : the bean 43
31. Lentils. Pease 46
^dfSS-'
vi CO>'TENTS.
Chap. ^^;^
32. The several kindi5 of chick-pease .. 4')
33. Tlie kidncy-bcan 4.7
34. The rape »*•
35. The turnip 48
36. The lupine 49
37. The vetch 51
38. The fitch '•*•
39. Silicia {b.
40. Secale or asia 52
41. Farrago: the cracca i(>-
42. Ocinum : ervilia J<^-
43. Lucerne 53
44. The diseases of grain : the oat 54
4-5. The best remedies for the diseases of grain 57
46. The crops that should be sown in the different soils 59
47. The different systems of cultivation employed by various nations 60
48. The various kinds of ploughs 62
49. Tlie mode of ploughing ib.
50. The methods of harrowing, stubbing, and hoeing, employed for
each description of grain. The use of the harrow . . . . 66
51. Extreme fertility of soil 67
52. The method of sowing more than once in the year 68
53. The manuring of land ib.
54. How to a.sccrtain the quality of seed 69
0-5. What quantity of each kind of grain is requisite for sowing a
jugerum .. .. 71
56. The proper times for sowing 72
57. Arrangement of the stars according to the terrestrial days and
nights 74
58. The rising and setting of the stars 77
59. The epochs of the seasons 78
60. The proper time for winter sowing 79
61. AVhou to sow the leguminous plants and the poppy 81
62. Work to be done in the country in each month respectively . . ib.
63. "Work to be done at the winter solstice 82
64. Work to be done between the winter solstice and the prevalence
of the west winds 83
65. Work to be done between the prevalence of the west winds and
the vernal equinox 84
(i6. Work to be done after the vernal equinox 86
67. Work to be done after the rising of the Vergilia; : hay-making , 88
68. The summer solstice 92
69. Causes of sterility 97
70. Remedies against these noxious intlucncos 101
71. Work to be done after the summer solstice 102
72. The harvest ! ! 103
73. The methods of storing corn 104
74. The vintage, and the works of autumn 10?
75. The revolutions of the moon Ill
CONTENTS. Vll
Chap. I'^Kf
76. The theory of the winds .. 113
77. The laying out of lands according to the points of the wind . . 114
78. Prognostics derived from the sun 11"
79. Prognostics derived from the moon 119
80. Prognostics derived from the stars 120
81. Prognostics derived from thunder I'-^l
82. Prognostics derived from clouds i^>-
83. Prognostics derived from mists 122
84. Prognostics derived from fire kindled hy man th.
85. Prognostics derived from water <^-
86. Prognostics derived from tempests 123
87. Prognostics derived from aquatic animals and birds ih.
88. Prognostics derived from quadrupeds 1. .. 124
89. Prognostics derived ft-om plants 125
90. Prognostics derived from food H'-
BOOK XIX.
THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS
GARDEN PLANTS.
1. The nature of flax — marvellous facts relative thereto 129
2. How flax is sown : twenty-seven principal varieties of it .. .. 131
3. The mode of preparing fiax 135
4. Linen made of asbestos 136
5. At what period linen was first dyed 13S
6. At what period coloured awnings were first employed in the
theatres lb.
7. The nature of spartura 139
8. The mode of preparing spartura 140
.9. At what period spartum was first employed 141
10. The bulb eriophorus ib.
11. Plants which spring up and grow without a root — plants which
grow, but cannot be reproduced from seed 142
12. Misy; iton; and geranion 143
13. Particulars connected with the truffle 144
14. The pezica ib.
15. Laserpitium, laser, and maspetum ih.
16. Magydaris 147
17. Madder 148
18. The radicula ib.
19. The pleasures of the garden 149
20. The laying out of garden ground 154
21. Plants other than grain and shrubs 155
22. The natural history of twenty difi'erent kinds of plants grown in
gardens — the proper methods to be followed in sowing them
respectively ib.
viii CONTENTS.
Chap. P*ge
23. Vegetables of a cartilaginous nature— cucumbers. Pepones ,.. 156
24. Gourds 1^8
25. Rape. Turnips 161
26. Radishes 162
27. Parsnips 165
28. The sliirret 166
29. Elecampane 167
30. Bulbs, squills, and arum 168
31. The roots, flowers, and leaves of all these plants. Garden plants
which lose their leaves 170
32. Varieties of the onion 171
33. Theleek 173
34. Garlic ^ 174
35. The number of days required for the respective plants to make
their appearance above ground 177
36. The nature of the various seeds 178
37. Plants of which there is but a single kind. Plants of which there
are several kinds 179
38. The nature and varieties of twenty-three garden plants. The
lettuce ; its different varieties 180
39. Endive 182
40. Beet: four varieties of it 183
41. Cabbages; the several varieties of them 185
42. Wild and cultivated asparagus 188
43. Thistles 190
44. Other plants that are sown in the garden : ocimum ; rocket ;
and nasturtium 191
4-5. Rue *. [[ ib^
46. Parsley 192
47. Mint if,^
48. Olusatrum 193
49. The caraway 194
50. Lovage '". '* \\ ** n,^
ol. Dittander * 195
52. Gith ;; ■■ ;; ;;• ;; ;-3
53. The poppy \\ [[ '\ \\ '\ 195
54. Other plants which require to be sown at the autumnal equinox 197
55. Wild thyme ; sisymbrium a^
56. Four kinds of ferulaceous plants. Hemp .. .. .. .'. ,. 198
57. The maladies of garden plants ' .'.* .. \\ \\ 199
53. The proper remedies for these maladies*. How ants are best dV-
<,. xTTu^'"^^? ^^^ ^""^^ remedies against caterpillars and flies . . 200
5.?. \\ hat plants are benefitted bv salt water 201
60. The proper method of watering gardens . . . . ib
61. The juices and flavours of garden herbs .'. .. .'. " '.' 202
62. Piperitis, libanotis, and smyrnium. . .. " ]] " " 203
CONTENTS. ix
BOOK XX.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE GARDEN PLANTS.
::aAP. Page
1. Introduction ..206
2. The wild cucumber : twenty-six remedies 207
3. Elaterium : twenty-seven remedies 208
4. The anguine or erratic cucumber : five remedies 209
5. The cultivated cucumber : nine remedies 2i0
6. Pepones: eleven remedies 211
7. The gourd: seventeen remedies. The somphus : one remedy .. 212
8. The colocynthis : ten remedies ib.
9. Eape : nine remedies 213
.0. "Wild rape : one remedy 214
1. Turnips ; those known as bunion and bunias : five remedies . . ib.
2. The wild radish, or armoracia : one remedy 215
.3. The cultivated radish : forty-three remedies ib.
4. The parsnip : five remedies. The hibiscum, wild mallow, or
plistolochia : eleven remedies 218
.5. The staphylinos, or wild parsnip; twenty-two remedies .. .. ib.
6. Gingidion : one remedy 219
.7. The skirret : eleven remedies 220
8. Sile, or hartwort : twelve remedies 221
9. Elecampane: eleven remedies 222
!0. Onions ; twenty-seven remedies ib.
11. Cutleek : thirty-two remedies 223
!2. Bulbed leek : thirty-nine remedies 225
13. Garlic; sixty-one remedies ib.
!4. The lettuce ; forty -two remedies. The goat-lettuce : four re-
medies 228
55. Csesapon : one remedy. Isatis : one remedy. The wild lettuce :
seven remedies ib.
!6. Hawk- weed : seventeen remedies 229
!7. Beet : twenty-four remedies 232
18. Limonion, or neuroides : three remedies 233
19. Endive: three remedies ib,
iO. Cichorium or chreston, otherwise called pancration^ or ambula :
twelve remedies 234
;i. Hedypnois : four remedies ib.
12. Seris, three varieties of it : seven remedies borrowed from it . . 235
!3. The cabbage : eighty-seven remedies. Recipes mentioned by Cato ib.
''A. Opinions of the Greeks relative thereto 237
15. Cabbage-sprouts 239
>6. The wild cabbage : thirty-seven remedies 240
!7. The lapsana : one remedy 241
•8. The sea-cabbage ; one remedy ib.
>9. The squill : twenty- three remedies .. ib.
tO. Bulbs: thirty remedies . . ., 243
X CONTENTS.
CHAP. ^age
41. Bulbinc: one remedy. Bulb emetic .- ^4*
42. Garden asparagus ; with tiie next, twenty-four remedies . . . . 245
43. Corruda, libycura, or orminum *^'
44. Parsley: seventeen remedies 24<
45. Apiastium, or mdissopbyllum _ _ •• 247
46. Olusatrum or Hipposelinon : eleven remedies. Oreoselinon :
two remedies. Helioselinon : one remedy . . . . ' . . . . 248
47. Petroselinon : one remedy. Buselinon : one remedy . , . . ib.
48. Ocimum : thirty-five remedies 249
49. Rocket : twelve remedies . . . • 250
50. Nasturtium: forty-two remedies 251
51. Eue : eighty-four remedies 252
52. "Wild mint : twenty remedies 256
53. Mint: forty-one remedies 257
64. Pennyroyal': twenty-five remedies 259
55. Wild pennyroyal : seventeen remedies 260
56. Nep : nine remedies 261
57. Cummin: forty-eight remedies. "Wild cummin: twenty-six
remedies 262
58. Ammi : ten remedies 263
59. The capparis or caper : eighteen remedies 264
60. Ligusticum, or lovage : four remedies 265
61. Cunila bubula : five remedies ib.
62. Cunila gallinacea, or origanum : five remedies 266
63. Cunilago : eight remedies ib.
64. Soft cunila : three remedies. Libanotis : three remedies . . . . ib.
65. Cultivated cunila : three remedies. Mountain cunila : seven re-
medies 267
66. Piperitis, or siliquastrum : five remedies ib.
67. Origanum, onitis, or prasion : six remedies 268
68. Tragoriganum : nine remedies ib.
69. Three varieties of lleracleotic origanum : thirty remedies .. . . ib.
70. Dittandor: three remedies " 270
71. Gith, or melanthion : twenty-three remedies ib.
72. Anise: sixty- one remedies 271
73. Where the best anise is found : various remedies derived from
this plant 272
74. Dill : nine remedies 274
75. Sacopciiium, or sagapenon : thirteen remedies ib.
76. The white poppy : three remedies. The black poppy : eight re-
medics. Kemarks on sleep. Opium. Remarks in disfavour
of the potions known as "anodynes, febrifuges, digestives,
and coeliacs." In what way the juices of these plants are to
be collected 275
77. The poppy called rhoeas : two remedies .. *.' .* *.*. .. 278
78. The wild poppy called ceratitis, glaucium, or paralium: six re-
mcdi'js /^.
79. The wild poppy called heraclium, or aphron: four remedies.
Diacodion ,,5.
CONTENTS. XI
Chap. Page
80. The poppy called titbymalon, or paralion : three remedies . . 279
81. Porcillaca or purslain, otherwise called peplis : twenty-five re-
medies 280
82. Coriander: twenty-one remedies, 282
83. Orage : fourteen remedies ib.
84. The mallow called malope : thirteen remedies. The mallow
called malache : one remedy. The mallow called althaea or
plistolochia : fifty-nine remedies 283
8o. "Wild lapathum or osalis, otherwise called lapathum canther-
inum, or ruraex : one remedy. Hydrolapathum : two reme-
dies. Ilippolapathum : six remedies. Oxylapathum : four
remedies . . 287
86. Cultivated lapathum : twenty-one remedies. Bulapathum : one
remedy _ 288
87. Mustard, the three kinds of it : forty-four remedies . . . . ib.
88. Adarca : forty-eight remedies 290
89. Marrubium or prasion, otherwise linostrophon, philopais, or
philochares : twenty-nine remedies ib.
90. Wild thyme : eighteen remedies 292
91. Sisymbrium or tbymbraeum : twenty-three remedies 293
92. Linseed : thirty remedies 294
93. Elite : six remedies 295
94. Meum, and meum athamanticum : seven remedies ib.
95. Fennel : twenty-two remedies 296
96. Hipporaarathron, or myrsineum : five remedies ib.
97. Hemp : nine remedies 297
98. Fennel-giant : eight remedies 298
99. The thistle or scolymos : six remedies 299
00. The composition of theriaca ib.
BOOK XXI.
AX ACCOUNT OF FLOWERS, ANB THOSE USED FOR CHAPLET3 IIORE
PARTICULARLY.
1. The nature of flowers and gardens 304
2. Garlands and chaplets ib.
3. "Who invented the art of making garlands : when they first re-
ceived the name of *' corollse," and for what reason . . . . 305
4. "Who was the first to give chaplets with leaves of silver and
gold. Lemnisci : who was the first to emboss them . . . . 306
5. The great honour in which chaplets were held by the ancients ib.
6. The severity of the ancients in reference to chaplets 307
7. A citizen decked with fiowers by the Roman people 308
8. Plaited chaplets. Needle-work chaplets. Nard-leaf chaplets.
Silken chaplets ib.
9. Authors who have written on flowers. An anecdote relative to
Queen Cleopatra and chaplets _ 309
XU CONTENTS.
J
Chap. Pa:
10. The rose: twelve varieties of it 31
11. The lily : four varieties of it 3l4'
12. The narcissus : three varieties of it 31f
13. How seed is stained to produce tinted flowers 31'
14. How the several varieties of the violet are respectively produced,
grown, and cultivated. The three different colours of the
violet. The five varieties of the yellow violet 31'
15. The caltha. The scopa regia 31:
16. The bacchar. The combretum. Asarum il
17. Saff'ron: in what places it grows best. What flowers were
known at the time of the Trojan war 31'
18. The nature of odours 32
19. The iris , 32
20. The saliunca 32
21. The polium or teuthrion .. il
22. Fabrics which rival the colour of flowers 32
23. The amaranth 32
24. The cyanos : the holochrysos 32:
25. The petilium : the bellio " il
26. The chrysocome, or chrysitis 32'
27. Shrubs, the blossoms of which are used for chaplets il
28. Shrubs, the leaves of which are used for chaplets il
29. The melothron, spiraea, and origanum. The cneorum or cassia;
two varieties of it. The melissophyllum or melittsena. The
melilote, otherwise known as Campanian garland 33(
30. Three varieties of trefoil : the myophonum.. .. ?. . .. .. ib
31. Two varieties of thyme. Plants produced from blossoms and not
from seed 33
32. Conyza 33:
33. The flower of Jove. The hemerocalles. The helenium. The
phlox. Plants in which the branches and roots are odoriferous 331
34. The abrotonum. The adonium : two varieties of it. Plants
which reproduce themselves. The leucanthemum 33^
35. Two varieties of the amaracus ib
36. The nyctegreton, or chenamyche, or nyctalops 33t
37. "Where the melilote is found ib
38. The succession in which flowers blossom: the springs flowers.
The violet. The chaplet anemone or phrenion. The herb
oenanthe. The melauthium. The helichrysos. The gladi-
olus. The hyacinth 336
39. The summer flowers — the lychnis : the tiphyon. Two varieties
of the pothos. Two varieties of the orsinum. The vincaper-
vinca or champedaphne — a plant which is an ever-green . . 337 [
40. The duration of life in the various kinds of flowers 331 |
41. Plants which should be sown among flowers for bees. The j
cerintha ib,\
42. The maladies of bees, and the remedies for them 340' /
43. The food of bees ib.\
CONTENTS. Xlll
:hap. Page
14. Poisoned honey, and the remedies to be employed by those who
have eaten it 341
[5. Maddening honey 342
:6. Honey that flies -will not touch 343
:7. Beehives, and the attention which should be paid to them . . 344
:8. That bees are sensible of hunger 345
9. The method of preparing wax. The best kinds of wax. Punic wax. ib,
>0. Plants which grow spontaneously : the use made of them by
various nations, their nature, and remarkable facts connected
with them. The strawberry, the tamnus, and the butcher's
broom. The batis, two varieties of it. The meadow parsnip.
The hop 347
il. The colocasia ib.
>2. The cichorium. The anthalium or anticellium, or anthyllum.
The cetum. The arachidna. The aracos. The candryala.
The hypochoeris. The caucalis. The anthriscum. The scan-
dix. The tragopogon. The parthenium or leucanthes, araa-
racus, perdicium, or muralis. The trychnum or strychnum,
halicacabum, callias, doryenion, manicon, peritton, neuras,
morio, or moly. The corchorus. The aphace. The acyno-
pos. The epipetron. Plants which never flower. Plants
which are always in flower 348
13. Four varieties of the cnecos 350
i4. Plants of a prickly nature : the erynge, the glycyrrhiza, the tri-
bulus, the anonis, the pheos or stoebe, and^the hippophaes . . ib.
>5. Four" varieties of the nettle. The laraium and the scorpio . . 351
•6. The carduus, the acorna, the phonos, the leucanthos, the chal-
ceos, the cnecos, the polyacanthos, the onopyxos, the helxine,
the scolymos, the chamseleon, the tetralix, and acanthice mas-
tiche : 353
7. The cactos : the pternix,pappos, and ascalias 354
8. The tribulus : the anonis 355
9. Plants classified according to their stems : the coronopus, the an-
chusa, the anthemis, the phyllanthes, the crepis, and the lotus ib.
»0. Plants classified according to their leaves. Plants which never
lose their leaves : plants which blossom a little at a time : the
heliotropium and the adiantum, the remedies derived from
which will be mentioned in the following Book 356
51. The various kinds of eared plants : the stanyops ; the alopecuros ;
the stelephurus, ortyx, or plantago ; the thryallis 357
»2. The perdicium. The ornithogale ib.
»3. Plants which only make their appearance at the end of a year.
Plants which begin to blossom at the top. Plants which begin
to blossom at the lower part 358
14. The lappa, a plant which produces within itself. The opuntia,
which throws out a root from the leaf ib.
'>o. The iasione. The chondrylla. The picris, which remains in
flower the whole year through ib.
i6. Plants in which the blossom makes its appearance before the
XIV CONTENTS.
CiiAi'. , ^ , ,, Page
stem, riants in which the stem appears before the blossom,
rhmts which blossom three times in the year 359
67. The cypiros. The thesion ib.
68. The asphodel, or royal spear. The anthericus or albucus . . ib.
69. Six varieties of the rush : four remedies derived from the cypiros 361
70. The cypcros : fourteen remedies. The cyperis. The cypira . . 363
71. The holoschccnus 364
72. Ten remedies derived from the sweet-scented rush, or teuchites ib.
73. Ileraedics derived from the flowers before mentioned : thirty-two
remedies derived from the rose ib.
74. Twenty-one remedies derived from the lily 366
76. Sixteen remedies derived from the narcissus 367
76. Seventeen remedies derived from the violet 368
77. Seventeen remedies derived from the bacchar. One remedy de-
rived from the combretum ib.
78. Eight remedies derived from asarum 369
79. Eifjht remedies derived from gallic nard ib.
80. Four remedies derived from the plant called "phu" 370
81. Twenty remedies derived from saffron : ib.
82. Syrian crocomagna : two remedies ib.
83. Forty-one remedies derived from the iris : two remedies derived
from the saliunca 371
84. Eighteen remedies derived from the poliura 372
85. Three remedies derived from the holochrysos. Six remedies de-
rived from tlie chrysocome 373
86. Twenty-one remedies derived from the melissophyllum .. .. ib.
87. Thirteen remedies derived from the melilote 374
88. Four remedies derived from the trefoil ., ib.
89. Twenty-eight remedies derived from thyme 375
90. Four remedies derived from the hemerocalles 376
91. Five nnudies derived from the helenium ib.
92. Twenty-two remedies derived from the ahrotonum 377
93. One remedy derived from the leucanthemum. Nine remedies
derived from the amaracus 378
94. Ten remedies derived from the anemone or phrenion . . *. *. 379
95. Six remedies derived from the aiiantbe .*.* 380
96. Eleven remedies derived from"the helichrysos .. .*." *.*. ,\ ib.
97. Eight remedies derived from the hyacinth .. .. ** " 381*
9vS. Seven remedies derived from the lychnis .. .. .'] .*.* ,\ ib.
99. Four remedies derived from the vincapervinca ! ! * \\ " 382
100. Three remedies derived from ])utcher's broom .. .. .[ ,. ib.
101. Two remedies derived from the batis . . .. .*.' ,', ** ** i^'
1 0-2. Two rem. dies derived from the colocasia *.'. ib'
103. Six remedies derived from tlie authyllium or anthyllum .'.' V 383
104. Eight remedies derived from the parthenium, leucanthes, or
amaracus ' .,
105. Eight remedies derived from the trj^hnum or strychnum,* haU-
cacabum, eallias doryciuon, manicon, neuras, morio, or moly 384
1 00. bii remedies derived from the corchorus S86
CONTENTS. XV
LP. - Page
'. Three remedies derived from the cnecos 386
I. One remedy derived from the pesoluta ib.
I. An explanation of Greek terms relative to weights and measures ib.
BOOK XXII.
THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND FRUITS .
The properties of plants 389
Plants used by nations for the adornment of the person . . . . ib.
Employment of plants for dyeing. Explanation of the terms
sagmen, verbena, and clarigatio 390
, The grass crown : how rarely it has been awarded 392
. The only persons that have been presented with this crown . . 393
. The only centurion that has been thus honoured 394
. Eemedies derived from other chaplet plants 395
. The erynge or eryngium 396
. The eryngium, called centum capita : thirty remedies . . . . 397
. The acanos : one remedy 398
. The glycyrrhiza or adipsos : fifteen remedies 399
. Two varieties of the tribulus : twelve remedies 400
. The st(jebe or pheos 401
. Two varieties of the hippophaes : two remedies . . ib.
. The nettle : sixty-one remedies 402
The lamium : seven remedies 404
, The Scorpio, two kinds of it : one remedy . . 405
. The leucacantha, phyllos, ischias, or polygonatos : four remedies ib.
. The helxine : twelve remedies 406
The perdicium, parthenium, urceolaris, or astercum : eleven re-
medies 407
The chamaeleon, ixias, ulophonon, or cynozolon ; two varieties of
it : twelve remedies ib.
The coronopus 409
The anchusa : fourteen remedies . . ib.
The pseudoanchusa, echis, or doris : three remedies 410
The onochilon, archebion, onochelis, rhexia, or enchrysa : thirty
remedies ib.
The anthemis, leucanthemis, leucanthemum, chamaemelum, or me-
lanthium; three varieties of it : eleven remedies 411
The lotus plant : four remedies 412
The lotoraetra : two remedies ib.
J The heliotropium, helioscopium, or verrucaria : twelve remedies.
The heliotropium, tricoccum, or scorpiuron : fourteen remedies 413
i The adiantum, callitrichos, trichomanes, polytrichos, or saxi-
fragum ; two varieties of it : twenty-eight remedies . . . . 415
j Th,e picris : one remedy. The thesion : one remedy 417
• The asphodel : fifty-one remedies ib.
< The halimon : fourteen remedies 419
xvi CONTENTS.
Pag
34* The acanthus, paederos, or melaraphyUos : five remedies . . . . i2
3.5. The bupleuron : five remedies jj
36. The buprestis : one remedy .. *2'
37. The elaphoboscon : nine remedies • •. ti
38. The scandix : nine remedies. The anthriscum : two remedies. . 42
39. The iasione : four remedies «^
40. Thecaucalis: twelve remedies 42
41. Thesium: eleven remedies il
42. The sillvbuni -42
43. The scolyraos or limonia : five remedies it
44. The sonchos : two varieties : fifteen remedies 42
4.5. The condrion or chondrylla : six remedies i 42
46. Mushrooms; peculiarities of their growth ^ .-'42
47. Fungi ; signs by which the venomous kinds may be recognized:
nine remedies • •• ..42
48. Silphium: seven remedies 43
49 Laser: thirty-nine remedies 43
50. Propolis : five remedies 43
51. The various influences of diff'erent aliments upon the disposition 43
62. Hydromel: eighteen remedies 43'
63. Honied wine: six remedies 43
54. Mclitites ; three remedies 43
55. Wax: eight remedies il
66. Remarks in disparagement of medicinal compositions 43;
57. llemedics derived from grain. Siligo: one remedy. Wheat : one
remedy. Chafi" : two remedies. Spelt : one remedy. Eran :
one remedy. Olyra or arinca : two remedies 44(
58. The various kinds of meal : twenty-eight remedies 44
69. Polenta: eight remedies 44i!
60. Fine Hour : five remedies. Puis : one remedy. Meal used for
pasting papyrus , one remedy ib
61. Alica : six remedies 44.'
62. Millet : six remedies 44^
63. Panic : four remedies ib\
64. Sesame: seven remedies. Sesamoides: three remedies. Anti-
cyricum : three remedies ^
65. Barley : nine remedies. Mouse-barley, by the Greeks called
phoenice : one remedy 44^
66. Ptisan : four rcmcdiis 1 44(
67. Amylum: eight remedies. Oat's: one remedy .. .. , .' .. ib.,
68. Hrcud : twenty-one remedies \ , .' .. 447J
69. Hcans : sixteen remedies [[ ' ib:
70. Lentils: seventeen remedies * ,, 448
71. The clelisphacos, sphacos, or salvia: thirteen remedies .. .. 449
72. The chickpea and the chicheling vetch : twenty-three remedies.. 450
7.'J. The fitch: twenty remedies .. ., 45I1
74. Lupines : tliirty-five remedies \\ .'." ]* '[ \\ 452
75. Iri.) or crysimtmi, by the Gauls called vela -.'fifteen remedies '.". 453'
76. Ilorrainum: six remedies 454.
CONTENTS. XTU
Chap. Page
77. Darnel : five remedies 454
78. The plant miliaria : one remedy 455
79. Bromos : one remedy ib.
80. Orobanche or cynomorion : one remedy ib.
81. Eeraedies for injuries inflicted by insects which breed among
leguminous plants iL
82. The use made of the yeast of zythum 456
BOOK XXIII.
THE EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES.
1. Introduction 457
2. The vine ib.
3. The leaves and shoots of the vine': seven remedies 458*
4. Omphacium extracted from the vine : fourteen remedies . . . . 459
5. (Enanthe : twenty-one remedies 460
6. Grapes, fresh gathered 461
7. Various kinds of preserved grapes : eleven remedies ib.
8. Cuttings of the vine : one remedy 462
9. Grape-stones : six remedies ib.
10. Grape-husks: eight remedies 468
11. The grapes of the theriaca : four remedies ib.
12. Raisins, or astaphis : fourteen remedies ib.
13. The astaphis agria, otherwise called staphis or taminia: twelve
remedies 464
14. The labrusca, or wild vine : twelve remedies 465
15. The salicastrum : twelve remedies ib.
16. The white vine, otherwise called ampeloleuce, staph yle, melothron,
psilotrum, archezostis, cedrostis, or madon : thirty-one remedies 466
17. The black vine, otherwise called bryonia, chironia, gynaBcanthe,
or apronia : thirty-five remedies 46S
18. Must: fifteen remedies ib.
L9. Particulars relative to wine 469
20. The Surrentine wines : three remedies. The Alban wines : tw«)
remedies. The Falemian wines : six remedies 470
II. The Setine wines; one observation upon them.' The Statan
wines ; one observation upon them. The Signian wines : one
remedy 471
22. Other wines : sixty-four remedies ib.
J3. Sixty-one observations relative to wine . . 473
i4. In what maladies wine should be administered ; how it should be
administered, and at what times 474
55. Ninety-one observations with reference to wine 477
J6. Artificial wines ib.
17. Vinegar ; twenty-eight remedies 47^i
!8. Squill vinegar : seventeen remedies 480
h
xviii CONTENTS.
Page
< "AP. 401
29. Oxymeli : seven remedies ^?^
30. Sapa : seven remedies ^^•
31 . Lees of wine : twelve remedies ^o^
32. Lees of vinegar : seventeen remedies 483
33. Lees of sapa : four remedies - 4^*
34. The leaves of the olive-tree : twenty-three remedies ^o.
So. The hlossom of the olive : four remedies t*.
36. White olives: four remedies. Black olives : three remedies .. 485
37. Amiirca of olives : twenty-one remedies 486
38. The leaves of the wild olive : sixteen remedies 487
39. Omphacium : three remedies 488
40. Oil of cenanthe': twenty-eight remedies H-
4L Castor oil : sixteen remedies 489
42. Oil of almonds : sixteen remedies 490
43. Oil of laurel : nine remedies ^b.
44. Oil of myrtle : twenty remedies _ .. ib.
45. Oil of chamaemyrsine, or oxymyrsine ; oil of cypros ; oil of
citrus ; oil of walnuts ; oil of cnidium ; oil of mastich ; oil of
balanus ; various remedies 491
46. The Cyprus, and the oil extracted from it;] sixteen remdies.
Gleucinum : one remedy 492
47. Oil of balsamum : fifteen remedies ib.
48. ^lalobathrum : five remedies 493
49. Oil of henbane : two remedies. Oil of lupines : one remedy.
Oil of narcissus : one remedy. Oil of radishes : five remedies.
Oil of sesame : three remedies. Oil of lilies : three remedies.
Oil of Selga : one remedy. Oil of Iguvium : one remedy . . ib.
50. Elaeomeli : two remedies. Oil of pitch. : two remedies .. .. 494
51. The palm : nine remedies ib.
52. The palm which produces the myrolialanum : three remedies . . 495
53. The palm called elate : sixteen remedies ib.
54. Remedies derived from the blossoms, leaves, fruit, branches, bark,
juices, roots, wood, and ashes of various kinds of trees. Six ob-
servations upon apples. Twenty-two observations upon quinces.
One observation upon struthea 496
55. The sweet apples called melimela : six observations upon them.
Sour apples : four observations upon them 497
56. Citrons: five observations upon them 498
57. Punic apples, or pomegranates : twenty-six remedies ib.
08. The composition called stomatice : fourteen remedies 499 »
59. Cytinus : eight remedies ..500
CO. JJalaustium : twelve remedies *.* [. " \\ ib,
6L Tjie wild pomegranate *] \\ \\ \\ ].* 501
62. Pears ; twelve observations upon them . . \\ . . * " * * 502
^4 ■ VF ■ .^'"«.li""^red and eleven observations upon them *. \ \ \ ib.
64. 1 he wild fig : forty-two observations upon it .. 505
05. i lie herb cnneon: three remediesl.. " 50?
66. Plums : four observations upon them W ib\
67. Peaches: two remedies * 5,
I
CONTENTS. XIX
Chap. Page
68. Wild plums ; two remedies 508
69. The lichen on plum-trees ; two remedies ib.
70. Mulberries; thirty-nine remedies ib.
71. The medicament called stomatice, arteriace, or panchrestos ; four
remedies 509
72. Cherries: five observations upon them 511
73. Medlars: two remedies. Sorbs: two remedies 512
74. Pine-nuts : thirteen remedies ib.
75. Almonds: twenty-nine remedies ib.
76. Greek nuts : one remedy .. 513
77. Walnuts :• twenty-four remedies. The Mithridatic antidote .. 514
78. Hazel-nuts : three observations upon them. Pistachio-nuts :
eight observations upon them. Chesnuts : five observations
upon them 515
79. Carobs : five observations upon them. The cornel : one remedy.
The fruit of the arbutus 516
80. The laurel : sixty-nine observations upon it ib.
81. Myrtle: sixty observations upon it 519
82. Myrtidanum : thirteen remedies 521
83. The wild myrtle, otherwise called oxymyrsine, or cbamsemyrsine,
and the ruscus : six remedies ib.
NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.
BOOK XVIII.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF GRAIN.
CHAP. 1. (1.) TASTE OF THE ANC1E^"TS FOR AGEICrLTUKE.
"We now pass on to the Natural History of the various grains,
of the garden plants and flowers, and indeed of all the other
productions, with the exception of the trees and shrubs, which
the Earth, in her bounteousness, affords us — a boundless field
for contemplation, if even we regard the herbs alone, when we
take into consideration the varieties of them, their numbers,
the flowers they produce, their odours, their colours, their
juices, and the numerous properties they possess — all of which,
have been engendered by her with a view to either the preser-
vation or the gratification of the human race.
On entering, however, upon this branch of my subject, it is
my wish in the first place to plead the cause of the Earth, and
to act as the advocate of her who is the common parent of all,
although in the earlier^ part of this work I have already had
occasion to speak in her Sefence. For my subject matter, as I
proceed in the fulfilment of my task, will now lead me to con-
sider her in the light of being the producer of various noxious
substances as well ; in consequence of which it is that we arc
in the habit of charging her with our crimes, and imputing to
her a guilt that is our own. She has produced poisons, it is
true ; but who is it but man that has found them out ? For
the bu-ds of the air and the beasts of the field, it is sufficient to
he on their guard against them, and to keep at a distance from
them. The elephant, we find, and the urus, know how to
1 In B. ii. c. 63.
VOL. IV. B
2 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
sharpen- and renovate their teeth against the trunks of trees,
and the rliinoceros against rocks ; wild boars, again, point
their tusks like so many poniards by the aid of both rocks and
trejcs ; and all animals, in fact, are aware how to prepare them-
selves for the infliction of injury upon others ; but still, which
is there among them all, with the exception of man, that dips
his weapons in poison ? As for ourselves, we envenom the
point of the arrow,^ and we contrive to add to the destructive
powers of iron itself; by the aid of poisons we taint the waters
of the stream, and we infect the various elements of Nature ;
indeed, the very air even, which is the main support of life,
we turn into a medium for the destruction of life.
And it is not thjit we are to suppose that animals are igno-
rant of these means of defence, for we have already had occa-
sion to point out"* the preparations which they make against the
attacks of the serpent, and the methods they devise for effecting
a cure when wounded by it ; and yet, among them all, there '
is not one that fights by the aid of the poison that belongs to
another, with the sole exception of man. Let us then candidly
confess our guilt, we who are not contented even with the
poisons as Nature has produced them ; for by far the greater
])ortion of them, in fact, are artificially prepared by the human
hand !
And then besides, is it not the fact, that there are many
men, the very existence of whom is a baneful poison, as it
were ? Like that of the serpent, they dart their livid tongue,
and the venom of their disposition corrodes eveiy object upom
which it concentrates itself. Ever vilifying and maligning,
like the ill-omened birds of the night, they disturb the repose'
of that darkness which is so peculiarly their own, and break
in upon the quiet of the night even, by their moans and wail-
ings, the only sounds they are ever heard to emit. Like
animals of inauspicious presage, they only cross our path to
- Of course tliis is only more doclamation ; it is not probable that the
animals l.uve any notion at all of shm-peninq the Aveapons that nature has
Kiyeii; m addition to which, this mode of ^sharpening them against hard
Mihbtanoes would only wear away the enamel, and ultimately destroy them.
1 no acts o. animals in a moment of rage or frenzy have evidently been
mistaken here for the dictates of instinct, or even a superior inteUigence.
• See H. XXV. c. 2o, and B. xxvii. c. 76.
..r. / II ^K y,'"' '■ ^^--v^' ^'^' '"^^'^ ^^^■^'^ of tte ancients, Fee remarks,
are full of these puenhtus.
CLap. 2.] THE FIEST WREATHS OF CORN AT EOME. 3
prevent us from employing our energies or becoming useful to
our fellow-men ; and the only enjoyment that is sought by
their abominable aspirations is centred in their universal hatre.d
of mankind.
Still, however, even in this respect Nature has asserted her
majestic sway ; for how much more numerous^ are the good
and estimable characters which she has produced ! just in the
same proportion that we find her giving birth to productions
which are at once both salutary and nutritious to man. It is in
our high esteem for men such as these, and the commendations
they bestow, that we shall be content to leave the others, like
so many brakes and brambles, to the devouring flames of their
own bad passions, and to persist in promoting the welfare of
the human race ; and this, with all the more energy and per-
severance, from the circumstance that it has been our object
throughout, rather to produce a work of lasting utility than to
ensure ourselves a widely- spread renown. We have only to
speak, it is true, of the fields and of rustic operations ; but
still, it is upon these that the enjoyment of life so materially
depends, and that the ancients conferred the very highest rank
in their honours and commendations.
CHAP. 2. (2.) WHEN THE FIRST WREATHS OF CORN WERE USED
AT ROME,
Eomulus was the first who established the Arval® priesthood
at Eome. This order consisted of the eleven sons of Acca
Larentia, his nurse," together with Romulus himself, who as-
sumed the appellation of the twelfth of the brotherhood. Upon
tliis priesthood he bestowed, as being the most august dis-
tinction that he could confer upon it, a wreath of ears of corn,
tied together with a white fillet ; and this, in fact, was the
first chaplet that was ever used at Rome. This dignity is only
ended with life itself, and whether in exile or in captivity, it
^ This sentiment is not at all akin to the melancholy view which ouv
author takes of mankind at the beginning of B. vii. and in other parts of
this work. It is not improbable that liis censures here are levelled against
some who had endeavoured to impede him in the progress of his work.
^ " Arvorura sacerdotes," the priests of the fields.
" Or foster-mother. It has been suggested that the Rogations of the
Roman cliurch may have possibly originated in the Ambarvaiia, or ceve-
monial presided over by the Axval priesthood.
B 2
4 plint's KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
alwaj's attends its owner. In those early da3's, two jugera of
land were considered enough for a citizen of Rome, and to none
was a larger portion than this allotted. And yet, at the present
day, men who but lately were the slaves of the Emperor ISTero
have been hardly content with pleasure-gardens that occupied
the same space as this ; while they must have fishponds, for-
sooth, of still greater extent, and in some instances I might
add, perhaps, kitchens even as well.
Numa first established the custom of offering com to the
gods, and of propitiating them with the salted** cake; he was
the first, too, as we learn from Hemina, to parch spelt, from
the fact that, when in this state, it is more wholesome as an
aliment.^ This method, however, he could only establish one
way : by making an enactment, to the effect that spelt is not
in a pure state for offering, except when parched. He it was,
too, who instituted the Fornacalia,^^ festivals appropriated
for the parching of corn, and others,^^ observed with equal
solemnity, for the erection and preservation of the "termini,"
or boundaries of the fields : for these termini, in those days,
they particularly regarded as gods ; while to other divinities
they gave the names of Seia,^- from "sero," " to sow," and of
8egesta, from the '' segetes," or "crops of standing corn," the
statues of which goddesses we still see erected in the Circus.
A third divinity it is forbidden by the rules of our religion to
name even ^^ beneath a roof. In former days, too, they would
not so much as taste the corn when newly cut, nor yet wine
when just made, before the priests had made a libation of the
first-fruits.
CHAr. 3. (3.) THE jrGERUM OF LAI^^D.
That portion of land used to be known as a " jugcrum,"
8 Mado of salt and the meal or flour of spelt. Salt was the emblem of
wisdom, friendship, and other virtues.
9 Tins, Fee ohserves, is not the case with any kind of wheat ; Avith
manioc, which has an acrid principle, the process may be necessary, iu
order to make it fit for food.
"> Or Feast of the Furnace or Oven. See Ovid's Fasti, E. ii. 1. 5—25.
" Called the Terininalia. See Ovid's Fasti, B. ii. 1. 641, ct seq.
•2 Teitullian, De Spect. i. 16, calls this goddess by the name of Sessia.
'3 Coelius Rhodiginus, Turuebus, and Vossius, conjecture that the name
of this goddess, who might only he named in the field, was Tutelina.
Ilardouin thinks that it was Scgesta, here mentioned.
Chap. 3.] THE JrOEEUM OF LA^'D. 5
which was capable of being ploughed by a single "jugiim," or
yoke of oxen, in one day ; an " actus " '^ being as much as the
oxen could plough at a single spell, fairly estimated, without
stopping. This last was one hundred and twenty feet in length ;
and two in length made a jugerum. The most considerable
recompense that could be bestowed upon generals and valiant
citizens, was the utmost extent of land around which a person
could trace a furrow with the plough in a single day. The
whole population, too, used to contribute a quarter ^^ of a sex-
tarius of spelt, or else half a one, per head.
From agriculture the earliest surnames were derived. Thus,
for instance, the name of Pilumnus was given to him who in-
vented the " pilum," or pestle of the bake-house, for pounding
corn ; that of Piso was derived from '' piso," to grind corn ;
and those of Fabius, Lentulus, and Cicero, from the several
varieties ^^ of leguminous plants in the cultivation of which re-
spectively these individuals excelled. One individual of the
family of the Junii received the name of " Bubulcus,"" from
the skill he displayed in breeding oxen. Among the sacred
ceremonials, too, there was nothing that was held more holy
than the marriage by confaiTeation,^^ and the woman just
married used to present a cake made of spelt.^^ Careless cul-
tivation of the land was in those times an offence that came
under the cognizance of the censors ; and, as we learn from
Cato,^" when it was said that such and such a man was a good
agriculturist or a good husbandman, it was looked upon as the
very highest compliment that could be paid him. A man
came to be called '' locuples,'* or ''rich," from being "loci
plenus," or '' full of earth." Money, too, received its name
of ''pecunia,"^^ from '' pecus," ''cattle.'* At the present
^* Four Roman feet in width, and 120 in length.
'* Quartarius.
^* " Faba," a bean ; " Lens," a lentil ; and " Cicer," a chick-pea.
^■^ A "bubus," from "oxen." Caius Junius Bubulcus was twice Consul,
and once Master of the Horse.
18 a Farreum" was a form of marriage, in which certain words were
used, in presence of ten witnesses, and were accompanied by a certain re-
ligious ceremony, in which "panis farreus" was employed ; hence this form
of marriage was called " confarreatio."
'^ Farreum.
20 De Re Rust. Preface.
-1 See B. xxxiii. c. 13.
6 PLINY's natural UlSTORY^ [Cook XVIII.
day, evon, ^n the registers of the censors, we find set down
under the liead of "pascua," or *' pasture lands," everything
from wliich the public revenues are derived, from the fact that
for a long period of time pasture lands were the only sourcies-
of tlie public revenue. Fines, too, were only imposed in the
sluipe of paying so many sheep or so many oxen ; and the be-
nevolent 8})irit of the ancient laws deserves remark, which
most considerately enjoined that the magistrate, when he in-
flicted a p<'nalty, should never impose a fine of an ox before
having first condemned the same puj'ty to the payment of a
bheep.
Those who celebrated the public games in honour of the ox
received the name of Bubetii.^^ King Servius was the first
who impressed upon our copper coin^^ the figures of sheep and
oxen. To depasture cattle secretly by night upon the unripe
crops on ])lough lands, or to cut them in that state, was made
by the Twelve Tables^* a capital offence in the case of au
adult ; and it was enacted that the person guilty of it should
))e hanged, in order to make due reparation to the goddess
Ceres, a punishment more severe, even, than that inflicted for
murder. If, on the other hand, the off'ender was not an adult,
he was beaten at the discretion of the praetor ; a penalty double
the amount of the damage was also exacted.
The various ranks, too, and distinctions in the state had no
other origin tlum the pursuits of agriculture. The rural
tribes held the foremost rank, and Avere composed of those
who possessed lands ; while those of the city, a place to which
it Wfus looked upon as ignominious to be transferred, had the
discredit thrown upon them of being an indolent race. Hence
it was that these last were only four in number, and received
tlieir names from the several parts of the City which they re-
spectively inhabited ; being the Suburran, the Palatine, Col-
hue, and Ex(iuiline tribes. Every ninth day-^ the rural tribes
used to visit the city for the purpose of marketing, and it was
for this reason that it was made illegal to hold the comitia upon
« St AugUHtin, De Civ. Dei., mentions a goddoss, Buhona, the tutelar
2'"c^* X, "''''"•••■ ^^"*^'°S seoms to be known of those games,
o. rnv, ^''^'"■ ^' ^^- ^^lacrobius says that it was Janus.
-* rable vn. s. 2.
w On the "Nundin.'c," or ninth-day holiday: similar to our ma
days. Accordmg lo our mode of reckoning, it was every eighth day.
market-
Cl.np. 4.] THE PRICE OF COKN. 7
tlie Nundiiiae ; tlie object being that the countiy people might
not be called away thereby from the transaction of their busi-
ness. In those days repose and sleep ^vere enjoyed upon
straw. Even to glory itself, in compliment to corn, the name
was given of ^' adorea."^^
For my own part, I greatly admire" the modes of expres-
sion employed in our ancient language : thus, for instance,
we read in the Commentaries of the Priesthood to the follow-
ing effect: — 'Tor deriving an augmy from the sacrifice of a
bitch, 2^ a day should be set apart before the ear of com appears
from out of the sheath, '^^ and then again before it enters the
sheath."
CHAP. 4. HOW OFTEN AND ON WHAT OCCASIONS COEN HAS SOLD
AT A REMABKABLY LOW PRICE.
The consequence was, that when the Roman manners were
such as these, the corn that Italy produced was sufficient for
its wants, and it had to be indebted to no province for its
food ; and not only this, but the price of provisions was in-
credibly cheap. Manius Marcius, the aedile^° of the people,
was the first who gave corn to the people at the price of one
as for the modius. L. Minutius Augurinus,^^ the same who
detected, when eleventh tribune of the people, the projects of
Spurius Maelius, reduced the price of com on three market
duys,^- to one as per modius ; for which reason a statue was
erected in honour of him, by public subscription, without the
Trigeminian Gate.^^ T. Seius distributed corn to the people,
26 From " ador," the old name for " spelt :" because corn was the chief
reward given to the conqueror, and his temples were graced with a wreath
of corn.
2' In the first place, it is diflScult to see what there is in this passage to
admire, or " wonder at," if that is the meaning of " admiror ;" and then,
besides, it has no connection with the context. The test is probably in a
defective state.
28 See c. 69 of this Book.
39 « Vagina." The meaning of this word here has not been exactly
ascertained. It has been suggested that the first period alludes to the ap-
pearance of the stalk from its sheath of leaves, and the second to tlie for-
mation of the ear.
30 A.r.c. 298. 31 See B. xxxiv. c. 11. a.u.c. 317.
^2 Nundinis.
^"^ On the road to Ostia. It was said to have received its name from
the Horatii and Curiatii.
8 flint's natural HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
in his ffidileship," at, one as per modius, in remembrance of
which statues were erected in honour of him also in the Capi-
tol and tlio Palatium : on the day of his funeral he was borne to
the pile on the shoulders of the Roman people. In the year,^*
too, in which the Mother of the Gods was brought to Home, the
harvest of that summer, it is said, was more abundant than it
had been for ten years before. M. Yarro informs us, that in the
year^ in which L. Metellus exhibited so many elephants in
his triumplial procession, a modius of speit was sold for one as,
which was the standard price also of a congius of wine, thirty
j)ounds' weight of dried figs, ten pounds of olive oil, and
twelve pounds of flesh meat. JSTor did this cheapness originate
in the wide-spread domains of individuals encroaching con-
tinually upon their neighbours, for by a law proposed by Lici-
nius Stolo, the landed property of each individual was limited
to five hundred jugera; and he himself was convicted under
his own law of being the owner of more than that amount,
having as a disguise prevailed upon his son to lend him his
name. Such were the prices of commodities at a time when
the fortunes of the republic were rapidly on the increase. The
words, too, that were uttered by Manius Curius^^ after his
triumphs and the addition of an immense extent of territory
to the lloman sway, are well known: ''The man must be
looked upon," said he, " as a dangerous citizen, for whom
seven jugera of land are not enough;" such being the amount
of land that had been allotted to the people after the expulsion
of the kings.
^^'hat, then, was the cause of a fertility so remarkable as
this ? The fact, we have every reason to believe, that in
those days the lands were tilled by the hands of generals
even, the soil exulting beneath a plough-shai'e crowned with
wreaths of laurel, and guided by a husbandman graced with
triumphs : wliether it is that they tended the seed with the
same care tliat they had displayed in the conduct of wars, and
manifested the same diligent attention in the management of
tlieir fields that they had done in the arrangement of the camp,
'^ A.u.c, 345.
^ A.u.c. .5.50 He alludes to the introduction of Cybele, from Pessinus
m Galatia, in the Second Punic war.
^ A.c.c. 604. Sec B. viii. o. 6.
2' AlaniisCurius Dentatus, Consul a.u.c. 464.
Chap. 5.] WRITEES VVOls AGRICULTURE. 9
or whether it is that under the hands of honest men every-
thing prospers all the better, from being attended to with a
scrupulous exactness. The honours awarded to Serranus^*
found him engaged in sowing his fields, a circumstance to
which he owes his surname. ^^ Cincinnatus was ploughing his
four jugera of land upon the Yaticanian Hill — the same that are
still known as the ''Quintian Meadows," ^^ when the mes-
senger brought him the dictatorship — finding him, the tradi-
tion says, stripped to the work, and his very face begrimed
with dust. '' Put on your clothes," said he, ** that I may de-
liver to you the mandates of the senate and people of Rome.'*
In those days these messengers bore the name of " viator,'* or
*' wayfarer," from the circumstance that their usual employ-
ment was to fetch the senators and generals from their fields.
But at the present day these same lands are tilled by slaves
whose legs are in chains, by the hands of malefactors and men
with a branded face ! And yet the Earth is not deaf to our
adjurations, when we address her by the name of '* parent,"
and say that she receives our homage^ ^ in being tilled by
hands such as these ; as though, forsooth, we ought not to be-
lieve that she is reluctant and indignant at being tended in
such a manner as this ! Indeed, ought we to feel any surprise
were the recompense she gives us when worked by chastised
slaves,*- not the same that she used to bestow upon the labours
of warriors ?
CHAP. 5. ILLUSTRIOUS MEN WHO HAVE WRITTEN UPON AGRI-
CULTURE.
Hence it was that to give precepts upon agriculture became
one of the principal occupations among men of the highest
rank, and that in foreign nations even. For among those who
38 A.u.c. 497.
39 From '' sero," to sow. See the ^neid, B. vi. 1. 844, where this cir-
cumstance is alluded to.
*° '* Prata Quintia." Hardouin says that in his time this spot was still
called / Prati : it lay beyond the Tiber, between tlie \ineyard of the Me-
dici and the castle of Sant Angelo.
*^ He alludes to the twofold meaning of the word " coli," " to be tilled,"
or "to receive homage from."
*2 «' Ergastulorum." The " Ergastula" were places of punishment at-
tached to the country houses of the wealthy, for the chastisement of
refractory slaves, who were usually made to work in chains.
10 TLINV's NATURAL niSTOllT. [Book XVIII.
liavc written on this subject we find the names of kings even,
ILiero, lur insUmcc, AttalusPhilometor, and Archelaiis, as well as
of generals, Xenophon, for example, and Mago the Carthagiuian.
Indeed, to this lust writer did the lloman senate aAvard such
liigh honours, that, after the capture of Carthage, when it
bestowed the libraries of tliat city upon the petty kings of
Africa, it gave orders, in his case only, that his thirty- two
Books sliould be translated into the Latin language, and this,
althougli M. Cato had already compiled his Eook of Precepts ;
it took eveiy care also to entrust the execution of this task to
men who wxtc well versed in the Carthaginian tongue, among
wliom was pre-eminent D. Silanus, a member of one of the
most illustrious families of Eome. I have already indicated,*^
at the commencement of this work, the numerous learned
authors and writers in verse, together with other illustrious
men, whose authority it is my intention to folloW' ; but among
tlie number I may here more particularly distinguish M. Yarro,
M-ho, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, tliought it
liis duty to publish a treatise upon this subject.
(4.) Among the Eomans the cultivation of the vine was
introduced at a comparatively recent period, and at first, as
indeed they were obliged to do, they paid their sole attention
to the culture of the fields. The various methods of cultivat-
ing the land will now be our subject ; and they shall be treated
of by us in no ordinary or superficitd manner, but in the same
spirit in wliich we have hitherto w^ritten ; enquiry shall be
made with every care first into the usages of ancient days, and
th(>n into the discoveries of more recent times, our attention
being devoted alike to the primary causes of these operations,
and the reasons upon which they are respectively based. We
shall make mention,''^ too, of the various constellations, and of
tlie several indications which, beyond all doubt, they afford to
the earth ; and the more so, from the fact that those writers
who liave liitlierto treated of them with any degree of exact-
ness, seem to have written their works for the use of any class
of men but the agriculturist.
*^ In the First Book, as originally written. This list of writers is ap-
pemlca in tlic present Transl.ition to each respective Book.
Tins IS i)r..bably written in humble imitation of the splendid exordium
• T the (jtorjrics of Virgil.
Chap. 6.] OS BUTIXG LAND. 1 1
CHAP. 6. POINTS TO BE OBSEKVED IN BUYING LAND.
First of all, then, I shall proceed in a great measure accord-
ing to the dicta of the oracles of agriculture ; for there is no
bran-ch of practical life in whicli we find thera more numerous
or more unerring. And why should we not view in the light
of oracles those precepts which have been tested by the infal-
libility of time and the truthfulness of experience ?
(5.) To make a beginning, then, with Cato^° — ** Theagricnl-
tural population," says he, '' produces the bravest men, the
most valiant soldiers,^^ and a class of citizens the least given of
all to evil designs. — Do not be too eager in buying a farm. —
In rural operations never be sparing of your trouble, and, above
all, when you are purchasing land. — A bad bargain is always
a ground for repentance. — Those who are about to purchase
land, should always have an eye more particularly to the water
there, the roads, and the neighbourhood.'* Each of these
points is susceptible of a very extended explanation, and
replete with undoubted truths. Cato*"' recommends, too, that
an eye should be given to the people in the neighbourhood, to
see how thej' look : "For where the land is good," says he,
" the people will look well-conditioned and healthy."
Atilius Eegulus, the same who was twice consul in the
Punic War, used to say^® that a person should neither buy an
unhealthy piece of land in the most fertile locality, nor yet the
very healthiest spot if in a barren country. The salubrity of
land, however, is not always to be judged of from the looks of
the inhabitants, for those who are well- seasoned are able to
withstand the eifects of living in pestilent localities even. And
then, besides, there are some localities that are healthy during
certain periods of the year only ; though, in reality, there is
no soil that can be looked upon as really valuable that is not
healthy all the year through. " That*^ is sure to be bad land
against which its owner has a continual struggle." Cato
recommends us before everything, to see that the land which
*5 De Re Rust. Preface.
^ Fee remarks, that we still recruit onr armies mostly from the agricul-
tural class.
" De Re Rust. c. 1.
*8 Quoted by Columella, De Re Rust. B. i. 4. The sad fate of Regulus
is known to all readers of Roman history. ■•
*9 From ColumeDa, B. i. c. 3.
12 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVIII,
Ave are about to purchase not only excels in the advantages oi
locality, as already stated, but is really good of itself. We
should see, too, he says, that there is an abundance of manual
labour in the neighbourhood, as well as a thriving town ; that
there are either rivers or roads, to facilitate the carriage of the
produce ; that the buildings upon the land are substantially
erected, and that the land itself bears every mark of having
been carefully tilled — a point upon which I find that many
persons are greatly mistaken, as they are apt to imagine that
the negligence of the previous owner is greatly to the pur-
chaser's advantage ; while the fact is, that there is nothing more
expensive than the cultivation of a neglected soil.
For this reason it is that Cato^ says that it is best to buy
land of a careful proprietor, and that the methods adopted by
others ought not to be hastily rejected — that it is the same
with land as with mankind — however great the proceeds, if at
the same time it is lavish and extravagant, there will be no
great profits left. Cato looks upon a vineyard as the most"
profitable investment ; and he is far from wrong in that opi-
nion, seeing that he takes such particular care to retrench all
superfluous expenses. In the second rank he places gar-
dens that have a good supply of water, and with good reason,
too, supposing always that they are near a town. The ancients
gave to meadow lands the name of " parata," or lands '' always
ready."=2
Cato being asked, on one occasion, what was the most cer-
tain source of profit, '' Good pasture land," w^as his answer ;
upon which, enquiry was made what was the next best. '' Pretty
good*^' pasture lands," said he— the amount of all which is, that
he looked upon that as the most certain source of income
which stands in need of the smallest outlay. This, however,
-will naturally vary in degree, according to the nature of the
respective localities ; and the same is the case with the maxim*^
to which he gives utterance, that a good agriculturist must be
50 De Re Rust. c. 1.
5' It is still tliought 80 in France, Fee says, and nothing has tended
more than this notion to the depreciation of the prices of wine.
" Ilcnce the usual Latin name, " prata."
53 *« Si sat bene." Cicero, De Offioiis, B. ii. n. 88, ffives this anecdote
s^iewhat more at length.
5^ De Re Rust. c. 2.
Chap. 7.] aubangemeitts foe a rAEii-HousE. 13
fond of selling. The same, too, with his remark, that in his
youth a landowner should begin to plant without delay, but
that he ought not k) build until the land is fully brought into
cultivation, and then only a little at a time : and that the best
plan is, as the common proverb has it, " To profit by the folly
of others ;*' ^ taking due care, however, that the keeping up of
a farm-house does not entail too much expense. Still, how-
ever, those persons are guilty of no falsehood who are in the
habit of saying that a proprietor who is well housed comes all
the oftener to his fields, and that " the master's forehead is
Df more use than his back."^
:HAP. 7. (6.) THE PEOPER AEEANGEMENTS FOR A FAEM-HOUSE.
^he proper plan to be pursued is this :^'' the farm-house must
aot be unsuitable for the farm, nor the farm for the house ; and
we must be on our guard against following the examples of L.
LucuUus and Q. Scsevola, who, though living in the same age,
fell into the two opposite extremes ; for whereas the farm-house
Df Scaevola was not large enough for the produce of his farm,
the farm of Lucullus was not sufficiently large for the house he
Duilt upon it ; an error which gave occasion to the reproof of
the censors, that on his farm there was less of ground for
ploughing than of floor for sweeping. The proper arrange-
uents for a farm-house are not to be made without a certain
iegree of skill. C. Marius, who was seven times consul, was
:he last person who had one built at Misenum;*^ but he erected
t with such a degree of that artistic skill which he had dis-
)layed in castrametation, that Sylla Felix^ even made the
emark, that in comparison with Marius, all the others had
jeen no better than blind. ^
It is generally agreed, that a farm-house ought neither to
36 built near a marsh, nor with a river in front of it ; for, as
5^ " Aliena insania ftnii." We have a saying to a similar effect : " Fools
^uild houses, and wise men buy them."
^ '* Frons domini plus prodest quam occipitiura." See Cato, De Re
Rust. c. 4 ; also Phaedrus, B. iv. Fab. 19.
='' Cato, c. 3. Varro and Columella give the same advice.
58 See B. iii. c. 9.
^^ Sylla the Fortunate, the implacable enemy of Marius.
^" Because, though the last comer, he had obtained the best site in the
ocality.
14 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVIII
Homer^^ has remarked, with the greatest correctness, unwhole-
some vapours are always exhaled from rivers before the rising
of the sun. In hot localities, a farm-house should have i
northern aspect, but where it is cold, it should look towardi
the south ; where, on the other hand, the site is temperate, th(
house should look due east. Although, when speaking^- o
the best kinds of soil, I may seem to have sufficiently discussec
the characteristics by which it may be known, I shall take the
present opportunity of adding a few more indications, employ-
ing the words of Cato^^ more particularly for the purpose
" The dwarf-elder," says he, *'the wild plum,^ the bramble
the small bulb,^ trefoil, meadow grass,^^ the quercus, and th(
Maid pear and wild apple, are all of them indicative of a con
land. The same is the case, too, where the land is black, o]
of an ashy colour. All chalky soils are scorching, unless the}
are very thin ; the same, too, with sand, unless it is remarkabl)
fine. These remarks, however, are more applicable to cham-
paign localities than declivities."
The ancients were of opinion, that before everything, mode-
ration should be observed in the extent of a farm ; for it was
a favourite maxim of theirs, that we ought to sow the less, anc
plough the more : such too, I find, was the opinion entertainec
by Yirgil,^ and indeed, if we must confess the truth, it is th(
wide- spread domains that have been the ruin^^ of Italy, anc
soon will be that of the provinces as well. Six proprietors
were in possession of one half of Africa, ^^ at the period when
*' Od. V. 469. If the river has a bed of sand and high banks, it i.'
roully advantageous than otherwise.
"- In B. xv[i. c. 3.
*3 Not to be found in his works which have come down to us.
"* Prunus spinosa of Linnreus.
^^ See B. xix. c. 30 ; probably one of the genus Allium sphaeroce
phalum of Linnanis.
«« " ilorba pratensis." It is not known with certainty to what plant he
aludcs. Fee suggests that it may be the Poa pratensis, or else a phleum,
alopecunis, or dactylis. All tlio plants here mentioned by Pliny will thrive
in a calcareous soil, and their presence, as Fee remarks, is of bad augury.
«' He alludes to the famous maxim in the Georgics, B. ii. 1, 412 :—
Laudato ingentia rura,
Exiguum colito ■
*m -D - ''^""^'sc a large fami, cultivate a small one."
■ Hy introducing slovenly cultivation.
«'•* ;j'hat small part of it known to the Romans. Hardouin says that the
province ot Zeugitana is alluded to, mentioned in B. v. c. 3.
Chap. 7.] AERANGEMENT3 FOR A FABM-HOTJSE. 15
the Emperor Nero had them put to death. With that great-
ness of mind which was so peculiarly his own, and of which
he ought not to lose the credit, Cneius Pompeius would never
purchase the lands that belonged to a neighbour. Mago has
stated it as his opinion, that a person, on buying a farm, ought
at once to sell his town house ;'° an opinion, however, which
savours of too great rigidity, and is by no means conformable to
the public good. It is with these words, indeed, that he begins
his precepts ; a good proof, at all events, that he looks upon the
personal inspection of the owner as of primary importance.
The next point which requires our care is to employ a farm-
steward"^^ of experience, and upon this, too, Cato'^ has given-
many useful precepts. Still, however, it must suffice for
me to say that the steward ought to be a man nearly as clever
as his master, though without appearing to Imow it. It is the
very worst plan of all, to have land tilled by slaves let loose
irom the houses of correction, as, indeed, is the case with all
work entrusted to men who live without hope. I may possibly
appear guilty of some degree of rashness in making mention of
a maxim of the ancients, which will very probably be looked
upon as quite incredible — *' That nothing is so disadvantageous
as to cultivate land in the highest style of perfection.*' L.
Tarius Eufus, a man who, born in the very lowest ranks of
life, by his military talents finally attained the consulship,^^
and who in other respects adhered to the old-fashioned notions
of thriftiness, made away with about one hundred millions of
sesterces, which, by the liberality of the late Emperor Augus-
tus, he had contrived to amass, in buying up lands in Picenum,
and cultivating them in the highest style, his object being to
gain a name thereby ; the consequence of which was, that his
heir renounced'^ the inheritance. Are we of opinion, then,
that ruin and starvation must be the necessary consequence of
such a course as this r Yes, by Hercules ! and the very best
plan of all is to let moderation guide our judgment in all things.
To cultivate land well is absolutely necessary, but to cultivate
"-' And reside on the farm.
'^ Yillicus.
"2 De Re Enst. c. 5.
l^ A.u.c. 737.
'^ Probably because it entailed too g^eat an expense. It may hove
been deeply mortgaged : otherwise it is not clear why the heir refused to
Jake ^t, as he might have sold a part.
16 flint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
it in the xery highest style is mere extravagance, unless, in-
deed, the work is done by the hands of a man's own family, his
tenants, or those whom he is obliged to keep at any rate. But
besides this, even when the owner tills the land itself, there
are some crops which it is really not worth the while to gather,,
if we only take into account the manual labour expended upon
them. The olive, too, should never be too highly''^ cultivated,
nor must certain soils, it is said, be too carefully tilled, those
of Sicily,'^ for instance ; hence it is, that new comers there so
often find themselves deceived.'^
CHAP. 8. MAXIMS OF THE AXCIEN^TS ON" AGEICULTUKE.
In what way, then, can land be most profitably cultivated ?
"Why, in the words of our agricultural oracles, *' by making
good out of bad." But here it is only right that we should say
a word in justification of our forefathers, who in their precepts
on this subject had nothing else in view but the benefit of
mankind : for when they use the term " bad " here, thej only
mean to say that which costs the smallest amount of money.
The principal object mth them was in all cases to cut down
expenses to the lowest possible sum ; and it was in this spirit
that they made the enactments which pronounced it criminal
for a person who had enjoyed a triumph, to be in possession,
among his other furniture, of ten pounds' weight of silver
plate : which permitted a man, upon the death of his farm-
steward, to abandon all his victories, and return to the culti-
vation of his lands — such being the men the culture of whose
farms the state used to take upon itself; and thus, while they
led our armies, did the senate act as their steward.
It was in the same spirit, too, that those oracles of ours
have given utterance to these other precepts, to the efi'ect that
he is a bad agriculturist who has to buy what his farm might
have supplied him with ; that the man is a bad manager who
does in the day-time what he might have done in the night,
except, indeed, when the state of the weather does not allow
'5 He means to say that it is so much labour lost, as it will take care of
itself; but this is hardly in accordance Avith his numerous directions
given in B. xv. Virgil, Geor. B. ii. 421, et seq., speaks of the olive as re-
quiring no attention when it has once taken root.
76 See B. xvii. c. 3.
'7 In throwing away money and labour upon land that does not require it.
CLap. 7.] MAXIMS ON AGKICULTUEB. 17
it ; that he is a worse manager still, who does on a work-day
what he might have done on a feast-day ;''^ but that he is the
very worst of all, who works under cover in fine weather, in-
stead of labouring in the fields.
I cannot refrain from taking the present opportunity of
quoting one illustration afforded us by ancient times, from
which it will be found that it was the usage in those days to
bring before the people even questions connected with the
various methods employed in agriculture, and wiU be seen in
what way men were accustomed to speak out in their own
defence. C. Furius Chresimus, a freedman, having found him-
self -able, from a very small piece of land, t6 raise far more
abundant harvests than his neighbours could from the largest
farms, became the object of very considerable jealousy among
them, and was accordingly accused of enticing away the crops
of others by the practice of sorcery. Upon this, a day was
named by Spurius Calvinus, the curule sedile, for his appear-
ance. Apprehensive of being condemned, when the question
came to be put to the vote among the tribes, he had all his
implements of husbandry brought into the Forum, together
with his farm servants, robust, well-conditioned, and well- clad
people, Piso says. The iron tools were of first-rate quality,
the mattocks were stout and strong, the plough-shares ponde-
rous and substantial, and the oxen sleek and in prime condi-
tion. When all this had been done, *' Here, Eoman citi-
zens," said he, '' are my implements of magic ; but it is impos-
sible for me to exhibit to your view, or to bring into this
Forum, those midnight toils of mine, those early watchings,
those sweats, and those fatigues." Upon this, by the unani-
mous voice of the people, he was immediately acquitted.
Agriculture, in fact, depends upon the expenditure of labour
and exertion ; and hence it is that the ancients were in the
babit of saying, that it is the eye of the master that does more
towards fertilizing a field than anything else.
We shall give the rest of these precepts in their appropriate
)laces, according as we find them adapted to each variety of
lultivation ; but in the meantime we must not omit some of a
general nature, which here recur to our recollection, and more
'^ Virgil, Georg. I. 268, et seq., speaks of the work that might be done
n feast days— making hedges, for instance, irrigating land, catching
irds, washing sheep, and burning weeds.
TOL. IV. C
18 PLINy's natural UlSTORY. [Book XVIII.
particularly that maxim of Cato, as profit-able as it is humane :
*• Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neigli-
bours." He thcu proceeds to state his reasons for giving this
udvice, but it appears to me that no one surely can entertain
the slightest doubt upon the subject. One of the very first
recommendations that he gives is to take every care that the
farm servants are kept in good condition.'^ It is a maxim
universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be
done too late ; and again, that everything must be done at its
prop( r season ; while there is a third precept, whicli reminds
us that opportunities lost can never be regained. The male-
diction uttered by Cato against rotten ground has been treated
of at some length already ;®*^ but there is another precept which
he is never tired of repeating, " Whatever can be done by the
help of the ass, will cost the least money."
leru will be sure to die at the end of a couple of y^ars, if
you prevent it from putting forth leaves ; the most efficient me-
thod of ensuring this is to beat the branches with a stick while
they are in bud ; for then the juices that drop from it will kill
the roots. ^^ It is said, too, that fern will not spring up again
if it is pulled up by the roots about the turn of the summer
solstice, or if the stalks are cut with the edge of a reed, or if it.
is turned up with a plough-share with a reed placed^- upon it.
In lliesame way, too, we are told that reeds may be effectually
ploughed up, if care is taken to place a stalk of fern upon th(
share. A field infested with rushes should be turned up with
the spade, or, if the locality is stony, with a two-pronged
mattock : overgrown shrubs are best removed by fire. Wherej
groimd is too moist, it is an advantageous plan to cut trencht
?n it and so drain it ; where the soil is cretaceous, these trenche
should be left open ; and where it is loose, they should be
strengtiiened with a hedge to prevent them from Mliug in..
When these drains are made on a declivity, they should havet
a layer of gutter tiles at the bottom, or else house tiles with the
face upwards : in some cases, too, they should be covered®
'■' " Xe familia; male sit." so j^ g^ xvii. c. 3.
''' The PUiis ;i(iuilina, or foinnle fern. No such juices drop from it as
here nieiitiuucil by I'liiiy, Fe<i says.
»- A superstition (^uite unworthy of our author ; and the same with
r<*pect to that mentioned in the next line.
"' Sub-soil drainaj^e is now universally employed, with the agency of
draMiing-tiles, made for the purpose.
Chap. 10.] DIFiTiniENT KINDS (JF GRAIN. 19
with earth, and made to rim into others of a larger size and
wider; the bottom, also, should, if possible, have a coatin* of
stones or of gravel. The openings, too, should be strengthened
with two stones placed on either side, and another laid upon
the top. Democritus has described a method of rooting up a
forest, by first macerating the flower of the lupine^* for o°ne day
in tne juice of hemlock, and then watering the roots of the
trees with it.
OHAP. 9. (7.)— THE niFFEllEXT KODS OF GRAIN.
As the field is now prepared, we shall proceed to speak of
the nature of the various kinds of grain ; we must premiso,
however, that there arc two principal classes of grain, the
cereals,^^ comprising wheat and barley, and the legumina, such
as the bean and the chick-pea, for instance. The difference
between these two classes is too well known to require any
further description.
CHAP. 10. THE HISTORY OF THE'YARIOUS KINDS OF GRAIN.
The cereals are divided again into the same number of
varieties, according to the time of the year at which they
are sown. The winter grains are those which are put in
the ground about the setting of the Vergili^,^^ and there re-
ceive their nutriment throughout the winter, for instance
wheat, 8^ spelt,^ and barley.^^ The summer grains are those
which are sown in summer, before the rising of the Yergilise,^"
«^ The flower of the lupine could not possibly produce any such effect ;
and the juice of cicuta, or hemlock, in only a very trifling deo-ree
/^ This word answers to the Latin " frumenta," which indicates all those
kinds ot corn trom which bread was prepared by the ancients
"« See c. 59 of this iJook.
87 Triticuni hibernum of Linna&us, similar to the "sihVo" mentioned in
Ihe^sequel. ^^A\int.:r wheat was greatly cultivated in Apulia.
" lar." _ This name is often used in tlie classics, to signify corn in
general; but m the more restricted sense in which it is here employed, it is
IriLicum dicoccum," the "Zea" of the Greeks. Itconsists of twovarie-
^ie^, he single grained, the Triticiim monococcum of Linnreus, and the
n FritlT"'^"' Triticum spelta of Linmeus, which is still called " farrii"
®^ Ilordoum sativum of Liiin<BUs.
, *' See c. 66 of this Book.
C 2
20 pliny's natural histoet. [Book XVIII.
such as millet,'' panic,'- sesame," horminum,** and irio,'* in
accordance, however, with the usage of Italy only; for in
Greece and Asia all tlie grains are sown just after the setting of
the Yergiliae. There are some, again, that are sown at either
season in Italy, and others at a third period, or, in other
words, in the spring. Some authors give the name of spring-
grain to millet, panic, lentils,'^ chick-peas,^^ and alica,'®
while they call wheat, barley, beans, turnips, and rape, semen-
tive or early sowing seeds. Certain species of wheat are only
sown to make fodder for cattle, and are known by the name of
'* farrago,"^ or mixed grain; the same, too, with the legumi-
nous plants, the vetch, for instance. The lupine,^ however, is
grown in common as food for both cattle and men.
All the leguminous- plants, with the exception of the bean,
have a single root, hard and tough, like wood, and destitute of
numerous ramifications ; the chick-pea has the deepest root ot
all. Corn has numerous fibrous roots, but no ramifications.
Barley makes its appearance^ above ground the seventh day
after sowing ; the leguminous plants on the fourth, or at the
very latest, the seventh ; the bean from the fifteenth day to
the tw(inticth : though in Egypt the leguminous plants appeal
as early as the third day after they are sown. In barley, ont
extremity of the grain throws out the root, and the other thi
" raiiicum Italicum of Linnncus.
^ Panicum miliaceum of Linnaeus. This was probably one of tlie firs
grains from which bread was made.
*"» The Sosamum oricntale of Linnaeus. It is no longer cultivated i:
fluropc, thou^rh formerly it was much used in Greece.
»* It is very doubtful if this is the same as clarv. the Salvia horminm;
of Linnaeus, as that is one of the Labiat*, whereas here, most probably, ;
Uguminous plant is spoken of.
" It has been asserted that this is identical with the Sisymbrium polv
coratiiifti of Linna-us, rock-gentle, rock-ffallant, or winter-cress. Fee, how
over, IS strongly of opiuion that it can 5nly be looked for in the Sisym
briiim mo ot Linnicus.
^ I'lrvum lens of Linn<cus.
'■ The ('icrrarietinum of naturalists, the Garbanzo of the Spaniards
It abounds in the south of Europe and in India.
r.\u. ''v'\''l "^'^'l^ '''^' ^^^^^^ ^y t^"'^ "^"^e ; but it was more gene
rail) anphed to a kind ot flummery, pottage or gruel.
** Hence our word "forage." ^^ » &
' [t^pinus l.irswtus and pTlo'sus of Linnans.
» ^/";" ^l'^«?P'"-a6tus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 2.
AU lUi8, ot course, depcncis upon numerous ciicumstancis.
21
Cbap. lO.J DIFFERENT KINDS OF GBAIN.
blade ; this last flowers, too, before the other grain. In the
cereals in general it is the thicker end of the seed that throws
out the root, the thinner end the blossom ; while in the other
seeds both root and blossom issue from the same part.
During the winter, corn is in tlie blade ; but in the smmo-
wmter corn throws out a tall stem. As for millet and panic*
tliey grow with a jointed and grooved* stalk, while sesame has
a stem resembling that of fennel-giant. The fruit of all these
seeds is either contained in an ear, as in wheat and barley, for
instance, and protected from the attacks of birds and small
animals by a prickly beard bristling like so many palisades; or
else It IS enclosed in pods, as in the leguminous plants, or in
capsules, as in sesame and the poppy. Millet and panic can
only be said to belong to the grower and the small birds in
common, as they have nothing but a thin membrane to cover
them, without the slightest prot.eftion. Panic receives that
name from the pamcule^ or down that is to be seen upon it •
the head of it droops languidly, and the stalk tapers gra-
dually m thickness, being of almost the toughness and con-
sistency of wood : the head is loaded with grain closely packed,
there being a tuft upon the top, nearly a foot in length. In
miUet the husks which embrace the grain bend downward with
a wavy tuft upon the edge. There are several varieties of
panic, the mammose, for instance, the ears of which are in
clusters with small edgings of down, the head of the plant
being double ; it is distinguished also according to the colour,
the white, for instance, the black, the red, and the purple
3ven. Several kinds of bread are made from millet, but very
ittle from panic : there is no grain known that Aveighs heavier
;han millet, and which swells more in baking. A modius of
nilletAviU yield sixty pounds' weight of bread; and three
iextani steeped in water will make one modius of fermeuty.*
^ kind of millet' has been introduced from India into Italy
.vithin the last ten years, of a swarthy colour, large grain, and a
* Tliis is certainly tbe fact, as Fee says, but it is the same witli all the
[raminea.
" A characteristic of the Panicum miliaceura in particular
_ Or porridge; "puis."
^ ' It has been suggested that this was maize, but that is indigenous to
>outh America Fee has little doubt that it is tUe IIolcus sorglio of Lin-
iceus, the " Indian millet," that is meant.
22 pmm's natukal histort. [Book XVIII.
»talk like that of the reed. This stalk springs up to the height
of seven feet, and has tufts of a remarkable size, known by the
name of " phobie."^ This is the most prolific of all the cereals,
for from a single grain no less than three sextarii^ are pro-
duced: it require.^, however, to be sown in a humid soil.
Some kinds of corn begin to form the ear at the third joint,
and otliers at the fourth, though at its first formation the ear
remains still concealed. Wheat, however, has four^'^ articula-,
tions, spelt^' six, and barlej' eight. In the case of these last,
the ear does not begin to form before the number of joints, as
above mentioned, is complete. Within four or five daj's, at
the very latest, after the ear has given signs of forming, the
plant begins to fiower, and in the course of as many days or a
little more, sheds its blossom : barley blossoms at the end of
seven days at the very latest. Yarro says that the grains are
perfectly formed at the end of four times^- nine days from their'
flowering, and are ready for cutting at the ninth month.
The bean, again, first appears in leaf, and then throws out
a stalk, which has no articulations^^ upon it. The other legu-
minous plants have a tough, ligneous stalk, and some of them
throw out branches, the chick-pea, the fitch, and the lentil,
for instance. In some of the leguminous plants, the pea, for
example, the stem creeps along the ground, if care is not taken
to support it by sticks: if this precaution is omitted, the
quality is deteriorated. The bean and the lupine are the only
ones among the leguminous plants that have a single stem : m
all the others the stem throws out branches, being of a lig-
neous nature, very thin, and in all cases hollow. Some of
these plants throw out the leaves from the root, others at the
top.'* Wheat, barley, and the vetch, all the plants, in fact,
which produce straw, have a single leaf only at the summit :
m barley, however, this leaf is rough, while in the others it
^ From the Greek 06/3;,. The stalk and husk of the sorgho is covered
vnth a fine down. The reading " cornis " has been adopted.
1 Ins IS considered by Fee to be very improbable.
In reality those vary, according to the rapidity of the growth.
|j Strictly speaking, spelt has seven.
'• This depends upon the time when it is sown, and numerous other cir-
cumstances. '
.»,ll ^!''f^' ^P<^«1^'"!?> he is right ; but still there is a swelling in the
*^l}\i^M F-rceived at the points where th^ leaves take their rise.
rhi* 18 incorrect ; they all of them throw out leaves from the root.
Chap. 10.] DIFFEEE5T KINDS OF GBAIN'. 23
is smooth. * * * In the bean, again, the chick-pea, and the
pea, the leaves are numerous and divided. In corn the leaf
is similar to that of the reed, while in the bean it is round, as
also in a great proportion of the leguminous plants. In the
ervilia'* and the pea tlie leaf is long,^^ in the kidney-bean
Teined, and in sesame^" and irio the colour of blood. The
lupine and the poppy are the only ones among these plants that
lose^'' their leaves.
The leguminous plants remain a longer time in flower, the
fitch and the chick-pea more particularly ; but the bean is in
blossom the longest of them all, for the flower remains on it
forty days ; not, indeed, that each stalk retains its blossom
for all that length of time, but, as the flower goes off in
one, it comes on in another. In the bean, too, the crop is not
ripe all at once, as is the case with corn ; for the pods make
their appearance at difi'erent times, at the lowest parts first,
the blossom mounting upwards by degrees.
When the blossom is ofl" in corn, the stalk gradually tliickens,
and it ripens within forty days at. the most. The same is the
case, too, with the bean, but the chick-pea takes a much shorter
time to ripen : indeed, it is fit for gathering within forty dyys
from the time that it is sown. Millet, panic, sesame, and all the
summer grains are ripe within fbrtj* days after blossoming,
with considerable variations, of course, in reference to soil and
"weather. Thus, in Egypt, we find barley cut at the end of
six months, and wlieat at the end of seven, from the time of
sowing. In Hellas, again, barley is cut in tlie seventh month,
and in Peloponnesus in the eighth ; the wheat being got in at
a still later period.
Those grains M'hich grow on a stalk of straw are enclosed
in an envelope protected by a prickly beard ; while in the bean
and the leguminous plants in general they are enclosed in pods
upon branches which shoot alternately from either side. The
3ereals are the best able to withstand the winter, but the legu-
minous plants afford the most substantial food. In wheat, the
'' The same as the " Ervum" probably, the fitch, orobus, or bitter vetch.
^® Not so with the pea, as known to us.
^" This is only true at the end of the season, and Avhen the plant is
lying.
'* These annuals lose their leaves only that have articulations on the
tem ; otherwise they die outrij-ht at the' fall of the leaf.
24 plint's natural history. [Book XVIII.
^ralu has several coats, but in barley/' more particularly, it is
naked and exposed ; the same, too, with arincaj^" but most of
all, the oat. The stem is taller in wheat than it is in barley,
but the ear is more bearded"-" in the last. Wheat, barley, and
winter- wheat" are threshed out ; they are cleaned, too, for
sowing just as they are prepared for the mill, there being no
necessity for parching^^ them. Spelt, on the other hand, millet,
and panic, cannot be cleaned without parching them ; hence it
is that they are always sown raw and with the chaff on. Spelt
is preserved in the husk, too, for sowing, and, of course, is not
in such case parched by the action of fire.
CHAP. 11. SPELT.
Of all tlicse grains barley is the lightest,** its weight rarely
exceeding fii'teen pounds to the modius, while that of the bean
is twenty-two. Spelt is much heavier than barley, and wheat
heavier than spelt. In Egypt they make a meaP of olyra,^^
a third variety of corn that grows there. The Gauls have
also a kind of spelt peculiar to that country : they give it the
name of " brace," ^^ while to us it is known as '' sandala :" it
has a grain of remarkable whiteness. Another difference,
again, is the fact that it yields nearly four pounds more of
bread to the modius than any other kind of spelt. Vemus
states that for three hundred years the Romans made use of no
other raeal than that of corn.
'^ If by " tunica" he means the husk of chaff, which surrounds the
grain, the assertion is contrary to the fact, in relation to barley and the
oat.
JO Only another name, Fee thinks, for the Triticumhibernum, or winter-
wheat. Sp<-lt or zea has been suggested, as also the white barley of the
south of Europe ; see c. 20.
2' Kpyptian wheat, or rather what is called mummy- wheat, is bearded
f quail y to barley.
i>iligo. 2,'5 Before grinding.
-' Oats and rye excepted.
,, " ^T^^'?, ^'^""'^ "'!''*■" "^^'^^s "a meal," or "flour," a substitute for
that of ^'far," or '•ppolt."
,v "^T".^'""" "••>"'>coccum, according to some. F4e identifies it with
the Iniicum spclta of Linnsus.
" A vari<'ty probuhly, of the Triticum hibernum of LinnjBUS, with white
prams ; the white- wheat of the French, from which the ancient Gauls
made their malt ; hence the French word " brasser," to " brew "
Chap. 12.] WHEAT. 25
CHAP. 12. WHEAT.
There are numerous kinds of wheat which have received
their names from the countries where they were first produced.
For my part, however, I can compare no kind of wheat to
that of Italy either for whiteness or weight, qualities for which,
it is more particularly distinguished : indeed it is only with
the produce of the more mountainous parts of Italy that the
foreign wheats can be put in comparison. Among these the
wheat of Boeotia'-^ occupies the first rank, that of Sicily the
second, and that of Africa the third. The wheats of Thrace,
Syria, and, more recently, of Egypt, used to hold the third rank
for weight, these facts having been ascertained through the
medium of the athletes ; whose powers of consumption, equal
to those of beasts of burden, have established the gradations in
weight, as already stated. Greece, too, held the Pontic"^ wheat
in high esteem ; but this has not reached Italy as yet. Of
all the varieties of grain, however, the Greeks gave the pre-
ference to the kinds called dracontion, strangia, and Selinusium,
the chief characteristic of which is a stem of remarkable thick-
ness : it was this, in the opinion of the Greeks, that marked
them as the peculiar growth of a rich soil. On the -other hand,
the}' recommended for sowing in humid soils an extremely
light and diminutive species of grain, with a remarkably thin
stalk, known to them as speudias, and standing in need of an
abundance of nutriment. Such, at all events, were the opi-
nions generally entertained in the reign of Alexander the Great,
at a time when Greece was at the height of her glory, and the
most powerful country in the world. Still, however, nearly
one hundred and forty-four years before the death of that
prince we find the poet Sophocles, in his Tragedy of " Trip-
tolemus," praising the corn of Italy before all others. The
passage, translated word for word, is to the following effect : —
"And favour'd Italy grows white with hoary wheat."
ij And it is this whiteness that is still one of the peculiar merits
jl of the Italian wheat ; a circumstance which makes me the more
I surprised to find that none of the Greek writers of a later
I period have made any reference to it.
-^ From Thcophrastus, De Causis. B. iv.
23 That of the tTkraiue and its vicinity, which is still held in high esteem.
26 PLINY's >'ATC11AL UISTOIIY. [Book XYIIL
Of the various kiuds of wlieat wliich are imported at the
present day into Home, the lightest in weight are those which
come from Gaul and Chersonuesus ; for, upon weighing them,
it will be found that they do not yield more than twenty
pounds to the modius. The grain of Sardinia weighs half a
pound more, and that of Alexandria one-third of a pound more
than that of Sardinia; the Sicilian wheat is the same in
weight as the Alexandrian. The Boeotian wheat, again, weighs
a whole pound more than these last, and that of Africa a pound
and three quarters. In Italy beyond the Padus, the spelt, to
my knowledge, weiglis twenty-five pounds to the modius, and,
in' the vicinity of Clusium, six-and-twenty. AVe find it a
rule, universally established by JS'ature, that in every kind of
commissariat bread^" that is made, the bread exceeds the weight
of the grain by one-third ; and in the same way it is generally
considered that that is the best kind of wheat, which, in
kneading, will absorb one congius of water.^^ There are some
kinds of wheat which give, when nsed by themselves, an ad-
ditional weight equal to this : the Balearic wheat, for instance,
which to a modius of grain yields thirty-five pounds weight of
bread. Others, again, will only give this additional weight
by being mixed with other kinds, the Cyprian wheat and the
Ak'xandrian, for example; which, if nsed by themselves, will
yield no more than twenty pounds to tlie modius. The wheat
of Cyprus is swarthj', and produces a dark bread ; for which
reason it is generally mixed with the white wheat of Alexan-
dria ; the mixture yielding twenty-five pounds of bread to the
modius of grain. The wheat of Thebais, in Egypt, when
made into bread, yields twenty-six pounds to the modius. To
knead tlie meal with sea- water, as is mostly done in the mari-
time districts, for the purpose of saving the salt, is extremely
pernicious ; there is nothing, in fact, that will more readily
predispose the human body to disease. In Gaul and Spain,
where they make a drink^- by steeping corn in the Avay that
lias been already described— they employ the foam'^ which
lliickens upon the surface as a leaven : hence it is that
the bread in those countries is lighter than that made else-
"where.
Z j;-'"'" '"jl't^ris. 31 To the modius of wheat.
■-= J 1 1' alludes to l)cor, or sweet-wort. Sec B. xiv. c. 29.
" lie ulludos to yeast. See B. xxii. c. 82.
Chap. 13.] BIRLET — IIICE, 2/
There are some differences, also, in the stem of wheat ; for
the better the kind the thicker it is. In Thrace, the stem ot
the wlieat is covered with several coats,^* which are rendered
absolutely necessary by the excessive cold of those regions.
It is the cold, also, that led to the discovery there of the three-
month'^ wheat, the ground being covered with snow most
<jf the year. At the end mostly of three months after it has
been sown, this wheat is ready for cutting, both in Thrace and
in other parts of the world as well. This variety is well known,
too, throughout all the Alpine range, and in the northern pro-
vinces there is no kind of wheat that is more prolific ; it has
a single stem only, is by no means of large size in any part of
it, and is never sown but in a thin, light soil. There is a two-
month ^^ wheat also found in the vicinity of .^nos, in Thrace,
which ripens the fortieth day after sowing ; and yet it is a
surprising fact, that there is no kind of wheat that weiglis
lieavier than this, while at the same time it produces no bran.
Koth Sicily and Achaia grow it, in the mountainous districts
of those countries ; as also Eubcea, in the vicinity of Carystus.
So greatly, then, is Columella in error, ^' in supposing that
there is no distinct variety of three-month wheat even ; the
fact being that these varieties have been known from the very
earliest times. The Greeks give to these wheats the name
of " setanion." It is said that in Bactria the grains of wheat
are of such an enormous size, that a single one is as large as
our ears of corn.^^
CHAP. 13. LAKLKT : EICE.
Of all the cereals the first that is sown is barley. AVe shall
state the appropriate time for sowing eacli kind when we come
to treat of the nature of each individually. In India, there is
31 This assertion, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 4, is not
hsised on truth. It is possible tliat he may allude in reahty to some otlier
gramineous plant.
3^ Trimestre. se Biraestre.
"• Columella (B. ii. c. 6) does fiot state to this effect ; on the contrary-,
he speaks of the existence of a three months' wheat; but he asserts, and with
justice, that wheat sown in the autumn is better than that sown in March.
^* If he alludes here to what Theophrastus says, his assertion is simply
that, in Bactria, the grains are as large as an olive-stone.
I
2ft punt's NATURAL niSTORT. [Book XVIII.
both a cultivated and a ^xiW barley, from which tiiey make
excellent bread, as well as alica."" But the most favourite
food of all there is rice,"^ from which they prei^are a ptisan"
similar to that made from barley in other parts of the world.
The leaves of rice are fleshy,*-^ very like those of the leek, but
broader; tlie stem is a cubit in height, the blossom purple,
and the root globular, like a pearl in shape.''*
CUAP. 14. POLENTA.
Earley is one of the most ancient aliments of man, a fact
that is proved by a custom of the Athenians, mentioned by
Menander,*^ as also by the name of "hordearii,"^^ that used to
be given to gladiators. The Greeks, too, prefer barley to any-
thing else for making polenta.*'' This food is made in various
ways : in Greece, the barley is first steeped in water, and then
l(^tt a night to dry. The next day they parch it, and then
grind it in the mill. Some persons parch it more highh', and
then sprinkle it again with a little water; after which they
dry it for grinding. Others shake the grain from out of the
car while green, and, after cleaning and soaking it in water,
pound it in a mortar. They then wash tlie paste in baskets,
and leave it to dry in the sun ; after which they pound it again,
clean it, and grind it in the mill. But whatever the mode of
preparation adopted, the proportions are always t\venty pounds
of barley to three pounds of linseed,*® half a pound of coriander,
and fifteen drachmae *^ of salt : the ingredients are first parched,
and then ground in the mill.
Those who want it for keeping, store it in new earthen
vessels, with fine flour and bran. In Italy, the barley is
parched without being steeped in water, and then g^round to a
=" Thore is r.o wild barley in India at the present day.
«" P.u-ridgo, or fi'rmcnty. 4i Orvza sativa of Linnseus.
*• Like our nco-milk, probably. See £. xxii. c. 26.
" They are not carnose or fleshy, but thin, and similar to those of the
reed.
** On the contrary, it is tough and fibrous.
** The barloy wa.s, originally, the prize given to the victor in the Eleu-
sinian games.
" ?rl " '^■'""Irj-''^*^-" *' The aXrpirov of the Greeks.
1 hiH, as P 6c observes, would tend to give it a very disagreeable flavour.
*» " Acetabulum." "^ °
Chap. 17.] AMTLUM. 29
fine meal, "with the addition of the ingredients already men-
tioned, and some millet as Avell. Barley bread, which was
extensively used by the ancients, has now fallen into universal
disrepute, and is mostly used as a food for cattle only.
CHAP. 15. PTISAN.
With barley, too, the food called ptisan^ is made, a most
substantial and salutary aliment, and one that is held in very
high esteem. Hippocrates, one of the most famous writers on
medical science, has devoted a whole volume to the praises of
this aliment. The ptisan of the highest quality is that which
is made at Utica ; that of Egypt is prepared from a kind of
barley, the grain of which grows with two points." In Baetica
and Africa, the kind of barley from which this food is made is
that which Turranius calls the "smooth"^- barley: the same
author expresses an opinion, too, that olyra ^ and rice are the
same. The method of preparing ptisan is universally known.
CHAP. 16. TEAGUM.
In a similar manner, too, tragum is prepared from swd "
wheat, but only in Campania and Egypt.
CHAP. 17. AMYLUM.
Amylum is prepared from every kind of wheat, and from
winter-wheat ^^ as well ; but the best of all is that made from
three-month wheat. The invention of it we owe to the island
of Chios, and still, at the present day, the most esteemed kind
comes from there ; it derives its name from its being made
\vithout the help of the mill.^ 'Next to the amylum made
with three-month wheat, is that which is prepared from the
lighter kinds of wheat. In making it, the grain is soaked in
^ Similar to our pearl barley, probably.
31 « Anguli." Dalechanips interprets this as two rows of grain; but
Fee thinks that it signifies angles, and points. The Polygonum fagopyrum
of Linnaeus, he says, buck-wheat, or black-wheat, has an angular grain,
but he doubts whether that can possibly be the grain here alluded to.
^' There is no barley without a beard ; it is clearly a variety of wheat
that is alluded to.
^" Triticura spelta of Linnaeus.
■^ *' Semen," the same as zta, or spelt.
*^ Sili^o. 56 'AnvXov.
•M) PMNy's NATURAL lUSTOKY. [Book XYIII.
tVesh water, placed in wooden vessels ; care being taken to keep
it covered with the liquid, which is changed no less than live
times in the course of the day. If it can be changed at night
as well, it is all the better for it, the object being to let it
imbibe the water gradually and equally. When it is quite
soft, but before it turns sour, it is passed through linen cloth,
or else wicker-work, after which it is poured out upon a tile
covered with leaven, and left to harden in the sun. Next to
the araylum of Chios, that of Crete is the most esteemed, and
next to that the ^Egyptian. The tests of its goodness are its
being light and smooth : it should be used, too, while it is
fresh. Cato," among our writers, has made mention of it.
CUAP. 18. THE NATUKE OF BARLEY.
Barley-meal, too, is employed for medicinal purposes ; and
it is a curious fact, that for beasts of burden they make a paste
of it, which is first hardened by the action of fire, and then
ground. It is then made up into balls, which are introduced
,vith the hand into the paunch, the result of which is, that the
vigour and muscular strength of the animal is considerably
increased. In some kinds of barley, the ears have two rows
of grains,^ and in others more; in some cases, as many as six.^^
The grain itself, too, presents certain difi'erences, being long
and thin, or else short or round, white, black, ^"^ or, in some
instances, of a purple colour. This last kind is einployed for
making polenta : the white is ill adapted for standing the se-
verity of the weather. Barley is the softest of all the grains :
it can only be sown in a dr}-, loose soil,*'^ but fertile withal.
The chaff of barley ranks among the very best ; indeed, for
litter there is none that can be compared with it. Of all grain,
barley is the least exposed to accidents, as it is gatliered before
the tinui that mildew begins to attack wheat; for which reason
it is that the [jrovident agriculturist sows only as much wheat.
^■^ I)c Re Rust. c. 87. Tlii3 "amylnm" seems somewhat to resemble oiir
"^'■^''' . *^ The liorclcum distichiun of T.innoens.
*« Ilordeum htxasticlmm of Linii.xus. The Ilordcum vulgare, or com-
mon l)arl('y, h:w but four rows.
'" Thvs.; varittics ar,; not known at the present clay, and Fee questions
if tlicy |vcv existrd. There is a black barley found in Germany, the Hor-
doum nigrum of Willdenow.
«' A calcareous soil is tlio best adapted for barley.
Chap. 19.] GRAIX GROWN IN THE EAST. 31
as may be required for food. The saying is, that "barley is
sowu in a money-bag," because it so soon returns a profit.
The most prolific kind of all is that which is got in at Car-
thage,^" in Spain, in the month of April. It is in the same
month that it is sown in Celtiberia, and yet it yields two har-
vests in the same year. All kinds of barley are cut sooner than
other grain, and immediately after they are ripe; for the straw
is extremely brittle, and the grain is enclosed in a husk of re-
markable thinness. It is said, too, that a better polenta ^^ is
made from it, if it is gathered before it is perfectly ripe.
CiI.\P. 19. (8.) ARINCA, AND OTHER KINDS OF GRAIN THAT
ARE GROW^N IN THE EAST.
The several kinds of corn are not everywhere the same ; and
even where they are the same, they do not always bear a simi-
lar name. The kinds most universally grown are spelt, by tlie
ancients known as **adorea," winter wheat, ^* and wheat i^'' all
these being common to many countries. Arinca was originally
peculiar to Gaul, though now it is widely diffased over Italy
well. Egypt, too, Syria, Cilicia, Asia, and Greece, have their
own peculiar kinds, known by the names of zea,*^*^ olyra, and
tiphe." In Egypt, they make a fine flour from wheat of their
own growth, but it is by no means equal to that of Italy,
Tliose countries which employ zea, have no spelt. Zea, how-
ever, is to be found in Italy, and in Campania more particularly,
where it is known by the name of " seed."^^ The grain that
bears this name enjoys a very considerable celebrity, as we
shall have occasion to state °^ on another occasion ; and it is in
honour of this that Homer '"^ uses the expression, ^lidojpog
'j-po-jpa, and not, as some suppose, from the fact of the earth
giving life.''^ Amylum is made, too, from this grain, but of a
^''- Nova. Carthago, or New Carthage.
•'•^ This Mlacious opinion is shared with Galen, Le Facult. Anim,
B. vi. c. 11.
<^* Siligo. 65 Triticum.
^' The Triticum dicoccura, or spelt.
*^ Probably rye. See tlie next Chapter. ^s Semen.
^^ In c. 20, also in c. 29. This grain, which was in reality a kind of
spelt, received its name probably iroui having been the first cultivated.
''^ II ii. c. 5-lS: "the land that produces zea."
''^ Not dTTo ra ^/Ji/, from "living."
32 pliny's natural history. [Book XVIII.
coarser" quality than the kind already mentioned j'^ this,
however, is the only difference that is perceptible.
The most hardy kind, however, of all the grains is spelt, and
the best to stand the severity of the weather ; it will grow in
the very coldest places, as also in localities that are but half
tilled, or soils that are extremely hot, and destitute of water.
This was the earliest food of the ancient inhabitants of Latiura ;
a strong proof of which is the distributions of adorea that
were made in those times, as already stated.''* It is evident,
too, that the Romans subsisted for a long time upon pottage,"
and not bread ; for we find that from its name of '* puis," cer-
tain kinds of food are known, even at the present day, as " pul-
mentaria."'"^ Ennius, too, the most ancient of our poets, in
describing the famine in a siege, relates how that the parents
snatched away the messes of pottage'^ from their weeping
children. At the present day, even, the sacrifices in conformity
with the ancient rites, as well as those offered upon birthdays,
are made with parched pottage.'^ This food appears to have
been as much unknown in those days in Greece as polenta was
in Italy.
CHAP. 20. WINTER WHEAT. SniILAGO, OR FINE rLOITR.
There is no grain that displays a greater avidity than wheat,
and none that absorbs a greater quantity of nutriment. With
all propriety I may justly call winter wheat '^ the very choicest
of all the varieties of wheat. It is white, destitute of all
flavour,^ and not oppressive^^ to the stomach. It suits moist
"2 Merely, as Fee says, from the faulty method employed in its prepa-
ration, as starch hiis, iu all cases, the same physical appearance.
l^ In c. 17 of this Book. ■?* Iu c. 3^of this Book.
'* " Puis," like our porridge.
"« Any food that was originally eaten \nth *' puis," and afterwards with
bread, was so calkd, such as meat, vegetables, &c.
■'7 " Otfam." Tliis wurd, which in the later writers signifies a " cake,"
orip^inally meant a hardened lump of porridge.
'" Piiltc frililla.
'' " Siligo." There are numerous contradictions in Pliny >vith reference
to this plant, but it is now pretty generally agreed that it is the Triticum
bihernum of J.iima:us: the " froment tousselle" of the French. It was
formerly tho more general opinion that it was identical with spelt ; but
that cannot be the ca.se, as spelt is red, and siligo is described as white.
"^ " Sine virtute " It is doubtful what is the meaning of this.
•' Sine pondere.
Chap. 20.] WIJfTEE WHEAT. 33
localities particularly well, such as we find in Italy and Gallia
Comata ; but beyond the Alps it is found to maintain its cha-
racter only in the territory of the Allobroges and that of the
Memini ; for in the other parts of those countries it degene-
rates at the end of two years into common wheat. ^- The only
method of preventing this is to take care and sow the heaviest
grains only.
(9.) Winter wheat furnishes bread of the very finest quality
and the most esteemed delicacies of the bakers. The best
bread that is known in Italy is made from a mixture of Cam-
pauian winter wheat with that of Pisae. The Campanian kind
is of a redder colour, while the latter is white ; when mixed
with chalk,^^ it is increased in weight. The proper proportion
for the yield of Campanian wheat to the modius of grain is
four sextarii of what is known as bolted flour ; ^ but when it
is used in the rough and has not been bolted, then the yield
should be five sextarii of flour. In addition to this, in either
case there should be half a modius of white meal, with four
sextarii of coarse meal, known as " seconds," and the same
quantity of bran.^^ The Pisan wheat produces five sextarii of
fine flour to the modius; in other respects it yields the same
as that of Campania. The wheat of Clusium and Arretium
gives another sextarius of fine flour, but the yield is similar to
that of the kinds already mentioned in all other respects.
If, however, as much of it as possible is converted into fine
wheat meal, the modius will yield sixteen pounds weight of
white bread, and three of seconds, with half a modius of bran.
These differences, however, depend very materially upon the
grinding ; for when the grain is ground quite dry it produces
more meal, but when sprinkled with salt water ^ a whiter
flour, though at the same time a greater quantity of bran. It
is very evident that " iarina," the name we give to meal, is
derived from " far." A modius of meal made from Gallic winter
^ In other places he says, most unaccountably, that wheat " degenerates
intosiligo."
^^ As to this practice, see c. 29.
^ " Quam vocant castratam."
^^ From this account, it would appear that there were twenty-four sex-
tarii to the modius ; but the account in general is very contradictory.
^ Salt water is rarely used for this purpose in modern times. See
this passage discussed in Beckraann on Inventions, Sohn's Ed. vol. i. p.
164.
VOL. IV. D
34 pliny's natueal histoet. [Book XVIII,
wlieat, yields twenty- two pounds of bread ; while that of Italy,
if made into bread baked in tins,^^ will yield two or three
pounds more. When the bread is baked in the oven,^« two
pounds must be added in weight in either case.
(10.) Wheat yields a fine flour^' of the very highest quality.
In African wheat the modius ought to yield half a modius of
line Hour and five sextarii of pollen, that being the name
given to fine wheat meal, in the same way that that of winter
wheat is generally known as " flos," or the " flower." This
fine meal is extensively used in copper works and paper manu-
factories. In addition to the above, the modius should yield
four sextarii of coarse meal, and the same quantity of bran.
The finest wheaten flour will yield one hundred ''^ and twenty-
two pounds of bread, and the fine meal of winter wheat one
hundred ^^^ and seventeen, to the modius of grain. When the
prices of grain are moderate, meal sells at forty asses the mo-
dius, bolted wheaten flour at eight asses more, and bolted
flour of winter wheat, at sixteen asses more. There is another
distinction again in fine wheaten flour, which originated for-
merly in the days of L. Paulus. There were three classes of
wheat ; the first of which would appear to have yielded seven-
teen pounds of bread, the second eighteen, and the third nine-
teen pounds and a third : to these were added two pounds and
a half of seconds, ^^ and the same quantity of brown^^ bread,
with six sextarii of bran. ^-
Winter wheat never ripens all at once, and yet there is none
of the cereals that can so ill brook any delay ; it being of so
delicate a nature, that the ears directly they are ripe will begin
to shed their grain. So long, however, as it is in stalk, it is
exposed to fewer risks than other kinds of wheat, from the fact
" •* Artopticio." See c. 27 of this Book.
»* Without tin, probably •, or the tin bread may have been baked
before tlie fire, similar to the method adopted at the present day with the
American (jvens.
^'■' " Siniilai,r()." Founders still use meal occasionally for making moulds ;
It IS also cniploj-ed in making paper.
^ The mention of "hundreds" here is evidently f^iultv, unless the other
part of tlic passage is corrupt. Fe'e suggests twenty- two and twenty seven.
IJut above we find him stating that "secundarius," "seconds"
Hour, and cibarms," or "coarse," meal, are the same thino-. His con-
tradictions cannot apparently be reconciled.
« The whole of this passage, as Brotier remarks, is evidently corrupt.
Chap. 21.] WHEAT IN AFEICA. 35
of its always having the ear upright, and not retaining the
dew, which is a prolific cause of mildew.
From arinca^^ a bread of remarkable sweetness is made.
The grains in this variety lie closer than they do in spelt ; the
ear, too, is larger and more weighty. It is rarely the case
that a modius of this grain does not weigh full sixteen pounds.
In Greece they find great difficulty in threshing it ; and hence
it is that we find Horner^ saying that it is given to beasts of
burden, this being the same as the grain that he calls '' olyra.'*
In Egypt it is threshed without any difficulty, and is remark-
ably prolific. Spelt has no beard, and the same is the case
with winter wheat, except ^^ that known as the Laconian
variety. To the kinds already mentioned we have to add
bromos,^® the winter wheat just excepted, and tragos,^'^ all of
them exotics introduced from the East, and very similar to
rice. Tiphe^^ also belongs to the same class, from which in
our part of the world a cleaned gi^in resembling rice is pre-
pared. Among the Greeks, too, there is the grain known
as zea ; and it is said that this, as well as tiphe, when cleaned
from the husk and sown, will degenerated^ and assume the
form of wheat ; not immediately, but in the course of three
years.
CHAP. 21. THE FETJITFTJLNESS OF AFEICA IN WHEAT.
There is no grain more prolific than wheat, jN'ature having
bestowed upon it this quality, as being the substance which she
destined for the principal nutriment of man. A modius of
S3 Fee has no doubt that this '^as siligo, or winter- wheat, in a very
high state of cultivation.
91 II. V. 1. 195.
^^ There are still some varieties both of winter-wheat and spelt that
have the beard.
^6 It is generally thought that this is the oat, the Avena sativa of Lin-
naeus, while some have suggested rice. Fee thinks that by the name,
some exotic gramineous plant is meant.
^'^ Probably a variety of spelt, as Sprengel conjectures, from Galen and
other writers. See c. 1 6 of this Book.
9« Fee thinks that it is the grain of the Festuca fluitans of Linnaeus
that is here alluded to, and identifies it with the " ulva palustris" ofYirgil,
Geor. iii. 174.
99 The Latin word <'degener" cannot here mean "degenerate," in our
I sense of the word, but must merely imply a change of nature in the plant,
D 2
36 plint's NATFEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
Avheat, if the soil is favourable, as at Byzacium,^ a champaign
district of Africa, will yield as much as one hundred and fifty*
modii of grain. The procurator of the late Emperor Augustus
sent him from that place — a fact almost beyond belief— little
short of four hundred shoots all springing from a single grain ;
and we have still in existence his letters on the subject. In
a similar manner, too, the procurator of IS'ero sent him three
hundred and sixty stalks all issuing from a single grain.^ The
plains of Leontium in Sicily, and other places in that island,
as well as the whole of Ba)tica, and Egypt more particularly,
yield produce a hundred-fold. The most prolific kinds of
wheat are the ramose wheat,^ and that known as the '* hun-
dred-grain"° wheat. Before now, as many as one hundred
beans, too, have been found on a single stalk.
CniP. 22. — SESAME. ERYSIMUM, OE lEIO. HOEMINTJM.
We have spoken^ of sesame, millet, and panic as belonging
to the summer grains. Sesame" comes from India, where they
extract an oil from it ; the colour of its grain is white.
Similar in appearance to this is the erysimum of Asia and
Greece, and indeed it would be identical with it were it not
that the grain is better filled.^ It is the same grain that is
known among us as " irio ;" and strictly speaking, ought rather
to be classed among the medicaments than the cereals. Of the
same nature, too, is the plant called ^'horminum"^ by the
Greeks, though resembling cummin ^° in appearance; it is sown
at the same time as sesame : no animal will eat either this or
irio whQe green.
CHAP. 23. THE MODE OF GRINDIN-G COEI^.
All the grains are not easily broken. In Etruria they first
' Sec R. xvii. c. 3.
2 AVc knuwof no such frnitfulness as this in the wheat of Europe.
Fifteen-fold, us Fee remarks, is the utmost amount of produce that can be
anticipated.
^ Foe mentions instances of 150, 92, and 63 stalks arising from a single
pram; but all these fall far short of the marvels here mentioned^by
Flinv. ^
* The Triticum compositura of Linnaeus ; supposed to have orio-inally
come from Fpypt or Barbnry. o j
^ '' Centigvanium." I'rubably the same as the last.
". In c. 10 of this Eook. 7 ggg ^ ^q
« Pinguius. 9 Already mentioned in c. 10.
Sec li. X1.X. c. 4/ ; and B. XX. c. 57.
Chap. 23.] THE MODE OF GEINDING COUX. 37
parch the spelt in the ear, and then pound it with a pestle
shod with iron at the end. In this instrument the iron is
notched ^^ at the bottom, sharp ridges running out like the
edge of a knife, and concentrating in the form of a star ; so
that if care is not taken to hold the pestle perpendicularly
while pounding, the grains will only be splintered and the iron
teeth broken. Throughout the greater part of Italy, however,
they employ a pestle that is only rough ^- at the end, and
wheels turned by water, by means of which the corn is gra-
dually ground. I shall here set forth the opinions given by
Mago as to the best method of pounding corn. He says that
the wheat should be steeped first of all in water, and then
cleaned from the husk ; after which it should be dried in the
sun, and then pounded with the pestle ; the same plan, he
says, should be adopted in the preparation of barley. In the
latter case, however, twenty sextarii of grain require only two
sextarii of water. T\Tien lentils are used, they should be first
parched, and then lightly pounded with the bran ; or else,
adopting another method, a piece of unbaked brick and half a
modius of sand ^^ should be added to eyerj twenty sextarii of
lentils.
Ervilia should be treated in the same way as lentils. Sesame
should be first steeped in warm water, and then laid out to
dry, after which it should be rubbed out briskly, and then
thrown into cold water, so that the chaff may be disengaged
by floating to the surface. After this is done, the grain should
again be spread out in the sun, upon linen cloths, to dry. Care,
however, should be taken to lose no time in doing this, as it is
apt to turn musty, and assume a dull, livid colour. The grains,
too, which are just cleaned from the husk, require various
methods of pounding. AVhen the beard is ground by itself,
without the grain, the result is known as **acus,"^^ but it is
only used by goldsmiths.^" If, on the other hand, it is beaten
^^ This would rather grate the grain than j-moid it, as Beckmann ob-
serves. See his Hist. Inv., vol. i, pp. 147 and 164, Bohns Ed., where the
meaning of this passage has been commented upon. Gesner, also, in his
Lexicon Rusticum, has endeavoured to explain it.
12 Ruido.
13 It is surprising to find the Romans, not only kneading their bread
with sea-water, but putting in it pounded bricks, chalk, and sand !
1"* Beard chaflF; so called, probably, from the sharpness of the points,
like needles (acus),
1= S^e B. xxxiii, c. 3 ; where he says, that afire lighted with this chaff,
fusee gold more speedily tlian one made with maple wood.
38 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
out on the threshing-floor, together with the straw, the chaff
has the name of " palea," ^' ^ * ^' and in most parts of
the workl is employed as fodder for beasts of burden. The
residue of millet, panic, and sesame, is known to us as
'* apluda ;" but in other countries it is called by various other
names.
CHAP. 24. — MILLET.
Campania is particularly prolific in millet, and a fine white
porridge is made from it : it makes a bread, too, of remarkable
sweetness. The nations of Sarmatia ^^ live principally on this
porridge, and even the raw meal, with the sole addition of
mares' milk, or else blood ^^ extracted from the thigh of the
horse. The -(Ethiopians know of no other grain but millet and
barley,
CHAP. 25, PANIC.
The people of Gaul, and of Aquitania ^^ more particularly,
make use of panic ; the same is the case, too, in Italy beyond
the Padus, with the addition, however, of the bean, without
which they prepare none of their food. There is no aliment
held in higher esteem than panic by the nations of Pontus.
The other summer grains thrive better in well-watered soils
than in rainy localities ; but water is by no means beneficial
to millet or panic when they are coming into blade. It is re-
commended not to sow them among vines or fruit-trees, as it
is generally thought that these crops impoverish the soil.
CHAP. 26. (11) — THE VAEI0T7S KINDS OF LEAVEN.
Millet is more particularly employed for making leaven ; and
if luicadcd with must/^ it will keep a whole year. The same
is done, too, with the fine wheat-bran of the best quality ; it
is kneaded with white must three days old, and then dried in
the sun, after which it is made into small cakes. When re-
quired for making bread, these cakes are first soaked in water,,
r 'j The Tartars Still employ millet as one of their principal articles of
food. IJioy also extract a kind of wine from it.
1^ Virf,Ml alludes to this, Georg. iii. 163.
>e Panic is still employed more than any other grain in the south of
»» Or grape-juice. This must have tended to affect the taste of the
bread.
Chap. 27.] THE METHOD OF MAKING BEEAD. 39
and then boiled with the finest spelt flour, after which the whole
is mixed up with the meal ; and it is generally thought that
this is the best method of making bread. The Greeks have
established a rule that for a modius of meal eight ounces of
leaven is enough.
These kinds of leaven, however, can only be made at the
time of vintage, but there is another leaven which may be pre-
pared with barley and water, at any time it may happen to be
required. It is first made up into cakes of two pounds in
weight, and these are then baked upon a hot hearth, or else in
an earthen dish upon hot ashes and charcoal, being left till
they turn of a reddish brown. "When this is done, the cakes
are shut close in vessels, until they turn quite sour : when
wanted for leaven, they are steeped in water first. AVhen
barley bread used to be made, it was leavened with the meal
of the fitch, ^° or else the chicheling vetch, "^ the proportion
being, two pounds of leaven to two modii and a half of barley
meal. At the present day, however, the leaven is prepared
from the meal that is used for making the bread. For this
purpose, some of the meal is kneaded before adding the salt,
and is then boiled to the consistency of porridge, and left till
it begins to turn sour. In most cases, however, they do not
warm it at all, but only make use of a little of the dough that
has been kept from the day before. It is very evident that the
principle which causes the dough to rise is of an acid nature,
and it is equally evident that those persons who are dieted
upon fermented bread are stronger ^'^ in body. Among the
ancients, too, it was generally thought that the heavier wheat
is, the more wholesome it is.
CHAP. 27. — THE METHOD OF MAKING BEEAD : OEIGTN OP THE AET.
It seems to me quite unnecessary to enter into an account
of the various kinds of bread that are made. Some kinds, we
find, receive their names from the dishes with which they are
eaten, the oyster-bread,^^ for instance : others, again, from
their peculiar delicacy, the artolaganus,^* or cake-bread, for
example ; and others from the expedition with which they are
20 Ervum. 21 u Cicercula." See B. xxii. c. 72.
22 This remark is founded upou just notions.
23 Ostrearius.
2* From aprof, and Xdyavov, bread and cake.
40 plikt's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
prepared, such as the *' speusticus,"'^ or '' hurry-bread." Other
varieties receive their names from the peculiar method of
baking them, such as oven-bread,'^ tin-bread,'^ and mould-
bread.'** It is not so very long since that we had a bread in-
troduced from Parthia, known as water- bread,'^' from a method
in kneading it, of drawing out the dough by the aid of water,
a process which renders it remarkably light, and full of holes,
like a sponge : some call this Parthian bread. The excellence
of the finest kinds of bread depends principally on the goodness
of the wheat, and the fineness of the bolter. Some persons
knead tlie dough with eggs or milk, and butter even has been
employed for the purpose by nations that have had leisure to
cultivate the arts of peace, and to give their attention to the
art of maldng pastry. Picenum still maintains its ancient
reputation for making the bread which it was the first to in-
vent, alica ^° being the grain employed. The flour is kept in
soak for nine days, and is kneaded on the tenth with raisin
juice, in the shape of long rolls; after which it is baked in an
oven in earthen pots, till they break. This bread, however, is
never eaten till it has been welP^ soaked, which is mostly done
in milk mixed with honey.
CHAP. 28. WHEN BAKERS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED AT ROME.
There were no bakers at Rome until ^- the war with King;
Perseus, more than five hundred and eighty years after thei
building of the City. The ancient Romans used to make their'
own bread, it being an occupation which belonged to the wo-
men, as we see the case in many nations even at the present,
day. Plautus speaks of the artopta, or bread- tin, in hisi
Comedy of the Aulularia,^^ though there has been considerable
discussion for that very reason among the learned, whether or
" From (TTTivdu), to hiisten. A sort of crumpet, probably.
" Furnaccus. 27 Artopticeus.
2^ " CHbanis." The cUbanus was a portable oven or mould, broader at
the bottom tban the top.
« Aquaticus. so ggg cc. 10 and 29 of this Book.
It woiiUl appear to be somewhat similar to our rusks.
^- Which eiultd A.u.c. 586.
3'' A. ii. 8. 9, 1. 4. "E{,'o hinc artoptara ex proxumo utcndam peio."
It IB thoiijjht by some commentators, that the word used by Pliny here
was, in reality, " Artoptasia," a female baker ; and thab he alludes to a
passage in the Aulularia, which has now perished*
Chap. 29. ALICA. 41
not that line really belongs to him. We have the fact, too,
well ascertained, in the opinion of Ateius Capito, that the
cooks in those days were in the habit of making the bread for
persons of affluence, while the name of *' pistor "^^ was only
given to the person who pounded, or '' pisebat," the spelt. In
those times, they had no cooks in the number of their slaves,
but used to hire them for the occasion from the market. The
Gauls were the first to employ the bolter that is made of
horse-hair ; while the people of Spain make their sieves and
meal-dressers of flax,^^ and the Egyptians of papyrus and
rushes.
CHAP. 29. ALTCA.
But among the very first things of all, we ought to speak of
the method employed in preparing alica,^*^ a most delightful
and most wholesome food, and which incontestably confers
upon Italy the highest rank among the countries that produce
the cereals. This delicacy is prepared, no doubt, in Egypt
as well, but of a very inferior quality, and not worth our no-
tice. In Italy, however, it is prepared in numerous places,
the territories of Verona and Pisae, for example ; but that of
Campania is the most highly esteemed. There, at the foot of
mountains capped with clouds, runs a plain, not less in all than
forty miles in extent. The land here — to give a description
first of the nature of the soil — is dusty on the surface, but
spongy below, aud as porous as pumice. The inconveniences
that generally arise from the close vicinity of mountains are
here converted into so many advantages : for the soil, acting
on it as a sort of filter, absorbs the water of the abundant
rains that fall ; the consequence of which is, that the water not
being left to soak or form mud on the surface, the cultivation
is greatly facilitated thereby. This land does not return, by
the aid of any springs, the moisture it has thus absorbed, but
thoroughly digests it, by warming it in its bosom, in a heated
oven as it were. The ground is kept cropped the whole year
through, once with panic, and twice with spelt ; and yet in the
spring, when the soil is allowed to have a moment's repose,
^^ "WTiich in Pliny's time signified " baker."
^^ The Stipa tenacissima of Linnaeus, Fee says ; or else the Lygeum
Bpartum of Linnaeus.
2" As to the cereal so called, see c. 10 of this Book.
42 plint's natueal histoet. [BookXVIir*
it will produce roses more odoriferous by far than the cultivated,
rose : for the earth here is never tired of producing, a circum-
Btance in which originated the common saying, that Campaniai
produces more unguents ^' than other countries do oil.
In the same degree, however, that the Campanian soil excelsi
that of all other countries, so does that part of it which isi
known to us as Laboriae,^^ and to the Greeks as Phlegraeum,,
surpass all the rest. This district is bounded on two sides by
the consular high road, which leads from Puteoli to Capua cm
the one side, and from Cumae on the other.
Alica is prepared from the grain called zea, which we have!
already mentioned ^^ as being known to us as '' seed" wheat.
The grain is cleansed in a wooden mortar, for fear lest stone,,
from its hardness, should have the effect of grating it. Th©
motive power for raising the pestle, as is generally known, is
supplied by slaves working in chains, the end of it being en-
closed in a case of iron. After the husks have been removedl
by this process, the pure grain is broken to pieces, the samei
implements being employed. In this way, there are three>
different kinds of alica made, the finest, the seconds, and the*
coarse, which last is known as " aphoerema."^^ Still, however,,
these various kinds have none of them that whiteness as yetl
for which they are so distinguished, though even now they arei
preferable to the Alexandrian alica. With this view — a mosti
singular fact — chalk *^ is mixed with the meal, which, upoi
becoming well incorporated with it, adds very materially toi
both the whiteness and the shortness *^ of the mixture. This
chalk is found between Puteoli and JSTeapolis, upon a hill called
Leucogaeum ;''^ and there is still in existence a decree of the
late Emperor Augustus, (who established a colony at Capua),
which orders a sum of twenty thousand sesterces to be paid
annually from his exchequer to the people of Neapolis, for the
lease of this hill. His motive for paying this rent, he stated,
was the fact that the people of Campania had alleged that it
^7 Or perfumed oils.
''' See B. iii. c. 9, A volcanic district
33 In c. 20 of this Book.
*'' Grain from which the husk is removed.
*' A sub-carbonate of lime ; it is still known in those parts of Campa-
nia, and is called " lumera."
*^ Teneritatem.
*3 From the Greek, meaning "white earth."
Chap. 30.] LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 4S
ivas impossible to make their alica without the help of this
mineral. In the same hill, sulphur is found as well, and the
springs of Araxus issue from its declivities, the waters of which
are particularly efficacious for strengthening the sight, healing
wounds, and preventing the teeth from becoming loose.
A spurious kind of alica is made, more particularly of a de-
generate kind of zea grown in Africa ; the ears of it are larger
and blacker than those of the genuine kind, and the straw is
short. This grain is pounded with sand, and even then it is
with the greatest difficulty that the outer coats are removed ;
when stripped, the grain fills one half only of the original
measure. Gypsum, in the proportion of one fourth, is then
sprinkled " over it, and after the mixture has been well incor-
porated, it is bolted through a meal-sieve. The portion that
remains behind, after this is done, is known as ** excepticia,"^
and consists of the coarser parts ; while that which has passed
through is submitted to a second process, with a finer sieve ;
and that which then refuses to pass has the name of ''secun-
daria.'*^^ That, again, which, in a similar manner, is submitted
to a third sifting, with a sieve of the greatest fineness, which
will only admit of sand passing through it, is known as **cri-
braria,"^' when it remains on the top of the sieve.
There is another method, again, that is employed every
where for adulterating it. They pick out the whitest and
largest grains of wheat, and parboil them in earthen pots ; these
are then dried in the sun till they have regained their original
size, after which they are lightly sprinkled with water, and
then ground in a mill. A better granaeum ^ is made from zea
than from wheat, although it is nothing else, in fact, but a
spurious alica : it is whitened by the addition of boiled milk,
in place of chalk.
CHAP. 30. (12.) THE LEGTJMrNOUS PLANTS I THE BEAN.
"We now come to the history of the leguminous plants,
among which the place of honour must be awarded to the
** Fee enquires, and with good reason, how the African mixture ac-
commodated itself to the stomachs of those who ate it.
*5 Residue. « Seconds.
*' Sieve flour.
*s A porridge or pap, made of ground grain. It is mentioned hy
Cato, c. 86.
44 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
bean ;" indeed, some attempts have even been made to use it
for bread. Beiin meal is known as " lomentum;" and, as is
the case with the meal of all leguminous plants, it adds con-
eiderably, when mixed with flour, to the weight of the bread.
Beans are on sale at the present day for numerous purposes,
and are employed for feeding cattle, and man more particu-
larly. They are mixed, also, among most nations, with
wheat, *^ and panic more particularly, either whole or lightly
broken. In our ancient ceremonials, too, bean pottage^^ occu-
pies its place in the religious services of the gods. Beans are
mostly eaten together with other food, but it is generally
thought that they dull the senses, and cause sleepless nights
attended with dreams. Hence it is that the bean has been
condemned" by P.ythagoras ; though, according to some, the
reason for this denunciation was the belief which he enter-
tained that the souls of the dead are enclosed in the bean : it
is for this reason, too, that beans are used in the funereal ban-
quets of the Parentalia." According to Yarro, it is for a
similar cause that the Flamen abstains from eating beans : in
addition to which, on the blossom of the bean, there are cer-
tain letters of ill omen to be found.
There are some peculiar religious usages connected with the
bean. It is the custom to bring home from the harvest a bean
by way of auspice, which, from that circumstance, has the
name of '' referiva."^^ In sales by public auction, too, it is
thought lucky to include a bean in the lot for sale. It is a
fact, too, that the bean is the only one among all the grains
that fills out at the increase of the moon,^ however much it
may have been eaten away : it can never be thoroughly boiled
in sea-water, or indeed any other Avater that is salt.
"' The Faba vulgaris of the modern naturalists. It is supposed to have
originally come from Persia.
^ It is said that this mixture is still employed in the Valais and in
Savoy. ^ ^
*' Fabata.
" IJcans were used in ancient times, in place of balls or pebbles, in
votinjT by ballot. Hence it has been suggested that Pythagoras, in recom-
mending his disciples to abstain from beans, meant to advise them to have
nothing to do with politics.
*3 The sacrifices offered to the Manes or spirits of deceased relations.
Sec Ovid's Fasti, B. ii. I. 56,5.
" ''Brought homo." The bean was offered up, to ensure good luck.
w Didymus, in the Geoponica, B. ii. c. 33, repeats this absurdity.
Ctap. 30.] THE BEAJ^-.
45
The bean is the first leguminous plant that is sown • that
being done before the setting of the Yergili^, in order tibat it
may pass the winter in the ground. Yirgipe recommends that
It should be sown m spring, according to the usage of the parts
^ of Italy near the Padus : but most people prefer the bean that
I has been sown early to that of only three months' growth-
I for in the former case the pods as well as the stalk afford a
I mos agreeable fodder for cattle. When in blossom more par-
!>r«? ^i^ bean requires water; but after the blossom has
parsed off It stands in need of but very little. It fertilizes^
he ground in which it has been sown as^well as any manure ;
henceit is that m the neighbourhood of Thessaly and Ma-
-round ' ^' ''''''' ^' '^ ^^°'''' ^"^ blossom, they tm-n up^^ the
isla^^h^oTfU^'^ ^.T' ;T^^^ H^''* ''^^^^^^^^' ^' ^^ those
islands of the I^or hern Ocean, for instance, which for that
reason have been called by us the -Pabaria)."^^ In Mauritania,
Iso, It IS found in a wild state in various parts, but so remark^
iDly bard that it will never become soft bv boilino-
In Egypt there is a kind of bean^'' which gTows upon a
:horny stalk; for which reason the crocodiles avoid it TeL
, apprehensive of danger to their eyes. This stalk is four
I -ubits in length, and its thickness, at the very most, that of
' :he finger : were it not for the absence of articulations in it
• m^h. f 'Tfl\^ ""^^ '''^ -^^ appearance. The head i^
>im lar to that of the poppy, being of a rose colour : the beans
^nclosed in this head are not above thirty in number- the
eaves are large, and the fruit is bitter and odoriferous. ' The
•oot, however, is highly esteemed by the natives as a food,
vhether eaten raw or well boiled; it bears a strou- resem'
>Wtothatof the reed This plant grows also^in Sy"a
md Cilicia, and upon the banks of Lake Torone in Chalcidice.
56 Georg. i. 215.
57 This notion still prevails, and the bean, while in blossom, is duo- into
he ground to manure it, both in England and France ''
ig.Hng inlhrbear""^' ''""'"' ^'^^ ^^^ "^^ ^^^ ^^^ '^^ -- ^^
"'■> Or Bean Islands. See B. iv. c. 27.
«• The Nymph^a nelumbo of Linnaeus is alluded to, but it is no lone-er
ust. i laut. B. n . c. 1 0, but his translation is not exactly correct.
46 PLINY's IfATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
CHAP. 31. — LENTILS. PEASE.
Among the leguminous plants the lentil is sown in the
month of November, and the pea," among the Greeks. The
lentil thrives best in a soil that is rather thin than rich, and
mostly stands in need of dry weather. There are two kinds*
of lentil grown in Egypt ; one of which is rounder and blacker
than the other, which has a peculiar shape of its own. The
name of this plant has been applied to various uses, and
among others has given origin to our word " lenticula." ^^ I
find it stated in some authors that a lentil diet is productive ol
evenness of temper. The pea requires to be sown in a warm,
sunny spot, and is ill able to endure cold ; hence in Italy and
the more rigorous climates, it is sown in the spring only, a light,
loose soil being chosen for the purpose.
CHAP. 32. — THE SEVERAL KINDS OP CHICK-PEASE.
The chick-pea'^' is naturally salt,''* for which reason it is apt
to scorch the ground, and should only be sown after it has
been steeped a day in water. This plant presents consider-
able differences in reference to size, colour,^' form, and taste.
One variety resembles in shape a ram's head, from which cir-
cumstance it has received the name of " arietinum ;" there
are both the white and the black arietinum. There is also the
columbine chick-pea, by some known as the ''pea of Yenus ;"
it is white, round, and smooth, being smaller than the arie-
tinum, and is employed in the observances of the night festivals
or \ngils. The chicheliug vetch,^'' too, is a diminutive kind ol
chick-pea, unequal and angular, like^' the pea. The chick-
pea that is the sweetest in flavour is the one that bears the
closest resemblance to the fitch ; the pod in the black and the
red kinds is more firmly closed than in the white ones.
«J Pisum sativum of Liniifcus. I
8- Mt-aniiin; a wart or pimple on the face. '
" Ciccr arit'tiuum of the botanists.
. " /' ^.'t'.'ji «u"i salsilagine." It abounos in India, and while blossom-
ing, It distils a corrosive acid, which corrodes the shoes of those who tread i
upon It.
" There are still the red and the white kinds, the large and the small. '
« Cicereula : the Lathyrus sativus of Linnteus. It is difficult to cook.
and hard of digestion. Sue c. 26.
6J This mubt be said iu referouce to some of the pease when in a driec
state.
Chap. 34.] THE EAPE. 47
CHAP. 33. THE KIDNEY-BEAT?-.
The pod of the chick-pea is rounded, while in other legu-
minous plants it is long and broad, like the seed which it
contains ; in the pea, again, it is of a cylindrical form. In
the case of the kidney-bean^^ it is usual to eat the pod together
with the seed. This last may be sown in all kinds of soils
indifferently, between the ides of October^^ and the calends of
November."'' As soon as ever the leguminous plants begin to
ripen, they ought to be plucked, for the pods will very soon
open and the seed fall out, in which case it is very difficult to
find : the same is the case, too, with the lupine. But before
we pass on to the lupine, it will be as well to make some men-
tion of the rape.'^
CHAP. 34. (13.) — THE EAPE.
The Latin writers have only treated of this plant in a cur-
sory manner, while those of Greece have considered it a little
nore attentively ; though even they have ranked it among the
garden plants. If, however, a methodical arrangement is to
DC strictly observed, it should be spoken of immediately after
3om, or the bean, at all events ; for next to these two produc-
tions, there is no plant that is of more extensive use. For, in
he first place, all animals will feed upon it as it grows ; and
t is far from being the least nutritious plant in the fields for
'arious kinds of birds, when boiled in water more particularly.
)attle, too, are remarkably fond of the leaves of rape ; and
he stalks and leaves, when in season, are no less esteemed
is a food for man than the sprouts of the cabbage f^ these,
00, when turned yellow and left to die in the barn, are even
lore highly esteemed than"- when green. As to the rape
tself, it will keep all the better if left in its mould, after which
s should be dried in the open air till the next crop is nearly
ipe, as a resource in case of scarcity. jS'ext to those of the
^ A variety of the Phaseolus vulgaris of Linnaeus : the " haricot " of
le French. The French bean and the scarlet-runner are cooked in a
milar manner among us.
«9 loth of October. 7o 1st of ^"overaber.
'^ The JS'apo-brassica of Linnaeus. The turnip cabbage, or rape-
)lewort.
" This taste, it is most probable, is nowhere in existence at the present
48 PLINY's IfATUEAL HISTOUT. [Book XVIII.
grapo and corn, this is the most profitable harvest of all for the
coiintri^'S that lie beyond the Padus. The rape is by no means
difficult to please in soil, for it will grow almost anywhere,
indeed wlicre nothing else can be sown. It readily derives
nutriment from fogs and hoar-frosts, and grows to a marvel-
lous size ; I have seen them weighing upwards of forty pounds.'"
It is prepared for table among us in several ways, and is made
to keep till the next crop, its fermentation'^'^ being prevented by
preserving it in mustard. It is also tinted with no less than
six colours in addition to its own, and wdth purple even ; in-
deed, that which is used by us as food ought to be of no other
colour."^
The Greeks have distinguished two principal species of rape,
the male and the female,'^ and have discovered a method of ob-
taining them both from the same seed ; for when it is sown thick,
or in a hard, cloggy soil, the produce will be male. The smaller
the seed the better it is in quality. There are three kinds of
rape in all ; the first is broad and flat, the second of a spherical
shape, and the third, to which the name of " wild" rape "
has been given, throws out a long root, similar in appearance
to a radish, with an angular, rough leaf, and an acrid juice,
wliich, if extracted about harvest, and mixed with a woman's
milk, is good for cleansing the eyes and improving defective
sight. The colder the weather the sweeter they are, and the
larger, it is generally thought ; heat makes them run to leaf.
The finest rape of all is that grown in the district of ISursia :
it is valued at as much as one sesterce''^ per pound, and, in
times of scarcity, two even. That of the next best quality is
produced on Mount Algidus.
CHAP. 35. — THE TIJENIP.
The turnip'^* of Amiternum, which is pretty nearly of the
J=* This is not by any means an exaggeration.
"* Acrimonia.
" These coloured varieties, Fee savs, belong rather to the Erassica
oleracca, than to tlie Brassica rapa. It' is not improbable, from the stiuc-
tiirc of this passage, that Pliny means to say that the colours are artiflci- 1
ally priKhiccd.
-- w-f I'l^'^^' ^^^""f ^"S to the Crucifcra, the rape is hermaphroditical.
" NV lid horse-radish, which is divided into two varieties, the Eapha-
nus raphanistrum of Linnaeus, and the Cochlearia Armoracia, may possiblv
be meant, but then- roots bear no resemblance to the radish.
'J^ An enormous price, apparently.
'*■• The Brassica uapus of Linnoeiis.
Chap. 36.] THE LUPINE. 49
same nature as the rape, thrives equally well in a cold soil.
It is sown just before the calends of March, '^ four sextarii of
seed to the jugerum. The more careful growers recommend
that the ground should be turned up five times before putting
in the turnip, and four for rape, care being taken, in both
cases, to manure it well. Kape, they say, will thrive all the
better, if it is sown together with some chaff. They will
have it, too, that the sower ought to be stripped, and that he
should offer up a prayer while sowing, and say : "I sow this
for myself and for my neighbours." The proper time for sow-
ing both kinds is the period that intervenes between the fe^ti-
vals^° of the two divinities, jN'eptune and Yulcan. It is said,
too — and it is the result of very careful obseiwation — that
these plants will thrive wonderfully well, if they are sown as
many days after the festival of Neptune as the moon was old
when the first snow fell the previous winter. They are sown
in spring as well, in warm and humid localities.
CHAP. 36. (14.) THE LTJPIIs'E.
The lupine is the next among the leguminous plants that
is in extensive use, as it serves for food for man in common
with the hoofed quadrupeds. To prevent it from springing
out of the pod®^ while being gathered, and so lost, the best
plan is to gather it immediately after a shower. Of all the
seeds that are sown, there is not one of a more marvellous na-
ture than this, or more favoured by the earth. First of all,
.t turns every day with the sun,^- and shows the hour to the
lusbandman, even though the weather should happen to be
iloudy and overcast. It blossoms, too, no less than three
:imes, and so attached is it to the earth, that it does not re-
quire to be covered with the soil ; indeed, this is the only seed
hat does not require the earth to be turned up for sowing it.
'.t thrives more particularly on a sandy, dry, and even gravelly
oil ; and requires ne further care to be taken in its cultiva-
ion. To such a degree is it attached to the earth, that even
■9 1st of March.
8*^ The Neptunalia and the Vulcanalia ; 23rd of July and 23rd of
lUgUSt,
"i In consequence of the brittleness of the pod.
^- This is an exaggeration of certain phaenomena observed in the leaves
t all leguminous plants.
VOL. IV. S
I
50 pliny's natuhal history. [Book XVIII.
though left upon a soil thickly covered with bramblei=!, it will
throw out a root amid the leaves and brakes, and so con-
trive to reach the ground. We have already stated^^ that the
soil of a field or vineyard is enriched by the growth of a
crop of lupines ; indeed, so far is it from standing in need of
manure, that the lupines will act upon it as well as the very
best. It is the only seed that requires no outlay at all, so
much so, in fact, that there is no necessity to carry it even to the
spot where it is sown ; for it may be sown the moment it is
brought from the threshing-floor r^'* and from the fact that it
faUs from the pod of its own accord, it stands in need of no
one to scatter it.
This is^ the very first grain sown and the last that is gathered,
both operations generally taking place in the month of Sep-
tember ; indeed, if this is not done before winter sets in, it is
liable to receive injury from the cold. • And then, besides, it
may even be left with impunity to lie upon the ground, in case
showers should not immediately ensue and cover it in, it being
quite safe from the attacks of all animals, on account of its
bitter taste : still, however, it is mostly covered up in a slight
furrow. Among the thicker soils, it is attached to a red earth
more particularly. In order to enrich^^ this earth, it should be
turned up just after the third blossom ; but where the soil is
sandy, after the second. Chalky and slimy soils are the only
ones that it has an aversion to; indeed, it will never come to
anything when sown in them. Soaked in warm water, it is
used as a food, too, for man. One modius is a sufficient meal
for an ox, and it is found to impart considerable vigour to
cuttle ; placed, too, upon the abdomen^^ of children, it acts as
a remedy in certain cases. It is an excellent plan to season
the lupine by smoking it ; for when it is kept in a moist state,
maggots are apt to attack the germ, and render it useless for
reproduction. If cattle have eaten it off while in leaf, as a
matter of necessity it should be ploughed in as soon as possible.
*' In B. xvii. c. 6.
»« " Ex area." This reading is favoured by the text of Columella. B. ii.
c. 10, who says the same. But " ex arvo," from the field, i. e. the " moment
It 18 gathered "—seems preferable, as being more consistent with the context.
"•^ From Theoplmustus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 1. 11, &c.
"« k is still thought that the lupine enriches the soil in which it grows.
«' Marcellua Empiricus says, that boiled hipine meal, spread as a plaster,
and laid on the abdomen, will destroy intestinal Avorms.
Chap. 39.] aiLiclA. 51
CHAP. 37. (15.) — THE VETCH.
The vetch,^ too, enriches the soil, and its cultivation en-
tails no labour on the agriculturist. It is sown after the
ground has been but once turned up, and requires neither hoe-
ing nor manuring ; nothing at all, indeed, except harrowing.
There are three periods for sowing it ; the first is about the
setting of Arcturus, when it is intended for feeding cattle
in the month of December, while in the blade ; this crop, too,
is the best of all for seed, for, although grazed upon, it will
bear just as well. The second crop is sown in the month of
January, and the last in March ; this last being the best crop
for fodder. Of all the seeds this is the one that thrives best
in a dry soil ; still, however, it manifests no repugnance to
a shaded locality. This grain, if gathered when quite ripe,
produces a chaff superior to that of any other. If sown near
vines supported by trees, the vetch will draw away the juicei^
from the vines, and make them languid.
CHAP. 38. THE FITCH.
The cultivation of the fitch,^^ too, is attended with no diffi-
culty. It requires weeding, however, more than the vetch.
Like it, the fitch has certain medicinaP" properties ; for we
find the fact still kept in remembrance by some letters of his,
that the late Emperor Augustus was cured by its agency. Five
modii will sow as much ground as a yoke of oxen can plough
in a day. If sown in the month of March, ^^ it is injurious,
they say, to oxen : and when sown in autumn, it is apt to pro-
duce head-ache. If, however, it is put in the ground at the
beginning of spring, it will be productive of no bad results.
CHAP. 39. (16.) SILICIA.
Silicia,^^ or, in other words, fenugreek, is sown after a light
ploughing^^ merely, the furrows being no more than some four
^ Vicia sativa of Linnaeus.
^ Or orobus, the Ervuni ervilia of Linnaeus.
_ ^ It is thought by many that the ervum is unwholesome, being produc-
iye of muscular weakness. The blade of it is said to act as a poison on
•igs. However, we find the farina, or meal, extolled by some persons for
ts medicinal qualities ; and if we are to trust to the advertisements in the
ewspapers, it is rising rapidly in esteem. See B. xxii. c. 73.
^' From Columella, B. ii. c. 11
*- Trigonella foenum Graecum of Linnaus. »* " Scarificatio."
E 2
52 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
fingers in deptli ; the less the pains that are bestowed upon it
the better it will thrive — a singular fact that there should be
anything that profits from neglect. The kinds, however, that
are known as ''secale" and "farrago" require harrowing only.
CHAP. 40. SECALE OR ASIA.
The people of Taurinum, at the foot of the Alps, give td
secale^^ the name of " asia ;" it is a very inferior^^ grain, and
is only employed to avert positive famine. It is prolific, but
has a straw of remarkable thinness ; it is also black and
sombre-looking, but weighs extremely heavy. Spelt is mixed
with this grain to modify its bitterness,^® and even then it is
very disagreeable to the stomach. It will grow upon any soil,
and yields a hundred- fold ; it is employed also as a manure
for enriching the land.
CHAP. 41. — farrago: the cracca.
Farrago, a mixture made of the refuse of "far," or spelt, is
sown very thick, the vetch being sometimes mingled with it ;
in Africa, this mixture is sometimes made with barley. All
these mixtures, however, are only intended for cattle, and the
same is the case with the cracca, ^^ a degenerate kind of legu-
minous plant. Pigeons, it is said, are so remarkably fond of
this grain, that they will never leave the place where it has
been given to them.
CHAP. 42. — ocnojM : eevilia.
Among the ancients there was a sort of fodder, to which
Cato ^® gives the name of " ocinum ;" it was employed by them
to stop scouring in oxen. This was a mixture of various kinds*
of fodder, cut green before the frosts came on. Mamilius Sura,
however, explains the term differently, and says that ten modii
of beans, two of vetches, and the same quantity of ervilia,^**
were mixed and sown in autumn on a jugerum of land. He
3' Probably the Secale ccreale of Linnrcus, cultivated rye.
It 18 now held in high esteem in many parts of Europe.
■' Kye baa no bitterness, and this assertion has led some to doubt if it is
identical with tlie " secale" of Pliny.
'^ Perhaps identical with the Vicia cracca of Linnaus.
2 In c 54 and 60, and elsewhere. See B. xvii. c. 35.
w* Probably, fitches.
Chap. 43.] LTJCESNE. 53
states, also, that it is a still better plan to mix some Greek oats^
with it, the grain of which never falls to the ground ; this mix-
ture, according to him, was ocinum, and was usually sown as a
food for oxen. Varro ^ informs us that it received its name
on account of the celerity with which it springs up, from the
Greek uxsoog, *' quickly.*'
CHAP. 43. LUCEENE.
Lucerne "- is by nature an exotic to Greece even, it having
been first introduced into that country from Media," at the time
of the Persian wars with King Darius ; still it deserves to be
mentioned among the very first of these productions. So su-
perior are its qualities, that a single sowing will last more
than thirty* years. It resembles trefoil in appearance, but the
stalk and leaves are articulated. The longer it grows in the
stalk, the narrower is the leaf. Amphilochus has devoted a
whole book to this subject and the cytisus.^ The ground in
which it is sown, being first cleaned and cleared of stones, is
turned up in the autumn, after which it is ploughed and har-
rowed. It is then harrowed a second and a third time, at in-
tervals of five days ; after which manure is laid upon it. This
seed requires either a soil that is dry, but full of nutriment, or
else a well-watered one. After the ground has been thus pre-
pared, the seed is put in in the month of May f for if sown
earlier, it is in danger from the fi-osts. It is necessary to sow
the seed very thick, so that all the ground may be occupied,
and no room left for weeds to shoot up in the intervals ; a
result which may be secured by sowing twenty modii to the
jugerum. The seed must be stirred at once with the rake, to
prevent the sun from scorching it, and it should be covered
over with earth as speedily as possible. If the soil is naturally
damp or weedy, the lucerne will be overpowered, and the spot
^3 Fee suggests that this may be the Avena sterilis, or else the Avena
fatua of Liiinseus.
^ De Re Rust. E. i. c. 31.
2 " Medica," in Latin, a kind of clover, the Medicago sativa of Linnaeus.
^ Fee is inclined to doubt this.
* Pliny exggerates here : Columella, B. ii. c. 11, says, only "ten :" a
field, however, sown with it will last, with a fresh sowing, as long as
twenty years.
* See B. xiii. c. 47.
6 Columella, B. ii. c. 11, says April.
/,4 pliny's NATURA-L histoet. [Book XVIII.
degenerate into an ordinary pasture; it is necessaiy, therefore,
directly the crop is an inch in height, to disengage it from
all weeds, by hand, in preference to the weediug-hook.
It is cut when it is just beginning to flower, and this is re-
peated as often as it throws out new blossoms ; which happens
mostly six' times in the year, and four at the very least.
Care should be taken to prevent it from running to seed, as it
is much more valuable as fodder, up to the third year. It
should be hoed in the spring, and cleared of all other plants ;
and in the third year the surface should be well worked with
the weeding-hook. By adopting this method, the weeds will
be effectually destroyed, though without detriment to the lu-
cerne, in consequence of the depth of its roots. If the weeds
should happen to get ahead of it, the only remedy is to turn it
up repeatedly with the plough, until the roots of the weeds are
thoroughly destroyed. This fodder should never be given to
cattle to satiety, otherwise it may be necessary to let blood ; it
is best, too, when used while green. "When dry, it becomes
tough and ligneous, and falls away at last into a thin, useless
dust. As to the cytisus, which also occupies the very foremost
rank among the fodders, we have already spoken ^ of it at suf-
ficient length when describing the shrubs. It remains for us
now to complete our account of all the cereals, and we shall
here devote a portion of it to the diseases to which they are
subject.
CHAP. 44. (17.) — THE DISEASES OF GRATN- : THE OAT.
The foremost feature of disease in wheat is the oat.' Barley,
t/)o, will degenerate into the oat ; so much so, in fact, that the
oat has become an equivalent for corn; for tlie people of Ger-
many are in the habit of sowing it, and make their porridge of
nothing else. This degeneracy is owing more particularly to
liumidity of soil and climate; and a second cause is a weakness in
the seed, the result of its being retained too long in the ground
before it makes its appearance above it. The same, too, will
' By the aia of careful watering, as many as eight to fourteen cuttings
are obtained in the year, in Italy and Spain. In the north of Europe
there is but one crop.
8 In n. xiii. c. 47.
9 lie borrows this notion of the oat being wheat in a diseased state,
Buffon ^""^ ^^^^''' ^^"o"^'"''>' ^^"'^ug^' it was adopted by the learned
Chap. 44.] THE DISEASES OF GKAIN. 55
be the consequence, if the seed is decayed when put in the
ground. This may be known, however, the moment it makes
its appearance, from which it is quite evident that the defect
lies in the root. There is another form of disease, too, which
closely resembles the oat, and which supervenes when the
grain, already developed to its full size, but not ripe, is struck
by a noxious blast, before it has acquired its proper body and
strength ; in this case, the seed pines away in the ear, by a
kind of abortion, as it were, and totally disappears.
The wind is injurious to wheat and barley, at three ^° periods
of the year in particular : when they are in blossom, directly
the blossom has passed off, and just as the seed is beginning to
ripen. In this last case, the grain wastes away, while in the
two former ones it is prevented from being developed. Gleams
of sunshine, every now and then, from the midst of clouds,
are injurious to corn. Maggots, too, breed " in the roots, when
the rains that follow the seed-time are succeeded by a sudden
heat, which encloses the humidity in the ground. Maggots
make their appearance,^- also, in the grain, when the ear fer-
ments through heat succeeding a fall of rain. There is a small
beetle, too, known by the name of "cantharis,"^^ which eats
away the blade. All these insects die, however, as soon as
their nutriment fails them. Oil,^* pitch, and grease are pre-
judicial to grain, and care should be taken not to let them come
in contact with the seed that is sown. Eain is only beneficial
to grain while in the blade : it is injurious to wheat and barley
while they are in blossom, but is not detrimental to the legu-
minous plants, with the exception of the chick-pea. "When
grain is beginning to ripen, rain is injurious, and to barley in
particular. There is a white grass ^* that grows in the fields,
very similar to panic in appearance, but fatal to cattle. As to
10 From Tbeopkrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 10.
1' Tbis but rarely happens in our climates, as Fee remarks.
1- The grains are sometimes, though rarely, found devoured on the
stalk, by a kind of larvaR.
1^ Some coleopterous insect, probably, now unknown, and not the Can-
tharis vesicatoria, or " Spanish fly," as some have imagined. Diosco-
rides and Athenseus state to the same effect as Pliny.
1* The proper influence of the humidity of the earth would naturally
be impeded by a coating of these substances.
15 This plant has not been identified; but none of the gramineous
plants are noxious to cattle, with the exception of the seed of darnel.
56 TLlNr's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XYIIl.
darnel/'' the tribulus/' the thistle/^ and the burdock/^ I can
consider them, no more than the bramble, among the maladies
that attack the cereals, but rather as so many pests inflicted on
the earth. Mildew,^" a malady resulting from the inclemency
of the weather, and equally attacking the vine *^ and corn, is
in no degree less injurious. It attacks corn most frequently in
localities which are exposed to dews, and in vallies which have
not a thorough draught for the wind ; windy and elevated
spots, on the other hand, are totally exempt from it. Another
evil, again, in corn, is over-luxuriance, when it falls to the
ground beneath the weight "^"^ of the grain. One evil, however,
to which all crops in common, the chick-pea even, are exposed,
is the attacks of the caterpillar, when the rain, by washing
away the natural saltness of the vegetation, makes it*^ all the
more tempting for its sweetness.
There is a certain plant, ^* too, which kills the chick-pea and
the fitch, by twining around them ; the name of it is *'oro-
banche." In a similar manner, also, wheat is attacked by
darnel," barley by a long-stalked plant, called '' segilops,""^ and
the lentil by an axe-leafed grass, to which, from the resem-
blance ^'' of the leaf, the Greeks have given the name of " pele-
cinon." All these plants, too, kill the others by entwining
around them. In the neighbourhood of Philippi, there is a
plant known as ateramon,-^ which grows in a rich soil, and
>*^ Lolium temulentiim of LinnsDus. ^'^ See B. xxi. c. 58.
^^ *' Carduus." A general term, probably including the genera Centaurea
(the prickly kinds), Serratula, Carduus, and Cuicus. The Centaurea sol-
stitialis is the thistle most commonly found in the south of Europe.
''■' Gallium Aparine of Linnaeus.
'" Barley, wheat, oats, and millet have, each its own "rubigo" or mil-
dew, known to modern botany as uredo.
'• The Eriueum vitis of botanists.
2' This rarely liappens except through the violence of wind or rain.
23 See c. 32 of this Book.
" '^\- Cuscuta Europaea, probably, of Linnaeus ; one of the Convolvuli.
," •*-T>a." It 13 generally considered to be the same with darnel,
though riiny probably looked upon them as different.
2^ The .Egilops ovata, probably, of Linnaeus. Dalechamps and Har-
douin identify it with the barren oat, the Avena sterilis of Linn^us.
-^ ro the Greek TrAf^i;?, or battle-axe. It is probably the Biserrula
pelecina of Lmna^us, though the Astragalus hamosus and the Coronilla
securidaoa of Linnteus have been suggested.
2B Pliny haa here committed a singular error in translating from
Theophraatus, de Causis, B. iv. c. 14, who only says that a cold wind in
Chap. 45.] EEMEDIES FOE THE DISEASES OF aRAIN. 57
kills the bean, after it has been exposed, while wet, to the
blasts of a certain wind : when it grows in a thin, light soil,
this plant is called ** teramon." The seed of darnel is ex-
tremely minute, and is enclosed in a prickly husk. If intro-
duced into bread, it will speedily produce vertigo ; and it is
said that in Asia and Greece, the bath-keepers, when they want
to disperse a crowd of people, throw this seed upon burning
,coals. The phalangium, a diminutive insect of the spider
genus,*^ breeds in the fitch, if the winter happens to be wet.
Slugs, too, breed in the vetch, and sometimes a tiny snail makes
its way out of the ground, and eats it away in a most singular
manner.
These are pretty nearly all the maladies to which grain is
subject.
CHAP. 45. THE BEST REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF GRADT.
The best remedy for these maladies, so long as grain is in
the blade, is the weeding-hook, and, at the moment of sowing,
ashes. "^ As to those diseases which develope themselves in the
seed and about the root, with due care precautions may be ef-
fectually employed against them. It is generally supposed that
if seed has been first steeped in wine,^^ it will be less exposed
to disease. Yirgil ^- recommends that beans should be drenched
with nitre and amurca of olives ; and he says that if this is
done, they will be all the larger. Some persons, again, are of
opinion, that they will grow of increased size, if the seed is
steeped for three days before it is sown in a solution of urine
and water. If the ground, too, is hoed three times, a modius
of beans in the pod, they say, will yield not less than a modius
the vicinity of Philippi makes the beans difficult to cook or boil, ('iTtpdfiove^.
From this word he has coined two imaginary plants, the "ateraraon,"
and the " teramon." Hardouin defends Pliny, by suggesting that he has
borrowed the passage from another source, while Fee doubts if he really
understood the Greek language.
29 More probably one of the Coleoptera. He borrows from Thco-
phrastus, Hist. Anim. B. viii. c. 10.
3° This will only prevent the young plants from becoming a prey to
snails and slugs.
3^ This plan is attended with no good results.
^2 Georg. i. 193. It is generally said that if seed is steeped in a solu-
tion of nitre, and more particularly hydrochloric acid, it will germinate
with accelerated rapidity ; the produce, however, is no finer than at other
times.
58 pliny's NATUHAL HISTOEY. [Book XVIII.
of shelled^ beans. Other seeds, again, it is said, will be
exempt from the attacks of maggots, if bruised cypress =^* leaves
are mixed witli tliem, or if tliey are sown just at the moon's
conjunction. Many persons, for the more effectual protection
of millet, recommend that a bramble-frog should be carried at
night round the held before the hoeing is done, and then buried
in an earthen vessel in the middle of it. If this is done, they
say, neither sparrows nor worms will attack the crop. The,
frog, however, must be disinterred before the millet is cut ; for
if this is neglected, the produce will be bitter. It is pretended,
too, that all seeds which have been touched by the shoulders!
of a mole are remarkably productive.
Democritus recommends that all seeds before they are sown
should be steeped in the juice of the herb known as ** aizoiim,"^'*
which grows on tiles or shingles, and is known to us by the
Latin name of " sedum" or " digitellum." ^^ If blight pre-
vails, or if worms are found adhering to the roots, it is a very
common remedy to sprinkle the plants with pure am urea of
olives without salt, and then to hoe the ground. If, however,
the crop should be beginning to joint, it should be stubbed at
once, for fear lest the weeds should gain the upper hand. I
know for certain" that flights of starlings and sparrows, those
pests to millet and panic, are eifectually driven away by means
of a certain herb, the name of which is unknown to me, being
buried at the four corners of the field : it is a wonderful thing
to relate, but in such case not a single bird will enter it. Mice
are kept away by the ashes of a weasel or a cat being steeped
in water and then thrown upon the seed, or else by using the
water in which the body of a weasel or a cat has been boiled.
Tlie odour, however, of these animals makes itself perceived
in the bread even ; for which reason it is generally thought a
better plan to steep the seed in ox-gall.^^ As for mildew,
that greatest curse of all to corn, if branches of laurel are
" •' Fractae." Perhaps, more properly " crushed."
=*' The odour of cypress, or savin, lee thinks, might possibly keep
away noxious insects.
3* The " always living," or perennial plant, our " house-leek," the
Sedum acre of Linnaeus. See E. xxv. c. 102.
3« '• Little finger," from the shape of the leaves.
s^ He must have allowed himself to be imposed upon in this case.
38 Fee tliinks that this may possibly be efficacious against the attacks
of rats, as the author of the Geoponica, B. x., states.
Cliap. 46.] CROPS SOWN IN DirrEEENT SOILS. 59
fixed in the ground, it will pass away from the field into the
leaves of the laurel. Over- luxuriance in corn is repressed by
the teeth of cattle,^^ but only while it is in the blade ; in which
case, if depastured upon ever so often, no injury to it when
in the ear will be the result. If the ear, too, is once cut off,
the grain, it is well known, will assume a larger^*" form, but
will be hollow within and worthless, and if sown, will come
to nothing.
At Babylon, however, they cut the blade t^\dce, and then
let the cattle pasture on it a third time, for otherwise it would
run to nothing but leaf. Even then, however, so fertile is the
soil, that it yields fifty, and, indeed, with care, as much as a
hundred, fold. Nor is the cultivation of it attended with any
difficult}', the only object being to let the ground be under
water as long as possible, in order that the extreme richness
and exuberance of the soil may be modified. The Euphrates,
liowever, and the Tigris do not deposit a slime, in the same
way that the Mlus does in Egypt, nor does the soil produce
vegetation spontaneously; but still, so great is the fertility,
that, although the seed is only trodden in with the foot, a crop
springs up spontaneously the following year, f^o great a dif-
ference in soils as this, reminds me that I ought to take this
opportunity of specifying those which are the best adapted
for the various kinds of grain.
CHAP. 46. THE CKOPS THAT SHOTJLI) BE SOWN IN THE DIFEEEENT
SOILS.
This, then, is the opinion expressed by Cato'*^ on the subject:
" In a dense and fertile soil wheat should be sown : but if the
locality is subject to fogs, rape, radishes, millet, and panic.
Where the land^- is cold and moist, sowing should be com-
menced earlier ; but where it is hot, at a later period. In a
red, black, or gravelly soil, provided it is not watery, lupines
should be sown ; but in chalk, red earth, or a watery soil,
spelt.*^ Where a locality is dry, free from weeds, and not
overshadowed, wheat should be put in ; and where the soil is
39 Virgil, Georg. i. Ill, recommends the same plan, and it is still fol-
lowed by agriculturists. It is not without its inconveniences, however.
**^ This is not consistent with truth, for no fresh ear will assume its place.
41 De Re Rust. c. 6. ^2 Dq ^q j^ygt, p. 34.
" " Ador." See c. 10 of this Book.
CO PLINY'S NATUIIAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
Strong and powerful, beans. Yetches should be grown in a
Boil as free from water and weeds as possible ; while wheat
and winter wheat are best adapted to an open, elevated loca-
lity, fully exposed to the warmth of the sun. The lentil
thrives best in a meagre, red earth, free from weeds. Barley is
equally suited for fallow land and for a soil that is not intended
to be fallow, and three-month wheat, for a soil upon which a
crop of ordinary wheat would never ripen, but strong enough
to bear."
The following, too, is sound advice '."^"^ Those plants should
be sown in a thin soil which do not stand in need of much
nutriment, the cytisus, for instance, and such of the leguminous
plants, with the exception of the chick-pea, as are taken up
by the roots and not cut. From this mode of gathering them
— "legere" — the legumina derive their name. Where it is a
rich earth, those plants should be grown which require a
greater proportion of nutriment, coleworts for instance, wheat,
winter-wheat, and flax. The result, then, will be, that a
light soil will be given to barley — the root of that grain stand-
ing in need of less nutriment — while a more dense, though
easily- worked soil, will be assigned to wheat. In humid loca-
lities spelt should be sown in preference to wheat ; but where
the soil is of moderate temperature, either wheat or barley
may be grown. Declivities produce a stronger growth of
wheat, but in smaller quantities. Spelt and winter- wheat
adopt a moist, cretaceous soil in preference to any other,
(18.) The only occasion on which there ever was a prodigy
connected with grain, at least that I am aware of, was in the
consulship of P. JElius and Cneius Cornelius, the year*^ in
which Hannibal was vanquished : on that occasion, we find
it stated, corn was seen growing upon trees. *^
CHAP. 47. — THE DIFFERENT SYSTEJlTS OF CULTIVATION EMPLOYED
BY VAKIOUS NATIONS.
As we have now spoken at sufficient length of the several
varieties of grain and soil, we shall proceed to treat of the
methods adopted in tilling the ground, taking care, in the very
" From Varro; DeRe Rust. i. 23.
<5 A.u.c. 553.
*6 There is nothing wonderful in a few strains of corn crerminatinsJ: in
the cleft of a tree. "" o o
Chap. 47.] CULTIYATION BY VAEIOUS NATIONS. 61
first place, to make mention of the peculiar facilities enjoyed
by Egypt in this respect. In that country, performing the
duties of the husbandman, the Nile begins to overflow, as
already stated,'*'' immediately after the summer solstice or the
new moon, gradually at first, but afterwards with increased
impetuosity, as long as the sun remains in the sign of Leo,
When the sun has passed into Virgo, the impetuosity of the
overflow begins to slacken, and when he has entered Libra the
river subsides. Should it not have exceeded twelve cubits in
its overflow, famine is the sure result ; and this is equally the
case if it should chance to exceed sixteen ; for the higher it
has risen, the more slowly it subsides, and, of course, the seed-
time is impeded in proportion. It was formerly a very general
belief that immediately upon the subsiding of the waters the
Eg5'ptians were in the habit of driving herds of swine over
the ground, for the purpose of treading the seed into the moist
soil — and it is my own impression that this was done in ancient
times. At the present day even, the operation is not attended
with much greater labour. It is well known, however, that
■the seed is first laid upon the slime that has been left by the
river on its subsidence, and then ploughed in ; this being done
at the beginning of November. After this is done, a few per-
sons are employed in stubbing, an operation known there as
*' botanismos." The rest of the labourers, however, have no
occasion to visit the land again till a little before the calends
of April,*^ and then it is with the reaping-hook. The harvest
is completed in the month of May. The stem is never so
much as a cubit in length, as there is a stratum of sand be-
neath the slime, from which last alone the grain receives its
support. The best wheat of all is that of the region of
Thebais, Egypt^^ being of a marshy character.
The method adopted at Seleucia in Babylonia is very similar
to this, but the fertility there is stiU greater, owing to the
overflow of the Euphrates and Tigris,^*^ the degree of irriga-
tion being artificially modified in those parts. In Syria, too,
the furrows are made extremely light, while in many parts of
4" In B. V. c. 10. 48 First of April.
*^ I. e. Egypt Proper, the Delta, or Lower Egypt, Thebais being in
Upper Egypt.
^^ The overfloTv of these rivers is by no means to be compared with
that of the Nile.
62 plint's natural history. [BookXYIII.
Ittily, again, it takes as many as eight oxen to pant and blow
at a single plough. All the operations of agriculture, but this
in particular, should be regulated by the oracular precept —
'' Kemember that every locality has its own tendencies."
CHAP. 48. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF PLOUGHS.
Ploughs are of various kinds. The coulter ^^ is the iron part
that cuts up the dense earth before it is broken into pieces, and
traces beforehand by its incisions the future furrows, which the
share, reversed, °- is to open out with its teeth. Another kind —
the common plough-share — is nothing more than a lever, fur-
nished with a pointed beak ; while another variety, which is only
used in light, easy soils, does not present an edge projecting from
the share-beam throughout, but only a small point at the ex-
tremity. In a foui'th kind again, this point is larger and formed
with a cutting edge ; by the agency of which implement, it
both cleaves the ground, and, with the sharp edges at the sides,
cuts up the weeds by the roots. There has been invented, at a
comparatively recent period, in that part of GauP'^ known as
Kha^tia, a plough with the addition of two small wheels, and
known by the name of *' plaumorati."^ The extremity of the
sliare in this has the form of a spade : it is only used, however,
for sowing in cultivated lands, and upon soils which are nearly
fallow. The broader the plough-share, the better it is for
turning up the clods of earth. Immediately after ploughing,
the seed is put into the ground, and then harrows ^^ with long
teeth are drawn over it. Lands which have been sown in this
way require no hoeing,' but two or three pairs of oxen are em-
ployed in ploughing. It is a fair estimate to consider that a
single yoke of oxen can work forty jugera of land in the year,
where the soil is light, and thirty where it is stubborn.
CUAT. 49. (19.) — THK MODE OF PLOUGHING.
In ploughing, the most rigid attention sliould be paid to the
5' Fee remarks, that the plough here described differs but little from
that usfd in some provinces of France. 52 Resupinus.
^ Gallia Togata. Rhaetia is the modern country of the Orisons.
*» According to Goropius Bccanus, from phgrat, tlie ancient Gallic for
a plough-wheel. Hardouin thinks that it is from the Latin •' plaustra
rati ;" and Toinsinet derives it from the Belgic ploum, a plough, and rat,
or radt, a wheel.
^ "Crates;" probably made of hurdles; see Yirgil, Georg. i. 95.
Chan. 49.] THE MODE OF PLOUGHING. 63
oracular precepts given by Cato^ on the subject. '' "What is
the essence of good tillage .' Good ploughing. What is the
second point ? Ploughing again. What is the third point ?
Manuring. Take care not to make crooked furrows. Be
careful to plough at the proper time." In warm localities it
is necessary to open the ground immediately after the winter
solstice, but where it is cold, directly after the vernal equinox :
this, too, should be done sooner in dry districts than in wet ones,
in a dense soil than a loose one, in a rich land than a meagre
one. In countries where the summers are hot and oppressive,
the soil cretaceous or thin, it is the best plan to plough between
the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Where, on
the other hand, the heat is moderate, with frequent falls of rain,
and the soil rich and full of vegetation, the ploughing should
be done during the prevalence of the heat. A deep, heavy
soil, again, should be ploughed in winter ; but one that is very
thin and dry, only just before putting in the seed.
Tillage, too, has its own particular rules ^^ — ISTever touch the
ground while it is wet and cloggy ; plough with all your might ;
loosen the ground before you begin to plough. This method
has its advantages, for by turning up the clods the roots of the
weeds are killed. Some persons recommend that in every case
the ground should be turned up immediately after the vernal
equinox. Land that has been ploughed once in spring, from
that cii'cumstance has the name of " vervactum."^" This, too,
is equally necessary in the case of fallow land, by which term
is meant land that is sown only in altercate years The oxen
employed in ploughing should be harnessed as tightly as pos-
sible, to make them plough with their heads up ; attention
paid to this point will prevent them from galling the neck. If
it is among trees and vines that you are ploughing, the oxen
should be muzzled, to prevent them from eating off the tender
buds. There should be a small bill-hook, too, projecting from
the plough-tail, for the purpose of cutting up the roots; this
plan being preferable to that of turning them up with the share,
and so straining the oxen. AMien ploughing, finish the furrow
at one spell, and never stop to take breath in the middle.
5^ De Re Rust. c. 61.
^ These rules are borrowed mostly from Varro, B. i. c. 19, and CoJu-
mella, B. ii. c. 4.
57 »< Yere actum ;" " worked in spring."
64 PLTNT'S NA.TUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
It is a fair day's work to plough one jugerum, for the first
time, nine inches in depth ; and the second time, one jugerum
and a half — that is to say, if it is an easy soil. If this, how-
ever, is not the case, it will take a day to turn up half a juge-
rum for the first time, and a whole jugerum the second; for
Kature has set limits to the powers of animals even. The
furrows should be made, in every case, first in a straight line,
and then others should be drawn, crossing them obliquely.*
Upon a hill-side the furrows are drawn transversely^^ only,
the point of the share inclining upwards at one moment and
downwards ^'^ at another. Man, too, is so well fitted for labour,
til at he is able to supply the place of the ox even ; at all events,
it is without the aid of that animal that the mountain tribes
plough, having only the hoe to help them.^^
The ploughman, unless he stoops to his work, is sure to pre-
varicate,^- a word which has been transferred to the Forum, as
a censure upon those who transgress — at any rate, let those be
on their guard against it, where it was first employed. The
share should be cleaned every now and then with a stick pointed
with a scraper. The ridges that are left between every two
furrows, should not be left in a rough state, nor should large
clods be left protruding from the ground. A field is badly
ploughed that stands in need of harrowing after the seed is in ;
but the work has been properly done, when it is impossible to
say in which direction the share has gone. It is a good plan,
too, to leave a channel every now and then, if the nature of the
spot requires it, by making furrows of a larger size, to draw off
the water into the drains.
(20.) After the furrows have been gone over again transverse-
ly, the clods are broken, where there is a necessity for it, with
either the harrow or the rake;*^' and this operation is repeated
5" Virgil says the same, Georg, i. 9.
59 Crosswise, or horizontally.
^ Zig-zag, apparently.
«i A rude foreshadowing of the spade husbandry so highly spoken of
at the present day.
62 " Prevaricare," *' to make a balk," as we call it, to make a tortuous
furrow, diverging from the straight line.
«3 He probably means the heavy " rastrura," or rake, mentioned by
Virgil, Georg, i. 164. It is impossible to say what was the shape of this
heavy rake, or how it was used. Light, or hand rakes were in common
use as veil.
Chap. 49.] THE MODE OF PLOUGHING. 65
after the seed has been put in. This last harrowing is done,
where the usage of the locality will allow of it, with either a
toothed harrow, or else a plank attached to the plough. This ope-
ration of covering in the seed is called "lirare," from which is
derived the word '' deliratio."^ Yirgil,^^ it is generally thought,
intends to recommend sowing after /oz^r ploughings, in the
passage where he says that land will bear the best crop, which
has twice felt the sun and twice the cold. Where the soil is
dense, as in most parts of Italy, it is a still better plan to go
over the ground five times before sowing ; in Etruria, they give
the land as many as nine ploughings first. The bean, however,
and the vetch may be sown with no risk, without turning up
the land at all ; which, of course, is so much labour saved.
• We must not liere omit to mention still one other method of
ploughing, which the devastations of warfare have suggested
in Italy that lies beyond the Padus. The Salassi,^^ when
ravaging the territories which lay at the foot of the Alps, made
an attempt to lay waste the crops of panic and millet that were
just appearing above the ground. Finding, however, that
Nature resisted aU their endeavours, they passed the plough
over the ground, the result of which was that the crops were
more abundant than ever ; and this it was that first taught us
the method of ploughing in, expressed by the word " artrare,"
otherwise '' aratrare," in my opinion the original form. This
is done either just as the stem begins to develope itself, or else
when it has put forth as many as two or three leaves. Nor
must we withhold from the reader a more recent method, which
was discovered the year but one before this,^^ in the territory
of the Treviri. The crops having been nipped by the extreme
severity of the winter, the people sowed the land over again
in the month of March, and had a most abundant harvest.
We shall now proceed to a description of the peculiar methods
employed in cultivating each description of grain.
64 iij^ gong crooked ;" hence its meaning of, folly, dotage, or madness.
^5 Georg. i. 47. Servius seems to understand it that the furrow should
be untouched for two days and two nights before it is gone over again.
®^ Fee declines to give credit to this story.
6' A.u.c. 830.
VOL. IV.
C)6 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
CUAP. 50. (21.) THE METHODS OF HARROWING, STUBRING, AND
HOEING, EMPLOYED FOR EACH DESCRIPTION OF GRAIN. THE
USE OF THE HARROW.
For winter wheat, spelt, wheat, zea,^® and barley, harrow,
hoe and stub upon the days which will be mentioned *' in the
sequel. A single hand per jugerum will be quite enough for
any one of these kinds of grain. The operation of hoeing
loosens the ground in spring when it has been hardened and
saddened by the rigours of the winter, and admits the early
sun to the interior. In hoeing, every care must be taken not
to go beneath the roots of the corn ; in the case of wheat, zea,
and barley, it is best to give a couple of hoeings. Stubbing,'^''
when the crop is just beginning to joint, cleanses it of all
noxious weeds, disengages the roots of the corn, and liberates
the growing blade from the clods. Among the leguminous
plants, the chick-pea requires the same treatment that spelt
does. The bean requires no stubbing, being quite able of itself
to overpower all weeds ; the lupine, too, is harrowed only.
Millet and panic are both harrowed and hoed ; but this opera-
tion is never repeated, and they do not require stubbing.
Fenugreek and the kidney- bean require harrowing only.
There are some kinds of ground, the extreme fertility of
which obliges the grower to comb down the crops while in the
blade — this is done with a sort of harrow''^ armed with pointed
iron teeth — and even then he is obliged to depasture cattle upon
them. When, however, the blade has been thus eaten down,
it stands in need of hoeing to restore it to its former vigour.
But in Bactria, and at Cyrense in Africa, all this trouble has
been rendered quite unnecessary by the indulgent benignity of
the climate, and after the seed is in, the owner has no occasion
to return to the field till the time has come for getting in the
harvest. In those parts the natural dryness of the soil prevents
noxious weeds from springing up, and, aided by the night dews
alone, the soil supplies its nutriment to the grain. VirgiP^
recommends that the ground should be left to enjoy repose every
other year ; and this, no doubt, if the extent of the farm will
admit of it, is the most advantageous plan. If, how-ever, cir-
2 '•■Somen." " soed-wheat," a variety only of spelt.
nc.65oftbi8Book. 'o r Jeatio.
^'■*^8. 72 Georg. i. 71.
Chap, 51.] EXTREME FEllTILITT OF SOIL. GT
cumstances will not allow of it, spelt should be sown upon the
ground that has been first cropped with lupines, vetches, or
beans ; for all these have a tendency to make the soil more
fertile. We ought to remark here more particularly, that here
and there certain plants are sown for the benefit of others,
although, as already stated in the preceding Book," not to
repeat the same thing over again, they are of little value them-
selves. But it is the nature of each soil that is of the greatest
importance.
CHAP. 51. (22.) EXTRE3IE FEETILITT OF SOIL.
There is a city of Africa, situate in the midst of the sands
as you journey towards the Syrtes and Great Leptis, Tacape'"*
by name. The soil there, which is always well- watered, en-
joys a degree of fertility quite marvellous. Through this
spot, which extends about three miles each way, a spring of
water flows — in great abundance it is true — but still, it is only
at certain hours that its waters are distributed among the in-
habitants. Here, beneath a palm of enormous size, grows the
olive, beneath the olive the fig, beneath the fig, again, the pome-
granate, beneath the pomegranate the vine, and beneath the
vine we find sown, first wheat, then the leguminous plants, and
after them garden herbs — all in the same year, and all growing
beneath another's shade. Four cubits square of this same
ground — the cubit"^^ being measured with the fingers contracted
and not extended — sell at the rate of four denarii. '^ But what
is more surprising than all, is the fact that here the vine bears
twice, and that there are two vintages in the year. Indeed,
if the fertility of the soil were not distributed in this way
among a multitude of productions, each crop would perish from
its own exuberance : as it is, there is no part of the year that
there is not some crop or other being gathered in ; and yet, it
is a well-known fact, that the people do nothing at aU to pro-
mote this fruitfulness.
"•' In B. xvii. c. 7.
'* See B. V. c. 3, and B. xvi. c. 50. It is also mentioned by Ptolemy
and Procopius. It was situate evidently in an oasis,
"^ Or arm's length from the elbow.
"* He surely does not mention this as an extravagant price, more espe-
cially when he has so recently spoken (i c. 34) of rape selling at a ses-
terce per pound
r 2
68 plint's natural histoet. [Book XVIII.
There are very considerable diflPerences, too, in the nature of
water, as employed for the purposes of irrigation. In the
province of Gallia Narbonensis there is a famous fountain,
Orge by name ; within it there grow plants which are sought
for with such eagerness by the cattle, that they will plunge
over head into the water to get at them ; it is a well ascertained"
fact, however, that these plants, though growing in the water,
receive their nutriment only from the rains that fall. It is
as well then that every one should be fully acquainted with the
nature, not only of the soil, but of the water too.
CHAP. 52. (23.) THE METHOD OF SOWIXG MORE THAN" OXCE
IlSr THE TEAE.
If the soil is of that nature which we have already'^* spoken
of as " tender,"'® after a crop of barley has been grown upon
it, millet may be sown, and after the millet has been got in,
rape. In succession to these, again, barley may be put in, or
else wheat, as in Campania ; and it w^ill be quite enough, iu
such case, to plough the ground when the seed is sown. There
is another rotation again — when the ground has been cropped
with spelt,-" it should lie fallow the four winter months ; after
which, spring beans should be put in, to keep it occupied till
the time comes for cropping it with winter beans. "Where the
soil is too rich, it may lie fallow one year, care being taken after
sowing it with corn to crop it with the leguminous plants the
third year.^^ Where, on the other hand, it is too thin, the land
should lie fallow up to the third year even. Some persons re-
commend that corn should never be sown except in land which
has lain fallow the year before.
CHAP. 53. THE MANTJEING OF LAND.
The proper method of manuring is here a very important
subject for consideration — we have already treated of it at
some length in the preceding Book.^^ rj^j^^ ^^^j point that is
"' How was this ascertained ? Fee seems to think that it is the Fes-
tuca fluitans of Linnseus that is alluded to, it being eafferly sought by
cattle. o 8 J o /
'*» In B. xvii. c. 3. 79 Tenerum.
^^ Adoreuni.
*' "Tertio" may possibly mean the ''third time," e. e. for every third
"<^P- 82 In B. xvii. c. 6.
Chop, oi.] HOW TO ASCEETAIT^ THE QUALITY OF SEED. G9
universally agreed upon is, that we must never sow without
first manuring the ground ; although in this respect even there
are certain rules to be observed. Millet, panic, rape, and tur-
nips should never be sown in any but a manured soil. If, on
the other hand, the l^d is not manured, sow wheat there in
preference to barley. The same, too, with fallow lands;
though in these it is generally recommended that beans should
be sown. It should be remembered, however, that wherever
beans are sown, the land should have been manured at as re-
cent a period as possible. If it is intended to crop ground in
autumn, care must be taken to plough in manure in the month
of September, just after rain has fallen. In the same way,
too, if it is intended to sow in spring, the manure should be
spread in the winter. It is the rule to give eighteen cart-loads
of manure to each jugerum, and to spread it well before
ploughing it in,^^ or sowing the seed.^ If this manuring,
however, is omitted, it will be requisite to spread the land
with aviary dust just before hoeing is commenced. To clear
up any doubts with reference to this point, I would here ob-
serve that the fair price for a cart-load of manure is one
denarius ; where, too, sheep furnish one cart-load, the larger
cattle should furnish ten :^ unless this result is obtained, it
is a clear proof that the husbandman has littered his cattle
badly.
There are some persons who are of opinion that the best
method of manuring land is to pen sheep there, with nets
erected to prevent them from straying. If land is not ma-
nured, it will get chilled ; but if, on the other hand, it is over-
manured, it becomes burnt up : it is a much better plan, too,
to manure little and often than in excess. The warmer the
soil is by nature, the less manure it requires.
CHAP. 54. (24.) HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITY OF SEED.
The best seed of all is that which is of the last year's growth.
That which is two years old is inferior, and three the worst of all
^^ " Ares" seems to be a preferable reading to" arescat,' ' " before it dries."
^ Schneider, upon Columella, B. ii. c. 15, would reject these words,
and they certainly appear out of place.
^^ Poinsinet would supply here " tricenis diebus," " in thirty days," from
Columella, B. ii. c. 15.
TO pliny's NATUHAL HISTOBT. [Book XVIII.
— beyond that, it is unproductive.^ The same definite rule
Avhich applies to one kind of seed is applicable to them all :
the seed which falls to the bottom®' on the threshing-floor,
should be reserved for sowing, for being the most weighty it
is the best in quality : there is no better method, in fact, of
ascertaining its quality. The grains of {hose ears which have
intervals between the seed should be rejected. The best grain
is that which has a reddish hue,®^ and which, when broken
between the teeth, presents the same^^ colour ; that which has
more white within is of inferior quality. It is a well-known
fact that some lands require more seed than others, from which,
circumstance first arose a superstition that exists among the
peasantry ; it is their belief that when the ground demands the
seed with greater avidity than usual, it is famished, and devours
the grain. It is consistent with reason to put in the seed
where tlie soil is humid sooner than elsewhere, to prevent the
grain from rotting in the rain : on dry spots it should be sown
later, and just before the fall of a shower, so that it may not
have to lie long without germinating and so come to nothing.
When tlie seed is put in early it should be sown thick, as it is
a considerable time before it germinates ; but when it is put
in later, it should be sown thinly, to prevent it from being suf-
focated. There is a certain degree of skill, too, required in
scattering the seed evenly ; to ensure this, the hand must keep
time^ with the step, moving always with the right foot.
There are certain persons, also, who have a secret method^^ of
their own, having been born^^ with a happy hand which im-
parts fruitfalness to the -grain. Care should be taken not to
sow seed in a warm locality which has been grown in a cold
^ " Sterile." This is not necessarily the case, as we know with reference
to what is called mummy wheat, the seed of which has bcea recovered
at different times from the Egyptian tombs.
**' The threshing floor was made with an elevation in the middle, and
the sides on an incline, to the bottom of which the largest grains would
be the most likely to fall.
8« u p^r " or spelt is of a red hue in the exterior.
8» This apnearauce is no longer to be observed, if, indeed, Pliny is cor-
rect : all kinds of corn are white in the interior of the grain.
90 Iland-sowing is called by the French, "semer a la volee."
91 This occult or mysterious method of whicli Pliny speaks, consists
solely ot what we should call a " happy knack," which some men have of
Bowing more evenly than others.
3^ Sors genitths atque fecunda est. ,
Chap. 55.] HOW MUCH GEAIN IIEQUISITE FOE A JUGEEUM. /I
one, nor should the produce of an early soil be sown in a late
one. Those who give advice to the contrary have quite mis-
applied their pains.
CHAP. 55, WHAT QUANTITY OF EACH KIND OF GRAIN IS EEQUISITE
FOE SOWING A JUGEEUM.
^In a soil of middling quality, the proper proportion of seed
is five modii of wheat or winter- wheat to the jugerum, ten of
spelt or of seed- wheat — that being the name which we have
mentioned^^ as being given to one kind of wheat — six of
barley, one-fifth more of beans than of wheat, twelve of
vetches, three of chick-pease, chicheling vetches, and pease,
ten of lupines, three of lentils — (these last, however, it is said,
must be so\\ti with dry manure) — six of fitches, six of fenu-
greek, four of kidney-beans, twenty of hay grass,^^ and four
sextaiii of millet and panic. Where the soil is rich, the pro-
portion must be greater, where it is thin, less.^^
There is another distinction, too, to be made ; where the
soil is dense, cretaceous, or moist, there should be six modii of
wheat or winter-wheat to the jugerum, but where the land is
loose, dry, and prolific, four will be enough. A meagre soil,
too, if the crop is not very thinly sown, will produce a dimi-
nutive, empty ear. Kich lands give a number of stalks to each
grain, and yield a thick crop from only a light sowing. The
result, then, is, that from four to six modii must be sown,
according to the nature of the soil ; though there are some
who make it a rule that five modii is the proper proportion for
sowing, neither more nor less, whether it is a densely- planted
locality, a declivity, or a thin, meagre soil. To this subject
bears reference an oracular precept which never can be too
carefully observed^' — " Don't rob the harvest."^^ Attius, in his
Praxidicus,^^ has added that the proper time for sowing is,
^'•^ This Chapter is mostly from Columella, B. ii. c. 9.
91 In c. 19 of this Book.
95 Probably the mixture called "farrago " in c. 10 and c. 41.
96 Upon this point the modern agriculturists are by no means agreed.
97 From Cato, De Re Rust. c. 5.
98 " Segetem ne defrudes," The former editions mostly read "defruges,"
in which case the meaning would be, " don't exhaust the land."
99 This passage of Attius is lost, but Hermann supposes his words to
have run thus : —
serere, cum est
Luna in Ariete, Geminis, Leone, Libra, Aquario.
72 plin-y's natubal history. [Book XVIII.
when the moon is in Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, and Aquarius.
Zoroaster says it should be done when the sun has passed twelve
degrees of Scorpio, and the moon is in Taurus.
CHAP. 56. THE PROPER TIMES FOR SOWING,
We now come to a subject which has been hitherto deferred
by us, and which requires our most careful attention — the
proper times for sowing. This is a question that depends in
a very great degree upon the stars ; and I shall therefore make
it my first care to set forth all the opinions that have been
written in reference to the subject. Hesiod, the first writer
who has given any precepts upon agriculture, speaks of one
period only for sowing — the setting of the Yergiiige : but then
he wrote in Boeotia, a country of Hellas, where, as we have
already stated,^ they are still in the habit of sowing at that
period.
It is generally agreed by the most correct writers, that with
the earth, as with the birds and quadrupeds, there are certain
impulses for reproduction ; and the epoch for this is fixed by
the Greeks at the time when the earth is warm and moist.
VirgiP says that wheat and spelt should be sown at the setting
of the Vergiliae, barley between the autumnal equinox and
the winter solstice, and vetches,^ kidney-beans, and lentils at
the setting of Bootes :* it is of great importance, therefore,
to ascertain the exact days of the rising and setting of these
constellations, as well as of the others. There are some, again,
who recommend the sowing to be done before the setting of
the VergiliaB, but only in a dry soil, and in those provinces
where the weather is hot ; for the seed, they say,' if put in the
ground will keep, there boing no moisture to spoil it, and
within a single day after the next fall of rain, will make its
appearance above ground. Others, again, are of opinion that
sowing should begin about seven days after the setting of the
Yergiliae, a period which is mostly followed by rain. Some
think that cold soils should be sown immediately after the
autumnal equinox, and a warm soil later, so that the blade
may not put forth too luxuriantly before winter.
It is universally agreed, however, that the sowing should
^ In c. 8 of this Book. 2 Georg i 208
3 Georg. i. 227 4 See c. 74 of this Book.
' Columella, B. ii. e. 8.
Chap. 56.] THE PEOPEE TIMES FOE S0WI2fa. 73
not be done about the period of the wyiter solstice ; for this
very good reason — the winter seeds, if put in before the
winter solstice, will make their appearance above ground on
the seventh day, whereas, if they are sown just after it, they
will hardly appear by the fortieth. There are some, however,
who begin very early, and have a saying to justify their doing
so, to the effect that if seed sown too early often disappoints,
seed put in too late always does so. On the other hand, again,
there are some who maintain that it is better to sow in
spring than in a bad autumn ; and they say that if they find
themselves obliged to sow in spring, they would choose the
period that intervenes between the prevalence of the west
winds® and the vernal equinox. Some persons, however, take
no notice of the celestial phenomena, and only regulate their
movements by the months. In spring they put in flax, the
oat, and the poppy, up to the feast of the Quinquatria,' as we
find done at the present day by the people of Italy beyond the
Padus. There, too, they sow beans and winter- wheat in the
month of November, and spelt at the end of September, up
to the ides of October :^ others, however, sow this last after
the ides of October, as late as the calends of November.^
The persons who do this take no notice, consequently, of the
phaenomena of Nature, while others, again, lay too much stress
upon them, and hence, by these refined subtleties and dis-
tinctions, only add to their blindness ; for here are ignorant
rustics, not only dealing with a branch of learning, but that
branch astronomy ! It must still, however, be admitted that
the observation of the heavens plays a very important part in
the operations of agriculture : and Virgil, ^"^ we find, gives it as
his advice, that before any thing else, we should learn the
theory of the winds, and the revolutions of the stars ; for, as he
says, the agriculturist, no less than the mariner, should regu-
late his movements thereby. It is an arduous attempt, and
almost beyond all hope of success, to make an endeavour to in-
troduce the divine science of the heavens to the uninformed
* Favonius. See B. ii. c. 47.
"^ The five days' festival in honour of Minerva. It begins on the four-
teenth before the calends of April, or on the nineteenth of March. Virgil,
Gcorg. i. 208, says that flax and the poppy should be sown in autumn.
8 Fifteenth of' October ^ First of November.
10 Georg. i. 204.
74 plint's natueal histoky. [Book XVIII.
mind of the rustic ; still, however, with a view to such vast
practical results as must be derived from this kind of know-
ledge, I shall make the attempt. There are some astronomical
difficulties, however, which have been experienced by the
learned even, that ought to be first submitted for consideration,
in order that the mind may feel some encouragement on aban-
doning the study of the heavens, and may be acquainted with
facts at least, even though it is still unable to see into fu-
turity.
CUAP. 57. (25.) AKRANGEMENT OF THE STARS ACCORDING TO TUE:
TERRESTRIAL DAYS AND NIGHTS.
In the first place, it is almost an utter impossibility to cal-
culate with a fair degree of accuracy the days of the year and
the movements of the sun. To the three hundred and sixty-
five days there are still to be added the intercalary days, the
result of the additional quarters of a day and night : hence it
is, that it is found impossible to ascertain with exactness the
proper periods for the appearance of the stars. To this we
must add, too, a certain degree of uncertainty connected with
these matters, that is imiversally admitted ; thus, for instance,
bad and wintry weather will often precede, b)' several days,
the proper period for the advent of that season, a state of things
known to the Greeks as rr^ioyjiiLaZiiy ;^' while at another time,
it will last longer than usual, a state of circumstances known as >
£T/;)^£/,aa^£/v.'- The effects, too, of the changes that take place
in the seasons will sometimes be felt later, and at other times
earlier, upon their reaching the face of the earth ; and we not
unfrequently hear the remark made, upon the return of fine
\veather, that the action of such and such a constellation is
now completed/-* And then, again, as all these phasnomena de-
pend upon certain stars, arranged and regulated in the vault of
heaven, we find intervening, in accordance with the movements
of certain stars, hailstorms and showers, themselves productive
of no slight results, as we have already observed,^'* and apt to
interfere with the anticipated regular recurrence of the seasons.
Kor are we to suppose that these disappointments fall upon the
liuman race only, for other animated beings, as well as ourselves,
'• " To be an early winter." 12 " To be a long winter."
" Conlectum sidus. u In B. xvii. c. 2.
Chap. 57.] AiifiA2s-Gi:M£yr or the st^hs. 75
are deceived in regard tx) them, although endowed with even a,
greater degree of sagacity upon these points than we are, from
the fact of their very existence depending so materially upon
them. Hence it is, that we sometimes see the summer birds
killed by too late or too early cold, and the winter birds by
heat coming out of the usual season. It is for this reason,
that Virgil ^^ has recommended us to study the courses of the
planets, and has particularly warned us to watch" the passage
of the cold star Saturn.
There are some who look upon the appearance of the butter-
fly as the surest sign of spring, because of the extreme delicacy
of that insect. In this present year,^^ however, in which I
am penning these lines, it has been remarked that the flights
of butterflies have been killed three several times, by as many
returns of the cold ; while the foreign birds, which brought
us by the sixth of the calends of February ^' every indication
of an early spring, after that had to struggle against a winter
of the greatest severity. In treating of these matters, we have
to meet a twofold difficulty : first of all, we have to ascertain
whether or not the celestial phaenomena are regulated by
certain laws, and then we have to seek how to reconcile those
laws with apparent facts. "We must, however, be more par-
ticularly careful to take into account the convexity of the earth,
and the differences of situation in the localities upon the face
of the globe ; for hence it is, that the same constellation shows
itself to different nations at difltrent times, the result being,
that its influence is by no means perceptible everywhere at the
same moment. This difficulty has been considerably enhanced,
too, by various authors, who, after making their observations
in difl'erent localities, and indeed, in some instances, in the same
locality, have yet given us varying or contradictory results.
There have been three great schools of astronomy, the Chal-
daean, the Egyptian, and the Grecian. To these has been
added a fourth school, which was established by the Dictator
Caesar among ourselves, and to which was entrusted the duty
of regulating the year in conformity with the sun's revolution, ^^
under the auspices of Sosigenes, an astronomer of considerable
learning and skill. His theory, too, upon the discovery of cer-
tain errors, has since been corrected, no intercalations having
" Gtorg. L 335. le A.r.c. 830.
^' Twenty-seventh of Jamiary. i^ Ad solis cursum.
76 plint's natural histoet. [Book XVIIT.
been made for twelve " successive years, upon its being found
that tlie year which before had anticipated the constellations,
was now beginning to fall behind them. Even Sosigenes him-
self, too, though more correct than his predecessors, has not
hesitated to show, by his continual corrections in the three
several treatises which he composed, that he still entertained
great doubts on the subject. The writers, too, whose names ai-e
inserted at the beginning of this work,^*' have sufficiently re-
vealed the fact of these discrepancies, the opinions of one being
rarely found to agree with those of another. This, however,
is less surprising in the case of those whose plea is the difference
of the localities in which, they WTote. But with reference to
those who, though living in the same country, have still arrived
at different results, we shall here mention one remarkable
instance of discrepancy. Hesiod — for under his name, also,
we have a treatise- extant on the Science of the Stars ^^ — has
stated that the morning setting of the Vergilise takes place at
the moment of the autumnal equinox; whereas Thales, we
find, makes it the twenty-fifth day after the equinox, Anaxi-
mander the twenty-ninth, and Euctemon the forty-eighth.
As for ourselves, we shall follow the calculations made by
Julius Caesar," which bear reference more particularly to Italy ;
though at the same time, we shall set forth the dicta of various
other writers, bearing in mind that we are treating not of an
individual country, but of Nature considered in her totality.
In doing this, however, we shall name, not the writers them-
selves, for that would be too lengthy a task, but the countries
in reference to which they speak. The reader must bear in
mind, then, that for the sake of saving space, under the head
of Attica, we include the islands of the Cyclades as well ; under
tliat of Macedonia, Magnesia and Thracia; under that of JEgypt,
^^ Soon after the corrections made by order of Julius Caesar, the Pon-
tificcs mistook the proper method of intercalation, by making it every
third year instead of the fourth ; the consequence of which was, that
Auf^ustus was oblip;cd to correct the results of their error by omitting the
intercalary day for twelve years.
2" He most probably refers to the list of writers originally appended to
the First Book ; but which in the present Translation is distributed at the
end of each ]{ook. For the list of astronomical writers here referred to,
sec the end of the present Book.
2' Or 'AcrrpiK// /3ij3Xog. It IS now lost.
22 Ic his work mentioned at the end of this Book. It is now lost.
Chap. 58.] THE EISING AJ^T> SETTI^'G OF THE STAES. 77
Phoenice, Cyprus, and Cilicia ; under that of BcEotia, Locris,
Phocis, and the adjoining countries ; under that of Hellespont,
Chei^onesus, and tlie contiguous parts as far as Mount Athos ;
under that of Ionia, Asia '^ and the islands of Asia ; under that
of Peloponnesus, Achaia, £ind the regions lying to the west of
it. Chaldffia, when mentioned, will signify Assyria and Baby-
lonia, as well.
My silence as to Africa, '^^ Spain, and the provinces of Gaul,
will occasion no surprise, from the fact that no one has pub-
lished any observations made upon the stars in those countries.
Still, however, there will be no difficulty in calculating them,
even for these regions as well, on reference being made to the
parallels which have been set forth in the Sixth Book.^^ By
adopting this course, an accurate acquaintance may be made
with the astronomical relations, not only of individual nations,
but of cities even as well. By taking the circular parallels
which we have there appended to the several portions of the
earth respectively, and appl}dng them to the countries in ques-
tion, that are similarly situate, it will be found that the rising
of the heavenly bodies will be the same for all parts within
those parallels, where the shadows projected are of equal length.
It is also deserving of remark, that the seasons have their
periodical recurrences, without any marked diiference, every
four years, in consequence of the influence ^^ of the sun, and that
the characteristics of the seasons are developed in excess every
eighth year, at the revolution of every hundredth moon.
CHAP. 58. THE EISING AND SETTING OF THE STAES.
The whole of this system is based upon the observation of
three branches of the heavenly phsenomena, the rising of the
constellations, their setting, and the regular recurrence of the
seasons. These risings and settings may be observed in two
different ways : — The stars are either concealed, and cease to
be seen at the rising of the sun, or else present themselves to
our view at his setting — this last being more generally known
by the name of " emersion " than of '' rising," while their dis-
-^ /. e. Asia Minor,
-^ I. e. the north-west parts of Africa.
25 See c. 39 of that Book.
26 " Ratione soils." This theory of the succession of changes every four
years, was promulgated by Eudoxus See B. ii. c. 48.
78 PLINY' S NATCTBAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
appearance is rather an " occultation " than a " setting." —
Considered, again, in another point of view, when upon cer-
tain da)^8 they begin to appear or disappear, at the setting:
or the rising of the sun, as the case may be, these are called
their morning or their evening settings or risings, according
as each of these phsenomena takes place at day-break or twilight.
It requires an interval of three quarters of an hour at least be-
fore the rising of the sun or after his setting, for the stars to
be visible to us. In addition to this, there are certain stars
which rise and set twice.^ All that we here state bears refer-
ence, it must be remembered, to the fixed stars only.
CHAP. 59. THE EPOCHS OF THE SEASONS.
The year is divided into four periods or seasons, the recurrence
of which is indicated by the increase or diminution of the
daylight. Immediately after the winter solstice the days begin
to increase, and by the time of the vernal equinox, or in other
words, in ninety days and three hours, the day is equal in
length to the night. After this, for ninety-four days and
twelve hours, the days continue to increase, and the nights to
diminish in proportion, up to the summer solstice ; and from
that point the days, though gradually decreasing, are still in
excess of the nights for ninety-two days, twelve hours, until the
autumnal equinox. At this period the days are of equal
length with the nights, and after it they continue to decrease
inversely to the nights until the winter solstice, a period
of eighty-eight days and three hours. In all these calcu-
lations, it must be remembered, equinoctial-^ hours are spoken
of, and not those measured arbitrarily in reference to the
length of any one day in particular. All these seasons, too,
commence at the eighth degree of the signs of the Zodiac.
The winter solstice begins at the eighth degree of Capricorn,
the eighth-^ day before tlie calends of January, in general f'^ the
vernal equinox at the eighth degree of Aries; the summer
solstice, at the eighth degree of Cancer ; and the autumnal
equinox at the eighth degree of Libra : and it is rarely that
*'' See c. 69, as to Arctiirus and Aquila.
2^ He speaks of Equinoctial hours, these being in all cases of the same
length, in contradistinction to the Temporal, oV Unequal hours, which
with the Romans were a twelfth part of the Natural day, from sunrise to
sunset, and of course were continually varying.
-'•' Twenty-fifth of December. so pgrc.
Chap. 60.] THE PROPER TIME FOE WIXTEE SOWING. 79
these days do not respectively give some indication of a change
in the weather.
These four seasons again, are subdivided, each of them, into
two equal parts. Thus, for instance, between the summer
solstice and the autumnal equinox, the setting of the Lyre,^^
on the forty-sixth day, indicates the beginning of autumn ; be-
tween the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, the morn-
ing setting of the Yergilise, on the forty-fourth day, denotes
the beginning of winter ; between the winter solstice and the
vernal equinox, the prevalence of the west winds on the forty-
fifth day, denotes the commencement of spring ; and between
the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, the morning rising
of the Yergiliae, on the forty-eighth day, announces the com-
mencement of summer. We shall here make seed-time, or in
other words, the morning setting of the Yergiliae, our starting-
point f' and shall not interrupt the thread of our explanation
by making any mention of the minor constellations, as such a
course would only augment the difficulties that already exist.
It is much about this period that the stormy constellation of
Orion departs, after traversing a large portion of the heavens.-^'
CnAP. 60. THE PROPER TIME FOR WINTER SOWING.
]Vrost persons anticipate the proper time for sowing, and be-
gin to put in the corn immediately after the eleventh day of
the autumnal equinox, at the rising of the Crown, when we
may reckon, almost to a certainty, upon several days of rainy
weather in succession. Xenophon^ is of opinion, that sowing
should not be commenced until the Deity has given us the
signal for it, a term by which Cicero understands the rains that
prevail in l!s"ovember. The true method to be adopted, how-
ever, is not to sow until the leaves begin to fall. Some per-
sons are of opinion that this takes place at the setting of the
■'^ lu this Translation, the names of the Constellations are given in
English, except in the case of the signs of the Zodiac, which are univer-
sally known by their Latin appellations.
^'- He begins in c. 64, at the winter solstice, and omits the period be-
tween the eleventh of Xovember and the winter solstice altogether, so far
as the mention of individual days.
^^ " Cum sidus vehemens Orionis iisdem dicbus longo decedat spatio."
This passage is apparently unintelligible, if considered, as Sillig reads
it, as dependent on the preceding one.
2* In his (Economica.
80 PLiirr's natubal histoet. [BookXVIIL
VergilifE, or the third day before the ides of November, as
already stated,^^ and they carefully observe it, for it is a con-
stellation very easily remarked in the heavens, and warns us
to resume our winter clothes.^'' Hence it is, that immediately
on its sotting, the approach of winter is expected, and care is
taken by those who are on their guard against the exorbitant
charges of the shop-keepers, to provide themselves with an
appropriate dress. If the Vergilise set with cloudy weather,
it forebodes a rainy winter, and the prices of cloaks^' imme-
diately rise ; but if, on the other hand, the weather is clear at
that period, a sharp winter is to be expected, and then the
price of garments of other descriptions is sure to go up. But
as to the husbandman, unacquainted as he is with the phse-
nomena of the heavens, his brambles are to him in place oi
constellations, and if he looks at the ground he sees it covered
Avith their leaves. This fall of the leaves, earlier in one place
and later in another, is a sure criterion of the temperature oi
the weather ; for there is a great affinity between the effects
produced by the weather in tliis respect, and the nature of the
soil and climate. There is this peculiar advantage, too, in the
careful observation of these effects, that they are sure to be
perceptible throughout the whole earth, while at the same time
they have certain features which are peculiar to each individual
locality. — A person may perhaps be surprised at this, who does
not bear in mind that the herb pennyroyal,'^ which is hung up
in our larders, always blossoms on the day of the winter sol-
stice ; so firmly resolved is Nature that nothing shall remain
concealed from us, and in that spirit has given us the fall oi
the leaf as the signal for sowing.
Such is the true method of interpreting all these phsenomena,
granted to us by Nature as a manifestation of her will. It
is in this way that she warns us to prepare the ground, makes
us a promise of a manure, as it were, in the fall of the leaves,
announces to us that the earth and the productions thereof art
thus protected by her against the cold, and warns us to hasten
the operations of agriculture.
^ In B. ii. c. 47.
^« " Vestis institor est." This passage is probably imperfect.
'* Laceruarura." a^ *'Puleium." See B. ii. c. 41.
Chap. 62] WORK FOE EACH MONTH. 81
CUAP. 61. WHEN TO SOW THE LEGT73IIN0US PLANTS AKD THE
POPPY.
Yarro^' has given no other sign but this^° for our guidance
in sowing the bean. Some persons are of opinion that it should
be sown at full moon, the lentil betwx-en the twenty-fifth and
thirtieth day of the moon, and the vetch on the same days of
the moon ; and they assure us that if this is done they will be
exempt from the attacks of slugs. Some say, however, that
if wanted for fodder, they may be sown at these periods, but
if for seed, in the spring. There is another sign, moreevideot
still, supplied us by the marvellous foresight of Nature, with
reference to which we will give the words employed by Cicero*^
himself :
*' The lentisk, ever green and ever bent
Beneath its ti'uits, aflFords a threefold crop:
Thrice teeming, thrice it warns us when to plough."
One of the periods here alluded to, is the same that is now
under consideration, being the appropriate time also for sowing
flax and the poppy." With reference to this last, Cato gives the
following advice : ''Burn, upon land where corn has been grown,
the twigs and branches which are of no use to you, and when
that is done, sow the poppy there." The wild poppy, which
is of an utility that is quite marvellous, is boiled in honey as a
remedy for diseases in the throat,'*^ while the cultivated kind is
a powerful narcotic. Thus much in reference to winter sowing.
CHAP. 62. WOEK TO BE DONE IN THE COtJNTST IN EACH
MONTH KKSPECTIVELT,
And now, in order to complete what we may call in some
measure an abridgment of the operations of agriculture, it is as
well to add that it will be a good plan at the same period to
Dianure the roots of trees, and to mould up the vines — a single
hand being sufficient for one jugerum. Where, too, the nature
3f the locality will allow it, the vines, and the trees upon which
tliey are trained, should be lopped, and the soil turned up wilh
3« De Re Eust. i. 34. 4o The setting of the Vergilise.
*^ De Divinat. B. i. c. 15. They are a translation from Aratus.
' ♦■- De Re Eust. c. 38. Pliny has said above, that flax and the poppy
I should be sown in the spring.
" The Papaver Rhceas of Linnaeus is still used for affections of the
iiroat.
VOL. IT. Q
82 pliny's natural history. [Book XYIII..
the mattock for seed plots ; trenches, too, should be opened out,
and the water drained from oif the fields, and the ])resses^*
should be well washed and put away. Never put eggs beneath
the hen between the calends of November ^^ and the winter
solstice :^^ during all the summer and up to the calends of No-
vember, you may put thirteen under the hen ; but the number
must be smaller in winter, not less than nine, however.
Democritus is of opinion, that the winter will turn out of the
same character^' as the weather on the day of the winter sol-
stice and the three succeeding days ; the same too with the
summer and the weather at the summer solstice. About tht
winter solstice, for about twice seven days mostly, while the I
halcj-on*^ is sitting, the winds are lulled, and the wejithei
serene j'^^ but in this case, as in all others, the influence of th(.
stars must only be judged of by the result, and we must nol
expect the changes of the weather, as if out upon their recog-
nizances,^" to make their appearance exactly on certain prede-
termined days.
CHAP. 63. — WORK TO BE DONE AT THE WINTER SOLSTICE.
Be careful never to touch the vine at the winter solstice.
Hyginus recommends us to strain and even rack- off wine a1
the seventh day after the winter solstice, provided the moon it
seven days old. About this period, also, the cherry-tree, he
says, should be planted. Acorns, too, should now be put in
soak for the oxen, a modius for each pair. If given in largei
quantities, this food will prove injurious to their health; and
whenever it is given, if they are fed with it for less than thirty
days in succession, an attack of scab in the spring, it is said,
Avill be sure to make you repent.
This, too, is the period that we have already assigned ^^ for
cutting timber — otlier kinds of work, again, may be found for
tlie hours of the night, which are then so greatly prolonged.
There are baskets, hurdles, and panniers to be woven, and wood
■* For the grape and the olive. « First of November.
•♦' In the more northern climates this is never done till the spring.
■"^ Tills is merely ini;iginary.
'3 Or king-fisher. It was a general belief that this bird incubated on'
tl;? surface of tlie ocean.
•*^ Hence the expression, "Halcvon days."
» Vadimonia. "oi la u. xvi. c. 74.
Ghap. 64.] WORK FOR. WINTER. 83
to be cut for torches : squared stays ^' for the vine may be pre-
pared, too, thirty in th'j day time, and if rounded,*^ as many as
sixty. In the long hours of the evening, too, some five squared
stays, or ten rounded ones may be got ready, and the same
number while the day is breaking.
CHAP. 64. — WORK 10 BE DONE BETWEEN THE WINTER SOLSTICE
AND THE PREVALENCE OF THE WEST WINDS.
Between the winter solstice and the period when the west
winds begin to prevail, the following, according to Caesar, are the
more important signs afforded by the constellations : the Dog
sets in the morning, upon the third ^ day before the calends of
January- ; a day on the evening of which the Eagle seta to the
people of Attica and the adjoining countries. On the day be-
fore^' the nones of January, according to Cresar's computation,
the Dolphin rises in the morning, and on the next day, the
Lyre, upon the evening of which the Arrow sets to the peo-
ple of Egypt. Upon the sixth ^ day before the ides of Janu-
ary, the Dolphin sets in the evening, and Italy has many days
of continuous cold ; the same is the case also when the sun
enters Aquarius, about the sixteen th^^ day before the calends of
February. On the eighth*^ before the calends of February, the
star which Tubero calls the Eoyal Star^^ sets in the morning in
the breast of Leo, and in the evening of the day before^ the
nones of February, the Lyre sets.
During the latter days of this period, whenever the nature
of the weather will allow of it, the ground should be turned
up with a double mattock, for planting the rose and the vine
I — sixty men to a jugerum. Ditches, too, should be cleaned
I out, or new ones made ; and the time of day-break may be use-
fully employed in sharpening iron tools, fitting on handles, re-
j pairing such dolia^^ as may have been broken, and rubbing up
ind cleaning their staves.
I 52 "Ridicas." 53 "Palos."
I '^ Thirtieth of December. According to the Eoman reckoning, the third
' lay would be the day but one before.
'^ Fourth of January. "S Eighth of January.
57 Seventeenth of January. *^ Twenty-fifth of January.
59 ♦' Regia Stella." ' «" Fourth of February.
" Or wine-vats; by the use of the word " laminas," he seems to be
peaking not of the ordinary earthen dolia, but the w oden ones used in
iaul and the north of Italv.
G 2
84 pliny's natueal history. [Book XVIII.
CHAP. 65. WORK TO BE DONE BETWEEN THE PREVALENCE OF
THE WEST WINDS AND THE YERNAL EQUINOX.
Between the prevalence of the west winds and the vernal
equinox, the fourteenth day before^^ the calends of March, ac-
cording to Caesar, announces three days of changeable weather :
the same is the case, too, with the eighth ^^ before the calends
of March, at the first appearance of the swallow, Arcturu?
rising on the evening of the next day. Caesar has observed,
that the same takes place on the third ^* before the nones ol
March, at the rising of Cancer; and most authorities say the same
with reference to ihe emersion of the Yintager.^^^ On the eighth^
before the ides of March, the northern limb of Pisces ^'^ rises
and on the next day Orion, at Avhich period also, in Attica, thi
Kite is first seen. Caesar has noted, too, the setting of Scorpic
on the ides of March,^^ a day that was so fatal to him ; and or
the fifteenth'^ before the calends of April, the Kite appears ii
Italy. On the twelfth '^^ before the calends of April, the Horsi
sets in the morning.
This interval of time is a period of extreme activity for th€
agriculturist, and afi'ords him a great number of occupations,
in reference to which, however, he is extremely liable to be de-
ceived. He is summoned to the commencement of these
labours, not upon the day on which the M'est winds ought tt
begin, but upon the day on which they really do begin, to blow
This moment then must be looked for with the most carefu!
attention, as it is a signal which the Deity has vouchsafed m
in this month, attended with no doubts or equivocations, i.
only looked for with scrupulous care. We ha ve. already sta tec
in tlie Second Book,'^ the quarter in which this wind blows 3
and the exact point from which it comes, and before long wt
shall have occasion to speak of it again still more in detail.
In the mean time, however, setting out from the day, what*
* Sixteenth of February. 63 Twenty-second of February.
'^ Fifth of March.
6^ On the fifth of March, Ovid says, Fasti, iii. 1.407. Columella make
it rise on the sixth of the nones, or the second of March.
w Eighth of March.
" Or, more literally, the "Northern Fish."
«8 Fifteenth of March, the day on wliich he was assassinated , in accord-
ance, it is said, with the prophecy of a diviner, who had warned him t(
beware (.t{ the ides of March.
«9 Eighteenth of ftfarch. 7o Twenty-first of March.
'» In c. 46 and c. 47.
Chap. 65.] WORK FOR WINTER. 85
ever it may happen to be, on which the west winds begin to
prevail (for it is not always on the seventh before the ides of
i'ebruary"^ that they do begin), whether, in fact, they begin
to blow before the usual time, as is the case with an early
spring, or whether after, which generally happens when the
winter is prolonged — there are subjects innumerable to engage
the attention of the agriculturist, and those, of course, should
be the first attended to, which will admit of no delay. Three
month wheat must now be sown, the vine pruned in the way
we have already'* described, the olive carefully attended to,
fruit -trees put in and grafted, vineyards cleaned and hoed,
seedlings laid out, and replaced in the nursery by others, the
I'eed, the willow, and the broom planted and lopped, and the
Dim, the poplar, and the plane planted in manner already men-
tioned. At til is period, also, the crops of corn ought to be
weeded,"* and the winter kinds, spelt more particularly, well
hoed. In doing this, there is a certain rule to be observed, the
proper moment being when four blades have made their appear-
mce, and with the bean this should never be done until three
leaves have appeared above ground ; even then, however, it is a
better plan to clean them only with a slight hoeing, in preference
to digging up the ground — but in no case should they ever be
touched the first fifteen days of their blossom. Barley must
never be hoed except when it is quite dry : take care, too, to
have all the pruning done by the vernal equinox. Eour men
will be sufficient for pruning a jugemm of vineyard, and each
:iand will be able to train fifteen vines to their trees. •"
At this period, too, attention should be paid to the gardens
and rose- beds, subjects which will be separately treated of in
succeeding Books; due care should be given to ornamental
gardening as well. It is now, too, the very best time for
Tiaking ditches. The ground should now be opened for future
purposes, as we find recommended by Yirgil"'^ in particular,
n order that the sun may thoroughly warm the clods. It is a
)iece of even more sound advice, which recommends us to
)lough no lands in the middle of spring but those of mid-
iling quality ; for if this is done with a rich soil, w^eeds will be
ure to spring up in the furrows immediately ; and if, on the
■- Seventh of February. 73 In B. xvii. c. 35.
'^ Fee approves of this method of weeding before the corn is in ear.
■^ In a day, probably. 'Je Georg. i. 63.
86 PLIJfT's NATURAL HISTORT.
other hand, it is a thin, meagre land, as soon as the heat Gomes'
on, it will be dried up, and so lose all the moisture which
should be reserved to nourish the seed when sown. It is a much
better plan, beyond a doubt, to plough such soils as these
autumn.
Cato " lays down the following rules for the operations ol
spring. "Ditches," he says, ''should be dug in the seed-
plots, vines should be grafted, and the elm, the fig, the olive,
and other fruit-trees planted in dense and humid soils. Such
meadows ''^ as are not irrigated, must be manured in a drj;
moon, protected from the western blasts, and carefully cleaned :
noxious weeds must be rooted up, fig-trees cleared, new seed-
plots made, and the old ones dressed : all this should be dont
before you begin to hoe the vineyard. When the pear is it
Idoasom, too, you should begin to plough, where it is a meagre
gravelly soil. When you have done all this, ^^ou may plougl
the more heavj^, watery soils, doing this the last of all."
The proper time for ploughing, then,'° is denoted by these
two signs, the earliest fruit of the lentisk ^^ making its appear-
ance, and the blossoming of the pear. There is a third sign
however, as well, the flowering of the squill among the bul-
bous,^^ and of the narcissus among the garland, plants. Fo]
both the squill and the narcissus, as well as the lentisk, flowej
three times, denoting by their first flowering the first perioc
for ploughing, by the second flowering the second, and by the
third flowering the last ; in this way it is that one thing afford;
hints for another. There is one precaution, too, that is by nc
means the least important among them all, not to let ivy toucl
the bean while in blossom; for at this period the ivy is noxious^
to it, and most baneful in its effects. Some plants, again
afford certain signs which bear reference more particularly t(
themselves, the fig for instance ; when a few leaves only ar(
found shooting from the summit, like a cup in shape, then it ii
more particularly that the fig-tree should be planted.
CHAP. 66. WORK TO BE DONE AFTER THE VERNAL EQUINOX.
The vernal equinox appears to end on the eighth®^ day be
"" De He Rust. 40. -JS gee B. xvii. c. 8.
'''' Alhidiiioj to his quotation from Cicero in c, 61.
^" Or mastich. ei ggg e. 7 of this Book.
9- It IS not known whence he derived this unfounded notion.
« Twenty-fifth of March.
Chap- 66.] THE YEUNAL EQUINOX. 8 /
fore the calends of April. Between the equinox and the
morning rising of the Vergil iae, the calends ^* of April announce,
according to Cassar, [stormy weatlier].^'' Upon the third ^^
before the nones of April, the Yergiliae set in the evening
in Attica, and the day after in Boeotia, but according to Caesar
and the Chaldaeans, upon the nones, ^' In Egj'pt, at this time,
Orion and his Sword begin to set. According to Caesar, the
Betting of Libra on the sixth before ^^ the ides of April an-
nounces rain. On the fourteenth before ^^ the calends of May,
the Suculse set to the people of Egypt in the evening, a stormy
constellation, and significant of tempests both by land and sea.
This constellation sets on the sixteenth^'' in Attica, and on the
fifteenth, according to Caesar, announcing four days of bad
weather in succession : in Assj-ria it sets upon the twelfth ^^
before the calends of May. This constellation has ordinarily the
name of Parilicium, from the circumstance that the eleventh ^-
before the calends of May is observed as the natal day of the
Citj' of Rome ; upon this day, too, fine weather generally re-
turns, and gives us a clear sky for our observations. The
Greeks call the Suculae by the name of "Hyades,"^-^ in conse-
quence of the rain and clouds which they bring with them ;
while our people, misled b}' the resemblance of the Greek name
to another word^^ of theirs, meaning a *'pig," have imagined
that the constellation receives its name from that word, and
have consequently given it, in their ignorance, the name of
"Suculse," or the ''Little Pigs."
In the calculations made by Caesar, the eighth ^^ before the
calends of May is a day remarked, and on the seventh ^^ before
tte calends, the constellation of the Kids rises in Egypt. On
the sixth before ^'^ the calends, the Dog sets in the evening in
Boeotia and Attica, and the Lyre rises in the morning. On
the fifth ^^ before the calends of May, Orion has wholly set
81 First of April.
®5 This passage is omitted in the original, but "was probably left out by
inadvertence,
8« Third of April. s^ Fifth of April.
88 Eighth of April. 89 Eigbteentli of Apr'l.
80 Sixteenth of April. 9i Twentieth of Apri.
®- Twenty-first of April. See B. xix. c. 24.
5^ From veiv, to rain. ^^ " Sus," a pig.
»5 Twenty-fourth of April. ^s Twenty-fiftli of April.
'" Twenty-sixth of April. ^8 Twenty-seventh of April.
S9, flint's natural histoet. [BookXVIIL
to the people of Assyria, and on the fourth ^ before the calends
the Dog. On the sixth beTore ^ the nones of May, the Suculse
rise in the morning, according to the calculation of Csesar, and
on the eighth before ^ the ides, the She-goat, which announces
rain. In Egypt the Dog sets in the evening of the same day.
Such are pretty nearly the movements of the constellations up
to the sixth before ^ the ides of May, the period of the rising
of the Vergilise.
In this interval of time, during the first fifteen days, the
agriculturist must make haste and do all the work for which
he has not been able to find time before the vernal equinox ;
and he should bear in mind that those who are late in pruning
their vines are exposed to jibes and taunts, in imitation of the
note of the bird of passage known to us as the cuckoo.* For it
is looked upon as a disgrace, and one that subjects him to well-
merited censure, for that bird, upon its arrival, to find him
only then pruning his vines. Hence it is, too, that we find
those cutting jokes,^ of which our peasantry are the object, at
the beginning of spring. Still, however, all such jokes are to
be looked upon as most abominable, from the ill omens ^ they
convey.
In this way, then, we see that, in agricultural operations,
the most trifling things are construed as so many hints supplied
us by Nature. The latter part of this period is the proper-
time for sowing panic and millet ; the precise moment, how-
ever, is just after the barley has ripened. In the case of the
very same land, too, there is one sign that points in common
both to the ripening of the barlej^ and the sowing of panic and
millet — the appearance of the glow-worm, shining in the fields
at niglit. " Cicindelaj "'' is the name given by the country
people to these flying stars, while the Greeks call them '* 1am-
pyrides," — another manifestation of the incredible bounteous-
ness of Nature.
CHAP. 67. (27.) WOEK TO BE DONE AFTER THE RISING OF THE
VERGILI^ : HAY-MAKING.
Nature had already formed the Vergiliae, a noble group of
5 Twcnty-fiighth of April. ' Second of May.
2 Eighth of May. 3 Xenth of May.
* " Cuculus." Sec B. X. c. 11.
* " Petuhuitiaj vales." Perhaps *' indecent," or "wanton jokes :" at least,
llnrdoiiin thinks so.
^ By causing quarrels, probably. ' See B. xi. c. 34.
Chap. 67.] WOEK FOR SPUING. 89
stars, in the heavens ; but not content with these, she has
made otliers as well for the face of the earth, crying aloud, as
it were :'* *' Why contemplate the heavens, husbandman ?
Why, rustic, look up at the stars ? Do not the nights already
afford you a sleep too brief for your fatigues ? Behold now I I
scatter stars amid the grass for your service, and I reveal them
to you in the evening, as you return from your work ; and
that you may not disregard them, I call your attention to this
marvel. Do you not see how the wings of this insect cover
a body bright and shining like lire, and how that body gives
out light in the hours of the night even ? I have given you
plants to point out to you the hours, and, that you may not
have to turn your eyes from the earth, even to view the sun,
the heliotropium and the lupine have been made by me to move
with his movements. Why then still look upwards, and scan
the face of heaven ? Behold, here before your very feet are
your Vergiliae ; upon a certain day do they make their appear-
ance, and for a certain time do they stay. Equally certain,
too, it is that of that constellation they are the offspring.
Whoever, then, shall put in his summer seeds before they have
made their appearance, will infallibly find himself in the
wrong."
It is in this interval, too, that the little bee comes forth, and
announces that the bean is about to blossom ; for it is the bean
in flower that summons it forth. We will here give another
sign, which tells us when the cold is gone ; as soon as ever
you see the mulberry^ in bud, you have no occasion to fear any
injury from the rigour of the weather.
It is the time, now, to put in cuttings of the olive, to clear
away between the olive-trees, and, in the earlier days of the
equinox, to irrigate the meadows. As soon, however, as the
grass puts forth a stem, you must shut off the water from the
fields.^ You must now lop the leafy branches of the vine, it
being the rule that this should be done as soon as the branches
have attained four fingers in length ; one labourer will be suf-
ficient for a jugerum. The crops of corn, too, should be hoed
over again, an operation which lasts twenty days. It is gene-
rally thought, however, that it is injurious to both vine and
corn to begin hoeing directly after the equinox. This is the
proper time, too, for washing sheep.
'* A quotation from some unknown poet, Sillig thinks.
8 See B. xvi. c. 41. 9 iSee Virgil, Eel. iii. 1. 111.
90 PLTNY's NATUEA.L HISTOET. [Book XVIII.
After the rising of the VergiliaB the more remarkable signs
are, according to Caesar, the morning rising of Arcturus, which
lakes place on the following day ;^^ and the rising of the Lyre
on the third^^ before the ides of May. The She- goat sets in
the evening of the twelfth before'^ the calends of June, and
in Attica the Dog. On the eleventh" before the calends of
June, according to Ciesar, Orion's Sword begins to appear : and,
according to the same writer, on the fourth^"* before the nones
of June the Eagle rises in the evening, and in Assyria as well.
On the seventh^^ before the ides of June Arcturus sets in the
morning to the people of Italy, and on the fourth^^ before the
ides the Dolphin rises in the evening. On the seventeenth"
before the calends of July Orion's Sword rises in Italy, and,
four days later, in Egypt. On the eleventh^^ before the calends
of July, according to Caesar's reckoning, Orion's Sword begins
to set; and the eighth^^ before the calends of July, the longest
day in the year, with the shortest night, brings us to the sum-
mer solstice.
In this interval of time the vine should be cleared of its
superfluous branches, and care taken to give an old vine one
turning up at the roots, a young tree two. Sheep, too, are
sheared at this period, lupines turned up for manuring the
land, the ground dug, vetches cut for fodder, and beans gathered
in and threshed.
(28.) About the calends of June^° the meadows are mown ;
the cultivation of which, the one which is the easiest of all,
and requires the smallest outlay, leads me to enter into some
further details relative to it. Meadow lands should be selected
in a rich, or else a moist or well-watered, soil, and care should
be taken to drain the rain-water upon them from the high-
road. The best method of ensuring a good crop of grass, is
first to plough the land, and then to harrow it : but, before
])assing the harrow over it, the ground should be spiinkled
with such seed as may have fallen from the hay in the hay-
lofts and mangers. The land should not be watered, however,
the first year,^^ nor should cattle be put to graze upon it before
JO Eleventh of May. u Thirteenth of May.
'2 Twenty-first of May. i3 Twenty-second ofMay.
^* Second of June. i^ Seventh of June.
>6 Tenth of June. i' Fifteenth of June.
18 Twenty-first of June. ^9 Twenty-fourth of June.
20 First of June. 21 Columella, E. ii. c. IS.
Chap. 67.] HAT- MAKING. 91
the second Lay-harvest, for fear lest the blade should be torn
up by the roots, or be trodden down and stunted in its growth.
Meadow land will grow old in time, and it requires to be reno-
vated every now and then, by sowing upon it a crop of beans,
or else rape or millet, after which it should be sown the next
year with corn, and then left for hay the third. Care, too,
should be taken, every time the grass is cut, to pass the sickle
over the ground, and so cut the aftermath which the mowers
have left behind ; for it is a very bad plan to leave any of the
grass and let it shed its seed there. The best crop for meadow
land is trefoil,-^ and the next best is grass ;^^ nummulns-* is
the very worst of all, as it bears a pod which is particularly
injurious; equisaetis,^^ too, which derives its name from its
resemblance to horse-hair, is of a noxious character. The pro-
per time for mowing grass is when the ear begins to shed its
blossom and to grow strong : care must be taken to cut it
before it becomes dry and parched. "Don't mow j^our hay
too late," says Cato r^ ''but cut it before the seed is ripe."
Some persons turn the water upon it the day before mowing,
where it is practicable to do so. It is the best plan to cut hay
in the night while the dews are falling.^^ In some parts of
Italy the mowing is not done till after harvest.
This operation, too, was a very expensive one in ancient
times. In those days the only whetstones"^ known were
those of Crete and other places beyond sea, and thej^ only used
oil to sharpen the scythe with. For this purpose the mower
moved along, with a horn, to hold the oil, fastened to his
thigh. Italy has since furnished us with whetstones which are
used with water, and give an edge to the iron quite equal to
that imparted by the file ; these water- whetstones, however,
turn green very quickly. Of the scythe^^ there are two va-
^- The varieties now known as Trifolium pratense, Trifolium rubens
and Trifolium repens.
23 '^ Gramen." Under this head, as Fee says, he probably includes the
gramineous plants, known as Alopecurus, Phleura, Poa, Festuca, &c.
2* Probably the Lysimachia nuramularia of Linnaeus, which has a ten-
dency to corrode the lips of the sheep that pasture on it.
2^ Known to us as "horse-tail;" varieties of whi^h are the EquiseLum
fluviatile and the Equisetura palustre of Linnseus.
26 De Re Bust. c. 53. 27 gee Virgil's Georg. i. 289.
2^ As to whetstones, for further information, see B. xxvi. c. 47.
29 The word " falx," "sickle" or "scythe," is \ised here as denoting
an implement for mowing, and not reaping.
92 pliny's natural UISTORT. [BookXYIIL
rieties ; the Italian,^ which is considerably shorter than the
other, and can be handled among underwood even ; and the
Gallic, which makes quicker work^^ of it, when employed on
extensive domains, for there they cut the grass in the middle
onlj', and pass over the shorter blades. The Italian mowers
cut with one hand only. It is a fair day's work for one man
to cut a jugerum of grass, and for another to bind twelve hun-
dred sheaves of four pounds each. When the grass is cut it
should be turned towards the sun, and must never be stacked
until it is quite dry. If this last precaution is not carefully
taken, a kind of vapour will be seen arising from the rick in
the morning, and as soon as the sun is up it will ignite to a
certainty, and so be consumed. When the grass has been cut,
the meadow must be irrigated again, for the purpose of ensur-
ing a crop in the autumn, known to us as the '* cordum," or
aftermath. At Interamna in Umbria the grass is cut four
times^^ a-year, and this although the meadows there are not
irrigated, — in most places, three. After all this has been done,
too, the pasturage of the land is found no less lucrative than
the hay it has produced. This, however, is a matter of con-
sideration for those more particularly who rear large herds of
cattle, and every one whose occupation it is to breed beasts of
burden, will have his own opinions upon the subject : it is
found, however, the most lucrative of all by those whose busi-
ness it is to train chariot-horses.
CHAP. 68. — THE SUMMER SOLSTICE,
We have already stated^^ that the summer solstice arrives at
the eighth degree of Cancer, and upon the eighth day before^^
the calends of July : this is an important crisis in the year,
and of great interest to the whole earth. Up to this period
from the time of the winter solstice the days have gone on
increasing, and the sun has continued for six months making
liis ascension towards the north ; having now surmounted the
heights of the heavens, at this point he reaches the goal, and
20 Similar in shape to our sickle, or reaping hook, no doubt.
31 " Majoris con)pendii." Similar to our reaping-hook, also. Fee
thinks tliat the former was similar to the " faux faucille," or false sickle,
the latter to the common sickle of the French.
3^ Fee says that this is the case in some parts of France.
33 In c. 59 of this Book.
-* Twenty-fourth of June. See the last Chapter.
Chap. G8.] THE RUMMEE SOLSTICE. 93
after doing so, commences his return towards the south ; the
consequence of which is, that for the next six montlis ho
increases the nights and subtracts from the length of the days.
From this period, then, it is the proper time to gather in and
store awaj^ the various crops in succession, and so make all
due preparations for the rigour and severity of the Avinter.
It was only to be expected that Nature should point out to
us the moment of this change by certain signs of an indubi-
table character ; and she has accordingly placed them beneath
the very hands of the agriculturist, bidding the leaves turn
round'^^ upon that day, and so denote that the luminary has now
run its course. And it is not the leaves of trees only that are
wild and far remote that do this, nor have those persons who
are on the look-out for these signs to go into devious forests
and mountain tracts to seek them. Nor yet, on the other
hand, are they to be seen in the leaves of trees only that are
grown in the vicinity of cities or reared by the hand of the
ornamental gardener, although in them they are to be seen
as well. Nature upon this occasion turns the leaf of the
olive which meets us at every step ; she turns the leaf of
the linden, sought by us, as it is, for a thousand purposes ;
she turns the leaf of the white poplar, too, wedded to the vine
that grows upon its trunk. And still, for her, all this is not
enough. '' You have the elm," she says, ''reared for the sup-
port of the vine, and the leaf of that I will make to turn as
well. The leaves of this tree you have to gather for fodder, the
leaves of the vine you prune away. Only look upon them,
and there you behold the solstice ;^'^ they are now pointing
towards a quarter of the heavens the reverse of that towards
which they looked the day before. The twigs of the withy,
that most lowly of trees, you employ for tying things without
number. You are a head taller than it — I will make its
leaves to turn round as well. Why complain, then, that you
are but a rustic peasant ? It shall be no fault of mine if
you do not understand the heavens and become acquainted
with the movements of the celestial bodies. I will give
another sign, too, that shall address itself to your ear — only
listen for the cooing of the ring-doves ; and beware of sup-
35 On tliis subject see B. xvi. c. 36. See also Varro, De Re Rust. B. i.
c. 46, and Aulus Gollius, B, ix.c. 7.
36 «i Xenes Sidus."
94 PLINY'a NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVIII.
posing that the sumraor solstice is past, until 3'ou see . the
wood-pigeon sitting on her eggs."
Between the summer solstice and the setting of the Lyre, on
the sixth day before the calends of July,^^ according to Caesar's
reckoning, Orion rises, and upon the fourth '^^ before the nones
of July, his Belt rises to the people of Assyria. Upon the
morning of the same day, also, the scorching constellation of
Brocyon rises. This last constellation has no name with the
Romans, unless, indeed, we would consider it as identical with
Canicula,^^ or Lesser Dog, which we find depicted among
the stars ; this last is productive of excessive heat, as we shall
shortly have further occasion to state. On the fourth *° before
the nones of July, the Crown sets in the morning to the people
of Chaldtiea, and in Attica, the whole of Orion has risen by
that day. On the day before ^^ the ides of July, the rising of
Orion ends to the Egyptians also ; on the sixteenth *^ before
the calends of August, Procyon rises to the people of Assyria,
and, the day but one after, of nearly all other countries as well,
indicating a crisis that is universally known among all nations,
and which by us is called the rising of the Dog-star ; the sun
at this period entering the first degree of Leo. The Dog-star
rises on the twenty-third day after the summer solstice ; the
influence of it is felt by both ocean, and earth, and even by many
of the animals as well, as stated by us elsewhere on the appro-
priate occasions.*^ No less veneration, in fact, is paid to this
star, than to those that are consecrated to certain gods ; it
kindles the flames of the sun, and is one great source of the
heats of summer.
On the thirteenth *^ day before the calends of August, the
Eagle sets in the morning to the people of Egypt, and the
breezes that are the precursors of the Etesian winds, begin to
blow ; these, according to Caesar, are first perceived in Italy,
on the tenth before*^ the calends of August. The Eagle sets
in tlie morning of that day to the people of Attica, and on the
»' Twentv-sixth of June. 33 Fourth of July.
39 There is some confusion, apparently, here, Canicula, Syrius, or tlie
Dog-star, belongs to the Constellation Canis Major ; wbile Canis Minor,
a Constellation wliich contains the star Procyon, (" the forerunner of the
Dog,'') precedes it.
*•> Fourth of July. *i Fourteenth of July.
*^ S'.'veuteenth of July. *3 13. ii. c. 40, and B. xix. c. 25.
" Twentieth uf July. is Twenty- third of July.
Chap. 68.] THE SUMilEE SOLSTICE. 9o
third before ^^ the calends of August, the Roj'al Star in the
breast of Leo rises in the morning, according to Caesar, On
the eiglith before ^^ the ides of August, one half of Arcturus
has ceased to be visible, and on tlie third before*^ the ides the.
Lyre, by its setting, opens the autiinm, — according to Csesar at
least ; though a more exact calculation has since shown, that
this takes place on the sixth day before ^^ the ides of that month.
The time that intervenes between these periods is one that
is of primary importance in the cultivation of the vine ; as
the constellation of which we have spoken, under the name of
Caiiicula, has now to decide upon the fate of the grape, it is
at this period that the grapes are said to be charred,^'^ a blight
falling upon them which burns them av/ay, as though red-hot
coals had been applied to them. There is no hail that can be
compared with this destructive malady, nor yet any of those
tempests, which have been productive of such scarcity and
dearth. For the evil effects of these, at the ver)^ utmost, ai-e
only felt in isolated districts, while the coal blight,^^ on the other
hand, extends over whole countries, far and wide. Still, how-
ever, the remedy would not be very difficult, were it nut that
men would much rather calumniate jS'ature, tlian help them-
selves. It is said that DemocrilUf<," who was the first to com-
prehend and demonstrate that close affinity which exists be-
tween the heavens and the earth, finding his laborious re-
searches upon that subject slighted by the more opulent of his
fellow- citizens, and presaging the high price of oil, which was
about to result upon the rising of the Vergilice, (as we have
already mentioned,^ and shall have to explain more fully here-
after), bought up a)l the oil in the country, which was then at
a very low figure, from the universal expectation of a fine crop
of olives ; a proceeding which greatly surprised all who knew
that a life of poverty and learned repose was so entirely tlie
object of his aspirations. When, however, his motives had
been fully justified by the result, and vast riches liad flowed in
upon him apace, he returned all his profits to the disappointed
^'' Thirtieth of July. ^^ Sixth of August.
*^ Eleventh of August. *^ Eighth of August.
^ See B, xvii. c. 37. •'' Carbuneulus.
52 Cicero. De Div., B. ii. 201, Ari.stotle, Polit. B. i. c. 7, and Diogenes
I Laortius tell this story of Thales the philosopher ; Pliuy beiug the uuly
, CUM that applies it to Democritus.
I ^^ In tho last Chapter. This passage is corrupt.
g6 pliny's natural history. [r,ook XVIII.
proprietors, whose avarice had now taught them to repent,
thinking it quite sufficient to have thus proved how easy it
was for him to acquire riches wlienever he pleased. At a
more recent period, again, Sextius,^ a Koman philosopher re-
siding at Athens, made a similar application of his knowledge.
Such, then, is the utility of science, the instruction provided
by which it shall be my aim, as clearly and as perspicuously
as possible, to apply to the various occupations of a country
life.
Most writers have said tliat it is the dew, scorched by a
burning sun, that is the cause of mildew ^' in corn, and of coal-
blight in the vine ; this, however, seems to me in a great
measure incorrect, and it is my opinion that all blights result
entirely from cold, and that the sun is productive of no injurious
effects whatever. This, in fact, will be quite evident, if only a
little attention is paid to the subject ; for we find that the blight
makes its appearance at first in the night time only, and before
the sun has shone with any vigour. The natural inference is,
that it depends entirely upon the moon, and more particularly
as such a calamity as this is never known to happen except at the
moon's conjunction, or else at the full moon, periods at which
the influence of that heavenly body is at its greatest height.
For at both of these periods, as alreadj^ stated by us more
than once, the moon is in reality at the full ; though during
her conjunction she throws back to the heavens all the light
which she has received from the sun. The difference in the
effects produced by the moon at these two periods is very great,
though at the same time equally apparent ; for at the conjunc-
tion, that body is extremely hot in summer, but cold in win-
ter ; while, on the other hand, at the full moon, the nights are
cold in summer, but warm in winter. The reason of this,
although Fabianus and the Greek writers adopt another me-
thod of explaining it, is quite evident. During the moon's
conjunction in summer, she must of necessity move along with
the sun in an orbit nearer to the earth, and so become warmed
51 Mentioned by Seneca, Ep. 59.
" It was reserved for thektter part of the last century to discover that
nildew operated on vegetation through the medium of minute, parasitical
f-mgi. It is mostly attributed to detects in the light or the atmosphere,
or else himiidity in excess. See c. 44 of this Book.
* In B. ii. c. 6, for instance.
Chap. 69.] CAUSES OF STJilULITT. 97
by the heat which she receives by reason of her closer vicinity
to the sun. In winter, again, at the time of the conjunction,
she is farther off from us, the sun being also removed to a
greater distance. On the other hand, again, when the moon
is at the full in summer, she is more remote from the earth,
and in opposition with the sun ; while, in winter, she ap-
proaches nearer to us at that period, by adopting the same
orbit as at her conjunction in summer. ^Naturally humid her-
self, as often as from her position she is cold, she congeals to
an unlimited extent the dews which fall at that period of the
year.
CHAP. 69, CAUSES OF STERILITY.
But we ought always to bear in mind, more particularly,
that there are two varieties of evils that are inflicted upon the
earth by the heavens. The first of these, known by us under
the name of '* tempests," comprehends hail- storms, hurricanes
and other calamities of a similar nature ; when these take place
at the full moon, they come upon us with additional intensity.
These tempests take their rise in certain noxious constellations,
as already stated by us on several occasions, Arcturus, for in-
stance, Orion, and the Kids.
The other e^ils that are thus inflicted upon us, supervene with
a bright, clear skj', and amid the silence of the night, no one
being sensible of them until we have perceived their effects.
These dispensations are universal and of a totally different
character from those previously mentioned, and have various
names given to them, sometimes mildew, sometimes blast, and
sometimes coal blight ; but in all cases sterility is the infallible
result. It is of these last that we have now to speak, entering
into details which have not hitherto been treated of by any
writer ; and first of all we will explain the causes of them.
(29.) Independently of the moon, there are two principal
causes of these calamities, which emanate more particularly
from two quarters of the heavens of but limited extent. On
the one hand, the Vergiliae exercise an especial influence on our
harvests, as it is with their rising that the summer begins, and
with their setting, the winter; thus embracing, in the space of
six months, the harvest, the vintage, and the ripening of all the
vegetable productions. In addition to this, there is a circular
tract in the heavens, quite visible to the human ^ye even, known
VOL. IV. H
98 plint's natural history. [Book XVIIT.
as the Milky Way. It is the emanations from this, flowing as
it were from the breast, that supply their milky^' nutriment to
all branches of the vegetable world. Two constellations more
particularly mark this circular tract, the Eagle in the north,
and Canicula in the south ; of this last, we have already made
mention"^ in its appropriate place. This circle traverses also
Sagittarius and Gemini, and passing through the centre of the
sun, cuts the equinoctial line below, the constellation of the
Eagle making its appearance at the point of intersection on
the one side, and Canicula on the other. Hence it is that the
influences, of both these constellations develope themselves'
upon all cultivated lands ; it being at these points only that the
centre of the sun is brought to correspond with that of the
earth. If, then, at the moments of the rising and the setting
of these constellations, tlie air, soft and pure, transmits these
genial and milky emanations to the earth, the crops will thrive
and ripen apace ; but if, on the other hand, the moon, as al-
ready^^ mentioned, sheds her chilling dews, the bitterness there-
of infuses itself into these milky secretions, and so kills the
vegetation in its birth. The measure of the injury so inflicted
on the earth depends, in each climate, upon the combination of
the one or other of these causes; and hence it is that it is not
felt in equal intensity throughout the whole earth, nor even pre-
cisely at the same moment of time. We have already*^ said
that the Eagle rises in Italy on the thirteenth day°^ before the
calends of January, and the ordinary course of !N"ature does
not permit us ])efore that period to reckon with any degree of:
certainty upon the fruits of the earth ; for if the moon should
happen to be in conjunction at that time, it will be a necessary
consequence, that all the winter fruits, as well as the early
ones, will receive injury more or less.
The life led by the ancients was rude and illiterate ; still,
as will be readily seen, the observations they made were not
less remarkable for ingenuity than are the theories of the pre-
sent day. With them there were three set periods for gather-
ing in the produce of the earth, and it was in honour of these
periods that they instituted the festive days, known as the
•" An onomatic prejudice, as Fee says, solely founded on the peculiarity
of the name.
^« in the preceding Chapter. 59 jn (.j^g preceding Cliapter.
«> In li. xvi. 0. 42. 61 Twentieth of JUecembcr.
Chap. 69] CAUSES OF STERILTTT. 99
llobigalia,^- the Florolia, and the Yinalia. The Hobigalla were
established by Numa in tlie fortietli year of his reign, and are
still celebrated on the seventli day before the calends of Maj-,
as it is at this period that mildew ^^ mostly makes its first at-
tacks upon the growing corn. Yarro fixes this crisis at the
moment at which the sun enters the tenth degree of Taurus,
in accordance with the notions that preyailed in his day : but
the real cause is the fact, that thirty-one ^^ days after the yernal
equinox, according to the observations of yarious nations, the
Dog-star sets between the seyenth and fourth before the c;i-
lends of May, a constellation baneful in itself, and to appease
which a young dog should first be sacrificed. ^^ The same people
also, in the year of the City 513, instituted tlie Floralia, a
festival held upon the fourth before^ the calends of May, in
accordance with the oracular injunctions of the Sibyl, to secure
a favourable season for the blossoms and flowers. Varro fixes
this day as the time at which the sun enters the fourteenth
degree of Taurus. If there should happen to be a full moon
during the four days at this period, injury to the corn and all
the plants that are in blossom, will be the necessary result.
The First Yinalia, which in ancient times were established on
the ninth before ^' the calends of May, for the purpose of tast-
ing ^^ the wines, have no signification whatever in reference to
the fruits of the earth, any more than the festivals already
mentioned have in reference to the vine and the olive ; the
germination of these last not commencing, in fact, till the
rising of the Yergiliae, on the Sixth day before ^^ the ides of
^- Or festival in honour of Robigo, the Goddess of mildew, on the
twenty-fifth of April. See Ovid's Fasti, B. iv. 1. 907, et sea.
^* Eohigo.
^^ " Nineteen" is the proper number.
^5 " Et cui prseoccidere caniculam necesse est." The real meaning of
this passage would seem to bo, — " Before which, as a matter of coursf^,
Caniciila must set." But if so, Pliny is in error, for Canicula, or Procyon,
sets heliacally after the Dog-star, tliough it rises before it. Hardouin ob-
serves, that it is abundantly proved from the ancient writers that it was
the custom to sacrifice a puppy to Sirius, or the Dog-star, at the Robigalia.
As Littre justly remarks, it would almost appear that Pliny intended, by
his ambiguous language, to lead his readers into error.
5s Twenty-eighth of April. The festival of Flora.
*" Tweuly-third of April. Tliis was the first, or Urban Vinalia : tlifc
second, or Rustic Yinalia, were held on the nineteenth of August.
"•^ The same as the Greek IliQotyca, or "opening of the Ca.sks."
6» Tenth of May.
H 2
100 plii^t's natural history. [Book XVIII.
May, as already mentioned on previous occasions.'^ This, again,
is another period of four daj^s, Avhich should never be blemished
hy dews, as the chilling constellation of Arcturus, which sets
on the following day, will be sure to nip the vegetation ; still
less ought there to be a full moon at this period.
On the fourth before "^^ the nones of June, the Eagle rises
again in the evening, a critical day for the olives and vines in
blossom, if there should liappen to be a full moon. For my
])art, I am of opinion that the eighth '^ before the calends of
July, the day of the summer solstice, must be a critical day, for
a similar reason ; and that the rising of the Dog-star, twenty-
three days after the summer solstice, must be so too, in case
the moon is then in conjunction ; for the excessive heat is pro-
ductive of injurious effects, and the grape becomes prematurely
ripened, shrivelled, and tough. Again, if there is a full moon
on the fourth before "'^ the nones of July, when Canicula rises
to the people of Egypt, or at least on the sixteenth be-
fore '''* the calends of August, when it rises in Itah', it is pro-
ductive of injurious results. The same is the case, too, from
the thirteenth day before " the calends of August, when the
Eagle sets, to tlie tenth before'^ the calends of that month.
The Second Yinalia, which are celebrated on the fourteenth "^
before the calends of September, bear no reference to these in-
fluences. Yarro fixes them at the period at which the Lyre
begins its morning setting, and says that this indicates the be-
ginning of autumn, the day having been set apart for the pur-
jjose of propitiating the weather : at the present daj', however,
it is observed that the Lyre sets on the sixth before ^^ the ides
of August.
Within these periods there are exerted the sterilizing in-
fluences of the heavens, though I am far from denying tliat
the)'- may be considerably modified by the nature of the locality,
according as it is cold or hot. Still, however, it is sufficient for
me to have demonstrated the theory ; the modifications of its re-
i^ults depending, in a great degree, upon attentive observation.
It is beyond all question too, that either one of these two causes
7*^ In B. xvi. c. 42, and in c. 66 of this Book.
■'I Second of June. '2 Twenty- fourth of June.
73 Fourth of July. '* Seventeenth of July.
" Twentieth of July. -e Twenty-third of July.
" Nineteenth of August. '8 Eighth of August.
I
Chap. 70.] EEMEDIES AGAI>'ST >'OXIOUS INFLrEXCES. 101
■^11 be always productive of its own peculiar effects, the full
moon, I mean, or else the moon's conjunction. And here it
suggests itself how greatly we ought to admire the bounteous
provisions made for us by jS'ature ; for, in the first place, these
calamitous results cannot by any possibility befall us every year,
in consequence of the fixed revolutions of the stars ; nor indeed,
when they do happen, beyond a few nights in the year, and it
may be easil}" known beforehand which nights those are likely
to be. In ord^, too, that we might not have to apprehend these
injuries to vegetation in all the months, ]S'aturehas so ordained
tliat the times of the m.oon's conjunction in summer, and of the
full moon in winter, with the exception of two days only at
those respective periods, are well ascertained, and that there is
no danger to be apprehended on any but the nights of summer,
and those nights the shortest of all ; in the day-time, on the
other hand, there is nothing to fear. And then, besides, these
phaenomena may be so easily understood, that the ant even,
that most diminutive of insects, takes its rest during the moon's
conjunction, but toils on, and that during the night as well, when
the moon is at the full; the bird, too, called the *'parra"''
disappears upon the day on which Sirius rises, and never re-
appears until that star has set; while the witwall,^" on the
other hand, makes its appearance on the day of the summer
solstice. The moon, however, is productive of no noxious
effects at either of these periods, except when the nights are
clear, and every movement of the air is lulled ; for so long as
clouds prevail, or the wind is blowing, the night dews never
fall. And then, besides, there are certain remedies to counter-
act these noxious influences.
CHAP. 70. EEilEDIES AGAINST THESE NOXIODS INFLrEXCES.
When you have reason to fear these influences, make bon-
fires in the fields and vineyards of cuttings or heaps of chaff, or
else of the weeds that have been rooted up ; the smoke ^^ will
act as a good preservative. The smoke, too, of bui'ning chaff
■will be an effectual protection against the effects of fogs, when
likely to be injurious. Some persons recommend that three
"^ See B. X. c. 45, and c. 50. The popinjay, lapwing, and tit-mouse
have been suggested.
*'0 Yirio. See B. x. c. 45.
^^ Columella, De Aiborib. c. 13,
102 Pliny's NATURAL HISTORY. [BookXYIII.
crabs should be burnt ®- alive among the trees on which the
vines are trained, to prevent these from being attacked bj^ coal
blight ; while others say that the flesh of the silurus ^^ should
be burnt in a slow fire, in such a way that the smoke may be
dispersed by the wind throughout the vineyard.
Yarro informs us, that if at the setting of the Lyre, whicli
is the beginning of autumn, a painted grape®^ is consecrated in
the midst of the vineyard, the bad w^eather will not be pro-
ductive of such disastrous results as it otherwise would. Archi-
bius^* has stated, in a letter to Antiochus, king of Syria, that
if a bramble-frog ^^ is buried in a new earthen vessel, in the
middle of a corn-field, there will be no storms to cause injury.
CHAP. 71. WORK TO BE DONE AFTER THE SUMMER SOLSTICE.
The following are the rural occupations for this interval
of time — the ground must have another turning up, and the
trees must be cleared about the roots and moulded up, where
the heat of the locality requires it. Those plants, however,
which are in bud must not be spaded at the roots, except where
the soil is particularly rich. The seed-plots, too, must be well
cleared Avith the hoe, the barley-harvest got in, and the
threshing-floor prepared for the harvest with chalk, as Cato^^
tells us, slackened with amurca of olives; YirgiP^ makes men-
tion of a method still more laborious even. In general, how-
ever, it is considered sufiicient to make it perfectly level, and
then to cover it with a solution of cow-dung^^ and water ; this
being thought sufiicient to prevent the dust from rising.
^^ This absurd practice is mentioned in the Geoponica, B. v. c. 31.
^^ As to this fish, see B. ix. c. 17.
^ '*^ " Uva picta " This absurdity does not seem to be found in any of
Vnrro's works tliat have come down to us.
'^'^ Nothinsr whatever is known of him or his works ; and, as Fee says,
apparently tlie loss is little to be regretted,
"s Rubeta rana.
8^ De Re Rust. 129. Cato, however, does not mention chalk, but Virgil
(Georg. i. 178) does. Poinsinet thinks that this is a " lapsus memoriae"
ill Pliny, but Fee suggests that there may have been an omission by the
copyists.
^"^ See the last Note. He recommends that it should be turned up "with
the hand, rammed down with " tenacious chalk," and levelled with a large
roller.
«9 Both cow-dung and marc of olives are still employed in some parts of
France, in preparing the threshing floor.
Chap. 72.] THE IIARTEST. 103
CHAP. 72. (30.) THE HARVEST.
The mode of getting in the harvest varies considerably. Iti
the vast domains of the provinces of Gaul a large hollow
frame, ^'^ armed with teeth and supported on two wheels, is
driven through the standing corn, the beasts being yoked^^
behind it ; the result being, that the ears are torn off and
fall within the frame. In other countries the stalks are cut
with the sickle in the middle, and the ears are separated by
the aid of paddle-forks.^- In some places, again, the corn is
torn up by the roots ; and it is asserted by those who adopt
this plan, that it is as good as a light turning up for the ground,
whereas, in reality, they deprive it of its juices. ^^ There are
differences in other respects also : in places where they thatch
their houses with straw, they keep the longest haulms for that
purpose ; and where hay is scarce, they employ the straw for
litter. The straw of panic is never used for thatching, and
that of millet is mostly burnt ; barley-straw, however, is
always preserved, as being the most agreeable of all as a food
for oxen. In the Gallic provinces panic and millet are gathered,
ear by ear, with the aid of a comb carried in the hand.
In some places the corn is beaten out by machines®^ upon
the threshing-floor, in others by the feet of mares, and in
3" Palladius gives a long description of this contrivance, ■which seems to
have been pushed forward by the ox; the teeth, which were sharp at the
edge and fine at the point, catching the ears and tearing them off. But,
as Fee says, the use of it must have been very disadvantageous, in conse-
quence of the unequal height of the stalks. The straw, too, was sacrificed
by the employment of it.
^1 In contrarium juncto.
^- "Merges." Supposed to be the same as the *' batilhim" of Varro.
Its form is unknown, and, indeed, the manner in which it was used. It is
not improbable that it was a fork, sharp at the edge, and similar to an
open pair of scissars, with whicli tlie heads of corn were driven off, as it
wei-e ; this, however, is only a mere conjecture. By the use of " atque,"
it would almost appear that the "merges" was employed after tlie sickle
had been used ; but it is more probable that he refers to two different me-
thods of gathering the ears of corn.
^^ The roots and the stubble are, in reality, as good as a manure to the
land.
^^ Called " tribulum ;" a threshing-machine moved by oxen. Yano,
De Re Rust. i. 52, gives a description of it. Fee says that it is still used
in some parts of F^urope.
104 plt;nt'8 natural history. [Book XYIII.
others with flails. The later wheat is cut, the more prolific*
it is ; but if it is got in early, the grain is finer and stronger.
The best rule is to cut it before the grain hardens, and just
as it is changing colour :^^ though the oracles on husbandry-
say that it is better to begin tlie harvest two days too soon
tlian two days too late. Winter and other wheat must be
treated exactly the same way both on the threshing-floor and
in the granary. Spelt, as it is difficult to be threshed, should
be stored with the chaff on, being only disengaged of the straw
and the beard.
Many countries make use of chaffs for hay; the smoother
and thinner it is, and the more nearly resembling dust, the
better ; hence it is that the chaff ^^ of millet is considered the
best, that of barley being the next best, and that of wheat the
worst of all, except for beasts that are hard worked. In stony
places they break the haulms, when dry, with staves, for the
cattle to lie upon : if there is a deficiency of chaff, the straw
as well is ground for food. The following is the method era-
ployed in preparing it : it is cut early and sprinkled with bay
salt,^ after which it is dried and rolled up in trusses, and given
to the oxen as wanted, instead of hay. Some persons set fire
to the stubble in the fields, a plan that has been greatly ex-
tolled by Virgil r the chief merit of it is that the seed of the
weeds is effectually destroyed. The diversity of the methods
employed in harvesting mainly depends upon the extent of the
crops and the price of labour.
CHAP. 73. THE METHODS OF STOKING CORN.
Connected with this branch of our subject is the method of
storing corn. Some persons recommend that granaries should
be built for the purpose at considerable expense, the walls
9*^_ On the contrary, Fee says, the risk is greater from tlie depredations
of birds, and the chance of the grain falling out in cutting, and gathering
in. Spelt and rye may be left much longer than wheat or oats.
»7 Columella, B. ii. c. i., gives the same advice.
58 "Palea" seems here to mean "chaff;" though Fee understands it
as meaning stra\''.
99 The chaff of millet, and not the straw, must evidently be intended here,
for he says above that the straw—" culmus "—of millet is generally burnt. ,
1 Muria dura.
2 Geoi'g.i. 84, etseq. Fee says that Virgil has good reason for his'
commendations, as it is a most excellent plan.
Chap. 73.] THE METHODS OP STOEIXG CORN. 105
being made of brick, and not less than tbree^ feet thick ; the
corn, they say, should be let in from above, the air being
carefully excluded, and no ^vindows allowed. Others, again,
say that the granarj- should have an aspect in no direction but
the north-east or north, and that the walls should be built
without lime, that substance being extremely injurious"* to
corn ; as to what we find recommended in reference to amurca
of olives, we have already mentioned it on a former^ occasion.
In some places they build their granaries of wood, and upon
pillars,^ thinking it the best plan to leave access for the air on
every side, and from below even. Some persons think, how-
ever, that the grain diminishes in bulk if laid on a floor above
the level of the ground, and that it is liable to ferment beneath
a roof of tiles. Many persons say, too, that the grain should
never be stirred up to air' it, as the weevil is never known to
penetrate beyond four fingers in depth ; consequently, beyond
that depth there is no danger. According to Columella,^ the
west "v\and is beneficial to grain, a thing that surprises me, as
that wind is generally a very parching^ one. Some persons
recommend that, before housing the corn, a bramble-frog
should be hung up by one of the hind legs at the threshold of
the granary. To me it appears that the most important pre-
caution of all is to house the grain at the proper time ; for if
it is unripe when cut, and not sufficiently firm, or if it is got
in in a heated state, it follows of necessity that noxious in-
sects will breed in it.
There are several causes which contiibute to the preserva-
tion of grain ; the outer^" coats in some kinds are more nu-
merous, as in millet, for instance ; the juices are of an olea-
ginous nature,^^ and so supply ample moisture, as in sesame,
for example ; while in other kinds, again, they are naturally
^ Palladius, i. 19, says two feet.
* On account of the damp. Columella, however, recommends a mix-
ture of sand, lime, and marc of olives for the floor ; B. i. c. 6.
5 In B. XV. c. 8.
6 This is still done in the Yalais, and has the great merit of preserving
the corn from house and field-mice.
" •' Yentilare." On the contrary, the weevil penetrates deep, and does
not keep near the surface.
« De Re Rust. ii. 21. 9 See B. ii. c. 48.
^^ Those keep the Lest, Fee says, which have a farinaceous perisperm.
Millet has but one coat.
11 This, in reality, would tend to make them turn rancid all the sooner.
ion pli?^y's natueal history. [Look XYIII.
bitter/" as in the lupine and the chicheling vetch. It is in.
wlieat more particularly that insects breed, as it is apt to heat
from the density of its juices, and the grain is covered with a
thick bran. In barley the chaff is thinner, and the same is the
case with all the leguminous seeds : it is for this reason that they
do not ordinarily breed insects. The bean, however, is covered
with a coat of a thicker substance ; and hence it is that it fer-
ments. Some persons sprinkle wheat, in order to make it
keep the longer, with amurca'^ of olives, a quadrantal to ti
thousand modii : others, again, with powdered Chalcidian or
Carian chalk, or with worm-wo'od.'* There is a certain earth
found at Olynthus, and at Cerinthus, in Euboea, which pre-
vents grain from spoiling. If garnered in the ear, grain is
hardly ever found to suffer any injury.
The best plan, however, of preserving grain, is to lay it up
in trenches, called " siri," as they do in Cappadocia, Thracia,
Spain, and at * * * in Africa. Particular care is taken to
dig these trenches in a dry soil, and a layer of chaff is then
placed at the bottom ; the grain, too, is always stored in the
ear. In this case, if no air is allowed to penetrate to the corn,
we may rest assured that no noxious insects will ever breed
in it. Yarro^^ says, that wheat, if thus stored, will keep as
long as fifty years, and millet a hundred ; and he assures us
that beans and other leguminous grain, if put away in oil jars
with a covering of ashes, will keep for a great length of time.
He makes a statement, also, to the effect that some beans were
preserved in a cavern in Ambracia from the time of King
Pyrrhus until the Piratical War of Pompeius Magnus, a period
of about two hundred and twenty years.
The chick-pea is the only grain in which no insect will
breed while in the granary. Some persons place upon the
heaps of the leguminous grains pitchers full of vinegar and
coated with pitch, a stratum of ashes being laid beneath ; and
they fancy that if this is done, no injury will happen. Some,
again, store them in vessels which have held salted provisions,
with a coating of plaster on the top, while other persons are
^2 And so ropel tbe attacks of insects.
13 This would not only spoil the flavour, but absolutely injure tbe corn
as well.
1* This also, if practised to any extent, would infallibly spoil the grain.
15 De Re Rust. i. 57.
Chap. 74.] THE VINTAGE . 107
in the habit of sprinkling lentils with vinegar scented ^ith
laser/* and, when drj', giving them a covering of oil. But
the most effectual method of all is to get in everything
that you would preserve from injury at the time of the
moon's conjunction ; and hence it is of the greatest impor-
tance to know, when getting in the harvest, whether it is
for garnering or whether for immediate sale. If cut during the
increase of the moon, grain will increase in size.
CHAP. 74. (31.) THE VINTAGE, AND THE WORKS OF AUTUMN".
In accordance with tlie ordinary divisions of the year, we
aow come to autumn, a period which extends from the setting
)f the Lyre to the autumnal equinox, and from that to the
netting of the Vergiliae and the beginning of winter. In these
.ntervals, the more important periods are marked by the rising
)f the Horse to the people of Attica, in the evening of the day
Defore ^' the ides of August ; upon which day also the Dolpliin
sets in Egypt, and, according to Csesar, in Italy. On the
3leventh ^** before the calends of September, the star called the
Vintager begins to rise in the morning, according to Caesar's
reckoning, and to the people of Assyria : it announces the
ripening of the vintage, a sure sign of which is the change of
3olour in the grape. On the fifth ^^ before the calends of Sep-
■ ember, the Arrow sets in Assyria, and the Etesian winds cease
10 blow : on the nones -*^ of September, the Vintager rises in
Egypt, and in the morning of that day, Arcturus rises to the
jeople of Attica : on the same morning, too, the Arrow sets.
3n the fifth before ^^ the ides of September, according to Caesar,
;he She-Goat rises in the evening ; and one half of Arcturus
Decomes visible on the day before^' the ides of September, being
Dortentous ^^ of boisterous weather for five days, both by land
ind sea.
The theory relative to the effects produced by Arcturus, is
stated in the following terms : if showers prevail, it is said, at
he setting of the Dolphin, the)^ will not cease so long as
ircturus is visible. The departure of the swallows may be
" See B. xix. c. 15: also Columella, De Re Rust. B. ii. c. 10.
'' Twelfth of August. '^ Twenty-second of August,
^^ Twenty-eightli of August. 20 Fifth of September.
21 Ninth of September. 22 Twelfth of September.
23 See the Rudens of Plautus, Prol. 1. 69.
108 pltxt's natural HISTOET. [Book XYIII..
looked upon as the sign of the rising of Arcturus ; for if over-
taken by it, they are sure to perish.
On the sixteenth day before ^^ the calends of October, the*
Ear of Corn, which Virgo holds, rises to the people of Egypt ini
the morning, and by this daj^ the Etesian winds have quite»
ceased to blow. According to Caesar, this constellation rises om
the fourteenth ^ before the calends, and it affords its prognostics
to the Assyrians on the thirteenth. On the eleventh before ^^'
the calends of October, the point of junction ^^ in Pisces disap-
pears, and upon the eighth -^ is the autumnal equinox. It is
a remarkable fact, and rarely the case, that Philippus, Callip-
pus, Dositheus, Parmeniscus, Conon,^'' Criton, Democritus, and
Eudoxus, all agree that the She-Goat rises in the morning of
the fourth before ^° the calends of October, and on the third ^^
the Kids. On the sixth day before ^- the nones of October, the
Crown rises in the morning to the people of Attica, and upon*
the morning of the fifth, ^^ the Charioteer sets. On the fourtb
before ^"* the nones of October, the Crown, according to Caesar's
reckoning, begins to rise, and on the evening of the day after
is the setting of the constellation of the Kids. On the eighth
before ^^ the ides of October, according to Caesar, the bright
star rises that shines in the Crown, and on the evening of the
sixth before ^^ the ides the Yergiliae, rise. Upon the ides^' of
October, the Crown has wholly risen. On the seventeenth be-
fore^'* the calends of November, the Suculse rise in the evening,
and on the day before the calends, according to Caesar's reckon-
ing, Arcturus sets, and the Suculos^^ rise with the sun. In the
evening of the fourth daj^ before ^^ the nones of I^ovember,
Arcturus sets. On the fifth before ^^ the ides of November,
Orion's Sword begins to set; and on the third *^ before the
ides the Vergiliae set. .
2^ Sixteenth of September. 25 Eighteenth of September.
2^ Twenty-first of September 27 Commissura.
*^ Twenty-fourth of September.
'^'■^ Mentioned by Virgil, Eccl. iii. 1. 38, and by Propertius, Eleg, iv. 1.
'0 Twenty-eighth of September. si Twentj'-ninth of September.
=^2 Second of October. ^^ Third of October.
^ Fourth of October. 's Eighth of October.
as Tenth of October. '" Fifteenth of October.
38 Sixteenth of October. 39 Or Ilyudes, see C. 66.
♦0 Second of November, *i Ninth of November.
*2 Eleventh of November.
Chap. 7-i.] THE VINTAGE. * 109
In this interval of time, the rural operations consist in sowing
rape and turnips, upon the days which have been mentioned on
a previous occasion.*^ The people in the country are of opinion,
that it is not a good plan to sow rape after the departure of the
stork ; but for my own part, I am of opinion that it should
he sown after the Yulcanalia, and the early kind at the same
time as panic. After the setting of the Lyre, vetches should
be sown, kidney-beans and hay-grass : it is generally recom-
mended that this should be done while the moon is in con-
junction. This, too, is the proper time for gathering in the
leaves : it is fair work for one woodman, to fill four baskets ^*
in the day. If the leaves are gathered while the moon is ou
the wane, they will not decay ; they ought not to be dry,
however, when gathered.
The ancients were of opinion, that the vintage is never ripe
before the equinox ; but at the present day I find that it is
gathered in before that period ; it will be as well, therefore,
to give the signs and indications by which the proper moment
may be exactly ascertained. The rules for getting in the vin-
tage are to the following efiect : !N^ever gather the grape in a
heated state, ^ or in other words, when the weather is dry, and
before the rains have fallen ; nor ought it to be gathered when,
covered with dew, — or in other words, when dews have fallen
during the night, — nor yet before the dews have been dispelled
by the sun. Commence the vintage when the bearing-shoots
begin to recline upon the stem, or when, after a grape is re-
moved from the bunch, the space left empty is not filled up ;
this being a sure proof that the berry has ceased to increase in
size. It is of the greatest consequence to the grape, that it
should be gathered while the moon is on the increase. Each
pressing should fill twenty culei,"*^ that being the fair propor-
tion. To fill twenty culei and vats *' from twenty jugera of
vineyard, a single press will be enough. In pressing the grape,
Bome persons use a single press-board, but it is a better' plan
*3 In c. 3o of this Book.
*^ " Frondarias fiscinas." These must have been baskets of a very large
size. The leaves were used for fodder.
** This, Fee says, is diametrically opposite to the modern practice.
*6 The " culeus," it is supposed, was of the same measure of capacity as the
" doliura,"and held twenty amphorae. The " pressura," or " pressing." was
probably the utmost quandty that the pressing vat would hold at one time.
*7 "Lacus."
110 PLINY's ^'ATURAL HISTOIIY. [Book XVIU.
to employ two, however large the single ones may he. It is the
length of them that is of the greatest consequence, and not the
thickness : if wide, however, they press the fruit all the better.
The ancients used to screw down the press-boards with ropef
and leather thongs, worked by levers. Within the last hundrec
years the Greek press has been invented, with thick spira
grooves running down the"*^ stem. To this stem there an
spokes attached, which project like the rays of a star, and bj
means of which the stem is made to lift a box filled with stone,
— a method that is very highly approved of. It is only witiiii
the last two-and-twentj^ years, that a plan has been discovere(
of employing smaller press-boards, and a less unwieldy press
to effect this, the height has been reduced, and the stem of thi
screw placed in the middle, the whole pressure being concen
trated upon broad planks ^^ placed over the grapes, which ar.
covered also with heavy weights above.
This is the proper time forgathering fruit; the best momen
for doing so is when it has begun to fall through ripeness
and not from the effects of the weather. This is the season
too, for extracting the lees of wine, and for boiling defrutum :'
this last must be done on a night when there is no moon, or i
it is a full moon, in the day-time. At other times of the yeai
it must be done either before the moon has risen, or after i
has set. The grapes employed for this purpose should neve
be gathered from a young vine, nor jct from a tree that i
groAvn in a marshy spot, nor should any grapes be used bu
those that are perfectly ripe : the liquor, too, should never b
skimmed with anything but a leaf,^^ for if the vessel shoul
happen to be touched with wood, the liquor, it is generall
thought, will have a burnt and smoky flavour.
The proper time for the vintage is between the equinox an
the setting of the Vergiliae, a period of forty-four days. It
a saying among the growers, that to pitch wine-vessels aftt
that day, in consequence of the coldness of the weather, is onl
so much time lost. Still, however, I have seen, before nov
persons getting in the vintage on the calends of January
*8 <' l^fali rugis per coclcas buUantibus." The whole of this passage
full of difficulties.
■^^ " Tympiina;" literally, "drums."
^ Grape juice boiled down to one half; see B. xiv. c. 9,
51 Virgil mentions this in the Georgics, B i. 295. Of course, it is n.
tiling but un absurd superstition.
*2 First of January.
Chap. 75.] TIIE EEYOLUTIOXS OF THE MOON. Ill
even, in consequence of the want of wine- vessels, and putting
the must into receivers, ^^ or else pouring the old wine out of
its vessels, to make room for new liquor of a very doubtful
quality. This, however, happens not so often in consequence
of an over-abundant crop, as through carelessness, or else the
avarice which leads people to wait for a rise in prices. The
method that is adopted by the most economical managers, is
to use the produce supplied by each year," and this, too, is
found in the end the most lucrative mode of proceeding. As
for the other details relative to wines, they have been discussed
at sufficient length already f^ and it has been stated on a pre-
vious occasion,^® that as soon as the vintage is got in, the olives
should at once be gathered, with other particulars relative
to the olive after the setting of the Yergiliae.
CHAP. 75. (32.) THE EEVOLTJTIONS OF THE MOON.
I shall now proceed to add some necessary information re-
lative to the moon, the winds, and certain signs and prognos-
tics, in order that I may complete the observations I have to
make with reference to the sidereal system. YirgiP has even
gone so far, in imitation of Democritus, as to assign certain
operations to certain days^ of the moon ; but my sole object
shall be, as, indeed, it has been throughout this work, to con-
sult that utility which is based upon a knowledge and appre-
ciation of general principles.
All vegetable productions are cut, gathered, and housed to
more advantage while the moon is on the wane than while it
is on the increase. Manure must never be touched except
when the moon is on the wane ; and land must be manured
more particularly while the moon is in conjunction, or else at
the first quarter. Take care to geld your boars, bulls, rams,
and kids, while the moon is on the wane. Put eggs under the
lien at a new moon. Make your ditches in the night-time,
when the moon is at full. Cover up the roots of trees, while
the moon is at full. Where the soil is humid, put in seed
53 Piscinis.
°* I. e. before getting in the next year's crop. Of course, he alludes only
to wines of an inferior class, used for domestic consumption.
" In B. xiv. 56 In jj_ ^v. c. 3.
57 Georg. i. 276.
58 In contradistinction to the two periods of full moon, and change of
ithe moon, the only epochs in reference to it noticed by I'liuy.
112 plint's NATURAL nrsTonr. [Book XVIII.
at the moon's conjunction, and durinp; the four da3-s about
that period. It is generally recommended, too, to give an airing
to corn and the leguminous grains, and to garner them, towards
the end of the moon ; to make seed-plots when the moon
is above the horizon ; and to tread out the grape, to fell tim-
ber, and to do many other things that have been mentioned
in their respective places, when the moon is below it.
The observation of the moon, in general, as already ob-
served in the Second Book,®° is not so very easy, but what I
am about here to state even rustics will be able to comprehend:
so long as the moon is seen in the west, and during the earlier
hours of the night, she will be on the increase, and one half
of her disk will be perceived ; but when the moon is seen to
rise at sun- set and opposite to the sun, so that they are both
perceptible at the same moment, she Avill be at full. Again,
as often as the moon rises in the east, and does not give her
light in the earlier hours of the night, but shows herself
during a portion of the day, she will be on the wane, and one
half of her only will again be perceptible : when the moon has
ceased to be visible, she is in conjunction, a period known to
us as " interlunium."^'^ During the conjunction, the moon will
be above the horizon the same time as the sun, for the whole
of the first day ; on the second, she will advance upon the
night ten-twelfths of an hour and one-fourth of a twelfth f^
on the third day, the same as on the second, and * * * so on
in succession up to the fifteenth day, the same proportional parts
of an hour being added each day. On the fifteenth day she will
be above the horizon all night, and below it all day. On the
sixteenth, she will remain below the horizon ten-twelfths of
an hour, and one-fourth of a twelfth, at the first hour of the.
night, and so on in the same proportion day after c^a)^ up to
the period of her conjunction ; and thus, the same time which,
hj remaining under the horizon, she withdraws from the first
part of the night, she will add to the end of the night by
remaining above the horizon. Her revolutions, too, will
occupy thirty days one month, and twenty-nine the next, and
80 on alterriately. Such is the theory of the revolutions of
the moon.
59 In Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 11.
"0 Or "betwoea moons." The " change of the moon," as we call it.
Chap. 76.] THE THEOKT OF THE "VViXDS. 113
CHAP. 76. (33.) THE THEORY OF THE WINDS.
The theory of the winds"^ is of a somewhat more intricate
nature. After observing the quarter in which the sun rises
on any given day, at the sixth" hour of the day take your
position in such a manner as to have the point of the sun's
rising on your left ; you will then have the south directly
facing you, and the north at your back : a line drawn through
a field in this direction^^ is called the *' cardinal"^ line. The
observer must then turn round, so as to look upon his shadow,
for it will be behind him. Having thus changed his position,
so as to bring tlie point of the sun's rising on that day to the
right, and that of his setting to the left, it will be the sixth
hour of the day, at the moment when the shadow straight
before him is the shortest. Through the middle of this
shadow, taken lengthwise, a furrow must be traced in the
ground with a hoe, or else a line drawn with ashes, some
twenty feet in length, say ; in the middle of this line, or, in
other words, at the tenth foot in it, a small circle must then
be described : to this circle we may give the name of the
** umbilicus," or '' navel." That point in the line which lies
on the side of the head of the shadow will be the point from
whicli the north wind blows. You who are engaged in prun-
ing trees, be it your care that the incisions made in the wood
do not face this point ; nor should the vine-trees^^ or the vines
have this aspect, except in the climates of Africa, ^'^ Cyrense, or
Egypt. "When the wind blows, too, from this point, j'ou must
never plough, nor, in fact, attempt any other of the operations
of which we shall have to make mention. *^^
That part of the line which lies between the umbilicus and
the feet of the shadow will look towards the south, and indi-
cate the point from which the south wind*'^ blows, to which,
as already mentioned, '° the Greeks have given the name of
^otus. When the wind comes from this quarter, you, hus-
bandman, must never fell wood or touch the vine. In Italy
^- ^lany of his statements are drawn from Aristotle's Treatise, " De
Mundo." ^^ Our mid-day.
*^* From due north to due south. 65 Cardo.
^^ " Arbusta." The trees on which the vines were trained.
^"^ I. e. the north-west of Africa ; the Roman province so called.
6** In the next Chapter. ^^ Ventus Auster.
"<J In B. ii. c. 46.
VOL. IV. I
114 PLINY's NATCKA.L HISTOKT. [J^ook XVJir.
this wind is either humid or else of a burning heat, and in
Africa it is accompanied with intense heat'^ and fine clear
weather. In Italj- the bearing branches should be trained to
face this quarter, but the incisions made in the trees or vines
when pruned must never face it. Let those be on their guard
against this wind upon the four'^ days at the rising of the
Yergiliffi, who are engaged in planting the olive, as well as
those who are employed in the operations of grafting or ino-
culating.
It will be as well, too, here to give some advice, in reference
to the climate of Italj^, as to certain precautions to be observed
at certain hours of the daj'. You, woodman, must never lop
the branches in the middle of the day ; and you, shepherd,
when you see midday approaching in summer, and the shadow
gradually decreasing, drive your flocks from out of the sun
into some well- shaded spot. When you lead the flocks to pas-
ture in summer, let them face the west before midday,'^ and
after that time, the east : if this precaution is not adopted,
calamitous results will ensue ; the same, too, if the flocks are
led in winter or spring to pastures covered with dew. Nor
must you let them feed with their faces to the north, as already
mentioned;''^ for the wind will either close their eyes or else
make them bleared, and they will die of looseness. If you wish
to have females,^^ you should let the dams have their faces to-
wards the north while being covered.
CHAP. 77. (34.) — THE LAYING OUT OF LANDS ACCORDING TO THE
POINTS OF THE WIND.
We have already stated''^ that the umbilicus should be de-
scribed in the middle of the line. Let another line be drawn
transversely through the middle of it, and it will be found to
run from due east to due west ; a trench cut through the land
in accordance with this line is known by the name of " decu-
manus." Two other lines must then be traced obliquely
across them in the form of the letter X, in such a way as to
■'^ Incendia.
'- See B. xvii. c. 2. 73 gee B. viii. c. 75.
'^ He seems to be in error here, as he has nowhere made mention of tliis.
75 Aristotle, on the other hand, and Colunu-lla, B. vii. c. 3, say " males."
See also B. viii. c. 72, where males are mentioned in connection AvitU the
nortli-wind. Also the next Chapter in this Book.
"s In the last Chapter
Chap. 77.] THE LAYING OUT OF LAN'DS. 115
run exactly from right and left of the northern point to left
and right of the southern one. All these lines must pass
through the centre of the umbilicus, and all must be of corre-
sponding length, and at equal distances. This method should
always be adopted in laying out land; or if it should be found
necessarj^ to employ it frequently, a plan" of it may be made
in wood, sticks of equal length being fixed upon the surface
of a small tambour,'** but perfectly round. In the method
■which I am here explaining, it is necessary to point out one
l)recaution that must always be observed by those who are
unacquainted with the subject. The point that must be veri-
fied first of all is the south, as that is always the same ; but
the sun, it must be remembered, rises every day at a point in
tlie heavens different to that of his rising on the day before,
so tliut the east must never be taken as the basis for tracing
the lines.
Having now ascertained the various points of the heavens,
tlie extremity of the line that is nearest to the north, but lying
to tlie east of it, will indicate the solstitial rising, or, in other
words, the rising of the sun on the longest day, as also the
point from which the wind Aquilo '^ blows, known to the Greeks
by the name of Boreas. You should plant all trees and vines
facing this point, but take care never to plough, or sow corn,
or plant in seed plots, while this wind is blowing, for it has the
effect of drying up and blasting the roots of the trees while
being transplanted. Be taught in time — one thing is good fur
grown trees, another for them while they are hut young. l\oi
have I forgotten the fact, that it is at this point of the heavens
that the Greeks place the wind, to which they give the name
of Csecias ; Aristotle, a man of most extensive learning, who
has assigned to Caecias this position, explains that it is in con-
sequence of the convexity of the earth, that Aquilo blows in
an opposite direction to the wind called Africus.
The agriculturist, however, has nothing to fear from Aquilo,
in respect to the operations hefore mentioned, all the )"ear
through ; for this wind is softened by the sun in the middle of
"(T Very similar to our compass, bat describing only eight points of
the Avind, instead of thirty two.
78 u Tympanum," a drum, similar in shape to our tambourines or else
kettle-drums.
•9 See B. ii. c. 46.
1)6 flint's NATUllAL history. [Book XYIIl.
the summer, and, changing its name, is known by that of Ete-
sias.^*^ When you feel the cold, then, be on your guard ; for,
whatever the noxious effects that are attributed to Aquilo, the
more sensibly will they be felt when the wind blows from due
north. In Asia, Greece, Spain, the coasts of Italy, Campania,
and Apulia, the trees that support the vines, as well as the
vines themselves, should have an aspect towards the north-east.
If you wish to have male produce, let the flock feed in such
a way, that this wind may have the opportunity of fecunda-
ting the male, whose office it is to fecundate the females. The
wind Africus, known to the Greeks by the name of Libs, blows
from the south-wTst, the opposite point to Aquilo ; when
animals, after coupling, turn their heads towards this quarter,^^
you may be sure that female produce has been conceived.
The third ®- line from the north, which we have drawn trans-
versely through the shadow, and called by the name of '' de-
cumanus," will point due east, and from this quarter the wind
Subsolnnus blows, by the Greeks called Apeliotes. It is to
this point that, in healthy localities, farm-houses and vineyards
are made to look. This wind is accompanied with soft, gentle
showers ; Eavonius, however, the wind that blows from due
west, the opposite quarter to it, is of a drier nature; by the
Greeks it is known as Zephyrus. Cato has recommended that
olive-yards should look due west. It is this wind that begins
the spring, and opens the earth ; it is moderately cool, but
healthy. As soon as it begins to prevail, it indicates that the
time has arrived for pruning the vine, weeding the corn, plant-
ing trees, grafting fruit-trees, and trimming the olive; for its
breezes are productive of the most nutritious effects.
The fourth ^^ line from the north, and the one that lies nearest
the south on the eastern side, will indicate the point of the
sun's rising at the winter solstice, and the wind Volturnus,
known by the name of Eurus to the Greeks. This wind is
■\\ arm and dry, and beehives and vineyards, in the climates of
Italy and the Gallic pro^-inces, should face this quarter.
Directly opposite to Volturnus, the wind Corns blows; it in-
dicates the point of the sun's setting at the summer solstice,
f*" Or the " summer" wind. si Africus, or south-west.
" Or. according to our mode of (.Npcssion, the "second," or "next
but one."
''3 Or, as we say, the " third.'
(
Cliap. 78.] PitOGNoSTICS DEEIVED IMlOil THE SUIf. 11/
and lies on the western side next to the north. By the Greeks
it is called Argestes, and is one of the very coldest of the winds,
which, in fact, is the case with all the winds that blow from the
north ; this wind, too, brings hailstorms -with it, for which
reason it is necessary to be on our guard against it no less than
the north. If Yolturnus begins to blow from a clear quarter
of the heavens, it will not last till night ; but if it is Subso-
lanus, it will prevail for the greater part of the night. What-
ever the wind that may happen to be blowing, if it is accom-
panied by heat, it will be sure to last for several days. The
earth announces the approach of Aquilo, by drying on a sudden,
while on the approach of Auster, the surface becomes moist
without any apparent cause.
CHAP. 78. (35.) — PROGNOSTICS DEEIVED FKOM THE SUN.
Having now explained the theory of the winds, it seems to
me the best plan, in order to avoid any repetition, to pass on to
the other signs and prognostics that are indicative of a change
of weather. I find, too, that this is a kind of knowledge that
greatly interested Yirgil,*** for he mentions the fact, that during
the harvest even, he has often seen the Avinds engage in a
combat that was absolutely ruinous to the improvident agri-
culturist. There is a tradition, too, to the effect that Demo-
critus, already mentioned, when his brother Damasus was get-
ting in his harvest in extremely hot weather, entreated him to
leave the rest of the crop, and house with all haste that which
had been cut ; and it was only within a very few hours that
his prediction was verified by a most violent storm. On the
other hand, it is particularly recommended never to plant reeds
except when rain is impending, and only to sow corn just be-
fore a shower ; we shall therefore briefly touch upon the prog-
nostics of this description, making enquiry more particularly
into those among them that have been found the most useful.
In the first place, then, we will consider those prognostics
of the weather which are derived from the sun." If the sun is
bright at its rising, and not burning hot, it is indicative of fine
8i Georg. i. 313, et seq.
" Saepe ego, quum flavis messorein induceret arvis
Agricola, et tragi li jam striugeret hordea culmo.
Omnia ventorum coucurrere proelia vidi."
85 See the Treatise of Theophrastus on the Prognostics of tl»e Weather.
118 PLINr's NATURAL iHSTOilT. [Book XVIII.
-weather, but if pale, it announces wintry weather accompanied
with liail. If the sun is bright and clear when it sets, and
if it rises Avith a similar appearance, the more assured of fine
weather may we feel ourselves. If it is hidden in clouds at
its rising, it is indicative of rain, and of wind, when the clouds
are of a reddish colour just before sunrise ; if black clouds are
intermingled with the red ones, they betoken rain as well.
When the sun's rays at its rising or setting appear to unite,
rainy weather may be looked for. When the clouds are red at
sunset, they give promise ^^ of a fine day on the morrow ; but
if, at the sun's rising, the clouds are dispersed in various quar-
ters, some to the south, and some to the north-east, even though
the heavens in the vicinity of the sun may be bright, they are
significant of rain and wind. If at the sun's rising or set-
ting, its rays appear contracted, they announce tlie approach of
a shower. If it rains at sunset, or if the sun's rays attract the
clouds towards them, it is portentous of stormy weather on the
following day. When the sun, at its rising, does not emit
vivid rays, although there are no clouds surrounding it, rain
may be expected. If before sunrise the clouds collect into
dense masses, they are portentous of a violent storm ; but if
t.iiey are repelled from the east and travel westward, they in-
dicate fine weather. When clouds are seen surrounding the
face of the sun, the less the light they leave, tiie more violent
tiie tempest will be : but if they form a double circle round
the sun, the storm will be a dreadful one. If this takes place
at sunrise or sunset, and the clouds assume a red hue, the ap-
proach of a most violent storm is announced : and if the clouds
liang over the face of the sun without surrounding it, they
presage wind from tlie (quarter from which they are drifting,
and rain as well, if they come from the south.
If, at its rising, the sun is surrounded with a circle, wind
may be looked for in the quarter in which the circle breaks ;
but if it disappears equally throughout, it is indicative of fine
weather. If the sun at its rising throws out its rays afar
through the clouds, and the middle of its disk is clear, there
will be rain ; and if its rays are seen before it rises, both rain
and wind as well. If a white circle is seen round the sun at
its setting, there will be a slight storm in the night ; but if there
"^ This, Fee observes, isconfiniied by experience. Aratus, as translated
by Avienus, states to a similar effect.
Chap. 79.] PROGNOSTICS DEUITED FROM THE MOON. 119
is a mist around it, the storm will be more violent. If the sun
is pule at sunset, there will be wnnd, and if there is a dark
circle round it, high winds will arise in the quarter in wliich
the circle breaks.
CHAP. 79. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM THE MOON.
The prognostics derived from the moon, assert their right to
occupy our notice in the second place. In Egj^pt, attention is
paid, more particularly, to the fourth day of the moon. If,
when the moon rises, she shines with a pure bright light, it is
generally supposed that we shall have fine weather ; but if she
is red, there will be wind, and if of a swarthy ^^ hue, rain. If
upon the fifth day of the moon her horns are obtuse, they are
always indicative of rain, but if sharp and erect, of wind, and
this on the fourth day of the moon more particularly. If her
northern horn is pointed and erect, it portends wind ; and if it
is the lower horn that presents this appearance, the wind will
be from the south ; if both of them are erect, there will be
high winds in the night. If upon the fourth day of the moon
she is surrounded by a red circle, it is portentous of wand and
rain.
In Varro we find it stated to the following efiect : — " If, at
the fourth day of the moon, her horns are erect, there will be
great storms at sea, unless, indeed, she has a circlet®^ around her,
and that circlet unblemished ; for by that sign we are informed
that there will be no stormy weather before full moon. If, at
the full moon, one half of her disk is clear, it is indicative of
fine weather, but if it is red, of wind, and if black, of rain. If
a darkness comes over tlje face of the moon, covered with clouds,
in whatever quarter it breaks, from that quarter wind may be
expected. If a twofold circle surrounds the moon, the storm
wnll be more violent, and even more so still, if there are three
circles, or if they are black, broken, and disjointed. If the new
moon at her rising has the upper horn obscured, there will be a
prevalence of rainy weather, when she is on the wane ; but if
it is the lower horn that is obscured, there will be rain before
full moon ; if, again, the moon is darkened in the middle of her
disk, there will be rain when she is at full. If the moon, when
full, has a circle round her, it indicates wind from the quarter
in the circle which is the brightest; but if at her rising the
*^'' So Virgil, Georg. i. 427. ^^ Coronara.
120 PLTNY's NATURAL HTSTORr. [Sook XVITI.
horns are obtuse, they are portentous of a frightful tempest.
If, when the west wind prevails, the moon does not make her
appearance before her fourth day, there will be a prevalence
of stormy weather throughout the month. If on the sixteenth
day the moon has a bright, flaming appearance, it is a presage
of violent tempests."
There are eight different epochs of the moon, or periods at
which she makes certain angles of incidence with the sun, and
most persons only notice the prognostics derived from the
moon, according to the places which they occupy between these
angles. The periods of these angles are the third day, the
seventh, the eleventh, the fifteenth, the nineteenth, the twenty-
third, the twenty-seventh, and that of the conjunction.
CHAP. 80. PEOGNOSTICS DERIVED PEGM THE STARS.
In the third rank must be placed the prognostics derived
from the stars. These bodies are sometimes to be seen shooting
to and fro f^ when this happens, winds immediately ensue,
in that part of the heavens in which the presage has been
utforded. When the heavens are equally bright throughout
their whole expanse, at the periods previously mentioned, ^*^ the
ensuing autumn will be fine and cool. If the spring and sum-
mer have passed not without some rain, the autumn will be
fine and settled,^^ and there will be but little wind : when the
autumn is fine, it makes a windy winter. When the bright-
ness of the stars is suddenly obscured, though vrithout^^ clouds
or fog, violent tempests may be expected. If numerous stars
are seen to shoot,^^ leaving a white track behind them, they
presage wind from that quarter.^*^* If they follow in quick suc-
cession from the same quarter, the wind will blow steadilj'',
but if from various quarters of the heavens, the wind will shift
in sudden gusts and squalls. If circles are seen to surround
any of the planets, there will be rain.^"* In the constellation
«^9 See B. ii. c. 6 and c. 36. ^ In c. 59 of this Book
"' " Dcnsum." Fee says that this is in general confirmed by experience.
'- This results, Fee says, from tiie presence of thin, aqueous vapours,
which portend a change in the atmosphere.
■•'•* Fee attributes this ph^enonicnon to hydrosulphuric gas, ignited in the
air by an electric spark. The notion that these meteors are stars, was
prevalent to a very recent period.
^•** To which they proceed.
** This, Fee says, is coulirmcd by experience.
Chap. 82.] PROGNOSTICS DEEITED FROM CLOUPS. 121
of Cancer, there are two ^piall stars to be seen, known as the
Aselli,^' the small space that lies between them being occupied
by a cloudy appearance, which is known as the Manger ;^ when
this cloud is not visible in a clear sky, it is a presage of a
violent storm. If a fog conceals from our view the one of these
stars which lies to the north-east, there will be high winds from
the south ; but if it is the star which lies to the south that is so
obscured, then the wind will be from the north-east. The
rainbow, when double, indicates the approach^'' of rain; but
if seen after rain, it gives promise, though by no means a cer-
tain one, of fine weather. Circular clouds around some of the
stars are indicative of rain.
CHAP. 81. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED PROM THUNDER.
When, in summer, there is more thunder than lightning,
wind may be expected from that quarter ; but if, on the other
hand, there is not so much thunder as lightning, there will be
a fall of rain. When it lightens in a clear sky, there will bo
rain, and if there is thunder as well, stormy weather ; but if
it lightens from all four quarters of the heavens, there will
be a dreadful tempest. AVhen it lightens from the north-east
only, it portends rain on the following day ; but when from
the north, wind may be expected from that quarter. When it
lightens on a clear night from the south, the west, or the
north-west, there will be wind and rain from those quarters.
Thunder^ in the morning is indicative of wind, and at midday
of rain.
CHAP. 82. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM CLOUDS.
When clouds are seen moving in a clear sky, wind may be
expected in the quarter from w^hich they proceed ; but if they
accumulate in one spot, as they approach the sun they will
disperse. If the clouds are dispersed by a north-east wind, it
is a presage of high winds, but if by a wind from the south, of
rain. If at sunset the clouds cover the heavens on either side
of the sun, they are indicative of tempest; if they are black
and lowering in the east, they threaten rain in the night, but
if in the west, on the following day. If the clouds spread in
85 Or « Little Asses." ^ Praesepia.
I ^ This, as Fee remarks, is consistent with experience.
, ^8 This, Fee remarks, appears to be consistent with general experience.
122 PLINT's NATUllAL HISTORY. [Book XYIII.
large numbers from the east, like fleeces of wool in appearance,
tliey indicate a continuance of rain for the next three days.
When the clouds settle on the summits of the mountains,^^ there
will be stormy weather ; but if the clouds clear away, it will
be fine. When the clouds are white and lowering, a hail-
storm, generally known as a " white "^ tempest, is close at
hand. An isolated cloud, however small,^ though seen in a
clear sky, announces wind and storm.
CHAP. 83. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM MISTS.
Mists descending from the summits of mountains, or from the
heavens, or settling in the vallies,^ give promise of fine weather.
• CHAP. 84. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM FIRE KINDLED BY MAN.
Kext to these are the prognostics that are derived from fire
kindled upon the earth. '^ If the flames are pallid, and emit a
murmuring noise, they are considered to presage stormy
weather ; and fungi npon the burning wick of the lamp are a
sign of rain.^ If the flame is spiral and flickering, it is an in-
dication of wind, and the same is the case when the lamp goes
out of itself, or is lighted with difficulty. So, too, if the snutf
hangs down, and sparks gather upon it, or if the burning coals
adhere" to vessels taken from off" the fire, or if the tire, when
covered up, sends out hot embers or emits sparks, or if the cin-
ders gather into a mass upon the hearth, or the coals burn
bright and glowing.
CHAP. 85. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM WATER.
There are certain prognostics, too, that may be derived from
s* Theophrastns states to a similar effect, and it is confirmed by the ex-
perience of those who live in mountainous countries.
1 We still hear of the " white squalls" of the Mediterranean.
2 " ' Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's
hand.'- — And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was
bhick with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain." — 1 Kings, xviii.
44, 45.
3 The truth of this, Fee says, he has personally experienced in the
vallies of the Alps. * Terreni ignes.
^ This, and the other phcenomena here mentioned, result, as Fee says,
from the hygrometric state of the air. Virgil mentions this appearance on
the wick of the lamp, (jeorg. i. 392.
6 Fee thinks that this indicates tine weather rather than rain, as show-
ing a pure state of the atmosphere.
Chap. 87.] PEOGXOSTICS DEBITED FEOM JJNnrALS. 123
water. If, when the sea is calm, the water ripples in the har-
bour, with a hollow, murmuring noise, it is a sign of wind,
and if in winter, of rain as well. If the coasts and shores re-
eclio while the sea is calm, a violent tempest may be expected ;
and the same when the sea, though calm, is heard to roar, or
tlirows up foam and bubbling spray. If sea pulmones' are
to be seen floating on the surface, they are portentous of stormy
weather for many days to come. Yer}' frequently, too, the sea
is seen to swell in silence, and more so than when ruffled by an
ordinary breeze ; this is an indication that the winds are at
work within its bosom already.
CHAP, 86. — PROGXOSTICS DERIVED FROM TEMPESTS THEMSELVES.
The reverberations, too, of the mountains, and the roaring
of the forests, are indicative of certain phsenomena ; and the
same is the case when the leaves are seen to quiver,^ without
a breath of wind, the downy filaments of the poplar or thorn
to float in the air, and feathers to skim along the surface of
the water.^ In champaign countries, the storm gives notice of
its approach by that peculiar muttering ^^ which precedes it ;
while the murmuring that is heard in the heavens affords us no
doubtful presage of what is to come.
CHAP. 87. PROGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM AQUATIC ANIMALS,
AND BIRDS.
The animals, too, afi'ord us certain presages; dolphins, for
instance, sporting in a calm sea, announce wind in the quarter
from which they make their appearance. ^^ When they throw
up the water in a billowy sea, they announce the approach of
a calm. The loligo,^"^ springing out of the water, shell-fish
adhering to various objects, sea-urchins fastening by their
stickles upon the sand, or else burrowing in it, are so many in-
' Sea-" lungs." See B. ix. c. 71. ^ Ludentia.
9 Virgil mentions these indications, Georg. i. 368-9.
1" •' Suus tVagor." The winds, Fee remarks, liowever violent they may
be, make no noise unless they meet with an obstacle which arrests their
oHward progress.
1' Thooplirastus, Cicero, and Plutarch state to a similar effect ; and it
is corroborated by the experience of most mariners.
13 The ink-fish ; Sepia loligo of Limueus. See B. ix. c. 21.
124 plikt's natueal nisTuiiy. [Book XVIII.
dications of stormy weatlier : the same, too, when frogs^" croak
more than usual, or coots'^ make a chattering in the morning.
Divers, too, and ducks, when they clean their feathers with
the bill, announce high winds ; which is the case also when the
aquatic birds* unite in flocks, cranes make for the interior, and
divers^^ and sea-mews forsake the sea or the creeks. Cranes
when they &j aloft in silence announce fine weather, and sc
does the owlet,^® when it screeches during a shower ; but if it
is heard in fine weather, it presages a storm. Ravens, too,
when they croak with a sort of gurgling noise and shake theii
feathers, give warning of the approach of wind, if theii
note is continuous : but if, on the other hand, it is smothered,
and only heard at broken intervals, we may expect rain, ac-
companied with high winds. Jackdaws, when they returr
late from feeding, give notice of stormy weather, and the samt
with the white birds, ^'^ when they unite in flocks, and the
land birds, when they descend with cries to the water anc
besprinkle themselves, the crow more particularly. The
swallow, ^^ too, when it skims along the surface of the water
so near as to ripple it every now and then wdth its wings, anc
the birds that dwell in the trees, when they hide themselves
in their nests, afford similar indications ; geese, too, wher
they set up a continuous gabbling, ^^ at an unusual time, anc
the heron,"^" when it stands moping in the middle of the sands |
CHAP. 88. niOGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM QUADRUPEDS.
!N'or, indeed, is it surprising that the aquatic birds, or an)
birds, in fact, should have a perception of the impending
13 Virgil says the same, Georo-. i. 378.
^* " Fulicae." See B. x. c. 61, and B. xi. c. 44.
15 Virgil says the same of the diver, or didapper,Georg. i. 361 ; and Lucau
Pharsalia, v. 553.
>^ Both Theophrastus and JElian mention this.
'7 It is not known what bird is here alluded to, but Fee is probabl;
right in suggesting a sort of sea-mew, or gull.
^•^ This is still considered a prognostic of rain. Fee says that the swal
low descends thus near to the surface to catch the insect's on the wng
Avhich are now disabled from rising by the hygrometric state of the atmo
Bphere.
^' Tills is confirmed by experience.
20 On the contrary, Lucan says (Pharsalia, B. v. 1. 549), that on the ap
proaoh of rain, the heron soars in the upper regions of the air ; and Virg
says the same, Georg. i. 364.
SUMMARY. 125
changes of the atmosphere. Sheep, howeTer, when they skip
and frisk with their clumsy gambols,"' afford us similar prog-
nostics ; oxen, when they snuff upwards towards the sky, and
lick" themselves against the hair ; unclean swine, when they
tear to pieces the trusses of hay that are put for other ani-
mals ;'^^ bees, when, contrary to their natural habits of indus-
trj, they keep close within the hive ; ants, when they hurry
to and fro, or are seen carrying forth their eggs ; and earth-
worms,^* emerging from their holes — all these indicate ap-
proaching changes in the weather.
CHAP. 89. PKOGNOg^ICS DERIVED FKOIT PLANTS.
It is a well-known fact, that trefoil bristles up, and its leaves
stand erect, upon the approach of a tempest.
CHAP. 90. PEOGNOSTICS DERIVED FROM FOOD.
At our repasts, too, and upon our tables, when we see the
vessels sweat in which the viands are served, and leave marks
upon the side-board,-° it is an indication that a dreadful storm
is impending.
SriiMARY. — Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations,
two thousand and sixty.
EoMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.— Massurius Sabinus,^^ Cassius He-
mina,^' Verrius ilaccus,-® L. Piso,-^ Cornelius Celsus,^*' Turra-
nius Gracilis,^' D. Silanus,^^ M. Yarro,^^ Cato the Censor,^"*
Scrofa,^^ the Sasernse,^^ father and son, Domitius Calvinus,^^
21 Indecora lascivia.
22 Fee suggests tliat they probably do this to diminish the electric fluid
■with whicli the air is charged.
23 Alienos sibi nianipulos.
2* This is confirmed by common
experience.
25 "Repositoriis." See B.
xix.
c. 13,
and B. xxx. c. 49.
2« See end of B. vii.
27 See end of B. xii
28 See end of B. iii.
29 See end of B. ii.
ao See end of B. vii.
31 See end of B. iii.
^2 See end of B. xiv^
'3 See end of B. ii.
21 See end of B. iii.
35 Sec end of B. xi.
■^ See end of B. x.
37 See end of B. xi.
126 pliny's natural nisroRY. [Cook XYIIT.
Hyginus,^^ Yirgil,^^ Trogiis/'^ Ovld,^^ Grascinus,*^ Columella,'*^
Tubero,^^ L. Tarutius/^ who wrote in Greek on the Stars,
Csesar*® tiie Dictator, who wrote upon the Stars, Sergius
Paulus,*' Sabinus Fabian us,^^ M. Cicero,^^ Calpurnius Bassus,^*^
Ateius Capito,^^ Mamilius Sura," Attius,**" who wrote the
Praxidica.
FoEEiGJf AUTHORS QUOTED. — Ilesiod,^^ Theophrastus,^^ Aris-
totle,^^ Democritus,^' King Hiero,^ King Attains Philonietor,^'
King Arohelaiis,^^ Archytas,*^^ Xenophon,*^- Am^jhilochus^^ oi
38 See end of B. iii. 29 g^^ ^^(j of B. vii.
40 See end of B. vii.
*^ A native of Su.lmo, in the country of tbe Peligni, and one of t])C
greatest poets of the Augustan age. It is most probable that his " Fasti"
was extensively consulted by Pliny in the compilation of the present Book.
Six Books of the Fasti have come down to us, but the remaining six hav£
perished, if, indeed, they were ever written, which has been doubted b}
many of the learned.
•*'- See end of B, xiv. *3 gee end of B. viii.
** See end of B. ii. It is supposed that there were several writers 0
this name, but it is impossible to say with certainty which of them is tht
one here referred to. It is probable, however, that it is either L. Jilliua
'J'ubero, the friend of Cicero, or else Q, JElius Tubero, his sou, that is
alluded to.
*^ L. Tarutius Firmianus, a mathematician and astronomer, and f
friend and contemporary of Cicero and M. Varro. At tlie request of the
latter, he took the horoscope of Eomulus. It is generally supposed that
he was of Etruscan descent.
*^ The founder of the imperial dignity at Eome. His Commentaries
are the only work written by him that has come down to us. His trea-
tise on the Stars, which Pliny frequently quotes tlirougliout this Book,
was probably written under the inspection of the astronomer, Sosigenes.
" See end of B. ii.
*8 Nothing is known of tliis writer. It has been suggested, however,
that he may have been the same person as I^apirius Fabianus, meutionee
at the end of B. ii.
49 See end of B. vii. so gge end of B. xvi.
51 See end of B. iii. s-i See end of B x.
=3 L. Acciu.s, or Attius, an early Roman tragic poet, and the son of ;
freed man, born about b.c. 170. His tragedies were chiefly imitations from
the Greek. He is highly praised by Cicero. The " Praxidica" here men-
tioned, is probably the same as the " Pr igmatica" spoken of by Aulu;
GelUus, B. XX. c. 3. Only some fragments of his Tragedies are left.
^ See end of B. vii. ob gge end of B. iii. U
M See end of B. ii. 57 ^^q end of B. ii.
5S See end of B. viii. 59 ggg end of B. viii.
60 See end of B. viii. ei gee end of B. viii.
63 See end of B. iv. 63 Qqq end of B. viii.
SUMMARY. 1 27
Athens, Aiiaxipolis®' of Thasos, Aristophanes^^ of Milcdis,
Apollociorus'^ of Lemnos, Autigonus^' of Gj'mae, Agathocles**** of
Chios, Apollouius^^ of Pergaums, Aristander'^ of Athens, Bac-
chius'^ of Miletus, Bion''^ of Soli, Chaereas" of Athens, Chsg-
ristus^^ of Athens, Diodorus'^ of Priene, Dion'® of Colophon,
Epigenes''^ of Rhodes, Euagon'^ of Thasos, Euphronius'^ of
Athens, Androtion^" who wrote on Agriculture, ^schrion^^
who Avrote on Agriculture, Lysiraachus^- who wrote on Agri-
culture, Dionysius^* who translated Mago, Diophanes^"* who
made an Epitome from Dionysius, Thales,^^ Eudoxus,*^ Philip-
2)us,^'^ Calippus,^® Dositheus,*"^ Parmeniscus,^° Meton,^^ Criton,'-
^^ See end of B. ix. ^^ See end of B. viii.
^^ See end of 13. viii. ^^ See end of B. viii.
^^ See end of B. viii. , ^^ See end of B. viii.
'" See end of B. viii. '^ See end of B. viii.
'- See end of ii. vi. 73 ggg q^^^ of j^ yjjj^
'•^ See end of B. xiv. ''^ See end of B. xv.
■'S See end of li. viii. '''' See end of B. ii.
^^ See end of B. x, '^ See end of B. viii.
*"' See end of B viii. ^^ See end of B. viii.
s- See end of B. viii. sj gee end of B. xii.
^^ See end of B. viii.
«^ Of Miletns, the most ancient of the Greek philosophers, and tlie
founder of the Jonian school of Philosophy. He is said to liave ^\^itttu
upon the Solstice and the Equinox, and a work on Astronomy, in verse,
was also attributed to him. It is, however, more generally believed, that
he left no written works behind him, and that those attributed to him
weie forgeries. fee See end of B. ii.
S' An astronomer of Medama, or Medma, in IMagna Graecia, and a dis-
ciple of Plato. lie is said to have written a treatise on the Avinds, and
Plutarch states tliat he demonstrated the figure of the moon.
^® An astronomer of Cyzicus, and a friend of Aristotle, whom he assisted
in completing the discoveries of Eudoxus. He invented the cycle of
seventy-six years, called after him the Calippic.
*^ Of Colonus, a geometrician, to whom Archimedes dedicated his
works on the spliere and cylinder, and on spirals.
^'^ A grammarian, who is supposed to have written a commentary on
Aratus. Yarro, Be Ling. Lat. x. 10, speaks of him as making the dis-
tinctive characteristics of words to be eight in number.
^^ A famous astronomer of Athens, to whom the discovery of the cycle
of nineteen years has been attributed.
9- There were several learned men of this name, but it appears impos-
sible to say which of them is the one here alluded to ; probably it is either
the Pythagorean philosopher of iEgcE, who wrote on Predestination, or
else the historian, a native of Pieria in Macedonia. There was also an
astronomer of this name, a native of Xaxos, and a friend of Eudoxus of
Cnidos.
128 PLINY's NATUBAL history. [Book XVIIT.
CEnopides,'' Zenon,** Eiictemon,^' Harpalus,**^ Hecataeus,'"
Anaximander,^® Sosigenes,^ Hipparclius/ Aratus,'^ Zoroaster,'
Archibius.*
53 A famous astronomer, a native of Chios. He is said to have claimed
the discovery of the obliquity of the Ecliptic.
9* Probably Zenon of Elea, one of tbe most famous philosophers of
anticpjity. AH of his Avorks had perished at a very early period.
95 An Athenian astronomer, the friend and assistaiit of Meton, about
430 B.C.
^ An astronomer mentioned by Censorinus, as haA^ng corrected the in-
tercalation of Cleostratus. Nothing further appears to be known of him.
^■^ For Hecataeus of Miletus, see B. iv. J^ or Hecatajus of Abderii,
see B. vi. ^^ See end of B. iv.
99 See end of B. ii. i See end of B. ii.
2 A native of Soli, or else Tarsus, in Cilicia. He Avas the author of
tAvo Greek astronomical poems Avhich have come doAvn to us. He flou-
rished about B.C. 270.
3 Nothing can be said of him Avith any degree of historical certainty.
By the Persians he Avas called Zerdusht, and Avas said to have been the
founder of the Magian religion. There Avere several Avorks in Greek
bearing his name, but which, no doubt, Avere forgeries of a later age than
that usually assigned to him.
■^ He is mentioned in c. 70 of this Book, as Avriting a letter to Antio-
chus, king of Syria ; but nothing further seems to be knoAvn of him.
129
BOOK XIX.
THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN
ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN PLANTS.
CHAP. 1. THE NATTJEE OF FLAX MAKVELLOUS FACTS EELATIVE
THEEETO.
"We have now imparted a knowledge^ of the constellations
and of the seasons, in a method unattended with difficulty for
the most ignorant even, and free from every doubt ; indeed,
to those who understand these matters aright, the face of the
earth contributes in no less a degree to a due appreciation of
the celestial phsenomena, than does the science of astronomy
to our improvement in the arts of agriculture.
Many Avriters have made it their next care to treat of horti-
culture ; but, for my own part, it does not appear to me alto-
gether advisable to pass on immediately to that subject, and,
indeed, I am rather surprised to find that some among the
learned, who have either sought the pleasures of knowledge in
these pursuits, or have grounded their celebrity upon them,
have omitted so many particulars in reference thereto ; for no
mention do we find in their writings of numerous vegetable
productions, both wild as well as cultivated, many of which
are found, in ordinary life, to be of higher value and of more
extended use to man than the cereals even.
To commence, then, with a production which is of an uti-
lity that is universally recognized, and is employed not only
upon drj"- land but upon the seas as well, we will turn our at-
tention to flax, ^ a plant which is reproduced, from seed, but
which can neither be classed among the cereals nor yet amoug
the garden plants. What department is there to be found of
active life in which flax is not employed ? and in what pro-
duction of the earth are there greater marvels^ revealed to us
1 More particularly in B. xvii. cc. 2 and 3, and B. xviii. cc. 57 — 75.
2 The Linum iisitatissimuni of Linnseus.
3 What would he liave said to the application of the powers of steam,
and the electric telegraph .^
VOL. IV. K
!30 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book XIX.
than in this ? To think that here is a plant which brings
Egypt in close proximity to Italy ! — so much so, in fact, that
Galerius* and Balbillus,'^ both of them prefects of Egypt, made
the passage to Alexandria from the Straits of Sicily, the one
in six days, the other in five ! It was only this very last sum-
mer, that Valerius Marianus, a senator of praetorian rank,
reached Alexandria from Puteoli in eight days, and that, too,
with a very moderate breeze all the time ! To think that
here is a plant which brings Gades, situate near the Pillars of
Hercules, within six days of Ostia, !N'earer Spain within three,
the province of Gallia ^N'arbonensis within two, and Africa
within one ! — this last passage having been made by C. Fla-
vins, when legatus of Yibius Crispus, the proconsul, and that,
too, with but little or no wind to favour his passage !
What audacity in man ! What criminal perverseness ! thus
to sow a thing in the ground for the purpose of catching the
winds and the tempests, it being not enough for him, forsooth,
to be borne upon the waves alone ! Nay, still more than tli^s,
sails even that are bigger than the very ships themselves will
not suffice for him, and although it takes a whole tree to
make a mast to carry the cross-yards, above those cross-yards
sails upon sails must still be added, with others swelling at the
prow and at the stern as well — so many devices, in fact, to
challenge death ! Only to think, in fine, that that which
moves to and fro, as it were, the various countries of the earth,
should spring from a seed so minute, and make its appearance
in a stem so fine, so little elevated above the surface of the
earth ! And then, besides, it is not in all its native strength
that it is employed for the purposes of a tissue ; no, it must
first be rent asunder, and then tawed and beaten, till it is
reduced to the softness of wool ; indeed, it is only by such
violence done to its nature, and prompted by the extreme
audacity or man, and*' * * * that it is rendered subser-
vient to his purposes. The inventor of this art has been
"• Possibly Galorius Trachalus, Consul a.d. 68, a relation of Galeria
Funrlana, the wife of the Emperor Vitellius.
= Governor of E^ypt in the reign of Nero, a.d. 55. He is mentioned
by Seneca, Quaest. Nat. B. iv. c 2, and is supposed to have written a work
on Egypt and bis journeys in that country.
6 Or, as Sillig suggests, "after ill treatiucnt suck as this, that it arrives
at the sea." The pass;ige is evidently defective.
Chap. 2.] HOW FLAX IS SOWN. 131
already mentioned by us on a more appropriate occasion ;' not
satisfied that his fellow-men should perish upon land, but
anxious that they should meet their end with no sepulchral
rites to await them, there are no execrations^ to be found that
can equal his demerits !
It is only in the preceding Book ^ that I was warning the
agriculturist, as he values the grain that is to form our daily
sustenance, to be on his guard against the storm and the tem-
pest ; and yet, here we have man sowing with his own hand,
man racking his invention how best to gather, an object the
only aspirations of which upon the deep are the winds of
heaven ! And then, too, as if to let us understand all the better
how highly favoui-ed is this instrument of our punishment,
there is no vegetable production that grows with greater fa-
cility ;^° and, to prove to us that it is in despite of Mature her-
self that it exists, it has the property of scorching ^^ the ground
where it is grown, and of deteriorating the quality of the very
soil itself.
CHAP. 2. (1.) — HOW FLAX IS SOWN: TWEXTT-SEVEN PHIXCIPAL
VARIETIES OE IT.
Flax is mostly sown in sandy ^^ soils, and after a single
ploughing only. There is no plant that grows more rapidly ^^
' In B. vii. c. 57. He alludes to Doedalus.
8 He probably has in view here the imprecation littered by Horace : —
'' Illi robur, et ses triplex
Circr> pectus erat, qui fragilem truci
Commisit pelago ratem." — Odes^ i. 3.
At the present day hemp forms a material part in the manufacture of
sails. In addition to flax, the ancients employed broom, rushes, leather,
and various skins of animals for the purpose.
9 In c. 76.
10 On the contrary, as Fee observes, the cultivation of flax is attended
with the greatest difficultifs.
11 See B. xvii. c. 7. Virgil says, Gcorg. i. 77, "Urit enim lini campum
seges" — but in the sense, as Fee remarks, of exhausting., not scorching the
soil.
12 A light soil, and well manured, is usually employed for the purpose.
Columella, B. ii. c. 10, recommends a rich, moist soil. It is sown in March
or April, and is gathered, according to the season, from June to September.
13 Though rapid in its growth, there are many vegetable productions
that grow more rapidly.
K 2
132 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book XIX.
than this ; sown in spring, ^^ it is pulled up in summer, and is,
for this reason as well, productive of considerable injury to tlie
soil.^' There may be some, however, who would forgive
Egypt for growing it, as it is by its aid that she imports the
merchandize of Arabia and India ; but why should the Gallic
provinces base any of their reputation upon this product ?^^ Is
it not enough, forsooth, for them to be separated by mountains
from the sea, and to have, upon the side on which they are
bounded by the Ocean, that void and empty space, as it is
called ? '' The Cadurci,^^ the Caleti, the Euteni,^^ the Bitu-
riges,-° and the Morini,*' those remotest of all mankind, as it is
supposed, the w^hole of the Gallic provinces, in fact, are in the
habit of weaving sail-cloth ; and at the present day our ene-
mies even, who dwell beyond the Ehenus, have learned to do the
same ; indeed, there is no tissue that is more beautiful in the
eyes of their females than linen. I am here reminded of the
fact, that we find it stated by M. Varro, that it is a custom
peculiar to the family of the Serrani -^ for the women never to
wear garments of linen. In Germany it is in caves'^ deep under-
ground that the linen-weavers ply their work ; and the same
is the case, too, in the Alian territory, in Italj^, between the
rivers Padus and Ticinus, the linen of which holds the third
rank among the kinds manufactured in Europe, that of Saeta-
bis -* claiming the first, and those of Eetovium ^' and of Eaven-
^* This was the time for sowing it with the Romans, though in some
countries, at the present day, it is sown so late as the autumn.
^5 In 1}. xviii. c. 72, he has spoken of this method of gathering vege-
table productions as injurious to the soil, by withdrawing its natural
juices.
1^ " Censentur hoc reditu ?" There is little doubt that the Gauls, like
their German neighbours, cultivated llax for the purposes of female dress,
and not mainly for the manufacture of sails.
^" " Quod vocant inane." lie implies that the boundless space of
ocean on the Western coasts of Gaul was useless for any purposes of navi-
gation.
18 See B. iv. c. 33. i9 See B. iv. c. 33.
20 See B. xxxiv. c. 48. 21 See B. iv. c. 31.
22 A family of the Atilia gens.
23 It was, and is still to some extent, a prevalent opinion, that the hu-
midity of caves under-ground is favourable to the manufacture of tissues
of hemp and flax.
2-' In Spain. See B. i. c. 1, and B. iii. c. 4.
25 Cluvier takes 'this place to be the same with Litubium in Liguria,
mentioned by Livy, B. xxxii.
Chap. 2.] PEI^fCIPAL VARIETIES OF FLAX. 133
tia, in the vicinity of Alia, on the -<iEmilian Way, the second,
place in general estimation. The linens of Faventia are pre-
ferred for whiteness to those of Alia, which are always un-
bleached : those of Retovium are remarkable for their extreme
fineness, combined with substance, and are quite equal in
whiteness to the linens of Faventia ; but they have none of
that fine downy nap ^^ upon them, which is so highly esteemed
by some persons, though equally disliked by others. A thread
is made, too, from their flax, of considerable strength, smoother
and more even, almost, than the spider's web ; when tested
with the teeth, it emits a sharp, clear twang ; hence it is, that
it sells at double the price of the other kinds.
I3ut it is the province of ^N'earer Spain that produces a linen
of the greatest lustre, an advantage which it owes to the waters
of a stream which washes the city of Tarraco-'' there. The fine-
ness, too, of this linen is quite marvellous, and here it is that
the first manufactories of cambric*® were established. From
the same province, too, of Spain, the flax of Zoela ^^ has of late
years been introduced into Italy, and has been found extremely
serviceable for the manufacture of hunting-nets. Zoela is a
city of Callsecia, in the vicinity of the Ocean. The flax, too,
of Cumse, in Campania, has its own peculiar merits in the
manufacture of nets for fishing and fowling ; it is employed,
also, for making hunting-nets. For it is from flax, in fact,
that we prepare various textures, destined to be no less insi-
dious to the brute creation than they are to ourselves. It is
with toils made from the flax of Cumae that wild boars are
taken, the meshes being proof against their bristles, ^° equally
with the edge of the knife : before now, too, we have seen some
of these toils of a fineness so remarkable^^ as to allow of being
26 " Lanugo." This is not generally looked upon as a merit in linen, at
the present day.
2' Now Tarragona. See B, iii. c. 4.
-s " Carbasus." This was probably the Spanish name originally for fine
flax, and hence came to signify the cambrics, or fine linen tissues made of
it. It seems, however, to have afterwards been extended to all kinds of
linen tissues, as we find the name given indifferently to linen garments,
Bail-cloth, and awnings for the theatres.
*3 See B. iii. c. 4.
3" " Saetas ceu per ferri aciem \'incunt." This passage is probably in a
mutilated state.
21 There must either be some corruption in the text, or else Pliny must
have been mistaken. Nets such as these could have been of no possible
lise in taking a wild boar.
134 IPLINY'S KATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XIX.
passed ilirougli a man's ring, running ropes and all, a single
individual being able to carry an amount of nets sufficient to
environ a whole forest — a thing which we know to have been
done not long ago by Julius Lupus, who died prefect of Egypt.
This, however, is nothing very surprising, but it really is quite
wonderful that each of the cords was composed of no less
than one hundred and fifty threads. Those, no doubt, will be
astonished at this, who are not aware that there is preserved
in the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus, in the Isle of Ehodes,
the cuirass of a former king of Egypt, Amasis by name, each
thread employed in the texture of which is composed of three
hundred and sixty-five other threads. Mucianus, who was
three times consul, informs us that he saw this curiosity very
recently, though there was but little then remaining of it, in
consequence of the injury it had experienced at the hands of
various persons who had tried to verify the fact. Italj^, too,
holds the flax of the Peligni in high esteem, though it is only
employed by fullers ; there is no kind known that is whiter
than this, or which bears a closer resemblance to wool. That
grown by the Cadurci^^ is held in high estimation for making
mattresses ;^^ which, as well as flock,^^ are an invention for which
we are indebted to the Gauls : the ancient usage of Italy is
still kept in remembrance in the word " stramentum,"^^ the
name given by us to beds stuffed with straw.
The flax of Egypt, though the least strong^^ of all as a tissue,
is that from which the greatest profits are derived. There are
four varieties of it, the Tanitic, the Pelusiac, the Butic, and
the Tentyiitic — so called from the various districts in which
they are respectively grown. The upper part of Egypt, in
the vicinity of Arabia, produces a shrub, known by some as
*' gossypium,"" but by most persons as ** xylon;" hence the
32 See B. iv. c. 33. Now Querci, the chief town of which is Cahors.
33 "Culcitse." 34 ''Toraenta."
33 Exactly corresponding to our "paillasse," a ''bed of straw."
36 This is doubtful, though at the same time it is a well-known fact that
the Egyptian flax grows to the greatest size. Hasselquist speaks of it
attaining a height of fifteen feet.
37 Our cotton, the Gossypium arboreum of Linn«us. See B. xii. c. 21.
The terms xylon^ bj/ssus, and gossypmm, must be regarded as synonymous,
being applied sometimes to the plant, sometimes to the raw cotton, and
sometimes to the tissues made from it. Gossypium was probably the bar-
barous name of the cotton tree, and byssiis perhaps a corruption of its
Hebrew name.
Chap. 3.] THE MODE OF PREPAllIXG FLAX. 135
name of '^ xylina," given to the tissues that are manufactured
from it. The shrub is small, and bears a fruit, similar in
appearance to a nut with a beard, and containing in the inside
a silky substance, the down of which is spun into threads.
There is no tissue known, that is superior to those made from
this thread, either for whiteness, softness, or dressing : the
most esteemed vestments worn by the priests of Egypt are
made of it. There is a fourth kind of tissue, known by the
name of *' othoninum,'* which is made from a kind of marsh-
reed,^^ the panicule only being employed for the purpose. In
Asia, again, there is a thread made from broom, ^^ which is
employed in the construction of fishing-nets, being found to
be remarkably durable ; for the purpose of preparing it, the
shrub is steeped in water for ten days. The Ethiopians, also,
and the people of India, prepare a kind of thread from a fruit
which resembles our apple, and the Arabians, as already*" men-
tioned, from gourds that grow upon trees.
CHAP. 3. THE MODE OF PKEPAEING FLAX.
In our part of the world the ripeness of flax is usually
ascertained by two signs, the swelling of the seed, and its
assuming a yellowish tint. It is then pulled up by the roots,
made up into small sheaves that will just fill the hand, and
hung to dry in the sun. It is suspended with the roots
upwards the first day, and then for the five following days the
heads of the sheaves are placed, reclining one against the other,
in such a way that the seed which drops out may fall into the
middle. Linseed is employed for various medicinaP°* purposes,
and it is used by the country-people of Italy beyond the Padus
in a certain kind of food, which is remarkable for its sweet-
38 Probably the Arundo donax of modern botanists. See B. xvi. c. 66.
33 Fee says, that the people of Pisa, at the present day, soak the stalks
of broom, and extract therefrom a thread, of which cord's and coarse stuffs
are made.
*" In B. xii. c. 21. He seems there to speak of the cotton-tree, though
Fee suggests that he may possibly allude to the " Bombax pentandrum" of
Linnaeus.
^^* It is the mucilage of the perisperm that is so useful in medicine.
As an article of food, the farina of linseed is held in no esteem whatever.
In times of scarcity, attempts have been made to mix it with flour or meal,
but the result has been found to be heavy and indigestible, and has caused,
it is said, the death even of those who have eaten of it in considerable
quantities.
136 PLnnr's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XIX.
ness : for this long time past, however, it has only been in gene-
ral use for sacrifices offered to the divinities. After the wheat
harvest is over, the stalks of flax are plunged in water that
has been warmed in the sun, and are then submitted to pres-
sure with a weight ; for there is nothing known that is more
light and buoyant than this. When the outer coat is loosened,
it is a sign that the stalks have been sufficiently steeped ; after
which^^ they are again turned with the heads downwards, and
left to dry as before in the sun : when thoroughly dried, they
are beaten with a tow-mallet on a stone.
The part that lies nearest to the outer coat is knowti by the
name of ''stuppa;'* it is a flax of inferior quality, and is
mostly employed for making the wicks of lamps. This, how-
ever, requires to be combed out with iron hatchels, until the
whole of the outer skin is removed. The inner part presents
numerous varieties of flax, esteemed respectively in propor-
tion to their whiteness and their softness. Spinning flax is
held to be an honourable^'- employment for men even : the
husks, or outer coats, are employed for heating furnaces and
ovens. There is a certain amount of skill required in hatchel-
ling flax and dressing it : it is a fair proportion for fifty pounds
in the sheaf to yield fifteen pounds of flax combed out. When
spun into thread, it is rendered additionally supple by being
soaked in water and then beaten out upon a stone ; and after
it is woven into a tissue, it is again beaten with heavy maces :
indeed, the more roughly it is treated the better it is.
CHAP. 4. LINEN MADE OF ASBESTOS.
There has been invented also a kind of linen which is in-
combustible by flame. It is generally known as '' live"*^ linen,
and I have seen, before now, napkins" that were made of it
*i There are various other methods employed of dressing flax at the
present day ; but they are all of them long and tedious.
*- And not feminine or servile.
43 a Vivum."
** He evidently considers asbestus, or amianthus, to be a vegetable, and
not a mineral production. It is, in reality, a mineral, with long flexible
fiUimeuts, of a silky appearance, and is composed of silica, magnesia, and
lime. The wicks of the inextinguishable lamps of the middle ages, the
existence of whicli was an article of general belief, were said to be made
of asbestus. Paper and lace, even, have been made of it in modern
times.
Chap. 4.] LINEN 3IADE Or ASBESTOS. 137
thrown into a blazing fire, in the room where the guests were
at table, and after the stains were burnt out, come forth from
the flames whiter and cleaner than they could possibly have
been rendered by the aid of water. It is from this material
that the corpse-cloths of monarchs are made, to ensure the
separation of the ashes of the body from those of the pile.
This substance grows'*^ in the deserts o'f India, ^^ scorched by
the burniug rays of the sun: here, where no rain is ever
known to fall, and amid multitudes of deadly serpents, it be-
comes habituated to resist the action of fire. Rarely to be
found, it presents considerable difficulties in weaving it into a
tissue, in consequence of its shortness ; its colour is naturally
red, and it only becomes white through the agency of fire.
By those who find it, it is sold at prices equal to those given
for the finest pearls ; by the Greeks it is called *' asbestinon,"*^
a name which indicates its peculiar properties. Anaxilaiis^^
makes a statement to the efi'ect that if a tree is surrounded
Avith linen made of this substance, the noise of the blows
given by the axe will be deadened thereby, and that the tree may
be cut down without their being heard. For these qualities it
is that this linen occupies the very highest rank among all the
kinds that are known.
The next rank is accorded to the tissue known as '* byssus,"*'
an article which is held in the very highest estimation by
females, and is produced in the vicinity of Elis, in Achaia.^ I
find it stated by some writers that a scruple of this sold for-
*5 "Nascitur." In the year 1702 there was found near the Naevian
Gate, at Eome, a funereal urn, in which there was a skull, calcined bones,
and other ashes, enclosed in a cloth of ashestus, of a marvellous length.
It is still preserved in the Vatican.
*^ On the contrary, it is found in the Higher Alps in the vicinity of
the Glaciers, in Scotland, and in Siberia, even.
*" Signifying " inextinguishable," from d, " not," and (7/31 i/rv/it, "to
extinguish." See B. xxxvii. c. 54.
*8 See end of this Book.
*9 He evidently alludes to cotton fabrics under this name. See Note 37
to c. 2 of this Book.
^° Pausanias, in his Eliaca, goes so far as to say, that byssus was found
only in Elis, and nowhere else. Judging from the variable temperature
of the climate, it is very doubtful, Fee says, if cotton was grown there
at all. Arrian, Apollonius, and Philostratus say that the tree which pro-
duced the byssus had the leaves of the willow, and the shape of the pop-
lar, characteristics which certainly do not apply to the cotton-tre-e.
138 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book XIX.
merly at four denarii, the same rate, in fact, as gold. The
downy nap of linen, and more particularly that taken from
the sails of sea-going ships, is very extensively employed for
medicinal purposes, and the ashes of it have the same virtues
as spodium.^^ Among the poppies, too,^^ there is a variety which
imparts a remarkable degree of whiteness to fabrics made of
linen.
CHAP. 5. AT WHAT PERIOD LINEN WAS FIRST DYED.
Attempts, too, have even been made to dye linen, and to
make it assume the frivolous colours^^ of our cloths. This was
first done in the fleet of Alexander the Great, while sailing
upon the river Indus ; for, upon one occasion, during a battle
that was being fought, his generals and captains distinguished
their vessels by the various tints of their sails, and astounded
the people on the shores by giving their many colours to the
breeze, as it impelled them on. It was with sails of purple,
too, that Cleopatra accompanied M. Antonius to the battle of
Actium, and it was by their aid that she took to flight : such
being the distinguishing mark of the royal ship.
€HAP. 6. AT WHAT PERIOD COLOURED AWNINGS WERE FIRST
EMPLOYED IN THE THEATRES.
In more recent^ times linens alone have been employed
for the purpose of aff'ording shade in our theatres ; Q,. Catulus
having been the first who applied them to this use, on
the occasion of the dedication by him of the Capitol. At a
later period, Lentulus Spinther, it is said, was the first to
spread awnings of fine linen^^ over the theatre, at the celebra-
tipn of the Games in honour of Apollo. After this, Csesar,
^1 Impure oxide of metals, collected from the chimneys of smelting-houses.
Fee says that Pliny on this occasion is right.
" In B. XX. c. 79, he speaks of the " heraclion" poppy, supposed by
Bome of the commentators to be identical with the one mentioned here.
53 *' Vestium insaniam."
51 " Postea." Sillio^ would reject this word, as being a corruption, and
not consistent with fact, Catulus having lived before the time of Cleo-
patra. He suggests that the reading should be " Populo Eomano ea in the-
atris spectanti urabram fecere." " Linen, too, has provided a shade for
the Roman people, when viewing the spectacles of the theatre." Lucretius,
B. iv. 1. 73, et seq., speaks of these awnings as being red, yellow, and
iron grey. ^a ** Carbasina." Cambric.
Chap. 7.] THE IS-ATUEE OF SPARTTJM. 139
Vv'lien Dictator, covered with a linen awning the whole of the
lioman Poriim, as well as the Sacred Way, from his own house
as far as the ascent to the Capitol, a sight, it is said, more won-
derful even than the show of gladiators which he then exhi-
bited. At a still later period, and upon the occasion of no
public games, Marcellus, the son of Octavia, sister of Augus-
tus, during his sedileship, and in the eleventh consulship of his
uncle, on the ^- * * day before the calends of August, covered
in the Forum with awnings, his object being to consult the
health of those assembled there for the purposes of litigation
— a vast chauge, indeed, from the manners prevalent in the
daj's of Cato the Censor, who expressed a wish that the
Forum was paved with nothing else but sharp pointed stones.
Awnings have been lately extended, too, by the aid of ropes,
over the amphitheatres of the Emperor 'Nero, dyed azure, like
the heavens, and bespangled all over with stars. Those which
are employed by us to cover the inner court°*^ of our houses
are generally red : one reason for employing them is to protect
the moss that grows there from the rays*^ of the sun. In
other respects, white fabrics of linen have always held the
ascendancy in public estimation. Linen, too, was highly
valued as early as the Trojan war ; for why else should it not
have figured as much in battles as it did in shipwrecks ? Thus
Homer,^ we find, bears witness that there were but few among
the warriors of those days who fought with cuirasses^^ on
made of linen ; while, as for the rigging of the ships, of
which that writer speaks, it is generally supposed by the more
learned among the commentators, that it was made of this ma-
terial ; for the word " sparta,"^° which he employs, means
nothing more than the produce of a seed.
CHAP. 7. (2.) — THE NATUEE OF SPAHTUM.
For the fact is that spartum^^ did not begin to be employed
s*"' The cavaedium is generally supposed to have been the same as the
" atrium," the large inner apartment, roofed over, with the exception of
an opening in the middle, which was called the " compluvium," or " im-
pluvium," over which the awning here mentioned was stretched. Here
the master of the house received his visitors and clients.
^'' AVhite would be much preferable to red for this purpose.
53 II. ii. 11. 529 and 830. 59 n ym^ i 63.
60 II. ii. 1. 135. See B. xxiv. c. 40.
61 The Stipa tenacissima of Linnaeus j a kind of broom, called " Esparto"
by the Spaniards,
140 flint's fatueal histoet. [Book XIX.
till many ages after the time of Homer ; indeed, not before the
first war that the Carthaginians waged in Spain. This, too,
is a plant that grows spontaneously,*^'^ and is incapable of being
reproduced by sowing, it being a species of rush, peculiar to a
dry, arid soil, a morbid production confined to a single country
only ; for in reality it is a curse to the soil, as there is nothing
whatever that can be sown or grown in its vicinity. There is
a kind of spartum grown in Africa, ^^ of a stunted nature, and
quite useless for all practical purposes. It is found in one
portion of the province of Carthage^^ in Nearer Spain, though
not in every part of that ; but wherever it is produced, the
mountains, even, are covered all over with it.
This material is employed by the country-people there for
making^ their beds ; with it they kindle their fires also, and
prepare their torches; shoes^^ also, and garments for the shep-
herds, are made of it. As a food for animals, it is highly in-
jurious," with the sole exception of the tender tops of the
shoots. When wanted for other uses, it is pulled up by the
roots, with considerable labour ; the legs of the persons so em-
ployed being protected by boots, and their hands with gloves,
the plant being twisted round levers of bone or holm-oak, to
get it up with the greater facility. At the present day it is
gathered in the winter, even ; but this work is done with the
least difficulty between the ides of May^^ and those of June,
that being the period at which it is perfectly ripe.
CHAP. 8. THE MODE OF PEEPARING SPAETUM.
When taken up it is made into sheaves, and laid in heaps
for a couple of days, while it retains its life and freshness ; on
the third day the sheaves are opened out and spread in the sun
62 Although, as Fee says, this is still the fact, it is a plant which would
readily admit of cultivation. Varro, however, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 23,
speaks of it in conjunction with hemp, flax, and rushes, as being- sown.
63 This kind, Fee thinks, may possibly have been identical with the
Spartum Lygeum of Linnaeus, false esparto, or alvarde.
6* At the present day it is only in the provinces on the Mediterranean
that spartum is found ; the other provinces producing nothing but alvarde.
6-^ It is still used in the southern parts of Spain for the same purposes,
"6 The shoes novf made of it are known as " espartenas" and " alpar-
gatas."
" Tt is not dangerous in itself, but is too tough to be a favourite
article of food witli cattle.
68 Fifteenth of May and thirteenth of June.
Chap. 10.1 THE BULB EEIOPHOEUS. 141
to dry, after which it is again made up into sheaves, and placed
under cover. It is then put to soak in sea-M'ater, this being the
best of all for the purpose, though fresh water will do in case
sea- water cannot be procured : this done, it is again dried in
the sun, and then moistened afresh. If it is wanted for im-
mediate use, it is put in a tub and steeped in warm water, after
which it is placed in an upright position to dry : this being
universally admitted to be the most expeditious method of pre-
paring it. To make it ready for use, it requires to be beaten
out. Articles made of it are proof, more particularly, against
the action of fresh or sea-water ; but on dry land, ropes of hemp
are generally preferred. Indeed, we find that spartum receives
nutriment even from being under water, by way of compen-
sation, as it were, for the thirst it has had to endure upon its
native soil.
By nature it is peculiarly well adapted for repairing, and
however old the material may be, it unites very well with new.
The person, indeed, who is desirous duly to appreciate this
marvellous plant, has only to consider the numerous use-s to
which, in all parts of the world, it is applied : from it are
made, the rigging of ships, various appliances of mechanism
employed in building, and numerous other articles which supply
the wants of daily life. To suffice for all these requirements,
we find it growing solely on a tract of ground which lies upon
the sea-line of the province of jS'ew Carthage, somewhat less
than thirty miles in breadth by one hundred in length. The
expense precludes its being transported to any very considera-
ble distance.
CHAP. 9. AT WHAT PERIOD SPARTUil ^AS FIEST EMPLOYED.
The Greeks used formerly to employ the rush for making
ropes ; so, at least, we are led to believe, from the name^^ given
by them to that plant ; and at a later period they made them,
it is very clear, from the leaves of the pahn, and the inner
bark of the linden-tree. It seems to me very probable, too,
that it was from' them that the Carthaginians borrowed the
'first hint for applying spartum to a similar purpose.
CHAP. 10. THE BULB ERIOrHOBITS.
Theophrastus'^ informs us, that there is a kind of bulb, which
*^ The same word, trxolvog, signifying both a " rush" and a " rope."
'" Hist. Plant. 13. vii. c. 13. Atheureus, B. ii., nntntions it also.
142 pltny's natural history. [Book XIX.
grows on the banks of rirers, and which encloses between the
outer coat and the portion that is eaten a sort of woolly sub-
stance, of which felt socks, and other articles of dress, are made ;
but, in the copies, those at least which have fallen in my way,
there is no mention made of the country in which it grows, or
of any details in connection with it, beyond the fact that
the name given to it is " eriophoron."'^ As to spartum,
he makes no'- mention of it whatever, although he has given
the history, with the greatest exactness, of all the known
plants, three hundred and ninety years before our time — a fact
to which I have already''^ alluded on other occasions : from
this it would appear that spartum has come into use since his
day.
CHAP. 11. — PLANTS WHICH SPRING TIP AND GROW WITHOUT A
ROOT — PLANTS WHICH GROW, BUT CANNOT BE REPRODUCED FROM
SEED.
As we have here made a beginning of treating of the marvels
of !N'ature, we shall proceed to examine them in detail ; and
among them the very greatest of all, beyond a doubt, is the
fact that any plant should spring up and grow without a root.
Such, for instance, is the vegetable production known as the
truffle ;'* surrounded on every side by earth, it is connected
with it by no fibres, not so much as a single thread even, while
the spot in which it grows, presents neither protuberance nor
cleft to the view. It is found, in fact, in no way adhering to
the earth, but enclosed within an outer coat ; so much so, in-
deed, that though we cannot exactly pronounce it to be com-
posed of earth, we must conclude that it is nothing else but a
callous''^ concretion of the earth.
'1 Fee is at a loss to identify this plant, but considers it quite clear
that it is not the same with tlie Eriophorum augustifolium of Linnaeus, a
cyperaceous plant, of whicli the characteristics are totally different. Do-
donajus, however, was inclined to consider them identical.
^2 On the contrary, Theophrastus docs mention it, in the Hist. Plant.
B. i. c. 8, and speaks of it as having a bark composed of several tunics or
membranes. ^
'•J In ]J. xiii. c. 13, and B. xv. c. 1.
'^ " Tuber." The Tuber cibarium of Linnaeus, the black truffle ; and
probably the ."^rey truffle, the Tuber griseum.
'^ This callous secretion of the earth, or corticle, is, as Fee says, a sort
of hymenium, formed of vesicles, which, as they develope themselves, are
Cbap. 12.] MIST, ITON, AND GEEANION. 143
Truffles generally grow in dry, sandy soils, and spots that
are thickly covered with shrubs ; in size they are often larger
than a quince, and are found to weigh as much '® as a pound.
There are two kinds of them, the one full of sand, and con-
sequently injurious to the teeth, the other free from sand and
all impurities. They are distinguished also by their colour,
which is red or black, and white within ; those of Africa "
are the most esteemed. Whether the truffle grows gradually,
or whether this blemish of the earth — for it can be looked upon
as nothing else — at once assumes the globular form and magni-
tude which it presents when found ; whether, too, it is pos-
sessed of vitality or not, are all of them questions, which, in
my opinion, are not easy to be solved. It decays and rots in
a manner precisely similar to wood.
It is knowTi to me as a fact, that the following circumstance
happened to Lartius Licinius, a person of praetorian rank, while
minister of justice,'^ a few years ago, at Carthage in Spain ;
upon biting a truffle, he found a denarius inside, which all but
broke his fore teeth — an evident proof that the truffle is no-
thing else but an agglomeration of elementary earth. At all
events, it is quite certain that the truffle belongs to those
vegetable productions which spring up spontaneously, and are
incapable of being reproduced from seed.'^^
CHAP. 12. (3.) — mist; ixojf; and geranion".
Of a similar nature, too, is the vegetable production known
in the province of Cyrenaica by the name of " misy,"^ re-
found to contain diminutive truffles. Pliny is wrong in saying that the
truffle forms neither cleft nor protuberance, as the exact contrary is the
fact.
'^ Haller speaks of truffles weighing as much as fourteen pounds.
Valmont de Bomare speaks of a truffle commonly found in Savoy, which
attains the weight of a pound.
■"■^ Those of Africa are in general similar to those found in Europe, but
there is one peculiar to that country, possibly the same that is mentioned
in the following Chapter under the name of " misy."
"'^ " Jura reddenti."
''^ It is really propagated by spores, included in sinuous chambers in
the interior ; but, notwithstanding the attempts that have been made, it
lias never yet been cultivated with any degree of success. In c. 13, Pliny
seems to recognize the possibility of its multiplication by germs, where he
says that its formation is attributed by some to water.
"^ Fee takes this to be the Tuber niveum of Dcsfontaines, the snow-
wliite truffle. It is globular and somewhat piriform, grows to the size of a
walnut, and sometimes of an orantre, and is said to be most delicate eating-.
144 flint's natural HISTOKT. [Book XIX.
markable for the sweetness of its smell and taste, but more
fleshy than the truffle : the same, too, as to the iton ^^ of the
Thracians, and the geranion of the Greeks.
CHAP. 13. PAKTICULAES CONNECTED WITH THE TETJEFLE.
The following peculiarities we find mentioned with reference
to the truffle. When there have been showers in autumn, and
frequent thunder-storms, truffles are produced, thunder^- con-
tributing more particularly to their developement ; they do
not, however, last beyond a year, and are considered the most
delicate eating when gathered in spring. In some places the
formation of them is attributed to water ; as at Mytilene,^^ for
instance, where they are never to be found, it is said, unless
the rivers overflow, and bring down the seed from Tiara, that
being the name of a place at which they are produced in the
greatest abundance. The finest truffles of Asia are those found
in the neighbourhood of Lampsacus and Alopeconnesus ; the
best in Greece are those of the vicinity of Elis.
CHAP. 14. THE PEZICA.
Belonging to the mushroom genus, also, there is a species,
known to the .Greeks by the name of " pezica,"^ which grows
■without either root or stalk.
CHAP. 15. — LASERPITrUM, LASEK, AND MASPETUM.
Next to these, laserpitium ®^ claims our notice, a very re-
^^ These truffles or morels do not appear to have been identified.
^2 Juvenal alludes to tliis absurd notion, Sat. v. 1. 116. " The long
wished-for thunder will provide a more ample repast."
^^ Theophrastus, as quoted by Athenaeus, B. ii. speaks of this.
^* "Peziza" was a name given by the ancients to a kind of cupnliform
mushroom ; in which, however, we cannot recognize the " pezica" of
Pliny. Some writers think that this M'as the same as the lycoperdou and
goastrum of botanists, our puff-ball : while others take it to be the morel,
the Morchella esculenta, Sprengel in the number. Fee is inclined to be
of opinion that an edible mushroom is meant, but is quite at a loss to
identify it.
^ Possibly the Ferula asnfootida of lannaens ; or, according to some, the
Thapsia silpliium of Yiviani, Flor. Lib. It was a plant common, accord-
ing to ancient writers, to Syria, Armenia, Media, and Libya ; but it was
the produce of this last country, probably, that afforded the juice or gum
resin here mentioned as " laser," and so highly esteemed by the ancients, as
forming a component part of their perfumes. Fee is inclined to think
that the Laserpitium here spoken of was the Thapsia silphium, and to
Chap. 15.] LASEEPITIUM, LASER, AND MASPETUM. 145
markable plant, known to the Greeks by the name of " sil-
phion," and originally a native of the province of Cyrenaica.
The juice of this plant is called " laser," and it is greatly in
vogue for medicinal as well as other purposes, being sold at
the same rate as silver. For these many years past, however,
it has not been found in Cyrenaica,*^ as the farmers of the
revenue who hold the lands there on lease, have a notion that
it is more profitable to depasture flocks of sheep upon them.
"Within the memory of the present generation, a single stalk ^
is all that has ever been found there, and that was sent as a
curiosity to the Emperor Is'ero. If it so happen that one of
the flock, while grazing, meets with a growing shoot*^ of it, the
fact is easily ascertained by the following signs ; the sheep, after
eating of it, immediately falls asleep, while the goat is seized
with a fit of sneezing.^^ Tor this long time past, there has
been no other laser imported into this country, but that pro-
duced in either Persip, Media, or Armenia, where it grows in
considerable abundance, though much inferior ^° to that of Cy-
renaica ; and even then it is extensively adulterated with gum,
sacopenium,^^ or pounded beans. I ought the less then to
reject the more general opinion that it is identical with the Ferula asa-
foetida. Pliny has probably caused some confusion by blending the de-
scription of other "writers with that given by Theophrastus, each having
in view a different plant. Indeed, whatever the Laserpitium or Silphiuni
of other countries may have been, it is not improbable that the odoriferous
plant of Cyrenaica was not identical with the Ferula asafoetidaof Linnaeus.
The foliage of the Thapsia silphium is exactly similar to that of the
Laserpitium as depicted on medals of Cyrenaica, still extant. "We learn
from Littre, that Dr. Guy on showed, in 1842, to the Academie des
Sciences, a plant which the Arabs of Algeria employ as a purgative, and
which they call bonnefa. It is the Thapsia Garganica of Desfontaines,
and is considered by Guyon to be identical with the Silphium of the
ancients.
8s See B. xxii. c. 48. In the " Rudens" of Plautus, the scene of which is
near Cyrene, frequent allusion is made to the growth of laserpitium there,
and the preparation and export of the resin, as forming the staple article
of commerce.
8' Scribonius Largus, who Hved in the time of Tiberius, speaks of using
in a prescription laser of Cyrenaica, "if it can be met with ;" " si poterit
inveniri." 68 « \q. spem nascentis."
89 Fee remarks that Pliny has not found this absurd story in any of the
works from which he has compiled his account, but thai it is entirely his
own.
"^ This was probably the Ferula asafoetida of Linnseus.
" See B. XX. c. 7o.
VOL. IV. L
146 flint's natueal histobt. [Book XIX.
omit the facts, that in the consulship ^^ of C. Valerius and M.
Herennius, there was brought to Eome, from Cyrenae, for the
public service, tliirty pounds' weight of laserpitium, and that
the Dictator Caesar, at the beginning of the Civil War, took
from out of the public treasury, besides gold and silver, no
less than fifteen hundred pounds of laserpitium.
We find it stated by the most trustworthy among the Greek
writers, ^^ that this plant first made its appearance in the vicinity
of the gardens of the Hesperides and the Greater Syrtis, im-
mediately after the earth had been soaked on a sudden by a
shower as black as pitch. This took place seven years before
the foundation of the city of Cyrenae, and in the year of Rome
143. The virtues of this remarkable fall of rain extended,
it is said, over no less than four thousand stadia of the African
territory ; and upon this soil laserpitium began universally to
grow, a plant that is in general wild and stubborn, and which,
if attempted to be cultivated, will leave the spot where it has
been sown quite desolate and barren. The roots of it are
numerous and thick, the stalk being like that of fennel-giant,
and of similar thickness. The leaves of this plant were know^n
as ''maspetum," and bore a considerable resemblance to parsley;
the seeds of it were foliaceous, and the plant shed its leaves
every year. They used to feed the cattle there upon it ; at
first it purged them, but afterwards they would grow fat, the
flesh being improved in flavour in a most surprising degree.
After the fall of the leaf, the people themselves were in the
habit of eating ^^ the stalk, either roasted or boiled : from the
drastic effects of this diet the body was purged for the first
forty days, all vicious humours being efiectually removed. ^'^
The juices of this plant were collected two difi'erent ways,
either from the root or from the stalk ; in consequence of which
these two varieties of the juice were known by the distinguish-
ing names of "rhizias" and ''caulias,"^ the last being of in-
ferior quality to the other, and very apt to turn putrid. Upon
92 A.U.C. 661.
9» F^e remarks, that if Pliny here alludes to Theophrastus, Hist.
Plant, B. vi. c. 3, he has mistaken his meaning.
9* This, as Fee says, could hardly apply to the Ferula asafoetida of
Linnaeus, the stalk of it being extremely acrid, and the juice fetid in the
highest degree.
95 " Vitia his omnibus." The reading here is probably corrupt.
•* "Root-juice," and "stalk-juice."
Chap. 16.] MAGTDARIS. 1-47
the root there was a black bark, which was extensively em-
ployed for the purposes of adulteration. The juice of the
plant was received in vessels, and mixed there with a layer of
bran ; after which, from time to time it was shaken, till it had
reached a proper state of maturity ; indeed, if this precaution
was neglected, it was apt to turn putrid. The signs that it
had come to maturity were its colour, its dryness, and the ab-
sorption of all humidity.
There are some authors, however, who state that the root of
laserpitium. was more than a cubit in length, and that it pre-
sented a tuberosity above the surface of the earth. An incision,
they say, was made in this tuberosity, from which a juice would
flow, like milk in appearance ; above the tuberosity grew a
stalk, to which they give the name of '* magydaris ;"^' the
leaves that grew upon this stalk were of the colour of gold, and,
falling at the rising of the Dog-star, when the south winds
begin to prevail, they acted as seed for the purposes of repro-
duction. It was from these leaves, too, they say, that laser-
pitium ^® was produced, the root and the stalk attaining their
full growth in the space of one year. The same writers also
state, that it was the practice to turn up the ground about the
plant, and that it had no such effect as purging the cattle that
were fed upon it ; though one result of using it as food was,
that such cattle as were ailing were either cured of their dis-
tempers, or else died immediately upon eating of it, a thing,
however, that but rarely happened. The first description,
however, is found to agree more nearly with the silphium
that comes from Persis.
CHAP. 16. MAGYDARIS.
There is another^ variety of this plant, known as '' magy-
daris,"^ of a more delicate nature, less active in its effects, and
destitute of juice. It grows in the countries adjacent to Syria,-
but is not to be found in the regions of Cyrenaica. There
9'' Poinsinet fancies that this name means " staff of the Magi.''
'8 Or " laser," these names being indifferently applied to the gum-resin.
33 The whole of this paragraph has been borrowed from Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. iii.
^ Sprengel takes this to be the Laserpitium ferulaceum of Linnaeus,
but Fee thinks it is more than doubtful if the identity can be established.
2 From Theophrastus. Dioscorides says, on the other hand, that it
grows in Libya.
148 Pliny's natueal histoet. [Book XIX.
grows also upon Mount Parnassus,** in great abundance, a plant
to which some persons give the name of " laserpitium:" by
means of all these varieties, adulterations are effected of a pro-
duction that is held in the highest esteem for its salutary
qualities and its general usefulness. The chief proofs of its
genuineness consist in its colour, which ought to be slightly
red without, and when broken quite white and transparent
within ; the drops of it, too, should melt very rapidly on the
application of spittle. It is extensively employed for medi-
cinal purposes.^
CHAP. 17. MADDEE.
There are two other plants also, which are but little known
to any but the herd of the sordid and avaricious, and this be-
cause of the large profits that are derived from them. The
first of these is madder,* the employment of which is neces-
sary in dyeing wool and leather. The madder of Italy is the
most esteemed, and that more particularly which is grown in
the suburbs of the City ; nearly all our provinces, too, pro-
duce it in great abundance.® It grows spontaneously, but is
capable of reproduction by sowing, much after the same man-
ner as the fitch. The stem,^ however, is prickly, and articu-
lated, with five leaves arranged round each joint : the seed is
red. Its medicinal properties we shall have occasion to men-
tion in the appropriate place.'
CHAP. 18. — THE EADICTJLA.
The plant known to us by the name of " radicula,**® is the
-* From Littre we leam that M. Fraas has suggested that the Magj^-
daris and Laserpitium are possibly the Ferula Tingitana, and the Ptychotis
verticillata of Decandolle, which last he has found upon high mountains in
the lower region of pines, on Mount Parnassus, among others.
3 See B. xxii. cc. 48, 49. * xhe Rubia tinctorum of Linnaeus.
5 Dioscoridcs speaks of the madder of Ravenna as being the most
esteemed. It is much cultiviited at the present day in the South of
France, Holland, and the Levant. That of Lille enjoys a high reputation.
8 It is covered with bristly hairs, or rather, fine, hooked teeth. There
is, however, no resemblance whatever between it and ervilia or orobus,
the fitch.
' B. xxiv. c. 56.
* Or " little root ;" though, in reality, as Pliny says, it had a large
root. Some writers have supposed, that by tljis name is meant the
Keseda luteola of Linnaeus, the *' dyer's weed" of the moderns; but neither
Chap. 19.] THE PLEASUEES OF THE GAEDEN. 149
second of these productions. It furnishes a juice that is ex-
tensively employed in washing wool, and it is quite wonderful
how greatly it contributes to the whiteness and softness of
wool. It may be produced anywhere by cultivation, but that
which grows spontaneously in Asia and Syria,^ upon rugged,
rocky sites, is more highly esteemed. That, however, which
is found beyond the Euphrates has the highest repute of all.
The stalk of it is ferulaceous ^° and thin, and is sought by the
inhabitants of those countries as an article of food. It is em-
ployed also for making unguents, being boiled up with the
other ingredients, whatever they may happen to be. In leaf
it strongly resembles the olive. The Greeks have given it the
name of *' struthion." It blossoms in summer, and is agree-
able to the sight, but entirely destitute of smell. It is somewhat
thorny, and has a stalk covered with down. It has an ex-
tremely diminutive seed, and a large root, which is cut up and
employed for the purposes already mentioned.
CHiJ. 19, (4.) THE PLEASURES OF THE GARDEN.
Having made mention of these productions, it now remains
for us to return to the cultivation of the garden,^^ a subject
recommended by its own intrinsic merits to our notice : for we
find that in remote antiquity, even, there was nothing looked
upon with a greater degree of admiration than the gardens of
the Hesperides,^^' those of the kings Adonis ^^ and Alci-
Pliny nor any of the Greek writers mention the Eadicula as being used
for dyeing. Some, again, identify it with the Gypsophila struthium of
Linnaeus, without sufficient warranty, howerer, as Fee thinks.
5 The Gypsophila struthium grows in Spain, and possibly. Fee says,
in other countries. Linnaeus has ''pretended," he says, that the Spaniards
still employ the root and stalk of the Gypsophila for the same purposes as
the ancients did the same parts of the Radicula. He himself, however,
though long resident in Spain, had never observed such to be the fact.
^^ This description. Fee says, does not correspond with that of the Gyp-
sophila struthium, the stalk of which does not at all resemble that of the
ferulaceous plants, and the leaf is quite different in appearance from that
of the olive.
^^ As Fee observes, by the word "hortus" the Romans understood
solely the " vegetable" or *' kitchen- garden;" the pleasure garden being
generally denominated ''horti." ^^' See B. v. c. 1.
12 A fabulous king of Phoenicia, probably, whose story was afterwards
transferred, with considerable embellishments, to the Grecian mytbolog)'.
Adonis is supposed to have been identical with the Thammuz of Scripture,
150 plint's natural histoet. [Book XIX.
noiis/^ and the Hanging Gardens, whether they were the work of
Semiramis, or whether of Cp'us, king of Assyria, a subject of
which we shall have to speak in another work." The kings of
Rome cultivated their gardens with their own hands ; indeed,
it was from his garden that Tarquinius Superbus ^^ sent to his
son that cruel and sanguinary message of his. In our laws of
the Twelve Tables, we find the word '' villa," or " farm,"
nowhere mentioned ; it is the word ''hortus " that is always
used with that signification, while the term " heredium " we
find employed for " garden."
There are certain religious impressions, too, that have been
attached to this species of property," and we find that it is in
the garden and the Forum only that statues of satyrs are con-
secrated, as a protection against the evil effects^' of spells and
sorcery ; although in Plautus, we find the gardens spoken
of as being under the tutelage of Venus. At the present day,
under the general name of gardens,'^ we have pleasure-grounds
situate in the very heart of the City, as well as extensive fields
and villas.
Epicurus, that connoisseur^^ in the enjoyments of a life of
ease, was the first to lay out a garden at Athens ;^° up to his
time it had never been thought of, to dwell in the country in
the middle of the town. At Rome, on the other hand, the
garden*^ constituted of itself the poor man's field, and it was
from the garden that the lower classes procured their daily
food — an aliment how guiltlessly obtained ! But still, it is a
great deal better, no doubt, ^^ to dive into the abysses of the
mentioned by Ezekiel, viii. 14, where he speaks of the "women weep-
ing for Thammuz." Hardouin considers him to have been a Syrian deity,
identical with the Moon.
^3 Celebrated by Homer, Od. B. vi. and xiii.
^* "Alio volumine." As no further mention is made by Pliny of the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, it is most probable that he contemplated
giving a description of them in another work, an intention which he did
not live to realize.
^5 See further on this subject, c. 53 of the present Book.
'6 The reading, "quam rem," seems preferable to "quam ob rem,"
adopted by Sillig.
» ' " Effascinationes." The effects of the evil eye.
^^ "Hortorum." "Pleasure-gardens."
^'' " Otii magister."
-^ For the purpose of teaching philosophy there.
21 "Hortus." The " kitchen-gardeu."
^ Ironically said.
Chap. 19.] THE PLEASUEES OF THE GARDEN. 151
deep, and to seek each kind of oyster at the risk and peril of
shipwreck, to go searching for birds beyond the river Phasis^'
even, which, protected as they are by the terrors invented by
fable,-* are only rendered all the more precious thereby — to go
searching for others, again, in Numidia,'^ and the very sepul-
chres of ^thiopia,-^ or else to be battling with wild beasts,
and to get eaten one's self while trying to take a prey which
another person is to eat ! And yet, by Hercules ! how little do
the productions of the garden cost us in comparison with these !
How more than sufficient for every wish and for every want ! —
were it not, indeed, that here, as in every thing else, turn which
way we "will, we find the same grounds for our wrath and in-
dignation. We really might be content to allow of fruits being
grown of the most exquisite quality, remarkable, some of
them for their flavour, some for their size, some, again, for the
monstrosities of their growth, morsels all of them forbidden to
the poor !^^ We might allow of wines being kept till thej'- are
mellowed with age, or enfeebled by being passed through^
cloth strainers, of men, too, however prolonged their lives,
never drinking any but a wine that is still older than them-
selves ! We might allow of luxury devising how best to ex-
tract the very aroma, as it were, and marrow -^ only from grain ;
of people, too, living upon nothing but the choicest; productions
of the confectioner, and upon pastes fashioned in fantastic
shapes : of one kind of bread being prepared for the rich, and
another for the multitude ; of the yearly produce of the field
being classified in a descending scale, till it reaches the humble
means of the very lowest classes — but do we not find that
these refined distinctions have been extended to the very
herbs even, and that riches have contrived to establish points
of dissimilarity in articles of food which ordinarily sell for
a single copper coin ?^°
In this department even, humble as it is, we are still des-
23 He alludes to the pheasant. See B. x. c. 67.
2* He alludes to Colchis, the country of Medea, the scene of the ex-
ploits of Jason and the Argonauts, and the land of prodigies and fable.
'^5 Se: B. X. cc. 38 and 67. He alludes to " meleagrides," or Guinea-
fowls .
25 See B. X. c. 37. He alludes to the hirds called " Memnonides."
27 See B. xvii. c. 1. 28 ^ee B. xiv. c. 28.
29 He alludes to the finest and most delicate kinds of whe&ten flour.
See B. xviii. c. 29. 20 u u^q asse."
152 PLiirr's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XIX.
tined to find certain productions that are denied to the com-
munity at large, and the very cabbages pampered to such an>
enormous extent that the poor man's table is not large enough
to hold them. Asparagus, by Nature, was intended to grow
wild,^^ so that each might gather it where he pleased — but,
lo and behold ! we find it in the highest state of cultivation,
and Kavenna produces heads that weigh as much as three
pounds^- even ! Alas for the monstrous excess of gluttony !
It would be surprising indeed, for the beasts of the field to be
forbidden the thistle for food, and yet it is a thing forbidden ^^
to the lower classes of the community ! These refined dis-
tinctions, too, are extended to the very water even, and, thanks
to the mighty influence of money, there are lines of demar-
cation drawn in the very elements themselves. Some persons
are for drinking ice, others for quaffing snow, and thus is the
curse of the mountain steep turned into an appetizing sti-
mulus for the palate !^^ Cold is carefully treasured up for the
summer heats, and man's invention is racked how best to keep
snow freezing in months that are not its own. Some again
there are who first boil the water, ^^ and then bring it to the
temperature of winter — indeed, there is nothing that pleases
man in the fashion in which Nature originally made it.
And is it the fact, then, that any herb of the garden is
reared only for the rich man's table ? It is so — but still let
no one of the angered populace think of a fresh secession to
Mount Sacer or Mount Aventine ; for to a certainty, in the long
run, all-powerful money will bring them back to just the
same position as they were in when it wrought the severance.
For, by Hercules 1^^ there was not an impost levied at Kome
'1 As " corruda," or " wild asparagus." The Brassica capitata alba of C.
Bauhin,or white cabbage, sometimes attains a weight often or twelve pounds.
'2 This is an exaggeration, probably.
53 He alludes to the artichoke, or Cinara cardunculus of the botanists,
which bears some resemblance to the common thistle.
^ Martial and Aulus Gellius speak of ice and snow drinks. The latter
must have been very injurious to the stomach.
35 See B. xxxi. c. 23.
2« In this corrupt and otherwise unintelligible pasaage, we have adopted
the proposed emendations of Sillig, who is of opinion that it bears
reference to the abolition of the market-dues, or "portorium," by Augus-
tus Caesar, and the substitution of a property tax of one twentieth of the
land, a method of taxation which inflicted greater hardships than the
former one, as it was assessed according to the superjiciesy not the produce
Chap. 19.] THE PLEASTJEES OF THE GAEDEN. 153
more grievous than the market-dues, an impost that aroused
the indignation of the populace, who repeatedly appealed with
loud clamours to all the chief men of the state to be relieved from
it. At last they were relieved from this heavy tax upon their
wares ; and then it was found that there was no tax more
lucrative, more readily collected, or less obnoxious to the ca-
prices of chance, than the impost that was levied in exchange
for it, in the shape of a property-tax, extended to the poorest
classes : for now the very soil itself is their surety that paid
the tax will be, their means are patent to the light of day, and
the superficial extent of their possessions, whatever the weather
may chance to be, always remains the same.
Cato,^^ we find, speaks in high praise of garden cabbages : —
indeed, it was according to their respective methods of garden
cultivation that the agriculturists of early times were appreci-
ated, and it was immediately concluded that it was a sign of a
woman being a bad and careless manager of her family, when
the kitchen-garden — for this was looked upon as the woman's
department more particularly — was negligently cultivated ; as
in such case her only resource was, of course, the shambles or
the herb-market. But cabbages were not held in such high
esteem in those days as now : indeed, all dishes were held in
disrepute which required something else to help them down,
the great object being to economize oil as much as possible ;
and as to the flesh-market, so much as a wish even to taste its
wares was visited with censure and reproach. The chief thing
that made them so fond of the garden was the fact that its
produce needs no fixe and ensures economy in fuel, and that it
offers resources which are always ready and at hand. These
articles of food, which from their peculiar nature we call
*' vinegar- die ts,"^* were found to be easy of digestion, by no
means apt to blunt and overload the senses, and to create but Httle
craving for bread as an accompaniment. A portion of them which
is still used by us for seasonings, attests that our forefathers used
of the land. His proposed emendations of the text are as follows : " mox
enim carte aequabit eos pecunia quos pecunia separaverit. Itaque ac
minore fortunae jure, quam cum hereditate datur pensio ea pauperum ; his
in solo sponsor est," &;c.
^■^ De Ee Rust. cc. 156, 157. He speaks of it as being eaten either
boiled or raw, but in the latter case with vinegar. F^e thinka that even
then it would make a very acrid and indigestible diet.
38 "Acetaria." Salada.
154 flint's natueal history. [Book XIX.
only to look at home for their resources, and that no Indian
peppers were in request with them, or any of those other condi-
ments which we are in the habit of seeking beyond the seas.
In former times the lower classes of Rome, with their mimic
gardens in their windows, day after day presented the reflex
of the country to the eye, when as yet the multitudes of atro-
cious burglaries, almost innumerable, had not compelled us to
shut out all such sights with bars to the passers by.
Let the garden, then, have its due meed of honour, and let
not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less
share of our consideration — and the more so, as we find that
from it men of the yery highest rank have been content to
borrow their surnames even; thus in the Valerian family,
for instance, the Lactucini have not thought themselves
disgraced by taking their name from the lettuce. Perhaps,
too, our labours and research may contribute some slight re-
commendation to this our subject ; although, with Yii'gil,^^ we
are ready to admit how difficult it is, by language however
elevated, to ennoble a subject that is so humble in itself.
CHAP. 20. — THE LAYING OUT OF GAEDEN GEOUND.
There is no doubt that the proper plan is, to have the gar-
dens adjoining the country-house; and they should be watered,
more particularly, by a river running in front of it, if possible ;
or else with water drawn from a well by the aid of a wheel
or of pumps, or by swipes.*° The ground should be opened
just as the west winds are beginning to prevail ; fourteen
days after which it should be got ready for autumn, and then
before the winter solstice it should have another turning up.
It will require eight men to dig a jugerum, manure being
mixed with the earth to a depth of three feet : the ground,
too, should be divided into plots or beds with raised and
rounded edges, each of which should have a path dug round it,
by means of which access may be afi'orded to the gardener and
a channel formed for the water needed for irrigation.
'8 He alludes, no doubt, to the words of Virgil, in Georg. iv. 1. 6.
"In tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria "
though in that instance the poet is speaking of bees.
^ *' Tollenonum haustu." These would be used in the case of well-
water ; they are still to be seen occasionally in this country, and are very
common on the continent. The wheel is also used for drawing well-water,
and is frequently employed in Barbary and Spain.
Chap. 22.] HISTOET OF TTVElsTT DIFFEEENT PLANTS. 155
CHAP. 21. PLANTS OTHEE THAN GEAIN AND SSliUBS.
Among the garden plants there are some that recommend
themselves by their bulbs, others by the head, others by the
stalk, others by the leaf, others by both : some, again, are
valued for their seed, others for the outer coat, others for their
membranous tissues, others for their cartilaginous substance,
others for the firmness of their flesh, and others for the fleshy
tunics in which they are enveloped.
CHAP. 22. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TWENTY KIFFEEENT KINDS
OF PLANTS WHICH GROW IN GARDENS THE PEOPEE METHODS TO
BE FOLLOWED IN SOWING THEM EESPECTIVELY.
Of some plants the fruits*^ are in the earth, of others both in
the earth and out of it, and of others, again, out of the earth
solely. Some of them increase as they lie upon the ground,
gourds and cucumbers, for instance ; the same products will
grow also in a hanging position, but they are much heavier
even then than any of the fruits that grow upon trees. The
cucumber, however, is composed of cartilage and a fleshy sub-
stance, while the gourd consists of rind and cartilage : this last
is the only vegetable production the outer coat of which be-
comes of a ligneous nature, when ripe. Radishes, turnips,
and rape are hidden in the earth, and so, too, are elecampane,^^*
skirrets,*^ and parsnips,*^ though in a different manner. There
are some plants, again, to which we shall give the name of
" ferulaceous," anise*'* and mallows, for instance ; indeed, we
find it stated by some writers that in Arabia*^ the mallow be-
*i By the word "fructus" he no doubt means the edible parts solely,
the leaf, stalk, or root, as the case may be.
*^* Fee is surprised to find elecampane figuring among the garden vege-
tables. It has a powerful odour, is bitter, and promotes expectoration.
Though not used as a vegetable it is still used as a preserve, or sweetmeat,
mixed with sugar. See further on it in c. 29 of this Book.
*3 See c. 28 of this Book. ^^ See c. 27 of this Book .
** Fee remarks that this juxtaposition of anise and mallows betokens
the most complete ignorance of botany on the part of our author ; there
being few plants which differ more essentially. The field-mallow, or
Malva silvestris of Linnaeus, or perhaps several varieties of it, are here
referred to. The anise will be further mentioned in c. 74 of this Book.
*5 Fee suggests that the plant here mentioned may have been an annual,
probably the Lavatorea arborea of botanists, or some kindred species. In
a few months it is known to attain a height of ten feet or more.
156 PLimr's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XIX.
comes arborescent at the sixth month, so much so, in fact,
as to admit of its being used for walking-sticks. We have
another instance, again, in the mallow -tree of Mauretania,
which is found at Lixus, a city built upon an sestuary
there ; and at which spot, it is said, were formerly the gardens
of the Ilesperides, at a distance of two hundred paces from the
Ocean, near the shrine of Hercules, more ancient, tradition says,
than the temple at Gades. This mallow-tree** is twenty feet
in height, and of such a thickness that there is not a person in
existence who is able with his arms to span its girth.
In the class of ferulaceous plants we must include hemp**^
also. There are some plants, again, to which we must give
the appellation of "fleshy;"^ such as those spongy ^^ productions
which are found growing in damp meadows. As to the fungus,
with a hard, tough flesh, we have already^ made mention of
it when speaking of wood and trees ; and of truflies, which
form another variety, we have but very recently given a de-
scription.^^
CHAP. 23. (5.) — VEGETABLES OF A CARTILAGINOUS NATTJEE
CUCUMBEES. PEPONES.
The cucumber^^ belongs to the cartilaginous class of plants,
and grows above the ground. It was a wonderful favourite
with the Emperor Tiberius, and, indeed, he was never without
it; for he had raised beds made in frames upon wheels,
by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to
the full heat of the sun ; while, in winter, they were withdrawn,
and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-
stone." "We find it stated, also, by the ancient Greek writers,
*s In Fee's opinion this tree cannot have belonged to the family of Mal-
vaceae ; the Adansonia and some otlier exotics of the family, with which
Pliny undoubtedly was not acquainted, being the only ones that attain
these gigantic proportions.
*^ There is no resemblance between mallows and hemp, any more than
there is between mallows and anise.
■*8 "Carnosa."
*9 Hardouin thinks that he alludes to the Conferva, or river sponge,
again mentioned in B. xxvii. c. 45. Fee, however, dissents from that
opinion.
^ In B. xvi. cc. 11 and 13, and in cc. 12 and 14 of the present Book.
51 In c. 11 of the present Book.
^2 The Cucumis sativus of Linnaeus.
53 " Lapis specularis." See B. xxxvi. c. 45. Columella, De Re Rust.
B. xi. c. 3, speaks of tliis mode of ripening cucumber, and the fondness
of the Emperor Tiberius for them.
Chap, 23.] CUCUMBERS. 157
that the cucumber ought to be propagated from seed that has
been steeped*^ a couple of days in milk and honey, this method
having the effect of rendering them all the sweeter to the taste.
The cucumber, while growing, may be trained to take any form
that may be wished : in Italy the cucumbers are green^* and
very small, while those grown in some of the provinces are
remarkably large, and of a wax colour or black.^ Those of
Africa, which are also remarkably prolific, are held in high
esteem ; the same, too, with the cucumbers of Moesia, which
are by far the largest of all. When the cucumber acquires a
very considerable volume, it is known to us as the ''pepo.""
Cucumbers when eaten remain on the stomach till the follow-
ing day, and are very difficult^^ of digestion ; still, for all that,
in general they are not considered very unwholesome. By
nature they have a wonderful hatred to oil, and no less affec-
tion for water, and this after they have been cut from the stem
even.*^ If water is within a moderate distance of them, they
will creep towards it, while from oil, on the other hand, they
will shrink away : if any obstacle, too, should happen to arrest
their progress, or if they are left to hang, they will grow
curved and crooked. Of these facts we may be satisfactorily
convinced in a single night even, for if a vessel filled with
water is placed at four fingers' distance from a cucumber, it
will be found to have descended to it by the following morn-
ing ; but if the same is done with oil, it will have assumed the
curved form of a hook by the next day. If hung in a tube
while in blossom, the cucumber will grow to a most surprising
^ Theophrastus and Columella say the same of tlie cucumber, and
Palladius of the melon, but there is no ground, probably, for the belief. In
very recent times, however, Fee says, it was the usage to steep the seeds of the
melon in milk. This liquid, in common with any other, would have the
effect_ of softening the exterior integuments, and thereby facilitating the
germination, but no more.
*5 Still known as the "green" or ''gherkin" cucumber, and much used,
when young, for pickling.
*®_ Probably in the sense of a very dark green, for black cucumbers are
a thing unheard of.
^^ He is evidently speaking of the pompion, or pumpkin, the Cucurbita
pepo of Linnaeus : quite distinct fi-om the cucumber.
58 Cucumbers are not difficult of digestion to the extent that Pliny
would have us to believe.
^^ As Fee says, it is a loss of time to combat such absurd prejudices as
these.
158 PLINT's IfATITEAL HISTOET. [Book XIX.
length.^ It is only of late, too, that a cucumber of entirely-
new shape has been produced in Campania, it having ju^t the
form of a quince.''^ It was quite by accident, I am told, that
the first one acquired this shape in growing, and it was from
the seed of this that all the others have been reproduced.
The name given to this variety is ''melopepo.'* These last do
not grow hanging, but assume their round shape as they lie
on the ground. A thing that is very remarkable in them, in
addition to their shape, colour, and smell, is the fact that,
when ripe, although they do not hang from the stem, they
separate from it at the stalk.
Columella '^'^ has given us a plan of his, by which we may
have cucumbers the whole year round : the largest bramble-
bush that can be procured is transplanted to a warm, sunny
spot, and then cut down, about the time of the vernal equinox,
to within a couple of fingers of the ground ; a cucumber-seed
is then inserted in the pith of the bramble, and the roots are
well moulded up with fine earth and manure, to withstand the
cold. According to the Greeks, there are three kinds of cu-
cumbers, the Laconian, the Scytalic, and the Boeotian,^^ the
Laconian being the only one among them that is fond^ of the
water.
There are some persons who recommend steeping the seed of
the cucumber in the juice of the herb known as the *' culix ;"^^
the produce, they say, will be sure to grow without seeds.
CHAP. 24. — GOURDS.
Gourds resemble the cucumber in nature, at least in their
manner of growing ; they manifest an equal aversion to the
winter, too, while they require constant watering and manure.
^° This is conformable with modern experience. *
^' Fee says that this is the melon, the Cucumis melo of Linnaeiis.
^2 B. xi. c. 3. Columella professes to borrow it from the people of
Mendes in Egypt,
«3 Theophrastus enumerates these varieties, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4.
^ Theophrastus only says that the Laconian cucumber thrives better
with watering than the others,
65 It is impossible to identify this plant, as no ancient writer has given
any description of it : it has been suggested, however, that it may have
been the Plantago Psyllium, or else the Inula pulicaria of Linnaeus. Of
course there is no truth in the story here told of the effects of its juice
upon the cucumber.
Chap. 2i.] GOUEDS. 159
Both cucumbers and gourds are sown in holes a foot and
a half^ deep, between the vernal equinox and the summer sol-
stice, at the time of the Parilia ^ more particularly. Some per-
sons, however, think it better to sow gourds after the calends
of March, ^ and cucumbers after the nones, ^^ and at the time of
the Q,uinquatria.'° The cucumber and the gourd climb up-
wards in a precisely similar manner, their shoots creeping along
the rough surface of the walls, even to the very roof, so great
is their fondness for elevated spots. They have not sufficient
strength, however, to support themselves without the aid of
stays. Shooting upwards with the greatest rapidity, they soon
cover with their light shade the arched roofs of the houses and
the trellises on which they are trained. From this circum-
stance it is that we find the gourd classified into two primary
kinds, the roof-gourd,''^ and the common gourd, which creeps
upon the ground. In the first kind, from a stalk of remark-
able thinness is suspended a fruit of considerable weight and
volume, and quite immoveable by the action of the wind. The
gourd, too, as well as the cucumber, admits of being lengthened
to any extent, by the aid of osier tubes more particularly. Just
after the blossom has fallen ofi", the plant is introduced into
these tubes, and as it grows it can be made to assume any form
that may be wished, that of a serpent coiled up being the one
that is mostly preferred ; if left at liberty to grow as it hangs,
it has been known before now to attain to no less than ^- nine
feet in length.
The cucumber flowers gradually, blossom succeeding blos-
som ; and it adapts itself perfectly well to a dry soil. It is
^ This depth would probably have the effect of retarding, or else utterly
impeding, the growth of the plant.
^' See c. 44 of this Book. The Parilia was a festival cf-Iebrated on the
nineteenth of April, the anniversary of the foundation of Eonie.
63 First of INIarch. 69 Seventh of March.
'0 See B. xviii. c. 56.
■'• The " camerarium," and the "plebeiura." ITie former, Fee thinks,
is the Cucurbita longior of Dodonaeus and J. Bauhin, the long gourd, and
other varieties probably of the calabash gourd, the Cucurbita leucantha of
Duchesne. The latter is probably the Cucurbita pepo and its varieties.
Fee thinks that the name " cucurbita," as employed by Pliny, extends
not only to the gourd, but the citrul or small pumpkin as well.
'2 As Fee says, he must be speaking of the fruit here, and not the
plant, which attains a far greater length than nine feet.
160 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book XIX.
covered with a white down, which increases in quantity as the
plant gains in size.
The gourd admits of being applied to more numerous uses
than the cucumber even : the stem is used as an article of
food" when young, bnt at a later period it changes its nature,
and its qualities become totally different : of late, gourds have
come to be used in baths for jugs and pitchers, but for this
long time past they have been employed as casks'* for keeping
wine. The rind is tender while the fruit is green, but still it
is always scraped off when the gourd is used for food. It ad-
mits of being eaten several ways, and forms a light and whole-
some aliment, and this although it is one of those fruits that
are difficult of digestion hj the human stomach, and are apt to
swell out those who eat of them. The seeds which lie nearest
to the neck of the gourd produce fruit of remarkable '^ length,
and so do those which lie at the lower extremities, though not
at all comparable with the others. Those, on the other hand,
which lie in the middle, produce gourds of a round shape, and
those on the sides fruit that are thick and short. The seeds
are dried by being placed in the shade, and when wanted for
sowing, are steeped in water first. The longer and thinner the
gourd is, the more agreeable it is to the palate, and hence it is
that those which have been left to grow hanging are reckoned
the most wholesome : these, too, have fewer seeds than the
others, the hardness of which is apt to render the fruit less
agreeable for eating.
Those which are intended for keeping seed, are usually not cut
before the winter sets in ; they are then dried in the smoke,
and are extensively employed for preserving''® garden seeds, and
for making other articles for domestic use. There has been a
method discovered, also, of preserving the gourd for table, and
the cucumber as well, till nearly the time when the next year's
crop is ripe ; this is done by putting them in brine. We are
assured, too, that if put in a hole dug in a place weU shaded
''3 The younj^ shoots of the gourd, Fee says, would afford an insipid
food, with hut little nutriment.
'1 The varieties thus employed, Fee says, must have been the Cucurbita
lagenaria of Linnaeus, and the Cucurbita 'lati or of Dodonseus.
" This is not the fact. The seed produces firuit similar to that from
which it was taken, and no more.
'6 The trumpet gourd, the Cucurbita longior of Dodonseus, is still em-
ployed, Fee says, by gardeners for this purpose.
Chap. 25.] EAPE : TURNIPS. IGl
from the sun, with a layer of sand beneath, and dry hay .'ind
earth on the top of them, they may be kept green for a very
long time. We also find wild ''^ cucumbers and gourds ; and,
indeed, the same is the case with pretty nearly all the garden
plants. These wild varieties, however, are only possessed of
certain medicinal properties, and for this reason we shall defer
any further mention of them till we come to the Books appro-
priated to that subject.
CHAP. 25. EAPE. TTJENIPS.
The other plants that are of a cartilaginous nature are con-
cealed, all of them, in the earth. In the number of these is
the rape, a subject upon which it would almost appear that
we have treated'^ at sufficient length already, were it not that
we think it as well to observe, that medical men call those
which are round *' male,"'^ while those which are larger and
more elongated, are knoAvn to them as " female " rape : these
last are superior in sweetness, and better for keeping, but by
successive sowings they are changed into male rape.^^
The same authors, too, have distinguished five different va-
rieties of the turnip :®^ the Corinthian, the Cleonaean, the
Liothasian, the Boeotian, and the one which they have charac-
terized as peculiarly the " green " turnip. The Corintliian
turnip ^- grows to a very large size, and the root is all but out
of the ground ; indeed, this is the only kind that, in growing,
shoots upwards, and not as the others do, downwards into the
ground. The Liothasian is known by some persons as the^
Thracian turnip f^ it is the one that stands extreme cold the
best of all. Next to it, the Boeotian kind is the sweetest ; it is re-
markable, also, for the roundness of its shape and its shortness ;
" See B. XX. c. 2. '« In B. xviii. c. 34.
" Though borrowed from Theophrastus and the Greek school, tliis dis-
tinction is absurd and unfounded.
•'•0 It is not the fact that the seed of the round kind, after repeated
so\vings, will produce long roots. Pliny, however, has probably miscopied
Theophrastus, who says, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4, that this transformation
takes place when the seed is sown very thick. This assertion, howcVLV,
is no move founded on truth than that of Pliny.
*>! A)so from Theophrastus, B. vii. c. 4 ; though that aiithor is speaking
of radishes, pacpavic^g^ and not turnips.
*^ Properly radish. ^^ Properly radish.
VOL. IV. il
lt>2 PLINY's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Rook XIX.
whilo the Cleonaean turnip,^ on the other hand, is of an elon-
gated form. Those, in general, which have a thin, smooth leaf,
are the sweetest ; while those, again, the leaf of which is rough,
angular, and prickly, have a pungent taste. There is a kind
of wild turnip,^^ also, the leaves of which resemble those of
roeket.^^ At Home, the highest rank is given to the turnips
of Amiternum,^^ and those of Nursia; after them, those grown
in the neighbourhood of the City^^ are held in the next de-
gree of esteem. The other particulars connected, with the
sowing of the turnip have been already mentioned ®^ by us when
speaking of the rape.
CHAP. 26. EADISHES.
Radishes are composed of an outer coat and a cartilaginous
substance, and in many instances the rind is found to be thicker
than the bark of some trees. This plant is remarkable for its
pungency, which increases in proportion to the thickness of the
rind : in some cases, too, the surface of it assumes a ligneous
nature. Radishes are flatulent^" to a remarkable degree, and
are productive of eructations ; hence it is that they are looked
upon as an aliment onl^- fit for low-bred people,^^ and this
more particularly if colcworts are eaten directly after them.
If, on the other hand, they are eaten with green olives, the
eructations produced are not so frequent, and less offensive.
In Egypt the radish is held in very high esteem, on ac.counc
of the abundance of oiP- that is extracted from the seed. In-
*** Radish. ss Properly radish.
' ^^ See B. XX. c. 49. Fee queries whether this radish may not be the
Eaphanus raphanistrum of botanists. See B. xviii. c. 34.
^^ See B. xviii. e. 35.
S8 " Nostratibus." Poinsinet would render this, " Those of my native
country," i. e. the parts beyond the Padus. As Pliny resided at Rome
during the latter part of his hfe, there can be Httle doubt but that he al-
ludi.s to the vicinity of Rome.
*9 See B. xviii. c. 34.
90 This property extends to most of the CruciferEe.
91 " Cibus illibcralis."
_ 92 The variety Olcifera of the Raphanus sativus is still cultivated exten-
sively in Egypt and Nubia for the extraction of the oil. The variety
Oleifera of the Brassica napus is also greatly cultivated in Egypt. Fee
suggests that Pliny may possibly confound these two plants under the one
name of " raphanus." It is worthy of remark, too, that the Colza oil, so
much used in France and Belgium for burning in lamps, is expressed from
the seed of the Brassica oleracea, a species of cabbage.
Cbap. 26.] IIADISHES. 1G3
deed, the people of that country sow this plant in preference
to any other, whenever they can get the opportunity, the profits
derived from it being larger than those obtained from the culti-
vation of corn, and the imposts levied upon it considerably less :
there is no grain known that yields a larger quantity of oil.
The Greeks have distinguished the radish^^ into three dif-
ferent kinds, according to the characteristic features of the
leaves, there being the crisped leaf, the smooth leaf, and the
wild radish, the leaf of which is smooth, but shorter than that
of the others ; it is round also, grows in great abundance, and
spreads like a shrub. The taste of this last variety is acrid,
and it acts medicinally as a strong purgative. In the first kind,
again, there are certain difierences, determined by the seed, for
in some varieties the seed is of an inferior quality, and in others
remarkably small : these defects, however, are only found to
exist in the kind that has the crisped leaf.
Our own people, again, have found other varieties of the
radish : there is the Algidan ^^ radish, long and transparent, so
called from the place of its growth : another, similar to the
rape in form, is known as the Syrian radish ; it is pretty
nearly the mildest and the most tender of them all, and is well
able to bear the winter. The very best of all, however, is the
one that has been brought from Syria, very recently it would
seem, as we do not find it mentioned by any of our writers :
it lasts the whole of the winter through. In addition to these
kinds, there is another, a wild variety, known by the Greeks as
''agrion,"^^ and to the people of Pontus as " armon," while
others, again, call it ''leuce,^*' and our people ''armoracia;"^'
it has more leaves, however, than root.
In testing the quality of the radish, it is the stem more par-
^' The Raphanus sativus of Linnaeus. This passage, however, down to
" crisped leaf," properly applies to the cabbage, and not the radish, Pliny
having copied the Greek, and taken the word 'pd(pavoQ, properly " cabbage,"
to mean "radish;" which in the later Greek writers it sometimes does,
though not in this instance.
^* Mount Algidus was near Tusculum, fifteen miles from Home. Its
coldness contributed greatly to the goodness of its radishes.
95 Qr a -\vild." Fee suggests that this is the Raphanus rusticanus of
Lobellius, the Cochlearia Armoracia of Linnaeus, the wild radish, or horse-
radish.
^ Or "white." From the extreme whiteness of the roots.
*" Probably meaning, " radish of Ai-morica."
M 2
164 plint's natural history. [Book XIX.
ticularlj', that is looked at ; in those which are acrid to the
taste, for instance, it is rounder and thicker than in the others,
and grooved with long channels, while the leaves are more un-
sightly to the eye, being angular and covered with prickles.
The radish requires to be sown in a loose, humid soil, has a
great aversion to manure, and is content with a dressing solely
of chaff: so fond is it of the cold, that in Germany it is known
to grow as large as an infant in size.^^ For the spring crop,
it is sown immediately after the ides of February f^ and then
again about the time of the Yulcanalia,^ this last crop being
looked upon as the best : many persons, however, sow radishes
in ]\Iarch, April, and September. When the plant begins to
grow to any size, it is considered a good plan to cover up the
leaves successively, and to earth up the root as well ; for the
part of it which appears above ground is apt to become hard
and pithy. Aristomachus recommends the leaves to be taken
oif in winter, and the roots to be well moulded up, to prevent
the water from accumulating about them ; and he says, that
by using tlicso precautions, they will be all the finer in summer.
Some authors have mentioned a plan of making a hole with a
dibble, and eovering it at the bottom with a laj-er of chaff, six
fingers in depth ; upon this layer the seed is put, and then
covered over with manure and earth ; the result of which is,
according to their statement, that radishes are obtained full as
large as the hole so made. It is salt, however, that conduces
more particularly to their nutriment, and hence it is that they are
often watered with brine ; in Egypt, too, the growers sprinkle
nitre - over them, the roots being remarkable for their mildness
The salt, too, has the similar effect of removing all their pun-
gency, and when thus treated, they become very similar in
their qualities to radishes that have been boiled : for when
boiled they become sweet and mild, and eat, in fact, just like
turnips.
^8 Fee sugfTcsts that he is here speaking of the beet-root, in reality a
native of the north of Europe.
^3 Thirteenth of February.
^ The festival of Vulcan, beginning on the twenty-third of August, and
lasting- cicrht days.
= A nalinal production, the carbonate of sodium of the chemists, knovm
from time iniincmorial by tlie niiuie of "natron." See B. xxx. c. 46;
from which passage it would fippear that it was generally employed for
watering the lei^nmiiuous plants.
Chap. 27.] PARSIsUPa. 1G5
Medical men recommend raw radishes to be eaten fasting,
with salt, for the purpose ^ of collecting the crude humours of
the viscera ; and in this way they prepare them for the action
of emetics. It is said, too, that the juices of this plant are
absolutely necessary for the cure of certain diseases of the
diaphragm ; for it has been found by experiment, in Egypt,
that the phthiriasis ^ which attaches itself to the internal parts
of the heart, cannot possibly be eradicated by any other remedy,
the kings of that country having ordered the bodies of the
dead to be opened and examined, for the purpose of enquiring
into certain diseases.
Such, too, is the frivolity of the Greeks, that, in the temple
of Apollo at Delphi, it is said, the radish is so greatly pre-
ferred to all other articles of diet, as to be represented there in
gold, the beet in silver, and the rape in lead. — Tou might be
very sure that Manius Curius was not a native of that country,
the general whom, as we find stated in our Annals, the am-
bassadors of the Samnites found busy roasting rape at the fire,
when they came to offer him the gold which he so indignantly
refused. Moschion, too, a Greek author, has written a volume
on the subject of the radish. These vegetables are considered
a ver}' useful article of food during the winter; but they are at
all times very injurious to the teeth, as they are apt to wear
them away ; at all events, they give a polish to ivory. There
is a great antipathy between the radish ^ and the vine ; Avhich
last will shrink from the radish, if sown in its vicinity. ^
CHAP. 27. — PAESNIPS.
The other kinds which have been classified by us among the
cartilaginous plants, are of a more ligneous nature ; and it is
a singular thing, that they have, all of them, a strong flavour.
Among these, there is one kind of wild parsnip which grows
3 Dioscorides recommends these puerilities with the cahbage, and not
the radish ; though Celsus gives similar instructions with reference to the
radish.
* It was a general belief with the ancients that the phthiriasis, or mor-
bus pediculosus, has its seat in the heart. It was supposed also that the
juice of the radish was able, by reason of its supposed subtlety, to penetrate
the coats of that organ.
5 This is said by other ancient authors, in reference to the cahhaje and
the vine. See B. xxiv. c. i.
166 plint's katuhal history. [Book XIX.
spontaneously; by the Greeks it is known as ''staphylinos."®
Another kind^ of parsnip is grown either from the root trans-
planted, or else from seed, at the beginning of spring or in the
autumn ; Hyginus says that this may be done in February,
August, September, and October, the ground being dug to a
very considerable depth for the purpose. The parsnip begins
to be fit for eating at the end of a year, but it is still better at
the end of two : it is reckoned more agreeable eating in autumn,
and more particularly if cooked in the saacepan ; even then>
however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is
found quite impossible to get rid of.
The hibiscum^ differs from the parsnip in being more slender :
it is rejected as a food, but is found useful for its medicinal
properties. There is a fourth kind,^ also, which bears a similar
degree of resemblance to the parsnip; by our people it is
called the '* gallica," while the Greeks, who have distinguished
four varieties of it, give it the name of '' daucus." AVe shall
have further occasion ^° to mention it among the medicinal
plants.
CHAP. 28. THE SKIREET.
The skirret,^^ too, has had its reputation established by the
Emperor Tiberius, who demanded a supply of it every year
from Germany. It is at Gelduba,^^ a fortress situate on the
banks of the Ehenus, that the finest are grown ; from which
it would appear that they thrive best in a cold climate.
There is a string running through the whole length of the
skirret, and which is drawn out after it is boiled ; but still,
for all this, a considerable proportion of its natural pungency
« There is some doubt as to the identity of this plant, but Fee, after
examining the question, comes to the conclusion that it is the Daucus
Carotu, or else Mauritanicus of Linnaeus, the common carrot, or that of
ISIiiuritania. Sprengel takes it to be either this last or the Daucus guttatus,
a plant commonly found in Greece.
' The Pastinaca satira of Linnaeus, or common parsnip,
8 Tlie marsh-mallow, probably, the Althaea officinaHs of Linnjeus.
s The carrot. The Daucus Carota of Linnaeus.
10 In B. XXV. c. 64.
11 " Siser." The Sium sisarum of Linnaeus. See also B. xx. c. 17.
It is said to have been originally a native of China.
'2 It is supposed that this is the same with Gelb, near Neuss, in Ger-
many, mentioned by Tacitus, Hist. B. iv. cc. 26. 32.
Chap. 29.] ELECAMPANE. 167
is retained ; indeed, when modified by the addition of honied
wine, this is even thought to impart to dishes an additional
relish. The larger parsnip has also a similar sting inside, but
only when it is a year old. The proper time for sowing the
skirret is in the months of February, March, April, August,
September, and October.
CHAP. 29. — ELECAMPAl^E.
Elecampane '^ is not so elongated as the preceding roots, but
more substantial and more pungent ; eaten by itself it is very
injurious to the stomach, but when mixed with other condi-
ments of a sweet nature, it is extremely wholesome. There
are several methods employed for modifying ^^ its natural
acridity and rendering it agreeable to the palate : thus, for in-
stance, w'hen dried it is reduced to a fine flour, and then mixed
with some sweet liquid or other, or else it is boiled in vinegar
and water, or kept in soak in it; it is also steeped in various
other ways, and then mixed with boiled ^^ grape-juice, or else
incorporated with honey or raisins, or dates with plenty of
meat on them. Other persons, again, have a method of pre-
paring it with quinces, or else sorbs or plums, while sometimes
the flavour is varied by the addition of pepper or thyme.
This plant is particularly good for weakness of the stomach,
and it has acquired a high reputation from the circumstance
that Julia ^■^ Augusta used to eat it daily. The seed of it is
quite useless, as the plant is reproduced, like the reed, from
eyes extracted from the root. This vegetable, as well as the
skirret and the parsnip, is sown both in spring and autumn, a
considerable distance being left between the plants ; indeed, for
elecampane, a space of no less than three feet is required, as
^3 The Inula Helenium of Linnaeus. Its English name is derived from
Inula ciirapana, that under whick it is so highly recommended in the pre-
cepts of the School of Health at Salerno. See also B. xx. c. 19. At the
present day it is universally rejected as an article of food in any shape.
^* The School of Salerno says that it may be preserved by being pickled
in brine, or else in the juice of rue, which, as Fee remark's, would pro-
duce neither more nor less than a veritable poison. The modern Pharma-
copoeias give the receipt of a conserve of elecampane, which, however, is no
longer used.
15 " Defrutum." Must, boiled down to one half.
1^ The daughter of Augustus Caesar.
168 PLINY's ISATUEAL HISTOHT. [Book XIX.
it throws out its shoots to a very considerable distance.^^
Skirrets, however, are best transplanted.
CHAP. 30. — BULBS, SQUILLS, AND AEUM.
Kext in affinity to these plants are the bulbs," which Cato,
speaking in high terms of those of Megara,^" recommends most
particularly for cultivation. Among these bulbs, the squill,^^
we find, occupies the very highest rank, although by nature it
is medicinal, and is employed for imparting an additional sharp-
ness to vinegar :- indeed, there is no bulb known that grows
to a larger size than this, or is possessed of a greater degree of
pungency. There are two varieties of it employed in medi-
cine, the male squill, which has white leaves, and the female
squill, with black*^ ones. There is a third kind also, which is
good to eat, and is known as the Epimenidian-'* squill ; the leaf
is narrower than in the other kinds, and not so rough. All
the squills have numerous seeds, but they come up much more
quickly if propagated from the offsets that grow on the sides.
To make them attain a still greater size, the large leaves that
grow around them are turned down and covered over with
earth; by which method all the juices are carried to the
heads. Squills grow spontaneously and in vast numbers in
the Ealeares and the island of Ebusus, and in the Spanish pro-
vinces.^^ The philosopher Pythagoras has written a whole vo-
lume on the merits of this plant, setting forth its various me-
^^ The same account nearly is given in Columella, De Ee Rust. B. xi.
c. 3.
1^ Under this general name were included, probably, garlic, scallions,
chives, and some kinds of onions ; but it is quite impossible to identify tiic
ancient " bulbus" more closely than this.
2" It has been suggested that this was probably the onion, the Allium
cepa of Linn?eus.
21 The Scilla mavitima of Ijnnseus, the sea-squill.
22 Sec B. XX. c. 39. He miglit have added that it renders vinegar botli
an emutic, and a violent purgative.
23 The leaves are in all cns(!s green, and no other colour; but in one
kind the squamae, or bracted leaves, are white, and in another, red.
2^ Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. U. vii. c. 11, gives it this name. Ah
none of the sea-squills can be eaten with impunity, Fee is inclined to
doubt if this really was a squill.
25 They still abound in tliose places. The Spanish coasts on tlie Medi-
terranean, Fee says, as well as the vicinity of Gibraltar, are covered with
them.
Chap. 30.] BULES, SQUILLS, AND ARUM. 169
dicinal properties ; of which we shall have occasion lo speak
more at length in the succeeding Book.-^
The other species of bulbs are distinguished by their colour,
size, and sweetness ; indeed, there are some that are eaten raw
even — those found in the Tauric Chersonesus, for instance.
Next to these, the bulbs of Africa are held in the highest
esteem, and after them those of Apulia. The Greeks have
distinguished the following varieties : the bulbine,-^ the seta-
iiion,'"* the opition,-^ the cyix,^° the leucoion,^^ the aegilips,^^ and
the sisyrinchion^^ — in the last there is this remarkable feature,
that the extremities of the roots increase in winter, but during
the spring, when the violet appears, they diminish in size and
gradually contract, and then it is that the bulb begins to in-
crease in magnitude.
Among the varieties of the bulb, too, there is the plant
known in Egypt by the name of *' aron."^* In size it is very
nearly as large as the squill, with a leaf like that of lapathum,
and a straight stalk a couple of cubits in length, and the thick-
ness of a walking-stick : the root of it is of a milder nature,
so much so, indeed, as to admit of being eaten raw.
Bulbs are taken up before the spring, for if not, they are
apt to spoil very quickly. It is a sign that they are ripe when
the leaves become dry at the lower extremities. When too
old they are held in disesteem ; the same, too, with the long
and the smaller ones ; those, on the other hand, which are red
and round are greatly preferred, as also those of the largest
size. In most of them there is a certain degree of pungency
in the upper part, but the middle is sweet. The ancients have
26 In c. 39.
-^ Fee thinks that this may be the Muscaria botryo'ides of Miller, Lict.
Ko. I. See also 13. xx. c. 41.
-^ A variety, probably, of the common onion, the Allium cepa of Linnaeus.
29 Some variety of the genus Allium, Fee thinks.
^ Fee queries whether this may not be some cyperaceous plant witli a
bulbous root.
3^ A white bulb, if we may judge from the name. The whole of this
passage is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 11.
•*- This has not been identified. The old reading was *'segilops," a
name now given to a kind of grass.
•*■* The Iris sisyrinchium of Linnaeus.
•'^^ The Arum colocasia of Linnaeus, held in great esteem by fhe ancient
Egyptians as a vegetable. The root is not a bulb, but tubercular, and the
leaf bears no resemblance to that of the Lapathum, dock or sorrel. It
was sometimes known by the name of "lotus."
J 70 TLINl's N^ATURAL HISTOET. [Book XIX.
stated that bulbs are reproduced from seed only, but in the
champaign country of Praeneste they grow spontaneously,
and they grow to an unlimited extent in the territory of the
Eemi.^'
CHAP. 31. (6.) THE EOOTS, FLOWERS, AND LEAVES OF ALL THESE
PLANTS. GARDEN PLANTS WHICH LOSE THEIR LEAVES.
Nearly alP^ the garden plants have a single^' root only,
radishes, beet, parsley, and mallows, for example ; it is lapa-
thum, however, that has the longest root of them all, it attain-
ing the length of three cubits even. The root of the wild
kind is smaller and of a humid nature, and when up it will
keep alive for a considerable period. In some of these plants,
however, the roots are fibrous, as we find the case in parsley
and mallows, for instance; in others, again, they are of a
ligneous nature, as in ocimum, for example ; and in others they
are fleshy, as in beet, and in saffron even more so. In some,
again, the root is composed of rind and flesh, as in the radish
and the rape ; while in others it is jointed, as in hay grass.^**
Those plants which have not a straight root throw out imme-
diately a great number of hairy fibres, orage^^ and blite,^*^ for
instance : squills again, bulbs, onions, and garlic never have
any but a vertical root. Among the plants that grow spon-
taneously, there are some which have more numerous roots
than leaves, spalax," for example, pellitory,*' and saffron.''^
Wild thyme, southernwood, turnips, radishes, mint, and rue
bk ssom all*^ at once ; while others, again, shed their blossom
directly they have begun to flower. Ocimum^^ blossoms gradu-
=5 In Gauk See B, iv. c. 31.
^s This passage, and indeed nearly the whole of the Cliapter, is bor-
rowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. i. c. 9.
^^ Fee thinks that by the expression fxovoppiZa^ Theophrastus means a
root that strikes vertically, instead of spreading.
=8 Gramen. See B. xviii. c. 67, and B. xxiv. c. 118.
^3 Atriplex. See B. xx. c. 83. 4o g^e B. xx. c. 93.
41 Poinsinet suggests that this may mean the " mole-plant," dcirdXa^
being the Greek for "mole."
*- " Perdicium." See B. xxii. cc. 19, 20.
^^ " Crocus." See B. xxi. c. 17, ci seg.
" Tliis is not tlie fact. All these assertions are from Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 3. i- »
" Fee thinks that tlie ocimum of Pliny is not the basil of the moderns,
the Ocimum basilicum of the naturalists. The account, however, here
given would very well apply to basil.
Chap. 32.J VAEIETIES OF THE 0^'I0^^ 171
ally, beginning at the lower parts, and hence it is that it is so
very long in blossom : the same is the case, too, with the plant
known as heliotropium.^ In some plants the flower is white,
in others yellow, and in others purple. The leaves fall first^'
from the upper part in wild-marjoram and elecampane, and
in rue^^ sometimes, when it has been injured accidentally.
In some plants the leaves are hollow, the onion and the seal-
lion,*^ more particularly.
CHAP. 32. — VAEIETIES OF THE ONION.
Garlic and onions'" are invoked by the Egyptians,'^ when
taking an oath, in the number of their deities. The Greeks
have many varieties'^ of the onion, the Sardian onion, the
Samothracian, the Alsidenian, the setanian, the schistan, and
the Ascalonian,'^ so called from Ascalon,'* a city of Judaea.
They have, all of them, a pungent smell, which'' draws tears
from the eyes, those of Cyprus more particularly, and those of
Cnidos the least of all. In all of them the body is composed
of a cartilage of an unctuous'® nature. The variety known as
the setanian is the smallest of them all, with the exception of
the Tusculan'" onion, but it is sweet to the taste. The schis-
tan'^ and the Ascalonian kinds are used for storing. The
schistan onion is left during the winter with the leaves on ; in
the spring it is stripped of them, upon which offsets make
*s The Heliotropium Europaeum of botany. See B. xxii. c, 19,
"*' These assertions, Fee says, are not consistent with modern experience.
48 See c. 45 of this Book.
*9 " Gethyum." The Allium schoenoprasiim, probably, of botany, the
ciboul or scallion. so The Allium cepa of Linnaeus.
=1 The inhabitants of Pelusium, more particularly, were devoted to the
worship of the onion. They held it, in common with garlic, in great
aversion as an article of food. At Pelusium there was a temple also in
which the sea-squill was worshipped.
='- With some little variation, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4.
53 Supposed to be identical with the Allium Ascalonicum of Linnasus,
the chaiotte. Pliny is the only writer who mentions the Alsidenian onion.
^ To the Ascalonian onion, the scallion, or ciboul, owes its English name.
ss Owing to the acetic acid which the bulb contains, and which acts on
the membranes of the eye.
^ " Pinguitudinis."
^■^ Fee queries whether the early white onion of Florence, the smallest
now known among the cultivated kinds, may not possibly be identical with
the setanian, or else the Tusculan, variety.
°2 From (Txt^w, to " divide" or " tear off."
172 plint's natural msTOKr. [Book XIX.
their appearance at the same divisions as the leaves ; it is to
this circumstance that this variety owes its name. Taking
the hint from this fact, it is recommended to strip the other
kinds of their leaves, to make them bulb all the better, instead
of running to seed.
The Ascalonian onion is of a peculiar nature, being barren
in some measure in the root ; hence it is that the Greeks huve
recommended it to be reproduced from seed, and not from roots :
the transplanting, too, they say, should be done later in the
spring, at the time the plant germinates, the result being that
it bulbs with all the greater rapidity, and hastens, as it were,
to make up for lost time ; great dispatch, however, is requisite
in taking it up, for when ripe it rots with the greatest rapi-
dity. If propagated from roots, it throws out a long stalk,
runs rapidly to seed, and dies.
There are considerable differences, too, in the colour of the
onion ; the whitest of all are those grown at Issus and Sardes.
The onions, too, of Crete are held in high esteem, but there
is some doubt whether they are not the same as the Ascalonian
variety ; for when grown from seed they produce a fine bulb,
but when planted they throw out a long stalk and run to seed ;
in fact, they differ from the Ascalonian kind only in the sweet-
ness of their flavour.
Among us there are two principal varieties known of the
onion ; the scallion, employed for seasonings, is one, known to
the Greeks by the name of " gethyon," and by us as the ''pal-
lacana;" it is sown in March, April, and May. The other
kind is the bulbed or headed ^^ onion ; it is sown just after the
autumnal equinox, or else after the west winds have begun to
prevail. The varieties of this last kind, ranged according to
their relative degrees of pungency, are the African onion, the
(iallic, the Tusculan, the Ascalonian, and the Amiternian : the
roundest in shape are the best. The red onion, too, is more
pungent than the white, the stored than the fresh, the raw
than the cooked, and the dried than the preserved. The onion
of Amiternum is cultivated in cold, humid localities, and is
the only one that is reproduced from heads,^'' like garlic, the
other kinds being grown from seed. This last kind yields no
53 "Capitata."
60 For this reason, Fee is inclined to rosard it as a variety fitlior of
garlic, Allium sativum, or of the chalottc, Allium Ascaionicum of Liuiiifi.is.
Chap. 33.] THE LEEK. 1/3
seed in the ensuing summer, but a bulb only, "which dries and
keeps ; but in the summer after, the contrary is the case, for
seed is produced, while the bulb very quickly spoils. Hence
it is that every year there are two separate sowings, one of
seed for the reproduction of bulbs, and one of bulbs for the
growth of seed ; these onions keep best in chaff. The scallion
has hardly any bulb at all, but a long neck only — hence it is
nothing but leaf, and is often cut down, like the leek ; for this
reason, too, like the leek, it is grown from seed, and not from
plants.
In addition to these particulars, it is recommended that the
ground intended for sowing onions should be turned up three
times, care being taken to remove all roots and weeds ; ten
pounds of seed is the proper proportion for a jugerum. Savory
too, they say, should be mixed with them, the onions being all
the finer for it ; the ground, too, should be stubbed and hoed
four times at least, if not oftener. In Italy, the Ascalonian
onion is sown in the month of February. The seed of the
onion is gathered when it begins to turn black, and before it
becomes dry and shrivelled.
CHAP. 33. THE LEEK.
"W^hile upon this subject, it will be as well, too, to speak of
the ieek,^^ on account of the affinity which it bears to the plants
just mentioned, and more particularly because cut-leek has
recently acquired considerable celebrity from the use made of
it by the Emperor Xero. That prince, to improve his voice,^-
used to eat leeks and oil every month, upon stated days, alD-
staining from every other kind of food, and not touching so
much as a morsel of bread even. Leeks are reproduced from
seed, sown just after the autumnal equinox ; if they are in-
tended for cutting,^^ the seed is sown thicker than otherwise.
The leeks in the same bed are cut repeatedly, till it is quite ex-
hausted, and they are always kept well manured. If they are
*^ The Allium porrum of Linnaeus.
^2 This prejudice in favour of the leek, as Fee remarks, still exists. It
is doubtful, however, whether its mucilage has any beneficial effect upon
the voice. See B. xx. c. 21.
*2 Fee says, that it is a practice with many gardeners, more harmful
than beneficial, to cut the leaves of the leek as it grows, their object being
to increase the size of the stalk.
174 PLINT' 8 NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XIX.
wanted to bulb before being cut, when they have grown to
some size they are transplanted to another bed, the extremities
of the leaves being snipped off without touching the white part,
and the heads stripped of the outer coats. The ancients were
in the habit of placing a stone or potsherd upon the leek, to
make the head grow all the larger, and the same with the
bulbs as well ; but at the present day it is the usual practice
to move the fibrous roots gently with the weeding-hook, so that
by being bent they may nourish the plant, and not withdraw
the juices from it.
It is a remarkable fact, that, though the leek stands in need
of manure and a rich soil, it has a particular aversion to water ;
and yet its nature depends very much upon the natural proper-
ties of the soil. The most esteemed leeks are those grown in
Egypt, and next to them those of Ostia and Aricia.^"^ Of the
leek for cutting, there are two varieties : that with grass-
green ^^ leaves and incisions distinctly traced on them, and the
leek with paler and rounder leaves, the incisions being more
lightly marked. There is a story told, that Mela,^ a member
of the Equestrian order, being accused of mal-administration
by order of the Emperor Tiberius, swallowed in his despair
leek-juice to the amount of three denarii in weight of silver,
and expired upon the spot without the slightest symptom of
pain. It is said, however, that a larger dose than this is pro-
ductive of no injurious effects whatever.^"
CHAP. 34. — GAELIC.
Garlic ^ is generally supposed, in the country more particu-
larly, to be a good specific ^^ for numerous maladies. The ex •
'^^ Martial, B. xiii. Epig. 19, mentions the leeks of Aricia.
^^ Pt'e thinks that this may be the wild leek, which is commonly found
as a weed in Spain.
«" M. Annxnxs Mela, the brother of L. Seneca the philosopher, and the
father of I he poet Lucan.
G'^ Thougli Pliny would seem inclined, as Fee says, to credit this story,
the juice of tlio leek is in reality quite harmless.
5^ The Allium sativum of Linnaeus. It was much eaten by the Roman
soldiers and saUors, and by the field labourers. It is in reference to this
ve^'ctable, " more noxious than hemlock," that Horace exclaims—
'* 0 dura mcssorum ilia!"
e» It was thought to have the property of neutralizing the venom of
Chap. 34.] GAKLIC. 17.5
ternal coat consists of membranes of remarkable fineness, which
are universally discarded when the vegetable is used ; the inner
part being formed by the union of several cloves, each of which
has also a separate coat of its own. The flavour of it is pun-
gent, and the more numerous the cloves the more pungent it
is. Like the onion, it imparts an offensive smell to the breath ;
but this is not the case when it is cooked. The various species
of garlic are distinguished by the periods at which they ripen :
the early kind becomes fit for use in sixty days. Another dis-
tinction, too, is formed by the relative size of the heads. Ulpi-
cum,"*^ also, generally known to the Greeks as '^ Cyprian garlic,"
belongs to this class ; by some persons it is called " antisco-
rodon," and in Africa more particularly it holds a high rank
among the dishes of the rural population ; it is of a larger size
than ordinary garlic. When beaten up with oil and vinegar,
it is quite surprising what a quantity of creaming foam is pro-
duced.
There are some persons who recommend that neither ulpicum
nor garlic should be sown on level ground, but say that they
should be planted in little mounds trenched up, at a distance of
three feet apart. Between each clove, they say, there should
be a distance of four fingers left, and as soon as ever three
leaves are visible, the heads should be hoed ; the oftener they
are hoed, the larger the size they will attain. When thej'
begin to ripen, the stalks are bent downwards, and covered
over with earth, a precaution which effectuallj' prevents them
from running to leaf. In cold soils, it is considered better to
plant them in spring than in autumn.
For the purpose of depriving all these plants of their strong
smell, it is recommended to set them when the moon is below
the horizon, and to take them up when she is in conjunction.
Independently of these precautions, we find Menander, one
of the Greek writers, recommending those who have been
eating garlic to eat immediately afterwards a root of beet
serpents ; and thougli persons who had just eaten of it were not allowed to
enter the Temple ot' the Mother of the Gods, it was prescribed to those
who wished to be purified and absolved from crimes. It is still lield iu
considerable esteem in the south of Europe, where, by the lower classes,
great medicinal virtues are ascribed to it.
'" Theophrustus says. Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4, that this is the largest
of all the varieties of garlic.
176 pliny's natural IIISTOKT. [Book XIX.
roasted on hot coals ; if this is done, he says, the strong smell
of the garlic will be eifectually neutralized. Some persons are of
opinion, that the proper period for planting garlic and ulpicum
is between the festival of the Compitalia ''^ and that of the
Saturnalia.'^- Garlic, too, can be grown from seed, but it is
very slow, in such case, in coming to maturity ; for in the first
year, the head attains the size only of that of a leek, in the
second, it separates into cloves, and only in the third it arrives
at maturity ; there are some, however, who think that garlic
grown this way is the best. Garlic should never be allowed
to run to seed, but the stalk should be twisted, to promote its
growth, and to make the head attain a larger size.
If garlic or onions are wanted to keep some time, the heads
should be dipped in salt water, made luke-warm ; by doing
this, they will be all the better for keeping, though quite
worthless for reproduction. Some persons content themselves
with hanging them over burning coals, and are of opinion that
this is quite sufficient to prevent them from sprouting : for it
is a well-known fact, that both garlic and onions sprout when
out of the ground, and that after throwing out their thin shoots
they shrivel away to nothing. Some persons are of opinion,
too, that the best way of keeping garlic is by storing it in chaff.
There is a kind" of garlic that grows spontaneously in the
fields, and is known by the name of " alum." To preserve
the seeds that are sown there from the remorseless ravages of
the birds, this plant is scattered over the ground, being first
boiled, to prevent it from shooting. As soon as ever they have
eaten of it, the birds become so stupefied as to be taken with
the hand even,"^ and if they remain but a few moments onl\
on tlie spot, they fall fiist asleep. There is a wild garlic,
too, generally known as "bear's" garlic;'^ it has exactly the
smell of millet, with a very small head and large leaves.
"' Second of May. 72 Seventeenth of December.
■*■' Tlie Allium oleraceum of Linnaeus.
"' Fee refuses crecUtuoe to this story.
■" "Ursinum." The Allium ursinum of Linnncus. Instead, however,
of having the comparatively mild smell of millet, its odour is powerful ; so
much so, as to impart a strong flavour to the milk of the cows tliat eat of
it. It is very common, Fee says, in nearly every part of France.
Chap. 35.] GEOWTH OF PLANTS. 1 ']'J
CHAP. 35. (7.) THE NUMBER OF DAYS EEQT7IRED FOR THE RE-
SPECTIVE PLANTS TO MAKE THEIR APPEARANCE ABOVE GROUND.
Among the garden'^ plants which make their appearance
most speedily above ground, are ocimum, blite, the turnip, and
rocket ; for they appear above the surface the third day after
they are sown. Anise, again, comes up on the fourth day, the
lettuce on the fifth, the radish on the sixth, the cucumber and
the gourd on the seventh — the cucumber rather the first of the
two — cresses and mustard on the fifth, beet on the sixth day
in summer and the tenth in winter, orage on the eighth, onions
on the nineteenth or twentieth, and scallions on the tenth
or twelfth. Coriander, again, is more stubborn in its growth,
cunila and wild marjoram do not appear till after the thirtieth
day, and parsley comes up with the greatest difficulty of all,
for at the very earliest it is forty days before it shows itself,
and in most instances as much as fifty.
The age,'^^ too, of the seed is of some importance in this re-
spect ; for fresh seed comes up more rapidly in the case of the
leek, the scallion, the cucumber, and the gourd, while in that
of parsley, beet, cardaraum, cunila, wild marjoram, and co-
riander, seed that has been kept for some time is the best.
There is one remarkable circumstance '^ in connection with
the seed of beet ; it does not all germinate in the first year, but
some of it in the second, and some in the third even ; hence
it is that a considerable quantity of seed produces only a very
moderate crop. Some plants produce only in the year in which
they are set, and some, again, for successive j^ears, parsley,
leeks, and scallions"^ for instance ; indeed, these plants, when
once sown, retain their fertilitj-, and produce for many years.
'6 The whole nearly of this Chapter is borrowed from Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant. B. vii. cc! 1 and '2. It must be borne in mind that what the
Romans called the ''third" day would with ns be the "second," and so
on ; as in reckoning, they included the day reckoned from, as well as the
day reckoned to.
'7 Fee remarks, that most of the observations made in this Chapter are
well founded.
"^^ This statement, Fee remarks, is entirely a fiction, it beini^ impos-
sible for seed to acquire, the second yeax", a faculty of germinating wtiicb
it has not had in the first.
■'9 This is true, but, as Fee observes, the instances might be greatly
extended.
VOL. IV. «
178 PLTNT's :NATrRAL HISTOTlT. [Book XIX,
CHAP. 36. THE ITATrRE OF THE VAEIOUS SEEDS.
In most plants the seed is round, in some oblong ; it is broad
and foliaceous in some, orage for instance, while in others it is
narrow and grooved, as in cummin. There are differences,
also, in the colour of seeds, which is either black or white ;
while some seeds are woody and hard, in radishes, mustard,
and rape, the seeds are enclosed in pods. In parsley, corian-
der, anise, fennel, and cummin, the seed has no covering at all,
while in blite, beet, orage, and ocimum, it has an outer coat,
and in the lettuce it is covered with a fine down. There is no
seed more prolific than that of ocimum f^ it is generally re-
commended®^ to sow it with the utterance of curses and im-
precations, the result being that it grows all the better for it ;
the earth, too, is rammed down when it is sown, and prayers
offered that the seed may never come up. The seeds which are
enveloped in an outer coat, are dried with considerable diffi-
culty, that of ocimum more particularly ; hence it is that all
these seeds are dried artificially, their fruitfulness being greatly
promoted thereby.
Plants in general come up better when the seed is sown iu
heaps than when it is scattered broad-cast : leeks, in fact, and
parsley are "generally grown by sowing the seed in little bags :®^
in the case of parsley, too, a hole is made with the dibble, and a
layer of manure inserted.
All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and
some from both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram,
and ocimum,^ for example — this last being usually cut when
it is a palm in height. Some kinds, again, are reproduced
from both seed and root, as in the case of onions, garlic, and
bulbs, and those other plants of which, though annuals them-
selves, the roots retain their vitality. In those plants which
grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time, and throws
out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for example. —
8" Fee says that basil, the Ocimum basilicum of Linnaeus, is not meant
here, nor yet the leguminous plant that was known to tlie Romans by that
name.
«' A singular superstition truly ! Theophrastus says the same in rela-
tion to cummin seed.
S2 This is not done at the present day.
33 This can hardly be our basil, the Ocimum basilicum. for that phmt is
an annual.
Chap. 37.] DTFFEEENT KINDS OF PLANTS. 179
Others, again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous
root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk
is cut, with the exception *** of those which have not a rough
stem, nearly all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that
may be seen in ocimum,^^ the radish,^ and the lettuce,^ which
are in daily use among us ; indeed, it is generally thought that
the lettuce which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the
sweetest. The radish, too, is more pleasant eating when the
leaves have been removed before it has begun to run to stalk.
The same is the case, too, with rape ; for when the leaves are
taken off, and the roots well covered up with earth, it grows
all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation till the en-
suing summer.
CHAP. 37. PLANTS OF WHICH THEEE IS I^UT A SINGLE KIND.
PLANTS OF WHICH THEEE AKE SEVERAL KINDS.
Of ocimum, lapathum, blite, cresses, rocket, orage, coriander,
and anise respectively, there is but a single kind, these plants
being the same everywhere, and no better in one place than
in another. It is the general belief that stolen^® rue grows
the best, while, on the other hand, bees ^^ that have been stolen
will never thrive. Wild mint, cat-mint, endive, and penny-
royal, will grow even without any cultivation. With refer-
ence to the plants of which we have already spoken, or shall
have occasion to speak, there are numerous varieties of many
of them, parsley more particularly.
(8.) As to the kind of parsley ^^ which grows spontaneously
in moist localities, it is known by the name of " helioselinum;"^^
it has a single leaf ®^ only, and is not rough at the edges. In
8* Fee suggests that Piiny may have intended here to except the Mono-
cotyledons, for otherwise his assertion would be false,
^5 This, Fee says, cannot be basil, for when cut it will not shoot again.
^^ The radish is not mentioned in the parallel passage by Theophrastus.
^"^ The lettuce, as Fee remarks, will not shoot again when cut down.
^'^ This puerility, Fee observes, runs counter to the more moral adage,
that " stolen goods never prosper."
^9 SeeB. xi. c. 15.
^ This variety, Fee says, is the Apium graveolens of Linnasus.
9^ Or marsh-parsley.
^- Pliny has mistranslated, or rather misread, the passage of Theo-
phrastus, who says, B. vii. c. 6, that this kind of parsley is fiav6(pvX\ov,
K 2
189 PLINl'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XIX.
dry places, we find growing the kind known as " hipposeli-
num,"*^ consisting of numerous leaves, similar to helioselinum.
A third variety is the oreoselinum,^^ with leaves like those of
hemlock, and a thin, fine, root, the seed being similar to that
of- anise, only somewhat smaller.
The differences, again, that are found to exist in cultivated
parsley, ^^ consist in the comparative density of the leaves, the
crispness or smoothness of their edges, and the thinness or
thickness of the stem, as the case may be : in some kinds, again,
the stem is white, in others purple, and in others mottled.
CHAP. 38. — THE NATUKE AND VAUTETIES OF TWENTY-THREE
GARDEN PLANTS. THE LETTUCE ; ITS DIEFERENT VARIETIES.
The Greeks have distinguished three varieties of the lettuce ;^
the first with a stalk so large, that small garden gates, ^' it is
said, have been made of it : the leaf of this lettuce is some-
what larger than that of the herbaceous, or green lettuce, but
extremely narrow, the nutriment seeming to be expended on
the other parts of the plant. The second kind is that with a
rounded^ stalk ; and the third is the low, squat lettuce,^ gene-
rally known as the Laconian lettuce.
" thinly covered with leaves," and not fiovofvWnv, " having' a single
leaf." Palladius {In Apr Hi.) trmslates it, " molli folio," "with a soft
leaf;" but, though Fee commends this version, it is not correct.
93 Or "horse-parsley." Hardouin takes this to be Macedonian parsley,
the Bubon Macedonicum of Linnaeus. Fee, following C. Bauhin and
Sprcngel, is inclined to identify it with Macerona. the Smyrnium ^olusa-
trum of Linnaeus.
94 Or "mountain-parsley." Probably the Athamanta oreoselinum of
Linnjeus. Some commentators, however, take it to be the Laserpitium
forniosum of Wilidenow. Spreugel identifies it with the Selinum oreose-
linum of Linnaeus.
'■^=' The Apium petroselinum, probably, of Linnseus.
5^^ The Lactuca sativa of Linnagus. This account of the Greek varieties
is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4.
^' This, no doubt, is fabulous, and on a par with the Greek tradition
that Adonis concealed himself under the leaves of a lettuce, Avhen he was
attacked and killed by the wild boar. The Coss. or Roman, lettuce, as
Fee remarks, is the largest of all, and that never exceeds fifteen to twenty
inches in height, leaves, stalk and all.
3S This would seem not to be a distinct variety, as the rounded stalk is
a cnaracteristic of them all.
^ *' Sessile." A cabbage-lcttuce, probably ; though Hardouin dissents
from that opinion.
Chap. 38.] THE IfATUEE OF GAEDEI-f PLAINTS. 181
Some persons ^ have made distinctions in reference to their
respective colours, and the times for sowing them : the black
lettuce is sown in the month of January, the white in March,
and the red in April ; and they are fit for transplanting, all of
them, at the end of a couple of months. Those, again, who
have pursued these enquiries even further than this, have dis-
tinguished a still greater number of varieties of them — the
purple, the crisped, the Cappadocian,^ and the Greek lettuce,
this last having a longer leaf than the rest, and a broad stalk :
in addition to which, there is one with a long, narrow leaf,
very similar to endive in appearance. The most inferior kind,
however, of all, is the one to which the Greeks, censuring it
for its bitterness, have given the name of *' picris."^ There is
still another variety, a kind of white lettuce, called '' meconis,"*
a name which it derives from the abundance of milk, of a
narcotic quality, which it produces : though, in fact, it is gene-
rally thought that they are all of them of a soporific tendency.
In former times, this last was the only kind of lettuce that
was held in any esteem^ in Italy, the name '' lactuca " having
been given it on account of the milk ^ which it contains.
The purple kind, with a very large root, is generally known
as the Caecilian ' lettuce ; while the round one, with an ex-
tremely diminutive root and broad leaves, is known to some
persons as the ''astytis,"^ and to others as the '' eunychion,"
it having the efi'ect, in a remarkable degree, of quenching the
amorous propensities. Indeed, they are, all of them, possessed
of cooling and refreshing properties, for which reason it is,
that they are so highly esteemed in summer ; they have the
effect, also, of removing from the stomach distaste for food,
and of promoting the appetite. At all events, we find it
stated, that the late Emperor Augustus, when ill, was saved
_ 1 Columella more particularly. There are still varieties known respec-
tively as the black, brown, white, purple, red, and blood-red lettuce.
ly as the black, brown, white, purpU
2 Martial, B. v. Epig. J9, gives to this lettuce the epithet of '' vile."
3 It has been suggested that this may have been wild endive, the Cicho-
reum intubus of botanists.
* Or "poppy-lettuce." See B. xx. c. 26. The Lactuca ^4rosa, pro-
bably, of modern botany, the milky juice of which strongly resembles
opium in its effects.
5 For its medicinal quaUties, most probably. 6 «Lac."
' So called, Columella informs us, from Cfecilius Metellus, Consul
A.v.c. 503.
s Meaning " ajitaphrodisiac." The other name has a kindred meaning.
1^2 PLINT's KATURAL HISTOET. [Book XIX.
on one occasion,^ thanks to the skill of his physician, Musa,^^
by eating lettuces, a food which the excessive scruples of his
former physician, C. ^milius, had forbidden him. At the
present day, however, lettuces have risen into such high esti-
mation, that a method has been discovered even of preserving
them during the months in which they are out of season, by
keeping them in oxymel.^^ It is generally supposed, also,
that lettuces have the effect of making blood. , . , «
In addition to the above varieties, there is another kind ot
lettuce known as the "goats' lettuce,"^^ ofwhich we shall have
occasion to make further mention when we come to the medi-
cinal plants : at the moment, too, that I am writing this, a
new species of cultivated lettuce has been introduced, known
as the Cilician lettuce, and held in very considerable esteem ;
the leaf of it is similar to that of the Cappadocian lettuce,
except that it is crisped, and somewhat larger.
CHAP. 39. — ENDIVE.
Endive, though it cannot exactly be said to be of the same
genus as the lettuce, still cannot be pronounced to belong to
any other. ^^ It is a plant better able to endure the rigours
of the winter than the lettuce,'* and possessed of a more acrid
taste, though the flavour of the stalk'^ is equally agreeable.
Endive is sown at the beginning of spring, and transplanted
at the end of that season. There is also a kind of spread-
ing'^ endive, known in Egypt as ''cichorium,"" of which Ave
shall have occasion^^ to speak elsewhere more at length.
9 A.U.C. 731.
10 Antonius Musa. For this service lie received a large sum of monoy,
and the permission to Avear a gold ring, and a statue was erected by pul)-
lic subscription in honour of him, near that of J^sculapius. Re is sup.
posed to be tlie person described by Virgil in the iEneid, B, xn. 1. 390, et
keq., under the name of lapis. See B. xxix. c. 5 of this work.
11 Vinegar and honey ; a mixture very ill-adapted, as Fee observes, to
preserve either the medicinal or alimentary properties of the lettuce.
12 "Caprina lactuca." See B. xx. c. 24.
13 Endive, in fact, belongs to the same family as the lettuce. ^
11 This is not the case ; unless, indeed, under the name " lactuca,'
riiny would include several plants, that in reality are not lettuces.
15 The stalk, in fact, is more intensely bitter than the leaves.
16 "Erraticum." Wild endive. ^ ^^
IT From which comes the French " chicoree," and our *' chicory, ' on
" succory."
i& In B. XX. c. 29, and B. xxi. c. 52.
Chap. 40.] eeet: rom taeieties of it. 183
A method has been discovered of preserving all the thjTsi
or leaves of the lettuce in pots, the object being to have them
fresh when wanted for boiling. Lettuces may be sown all the
year^^ through in a good soil, well- watered and carefully ma-
nured ;^° two months being allowed to intervene between sow-
ing and transplanting, and two more between transplanting
and gathering thera when ripe. The rule is, however, to sow
them just after the winter solstice, and to transplant when the
west winds begin to prevail, or else to sow at this latter period,
and to plant out at the vernal equinox. The white lettuce is
the best adapted for standing the rigours of the winter.
All the garden plants are fond of moisture ; lettuces thrive,
more particularly, when well manured, and endive even more
so. Indeed, it is found an excellent plan to plant them out with
the roots covered up in manure, and to keep up the supply, tlie
earth being cleared away for tliat purpose. Some, again, have
another metliod of increasing their size ; they cut them-^ down
when the)'- have reached half a foot in height, and cover them
with fresh swine's dung. It is the general opinion that those
lettuces onl}' will admit of being blanched which are produced
from white seed ; and even then, as soon as tliey begin to
grow, sand from the sea- shore should be spread over ihem,
care being taken to tie the leaves as soon as ever they bc^gin
to come to any size.
CHAP. 40. — BEET : FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.
Beet^- is the smoothest of all the garden plants. The Greeks
distinguisli two kinds of beet, according to the colour, the
black and the white. The last, which is the kind generally
preferred, has but very little seed, and is generally known as
tlie Sicilian-^ beet; just as it is the white lettuce that is held
in the highest degree of esteem. Our people, also, distinguish
two varieties of beet, the spring and the autumn kinds, so
^3 The usual times for sowing the lettuce are before winter and after
Tebruary.
-^ An excess of manure is injurious to the lettuce.
-^ As already stated in a previous Note (p. 179), lettuces when cut dov:n
will not grow again, with the exception of a few worthless lateral brandies.
-- From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c, 4.
"'^ Not the Beta siclu of modern botany, lee thinks. The black beet
of the ancients would be one of the dark purple kinds.
184 PLTirr's katueil history. [Book XIX.
called from the periods of sowing; although sometimes we
find beet sown in June even. This is a plant, too, that is
sometimes transplanted ; and it thrives all the better, like the
lettuce, if tlie roots are well covered with manure, in a moist
soil. Eeet is mostly eaten'-'' with lentils and beans ; it is pre-
pared also in the same way as cabbage, with mustard more
particularly, the pungency of which relieves its insipidity.
Medical men are of opinion that beet is a more unwholesome*^
vegetable than cabbage ; hence it is that I never remember
seeing it served at table. Indeed, there are some persons who
scruple to taste it even, from a conviction that it is a food
suitable only for persons of a robust constitution.
Beet is a vegetable with twofold characteristics, partaking
of the nature of the cabbage in its leaves and resembling a
bulb in the root ; that which grows to the greatest breadth
being the most highly esteemed. This plant, like the lettuce,
is made to grow to head by putting a light weight upon it the
moment it begins to assume its proper colour. Indeed, there
is no garden plant that grows to a larger head than this, as it
sometimes spreads to a couple of feet in breadth, the nature of
the soil contributing in a very considerable degree to its size :
those found in the territory of Circeii attain the largest size.
Some persons-^ think that the best time for sowing beet ig
when the pomegranate is in flower, and are of opinion that it
ought to be transplanted as soon as it has thrown out five
leaves. There is a singular difference — if indeed it really
exists — between the two varieties of beet, the white kind
being remarkable for its purgative qualities, and the black
being equally astringent. When wine in the vat has been
deteriorated by assuming a flavour like" that of cabbage, its
original flavour is restored, it is said, by plunging beet leaves
into it. •
-^ It wasonlj' the leaf of beet, and not the root, that was eaten by the
ancients. From Martial, L. xiii. Epig. 10, we learn that the leaves 'were
preserved in a mixture of wine and pepper.
" Though not positively unwholesome, the leaves would form an insipid
dish, that would not agree with all stomachs. Galen says that it cannot
be eaten in great quantities with impunity, but Diphilus the physician, as
quoted by Athcuaeus, B. ix. c. 3, says the reverse. Some MSS. read here
" innocentiorem," " more harmless,''
'^ Columella says the same, De Re Rust. B. xi. c. 3.
27 Fee would seem to render this, " when wine has been spoiled by cab-
bage leaves being mixed with it."
Chap. 41.] CABBAGES; SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THEM. 185
CHAP. 41 cabbages; the SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THEil.
Cabbage and coleworts, which at the present day are the
most highly esteemed of all the garden vegetables, were held
in little repute, I find, among the Greeks ; but Cato,-® on the
other hand, sings the wondrous praises of the cabbage, the
medicinal properties of which we shall duly enlarge-^ upon
when Ave come to treat of that subject. Cato distinguishes
three varieties of the cabbage ; the first, a plant with leaves
wide open, and a large stalk ; a second, with crisped leaves, to
which he gives the name of ''apiaca ;"^° and a third, with a
thin stalk, and a smooth, tender leaf, which with him ranks
the lowest of all. Cabbages may be sown the whole year
through, as we find that they are cut at all periods of the year ;
the best time, however, for sowing them is at the autumnal
equinox, and they are usually transplanted as soon as five
leaves are visible. In the ensuing spring after the first cut-
ting, the plant yields sprouts, known to us as "cymae."^^
These sprouts, in fact, are small shoots thrown out from the
main stem, of a more delicate and tender quality than the
cabbage itself. The exquisite palate, however, of Apicius^^
rejected these sprouts for the table, and his example was fol-
lowed by the fastidious Drusus Caesar ; who did not escape,
however, the censures of his father, Tiberius, for being so
over-nice. After the cymae have made their appearance the
cabbage throws out its summer and autumn shoots, and then
its winter ones ; after which, a new crop of cymse is produced,
there being no plant so productive as this, until, at last, it is
quite exhausted by its extreme fertility. A second time for
sowing cabbages is immediately after the vernal equinox, the
plants of this growth being transplanted at the end of spring,
that they may not run up into sprouts before coming to a top :
and a third sowing takes place about the summer solstice, the
transplanting being done in summer if the soD. is moist, but,
if too dry, in autumn. When moisture and manure are sup-
plied in small quantities, the flavour of the cabbage is all the
28 De Re Eust. cc. 156, 157. 29 Jq b. ^x. c. 33.
3'' Or " parsley" cabbage, so called from its crisped leaves : the curled
cole wort, or Brassica viridis crispa of C Bauhin.
31 The same as our Brussels sprouts. Columella, however, B. xi. c. 3,
and B. xii. c. 7, speaks of the Brassica cyma as a distinct variety of cabbage.
=*2 See B. viii. c. 77.
186 1>LINY's NATPHAL niSTOKY. [Eook XIX.
more agreeable, but when they are supplied in greater abun-
dance, the plants attain a larger size. Asses' duug is the best
adapted for its growth.
The cabbnge, too, is one of those articles so highly esteemed
by epicures ; for which reason it will not be amiss if we speak
of it at somewhat greater length. To obtain plants equally
remarkable for their size and flavour, care must be taken first
of all to sow the seed in ground that has had a couple of turn-
ings up, and then to follow up the shoots as they appear above
ground by moulding them up, care being taken to throw up
the earth over them as the)'- increase in luxuriance, and to let
nothing but the summit appear above the surface. This kind
is known as the Tritian^^ cabbage : in money and labour it
costs twice as much as any of the others.
The other varieties of the cabbage^* are numerous — there is
the Cumanian cabbage, with leaves that lie close to the ground,
and a wide, open head ; the Aricinian'^^ cabbage, too, of no
greater height, but with more numerous leaves and thinner —
this last is looked upon as the most useful of them all, for
beneath nearly all of the leaves there are small shoots tlirown
out, peculiar to this variety. The cabbage, again, of Pompeii^®
is considerably taller, the stalk, which is tliin at the root,
increasing in thickness as it rises among the leaves, which are
fewer in number and narrower ; the great merit of this cab-
bage is its remarkable tenderness, although it is not able to
stand the cold. The cabbage of Bruttium,^^ on the other hand,
thrives all the better for cold ; the leaves of it are remarkabl}'-
large, the stalk thin, and the flavour pungent. The leaves,
again, of the Sabine^^ cabbage are crisped to such a degree as
to excite our surprise, and their thickness is such as to quite
exhaust the stem ; in sweetness, however, it is said to surpass
all the others.
There have lately ome into fashion the cabbages known as
the *' Lacuturres ;"^^ they are grown in the valley of Aricia,
^^ The Brassica oleracea capitata of Lamarck, and its varieties.
3' The ordinary cabbage, or Brassica oleracea of Linnoeus.
3' A variety, Fee thinks, of tlie Lacuturrian cabbage.
3" The Brassica oleracea botrytis of Linnaeus, the cauliflower.
3' Or Calabrian cabbage : it lias not been identified.
58 The Brassica oleracea Sabellica of liinnaeus, or fringed cabbngo.
33 Or "Lake-towers." Tlie turnip-cabbage or rape-colcwort, the Bras-
sica oleracea gongyloides of Linnaeus.
Chap. 41.] CABBAGES ; SEVERAL TAETETIES OE THEM. IS/
where there was formerly a lake, now no longer in existence,
and a tower which is still standing. The head of this cabbage
is ver}^ large, and the leaves are almost without number, some
of them being round and smooth, and others long and sinewy ;
indeed, there is no cabbage that runs to a larger head than this,
with the sole exception of the Tritian variety, which has a
head sometimes as much as a foot in thickness, and throws out
its cymoe the latest of all.
In all kinds of cabbages, hoar-frost contributes very mate-
rially to their sweetness ; but it is apt to be productive of con-
siderable injury, if care is not taken to protect the pith by
cutting them aslant. Those plants which are intended for
seed are never cut.
There is another kind, again, that is held in peculiar esteem,
and which never exceeds the height of an herbaceous plant;
it is known by the name of '' halmyridia,"^^ from the circum-
stance of its growing on the sea-shore*' only. It will keep green
and fresh during a long voyage even, if care is taken not to let
it touch the ground from the moment that it is cut, but to put
it into oil-vessels lately dried, and then to bung them so as
to effectually exclude all air. There are some *- who are of
opinion, that the plant will come to maturity all the sooner
if some sea-weed is laid at the root when it is transplanted,
or else as much pounded nitre as can be taken up with three
fingers ; and others, again, sprinkle the leaves with trefoil seed
and nitre pounded together.*^ Nitre, too, preserves the green-
ness of cabbage when cooked, a result which is equally ensured
by the Apician mode of boiling, or in other words, by steeping
the plants in oil and salt before they are cooked.
There is a method of grafting vegetables bj' cutting the
shoots and the stalk, and then inserting in the pith the seed
^^ Generally thought to be the Cramhe maritima of botanists, sea.cah-
bag^e, or sea-kale. Some, however, take it to be the Convolvulus solda-
nclla of Linnaeus. See B. xx. c. 38.
•*^ From aXg, the " sea."
*'- He alludes to the statement made by Columella, probably, De Tie
Rust. E. xi. c. 3.
*3 Fee remarks, that probably we here find the first germs of the prac-
tice which resulted in the making ofsour-krout (sauer-kraut). Dalechamps
censures Pliny for the mention of trefoil here, the passage which he has
translated speaking not of that plant, but of the trefoil or three-leaved
cabbage.
188 PLirfs NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XIX.
of another plant ; a plan which has been adopted with the wild
cucumber even. There is another kind of wild cabbage, also,
the lapsana,''"' which has become famous since the triumphs of
the late Emperor Julius, in consequence of the songs and jokes
of his soldiers more particularly ; for in the alternate lines sung
by them, they used to reproach him for having made them live
on lapaana at the siege of Dyrrhachium, and to rally him upon
the parsimonious scale on which he was in the habit of recom-
pensing their services. The lapsana is nothing more than a
wild cyma.*^
CHAP. 42. — WILD AND CULTIVATED ASPAEAGTJS.
Of all the garden plants, asparagus is the one that requires
the most delicate attention in its cultivation. We have already ^^
spoken at considerable length of its origin, when treating of
the wild plants, and have mentioned that Cato ^' recommends
it to be grown in reed-beds. There is another kind, again, of
a more uncultivated nature than the garden asparagus, but less
pungent than corruda ;*^ it grows upon the mountains in dif-
ferent countries, and the plains of Upper Germany are quite
full of it, so much so, indeed, that it was a not unhappy remark
of Tiberius Caesar, that a weed grows there which bears a re-
markably strong resemblance to asparagus. That which grows
spontaneously upon the island of Nesis, off the coast of Cam-
pania, is looked upon as being by far the best of all.
Garden asparagus is reproduced from roots, *^ the fibres of
wliich are exceedingly numerous, and penetrate to a consider-
able depth. When it first puts forth its shoots, it is green;
these in time lengthen out into stalks, which afterwards throw
** The same as the <'chara," probably, mentioned by Cassar, Bell. Civ.
B. iii, Hardouin thinks that it is the com^mon parsnip, while Clusius and
Cuvier would identify it with the Crambo Tatarica of Hungary, the roots
of \^iich are eaten in time of scarcity at the present day. Fee suggests
tliat it may belong to the Brassica napo-brassica of Linnaeus, the rape-
colewort. See B. xx. c. 37.
*^ Or cabbage-sprout.
*6 In B. xvi. c. 67. The Asparagus officinalis of Linnseus.
" De Re Kust. c. 161.
*« Or wild sperage. See B. xvi. c. 67 ; also B. xx. c. 43-.
*5 " Spongiis." Fee is at a loss to know why tlie name " spongia"
should have been given to tlie roots of asparagus. Probably, as Facciolati
says, from their growing close and matted together. See the end of this
Chapter.
Chap. 42.J WILD AKD CTTLTITATED ASPAEAGrS. 1S9
out streaked branches from the head : asparagus adioits, also,
of being grown from seed.
Cato^° has treated of no subject with greater care than this,
the last Chapter of his work being devoted to it, from which
we may conclude that it was quite new to him, and a subject
which had only very recently occupied his attention. He re-
commends that the ground prepared for it should be a moist or
dense soil, the seed being set at intervals of half a foot every
way, to avoid treading upon the heads ; the seed, he says,
shoidd be put two or three into each hole, these being made
with the dibble as the line runs — for in his day, it should be
remembered, asparagus was only grown from seed — this being
done about the vernal equinox. It requires, he adds, to be
abundantly manured, and to be kept well hoed, due care being
taken not to pull up the young plants along with the weeds.
The first year, he says, the plants must be protected from the
severity of the winter with a covering of straw, care being
taken to uncover them in the spring, and to hoe and stub up
the ground about them. In the spring of the third year, the
plants must be set fire to, and the earlier the period at which
the fire is applied, the better they will thrive. Hence it is,
that as reed-beds ^^ grow all the more rapidly after being fired,
asparagus is found to be a crop remarkably well suited for
growing with them. The same author recommends, however,
that asparagus should not be hoed before the plants have made
their appearance above-ground, for fear of disturbing the roots ;
and he says that in gathering the heads, they should be cut
close to the root, and not broken off at the surface, a method
which is sure to make them run to stalk and die. They should
be cut, he says, until they are left to run to seed, and after the
seed is ripe, in spring they must be fired, care being taken, as
soon as they appear again, to hoe and manure them as before.
After eight or nine years, he says, when the plants have be-
come old, they must be renewed, after digging and manuring
the ground, by replanting the roots at intervals of a foot, care
being taken to employ sheep's dung more particularly for the
purpose, other lands of manure being apt to produce weeds.
jS'o method of cultivating this plant that has since been tried
has been found more eligible than this, with the sole exception
that the seed is now sown about the ides of February, by laying
50 De Re Rust. c. 161. =i See B. xvii. c. 47.
190 pliny's natural nisTOET. [Book XIX.
it in heaps in small trenches, after steeping it a considerable
time in manure ; the result of which is that the roots become
matted, and form into spongy tufts, which are planted out at
intervals of a foot after the autumnal equinox, the plants con-
tinuing to be productive so long as ten years even. There is
no soil more favourable to the growth of asparagus, than that
of the gardens of Kavenna.^-
We have already ^^ spoken of the corruda, by which term I
mean the wild asparagus, by the Greeks called "orminos," or
" myacanthos," as well as by other names. I find it stated, that
if rams' horns are pounded, and then buried in the ground,
asparagus will come up.^
CHAP. 43. — THISTLES.
It really might have been thought that I had now given an
account of all the vegetable productions that are held in any
degree of esteem, did there not still remain one plant, the
cultivation of which is extremely profitable, and of which I
am unable to speak without a certain degree of shame. Por
it is a well-known fact, that some small plots of land, planted
with thistles,^^ in the vicinity of Great Carthage and of Cor-
duba more particularly, produce a yearly income of six thousand
sesterces ;^^ this being the way in which we make the mon-
strous productions even of the earth subservient to our glut-
tonous appetites, and that, too, when the very four-footed
brutes " instinctively refuse to touch them.
Thistles are grown two diff'erent ways, from plants set in
autumn, and from seed sown before the nones of March f^ in
which latter case they are transplanted before the ides of I^o-
vember,*^ or, where the site is a cold one, about the time that
the west winds prevail. They are sometimes manured even,
52 On the contrary, Martial says that the asparagus of Ravenna was no
better than so much wild asparagus.
53 In 13. xvi. c. 67. See also c. 19 of this Book.
51 ] )ioscoridcs mentions this absurdity, but refuses to credit it.
55 Proluibly tlie artichoke, the Cinara scolymus of Linuaius. See far-
ther on this subject, B. xx. c. 99.
50 About £24 sterling. " Sestertia" has been suggested, which would
niiike the sum a thousand times as much.
w The ass, of course, excepted, Avhich is fond of thistles.
53 Seventh of March. 59 Thii-tecnth of November.
Chap. 45.] EUE. 191
and if^ such is the will of heaven, grow all the better for it.
They are preserved, too, in a mixture of honey and vinegar,^^
with the addition of root of laser and cummin — so that a day
may not pass without our having thistles at table. ^^
CHAP. 44. OTHER PLANTS THAT ABE SOWN IN THE GAUDEN :
OClilUM ; EOCKET ; AND NASTrRTlUM.
Por the remaining plants a brief description will suffice. The
best time for sowing ociraum,^ it is said, is at the festival of the
Parilia f^ though some say that it may be done in autumn as
well, and recommend, when it is sown in winter, to drench
the seed thoroughly with vinegar. Rocket,^^ too, and nastur-
tium^ may be grown with the greatest facility eitlier in sum-
mer or winter. Rocket, more particularly, is able to stand
the cold, and its properties are quite different from those of
the lettuce, as it is a great provocative of lust. Hence it is
that we are in the habit of mixing these two plants in our
dishes, the excess of cold in the one being compensated by the
equal degree of heat in the other. Nasturtium has received
that name from^' the smarting sensation which its pungency
causes to the nostrils, and hence it is that a certain notion of
smartness has attached itself to the word, it having become quite
a proverbial saying, that a sluggish man should eat nasturtium,
to arouse him from his torpidity. In Arabia, it is said, this
plant attains a size that is quite marvellous.
CHAP. 45. — RUE.
Eue,*^^ too, is generally sown while the west winds prevail,
as well as just after the autumnal equinox. This plant has an
extreme aversion to cold, moisture, and dung ; it loves dry,
sunny localities, and a soil more particularly that is rich in
brick clay ; it requires to be nourished, too, with ashes, which
60 " Si Dis placet." ei Oxyrael.
*"' This is evidently said contemptuously.
^2 See further as to the identity of this plant, B. xx. c. 48.
6^ Twenty-second of April.
6^ Bra^sica eruca of Linnaeus. See B. xx. c. 49.
^"^ Cresses, or nosesmart, the Lepidium sativum of Linnoeus. See B.
XX. c. 30. ^'' " Quod nasum torqucat."
6^ The Ruta graveolens of Linnaeus, See B. xx. c. 51. This offensive
herb, though looked upon by the Bomans as a vegetable, is now only re-
garded as an active medicament of almost poisonous qualities.
192 pliistt's natural HISTOET. [Look XIX.
should be mixed with the seed as well, as a preservative against
the attacks of caterpillars. The ancients held rue in peculiar
esteem ; for I find that honied wine flavoured with rue was
distributed to the people, in his consulship,^^ by Cornelius
Cethegus, the colleague of Quintus Flamininus, after the
closing of the Comitia. This plant has a great liking^^ for the
fig-tree, and for that tree only ; indeed, it never thrives better
than when grown beneath that tree. It is generally grown
from slips, the lower end of which is inserted in a perforated''^
bean, which holds it fast, and so nurtures the young plant
with its juices. It also reproduces itself;" for the ends of the
branches bending downwards, the moment they reach the
ground, they take root again. Ocimum''^ is of a very similar
nature to rue, except that it dries with greater difficulty.
When rue has once gained strength, there is considerable diffi-
culty in stubbing it, as it causes itching ulcerations on the
hands, if they are not covered or previously protected by being
rubbed j\vith oil. Its leaves, too, are preserved, being packed
in bundles for keeping.
CHAP. 46. PARSLEY.
Parsley is sown immediately after the vernal equinox, the
seed being lightly beaten'^^ first in a mortar. It is thought
that, by doing this, the parsley will be all the more crisped,
or else by taking care to beat it down when sown with a roller
or the feet. It is a peculiarity of this plant, that it changes
colour : it has the honour, in Achaia, of forming the wreath
of the victors in the sacred contests of the jS'emean Games.
CHAP. 47. MINT.
It is at the same season, too, that mint'^ is transplanted ; or,
69 A.U.C. 421.
'•0 It so happens that it thrives best on the same soil as the fig-tree.
''I This practice has no beneficial effect whatever.
"^2 This is not the fact ; for its branches never come in contact with the
ground.
"^ Pliny has derived the greater part of this Chapter from Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant, li. vii. c. 5, and Columella, B. xi. c. 3.
■<■* For the purpose of separating the seeds, which are slightly joined to-
gether ; and of disengaging a portion of the pci-isperm. At the present
day this is not done, for fear of bursting the kernel of the seed.
75 See B. XX. c. 53.
Chap. 48.] OLL'SATKUil. 1P;3
if it has not yet germinated, the matted tufts of the old roots
are used for the purpose. Tliis plant, too, is no less fond of a
humid soil than parsley ; it is green in summer and turns
yellow in winter. There is a wild kind of mint, known to us
as "mentastrum :"'^ it is reproduced by layers, like the vine,
or else by planting the branches upside down. It was the
sweetness of its smell that caused this plant to change its name
among the Greeks, its former name with them being '* mintha,"
from w^hich the ancient Eomans derived their name"" for it ;
whereas now, of late, it has been called by them r,d-jofffMov.'^
The mint that is used in the dishes at rustic entertainments
pervades the tables far and w'ide wdth its agreeable odour.
When once planted, it lasts a considerable length of time ; it
bears, too, a strong resemblance to pennyroyal, a property of
which is, as mentioned by us more than once,^^ to flow^er when
kept in our larders.
These other herbs, mint, I mean, and catmint, as well as
pennyroyal, are all kept for use in a similar manner ; but it is
cummin^^ that is the best suited of all the seasoning herbs to
squeamish and delicate stomachs. This plant grows on the
surface of the soil, seeming hardly to adhere to it, and raising
itself aloft from the ground : it ought to be sown in the middle
of the summer, in a crumbly, warm soil, more particularly.
There is another wild kind*^' of cummin, known by some per-
sons as ''rustic," by others as "Thebaic" cummin: bruised
and drunk in w^ater, it is good for pains in the stomach. The
cummin most esteemed in our part of the world is that of
Carpetania,^- though elsewhere that of Africa and Ethiopia
is more highly esteemed ; with some, indeed, this last is pre-
ferred to that of Egypt.
CHAP. 48. OLrSATETJM.
But it is olusatrum,^' more particularly, that is of so singular
's Called by the Greeks KaXafiivOr], according to Apuleius.
"^ Or ''Mentha." '** "Sweet-smelling."
'' " Saepius." See B. xviii. c. 60.
^^ The Cuminum cyrainum cf botanists. See B. xx. c. 57.
81 See B. XX. c. 57.
82 In Hispania Tarraconensis. See B. iii. c. 4.
(?3 Or "black-herb :" the herb Alexander, the Smyrnium oliisatrum of
Linnieus. See B. xx. c. 46.
VOL. IV. O
194 PLINY S NATUIIAL IIISTOIIT. [Book XIX.
a nature, a plant which by the Greeks is called ''hippose-
linum,"^' and by otliers *' smyrnium." This plant is repro-
duced from a tear-like guni^^ which exudes from the stem ; it
is also grown from the roots as well. Those w^hose business
it is to collect tlie juice of it, say that it has just the flavour of
myrrh; and, according to Theophrastus,^ it is obtained by
planting myrrh. The ancients recommended that hipposelinuui
should be groum in uncultivated spots covered with stones,
and in the vicinity of garden walls ; but at the present day it
is sowm in ground that has been twice turned up, between the
prevalence of the west winds and the autumnal equinox.
The caper, ^^ too, should be sown in dry localities more par-
ticidarly, the plot being hollowed out and surrounded with an
embankment of stones erected around it : if this precaution is
not taken, it Avill spread all over the adjoining land, and entail
sterility upon the soil. The caper blossoms in summer, and
retains its verdure till the setting of the YergiliEe ; it thrives
the best of all in a sandy soil. As to the bad qualities of the
caper which grows in the parts beyond the sea, we have
already®^ enlarged upon them when speaking of the exotic
shrubs.
CHAP. 49. — THE CARAWAY.
The caraway^^ is an exotic plant also, which derives its
name, '* careum," from the country^" in which it was first
grown ; it is principally employed for culinar}^ purposes. This
})lant will grow in any kind of soil, and requires to be culti-
vated just the same way as olusatrum ; the most esteemed,
however, is that which comes from Caria, and the next best is
that of Phrygia.
CHAP. 50. LOVAGR.
Lovage®^ grows wild in the mountains of Liguria, its native
^^ " Ilorse-paisley."
^^ See B. xvii. c. 11, and B. xxi. c. 14.
"5 Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 1. 1 his story originated, no doubt,\n the fan-
cicil resemblance of its smell to that of mvrrh.
'^ The Capparis splnosa of Linnajus. '8eo B. xiii. c. 44, also B. xx.
c. 59. ^ sa In B. xiii. c. 44.
''•^ The Carum carvi of Linnaeus.
^" Caria, in Asia Minor.
5' The Ligusticum levisticum of Linnaeus.
Chap. o2.] GITH. 193
country, but at the present day it is grown everywhere. The
cultivated kind is the sweetest of the two, but is far from
jjowerful ; by some persons it is known as *' panax." Cra-
teuas, a Greek writer, gives this name, however, to the pkmt
known to us as ** cunila bubula;"^' and others, again, call
the conyza^^ or cunilago, cunila, while they call cunila,^"*
properly so called, by the name of '^ thyrabra." With us
cunila has another appellation, being generally known as
" satureia," and reckoned among the seasoning plants. It is
usually sown in the month of February, and for utility rivals
wild marjoram. These two plants are never used together,
their properties being so extremely similar ; but it is only
the wild marjoram of Egypt that is considered superior to
cunila.
CHAP. 51. DITTANDER.
Dittander,^^ too, was originally an exotic plant : it is usually
sown after the west winds have begun to prevail. As soon as
it begins to shoot, it is cut down close to the ground, after
which it is hoed and manured, a process which is repeated the
succeeding year. After this, the shoots are fit for use, if the
rigour of the winter has not injured them; for it is a plant
quite unable to withstand any inclemency^^of the weather. It
grows to the height of a cubit, and has a leaf like that of the
laurel, ^^ but softer ; it is never used except in combination
with milk.
CHAP. 52. GITH.
Gith^^ is employed by bakers, dill and anise by cooks and
medical men. Sacopenium,^^ so extensively used for adulter-
^2 "Ox cunila," One of the Labiatse, probably; but "whether one of
the Satureia or of the Thvnibra is not known. See B. xx. ce. 60, 61.
93 See B. xxi, c. 32.
51 Scribonius Largiis gives this name to savory, the Satureia hortensis
of Linnaeus. The wliole of this passage is very confused, and its mean-
ing is by no means cleai*.
'■''' The Lepidium sativum of Linnaeus. See B. xx. c. 70.
^ It is an annual, in fact.
9' Its leaf has no resemblance whatever to that of the laurel.
"8 The Nigella sativa of Linntcus. See B. xx. c. 71.
99 Or sagapenum. See B. xx. c. 75. It is mentioned also in B. xii.
c. 56, as being used for adulterating galbanuni. As to laser, see c. 15 of
the present Book.
o 2
196 PLINy' 3 NATURAL HISTOliT. [Book XIX.
ating laser, is also a garden plant, but is only employed for
medicinal purposes.
CHAP. 53. THE POPPY.
There are certain plants wliich are grown in company* with
others, the poppy, for instance, sown with cabbages and purs-
lain, and rocket w^ith lettuce. Of the cultivated poppy^ there
are three kinds, the first being the white^ poppy? the seed of
wiiich, parched, and mixed wdth honey, used to be served up
in the second course at the tables of the ancients ; at the pre-
sent day, too, the country people sprinkle it on the upper crust
of their bread, making it adhere by means of the yolk of eggs,
the under crust being seasoned with parsley and gith to
heighten the flavour of the flour. The second kind is the
black'* poppy, from which, upon an incision being made in the
stalk, a milky juice distils ; and the third is that known to the
Greeks by the name of "rhoeas;"^ and by us as the wild
poppy. This last grows spontaneously, but in fields, more
particularly, which have been sown with barley : it bears a
strong resemblance to rocket, grows to the height of a cubit,
and bears a red flower, which quickly fades ; it is to this
flower that it is indebted for its Greek name.^
As to the other kinds of poppies which spring up sponta-
neously, we shall have occasion to speak of them when treat-
ing of the medicinal plants.' That the poppy has always been
held in esteem among the Eomans, we have a proof in the
story related of Tarquinius® Superbus, who, by striking down
the tallest poppies in his garden, surreptitiously conveyed,
^ This practice, as Fee remarks, is not followed ; and indeed, unless it
is intended to transplant them, it would be attended with injurious results
to the young plants.
2 As tc the poppy, for further particulars see B. xx. c. 76 and the Note.
' Tlie variety Album of the Papaver somniferum of modern botanists.
* The variety Nigrum of the Papaver somniferum. The white poppy
has also a milky juice.
^ The Papaver rhooas of modern botanists, the corn-poppy, or wild
poppy. The seed of the poppy does not partake of the qualitios of its
capsular envelope, and at the present day it is extensively employed in
the South of Europe for sprinkling over pastry.
6 " Rhoeas," the " crimson," or "pomegranate" poppy.
' See B. XX. cc. 76 — 79.
«* See c. 17 of this Book, also Ovid's Fasti, B. ii. 1. 703, et seq.
Chap. 56.] WILD THYME j SISYMBRIUM. 197
unknown to them, his sanguinary message through the enyoys
who had been sent by his son.
CHAP. 54. OTHER PLANTS WHICH REQUIRE TO BE SOWN AT THE
AUTUMNAL EQUINOX.
There are some other plants, again, which require to be
sown together at the time of the autumnal equinox ; coriander,
for instance, anise, orage, mallows, lapathum, chervil, known to
the Greeks as ** psederos,"^ and mustard,'" which has so pun-
gent a flavour, that it burns like fire, though at the same time
it is remarkably wholesome for the body. This last, though
it will grow without cultivation, is considerably improved by
being transplanted ; though, on the other hand, it is extremely
difficult to rid the soil of it when once sown there, the seed
when it falls germinating immediately. This seed, when
cooked in the saucepan,^' is employed even for making ragouts,
its pungency being rendered imperceptible by boiling; the
leaves, too, are boiled just the same way as those of other
vegetables.
There are three different kinds of mustard,^^ the first of a
thin, slender form, the second, with a leaf like that of the
rape, and the third, with that of rocket : the best seed comes
from Egypt. The Athenians have given mustard the name of
''napy,"'^ others, '' thapsi,"^* and others, again, *' saurion."^^
CHAP. 55. WILD THYME ; SISYMBRIUM.
Most mountains abound with wild thyme and sisymbrium,
those of Thrace, for example, where'^ branches of these wild
plants are torn up and brought away for planting, So, too,
the people of Sicyon seek for wild thyme on their mountains,
* " Lad's lore."
^^ Black mustard, Fee thinks.
^' He can hardly mean a pottage made of boiled mustard-seed alone,
as Fee seems to think. If so, however, Fee no doubt is right in thinking
that it would be intolerable to a modern palate.
'■■^ See B. XX. c. 87.
^^ Perhaps a corruption of its Greek name, aii^TjTn.
'* Hardouin suggests '' thlaspi."
^^ Its bite being as sharp as the venom of the "saurus," or lizard.
1^ Hardouin, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 7, suggests a
reading, "whence the streams bring down branches of them torn otf, and
60 plant them."
1!>S PLINY's XATUiiAL HISTOUT. [Book XIX.
and tlie Athenians on the slopes of Hymettiis. Sisyinln-iiini,
too, is phiuted in a siniihir manner; it grows to the greatest
perfection upon the walls of wells, and around fish preserves
and ponds. ^"
CHAP. 56. (9.) — FOUR KINDS OF FERFLICEOUS PLANTS. HF.MP.
The other garden plants are of the ferulaceous kind, such as
fennel, for instance, very grateful to serpents, as already
stated,'^ and used for numerous seasonings when dried ; thapsia,
loo, which bears a close reseml>lance to fennel, and already
mentioned by us when speaking'® of the exotic shrubs. Then,
too, there is hemp,^ a plant remarkably useful for making
ropes, and usually sown after the west winds liave begun to
prevail : the more thickly it is sown, the thinner are the
stalks. The seed is gathered when ripe, just after the autumnal
equinox, and is dried by the agency of the sun, the wind, or
smoke. -^ The hemp itself is plucked just after vintage-time,
and is peeled and cleaned by the labourers at night.
The best hemp is that of Alabanda,^- which is used more
particularly for making hunting-nets, and of which there are
three varieties. The hemp which lies nearest the bark or the
pith is the least valuable, while that which lies in the middle,
and hence has the name of ** mesa," is the most esteemed.
The hemp of Mylasa^ occupies the second rank. With re-
ference to the size to which it grows, that of Rosea, -^* in the
ISabine territory, equals the trees in height.-*
We have already mentioned two kinds of fennel-giant when
speaking-^ of the exotic slirubs : the seed of it is used in Italy
for food ; the plant, too, admits of being preserved, and, if
stored in earthen pots, will keep for a whole year. There are
'" The plants. Fee says, that we find in these localities, are nearly
always ft-rns. or else Marchantia, or mosses of the genus Hypnuni. Fee
queries wlietlier one of these may not have been the sisymbrium of Pliny.
Water-cresses, again, have been suggested.
18 In B. viii. c. 41. The Anaethu'm Iceniculum of Linnaeus.
'9 In H xiii. c. 42.
^ The Cannabis sativa of Linnseus. See B. xx. c. 97.
" Ilemp-soed is never smoke-dried now.
*• See 13. v. c 29. The same hemp is mentioned as being used for
making hunting-nets, by Grutius, in the Cvne^eticon.
" See B. V. c. 29. "-^' See B. iiu c. 17, and B. xvii. c. 3
'* This, as Fee says, is no doubt erroneous. It is seldom known to at-
tain a couple of inches in circumference. " j^ g^ ^[[i q^ 42.
0:ap. 57-] .THE MALADIES OT GARDEN PLAST3. 199
two parts of it that are used for this purpose, the upper stalks
and the umbels of the plant. This kind of fennel is some-
times known by the name of " corymbia," and the parts pn^
served are called " conrrabL'*
CHAP. 57. {10.^^ THE MALADIES OF GARDEN PLASTS.
The garden plants, too, like the rest of the vegetable pro-
ductions, are subject to certain maladies. Thus, for** instaccc,
ocimum, when old, de^renemtes into wild tiivme, and sisym-
brium" into mint, whi!e the seed of an old cabbage produces
rape, and vice versa. Cummin, too, if not kept well hoed, is
killed by hsemodorum,^ a plant with a single stalk, a root si-
milar to a bulb in appearance, and never found except in a
thin, meagre soiL Besides this, cummin is liable to a peculiar
disease of ils o\m, the scab :^ ocimum. too, turns pale at the
rising of the Bc^-star. All plants, indeed, will turn of a
yellow complexion on the approach of a woman who has the
menstrual discharge*' upon her.
There are various kinds of insects," too, that breed upon the
garden plants — fleas, for instance, upon turnips, and cater-
pillars and maggots upon radishes, as well as lettuces and cal»-
bages : besides which, the List two are exposed to tl:e attacks
of slugs and snails. The leek, too. is infested with peculiar
insects of iis own ; which may very easily be taken, however.
by laying dung upon the plants, tiie insects being in the habit
of burrowing in it. Sabinus Tiio says, in Ids book entitled
** Cepurica,'"^ which he dedicated to Maecen:is, liiat it is not
advisable to touch rue, cuuila, mint, or ocimum with any im-
plement of iron.
^ These alKurd notions are borrowed from TWophnstiB, De Gmsia, c 8.
*^ See B. II. c 91.
*^ Or, ftcconhng to tame rea&a^ " limodMum,'' a parasitical phmt,
probal^T the LatJ^va pMjpesi of Spr»gtL Fee soggests tliat tkia plant
niay be the Polygonnm oonrtdTnlns oi Linnirns, or ebe <ne of the Coseste,
or A variety of Orobanebe.
^ ** Scabies." A fungois cicrescaiee. Fee tbinks, now known m •* pnc-
dnia," or *- ur^o."
^ See B. xrii. e. 47. Fee says that be bas met with persowL m tbeir
Mwnd senses, vho obsticat^lv defend the notKm bcre moitkmed br Plnr.
^ SeeTbeophiastas,UisL'Plant.B.rii.c. 0. Many oftbesebttetii, bow-
erer, do not tR«ed mpom the plants, bat are onlv attracted fa tbcK.
« "BookoaGaidoung."
200 PLiNr'a natural history. > [Book XJX.
CJIAP. 58. THK PROPER REMEDIES FOR THESE MALADIES. HOW
ANTS ARE REST DESTROYED. THE BEST REMEDIES AGAINST CATER-
PILLARS AND ELIES.
The same author recoramends as a remedy against ants,
"Nvhich are by no means the slightest plague in a garden that is
not kept well watered, to stop up the mouths of their holes with
sea-slime or ashes. Eut the most efficient way of destroying
them is with the aid of the plant heliotropium f^ some per-
sons, too, are of opinion that water in M*hich an unburnt brick
has been soaked is injurious to them. The best protection for
turnips is to sow a few fitches with them, and for cabbages chick-
peas, these having the effect of keeping away caterpillars. If,
however, this precaution should have been omitted, and the
caterpillars have already made their appearance, the best remedy
is to- throw upon the vegetables a decoction of wormwood,^^ or
else of house-leek,^* known to some as '' aizoiim," a kind of
herb already mentioned by us. If cabbage-seed, before it is
sown, is steeped in the juice of house-leek, the cabbages, it is
said, are sure not be attacked by an}^ insect.
It is said, too, that all caterpillars may be effectually exter-
minated, if the skull ^' of a beast of burden is set up upon a
stake in the garden, care being taken to employ that of a female
only. There is a story related, too, that a river crab, hung
up in the middle of the garden, is a preservative against the
attacks of caterpillars. Again, there are some persons who are
in the habit of touching with slips of blood-red corneP^ such
plants as they wish to preserve from caterpillars. Flies,^^ too,
infest well- watered gardens, and more particularly so, if there
happen to be any shrubs there ; they may be got rid of, how-
ever, by burning galbanum.*"
(11.) With reference to the deterioration to which seed is
subject,^^ there are s<ome seeds w^hich keep better than others,
^3 The Heliotropium Europseum of botanists. See B. xxii, c. 29.
3* This may possibly, Fee says, be efficacious against some insects.
'* See B, xviii, c, 45.
" A mere puerility, of course, thougb it is very possible that the insects
may collect in it, and so be more easily taken. Garden-pots, on sticks,
are still employed for this purpose.
38 See B. xvi, c. 00.
39 " Culices," including both flies and gnats, probably.
40 See B. xii. c. 5G.
*i An almost literal translation of Theopbrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. o.6.
Chap. 60.] THE PROPER METHOD OF WATERING GARDENS. 201
such, for instance, as that of coriander, beet, leeks, cresses,
mustard, rocket, cunila, nearly all the pungent plants in fact.
The seed, on the other hand, of orage, ocimum, gourds,
and cucumbers, is not so good for keeping. All the summer
seeds, too, last longer than the winter ones ; but scallion seed
is the very worst for keeping of them all. But of those, even,
which keep the very longest, there is none that Avill keep be-
yond four years — for sowing *'- purposes, at least ; for culinary
purposes, they are fit for use beyond that period.
CHAP. 59. WHAT PLANTS ARE BENEFITTED BY SALT WATER.
A peculiar remedy for the maladies to which radishes, beet,
rue, and cunila are subject, is salt water, which has also the
additional merit of conducing very materially to their sweet-
ness and fertility. Other plant's, again, are equally benefitted
by being watered with fresh water, the most desirable for the
purpose being that which is the coldest and the sweetest to
drink : pond and drain- water, on the other hand, are not so
good, as they are apt to carry the seeds of weeds along with
them. It is rain,^-^ however, that forms the principal aliment
of plants ; in addition to which, it kills the insects as they
develope themselves upon them.
CHAP. 60. (12.) THE PROPER METHOD OF WATERING GARDENS,
The proper times *•* for watering are the morning and the
evening, to prevent the water from being heated ■'^ by the sun ;
with the sole exception, however, of ocimum, which requires
to be watered at midday ; indeed, this plant, if is generally
thought, will grow with additional rapidity, if it is watered
with boiling water when sown. All plants, when trans-
*'^ This is certainly not true with reference to the leguminous and gra-
mineous plants. It is pretty generally known as a fait, that wheat has
germinated after being buried in the cartli two thousand years : mummy-
wheat, at the present day, is almost universally known.
*^ Rain-water, if collected in cisterns, and exposed to the heat of the
sun, is the most iDeneficial of all ; rain has the effect also of killing nume-
rous insects which have bred in the previous drought.
^ From Theophrastus, B. vii. c. 5. Evening is generally preferred to
morning for this purpose ; the evaporation not being so quick, and the
plant profiting more from the water.
^' It should, however, be of a middling temperature, and warmed to
some extent by the rays of the suu.
202 PLTN^T'S natural history. [Book XIX.
planted, grow all the better and larger for it, leeks and turnips
more particularly. Transplanting, too, is attended with cer-
tain remedial effects, and acts as a preservative to certain plants,
such as scallions, for instance, leeks, radishes, parsley, lettuces,
rape, and cucumbers. All the wild plants*^ are generally
smaller in the leaf and stalk than the cultivated ones, and have
more acrid juices, cunila, wild marjoram, and rue, for example.
Indeed, it is only the lapathum*' that is better in a wild state
than cultivated : in its cultivated state it is the same plant
that is known to us as the **rumix," being the most vigorous^^
by far of all the plants that are grown ; so much so, indeed,
that it is said that when it has once taken root, it will last for
ever, and can never be extirpated from the soil, more particu-
larly if water happens to be near at hand. Its juices, whicli
are employed only in ptisans,^^ as an article of food, have the
effect of imparting to them a softer and more exquisite flavour.
Tlie wild variety °^ is employed for many medicinal purposes.
So true it is, that the careful research of man has omitted
nothing, that I have even met with a poem,^' in which I find
it stated, that if pellets of goats' dung, the size of a bean, are
hollowed out, and the seed of leeks, rocket, lettuces, parsley,
endive, and cresses is inserted in them, and then sown, tlie
l)lants will thrive in a marvellous degree. Plants °- in a wild
state, it is generally thought, are more dry and acrid than when
cultivated.
CHAP. 61. THE JUICES AND FLAVOURS OF GARDEN HEKBS.
This, too, reminds me that I ought to make some mention
of tlie difference between the juices and flavours of the garden
herbs, a difference which is more perceptible here than in the
fruits even.^ In cunila, for instance, wild maijoram, cresses,
and mustard, the flavour is acrid; in wormwood^* and cen-
^^ These statements are consistent witli modern experience.
*^ See B. XX. c. 85.
*^ lie says this probably in reference partly to the large' leaves which ,
cliaracterize tlie varieties of dock.
*9 Dishes made of rice or barley. See B. xviii. c. 13
5" See B. XX. c. 85.
51 He does not give the name of the poet, bat, as Fee says, we do not
experience any great loss thereby.
^- From Theophrastus, Hist. Pliint, B. vii. c. 6.
a3 See B. XV. c. 32. ^^ " Absinthium." See B. xxvii. c. 28.
Cl-ap. 62.1 PIPEIIITIS, LIBA:N0TIS, ASB SMTliyiUM. 203
taiirj',^ bitter ; in cucumbers, gourds, and lettuces, watery ;
and in parsley, anise, and fennel, pungent auvd odoriferous.
The salt flavour is the only one that is not to be found ^^ in
plants, with the sole exception, indeed, of the chicheling ^'
vetch, though even then it is to be found on the exterior
surface only of the plant, in the form of a kind of dust which
settles there.
CHAP. 62. PIPERITIS, LIBA.KOTIS, AND SMTRNITJM.
To come to a full understanding, too, both here as elsewhere,
how unfounded are the notions which are generally entertained,
I shall take this opportunity of remarking that panax^ has tlie
flavour of pepper, and siliquastrum even more so, a circum-
stance to which it owes its name of pipcritis :^^ libanotis,*^
^again, has just the odour of frankincense, and smyrnium ^^ of
myrrh. As to panax, we have spoken of it at suflficient length
ah'eady.''- Libanotis grows in a thin, crumbh' soil, and is
generally sown in spots exposed to the falling dews ; the root,
which is just like that of olusatrum," has a smell in no way
differing from that of frankin3erise ; when a year old, it is ex-
tremely wholesome for the stomach ; some persons give it the
name of rosmarinum.^* Smyrnium is a garden herb that grows
in similar soils, and has a root which smells like myrrh : sili-
quastrum, too, is grown in a similar manner.
Other plants, again, differ from the preceding ones, both in
smell and taste, anise ^ for example ; indeed, so great is the
difference in this respect, and in their relative virtues, that not
only are the properties of each modified by the other, but quite
neutralized even. It is in this way that our cooks correct
the flavour of vinegar in their dishes with parsley, and our
butlers employ the same plant, enclosed in sachets, for removing
a bad odour in wine.
" See B. XXV. c. 30.
*^ Fee remarks, that though rarely to be met ■with, the salt flavour is
still to be found in the vegetable kingdom.
" The " cicercula," or Lathyrus sativus of Linnaeus. See B. xviii. c. 32.
^'^ See B. xii. c. 57. ^^ Or pepper-wort. See B. xx. c. 66.
^ See B. XX. c. 54.
^^ The same, probably, as olusatrum. See cc. 37 and 48 of this Book,
and B. xx. c. 46 : also B. xxvii. c. 109. ^- In B. xii. c. 67.
^2 See c. 48 of this Book. 6* Rosemary, or "sea-dew."
6^ See B. XX. c. 74.
204 PLINY" S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XIX.
^Thus far, then, we have treated of the garden plants, viewed
as articles of food only ; it remains for us now (for up to the
])resent we have only spoken of their various methods of culti-
vation, with some succinct details relative thereto), to enlarge
upon the more elaborate operations of Is^ature in this respect ;
it being quite impossible to come to a full understanding as to
the true characteristics of each individual plant, without a
knowledge of its medicinal effects, a sublime and truly myste-
rious manifestation of the wisdom of the Deity, than which
nothing can possibly be found of a nature more elevated. It
is upon principle that we have thought proper not to enlarge
upon the medicinal properties of each plant when treating of
it; for it is a quite different class of persons that is interested
in knowing their curative properties, and there is no doubt
that both classes of readers would have been inconvenienced in
a very material degree, if these two points of view had engaged
our attention at the same moment. As it is, each class will
have its own portion to refer to, while those who desire to do
so, will experience no difficulty in uniting them, with reference
to any subject of which we may happen to treat.
Summary. — Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations,
one thousand one hundred and forty-four.
Roman authors quoted. — Maccius Plautus," M. Yarro,**
D. Silanus,^^ Cato the Censor,"'' Hyginus,'^ Virgil,"^ Mucianus,''
Celsus,'^ Columella,^* Calpurnius Bassus,"^ Mamilius Sura,*^
Sabinus Tiro,"^ Licinius Macer,'^ Quintus Hirtius,®*' Yibius
^^ Fee suggests, though apparently without any good reason, that this
paragraph, to the end of the Book, is an interpolation of the copyists.
"'" See end of B. xiv. «» See end of B. ii.
«9 See end of B. xiv. 7o Spg end of B. iii.
'1 See end of B. iii. 72 ggg e^i q^ i^ y[[_
"■» See end of B. ii. 74 ggg end of B. vii.
" See end of B. viii. "s gee end of B. xvi.
'■^ See end of B. x.
'8 Beyond the mention made of this writer in c. 57, nothing whatever is
known of him.
79 C. Licinius Maccr, a Roman annalist and orator, born about b.c. 110.
Upon being impeached by Cicero, he committed suicide. He wrote a His-
tory or Annals of Rome, which are frequently referred to by Livy aud
Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
'^ Nothing whatever appears to be known of this writer.
SUMMARY.
205
Rufus,^^ Caesennius" who wrote the Ccpurica, Castritius ®'' U'ho
wrote on the same subject, Firmus ^^ who wrote on the same
subject, Petrichus ^^ who wrote on the same subject.
FoREioir AUTHORS QUOTED. — Horodotiis,®^ Theophrastus,^'
Domocritus,'^ Aristomachus,^^ Menander^° who wrote the
Biochresta, Anaxilaus.^^
^^ See end of B. xiv.
^2 Nothing whatever is known relative to this writer on Horticulture.
^3 Nothing certain is known of him ; but it has been suggested tliat he
may have been the fatlier of the rhetorician Castritius, so often mentionuJ
by Aulus Gelliiis, and who hved in the time of the Emperor Adrian.
^ Nothing Avhatever is known relative to this writer,
^ The author of a Greek poem on venomous serpents, mentioned in B. xx.
c. 96, and B. xxii. c. 40^ and by the Scholiast on the Theriaca of Nicander.
^ See end of B. ii. ^' See end of B. iii,
8« See end of B. ii. 89 gee end of B. xi.
^ Nothing whatever is known of him. His Book seems to have been a
compendium of " Things useful to life."
^^ A physician and Pythagorean philosopher, born at one of the cities
called Larissa, but which, is now unknown. He was banished by the
Emperor Augustus, b.c. 28, on the charge of practising magic, a charge
probably based on his superior skill in natural philosophy. He is fre-
quently mentioned by Pliny in the coarse of this work.
206
BOOK XX.
REMEDIES DEPwIVED FROM THE GARDEN PLANTS.
CHAP. I. — INTfiODUCTION.
We are now about to enter upon an examination of the greatest
of all the operations of Nature — we are about to discourse to
man upon his aliments,^ and to compel him to admit that he is
ignorant by what means he exists. And let no one, misled bj''
the apparent triviality of the names which we sliall have to
employ, regard this subject as one that is frivolous or con-
temptible : for we shall here have to set forth the state of peace
or of war which exists between the various departments of
Nature, the hatreds or friendships which are maintained by
objects dumb and destitute of sense, and all, too, created — a
wonderful subject for our contemplation ! — for the sake of man
alone. To these states, known to the Greeks by the respec-
tive appellations '' sympathia" and ''autipathia," we are in-
debted for the first principles" of all things ; for hence it is that
water has the property of extinguishing fire, that the sun
absorbs water, that the moon produces it, and that each of
those heavenly' bodies is from time to time eclipsed by the
other.
Hence it is, too, descending from the contemplation of a
loftier sphere, that the loadstone^ possesses the property of at-
^ Fee remarks, that the commencement of this exordium is contrary to
truth, and that Pliny appears to forget that in the Eighteenth Book he
has treated, at very considerable length, of the various cereals, tlie art of
preparing bread, pottages, ptisans. &c. He suggests, that the author may
liave originally intended to place the Eighteenth Hook after the present
one, and tliat on changing his plan he may have neglected to alter the pre-
sent passage. Froui his mention, however, of man's "ignorance by what
means he exists," it is not improbable that he may have considered that
the nutritive qualiti(;s of plants are really based upon their medicinal vir-
tues, a point of view little regarded by the majority of mankind in his
time, but considered by Plinv to be the true key to a just api)reciatiou of
their utility. - " Quibus cuncta constant." See ii. xxiv. c. 1.
» See 13. xxxiv. c. 42.
Cliiip. 2.] THI5 WILD CUCUMBER. 20/
tracting iron, and another stone/ again, tliat of repelling it ;
and that the diamond, that jjride of luxury and opulence,
though infrangible by every other object, and presenting a
resistance that cannot be overcome, is broken asunder by a
he-goafs blood ^ — in addition to numerous other marvels of
which we shall have to speak on more appropriate occasions,
equal to this or still more wonderful even. My only request is
that pardon may be accorded me for beginning with objects of
u more humble nature, though still so greatly conducive to our
Ileal th — I mean the garden plants, of which I shall now pro-
ceed to speak.
CHAP. 2. (1.) THE WILD CUCUMBER; TWENTY-SIX REMEDIES.
We have already stated^ that there is a wild cucumber, con-
siderably smaller than the cultivated one. From this cucum-
ber the medicament known as *' elaterium" is prepared, being
the juice extracted from the seed.^ To obtain this juice the
fruit is cut before it is ripe — indeed, if this precaution is not
taken at an early period, the seed is apt to spirt'* out and be pro-
ductive of danger to the eyes. After it is gathered, the fruit is
kept whole for a night, and on the following day an incision
is made in it with a reed. The seed, too, is generally sprinkled
with ashes, with the view of retaining in it as large a quan-
tity of the juice as possible. When the juice is extracted, it
is received in rain water, where it falls to the bottom ; after
Avhicli it is thickened in the sun, and then divided into lozenges,
* The " tlieamedts." See B. xxxvi. c. 25.
5 Plinjfis the only authur wlio makes meation of this singularly absurd
notion.
•^ In B. xix. c. 24 : so, too, Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 154. The -wild cu-
cumber of PHny, as Fee observes, is in reality not a cucumber, but a
totally different plant, the Cucumis silvestris asininus of C. iJauliin, the
Momordioa elaterium of Linua^us, or squirting cucumber.
'' Elaterium, Fee says, is not extracted from the seed, but is the juice
of the fruit itself, as Pliny, contradicting himself, elsewhere informs us.
Theophrastus commits the same error, which Dioscorides does not ; und
it is not improbable that Pliny "has copied from two sources the method
of making it.
** Meaning the juice and seed combined, probably. Fee thinks that it
is to this the medicament owes its name, from tXavvio, to " drive'' or
"impel." It is mucli more prohable, however, that the medicine was so
called from it^ strong purgative powers ; for, as Galen tells us, iXariipioi'
was a name given to purgative medicines iu general.
208 pliny's natukal histohy. [Book XX.
which are of singular utility to mankind for healing dimness'
of sight, diseases of the eyes, and ulcerations of the eyelids.
It is said that if the roots of a vine are touched with this
juice, the grapes of it will be sure never to be attacked by
birds.
The root,^° too, of the wild cucumber, boiled in vinegar, is
employed in fomentations for the gout, and the juice of it is
used as a remedy for tooth -ache. Dried and mixed with resin,
the root is a cure for impetigo^^ and the skin diseases known
as " psora" ^- and " lichen :" ^^ it is good, too, for imposthumes
of the parotid glands and inflammatory tumours, ^^ and restores
the natural colour to the skin when a cicatrix has formed. —
The juice of the leaves, mixed with vinegar, is used as an
injection for the ears, in cases of deafness.
CHAP. 3. ELATERIUM ; TWENTY-SEVEN REMEDIES.
The proper season for making elaterium is the autumn ; and
there is no medicament known that will keep longer than this.^^
It begins to be fit for use when three years old ; but if it is
found desirable to make use of it at an earlier period than
this, the acridity of the lozenges may be modified by putting
them with vinegar upon a slow fire, in a new earthen pot.
The older it is the better, and before now, as we learn from
Theophrastus, it has been known to keep^^ so long as two hun-
dred years. Even after it has been kept so long as fifty'*'
years, it retains its property of extinguishing a light ; indeed,
_ 5 Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 154, states to this effect. Fee remarks that,
singularly enough, most of the antiophthalmics used by the ancients, were
composed of acrid and almost corrosive medicaments, quite in opposition to
the sounder notions entertained on the suhject by the moderns.
^^ Dioscorides says the same ; and much the same statements are made
by Celsus, Apuleius, Marcellus Empiricus, and Plinius Yalerianus. The
different parts of the plant, dried, have but very feeble properties, Fee says.
^' A sort of tetter or ring-worm Celsus enumerates four varieties.
^' Itch -scab, probably.
13 A disease of the skin, in which the scab assumes the form almost of a
lichen or moss.
1* "Panes." "Panus" was the name given to a wide-spreading, but
not deeply-seated, tumour, the surface of which presented a birstered
appearance.
'^ Fee says that this is not the fact, as it speedily deteriorates by
keeping
1^ From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 10.
Chap. 4.] ANGUINE OE ERRATIC CUCUMBEE. 20p
it is the proper way of testing the genuineness of the drug to
hold it to the flame and make it scintillate above and below,
before finally extingmshing it. The elaterium which is pale,
smooth, and slightly bitter, is superior ^" to that which has a
grass-green appearance and is rough to the touch.
It is generally thought that the seed of this plant will faci-
litate conception if a woman carries it attached to her person,
before it has touched the ground ; and that it has the effect of
aiding parturition, if it is fii'st wrapped in ram's wool, and then
tied round the woman's loins, without her knowing it, care
being taken to cany it out of the house the instant she is
delivered.
Those persons who magnify the praises of the wild cucum-
ber say that the very best is that of Arabia, the next being
that of Arcadia, and then that of Cyrenae : it bears a resem-
blance to the heliotropium,^^ they say, and the fruit, about the
size of a walnut, grows between the leaves and branches. The
seed, it is said, is very similar in appearance to the tail of
a scorpion thrown back, but is of a whitish hue. Indeed,
there are some persons who give to this cucumber the name of
*'scorpionium," and say that its seed, as well as the elaterium,
is remarkablj' efficacious as a cure for the sting of the scor-
pion. As a purgative, the proper dose of either is from half
an obolus to an obolus, according to the strength of the pa-
tient, a larger dose than this being fatal. ^^ It is in the same
proportions, too, that it is taken in drink for phthiriasis^^ and
dropsy ; applied externally with honey or old olive oil, it is
used for the cure of quinsy and affections of the trachea.
CHAP. 4. (2.) — THE ANGUINE OR EEEATIC CUCUMBEE : FIVE
EEilEDIES.
Many authors are of opinion that the wild cucumber is
identical with the plant known among us as the ''anguine,'*
and by some persons as the "erratic"*^ cucumber. Objects
^' Fee acknowledges the truth of this observation, that of a green colour
containing feculent matter, and showing that the juice is not pure.
^8 Iri reaUty there is no such resemblance whatever. See B. xxii. c. 29.
_^5 Fee says that this is an exaggerated account of the properties of the
wild cucumber, as it would require a very considerable dose to cause death.
"^^ The Morbus pedicularis, or " lousy disease."
2^ This has been identified by some writers, Fee says, with the Cucumis
flexuosus of Linnaeus; but, as he observes, that plant comes originally
YOL. lY. P
210 PLrN-y'a NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XX.
sprinkled with a decoction of this plant will never be touched
by mice. The same authors- say, too, that a decoction of it in
vinegar, externally applied, gives instantaneous relief in cases
of gout and diseases of the joints. As a remedy, too, for lum-
bago, the seed of it is dried in the sun and pounded, being
given in doses of twenty denarii to half a sextarius of water.
Mixed with woman's milk and applied as a liniment, it is a
cure for tumours which have suddenly formed.
Elaterium promotes the menstrual discharge ; but if taken
by females when pregnant, it is productive of abortion. It
is good, also, for asthma, and, injected into the nostrils, for
the jaundice.^^ Rubbed upon the face in the sun, it removes
freckles^* and spots upon the skin.
CHAP. 5. THE CTJLTIVATED CUCTJMBEE : irHTE BEMEDIES.
Many persons attribute all these properties to the cultivated
cucumber^ as well, a plant which even without them would
be of very considerable importance, in a medicinal point of
view. A pinch of the seed, for instance, in three fingers,
beaten up with cummin and taken in wine, is extremely bene-
ficial for a cough : for phrenitis, also, doses of it are adminis-
tered in woman's milk, and doses of one acetabulum for dyseu-
ter}^ As a remedy for purulent expectorations, it is taken
with an equal quantity of cummin ;-^ and it is used with hy-
dromel for diseases of the liver. Taken in sweet wine, it is a
diuretic ; and, in combination with cummin,^ it is used as an
injection for affections of the kidneys.
from India, and it is more than probable that it was not known by tlie
ancients ; in addition to which, it is possessed of no medicinal properties
whatever. He looks upon it as an indigenous plant not identified.
22 So Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 154.
-' "Morbus regius;" literally, the "royal disease."
'•• " Lentigo."
« See B. xix. c. 23. It is but little appreciated for its medicinal pro-
perties by the moderns. Emulsions are sometimes made of the seeds,
which are of an oily nature. Fee says that the French ladies esteem
pomraade of cucumber as an excellent cosmetic ; which is, however, an
erroneous notion.
2« The combination of cummin with cucumber seed is in opposition,
Fee remarks, with their medicinal properties, the one being soothing, and.
the other moderately exciting.
Chap. 6.1 PBPOKES. 211
CHAP. 6. PEPONES : ELEVEN REMEDIES.
The fruit known as pepones^ are a cool and refreshing diet,
and are slightly relaxing to the stomach. Applications are
used of the pulpy flesh in defluxions or pains of the eyes. The
root, too, of this plant cures the hard ulcers known to us as
** ceria," from their resemblance to a honeycomb, and it acts
as an emetic.^ Dried and reduced to a powder, it is given
in doses of four oboli in hydromel, the patient, immediately
after taking it, being made to walk half a mile. This powder
is employed also in cosmetics^^ for smoothing the skin. The
rind, too, has the effect^^ of promoting vomiting, and, when
applied to the face, of clearing the skin ; a result which is
equally produced by an external application of the leaves of all
the cultivated cucumbers. These leaves, mixed with honey,
are employed for the cure of the pustules known as " epi-
nyctis;"^^ steeped in wine, they are good, too, for the bites
of dogs and of multipedes,^^ insects known to the Greeks by
the name of " seps,"^'^ of an elongated form, with hairy legs,
and noxious to cattle more particularly ; the sting being fol-
lowed by swelling, and the wound rapidly putrifying.
The smell of the cucumber itself is a restorative^* in fainting
fits. It is a well-known fact, that if cucumbers are peeled and
then boiled in oil, vinegar, and honey, they are all the more
pleasant eating^^ for it.
2'' As to the several varieties of the pumpkin or gourd, known under
this name, see B. xix. c. 24.
29 Dioscorides states to the same effect, and, as Fee thinks, with a pro-
bability of being correct.
29 " Smegma ta."
30 This assertion, Ffee says, is utterly untrue.
31 From tTTi, "upon," and vH, "night." These are red or whitish
pustules, accompanied with sharp pains, which appear on the skin at
night, and disappear in the day-time. Seec. 21.
32 Or "many-legs." See B. xxix. c, 39. Probably one of our mille-
pedes or centipedes : though Fee suggests that it may have been a large
caterpillar
33 From aijirliv. " to rot."
3* This, Fee says, is untrue : but it is hard to say on what grounds be
himself asserts that the smell of the cucumber is faint, and almost nauseous.
3* This, probably, is not conformable to modern notions on the subject.
P 2
212 Flint's XATtiEAL HisTOET. [Book XX.
CHAP. 7. (3.) THE GOTJED : SEVEXTEEX EEilEDIES. THE
SOiEPHTJS : ONE EEilEDY.
There is found also a wild gourd, called '' somphos'* by the
Greeks, empty within (to which circumstance it owes its
name),^^ and long and thick in shape, like the finger : it grows
nowhere except upon stony spots. The juice of this gourd,
when chewed, is very beneficial to the stomach.^^
CHAP. 8. — THE COLOCTXTHIS : TEX EEilEDIES.
There is another variety of the wild gourd, known as the
" colocynthis :" ^^ this kind is full of seeds, but not so large as
the cultivated one. The pale colocynthis is better than those
of a grass-green colour. Employed by itself when dried, it
acts as a very powerfuP^ purgative ; used as an injection, it is
a remedy for all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the
loins, as well as for paralysis. The seed being first removed, it
is boiled down in hj'dromel to one half; after which it is used as
an injection, with perfect safety, in doses of four oboli. It is
good, too, for the stomach, taken in pills composed of the dried
powder and boiled honey. In jaundice seven seeds of it may
be taken with beneficial effects, with a draught of hydromel
immediately after.
The pulp of this fruit, taken with wormwood and salt, is a
remedy for toothache, and the juice of it, warmed with vinegar,
has the effect of strengthening loose teeth. Eubbed in with
oil, it removes pains of the spine, loins, and hips : in addition
to which, really a marvellous thing to speak of! the seeds of
it, in even numbers, attached to the body in a linen cloth,
will cure, it is said, the fevers to which the Greeks have
given the name of "periodic."*'^ The juice, too, of the cultivated
^ From the Greek (To/x^6g, porous, spongy, or hollow.
^ It is supposed by some naturalists that this gourd is the variety
Pyxidaris of the Cucurbita pepo of Linnaeus, the Colocynthis amara of
C. Bauhin. Fee remarks, however, that this desi^ation is arbitrary ; as
this plant never grows wild in Europe, and its pulp is so bitter, that instead
of proving beneficial to the stomach, it would cause vomiting. From the
fact of its comparison to the human finger, he doubts if it really was one
of the Cucurbitae at all.
3* The Cucumis colocynthus of Linnaeus, or Coloquintida, so remarkable
for its bitterness.
39 It is an extremely drastic, and indeed violent purgative.
*o Recurring at stated times. The absurdity of this statement does not
require discuusion.
Chap. 9.] EAPE. 213
goiird^' shred in pieces, applied warm, is good for ear-ache,
and the flesh of the inside, used without the seed, for corns on
the feet and the suppurations known to the Greeks as " apos-
temata."'^' "When the pulp and seeds are boiled together, the
decoction is good for strengthening loose teeth, and for prevent-
ing toothache ; wine, too, boiled with this plant, is curative of
defluxions of the eyes. The leaves of it, bruised with fresh
cypress-leaves, or the leaves alone, boiled in a vessel of potters'
clay and beaten up with goose-grease, and then applied to the
part affected, are an excellent cure for wounds. Fresh shav-
ings of the rind are used as a cooling application for gout, and
burning pains in the head, in infants more particularly ; they
are good, too, for erysipelas,*"^ whether it is the shavings of
the rind or the seeds of the plant that are applied to the part
aftected. The juice of the scrapings, employed as a liniment
with rose-oil and vinegar, moderates the burning heats of
fevers ; and the ashes of the dried fruit applied to burns are
efficacious in a most remarkable degree.
Chrysippus, the physician, condemned the use of the gourd
as a food : it is generally agreed, however, that it is extremely
good^ for the stomach, and for ulcerations of the intestines
and of the bladder.
CHAP. 9. KAPE; >'INE EEMEI.IES.
Rape, too, has its medicinal properties. "Warmed, it is used as
an application for the cui-e of chilblains,^' in addition to which,
it has the eftect of protecting the feet from cold. A hot decoc-
tion of rape is employed for the cure of cold gout ; and raw
rape, beaten up with salt, is good tor all maladies of the feet.
Rape-seed, used as a liniment, and taken in drink, with wine,
is said to have a salutary effect^® against the stings of serpents,
*^ The cultivated cucumber, Fee says.
^- Or " aposthunies," a kind of abscess, probably.
13 •' Ignis sacer," literally •' sacred fire." It is sometimes called " St. An-
thony's fire." Celsus. in describing it, distinguishes it, however, from
Erysipelas, and divides it into two kinds.
•" On the contrary, Fee says, the pulp of the gourd is tough and lea- "
Aery, extremely insipid, and destitute of any salutary qualities.
*^ A decoction of rape or tui-nips is still recommended for chilblains at
•:he present day. Fee remarks that ground mustard is much preferable.
^6 This, as Fee remarks, he says of nearly all the vegetable productions
cnown.
214 Flint's natdual histoby. [Book XX.
and various narcotic poisons ; and there are many persons who
attribute to it the properties of an antidote, when taken with
wine and oil.
Democritus has entirelj'' repudiated the use of rape as an
article of food, in consequence of the flatulence *'' which it pro-
duces ; while Diodes, on the other hand, has greatly extolled
it, and has even gone so far as to say that it ficts as an aphro-
disiac."® Dionysius, too, says the same of rape, and more par-
ticularly if it is seasoned with rocket ;^^ he adds, also, that
roasted, and then applied with grease, it is excellent for pains
in the joints.
CHAP. 10. WILD EAPE ! ONE EEMEDY.
Wild rape ^" is mostly found growing in the fields ; it has a
tufted top, with a white ^^ seed, twice as large as that of the
poppy. This plant is often employed for smoothing the skin
of the face and the body generally, meal of fitches, ^^ barley,
wheat, and lupines, being mixed with it in equal proportions.
The root of the wild rape is applied to no useful purpose
whatever.
CHAP. 11. (4.) — turnips; those known as bunion and bunias:
FIVE EEMEDIES.
The Greeks distinguish two kinds of turnips,*^ also, as em-
ployed in medicine. The turnip with angular stalks and a
flower like that of anise, and known by them as " bunion," " is
^'^ It is only suited as an aliment to a strong stomach, and it is owing
to the property here mentioned that tlie School of Salerno says, —
Ventuni sajpe capis, si tu vis vivere rapis.
and
Rapa juvat storaachum, novit producere ventum.
*8 Dioscorides and Galen say the same, but this property is not recog-
nized in modern times.
*5 " Eruca :" a plant itself of a very stimulating nature.
'^ The Brassica napus, var. a of Linnaeus, the Brassica asperifolia, var.
a of Decandolles, the " navette" of the French. An oil is extracted from the
seed, very similar to the Colza oil, extracted from the Brassica oleraoea.
=^ It is in reality of a blackish hue wi tliout, and white within.
^2 See B. xxir. c. 73. Dioscorides speaks of the use of the wild rape
for this purpose, B. ii. c. 135.
^^ See B. xviii. c. 35, and B. xix. o. 25.
*♦ Dalechamps remarks that Pliny hero confounds the bunion with the
bumas ; the first of which, as Fee says, is an umbellifera, either the Bun-
Chap. 13.] THE CULTIVATED EADISH. 215
good for promoting the menstrual discharge in females and for
affections ^^ of the bladder ; it acts, also, as a diuretic. For
these purposes, a decoction of it is taken with hydromel, or else
one drachma of the juice of the plant.^ The seed, parched, and
then beaten up, and taken in warm water, in doses of four
cyathi, is a good remedy for dysentery ; it will stop the pas-
sage of the urine, however, if linseed is not taken with it.
The other kind of turnip is known by the name of ** bunias," *^
and bears a considerable resemblance to the radish and the rape
united, the seed of it enjoying the reputation of being a remedy
for poisons ; hence it is that we find it employed in antidotes.
CHAP. 12. — THE WILD EADISH, OE AEMORA.CIA : ONE REMEDY.
We have already said,^^ that there is also a wild radish."
The most esteemed is that of Arcadia, though it is also found
growing in other countries as well. It is only efficacious as a
diuretic, being in other respects of a heating nature. In Italy,
it is known also by the name of " armoracia."
CHAP. 13. — THE CTTLTIVATED EiDISH : POETT-THEEE EEMEDIES.
The cultivated radish, too, in addition to what we have
already said^ of it, purges the stomach, attenuates the phlegm,
acts as a diuretic, and detaches the bilious secretions. A de-
coction of the rind of radishes in wine, taken in the morning
in doses of three cyathi, has the effect of breaking and expel-
ling calculi of the bladder. A decoction, too, of this rind in
vinegar and water, is employed as a liniment for the stings of
serpents. Taken fasting in the morning with honey, radishes
are good" for a cough. Parched radish-seed, as weU as
iuni bulbocastanum of Linnaeus, or the Peucedanum silaus of Linnaeus,
and the second is the Brassica napo-brassica of Linnaeus. Dioscorides
says that the stalks of the bunion are quadrangular. M. Fraas thinks
that the bunion is the Buniuni pumilum of modern Botany, and says that
the Buniuni bulbocastanum, usually supposed to be the bunion of Dios-
corides, is a stranger to Greece,
" These properties, Fee says, are not to be foimd in the Bunium bulbo-
castanum of modern botanists.
"^ Sillig is of opinion that there is an hiatus here in the text, and that
the meaning is that a drachma of the juice is taken with something else:
honey possibly, he suggests.
" The Brassica napo-brassica of Linnaeus. 58 gee B. xix c. 26.
^ The Cochlearia Armoracia of Linnaeus. ^ In B. xix. c. 26.
•^ Fee says that the medicinal properties recognized by the moderns in
216 plixy's natural history. [Book XX.
radishes themselves, chewed, is aseful for pains in the sides.^-
A decoction of the leaves, taken in drink, or else the juice
of the plant taken in doses of two cyathi, is an excellent remedy
for phthiriasis. Pounded radishes, too, are employed as a lini-
ment for inflammations^ under the skin, and the rind, mixed
with honey, for bruises of recent date. Lethargic persons "
are recommended to eat them as hot as possible, and the seed,
parched and then pounded with honey, will give relief to
asthmatic patients.
Radishes, too, are useful as a remedy for poisons, and are
employed to counteract the eff'ects of tjie sting of the cerastes^'
and the scorpion : indeed, after having rubbed the hands with
radishes or radish-seed, we may handle ^'^ those reptiles with
impunity. If a radish is placed upon a scorpion, it will cause
its death. Radishes are useful, too, in cases of poisoning by
fungi ^" or henbane ; and according to Nicander,^ they are sa-
lutary against the effects of bullock's blood,^^ when drunk.
The two physicians of the name of Apollodorus, prescribe
radishes to be given in cases of poisoning by mistletoe ; but
whereas Apollodorus of Citium recommends radish-seed pounded
in water, Apollodorus of Tarentum speaks of the juice.
Radishes diminish the volume of the spleen, and are beneficial
for maladies of the liver and pains in the loins : taken, too,
with vinegar or mustard, they are good for dropsy and lethargy,
the several varieties of the Eaphanus sativus are, that their action is slightly
stimulating when eaten raw, and that boiled and eaten with sugar they
are soothing, and act as a pectoral.
*- " Lagonoponon." Nearly all these asserted virtues of the radish,
Fee says, are illusory.
63 u Phlegmoni." Stagnation of the blood, with heat, redness, swell-
ing, and pain.
^^ "Veternosi." Fee says that, rigorously speaking, "veternus" was
that state of somnolency which is the prelude to apoplexy.
^5 The Coluber cerastes of Linnaeus. See B. viii. c. 35.
^ Poinsinet warns us not to place too implicit faith in this assertion.
67 Dioscorides says the same, but the assertion is quite destitute of truth.
«8 Nicander, in his " Alexipharmaca," 11. 430 and 527, says that the cab-
bage, not the radish, is good for poisoning by fungi and henbane ; and in
1. 300 he states that the cabbage is similarly beneficial against the effects
of bullock's i)lood. Pliny has probably fallen into the error by confound-
ing "patpavog, the " cabbage," with 'patpdvig, the " radish."
69 Themistocles is said to have killed himself by taking hot bullock's
blood. It is, however, very doubtful.
Chap. 13.] THE CULTIVATED EADISH. 217
as well as epilepsy '*^ and melancholyj^ Praxagoras recom-
mends that radishes should be given for the iliac passion, and
Plistonicus for the coeliac '^ disease.
Radishes are good, too, for curing ulcerations of the in-
testines and suppurations of the thoracic organs,'^ if eaten
with honey. Some persons say, however, that for this pur-
pose they should be boiled in earth and water ; a decoction
which, according to them, promotes the menstrual discharge.
Taken with vinegar or honey, radishes expel worms from the
intestines ; and a decoction of them boiled down to one- third,
taken in wine, is good for intestinal hernia.'* Employed
in this way, too, they have the effect of drawing off the super-
fluous blood. Medius recommends them to be given boiled to
persons troubled with spitting of blood, and to women who are
suckling, for the purpose of increasing the milk. Hippocrates "^
recommends females whose hair falls off, to rub the head with
radishes, and he says that for pains of the utenis, they should
be applied to the navel.
Radishes have the effect, too, of restoring the skin, when
scarred, to its proper colour ; and the seed, steeped in water,
and applied topically, arrests the progress of ulcers known as
phagedsenic."® Democritus regards them, taken with the food,
as an aphrodisiac ; and it is for this reason, perhaps, that some
persons have spoken of them as being injurious to the voice.
The leaves, but only those of the long radish, are said to have
the effect of improving the eye-sight.
"When radishes, employed as a remedy, act too powerfully,
it is recommended that hyssop should be given immediately ;
there being an antipathy " between these two plants. For
'0 " Morbus comitialis" — literally the " comitial disease." Epilepsy it is
said, was so called because, if any person was seized with it at the " Co-
mitia^" or public assemblies of the Eoman people, it was the custom to
adjourn the meeting to another day.
'1 From ^ieXac, "black," and xoX/j, " bile." Melancholy, or bad
spirits, was so called from a notion that it was owing to a predominance of
an imaginary secretion called by the ancients " black bile."
■^2 The coeliac flux, Fee says, is symptomatic of chronic enteritis ; and
is a species of diai-rhoea, in which the ch}'me is voided without undergoing
any change in passing through the intestines.
'"^ "Praecordiorum." "* " Fnterocele."
•5 De Morb. Mulier. B. ii. c. 67.
'6 Eating or corroding ulcers.
'^ Hippocrates, De Diaet4, B. ii. cc. 25, 26, says that radishes are of a
cold, and hyssop of a warm, nature.
21.8 plt.vt's natueal history. [Book XX,
dulness of hearing, too, radish -juice is injected into the ear.
To promote vomiting, it is extremely beneficial to eat radishes
fasting.
CHAP. 1 4. THE PARSNIP : FIVE REMEDIES. THE HIBISCUM, WILD
MALLOW, OR PLISTOLOCHIA : ELEVEN REMEDIES.
The hibiscum, by some persons known as the wild mallow,'*
and by others as the '' plistolochia," bears a strong resemblance
to the parsnip ;^^ it is good for ulcerations of the cartilages, and
is employed for the cure of fractured bones. The leaves of it,
taken in water, relax the stomach ; they have the effect, also,
of keeping away serpents, and, employed as a liniment, are a,
cure for the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets. The root,
pulled up before sunrise, and wrapped in wool of the colour
known as '* native,"^*' taken from a sheep which has just
dropped a ewe lamb, is employed as a bandage for scrofulous
swellings, even after they have suppurated. Some persons
are of opinion, that for this purpose the root should be dug
up with an implement of gold, and that care should be taken
not to let it touch the ground.
Celsus,^^ too, recommends this root to be boiled in wine, and
applied in cases of gout unattended with swelling.
CHAP. 15. (5.) — THE STAPHYLINOS, OR WILD PARSNIP: TWENTY-
TWO REMEDIES.
The staphylinos, or, as some persons call it, ''erratic^'
parsnip," is another kind. The seed ®^ of this plant, pounded and
taken in wine, reduces swelling of the abdomen, and alleviates
hysterical suffocations and pains, to such a degree as to restore
the uterus to its natural condition. Used as a liniment, also, with
raisin wine, it is good for pains of the bowels in females ; for
men, too, beaten up with an equal proportion of bread, and
taken in wine, it may be found beneficial for similar pains. It
'8 " Moloche agria." '9 See B. xix. c. 27.
80 See B. viii. c. 73.
81 De Remed. B. iv. c. 24. The parsnip is a stimulating plant, and it
is not without reason, Fee says, that Celsus recommends it for this pur-
pose. 82 Or " wild." See B. xix. c. 27.
83 This seed, Fee says, is an energetic excitant, and certainly would not
be found suitable for any of the purposes here mentioned by Pliny ; though
equally recommended for them by Galen, Dioscorides, and in Athenaeus.
Chap. 16.] GINGIDION. 219
is a diuretic also, and it will arrest the progress of phagedaenic
ulcers, if applied fresh with honey, or else dried and sprinkled
on them with meal.
Dieiiches recommends the root of it to be given, with hy-
dromel, for affections of the liver and spleen, as also the sides,
loins, and kidneys; and Cleophantus prescribes it for dysen-
tery of long standing. Philistio says that it should be boiled
'in milk, and for strangury he prescribes four ounces of the
root. Taken in water, he recommends it for dropsy, as well
as in cases of opisthotony,®^ pleurisy, and epilepsy. Persons,
it is said, who carry this plant about them, will never be stung
by serpents, and those who have just eaten of it will receive
no hurt from them. Mixed with axle-grease,®^ it is applied
to parts of the body stung by reptiles ; and the leaves of it are
eaten as a remedy for indigestion.
Orpheus has stated that the staphylinos acts as a philtre,^
most probably because, a veiy-well-established fact, when
employed as a food, it is an aphrodisiac ; a circumstance which
has led some persons to state that it promotes conception. In
other respects the cultivated parsnip has similar properties ;
though the wild kind is more powerful in its operation, and
that which grows in stony soils more particularly. The seed,
too, of the cultivated parsnip, taken in wine, or vinegar and
water,®"' is salutary for stings inflicted by scorpions. By
rubbing the teeth with the root of this plant, tooth-ache is
removed.
CHAP. 16. — GINGIDION : ONE EEMEDT.
The Syrians devote themselves particularly to the cultiva-
tion of the garden, a circumstance to which we owe the Greek
proverb, ** There is plenty of vegetables in Syria. *'^®
^ Tetanus, or contraction of the muscles, in which the head is twisted
round or stretched backwards.
85 "Axungia;" properly swine's grease, with which the axle 'trees of
chariots were rubbed. See B. xxviii. c. 9.
86 Diphilus of Siphnos, as quoted in Athenaeus, B. ix. c. 3, states that
the ancients employed this plant as a philtre, for which reason it was called
by some persons (piXrpov.
87 " Posca." This was the ordinary drink of the lower classes at Rome,
as also the soldiers when on service, and the slaves. " Oxycrate " is the
scientific name sometimes given to vinegar and water,
88 rioWd Supwv Xdxava. Similar to our proverb, probably, *' There
is more corn in Egypt."
220 PLTNT's NA.TU11AL HISTORY. [Book XX.
Among other vegetables, that country produces one very-
similar to the staphylinos, and known to some persons as
*'gingidion,"^^ only that it is smaller than the staphylinos and
more bitter, though it has just the same properties. Eaten
either raw or boiled, it is very beneficial to the stomach, as it
entirely absorbs all humours with which it may happen to be
surcharged.
CHAP. 1 7. — THE SKIEEET ! ELEVEN REMEDIES.
The wild^ skirret, too, is very similar to the cultivated kind,^^
and is productive of similar effects. It sharpens^- the stomach,
and, taken with vinegar flavoured with silphium, or with
pepper and hydromel, or else with garum, it promotes the
appetite. According to Opion, it is a diuretic, and acts as
an aphrodisiac.**^ Diodes is also of the same opinion ; in ad-
dition to which, he says that it possesses cordial virtues for
convalescents, and is extremely beneficial after frequent vo-
mitings.
Heraclides has prescribed it against the effects of mercury,^*
and for occasional impotence, as also generally for patients
when convalescent. Hicesius says that skirrets would appear
to be prejlidiciaP^ to the stomach, because no one is able to eat
three of them following ; still, however, he looks upon them as
beneficial to patients who are just resuming the use of wine.
The juice of the cultivated skirret, taken in goats' -milk, aiTests
looseness of the stomach.
^^ The Daucus visnaga of Linnteus, the Daucus ginj^idium of Spi-engel,
the Visnagha, or Bisnagha of other botanists. It is also known as the
"wiki carrot," or "French carrot."
90 Or " erratic." 9i See B. xix. c. 28.
9- The root and seed, Fee observes, really are stimulants : there is no
perceptible difference between the wild and cultivated plants. For sil-
phium, see B. xix. c. 15.
93 Fee thinks that it may be so in a slight degree.
9* Pliny often speaks of persons having swallowed quicksilver, but never
lets us know under what circumstances. As Fee remarks, it could not be
accidentally ; nor yet, on the other hand, could it have been done purposely,
with the object of committing suicide, it not being an active poison. He
concludes that it must have been taken medicinally, and that part of it
becoming absorbed in the system, other remedies were resorted to, to coun-
teract its noxious effects.
Inutile," and not "utile," is evidently the correct reading here.
as a
Chap. 18.] SILE, OR HARTAYOET. 221
CHAP. 18. SILE, OR HARTWORT : TTVKLTE REMEDIES.
As the similitude which exists between their Greek names^
has caused most j)ersons to mistake the one for the other, we
have thought it as well to give some account here of sile or
hartwort,^' though it is a plant which, is very generally known.
The best hartwort is that of Massilia/^ the seed of it being
broad and yellow ; and the next best is that of Ethiopia, the
seed of which is of a darker hue. The Cretan hartwort is the
most odoriferous of the several kinds. The root of this plant has
a pleasant smell ; the seed of it is eaten by vultures, it is said.^^
Hartwort is useful to man for inveterate coughs, ruptures, and
convulsions, being usually taken in white wine ; it is employed
also in cases of opisthotony, and for diseases of the liver, as
well as for griping pains in the bowels and for strangury, in
doses of two or three spoonfuls at a time.
The leaves of this plant are useful also, and have the effect
of aiding parturition — in animals even : indeed, it is generally
said that roes/ when about to bring forth, are in the habit of
eating these leaves in particular. They are topically applied,
also, in erysipelas ; and either the leaves or the seed, taken fast-
ing in the morning, are very beneficial to the digestion. Hart-
wort has the effect, too, of arresting looseness in cattle, either
bruised and put into their drink, or else eaten by them after it
has been chewed with salt. When oxen are in a diseased state,
it is beaten up and poured into their food.
^ "EKTapov, the "skirret," and ^acreXi, leXi, or 2t\t, "hart- wort."
^" The Seseli tortuosum of Linnaeus.
^ Or Marseilles : the Seseli tortuosum. Fee says that there is great
confusion relative to the supposed varieties of this plant. The Bupleurum
fiuticosum, or Seseli of ^Ethiopia, has leaves smaller than those of ivy,
and resembling the leaves of honeysuckle. That of Peloponnesus, the
Ligusticum austriacura, has a leaf similar to that of hemlock, but larger
and thicker ; and the Seseli of Crete, some species of the genus Tordy-
lium, is a small plant which throws out shoots in large quantities. All
these, he says, are so far different plants, that it is quite impossible to
unite them with any degree of certainty under one concordance. Indeed,
he thinks it very possible that they do not all belong to the genus Seseli of
modern botanists.
^^ It is clear that Pliny hesitates to believe this story, and it is hardly
necessary to remark how utterly foreign this is to the habits of carnivoroia
birds.
^ See B. viii. c. 50. An absurd story.
222 Pliny's natural history. [Book XX.
CHAP. 19. — ELECAMPANE *. ELETEN REMEDIES.
Elecampane,^ too, chewed fasting, has the eifect of strength-
ening the teeth, if, from the moment that it is plucked, it is
not allowed to touch the ground : a confection of it is a cure
for cough. The juice of the root boiled is an expellent of in-
testinal tapeworm; and dried in the shade and reduced to
powder, the root^ is curative in cases of cough, convulsions,
flatulency, and affections of the trachea. It is useful too, for
the bites of venomous animals ; and the leaves steeped in wine
are applied topically for pains in the loins.
CHAP. 20. ONIONS : TWENTY-SEVEN REMEDIES.
There are no such things in existence as wild onions. The
cultivated onion is employed for the cure of dimness* of sight,
the patient being made to smell at it till tears come into the
eyes : it is still better even if the eyes are rubbed with the
juice. It is said, too, that onions are soporific,^ and that they
are a cure for ulcerations of the mouth, if chewed with bread.
Fresh onions in vinegar, applied topically, or dried onions with
wine and honey, are good for the bites of dogs, care being
taken not to remove the bandage till the end of a couple of
days. Applied, too, in the same way, they are good for heal-
ing excoriations. Roasted in hot ashes, many persons have
applied them topically, with barley meal, for defluxions of the
eyes and ulcerations of the genitals. The juice, too, is em-
ployed as an ointment for sores of the eyes, albugo,® and
argema/ Mixed with honey, it is used as a liniment for the
stings® of serpents and all kinds of ulcerous sores. In com-
bination with woman's milk, it is employed for affections of the
ears ; and in cases of singing in the ears and hardness of hear-
ing, it is injected into those organs with goose-grease or honey.
2 The Inula Uelenium of botanists. See B. xix. c. 29.
' Modern notions, Fee says, do not agree with those of the ancients on
the subject of elecampane. The root owes the energy of its action to the
camphor wliich it contains.
* This notion of the virtues of the onion is quite erroneous, though it
still prevails to a considerable degree. Hippocrates, however, Dioscorides, |
and Galen, like Plinj^, attribute this property to the onion.
^ This, Fee says, is not the fact.
6 A disease of the eye, by which the cornea contracts a whiteness.
' A white speck within the black of the eye.
8 It is of no use whatever for such a purpose.
Chap. 21.] CtJTLEEK. 223
In cases where persons have been suddenly struck dumb, it
lias been administered to them to drink, mixed with water.
In cases, too, of toothache, it is sometimes introduced into
the mouth as a gargle for the teeth ; it is an excellent
remedy also for all kinds of wounds made by animals, scorpions
more particularly.
In cases of alopecy® and itch-scab, bruised onions are rubbed
on the parts affected : they are also given boiled to persons
afllicted with dysentery or lumbago. Onion peelings, burnt to
ashes and mixed with vinegar, are employed topically for stings
of serpents and multipedes.^*'
In other respects, there are remarkable differences of opi-
nion among medical men. The more modern writers have
stated that onions are good for the thoracic organs and the
digestion, but that they are productive of flatulency and thirst.
The school of Asclepiades maintains that, used as an aliment,
onions impart a florid^ ^ colour to the complexion, and that,
taken fasting every day, they are promoters of robustncBS and
health ; that as a diet, too, they are good for the stomach by
acting upon the spirits, and have the effect of relaxing the
bowels. He says, too, that, employed as a suppository,
onions disperse piles, and that the juice of them, taken in
combination with juice of fennel, is wonderfully beneficial in
cases of incipient dropsy. It is said, too, that the juice, taken
with rue and honey, is good for quinsy, and has the effect of
dispelling lethargy.^^ Varro assures us that onions, pounded
with salt and vinegar and then dried, will never be attacked
by worms. '^
CHAP. 21. (6.) — CUTLEEK : THIRTY-TWO KEMEDIES.
Cutleek^^ has the effect of stanching bleeding at the nose,
^ Fox evil, or scurf, or scaldhead : a disease wMch causes the hair to
fall off the body. It derives its name from the Greek a\w7ri/|, a " fox,"
from the circumstance that they were supposed to be peculiarly aflected
with a similar disease.
^^ Or millepedes. See c. 6 of this Book.
1^ So the school of Salerno says —
Non modicum sanas Asclepius asserit illas,
Prsesertim storaacho, pulchrumque creare colorem.
^2 This is not the case.
^3 '< Vermiculis." Small worms or maggots,
u « Porrum sectivum/' See B. xix. o. 33.
224 plint's natural HISTOST. [Book XX.
the nostrils being plugged with the P^^^^' P^^j^^^f ' ^'^ J^^^
mixed with nut-galls or mint. The juice of it, taken with
womanrinilk,ariBts^ after a miscarriage ; and it is
TmedlalincaLes even of inveterate cough and of affections
of^hec>.est^^ and lungs. The leaves, applied topically, are
fmpb^^^^^^ cure'of pimples, burns and epmyctis--
tSsS being the name given to an ulcer known ako as
- Tce''" situate in the corner of the eye, from which there
is I Jontinual running: some persons, however, give this
name to livid pustules, which cause great restlessness m the
St Other kinds of ulcers, too, are treated with leeks
beaten up with honey: used with vinegar, they are exten-
sively emVyed also for the bites of wild beasts, as well as
Sents a^d other venomous creatures. Mixed with goats
^alT or else honied wine in equal proportions, they are used
for affections of the ears, and, combined with woman s milk,
fo singing in the ears. In cases of head-ache, the juice is
injected into the nostrils, or else into the ear at bed-time,
two spoonfuls of juice to one of honey.
This iuice is taken too with pure wine,^« for the stmgs of
serpents and scorpions, and, mixed with a semi-sextarius ot
wL'e, for lumbago' The juice, or the leek ^tse f, eaten as a
food is very beneficial to persons troubled with spitting ot
blood, phthisis, or inveterate catarrhs; in cases also of jaun-
dice or dropsy, and for nephretic pains, it is taken in barley-
water, in doses of one acetabulum of juice The same dose,
too, mixed with honey, effectually purges the uterus. Leeks
are eaten, too, in cases of poisoning by fungi,^^and are app ed
topically to wounds: they act also as an aphrodisiac, allay
thirst, and dispel the effects of drunkenness ; but they
have the effect of weakening the sight and causing flatulency,
it is said, though, at the same time, they are not mjui^ious to
15 Fee thinks tbat boiled leeks may possibly, with some justice, be
""' Thir- PwtrcK here remarks, is a difFereut disease from that
previously mentioned in c. 6 of this Book.
17 Prom tlie Greek ovk)), " a fig."
19 '<Merum."
19 They would be of no utility whatever.
20 This is an unfounded statement, Fee says.
Chap. 23.] GAKLIC. 225
the stomach, and act as an aperient. Leeks impart a remark-
able clearness to the voice. ^^
CHAP. 22, BULBED LEEK: THIllTY-NINE REMEDIES.
Bulbed leek-- produces the same eiFects as cut-leek,'^^ but in
a more powerful degree. To persons troubled with spitting
of blood, the juice of it is given, with powdered nut-galls-^
or frankincense, or else gum acacia.^' HippocratCvS,^^ however,
prescribes it without being mixed with anything else, and
expressed himself of opinion that it has the property of opening
the uterus when contracted, and that taken as an aliment by
females, it is a great promoter of fecundity. Beaten up and
mixed with honey, it cleanses ulcerous sores. It is good for
the cure of coughs, catarrhs, and all affections of the lungs
and of the trachea, whether given in the form of a ptisan, or
eaten raw, the head excepted : it must be taken, however, with-
out bread, and upon alternate days, and this even if there
should be purulent expectorations.
Taken in this form, it greatly improves the voice, and acts
as an aphrodisiac, and as a promoter of sleep. The heads, boiled
in a couple of waters, arrest looseness of the bowels, and
fluxes of long standing ; and a decoction of the outer coat acts
as a dye upon grey hair.^^
CHAP. 23. GAKLIC : SIXTY-ONE REMEDIES.
Garlic'^^ has very powerfuP^ properties, and is of great
utility to persons on changes of water or locality. The very
smell of it drives away serpents and scorpions, and, according
to w^hat some persons say, it is a cure for wounds made by
2^ See B. xix. c. 33. Aristode, Sotion, and Dioscorides state to the
same effect.
22 it Porrum capitatum."
23 There is no difference now recognized between these two kinds of
leeks, so far as their medicinal effects are concerned.
-* See B. xvi, c 9.
-* /. e. gum arabic. For an acconnt of the Acacia Nilotica, see B. xiii.
c. 19.
26 De Morb. Mul. B ii. c. 89, and De Steril. c. 13.
2'' This is not the fact. 2S gee B. xix. c. 34.
2^ Fee says that the action of garlic is so powerful, that it is one of the
most energetic vermifuges known ; but at the same time it is so strong an
excitant, that it is very liable to cause worse evils than the presence ev-'U
of worms.
VOL. IV. Q
226 Pliny's jtatuijal history. [Book XX.
eyery kind of wild beast, whether taken with tlie drink or food,
or upplied topically. Taken in wine, it is a remedy for the
sting of the htemorrhois^ more particularly, acting as an
emetic. "We shall not be surprised too, that it acts as a pow-
erful remedy for the bite of the shrew-mouse, when ^ye find
that it has the property of neutralizing aconite, otherwise
known as " pardalianches."^^ It neutralizes henbane, also,
and cures the bites of dogs, when applied with honey to the
wound. It is taken in drink also for the stings of serpents ;
and of its leaves, mixed with oil, a most valuable liniment is
made for bruises on the body, even when they have swelled
and formed blisters.
Hippocrates^- is of opinion also, that fumigations made with
garlic have the effect of bringing away the after-birth; and
he used to employ the ashes of garlic, mixed with oil, for the
cure of running ulcers of the head. Some persons have pre-
scribed boiled garlic for asthmatic patients ; while others,
again, have given it raw. Diodes prescribes it, in combina-
tion with centaury, for dropsj^, and to be taken in a split fig,
to promote the alvine evacuations : taken fresh, however, in
unmixed wine, with coriander, it is still more efiicacious for
that purpose. Some persons have given it, beaten up in
milk, for asthma. Praxagoras used to prescribe garlic, mixed
with wine, for jaundice, and with oil and pottage for the iliac
passion : he employed it also in a similar form, as a liniment
for scrofulous swellings of the neck.
The ancients used to give raw garlic in crises of madness,
and Diodes administered it boiled for phrenitis. Beaten up,
and taken in vinegar and water, it is very useful as a gargle
for quinsy. Three heads of garlic, beaten up in vinegar, give
relief in toothache : and a similar result is obtained by rinsing
the mouth wnth a decoction of garlic, and inserting pieces of
it in the hollow teeth. Juice of garlic is sometimes injected
into the ears with goose-grease,^-* and, taken in drink, or simi-
^^ This serpent is described by Lucan, in the "Pharsalia," B. ix. 1. 708,
ef seq., wliere a fearful account is given of the effects of its sting. Nicander,
in liis " Theriaca,'' informs us that those bitten by the hsemorrhois tlie
with the blood flowing from the nose and ears, whence its name.
3' Pard or pantlier-strangle. See B. xxvii. c. 2. The juice of garlic
has no such effect as here stated.
a2 De Morb. Mul. B. i. c. 74. S2» gee C. Nxix c. 39.
Cliap. 23.J GARLIC. 227
larly injected, in combination with vinegar and nitre, it arres^ts
phthiriasis^^ and porrigo.^^ Boiled wilh milk, or else beaten
up and mixed with soft cheese, it is a cure for catarrhs. Em-
ployed in a similar manner, and taken with pease or beans, it
is good for hoarseness, but in general it is found to be more
sernceable cooked than raw, and boiled than roasted : in this
last state, however, it is more beneficial to the voice. Boiled in
oxymel, it has the effect of expelling tape-worm and other
intestinal w^orms ; and a pottage made of it is a cure for te-
nesmus. A decoction of garlic is applied topically for pains
in the temples ; and first boiled and then beaten up with
honey, it is good for blisters. A decoction of it, with stale
grease, or milk, is excellent for a cough; and where per-
sons are troubled with spitting of blood or purulent matter,
it may be roasted in hot ashes, and taken with honey in
equal proportions. For convulsions and ruptures it is admi-
nistered in combination with salt and oil ; and, mixed with
grease, it is employed for the cure of suspected tumours.
Mixed with sulphur and resin, garlic draws out the humours
from fistulous sores, and employed with pitch, it will extract an
arrow even^' from the wound. In cases of leprosy, lichen, and
eruptions of the skm, it acts as a detergent, and eff'ects a cure,
in combination with wild marjoram, or else reduced to ashes,
and applied as a liniment with oil and garum.^^ It is em-
ployed in a similar manner, too, for erysipelas ; and, reduced
to ashes, and mixed with honey, it restores contused or livid
spots on the skin to their proper colour. It is generally be-
lieved, too, that taken in the food and drink, garlic is a cure
for epilepsy, and that a clove of it, taken in astringent wine,
with an obolus' weight of silphium,^" will have the effect of
dispelling quartan fever. Garlic cures coughs also, and sup-
^ The Morbus pedicularis. From the frequent mention of it. Fee savs,
it would seem to l;ave been very prevalent in aneient times ; whereas now,
it is but rarely known.
3^ A disease of the skin; supposed by some to be the same as ring-
worm. The word is employed in modern medicine to signify skin dis-
eases in general, such as itch, lichen, scaldhead, ringworm, &o.'
^^ Pintianus suggests " hirudines," "leeches," and not '• arundines,"
arrows. Tlie latter reading is supported, however, by Plinius Yaleriauus
and M. Empiricus.
^ An expensive kind of fish-sauce : for some fajther account of it see
B. ix. c. 30. 37 See B. xix. c. 15.
Q 2
228 plint's natural history. [Book XX.
purations of the chest, however violent they may be ; to ob-
tain which result, another method is followed, it being
boiled with broken beans, and employed as a diet till the
cure is fully effected. It is a soporific also, and in general
imparts to the body an additional ruddiness of colour.
Garlic acts as an aphrodisiac, beaten up with fresh cori-
ander, and taken in pure wine. The inconveniences which
result from the use of it, are dimness of the sight and flatu-
lency; and if taken in too large quantities, it does injury to
the stomach, and creates thirst. In addition to these parti-
culars, mixed with spelt flour, and given to poultry in their
food, it preserves them from attacks of the pip.^® Beasts of
burden, it is said, will void their urine all the more easily,
and without any pain, if the genitals are rubbed with garlic.
CHAP. 24. — THE LETTTJCE I FORTY-TWO REMEDIES. THE GOAT-
LETTUCE : FOUR REMEDIES.
The first kind of lettuce which grows spontaneously, is the
one that is generally known as '' goat^^-lettuce ;'* thrown into
the sea, this vegetable has the property of instantaneously kill-
ing all the fish that come into its vicinity. The milky juice
of this lettuce,'^" left to thicken and then put into vinegar,
is given in doses of two oboli, with the addition of one cyathus
of water, to patients for dropsy. The stalk and leaves, bruised
and sprinkled with salt, are used for the cure of wounds of
the sinews. Pounded with vinegar, and employed as a
gargle in the morning twice a mouth, they act as a preventive
of tooth-ache.
CHAP. 25. — C^SAPON : ONE RflMEDY. ISATIS I ONE REMEDY. THE
WILD LKTTUCE : SEVEN REMEDIES.
There is a second kind of wild lettuce, known by the Greeks
39 See B. X. c. 78. 39 u Capriua." See B. xxvi. c. 39.
*o Fee is of opinion that this in reality is not a lettuce, but that Pliny
has been led, by the milky juice which it contains, to that conclusion. In
B. xxvi. c. 39, he calls it " titliymalum." Hardouin conjectures it to
have been the spurge, or Euphorbia lathyris of Linnaeus, the juice or
which is a violent drastic ; and lee is of opinion that it must have bcpn
one of the Euphorbiacea?. At the same time, he says, powerful as tlicir
properties are. we cannot believe that they exercise the destructive etfects
on fish here stated.
Chap. 26.] HAAVK-WEED. 229
IS " cassapon."^^ The leaves of this lettuce, applied as a liniment
kvith polenta/- are used for the cure of ulcerous sores. This
)lant is found growing in the fields. A third kind, again,
^Tows in the woods ; the name given to it is " isatis.""*^ The
eaves of this last, beaten up and applied with polenta, are
i'ery useful for the cure of wounds. A fourth kind is used by
lyers of w^ool ; in the leaves it would resemble wild lapa-
:hum, were it not that they are more numerous and darker.
This lettuce has the property of stanching blood, and of heal-
ng phagedaenic sores and putrid spreading ulcers, as well as
:umours before suppuration. Both the root as well as the leaves
ire good, too, for erysipelas ; and a decoction of it is drunk for
iffections of the spleen. Such are the properties peculiar to
3ach of these varieties.
CHAP. 26. UAWK-WEED : SEVENTEEN EEMEDIES.
The properties which are common to all the wild varieties^*
are whiteness, a stem sometimes as much as a cubit in length,
and a roughness upon the stalk and leaves. Among these plants
there is one with round, short leaves, known to some per-
sons as *' hieracion ;"^* from the circumstance that the hawk
tears it open and sprinkles^ its eyes wath the juice, and so dis-
pels any dimness of sight of which it is apprehensive. The
juice of all these plants is white, and in its properties resem-
bles that of the poppy.*^ It is collected at harvest-time, by
*i Fee thinks that this plant may be looked for among the varieties of
the Sonchus or the Hieracium, which belong to the same family as the
lettuce.
^- See B. xviii. c. 14.
^■^ Fee thinks that this is the Isatis tinctoria of Linnaeus in a wild state,
and Littre suggests that the one next mentioned is the same plant, culti-
vated. Fee says, however, that this plant, employed in dyeing wool, does
not contain any milky juice, a fact which should have cautioned Pliny
against classing it among tho Lactucee.
*^ Of the lettuce, evidently. Fee says, who would recognise a lettuce,
with its green leaves, and smooth stalk and leaves, under this description }
Still, it is by no means an inaccurate description of the wild lettuce.
*^ *' Hawk-weed," from the Greek i«pa^, " a hawk." Under this name
are included. Fee thinks, the varieties of the genus Crepis.
*fi Apuleius, Metam. c. 30, says this of the eagle, when preparing to
soar aloft.
*7 This is in some degree true of the juices of the wild lettuces, in a
medicinal point of view ; but it must be remembered that he has enume-
rated the Isatis among thero, which in reality has no milky juice at all.
230 pliny's natural history. [Book XX.
making incisions in tlie stalk, and is kept in new earthen
vessels, being renowned as a remedy for numerous maladies.^'*
Mixed with woman's milk, it is a cure for all diseases of the
eyes, sucli as argema for instance, films on the eyes, scars and
inflammations*^ of all kinds, and dimness of the sight more
particularly. It is applied to the eyes, too, in wool, as a remedy
for defluxions of those organs.
This juice also purges the bowels, taken in doses of two oboli
in vinegar and water. Drunk in wine it is a cure for the
stings of serpents, and the leaves and stalk of the plant are
pounded and taken in vinegar. They are employed also as a
liniment for wounds, the sting of the scorpion more particu-
larly ; combined, too, with oil and vinegar, they are similarly
applied for the bite of the phalangium.^'^ They have the
effect, also, of neutralizing other poisons, with the exception
of those which kill by suffocation or by attacking the bladder,
as also with the exception of white lead. Steeped in oxymel,
they are applied to the abdomen for the purpose of drawing out
vicious humours of the intestines. The juice is found good,
also, in cases of retention of the urine. Crateuas prescribes
it to be given to dropsical patients, in doses of two oboli, with
vinegar and one cyathus of wine.
Some persons collect the juice of the cultivated lettuce as well,
but it is not so efficacious^^ as the other. We have already made
mention,^'^ to some extent, of the peculiar properties of the
cultivated lettuce, such as promoting sleep, allaying the sexual
passions, cooling the body when heated, purging^^ the stomach,
and making blood. In addition to these, it possesses no few
properties besides j for it has the effect of removing flatulency,
and of dispelling eructations, while at the same time it pro-
motes the digestion, without ever being indigestible itself.
Indeed, there is no article of diet known that is a greater sti-
muLint to the appetite, or which tends in a greater degree to
*8 " Lactucarium," or the inspissated milky juice of the garden lettuce,
is still used occasionally as a substitute for opium, having slightly anodyne
properties , but, as Fee remarks, all that Pliny says here of its effects is
erroneous. ^^ " Adustiones ;" " burns," perhaps.
50 A kind of spider. See B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29.
51 This is consistent with modern experience, as to the medicinal effects
of the cultivated plants in general. 52 jj^ g^ ^ix. c. 38.
5* The lettuce is not a purgative, nor has it the property here ascribed
to it, of making blood.
Chap. 26.] H.UVK WElCD. 231
modify it; it being the extent, either way, to whicli it is eaten
that promotes these opposite results. In the same wa}', too,
lettuces eaten in too large quantities are laxative, but taken in
moderation they are binding. They have the effect, also, of
attenuating the tough, viscous, phlegm, and, according to what
some persons say, of sharpening the senses. They are ex-
tremely serviceable, too, to debilitated stomachs; for which
purpose * *" oboli of sour sauce^ is added to them, the sharp-
ness of which is modified by the application of sweet wine, to
make it of the same strength as vinegar-sauce.^^ If, again,
the phlegm with which the patient is troubled is extremelj'
tough and viscous, wine of squills or of w^ormwood is em-
ploj-ed ; and if there is any cough perceptible, hyssop wine
is mixed as well.
Lettuces are given with wild endive for cceliac affections,
and for obstructions of the thoracic organs. White lettuces, too,
are prescribed in large quantities for melancholy and affections
of the bladder. Praxagoras recommends them for dj'sentery.
Lettuces are good, also, for recent burns, before blisters have
made their appearance : in such cases they are applied w ith
salt. They arrest spreading ulcers, being applied at first with
saltpetre, and afterwards with wine. Beaten up, they are
applied topically for erysipelas; and the stalks, beaten up
with polenta, and applied with cold w^ater, are soothing for
luxations of the limbs and spasmodic contractions ; used, too,
with wine and polenta, they are good for pimples and erup-
tions. For cholera lettuces have been given, cooked in the
saucepan, in Avhich case it is those with the largest stalk
and bitter that are the best: some persons administer them,
also, as an injection, in milk. These stalks boiled, are re-
markably good, it is said, for the stomach : the summer let-
tuce, too, more particularly, and the bitter, milky lettuce, of
which we have already"' made mention as the '' meconis,"
have a soporific effect. This juice, in combination with
woman's milk, is said to be extremely beneficial to the eye-
sight, if applied to the head in good time; it is a remedy,
^ Sillig is probably correct in bis belief that there is a lacuna here.
^5 " Oxypori." ^ " Ad intinctum aceti."
" In B. xix. c. 38; the ''opium" or " poppy lettuce," the Lactuca
eilvestris of modern botany, the soporific properties of which are superior
to tuose of the cultivated kinds.
232 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XX.
too, for such maladies of the eyes as result from the action of
cold.
I find other marvellous praises lavished upon the lettuce,
such, for instance, as that, mixed with Attic honey, it is no
less beneficial for affections of the chest than abrotonura ;^
that the menstrual discharge is promoted in females by using
it as a diet ; that the seed, too, of the cultivated lettuce is
administered as a remedy for the stings of scorpions, and
that pounded, and taken in wine, it arrests all libidinous
dreams and imaginations during sleep; that water, too, which'
aftects'^' the brain will have no injurious effects upon those who
eat lettuce. Some persons have stated, however, that if let-
tuces are eaten too frequently they will prove injurious to
the eyesight.
CHAP. 27. (8.) — beet: twenty-fottr remedies.
Nor are the two varieties of the beet without their remedial
properties. ^° The root of either white or black beet, if hung by
a string, fresh- gathered, and softened with water, is said to
be efficacious for the stings of serpents. White beet, boiled
and eaten with raw garlic, is taken for tapeworm ; the root,
too, of the black kind, similarly boiled in water, removes por-
rigo ; indeed, it is generally stated, that the black beet is the
more efficacious®' of the two. The juice of black beet is good
for inveterate head-aches and vertigo, and injected into the
ears, it stops singing in those organs. It is a diuretic, also,
and employed in injections is a cure for dysentery and jaun-
dice.
This juice, used as a liniment, allays tooth-ache, and is good
for the stings of serpents ; but due care must be taken that it is
extracted from this root only. A decoction, too, of beet-root
is a remedy for chilblains.
A liniment of white beet-root applied to the forehead,
arrests defluxions of the eyes, and mixed with a little alum it
is an excellent remedy for erysipelas. Beaten up, and applied
* Or southern-vrood. See "R. xxi. c. 34.
^ See B. xxxi. cc. 11 and 12.
«" There are few plants, Fee says, which are so utterly destitute of all
remedial properties as the beet. See B. xix. c. 40.
^1 Fee says that the leaves of beet are not at all efficacious except as
applications for inflammations of the body.
Chap. 29.] EXDIVE. 233
without oil, it is a cure for excoriations. Tn the same way,
too, it is good for pimples and eruptions. Boiled, it is applied
topically to spreading ulcers, and in a raw state it is employed
in cases of alopecy, and running ulcers of the head. The
juice, injected with honey into the nostrils, has the effect of
clearing the head. Beet-root is boiled with lentils and vinegar,
for the purpose of relaxing the bowels ; if it is boiled, how-
ever, some time longer, it will have the effect of arresting
fluxes of the stomach and bowels.
CHAP. 28. LlMOIJflON, OR NEUROIDES ! THREE REMEDIES.
There is a wild beet, too, known by some persons as *' lirao-
nion,"^ and by others as "neuroides;" it has leaves much
smaller and thinner than the cultivated kind, and lying closer
together. These leaves amount often to eleven^ in number,
the stalk resembling that of the lily.^^ The leaves of this plant
are very useful for burns, and have an astringent taste in the
mouth : the seed, taken in doses of one acetabulum, is good
for dysentery. It is said that a decoction of beet with the
root has the property of taking stains out of cloths and
parchment.
CHAP. 29. ENDIVE ! THREE REMEDIES.
Endive,^ too, is not without its medicinal uses. The juice
of it, employed with rose oil and vinegar, has the effect of
allaying headache ; and taken with wine, it is good for pains
in the liver and bladder : it is used, also, topically, for defluxions
of the eyes. The spreading endive has received from some per-
^2 Dioscorides merely says that the leaves of the liraonion are similar
to those of beet, but he does not state that it is a kind of wild beet.
^3 Dioscorides says " ten or more."
^ Fee is inclined to identify the "limonium," or "meadow-plant,"
with the Statice limonium of Linnaeus ; but looks upon its identification as
very doubtful. Fuchs, Tragus, and Lonicerus, have identified it with
the Pyrola rotundifolia ; but that is not a meadow plant, it growing only
in the woods. Others, again, have suggested the Senecio dorra, or *' water
trefoil."
65 Divided by naturalists into wild chicory or endive, the Cichorium
intybus of Linnaeus, and cultivated endive, the Cichorium eudivia of Lin-
naeus. The name "endive" comes from the Arabian "hindeb;" but whe-
ther that was derived from the Latin " intubum," or vice versi, is uncer-
tain. The two kinds above mentioned, are subdivided, Fee says, into two
varieties, the cultivated and the wild. See B. xix. c. 39.
234 pltxy's >'aiteal histort. [Book XX.
sons ai-Qong us the name of '' aiiihnla." In Egypt, the wild
endive is known as " cichorium,"^ the cultivated kind being
called " seris." This last is smaller than the other, and the
leaves of it more full of veins.
CHAP. 30. CICHOEIOI OR CHRE3T0X, OTHERWISE CALLED
PAXCRATIoy, OR AMBULA : TWELVE REMEDIES.
"SYild endive or cichorium has certain refreshing qualities,"
used as an aliment. Applied by way of liniment, it disperses
abscesses, and a decoction of it loosens the bowels. It is also
very beneficial to the liver, kidneys, and stomach. A decoc-
tion of it in vinegar has the effect of dispelling the pains of
strangury; and, taken in honied wine, it is a cure for the
jaundice, if unattended with fever. It is beneficial, also, to
the bladder, and a decoction of it in water promotes tlie
menstrual discharge to such an extent as to bring away the
dead foetus even.
In addition to these qualities, the magicians^ state that
persons who rub themselves with the juice of the entire plant,
mixed with oil, are sure to find more favour witli others, and
to obtain with greater facility anytliing they may desire.
This plant, in consequence of its numerous salutary virtues,
has been called by some persons " chreston,"^ and "pancra-
tion" '^ by others.
CHAP. 31. HEDYPXO'is : FOUR REMEDIES.
There is a sort of wild endive, too, with a broader leaf,
known to some persons as '' hedypnois."'^ Boiled, it acts as
an astringent upon a relaxed stomach, and eaten raw, it is pro-
ductive of constipation. It is good, too, for dysenterj", when
eaten with lentils more particularly. This variety, as weU as
^ The foundation of the Greek name, Kix(^piov, and the Arabic
"Schikhrieli."
^' Tlie medicinal properties of endive vary, according as it is employed
wild or cultivated, and according to the part employed. The leaves are
more bitter than the stalk, but not so much so as the root. The juice of
all the varieties is very similar, probably, to that of the lettuce ; but, as
Fee says, little use lias been made of it in modern times.
^ Or else, "Magi."
«^9 The " useful. ' 'o *' The all-powerful."
'1 The Cichorium luteum of C. Bauhin, the Leontodon palustre of Lin
neeiis ; known to us as the " daudelion," or by a coarser name.
Chap. 33.1 THE CABBAGE. 235
the preceding odg, is useful for ruptures and spnsinodic con-
tractions, and relieves persons who are suffering from sperma-
torrhoea.
CHAP. 32. SF.RIS, THREE VARIETIES OF IT : SEVEN EEMEDIE5
BORROWED FROil IT.
The vegetable, too, called " seris,"'- which bears a consi-
derable resemblance to the lettuce, consists of two kinds. The
wild, which is of a swarthy colour, and grows in summer, is
the best of the two ; tbe winter kind, which is whit^T tlian
the other, being inferior. They are both of ihera bitter, but
are extremely beneficial to the stomach, when distressed by
humours more particularly. Used as food ^^'ith vinegar, they
are cooling, and, employed as a liniment, they dispel other
humours besides those of the stomach. The roots of the wild
variety are eaten with polenta for the stomach : and in cardiac
diseases they are applied topically above the left breast. Boiled
in vinegar, all these vegetables are good for the gout, and for
patients troubled with spitting of blood or spermatorrhoea ; the
decoction being taken on alternate days.
Petronius Diodotus, who has ^-ritten a medical Anthology,'^
utterly condemns seris, and employs a multitude of arguments
to support his views : this opinion of his is opposed, however,
to that of all other writers on the subject.
CHAP. 33. (9). THE cabbage: EIGHTT-SEVEX REMEDIES. Bl>
CIPES MESTIOXED BY CATO.
It would be too lengthy a task to enumerate all the praisi s
of the cabbage, more particularly as the physician Chrysippus
has devoted a whole volume to the subject, in which its vir-
tues are described in reference to each individual pai't of the
human body. Dieuches has done the same, and Pythagoras
too, in particular. Cato, too, has not been more sparing in its
praises than the others ; and it will be only right to examine
the opinions which he expresses in relation to it, if for no
other purpose tliau to learn what medicines the Eoman people
made use of for six hundred years.
The most ancient Greek writers have distinguished three'*
varieties of the cabbage : the curly'^ cabbage, to which they
'2 Tlie kind known as garden endive, the Cichorinm endina of Linnaeus.
■3 " Anthologtiineua." "* See U. xix. c. 41. - ^^ '' Crispaiu."
236 Pliny's >"atueal history. [Book XX.
have given the name of " selinoides," '^^ from the resemblance
of its leaf to that of parslej^ beneficial to the stomach, and
moderately relaxing to the bowels; the *' helia," with broad
leaves running out from the stalk — a circumstance, owing to
which some persons have given it the name of " caulodes" —
of no use whatever in a medicinal point of view ; and a third,
the name of which is properly '' crambe," with thinner leaves,
of simple form, and closely packed, more bitter than the others,
but extremely efficacious in medicine.'^''
Oato^^ esteems the curly cabbage the most highly of all,
and next to it, the smooth cabbage with large leaves and
a thick stalk. He says that it is a good thing for head-
ache, dimness of the sight, and dazzling''^ of the eyes, the
spleen, stomach, and thoracic organs, taken raw in the morn-
ing, in doses of two acetabula, with oxymel, coriander, rue,
mint, and root of silphium.®'' He says, too, that the virtue of
it is so great that the very person even who beats up this mix-
ture feels himself all the stronger for it ; for which reason he
recommends it to be taken mixed with these condiments, or,
at all events, dressed with a sauce compounded of them. For
the gout, too, and diseases of the joints, a liniment of it should
be used, he says, with a little rue and coriander, a sprinkling
of salt, and some barley meal : the very water even in which
it has been boiled is wonderfully efficacious, according to him,
for the sinews and joints. For wounds, either recent or of
loDg standing, as also for carcinoma,^^ which is incurable by
any other mode of treatment, he recommends fomentations to
be made with warm water, and, after that, an application of
cabbage, beaten up, to the parts affected, twice a-day. He says,
also, that fistulas and sprains should be treated in a similar
way, as well as all humours which it may be desirable to bring
to a head and disperse ; and he states that this vegetable,
boiled and eaten fasting^ in considerable quantities, with oil
'6 "Parsley-like."
'■^ The only use now made of the cabbage, in a medicinal point of view,
is the extraction from the red cabbage, which is rich in saccharine matter,
of a pectoral, and the employment of the round cabbage, in the form of
sour-krout, as an antiscorbutic. The great majority of the statements as
to the virtues of the cabbage, though supported by Cato, and in a great
measure by Hippocrates, are utterly fallacious.
'8 Be Re Rust. 157. ^9 a Scintillationibus."
^ See B. xix. c. 15. si Or cancer.
Cliap. 3-1.] OPINIOJfS OF THE GREEKS. 23 7
aLd saJt, has the effect of preventing dreams and wakefulness ;
also, that if, after one boiling, it is boiled a second time, with
the addition of oil, salt, cummin, and polenta, it will relieve
gripings^- in the stomach ; and that, if eaten in this way witli-
out bread, it is more beneficial still. Among various other par-
ticulars, he says, that if taken in drink with black wine, it has
the effect of carrying off the bilious secretions ; and he recom-
mends the urine of a person who has been living on a cabbage
diet to be preserved, as, when warmed, it is a good remedy for
diseases of the sinews. I will, however, here give the iden-
tical words in which Cato expresses himself upon this point :
" If you wash little children with tli is urine,'* says he, " they
will never be weak and puny."
He recommends, also, the warm juice of cabbage to be in-
jected into the ears, in combination with wine, and assures us
that it is a capital remedy for deafness : and he says that the
cabbage is a cure for impetigo^ without the formation of
ulcers.
CHAP. 34. ^-OPINIONS OF THE GREEKS RELATIVE THERETO.
As we have already given those of Cato, it will be as well
to set forth the opinions entertained hj the Greek writers on
this subject, only in relation, however, to those points upon
which, he has omitted to touch. They are of opinion that
cabbage, not thoroughly boiled, carries off the bile, and has
the effect of loosening the bowels ; while, on the other hand,
if it is boiled twice over, it will act as an astringent. They
say, too, that as there is a naturaP^ enmity between it and the
vine, it combats the effects of wine ; that, if eaten before drink-
ing, it is sure to prevent®^ drunkenness, being equally a dis-
pellent of crapulence^ if taken after drinking : that cabbage
is a food very beneficial to the eyesight, and that the juice of
it raw is even more so, if the corners of the eyes are only
touched with a mixture of it with Attic honey. Cabbage, too,
«2 Cato, De Re Rust., 156, 157. ^3 See Note 11 to C. 2 of this Book.
^* This absurd notion of antipathy is carried so far by the author of the
Geoponica, B. v. c. 11, that he states that if wine is thrown on cabbage
while on the fire, it will never be thoroughly boiled.
85 Fee remarks, that this fact would surely have engaged the attention
of the moderns, if there had been any truth in the statement.
^^ " Crapulam discuti." " Crapula" was tliat state, after drinking, col-
loq^uially known at the present day as " seediness."
238 pliny's natural iiistokt. [Book XX.
according to the same testimony, is extremely easy of diges-
tion,^^ and, as an aliment, greatly tends to clear the senses.
The school of Erasistratus proclaims that there is nothing
more beneficial to the stomach and tlie sinews than cabbage ;
for which reason, he says, it ought to be given to the paralytic
and nervous, as well as to persons affected with spitting of
blood. Hippocrates prescribes it, twice boiled., and eaten with
salt, for dysent<^rv and coeliac affections, as also for tenesmus
and diseases of the kidneys ; he is of opinion, too, that, us
an aliment, it increases the quantity of the milk in women
who are nursing, and that it promotes the menstrual dis-
charge.^^ The stalk, too, eaten raw, is efficacious in expelling
the dead foetus. Apollodorus prescribes the seed or else the
jjsice of the cubbage to betaken in cases of poisoning bj' fungi;
and Pliilistion recommends the juice for persons affected with
opisthotony, in goats'-milk, with salt and honey.
I find, too, that persons have been cured of the gout by eating
cabbage and drinking a decoction of that plant. This decoction
has been given, also, to persons afflicted with the cardiac disease
and epilepsy, with the addition of salt ; and it has been ad-
ministered in white wine, for affections of the spleen, for a
period of forty days.
According to Philistion, the juice of the raw root should be
given as a gargle to persons afflicted with icterus ^^ or phrenitis,
and for hiccup he prescribes a mixture of it, in vinegar, with
coriander, anise, honey, and pepper. Used as a liniment, cab-
bage, he says, is beneficial for inflations of the stomach ; and
the very water, even, in which it has been boiled, mixed with
barlej'-meal, is a remedy for the stings of serpents^'' and foul
ulcers of long standing ; a result which is equally effected by
a mixture of cabbage-juice with vinegar or fenugreek. It is
in this manner, too, that some persons employ it topically, for
affections of the joints and for gout. Applied topically, cab-
bage is a cure for epinyctis, and all kinds of spreading eruptions
on the body, as also for suddeu^^ attacks of dimness ; indeed, if
^7 The contrary is in reality the case, it being a diet only suitable to
strong stomachs.
8^ De Uorh. Mulier. B. i. cc. 73 and 74. De Nat. Mulier. 29 and 31.
89 The jaundice.
"0 Fee is inclined to account for the numerous antidotes and remedies
mentioned for the stings of serpents, by supposing that the stings them-
selves of many of tliem were not really venomous, but only supposed to be so.
5^ " Ilepeutinas caligiues."
Chap. 35.] CA-BBAGE-SPKOUTS. 239
eaten with vinegar, it lias the eiFect of curing the last. Ap-
plied by itself, it heals contusions and other livid spots ; and
mixed with a ball of alum in vinegar, it is good as a liniment
lor leprosy and itch- scabs : used in this waj', too, it prevents
the hair from falling off.
Epicharmus assures us that, applied topically, cabbage is
extremely beneficial for diseases of the testes and genitals, and
even better still when employed Avith bruised beans ; he says,
too, that it is a cure for convulsions ; that, in combination
with rue, it is good for the burning heats of fever and maladies
of the stomach ; and that, with rue-seed, it brings away the
after-birth. It is of use, also, for the bite of the shrew-mouse.
Dried cabbage-leaves, reduced to a powder, are a cathartic both
by vomit and by stool.
CHAP. 35. CABPAGE-SPROTJTS.
In all varieties of the cabbage, the part most agreeable to
the taste is the cyma,^- although no use is made of it in medi-
cine, as it is difficult to digest, and by no means beneficial to
the kidneys. At the same time, too, it should not be omitted,
that the water in which it has been boiled,^'"* and wdiich is s-.)
highly praised for many purposes, gives out a very bad smell
when poured upon the ground. The ashes of dried cabbage-
stalks are generally reckoned among the caustic substances :
mixed with stale grease, they are emploj-ed for sciatica,
and, used as a liniment, in the form of a depilatory, toge-
ther with silpliium °* and vinegar, they prevent hair tliat has
been once removed from growing again. These ashes, too, are
taken lukewarm in oil, or else by themsehes, for convul-
sions, internal ruptures, and the effects of falls with violence.
And are we to say then that the cabbage is possessed of no
evil (qualities whatever? Certainly not, for the same authors
tell us, that it is apt to make the breath smell, and that it is
injurious to the teeth and gums. In Eg} pt, too, it is never
eaten, on account of its extreme bitterness. ^^
^- " Sprout," or " Brussels sprout." See B. xix. c. 41.
^' He is probably speaking of cabbage- water in geneml.
°* See B. xix. c' 15.
^^ This liitter or puno^ent cabbage, Fee suggests, did not, probably,
belong to the genus iirassica.
2 10 PLINY'S NATURAL niSTORY. [Hook XX.
CUAP. 36. THE WILD CABBAGE : THIRTY-SEVEN REMEDIES.
Cato ^ extols infinitely more highly the properties of wild or
erratic cabbage ;^ so much so, indeed, as to affirm that the
very powder of it, dried and collected iji a scent-box, has the
property, on merely smelling at it, of removing maladies of the
nostrils and the bad smells resulting therefrom. Some per-
sons call this wild cabbage *' petraea :" ®^ it has an extreme an-
tipathy to wine, so much so, indeed, that the vine invariabiy^^'
avoids it, and if it cannot make its escape, will be sure to die.
This vegetable has leaves of uniform shape, small, rounded, and
smooth : bearing a strong resemblance to the cultivated cab-
bage, it is whiter, and has a more downy ^^ leaf.
According to Chrysippus, this plant is a remedy for flatu-
lency, melancholy, and recent wounds, if applied with honey,
and not taken off before the end of six days : beaten up in
water, it is good also for scrofula and fistula. Other writers,
again, say that it is an effectual cure for spreading sores on
the body, known as " nomae ;" that it has the property, also,
of removing excrescences, and of reducing the scars of wounds
and sores ; that if chewed raw with honej^ it is a cure for
ulcers of the mouth and tonsils ; and that a decoction of it used
as a gargle with honey, is productive of the same efi'ect. They
say, too, that, mixed in strong vinegar with alum, in the pro-
portion of three parts to two of alum, and then applied as a
liniment, it is a cure for itch scabs and leprous sores of long
standing. Epicharmus informs us, that for the bite of a mad
dog, it is quite sufficient to apply it topically to the part af-
fected, but that if used with silphium and strong vinegar, it is
better still : he says, too, that it will kill a dog, if given to it
with flesh to eat.
The seed of this plant, parched, is remedial in cases of poison-
^ De Re Rust. c. 157.
_ ^"^ Fee is of opinion that Pliny has here confused the description of two
different plants ; and that, intending to describe the Brassica arvensis of
modern l)ot!iny, he has superadded a description of the " Crambe agria/'
mentioned by Dioscoridcs, which appears to be identical with the Crambe
maritima, or Brassica marina, the " sea-cabbage" of the ancients (see c.
38.), the Convolvulus soldanella of modern botany.
^'^ Or "rock-cabbage," a name given more properly to the Convolvulus
soldanella. ^^' See c. 34, and B. xxiv. c. 1.
^^ A description, really, of the Convolvulus soldanella.
Chap. 39.] THE BQTJILL. 241
ing, by the stings of serpents, eating fungi, and drinking bulls'
blood. The leaves of it, either boiled and taken in the food
or else eaten raw, or applied with a liniment of sulphur and
nitre, are good for affections of the spleen, as well as hard tu-
mours of the mamillae. In swelling of the uvula, if the parts
affected are only touched with the ashes of the root, a cure will
be the result ; and applied topically with honey, they are
equally beneficial for reducing swellings of the parotid glands,
and curing the stings of serpents. We will add only one more
proof of the virtues of the cabbage, and that a truly marvellous
one — in all vessels in which water is boiled, the incrustations
which adhere with such tenacity that it is otherwise impossible
to detach them, will fall off immediately if a cabbage is boiled
therein.
CHAP. 37. THE LAPSANA : ONE REMEDY.
Among the wild cabbages, we find also the lapsana,^ a plant
which grows a foot in height, has a hairy leaf, and strongly
resembles mustard, were it not that the blossom is whiter. It
is eaten cooked, and has the property of soothing and gently
relaxing the bowels.
CHAP. 38. — THE SEA-CABBAGE : ONE EEMEBT.
Sea-cabbage^ is the most strongly purgative of all these
plants. It is cooked, in consequence of its extreme pungency,
with fat meat, and is extremely detrimental to the stomach.
CHAP. 39. THE SQUILL '. TWENTT-THEEE KEMEDIES.
In medicine, we give the name of white squill to the male
plant, and of black ^ to the female : the whiter the squill, the
better it is for medicinal^ purposes. The dry coats being first
taken off of it, the remaining part, or so much of it as retains
life, is cut into pieces, which are then strung and suspended
1 See B. xix. c. 41.
' The Convolvulus soldanella of Linnaeus, Fee thinks : not one of the
Cruciferse, but belonging to the Convolvulaceae.
3 See B. xix. c. 30.
* The squill is still regarded in medicine as one of the most energetic of
all the vegetable productions, as a diuretic, an expectorant, and, in large
doses, an emetic. Squill vinegar is still the form in which it is usually
administered. Columella gives a somewhat different account of the mode
of preparing it.
VOL. IV. K
242 Flint's natueal history. [Book XX.
on a string, at short distances from each other. After these
pieces are thoroughly dried, they are thrown into a jar of the
very strongest vinegar, suspended in such a way, however, as
not to touch any portion of the vessel. This is done forty-eight
days before the summer solstice. The mouth of the jar is then
tightly sealed with plaster; after which it is placed beneath
some tiles which receive the rays of the sun the whole day
through. At the end of forty-eight days the vessel is removed,
the squills are taken out of it, and the vinegar poured into
another jar.
This vinegar has the effect of sharpening the eyesight, and,
taken every other day, is good for pains in the stomach and
sides : the strength of it, however, is so great, that if taken in
too large a quantity, it will for some moments produce all the
appearance of death. Squills, too, if chewed by themselves
even, are good for the gums and teeth ; and taken in vinegar
and honey they expel tapeworm and other intestinal worms.
Put fresh beneath the tongue, they prevent persons afflicted
with dropsy from experiencing thirst.
Squills are cooked in various ways ; either in a pot with a
lining of clay or grease, which is put into an oven or furnace,
or else cut into pieces and stewed in a saucepan. They are
dried also in a raw state, and then cut into pieces and boiled
with vinegar ; in which case, they are employed as a liniment
for the stings of serpents. Sometimes, again, they are roasted
and then cleaned ; after which, the middle of the bulb is
boiled again in water.
When thus boiled, they are used for dropsy, as a diuretic,
being taken in doses of three oboli, with oxyrael : they are
employed also in a similar manner for affections of the spleen,
and of the stomach, when it is too weak to digest the food,
provided no ulcerations have made their appearance ; also for
gripings of the bowels, jaundice, and inveterate cough, accom-
panied with asthma. A cataplasm of squill leaves, taken off
at the end of four days, has the effect of dispersing scrofulous
swellings of the neck ; and a decoction of squills in oil, applied
as a liniment, is a cure for dandriff and running ulcers of the
head.
Squills are boiled with honey also for the table, with the
view of aiding the digestion more particularly ; used in this
way, too, they act upon the inside as a purgative. Boiled
Chap. 40.] BULBS. 243
with oil, and then mixed with resin, they are a cure for chaps
on the feet ; and the seed, mixed with honey, is applied to-
pically, for the cure of lumbago. Pythagoras says that a
squill, suspended at the threshold of tbe door, effectually shuts
all access to evil spells and incantations.^
CHAP 40. BULBS : THIRTY REMEDIES.
Bulbs, ^ steeped in vinegar and sulphur, are good for the cure
of wounds in the face ;" beaten up and used alone, they are
beneficial for contractions of the sinews, mixed with wine,
for porrigo, and used with honey, for the bites of dogs ; in this
last case, however, Erasistratus says that they ought to be
mixed with pitch. The same author states that, applied to-
pically with honey, they stanch the flowing of blood ; other
writers say, however, that in cases of bleeding at the nose,
coriander and meal should be employed in combination with
them. Theodorus prescribes bulbs in vinegar for the cure of
lichens, and for eruptions in the head he recommends bulbs
mixed with astringent wine, or an egg beaten up ; he treats
defluxions of the eyes also with bulbs, applied topically, and
uses a similar method for the cure of ophthalmia. The red
bulbs more particularly, will cause spots in the face to dis-
appear, if rubbed upon them with honey and nitre in the sun ;
and applied with wine or boiled cucumber they will remove
freckles. Used either by themselves, or as Damion recom-
mends, in combination with honied wine, they are remarkably
efficacious for the cure of wounds, care being taken, however,
not to remove the application till the end of four days. The
* Theocritus says that the squill effectually protects statues aud tombs
from outrages being committed upon tliera ; and it was so customary to
plant them about tlie graves, that it became a proverbial saying, '* He is
frantic enough to pluck squills from a grave." Theophrastus states that
squills were employed in certain expiatory ceremonials.
^ As to the identification of the " bulbs," see B. xix. c. 30. The wild
bulbs, Fee is of opinion, are probably the Nigrum allium or Moly of
modern Botany ; and the Allium schcenoprasum belongs, in his opinion, to
the cultivated bulbs.
■' Supposing, Fee says, that the Bulbi of the ancients belonged to the
genus Allium or garlic of modern Botany, we may conclude that in a me-
dicinal point of view, they were of an exciting nature, powerful vermifuges,
and slightly blistering when applied topically. The other statements here
made, as to their medicinal qualities, are not consistent with modem ex-
perience.
B 2
244 PLi>"r's ^'■ATUEAL histoet. [Book XX.
same author prescribes them, too, for the cure of fractured
ears, and collections of crude humours in the testes.^
For pains in the joints, bulbs are used with meal ; boiled
in wine, and applied to the abdomen, they reduce hard swellings
of the viscera. In dysentery, they are given in wine mixed
with rain water ; and for convulsions of the intestines they
are employed, in combination with silphium, in pills the si^e of
a bean : bruised, they are employed externally, for the purpose
of checking perspirations. Bulbs are good, too, for the sinews,
for which reason it is that they are given to paralytic patients.
The red bulb, mixed with honey and salt, heals sprains of the
feet with great rapidity. The bulbs of Megara® act as a strong
aphrodisiac, and gai'den bulbs, taken with boiled must or raisin
wine, aid delivery.
Wild bulbs, made up into pills with silphium, effect the
cure of wounds and other affections of the intestines. The
seed, too, of the cultivated kinds is taken in wine as a cure
for the bite of the phalangium,^^ and the bulbs themselves
are applied in vinegar for the cure of the stings of serpents.
The ancients used to give bulb-seed to persons afflicted with
madness, in drink. The blossom, beaten up, removes spots
upon the legs, as well as scorches produced by fire. Diodes
is of opinion that the sight is impaired by the use of bulbs;
he adds, too, that when boiled they are not so wholesome as
roasted, and that, of whatever nature they may be, they are
difficult of digestion.
CHAP. 41. — BULBrNT:; ONE EE3IEDT. BULB EMETIC.
The Greeks give the name bulbine^^ to a plant with leaves
resembling those of the leek, and a red bulbous root. This
plant, it is said, is marvellously good for wounds, but only
when they are of recent date. The bulbous plant known as
the "emetic" bulb,^- from the effects which it produces, has
dark leaves, ^^ and longer than those of the other kinds.
^ Testium pituitas.
3 See B. xix. c. 30. Athenaeus, B. ii. c. 26, attributes a similar pro-
perty to the bulbs of !Megara.
10 See B. xi. cc. 24, 28.
^* The Hyacinthus botryoides of Liunseus, most probably.
1- " Bulbus vomitorius." The Narcissus jouquilla of Linnaeus, tho
'* emetic jonquil." The bulb of the Spanish jonquil acts as a strong emetic.
13 Dioscorides says, more correctly, a black outer coat or peeling.
Chap. 43.] COREUDA, LIBTCUM, OE OBMI>'Uir. 245
CHAP. 42. (10.) — GAEDEN ASPAEAGUS ; WITH THK ^EXT
TWENTT-FOUE EEilEDIES.
Asparagus^* is said to be extremely wholesome as an aliment
to the stomach. With the addition of cummin, it dispels
flatulency of the stomach and colon ; it sharpens the eyesight
also, acts as a mild aperient upon the stomach, and, boiled with
wine, is good for pains in the chest and spine, and diseases of
the intestines, Tor pains in the loins and kidneys asparagus-
seed ^^ is administered in doses of three oboli, taken with an
equal proportion of cummin- seed. It acts as an aphrodisiac,
and is an extremely useful diuretic, except that it has a ten-
dency to ulcerate the bladder.^®
The root, also, pounded and taken in white wine, is highly
extolled by some writers, as having the effect of disengaging
calculi, and of soothing pains in the loins and kidneys;
there are some persons, too, who administer this root with
sweet wine for pains in the uterus. Boiled in vinegar the
root is very beneficial in cases of elephantiasis. It is said that
if a person is rubbed with asparagus beaten up in oil, he wiU
never be stung by bees.
CHAP. 43. — coEErnA, lieyctdj:, oe oemixtm.
"Wild asparagus is by some pers^ons called *' corruda," by
others '* liby cum," and by the people of Attica ''orminus."^'
For all the affections above enumerated it is more efficacious
even than the cultivated kind, that which is white ^^ more
particularly. This vegetable has the effect of dispelling the
jaundice, and a decoction of it, in doses of one hemina, is
recommended as an aphrodisiac ; a similar effect is produced
also by a mixture of asparagus seed and dill in doses of three
^* Asparagus is recognized in modern times, as exercising a strong action
on the kidneys. Fee says, that according to Dr. Broussais, it is a sedative
to palpitations of the heart, an assertion, the truth of which, he says, his
own experience has confirmed. The root is also looked upon as diuretift.
^ Asparagus seed is not used in modem pharmacy, and it is very doubt-
ful if it possesses any virtues at all.
*^ Fee says that there is no truth in this assertion.
^' See B. xix. c. 42 : the Asparagus tenuifolius of LinncBUS, the wild
asparagus, or Corruda of the South of France.
^8 Fee says that in the South of Europe there is a kind, known to bota-
nists as white asparagus, with a prickly stem : he suggests that it may
possibly be the same as that here spoken of.
246 PLINY" S NATURAL niSTOBT. [Book XX.
oboli respectively. A decoction of asparagus juice is given
also for the stings of serpents ; and the root of it, mixed with
that of marathrum,^^ is reckoned in the number of the most
valuable remedies we are acquainted with.
In cases of haematuria, Chrysippus recommends a mixture
of asparagus, parsley, and cummin seed, to be given to the
patient every five days, in doses of three oboli, mixed with
two cyathi of wine. He says, however, that though employed
this way, it is a good diuretic, it is bad for dropsy, and
acts as an antaphrodisiac ; and that it is injurious to the
bladder, unless it is boiled first.^^ He states also, that if the
water in which it is boiled is given to dogs, it will kill them f^
and that the juice of the root boiled in wine, kept in the mouth,
is an effectual cure for tooth-ache.
CHAP. 44. (11.) — parsley; seventeen eemedles.
Parsley '^^ is held in universal esteem ; for we find sprigs of
it swimming in the draughts of milk given us to di'ink in
country-places ; and we know that as a seasoning for sauces, it
is looked upon with peculiar favour. Applied to the eyes with
honey, which must also be fomented from time to time with a
warm decoction of it, it has a most marvellous efficacy in cases
of defluxion of those organs or of other parts of the body; as
also when beaten up and applied by itself, or in combination
with bread or with polenta. Fish, too, when found to be in
an ailing state in the preserves, are greatly refreshed by
giving them green parsley. As to the opinions entertained
up.on it among the learned, there is not a single production
dug out of the earth in reference to which a greater diversity
exists.
•^ Or fennel. Fee says that, till very recently, the roots of asparag-us
and of fennel were combined in medicine, forming part of the five " major
aperitive " roots. The sirop of the five aperitive roots is still used, he says,
in medicine.
21 Chrysippus and Dioscorides were of opinion, that a decoction of as-
paragus root causes sterility in women ; a false notion, which, as Fee re-
marks, prevailed very generally in Greece.
^ This is not consistent with fact.
22 See H. xix. c. 37. Parsley, though possessed of marked properties,
is but little employed in medicine. What Pliuy here states respecting it,
Fee says, is a tissue of fables : but it is still used for the cure of sores, and
even as an ophthalmic.
Chap. 45.] APIASTEUM, OE MELTSSOPHTLLUM. 247
Parsley is distinguished as male and female :^ according to
Chrysippus, the female plant has a hard leaf and more curled
than the other, a thick stem, and an acrid, hot taste. Dio-
nysius says, that the female is darker than the other kind,
has a shorter root, and engenders small worms.-^ Both of
these writers, however, agree in saying that neither kind of
parsley should be admitted into the number of our aliments ;
indeed, they look upon it as nothing less than sacrilege to do so,
seeing that parsley is consecrated to the funereal feasts in honour
of the dead. They say, too, that it is injurious to the eye-
sight, that the stalk of the female plant engenders small worms,
for which reason it is that those who eat of it become barren —
males as well as females ; and that children suckled by females
who live on a parsley diet, are sure to be epileptic. They
agree, however, in stating that the male plant is not so inju-
rious in its effects as the female, and that it is for this reason
that it is not absolutely condemned and classed among the for-
bidden plants. The leaves of it, employed as a cataplasm, are
used for dispersing hard tumours-^ in the mamillae ; and when
boiled in water, it makes it more agreeable to drink. The
juice of the root more particularly, mixed with wine, allays
the pains of lumbago, and, injected into the ears, it diminishes
hardness of hearing. The seed of it acts as a diui;etic, pro-
motes the menstrual discharge, and brings away the after-
birth.
Bruises and lind spots, if fomented with a decoction of
parsley- seeed, will resume their natural colour. Applied to-
pically, with the white of egg, or boiled in water, and then
drunk, it is remedial for affections of the kidneys ; and beaten
up in cold water it is a cure for ulcers of the mouth. The
seed, mixed with wine, or the root, taken with old wine, has
the effect of breaking calculi in the bladder. The seed, too,
is given in white wine, to persons afflicted with the jaundice.
i CHAP. 45. APIASTEUM, OE MELISSOPHYLLUM.
Hyginus gave the name of *'apiastrum" to melissophyl-
lum :^ but that which grows in Sardinia is poisonous, and
"^ This distinction, Fee says, cannot be admitted.
^^ Or maggots.
26 This belief in its eflBcacy, Fee says, still exists.
^ See B. XXL c. 86 : this is the Melissa officinalis of Linnaeus, or balm-
248 PLINY* 8 NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XX.
universally condemned. I speak here of this plant, because
I feel it my duty to place before the reader every object which
has been classified, among the Greeks, under the same name.
CHAP. 46. OLUSATKTJM OB HIPPOSELINON t ELEVEN EEMEDIES.
OEEOSELINON ; TWO EEMEDIES. HELIOSELINON ; ONE EEMEDT.
Olusatrum,'^^ usually known as hippo selinon,^^ is particu-
larly repulsive to scorpions. The seed of it, taken in drink,
is a cure for gri pings in the stomach and intestinal complaints,
and a decoction of the seed, drunk in honied wine, is curative
in cases of dysuria.^" The root of the plant, boiled in wine,
expels calculi of the bladder, and is a cure for lumbago and
pains in the sides. Taken in drink and applied topically, it
is a cure for the bite of a mad dog, and the juice of it, when
driink, is warming for persons benumbed with cold.
Some persons make out oreoselinon ^^ to be a fourth species
of parsley : it is a shrub about a palm in height, with an elon-
gated seed, bearing a strong resemblance to that of cummin,
and efficacious for the urine and the catamenia. Helioser
linon^^ is possessed of peculiar virtues against the bites of
spiders : and oreoselinon is used with wine for promoting the
menstrual discharge.
CHAP. 47. (12.) — PETEOSELINON ; ONE EEMEDY. BIJSELINON J .
ONE EEMEDY.
Another kind again, which grows in rocky places, is known
by some persons as " petroselinon :"^^ it is particularly good
for abscesses, taken in doses of two spoonfuls of the juice to
one cyathus of juice of horehound, mixed with three cyathi of
warm water. Some writers have added buselinon^* to the list,
gentle, from wbicli the bees gather honey, quite a different plant to api-
astrum or wild parsley. The Sardinian plant liere mentioned, is probably
the same as the Ranunculus, mentioned in B. xxv. c. 109, where its iden-
tification will be further discussed.
2« See B. xix. c. 48. 29 Qr " horse parsley."
3*' Or strangury. No medicinal use is made of this plant in modern
times. 3' Or *' mountain parsley," see B. xix, c. 48.
32 Or "marsh-parsley," see B. xix. c.37. It is possessed of certain energetic
properties, more appreciated by the ancient physicians than in modern
pharmacy.
33 "Rock-parsley:" from this name comes our word "parsley." It is
not clearly known to what variety of parsley he refers under this name.
3* Or " ox-parsley." C. Bauhin identifies this with the Petroselinum Cre-
Chap. 48.] OCIMUM. 249
which differs only from the cultivated kind in the shortness
of the stalk and the red colour of the root, the medicinal
properties being just the same. Taken in drink or ap-
plied topically, it is an excellent remedy for the stings of
serpents.
CHAP. 48. OCIMTJM ; THIETT-FIVE REMEDIES.
Chrysippus has exclaimed as strongly, too, against ocimum^^
as he has against parsley, declaring that it is prejudicial to the
stomach and the free discharge of the urine, and is injurious
to the sight ; that it produces insanity, too, and lethargy, as
well as diseases of the liver ; and that it is for this reason that
goats refuse to touch it. Hence he comes to the conclusion,
that the use of it ought to be avoided by man. Some persons
go so far as to say, that if beaten up, and then placed beneath
a stone, a scorpion will breed there ;^ and that if chewed, and
then placed in the sun, worms will breed in it. The people of
Africa maintain, too, that if a person is stung by a scorpion
the same day on which he has eaten ocimum, his life cannot
possibly be saved. Even more than this, there are some who
assert, that if a handful of ocimum is beaten up with ten sea
or river crabs, all the scorpions in the vicinity will be attracted
to it. Diodotus, too, in his Book of Recipes, " says, that
ocimum, used as an article of food, breeds lice.
Succeeding ages, again, have warmly defended this plant ; it
has been maintained, for instance, that goats do eat it, that
the mind of no one who has eaten of it is at all affected, and,
that mixed with wine, with the addition of a little vinegar, it is
a cure for the sticgs of land scorpions, and the venom of those
found in the sea. Experience has proved, too, that the smell
of this plant in vinegar is good for fainting fits and lethargy,
ticum or Agriopastinaca of Crete ; but, as Fee remarks, it is not clear to
"whicli of the Umbelliferse he refers under that name.
35 The Ocimum basilicum of Linnaeus, according to most commentators :
though F^e is not of that opinion, it being originally from India, and never
found in a wild state. From what Varro says, De Re Rust. JB. i. c. 31,
he thinks that it must be sought among the leguminous plants, the genus
Hedysarum, Lathyrus, or Medicago. He remarks also, that Pliny is the
more to he censured for the absurdities contained in this Chapter, as the
preceding writers had only mentioned them to ridicule them.
35 See B. ix. c. 51.
57 »• In Emperlcis."
250 Flint's natural htstoet. [Book XX.
as well as inflammations ; that employed as a cooling lini-
ment, with rose oil, mj^tle oil, or vinegar, it is good for head-
ache ; and that applied topically with wine, it is beneficial for
defluxious of the eyes. It has been found also, that it is good
for the stomach ; that taken with \inegar, it dispels flatulent
eructations ; that applications of it arrest fluxes of the bowels ;
that it acts as a diuretic, and that in this way it is good for
jaundice and dropsy, as well as cholera and looseness of the
bowels.
Hence it is that Philistio has prescribed it even for coeliac
affections, and boiled, for dysentery. Some persons, too,
though contrary to the opinion of Plistonicus, have given it
in wine for tenesmus and spitting of blood, as also for ob-
structions of the viscera. It is employed, too, as a liniment
for the mamillse, and has the eff'ect of arresting the secretion
of the milk. It is very good also for the ears of infants, when
applied with goose-grease more particularly. The seed of it,
beaten up, and inhaled into the nostrils, is provocative of
sneezing, and applied as a liniment to the head, of running
at the, nostrils : taken in the food, too, with vinegar, it purges
the uterus. Mixed with copperas^* it removes warts. It acts,
also, as an aphrodisiac, for which reason it is given to horses
and asses at the season for covering.
(13.) Wild ocimum has exactly the same properties in every
respect, though in a more active degree. It is particularly
good, too, for the various affections produced by excessive vo-
miting, and for abscesses of the wombc The root, mixed with
wine, is extremely efficacious for bites inflicted by wild
beasts.
CHAP. 49. ROCKET : TWELVE REMEDIES.
The seed of rocket ^^ is remedial for the venom of the scor-
pion and the shrew-mouse : it repels, too, all parasitical in-
sects which breed on the human body, and applied to the face,
as a liniment, with honey, removes *° spots upon the skin.
Used with vinegar, too, it is a cure for freckles ; and mixed
with ox-gall it restores the livid marks left by wounds to their
38 *< Atraraento sutorio.''
29 The lirassica eruca of Linnaeus.
40 None of the numerous remedies mentioned by Pliny for removing
spots on the skin, are at all efficacious, in Fee's opinion.
Chap. 50.] NASTURTIUM, 251
natural colour. It is said that if this plant is taken in wine
by persons who are about to undergo a flogging, it will impart
a certain degree of insensibility to the body. So agreeable is
its flavour as a savouring for food, that the Greeks have given
it the name of *' euzomon."^^ It is generally thought that
rocket, lightly bruised, and employed as a fomentation for the
eyes, will restore the sight to its original goodness, and that
it allays coughs in young infants. The root of it, boiled in
water, has the property of extracting the splinters of broken
bones.
As to the properties of rocket as an aphrodisiac, w^e have
mentioned them already.*^ Thre§ leaves of wild rocket
plucked with the left hand, beaten up in hydromel, and then
taken in drink, are productive of a similar effect.
CHAP. 50. NASTURTIUM : FOETY-TWO REMEDIES.
Nasturtium,*^ on the other hand, is an antiaphrodisiac ;** it
has the effect also of sharpening the senses, as already stated.*^
There are two *^ varieties of this plant : one of them is pur-
gative, and, taken in doses of one denarius to seven of water,
carries off the bilious secretions. Applied as a liniment to
scrofulous sores, with bean-meal, and then covered with a
cabbage-leaf, it is a most excellent remedy. The other kind,
which is darker than the first, has the eflfect of carrying off
vicious humours of the head, and sharpening the sight : taken
in vinegar it calms the troubled spirits, and, drunk with wine
or taken in a fig, it is good for affections of the spleen ; taken
in honey, too, fasting dailj', it is good for a cough. The seed
of it, taken in wine, expels all kinds of intestinal worms, and
with the addition of wdld mint, it acts more efficaciously
still. It is good, too, for asthma and cough, in combina-
tion with wild marjoram and sweet wine ; and a decoction of
it in goats' milk is used for pains in the chest. Mixed with
*^ " Good for sauces." ^2 j^ B. xix, c. 44.
^3 The Lepidium sativum of Linnaeus, cresses or nose-smart.
" This opinion is corroborated by Dioscorides, B. ii. c. 185, and confirmed
by the author of the Geoponica, B. xii. c. 27. Fee inclines to the opinion
of Dioscorides, and states that is liighly antiscorbutic.
*5 In B. xix, c. 44.
*^ The two varieties, the white and the black, are no longer distin-
guished. The only variety now recognized; Fee says, is that with crisped
leaves.
252 pLunr's natural HIBTOET. [Book XX.
pitch it disperses tumours, and extracts tliorns from the body ;
and, employed as a liniment, with vinegar, it removes spots
upon the body. When used for the cure of carcinoma, white
of eggs is added to it. "With vinegar it is employed also as
a liniment for affections of the spleen, and with honey it is
found to be very useful for the complaints of infants.
Sextius adds, that the smell of burnt nasturtium drives
away serpents, neutralizes the venom of scorpions, and gives
relief in head-ache; with the addition too, of mustard, he says,
it is a cure for alopecy, and applied to the ears with a fig, it
is a remedy for hardness of hearing. The juice of it, he says,
if injected into the ears, will effect the cure of tooth-ache, and
employed with goose-grease it is a remedy for porrigo and
ulcerous sores of the head. Applied with leaven it brings
boils'*' to a head, and makes carbuncles suppurate and break :
used with honey, too, it is good for cleansing phagedajnic
ulcers. Topical applications are made of it, combined with
vinegar and polenta, in cases of sciatica aud lumbago : it is
similarly employed, too, for lichens and malformed *^ nails,
its qualities being naturally caustic. The best nasturtium of
all is that of Babylonia; the wild*® variety possesses the same
qualities as the cultivated in every respect, but in a more
powerful degree.
CHAP. 51. HUE : EIGHTY-FOUR REMEDIES.
One of the most active, however, of all the medicinal
plants, is rue.^ The cultivated kind has broader leaves and
more numerous branches than the other. Wild rue is more
violent in its effects, and more active in every respect. The
juice of it is extracted by beating it up, and moistening it
moderately with water ; after which it is kept for use in
*' " Furunculos." Gangrenous sores, probably.
48 "Unguibus scabris," i. e. for the removal of malformed nails, with
the view to the improvement of their appearance.
49 The Lepidiura Iberis of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
50 The Ruta graveolens of Linnaeus. The Romans, singularly enougli,
valued this offensive plant as a condiment for their dishes, and a seasoning
for their wines. — See B. xiv. c. 19 : and at the present day even, it is ad-
mired for its smell, Fee says, by the ladies of Naples. The Italians use
it also for their salads. Its smell is thought to prevent infection, for which
reason it is still used, in country-places, at funerals, and is placed before
prisoners when tried criminally, for the prevention, it is said, of gaol fever.
Chap. 51.] HUE. 253
boxes of Cyprian copper. Given in large doses, this juice has
all the baneful effects of poison, ^^ and that of Macedonia more
particularly, which grows on the banks of the river Aliac-
mon.^'^ It is a truly wonderful thing, but the juice of hemlock
has the property of neutralizing its effects. Thus do we find
one thing acting as the poison of another poison, for the juice
of hemlock is very beneficial, rubbed upon the hands and
[face]^^ of persons employed in gathering rue.
In other respects, rue is one of the principal ingredients
employed in antidotes, that of Galatia more particularly.
Every species of rue, employed by itself, has the effect also of
an antidote, if the leaves are bruised and taken in wine. It
is good more particularly in cases of poisoning by wolfsbane^
and mistletoe, as well as by fungi, whether administered in the
drink or the food. Employed in a similar manner, it is good
for the stings of serpents ; so much so, in fact, that weasels,"
when about to attack them, take the precaution first of pro-
tecting themselves by eating rue. Eue is good, too, for the
injuries by scorpions and spiders, the stings of bees, hornets,
and wasps, the noxious effects produced by cantharides and
salamanders,^ and the bites of mad dogs. The juice is taken
in doses of one acetabulum, in wine ; and the leaves, beaten
up or else chewed, are applied topically, with honey and
salt, or boiled with vinegar and pitch. It is said that people
rubbed with the juice of rue, or even having it on their per-
son, are never attacked by these noxious creatures, and that
serpents are driven away by the stench of burning rue. The
most efficacious, however, of all, is the root of wild rue, taken
with wine; this too, it is said, is more beneficial still, if
drunk in the open air.
Pythagoras has distinguished this plant also into male and
^^ It is not the rue that has this effect, so much as the salts of copper
which are formed,
^2 Fee thinks it not Ukely that the rue grown here was at all superior
to that of other localities,
^3 This word, omitted in the text, is supplied from Dioscorides.
^ Or aconite. There is no truth whatever in these assertions, that rue
has the effect of neutralizing the effects of hemlock, henbane, or poisonous
fungi. Boerrhave says that he employed rue successfully in cases of hyste-
ria and epilepsy ; and it is an opinion which originated with Hippocrates,
and is still pretty generally entertained, that it promotes the catamenia.
55 See B. viii, c. 40. se See B. x. c. 86.
254, PLINY's NATtlEAL HISTORY. [Book XX.
female, the former having smaller leaves than the other, and
of a grass-green colour ; the female plant, he says, has leaves
of a larger size and a more vivid hue. The same author, too,
has considered rue to be injurious to the eyes ; but this is an
error, for engravers and painters are in the habit of eating it
with bread, or else nasturtium, for the benefit of the sight ;
wild goats, too, eat it for the sight, they say. Many persons
have dispersed films on the eyes by rubbing them with a mix-
ture of the juice of rue with Attic honey, or the milk of a
woman just delivered of a male child : the same result has
been produced also by touching the corners of the eyes with
the pure juice of the plant. Applied topically, with polenta,
rue carries off defluxions of the eyes ; and, taken with wine,
or applied topically with vinegar and rose oil, it is a cure for
head- ache. If, however, the pain attacks the whole of the
head," the rue should be applied with barley-meal and vin-
egar. This plant has the effect also of dispelling crudities,
flatulency, and inveterate pains of the stomach ; it opens the
uterus, too, and restores it when displaced ; for which purpose
it is applied as a liniment, with honey, to the whole of the
abdomen and chest. Mixed with figs, and boiled down to
one half, it is administered in wine for dropsy ; and it is taken
in a similar manner for pains of the chest, sides, and loins, as
well as for coughs, asthma, and affections of the lungs, liver, and
kidneys, and for shivering fits. Persons about to indulge in
wine, take a decoction of the leaves, to prevent head-ache and
surfeit. Taken in food, too, it is wholesome, whether eaten
raw or boiled, or used as a confection ; boiled with hyssop,
and taken with wine, it is good for gripings of the stomach.
Employed in the same way, it arrests internal haemorrhage,
and, applied to the nostrils, bleeding at the nose : it is beneficial
also to the teeth if rinsed with it. In cases of ear-ache, this
juice is injected into the ears, care being taken to moderate
the dose, as already stated, if wild rue is employed. For
hardness of hearing, too, and singing in the ears, it is simi-
larly employed in combination with oil of roses, or oil of laurel,
or else cummin and honey.
Juice of rue pounded in vinegar, is applied also to the
temples and the region of the brain in persons affected with
phrenitis ; some persons, however, have added to this mixture
5? " Si vero sit cepbalsea."
Chap. 51. BUE. 255
wild thyme and laurel leaves, rubbing the heacl and neck as
well with the liniment. It has been given in vinegar to
lethargic patients to smell at, and a decoction of it is admi-
nistered for epilepsy, in doses of four cyathi, as also just be-
fore the attacks in fever of intolerable chills. It is likewise
given raw to persons for shivering fits Rue is a provoca-
tive^ of the urine to bleeding even : it promotes the men-
strual discharge, also, and brings away the after-birth, as
well as the dead foetus even, according to Hippocrates,'® if
taken in sweet red wine. The same author, also, recommends
applications of it, as well as fumigations, for affections of the
uterus.
For cardiac diseases. Diodes prescribes applications of rue,
in combination with vinegar, honey, and barley-meal : and
for the iliac passion, he says that it should be mixed with
meal, boiled in oil, and spread upon the wool of a sheep's
fleece. Many persons recommend, for purulent expectorations,
two drachmae of dried rue to one and a half of sulphur ; and,
for spitting of blood, a decoction of three sprigs in wine. It is
given also in dysentery, with cheese, the rue being first beaten
up in wine ; and it has been prescribed, pounded with bitumen,
as a potion for habitual shortness of breath. For persons suf-
fering from violent falls, three ounces of the seed is recom-
mended. A pound of oil, in which rue leaves have been
boiled, added to one sextarius of wine, forms a liniment for
parts of the body which are frost-bitten. If rue really is a
diuretic, as Hippocrates^'^ thinks, it is a singular thing that
some persons should give it, as being an anti-diuretic, for the
suppression of incontinence of urine.
Applied topically, with honey and alum, it cures itch-scabs,
and leprous sores ; and, in combination with nightshade and
hogs'-lard, or beef-suet, it is good for morphew, Avarts, scrofula,
and maladies of a similar nature. Used with vinegar and oil,
or else white lead, it is good for erysipelas ; and, applied with
vinegar, for carbuncles. Some persons prescribe silphium
also as an ingredient in the liniment ; but it is not employed
by them for the cure of the pustules known as epinyctis.
Boiled rue is recommended, also, as a cataplasm for swellings
58 -Dioscorides says however, B. iii. c. 52, that it arrests iucontinenee
of the urine. See below.
59 De Morb. Mid. B. i. c. 128. ^ De Diteta, B. ii. c. 26.
256 flint's natueal history. [Book XX.
of the mamillae, and, combined with wax, for eruptions of
pituitous matter/^ It is applied with tender sprigs of laurel, in
cases of defluxion of the testes ; and it exercises so peculiar an
effect upon those organs, that old rue, it is said, employed in
a liniment, with axle-grease, is a cure for hernia. The
seed pounded, and applied with wax, is remedial also for
broken limbs. The root of this plant, applied topically, is a
cure for effusion of blood in the eyes, and, employed as a lini-
ment, it removes scars or spots on all parts of the body.
Among the other properties which are attributed to rue, it
is a singular fact, that, though it is universally agreed that it
is hot by nature, a bunch of it, boiled in rose-oil, with the
addition of an ounce of aloes, has the effect of checking the
perspiration in those who rub themselves with it ; and that,
used as an aliment, it impedes the generative functions.
Hence it is, that it is so often given in cases of spermatorrhoea,
and where persons are subject to lascivious dreams. Every pre-
caution should be taken by pregnant women to abstain from
rue as an article of diet, for I find it stated that it is productive
of fatal results to the foetus.^-
Of all the plants that are grown, rue is the one that is most
generally employed for the maladies of cattle, whether arising
from difficulty of respiration, or from the stings of noxious
creatures — in which cases it is injected with wine into the
nostrils — or whether they may happen to have swallowed a
horse-leech, under which circumstances it is administered in
vinegar. In all other maladies of cattle, the rue is prepared
just as for man in a similar case.
CHAP. 52. (14.) WILD MINT : TWENTY EEMEDIES.
Mentastrum, or wild mint,^^ differs from the other kind in
the appearance of the leaves, which have the form of those of
ocimum and the colour of pennyroyal ; for which reason, some
persons, in fact, give it the name of wild pennyroyal.^ The
leaves of this plant, chewed and applied topically, are a cure
for elephantiasis ; a discovery which was accidentally made in
^' " Pituitae eruptionibus."
6- This prejudice, Fee says, still survives.
^ The Menta silvestris of Linnaeus ; though Clusius was of opimon that
it is the Nepeta tuberosa of Lmnaeus.
" " Silvestre puleium."
Chap. 53.] MI>'t: 257
the time of Pompeius ^ragnus, by a person affected with this
malady covering his face with the leaves for the purpose of
neutralizing the bad smell that arose therefrom. These leaves
are employed also as a liniment, and in drink, with a mixture
of salt, oil, and vinegar, for the stings of scorpions ; and, in
doses of two drachmae to two cyathi of wine, for those of sco-
lopendrse and serpents. A decoction, too, of the juice is given
for the sting of the scolopendra.^^ Leaves of wild mint are
kept, dried and reduced to a fine powder, as a remedy for
])oisons of every description. Spread on the ground or burnt,
this plant has the effect of driving away scorpions.
Taken in drink, wild mint carries off the lochia in females
after parturition ; but, if taken before, it is fatal to the foetus.
It is extremely eflScacious in cases of rupture and convulsions,
and, though in a somewhat less degree, for orthopnoea,^ gripings
of the bowels, and cholera : it is good, too, as a topical appli-
cation for lumbago and gout. The juice of it is injected into
the ears for worms breeding there ; it is taken also for jaun-
dice, and is employed in liniments for scrofulous sores. It
prevents^" the recurrence of lascivious dreams ; and taken in
vinegar, it expels tape-worm.^^ For tlie cure of porrigo, it is
put in vinegar, and the head is washed with the mixture in
the sun.
CHAP. 53. — MINT : FOETT-ONE EEMEDIES.
The very smell of mint^^ reanimates the spirits, and its
flavour gives a remarkable zest to food : hence it is that it is
so generally an ingredient in our sauces. It has the effect of
preventing milk from turning sour, or curdling and thickening ;
hence it is that it is so generally put into milk used for drink-
ing, to prevent any danger of persons being choked'" by it in a
^^ Galen and Dioscorides say the same; but it is not the fact; the leaves
being of no utility wluitever.
^^ Difficulty of' breathing, unless the neck is kept in a straight position.
^'' Fee is inclined to think exactly the contrary.
^^ Its properties as a verrnifii£:e are contested
^3 According to ancient fable,"Minthu, the daughter of Cocytus, and be-
loved by Pluto, was changed by Proserpine into this plant : it was gene-
rally employed also in the mysteries of the Greeks. It is the Mentha
sativa of Linnsens.
'" Fee says that this passage alone would prove pretty clearly that Tliny
had no idea of the existence of the gastric juices.
VOL. IV. S
258 pliny's natural iiisToiir. [Book XX.
curdled state. It is administered also for this purpose in
water or honied wine. It is generally thought, too, that it is
in consequence of this property that it impedes generation, by
preventing the seminal fluids from obtaining the requisite con-
sistency. In males as well as females it arrests bleeding, and
it has the property, with the latter, of suspending the men-
strual discharge. Taken in water, with amylum,"^ it prevents
looseness in coeliac complaints, Syriation employed this plant
for the cure of abscesses of the uterus, and, in doses of
three oboli, with honied wine, for diseases of the liver : he
prescribed it also, in pottage, for spitting of blood. It is an
admirable remedy for ulcerations of the head in children, and
has the effect equally of drying the trachea when too moist,
and of bracing it when too dry. Taken in honied wine and
water, it carries off purulent phlegm.
The juice of mint is good for the voice when a person is
about to engage in a contest of eloquence, but only when taken
just before. It is employed also with milk as a gargle for
swelling of the uvula, with the addition of rue and coriander.
"With alum, too, it is good for the tonsils of the throat, and,
mixed with honey, for roughness of the tongue. Employed
by itself, it is a remedy for internal convulsions and affections
of the lungs. Taken with pomegranate juice, as Democrites
tells us, it arrests hiccup and vomiting. The juice of mint
fresh gathered, inhaled, is a remed}' for affections of the nos-
trils. Beaten up and taken in vinegar, mint is a cure for
cholera, and for internal fluxes of blood : applied externally,
Avith pole-nta, it is remedial for the iliac passion and tension of
the mamillse. It is applied, too, as a liniment to the temples
for head-ache ; and it is taken internally, as an antidote for
the stings of scolopendrse, sea-scor2)ions, and serpents. As a
liniment it is applied also for defluxions of the eyes, and all
eruptions of the head, as well as maladies of the rectum.
Mint is an effectual preventive, too, of chafing of the skin,
even if held in the hand only. In combination with honied
wine, it is employed as an injection for the ears. It is said,
too, that this plant will cure affections of the spleen, if tasted
in the garden nine days consecutively, Avithout plucking it, the
person who bites it saying at the same moment that he does
so for the benefit of the spleen : and that, if dried, and re-
'"1 See B. xviii. c. 17, and B. xxii. c. 67.
Chap. 54.] PENI^TIiOYAL. 259
duced to powder, a pinch of it with three fingers taken in
water, will cure stomach-ache." Sprinkled in this form in
drink, it is said to have the effect of expelling intestinal
worms.
CHAP 54. PE^'NYEOYAI, : TWENTY-riTE EEMEDIES.
Penny royaP^ partakes with mint, in a very considerable
degree, the property'^^ of restoring consciousness in fainting fits ;
slips of both plants being kept for the purpose in glass bottles'^
filled with vinegar. It is for this reason that YaiTO has de-
clared that a wreath of pennyroyal is more worthy to gracy
our chambers'^ than a chaplet of roses : indeed, it is said that,
placed upon the head, it materially alleviates head-ache."
It is generally stated, too, that the smell of it alone will pro-
tect the head against the injurious effects of cold or heat, and
that it acts as a preventive of thirst ; also, that persons ex-
posed to the sun, if they carry a couple of sprigs of penny-
royal behind the ears, will never be incommoded by the heat.
For various pains, too, it is employed topically, mixed with
polenta and vinegar.
The female'^ plant is the more efficacious of the two ; it has
a purple flower, that of the male being white. Taken in cold
water with salt and polenta it arrests nausea, as well as pains
of the chest and abdomen. Taken, too, in water, it prevents
gnawing pains of the stomach, and, with vinegar and polenta,
it arrests vomiting. In combination with salt and vinegar,
and polenta, it loosens the bowels. Taken with boiled honey
and nitre, it is a cure for intestinal complaints. Employed
'- It is only in this case and the next, Fee says, tliat modern experience
agrees with oiu- author as to the efficacy of mint.
''^ The Menta pulegium of Linnaeus.
'* Its medicinal properties are similar to those of mint ; which is a good
stomachic, and is useful for hysterical and hypochondriac affections, as well
as head-ache. We may therefore know how far to appreciate the medi-
cinal virtues ascribed by Pliny to these plants.
'^ " Ampullas."
'^ _" Cubiculis :" "sleeping-chambers." It was very generally the
practice among the ancients to keep odoriferous plants in their bed-rooms ;
a dangerous practice, now held in pretty general disesteem.
■^ Strong odours, as Fee remarks, are not generally beneficial for head-
ache.
■•^ Dioscorides makes no such distinction, and botanically speaking, as
Fee observt'S, this distinction is faultv.
S 2
2C0 PLINY's NATUEAL niSTOEY. [Book XX.
with wine it is a diuretic, and if the wine is the produce
of the Aminean^^ grape, it has the additional effect of dispersing
calculi of the bladder and removing all internal pains. Taken
in conjunction with honey and vinegar, it modifies the men-
strual discharge, and brings away the after-birth, restores the
uterus, when displaced, to its natural position, and expels the
dead^*^ foetus. The seed is given to persons to smell at, who
have been suddenly struck dumb, and is prescribed for epi-
leptic patients in doses of one cyathus, taken in vinegar. If
water is found unwholesome for drinking, bruised pennyroyal
should be sprinkled in it ; taken with wine it modifies acri-
dities^^ of the body.
Mixed with salt, it is employed as a friction for the sinews,
and with honey and vinegar, in cases of opisthotony . Decoctions
of it are prescribed as a drink for persons stung by serpents; and,
beaten up in wine, it is employed for the stings of scorpions,
that which grows in a dry soil in particular. This plant is
looked upon as efficacious also for ulcerations of the mouth,
and for coughs. The blossom of it, fresh gathered, and burnt,
kills fleas ^^ by its smell. Xenoerates, among the other reme-
dies which he mentions, says that in tertian fevers, a sprig of
pennyroyal, wrapped in wool, should be given to the patient
to smell at, just before the fit comes on, or else it should be
put under the bed-clothes and laid by the patient's side.
CHAP. 55. WILD PElSrXTJaOTAL : SEVENTEEN KEMEDIES.
For all the purposes already mentioned, wild pennyroyaP^
has exactly the same properties, but in a still higher degree.
It bears a strong resemblance to wild marjoram, ^^ and has a
smaller leaf than the cultivated kind : by some persons it is
known as '' dictamnos."^^ When browsed upon by sheep and
goats, it makes them bleat, for which reason, some of the
"^ See B. xiv. c. 5.
^^ "Defunctos partus" is certainly a better reading than " defunctis
partus," though the latter is the oije adopted by Sillig.
*^ " Salsitudines." Hardouin is probably right in his conjecture, that
the correct reading is " lassitudines," ''lassitude."
^' '• Pulices." It is to this belief, no doubt, that it owes its Latin name
'• paiegium," and ils English appellation, " flea-bane."
" It differs in no respect whatever from the cxiltivated kind, except that
the leaves of the latter are somewhat larger.
s* Or origanum. ss Whence our name "dittany."
Chap. 56.] NEP. 2G1
Greeks, changing a single letter in its name, have called it
*' blechon,"^ [instead of ''glechon."]
This plant is naturally so heating as to blister the parts of the
body to which it is applied. For a cough which results from
a chill, it is a good plan for the patient to rub himself with it
before taking the bath ; it is similarly employed, too, in shiver-
ing fits, just before the attacks come on, and for convulsions
and gripings of the stomach. It is also remarkably good for
the gout.
To persons afflicted with spasms, this plant is administered
in drink, in combination with honey and salt ; and it renders
expectoration easy in affections of the lungs.^" Taken with
salt it is beneficial for the spleen and bladder, and is cura-
tive of asthma and flatulency. A decoction of it is equally
as good as the juice : it restores the uterus when displaced, and
is prescribed for the sting of either the land or the sea scolopen-
dra, as well as the scorpion. It is particularly good, too, for
bites inflicted by a human being. The root of it, newly taken
up, is extremely efficacious for corroding ulcers, and in a dried
btate tends to efface the deformities produced by scars.
CHAP. 56. NEP : NINE ILEMEDIES.
Nep^ has also some affinity in its effects with pennyroyal.
Boiled down in water to one third, these plants dispel sudden
chills : they promote the menstrual discharge also in females,
and allay excessive heats in summer. iSTep possesses certain
virtues against the stings of serpents ; at the very smoke and
smellof it they will instantly take to flight, and persons who have
to sleep in places where they are apprehensive of them, will do
well to place it beneath them. IJruised, it is employed to-
pically for lacrymal fistulas ^^ of the eye : fresh gathered and
^ The " bleating plant ;" from (iXrjxdoiJiai, " to bleat." Dioscorides,
B. ii. c. 36, says the same of cultivated pennyroyal.
®' "Pulmonum vitia exscreabilia facit."
^^ Or "catmint;" the variety " longifolia," Fee thinks, of the Menta
silvestris of Linnaeu^ ; or else the IMelissa altissima of Sibthorp. Sprengel
identifies it with the Thymus Barrelieri, the Melissa Cretica of Liunajus.
Dioscorides, B. iii. c. 42, identifies the " Calamintha " of tlie Greeks with
the Xepeta of the Eonians. The medicinal properties of Nep, or catmint,
are the same as those of the other mints.
83 '< ^gilopiis."
262 pliny's natural history. [Book XX.
mixed in yinegar with one third part of bread, it is applied
as a liniment for head-ache. The juice of it, injected into
the nostrils, with the head thrown back, arrests bleeding at
the nose, and the root has a similar effect. This last is em-
ployed also, with myrtle-seed, in warm raisin wine, as a gargle
for the cure of quinsy.
CHAP. 57- — cxDwriN : forty-eight remedies, wild cummin :
TWENTY- SIX REMEDIES.
Wild cummin is a remarkably slender plant, consisting of
four or five leaves indented like a saw ; like the cultivated ^^
kind, it is much employed in medicine, among the stomachic
remedies more particularly. Bruised and taken with bread,
or else drunk in wine and water, it dispels phlegm and flatu-
lency, as well as gripings of the bowels and pains in the intes-
tines. Both varieties have the effect, however, of producing
paleness ^^ in those who drink these mixtures ; at all events, it
is generally stated that the disciples of Porcius Latro,^^ so cele-
brated among the professors of eloquence, used to employ this
drink for the purpose of imitating the paleness which had been
contracted by their master, through the intensity of his studies :
and that Julius Yindex,®^ in more recent times, that assertor
of our liberties against j^ero, adopted this method of playing
upon ^^ those who were looking out for a place in his will.
Applied in the form of lozenges, or fresh with vinegar, cummin
has the effect of arresting bleeding at the nose, and used by
^ Cummin is the Curainum cyminum of Linnaeus. The seed only is
used, and that but rarely, for medicinal purposes, being a strong excitant
and a carminative. In Germany, and Turkey, and other parts of the East,
cummin-seed is esteemed as a condiment.
'•'^ Horace, B. i. Epist. 19, says the same; but in reality cummin pro-
duces no such effect.
3- M. Porcius Latro, a celebrated rhetorician of the reign of Augustus,
a Spaniard by birth, and a friend and contemporary of the elder Seneca.
His school was one of the most frequented at Rome, and he numbered
among his scholars the poet Ovid. He died B.C. 4.
^^ The son of a Roman senator, but descended from a noble family in
Aquitanian Gaul. When propraetor of Gallia Celtica, he headed a revolt
against Nero ; but being opposed by Virginius Rufus, he slew himself at
the town of Vesontio, now Besan^on.
s^ " Captationi" is suggested by Sillig as a preferable reading to
" captatione," which last would imply that it was Yinde.x himself who
sought a place by this artifice, in the wills of others.
Chap. 58.] A^mi. 2G3
itself, it is good for (lefluxions of the eyes. Combined with
honey, it is used also for swellings of the eyes. With children
of tender age, it is sufficient to apply it to the abdomen. In
cases of jaundice, it is administered in white wine, immediately
after taking the bath.
(15.) The cummin of ^thiopia,^^ more particularly, is given
in yinegar and water, or else as an electuary with honey. It
is thought, too, that the cummin of Africa has the peculiar
property of arresting incontinence of urine. The cultivated
plant is given, parched and beaten up in vinegar, for affections
of the liver, as also for vertigo. Beaten up in sweet wine, it
is taken in cases, also, where the urine is too acrid ; and for
affections of the uterus, it is administered in wine, the leaves
of it being employed topically as well, in layers of wool.
Parched and beaten up with honej^ it is used as an application
for swellings of the testes, or else with rose oil and wax.
For all tlie purposes above-mentioned, wild cummin ®^ is more
efficacious than cultivated ; as also, in combination with oil,
for the stings of serpents, scorpions, and scolopendrse. A pinch
of it with three fingers, taken in wine, has the effect of arrest-
ing vomiting and nausea ; it is used, too, both as a drink and
a liniment tor the colic, or else it is applied hot, in dossils of
lint," to the part affected, bandages being employed to keep it
in its place. Taken in wine, it dispels hysterical affections,
the proportions being three drachmae of cummin to three cyathi
of wine. It is used as an injection, too, for the ears, when
affected with tingling and singing, being mixed for the purpose
with veal suet or honey. For contusions, it is applied as a
liniment, with honey, raisins, and vinegai', and for dark freckles
on the skin with vinegar.
CHAP. 58. AMill : TEN KEMEDIKS.
There is another plant, which bears a very strong resem-
5^ There Avould be but little difference, Fee observes, between this and
the cummin of otlier countries, as it is a plant in which little change is
effected by cultivation. Diuscorides, B. iii. c. 79, says that the cummin
of .Ethiopia (by Hippocrates called "royal cummin") has a sweeter
smell than the other kinds.
^ 3s Yee is inclined to identify wild cummin, from the description of it
riven by Dioscorides, with the Delphinium consolida of Linnaeus ; but at
the same time, he savs, it is impossible to speak positively on the subject.
9' " Penicillis."
264 plint's natural history. [Book XX.
blance to cummin, known to the Greeks as "ammi ;" °^ some
persons are of opinion, that it is the same as the Ethiopian
cummin. Hippocrates gives it^^ the epithet of " royal ;" no
doubt, because he looks upon it as possessed of greater virtues
than Egyptian cummin. Many persons, however, consider it
to be of a totally different nature from cummin, as it is so very
much thinner, and of a much whiter colour. Still, it is em-
ployed for just the same purposes as cummin, for we find it
used at Alexandria for i)utting under loaves of bread, and form-
ing an ingredient in various sauces. It has the effect of dispel-
ling flatulency and gri pings of the bowels, and of promoting
the secretion of the urine and the menstrual discharge. It is
employed, also, for the cure of bruises, and to assuage defluxions
of the eyes. Taken in wine with linseed, in doses of two
drachmse, it is a cure for the stings of scorpions ; and, used
with an equal proportion of mjTrh, it is particularly good for
the bite of the cerastes.^
Like cummin, too, it imparts paleness of complexion to those
■who drink of it. Used as a fumigation, with raisins or with
resin, it acts as a purgative upon the uterus. It is said, too,
that if women smell at this plant during the sexual congress,
the chances of conception will be greatly promoted thereby.
CHAP. 59. THE CAPPAEIS OR CAPER : EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
"We have already spoken^ of the caper at sufficient length
when treating of the exotic plants. The caper which comes^
from beyond sea should never be used ; that of Italy* is not so
dangerous. It is said, that persons who eat this plant daily,
are never attacked by paralysis or pains in the spleen. The
root of it, pounded, removes white eruptions of the skin, if
"8 The Ammi Copticum of modern botany.
99 The iEthiopian cummin, namely, which Pliny himself seems inclined
to confound Avith ammi.
1 Or " horned" serpent. See B. viii. c. 35, and B. xi. c. 4.5.
2 In B. xiii. c. 44.
3 It is not improbable that under this name he alludes to the carpels of
some kind of Euphorbiacea, which bear a resemblance to the fruit of the
caper. Indeed, there is one variety of the Euphorbia with an acrid juice,
known in this country by the name of the " caper-phint."
^ The Capparis spinosa, probably, on which the capers used in our
sauces are ;'rown.
Chap. 61.] CUNILA BUEULA. 265
rubbed with it in the sun. The bark^ of the root, taken in
wine, in doses of two drachmae, is good for affections of the
spleen ; the patient, however, must forego the use of the bath.
It is said, too, that in the course of thirty-five days the whole
of the spleen maybe discharged under this treatment, by mine
and by stool. The caper is also taken in drink for lumbago and
paralysis ; and the seed of it boiled, and beaten up in vinegar,
or the root chewed, has a soothing effect in tooth-ache. A
decoction of it in oil is employed, also, as an injection for eai'-
ache.
The leaves and the root, fresh out of the ground, mixed
with honey, are a cure for the ulcers known as phagedcenic.
In the same way, too, the root disperses scrofulous swellings ;
and a decoction of it in water removes imposthumes of the pa-
rotid glands, and worms. Beaten up and mixed with barley-
meal, it is applied topically for pains in the liver ; it is a cure,
also, for diseases of the bladder. In combination with oxymel,
it is prescribed for tapeworm, and a decoction of it in vinegar
removes ulcerations of the mouth. It is generally agreed
among writers that the caper is prejudicial to the stomach.
CHAP. 60. LIGTJSTICUM, OR LOVAGE : FOUR REMEDIES.
Ligusticum,^ by some persons known as '' panax," is good
for the stomach, and is curative of convulsions and flatulency.
There are persons who give this plant the name of *' cunila
bubula ;" but, as we have already^ stated, they are in error in
BO doing.
CHAP. 61. (16.) — CUNILA BUBULA : FIVE REMEDIES.
In addition to garden cunila,^ there are numerous other
varieties of it employed in medicine. That known to us as
** cunila bubula," has a very similar seed to that of penny-
royal. This seed, chewed and applied topically, is good for
wounds : the plaster, however, must not be taken off till the
fifth day. For the stings of serpents, this plant is taken in
wine, and the leaves of it are bruised and applied to the
5 Until recently, the bark was employed in the IVIateria Medica, as a
diuretic : it is now no longer used.
^ Or Lovage. See B. xix. c. 50.
'' In B. xix. c. 50, where he states that Cratenas has given to the wild
Ligu^ticura the name of Cunila bubula, or "ox cunila."
» Soe B. xix. c. 50.
266 Pliny's natural histoht. [Book XX.
wound ; which is also rubbed with thera as a friction. The
tortoise,* when about to engage in combat with the serpent,
employs this plant as a preservative against the effects of its
sting ; some persons, for this reason, have given it the name of
" panacea." ^^ It has the effect also of dispersing tumours and
maladies of the male organs, the leaves being dried for the
purpose, or else beaten up fresh and applied to the part affected.
For every purpose for which it is employed it combines re-
markably well with wine.
CHAP. 62. CUNILA GALLINACEA, OE OEIGANUM I FIVE REMEDIES.
There is another variety, again, known to our people as
" cunila gallinacea,"^^ and to the Greeks as Heracleotic origa-
num. ^^' Beaten up with salt, this plant is good for the eyes ;
and it is a remedy for cough and affections of the liver.
Mixed with meal, and taken as a broth, with oil and vine-
gar, it is good for pains in the side, and the stings of serpents
in particular.
CHAP. 63. — CUNILAGO : EIGHT EE]«:eI)IES.
There is a third species, also, known to the Greeks as *' male
cunila," and to us as "cunilago."^^ This plant has a foetid smell,
a ligneous root, and a rough leaf. Of all the varieties of cunila,
this one, it is said, is possessed of the most active properties.
If a handful of it is thrown anywhere, all the beetles in the
house, they say, will be attracted to it ; and, taken in vinegar
and water, it is good for the stings of scorpious more particularly.
It is stated, also, that if a person is rubbed with three leaves
of it, steeped in oil, it will have the effect of keeping all ser-
pents at a distance.
OHAP. 64. SOFT CUNILA *. THEEE EEMEDIES. LIBANOTIS I
THREE EEMEDIES.
The variety, on the other hand, known as soft^^ cunila, has a
^ See B. viii. cc. 41 and 44.
'" Universal remedy, or " all-heal."
11 Qr »< Poultry cunila :" the Origanum Heracleoticum of Linnaeus.
^ SeeB. XXV. c. 12.
'3 An Umbellifera, Fee says, of the modern genus Conyza. See B. xxi.
c. 32.
1^ Fee is of opinion that Pliny has here confounded ** cunila" with
"con3'za," and that lie means the kowKo. fiiKpa of Dioscorides, B. iii. c.
136. the Kovv'Ca OnXvg of Tlieophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 2, supposed
to be the Inula pulicaria of Linnaeus. See B. xxi. c. 32.
Chap. 66.] PiPEKiTis, OR siliquastrum:. 257
more velvety leaf, and branches covered Trith thorns ; when
rubbed it has just the smell of honey, and it adheres to the
fingers when touched. There is another kind, again, known
to us as " libanotis,"^^ a name which it owes to the resem-
blance of its smell to that of frankincense. Both of these plants,
taken in wine or vinegar, are antidotes for the stings of serpents.
Beaten up in water, also, and sprinkled about a place, they kill
fleas.^e
CHAP. 65. dTLTIYATED CUNILA ; THEEE REMEDIES. MOUNTAIN
CTJNILA ; SEVEN REMEDIES.
Cultivated cunila" has also its medicinal uses. The juice
of it, in combination with rose oil, is good for the ears ; and
the plant itself is taken in drink, to counteract the effects of
violent blows. ^^
A variety of this plant is the mountain cunila, similar to wild
thyme in appearance, and particularly efficacious for the stings of
serpents. This plant is diuretic, and promotes the lochial dis-
charge : it aids the digestion, too, in a marvellous degree. Both
varieties have a tendency to sharpen the appetite, even when
persons are troubled with indigestion, if taken fasting in drink :
they are good, too, for sprains, and, taken with barley-meal, and
vinegar and water, they are extremely useful for stings inflicted
by wasps and insects of a similar nature.
We shall have occasion to speak of other varieties of liha-
notis^^ in their appropriate places.
CHAP. 66. (17.) — PIPERITIS, OR SILIQUASTRUM : FIVE REMEDIES.
Piperitis,^" which we have already mentioned as being called
" siliquastrum," is taken in drink for epilepsy. Castor'^^
used to give a description of it to the following effect : " The
stalk of it is long and red, with the knots lying close together ;
the leaves are similar to those of the laurel, and the seed is white
'5 A variety of Conyza. See B. xxi. c. 32.
^'^ Dioscorides, B. iii. c. 136, says the same of the KowZa fnKf>a, ot
" small conyza."
^■^ The Satureia thymbra of Linnaeus. See B. xix. c. 50.
^8 " Ictus," possibly " stings."
^9 See the preceding Chapter : also B. xix. c. 62, and B. xxi. c. 32.
20 Perhaps Indian pepper, the Capsicum annuum of Botany. See B.
xix. c. 62.
21 For some account of Castor, the botanist, see the end of this Book.
268 PLINY's JfATUEAL lUSTOSr. [Book XX.
and slender, like pepper in taste." He described it also as
being beneficial to the gums and teeth, imparting sweetness
to the breath, and dispelling flatulency.
CHAP. 67. OKIGimiM, ONITIS, OE PEASION : SIX EEMEDIES.
Origanum, ^^ which, as we have already stated, rivals cunila in
flavour, includes many varieties employed in medicine. Onitis,^^
or prasion,^'* is the name given to one of these, which is not
unlike hyssop in appearance : it is employed more particu-
larly, with warm water, for gnawing pains at the stomach, and
for indigestion. Taken in white wine it is good for the stings
of spiders and scorpions ; and, applied with vinegar and oil, in
wool, it is a cure for sprains and bruises.
CHAP. 68. TEAGOEIGANUM : NINE EEMEDIES.
Tragoriganum^^ bears a strong resemblance to wild thyme.
It is diuretic, disperses tumours, and taken in drink is extremely
efficacious in cases of poisoning by mistletoe and stings by ser-
pents. It is very good for acid eructations from the stomach,
and for the thoracic organs. It is given also for a cough, with
honey, as w^ell as for pleurisy and peripneumony.
CHAP. 69. THEEE VAEIETIES OF HEEACLEOTIC OEIGANIJM :
THIETY EEMEDIES.
Heraclium,^^ again, comprehends three varieties ; the fii'st,*'
22 Or Wild Marjoram. See B. xix. c. 50.
23 So called, Nicander says, from being sought with avidity by the ass,
ovoQ. It is the Origanum onites ot Liunaeus.
21 The Prasion, or "green plant," mentioned by Hippocrates andTheo-
phrastus, is not identical, Fee says, with the Origanum onitis, it being the
Marrubium Creticum, or peregrinum of modern botanists. To add to the
confusion of these names, we find Pliny stating, in c. 69, that the name of
•' prasion" was given also by the Greeks to his second species of Hera-
clium, and that of " onitis" to the Ileraclium Heraclcoticum.
25 Or " Goat's origanum :" tlie Thymus tragoriganum of Linnaeus. Dios-
corides mentions two kinds of tragoriganum, one of which hars been sup-
posed by Clusius to be the Thymus mastichina of Linnseus, and the other
tlie Stachys glutinosa of Linnaeus ; Zanoni being the first author who pro-
mulgated this opinion ; from which Fee, however, dissents.
26 Or Ileracleotic origanum : see c. 62 of this Book. Pliny here con-
founds several distinct plants, and, as Fee observes, the whole account is
in liopeless confusion.
27 Probably the Origanum Heraclcoticum of Linnajus, mentioned in c. 62.
}hap. 69.] HEEACLEOTIC OEIGANUM. 269
■vhich is the darkest, has broader leaves than the others, and is
>f a glutinous nature ; the second, ^^ which has leaves of a more
lender form, and not unlike sampsuchum ^^* in appearance, is
)y some persous called " prasion," in preference : the third^^
s of an intermediate nature between the other two, but is
ess efficacious for medicinal purposes than either. But the
)e6t kind of all is that of Crete, for it has a particularly agree-
ible smell ; the next best being that of Smyrna, which has
3ven a more powerful odour than the last. The Heracleotic
)riganum, however, known by the name of '' onitis," is the
me that is the most esteemed for taking in drink.
Origanum, in general, is employed for repelling serpents ;
md it is given boiled to persons suffering from wounds. Taken
n drink, it is diuretic ; and mixed with root of panax, it is
^iven for the cure of ruptures and convulsions.. In combina-
:ion with figs or hyssop, it is prescrib-ed for dropsical patients
tn doses of one acetabulum, being reduced by boiling to one
sixth. It is good also for the itch,^° prurigo, and leprosy,
taken just before the bath. The juice of it is injected into the
ears with milk ; it being a cure, also, for affections of the
tonsils and the uvula, and for ulcers of the head. A decoction
of it, taken with the ashes in wine, neutralizes poison by
opium or g}-psum,^^ Taken in doses of one acetabulum, it re-
laxes the bowels. It is applied as a liniment for bruises and
for tooth-ache ; and mixed with honey and nitre, it imparts
whiteness to the teeth. It has the effect, also, of stopping
bleeding at the nose.
A decoction of this plant, with barley-meal, is employed for
imposthumes of the parotid glands ; and, beaten up with nut-
galls and honey, it is used for roughness of the trachea : the
leaves of it, with honey and salt, are good, too, for the spleen.
Boiled with vinegar and salt, and taken in small doses, it at-
28 The Marrubium Creticum, or peregrinura, probably, a variety of
horehound. See c. 67.
2^* See B. xiii. c. 2, and B. xv. c. 7.
"^^ The Origanum onites of Linnaeus, probably. See c. 67.
3*^ Fee says that a strong infusion of pepperwort has been used in France
for the itch, with successful results.
31 Sulphate of lime, which, as Fee remarks, though insoluble, does not
act as a poison, but causes a derangement of the digestive functions. The
wines of the Romans were extensively treated with this substance, and Ave
have seen in B. xviii. that it was used as an ing^redient in their bread.
270 pltxy's itatueal history. [Book XX.
tenuates the phlegm, when very thick and black ; and beaten
up with oil, it is injected into the nostrils for jaundice. When
persons are affected with lassitude, the body is well rubbed
with it, care being taken not to touch the abdomen. Used with
pitch, it is a cure for epinyctis, and, applied with a roasted
fig, it brings boils to a head. Employed with oil and vinegar,
and barley-meal, it is good for scrofulous swellings ; and ap-
plied topically in a fig, it is a cure for pains in the sides.
Eeaten up, and applied with vinegar, it is employed as a lini-
ment for bloody fluxes of the generative organs, and it accele-
rates the lochial discharge after child-birth.
CHAP. 70. DITTANDER : THREE REMEDIES.
Dittander^^ is generally considered to rank among the caustic
plants. It is owing to this property that it clears the skin of the
face, not, however, without excoriating it ; though, at the same
time, the excoriations are easily healed by employing wax and
rose oil. It is owing to this property, too, that it always re-
moves, without difficulty, leprous sores and itch-scabs, as well
as the scars left by ulcers. It is said, that in cases of tooth-
ache, if this plant is attached to the arm on the suffering side,
it will have the effect of drawing the pain to it.
CHAP. 71. GITH, OR I-IELANTHION : TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
Gith^^ is by some Greek writers called '^ melanthion," ^^ and
by others " melaspermon."^^ That is looked upon as the
best which has the most pungent odour and is the darkest in
appearance. It is employed as a remedy for wounds made by
serpents and scorpions : I fi.nd that for this purpose it is ap-
plied topically Avith vinegar and honey, and that by burning
it serpents are kept at a distance.^^ It is taken, also, in doses
of one drachma for the bites of spiders. Beaten up, and smelt
at in a piece of linen cloth, it is a cure for running at the nos-
trils; and, applied as a liniment with vinegai' and injected
32 Dittander, or pcpperwort: the Lepidium latifoliuni of Linnaeus .
'*'^ Or fennel-flower : the Nigella sativa of Linnaeus. Fee suggests that
its name, " gith," is from the ancient Egyptian.
31 " lUack flower." 3^ u i^^,^^]^ ggg^j;.
^ It is no longer used in medicine, but it is esteemed as a seasoning in
tflie East. All that Pliny states as to its medicinal properties, Fee con-
siders to be erroneous. Tlic action of the seed is irritating, and reduced
to powder, it causes sneezing.
Chap. 72.] ANISE. 271
into the nostrils, it dispels liead-ache. With oil of iris it is
good for defiuxious and tumours of the eyes, and a decoc-
tion of it with vinegar is a cure for tooth-ache. Beaten up
and applied topically, or else chewed, it is used for ulcers
of the mouth, and combined with vinegar, it is good for
leprous sores and freckles on the skin. Taken in drink, with
the addition of nitre, it is good for hardness of breathing, and,
employed as a liniment, for indurations, tumours of long
standing, and suppurations. Taken several days in succession,
it augments the milk in women who ore nursing.
The juice of this plant is collected"^ in the same manner as
that of henbane ; and, like it, if taken in too large doses, it
acts as a poison, a surprising fact, seeing that the seed is held
in esteem as a most agreeable seasoning for bread. ^^ The seed
cleanses the eyes also, acts as a diuretic, and promotes the men-
strual discharge ; and not only this, but I find it stated also, that
if thirty grains only are attached to the body, in a linen cloth,
it will have the effect of accelerating the after-birth. It is
stated, also, that beaten up in urine, it is a cure for corns on
the feet ; and that when burnt it kills gnats and Hies with the
smell.
CHAP. 72. ANISE : SIXTY-ONE EEMEDIES.
Anise,'*^ too, one of the comparatively small number of plants
that have been commended by Pythagoras, is taken in wine,
either raw or boiled, for the stings of scorpions. Both green
and dried, it is held in high repute, as an ingredient in all sea-
sonings and sauces, and we find it placed beneath the under-
crust of bread. ^^ Pat with bitter-almonds into the cloth
strainers*- for filtering wine, it imparts an agreeable flavour to
the wine : it has the eff'ect, also, of sweetening the breath, and
removing all bad odours from the mouth, if chewed in the
morning Avith smj-rnion*^ and a little honey, the mouth being
then rinsed with wine.
This plant imparts a youthful look*^ to the features ; and if
See B. XXV. c. 17. 39 gee B. xix. c. 52.
38
*o The Pimpinella auisum of Linnaeus.
^^ It i.s still used in some countries us a seasoning with which bread and
pastry are powdered. *-^ See B. xiv. c. 28.
•*■* See B. xix. cc. 48 and 62 : also B. xxvii. c. 97.
•11 This and the next statement are utterly fabulous.
272 PLINy's KATUllAL niSTOllY. [Book XX
suspended to the pillow, so as to be smelt by a person when
asleep, it will prevent all disagreeable dreams. It has the
effect of promoting the appetite, also — for this, too, has been
made by luxury one of the objects of art, ever since labour has
ceased to stimulate it. It is for these various reasons that it
has received the name of '' anicetum,"*^ given to it by some.
CHAP. 73. WHERE THE BEST AXISE IS FOUND: VAUIOIJS REMEDIES
DERIVED FROM THIS PLANT.
The most esteemed anise is that of Crete, and, next to it,
that of Egypt. This plant is employed in seasonings to sup-
ply the place of lovage ; and the perfume of it, when burnt
and inhaled, alleviates headache. Evenor prescribes an appli-
cation of the root, pounded, for delluxions of the eyes ; and
lollas emploj^s it in a similar manner, in combination with
saffron and wine, or else beaten up by itself and mixed with
polenta, for violent defluxions and the extraction of such ob-
jects as have got into tlie eyes : applied, too, as a liniment in
water, it arrests cancer of the nose. Mixed with hyssop and
oxymel, and employed as a gargle, it is a cure for quinsy ;
and, in combination with rose oil, it is used as an injection for
the ears. Parclied anise purges off plilegm from the chest, and,
if taken with honey, it is better still.
For a cough, beat up fifty bitter almonds, shelled, in honey,
with one acetabulum of anise. Another very easy remedy,
too, is to mix three drachmae of anise with two of poppies and
some honey, a piece the size of a bean being taken three times
a-day. Its main excellence, however, is as a carminative;
hence it is that it is so good for flatulency of the stomach,
griping pains of the intestines, and coeliac affections. A de-
coction of it, smelt at and drunk, arrests hiccup, and a decoc-
tion of the leaves removes indigestion. A decoction of it with
parsley, if applied to the nostrils, will arrest sneezing. Taken
in drink, anise promotes sleep, disperses calculi of the bladder,
arrests vomiting and swelling of the viscera, and acts as an
excellent pectoral for affections of the chest, and of the dia-
^5 "Unconquerable," from tlie Greek a, "not," and vncdo), "to con-
quer." Fee thinks that the word is a diminutive of "anisum," which,
according to some persons, is a derivative from " anysuny the Arabic name
of the plant. Dioscorides gives the name " anicetum" to dill, and ik^t to
anise.
Chap. 73.] ANISE. 2/3
phragm, where the body is tightly laced. It is beneficial, also,
to pour a decoction of it, in oil, upon the head for head-ache.
It is generally thought that there is nothing in existence
more beneficial to the abdomen and intestines than anise ; for
which reason it is given, parched, for dysenteiy and tenesmus.
Some persons add opium to these ingredients, and prescribe
three pills a-day, the size of a bean, with one cyathus of wine.
Dieuches has emploj'ed the juice of this plant for lumbago,
and prescribes the seed of it, pounded with mint, for dropsy
and cceliac affections : Evenor recommends the root, also, for
affections of the kidneys. Dalion, the herbalist, employed it,
with parsley, as a cataplasm for women in labour, as also for
pains of the uterus ; and, for women in labour, he pre-
scribes a decoction of anise and dill to be taken in drink. It
is used as a liniment also in cases of phrenitis, or else applied
fresh gathered and mixed with polenta; in which form it is
used also for infants attacked with epilepsy ^^ or convulsions.
Pythagoras, indeed, assures us that persons, so long as they
hold this plant in the hand, will never be attacked with epi-
lepsy, for which reason, as much of it as possible should be
planted near the house ; he says, too, that women who inhale
the odour of it have a more easy delivery, it being his advice
also, that, immediately after they are delivered, it should be
given them to drink, with a sprinkling of polenta.
Sosimenes employed this plant, in combination with vinegar,
for all kinds of indurations, and for lassitude he prescribes a
decoction of it in oil, with the addition of nitre. The same
writer pledges his word to all wayfarers, that, if they take
aniseed in their drink, they will be comparatively exempt
from fatigue^^ on their journey. Heraclides prescribes a pinch
of aniseed with three fingers, for inflations of the stomach, to
be taken with two oboli of castoreum *^ in lionied wine ; and he
recommends a similar preparation for inflations of the abdomen
and intestines. In cases of orthopnoea, he recommends a pinch
of aniseed with three fingers, and the same quantity of hen-
bane, to be mixed in asses' -milk. It is the advice of many to
those who are liable to vomit, ^^ to take, at dinner, one ace-
*^ A mere fable, as Fee remarks.
*^ A fiction, -without any foundation in truth.
48 See B. viii. c. 47, and B. xxsii. cc. 13, 23, 24, and 28.
^ Fee evidently mistakes the meaning of this passage, and censure.
VOL. IV. T
274 pliny's natural history. [Book XX,
tabuli^m of aniseed and ten laurel-leaves, the whole to be
beaten up and drunk in water.
Anise, chewed and applied warm, or else taken with casto-
reum in oxj-mel, allays suffocations of the uterus. It ako
dispels vertigo after child-birth, taken with a pinch of cucum-
ber seed in three fingers and the same quantity of linseed, in
three cyathi of white wine. Tlepolemus has employed a pinch
of aniseed and fennel in three fingers, mixed with vinegar
and one cyathus of honey, for the cure of quartan fever. Ap-
plied topically with bitter almonds, aniseed is beneficial for
maladies of the joints. There are some persons who look upon
it as, by nature, an antidote to the venom of the asp. It is a
diuretic, assuages thirst, and acts as an aphrodisiac. Taken in
wine, it promotes a gentle perspiration, and it has the property
of protecting cloth from the ravages of moths. The more
recently it has been gathered, and the darker its colour, the
greater are its virtues : still, however, it is injurious to the
stomach, except when suffering from flatulency.
CHAP. 74. (18.) DILL : NINE REMEDIES.
DilP acts also as a carminative, allays gripings of the sto-
mach, and arrests looseness of the bowels. The roots of this
plant are applied topically in water, or else in wine, for de-
fluxions of the eyes. The seed of it, if smelt at while boil-
ing, will arrest hiccup ; and, taken in water, it dispels indi-
gestion. The ashes of it are a remedy for swellings of the
uvula ; but the plant itself weakens the eyesight and the ge-
nerative powers.
CHAP 75. SACOPENIUM, OR SAGAPENON : THIRTEEN REMEDIES,
The sacopenium which grows in Italy is totally different
from that which comes from beyond sea. This last, in fact,
is similar to gum ammoniac, and is known as '^ sagapenon."^^
Pliny for speaking of anise as an emetic. On the contrary, he here pre-
scribes it to counteract vomiting, and he has previously stated, in this
Chapter, that it arrests vomiting.
*" The Anethum graveolens of Linnaeus : originally a native of the hot
climates. Its properties are very similar to those of anise.
*' Or Sagapenum. This is a fetid gum-resin, imported from Persia and
Alexandria, and supposed, though without sufficient proof, Fee says, to be
the produce of the Ferula Persica. It is occasionally used in medicine as a
stimulating expectorant. In odour it somewhat resembles assafoetida,
only it is much weaker. Galen speaks of it as the produce of a Ferula.
It acts also as a purgative and a vermifuge.
Chap. 76.] THE WHITE AND BLACK POPPY. 275
"Sacopenium is good for pains of the sides and chest, for
convulsions, coughs of long standing, expectorations, and
swellings of the thoracic organs : it is a cure also for vertigo,
palsy, opisthotony, affections of the spleen and loins, and for
shivering fits. For suffocations of the uterus, this plant is
given in vinegar to smell at ; in addition to which, it is some-
times administered in drink, or employed as a friction with
oil. It is a good antidote, also, for medicaments of a noxious
nature.
CHAP. 76. — THE WHITE POPPY". THREE REMEDIES. THE
BLACK poppy: EIGHT REMEDIES. REMARKS ON SLEEP.
OPIUM. REMARKS IN DISFAYOUR OF THE POTIONS
KNOWN AS ''anodynes, FEBRIFUGES, DIGESTIVES, AND
CCELIACS." IN WHAT WAY THE JUICES OF THESE PLANTS
ARE TO BE COLLECTED.
We have already^^ stated that there are three varieties of
the cultivated poppy, and, on the same occasion, we promised
to describe the wild kinds. "With reference to the cultivated
varieties, the calyx^ of the white^^ poppy is pounded, and is
taken in wine as a soporific ; the seed of it is a cure, also, for
elephantiasis. The black^ poppy acts as a soporific, by the
juice which exudes from incisions^" made in the stalk — at the
time when the plant is beginning to flower, Biagoras says ;
but when the blossom has gone off, according to lollas. This
is done at the third^^ hour, in a clear, still, day, or, in other
words, when the dew has thoroughly dried upon the poppy. It
is recommended to make the incision just beneath the head
5- See B. xli. c. 56, and B. xix. c. 52. Some writers have supposed,
but apparently without any sufficient authority, that this is the Ferula com-
munis of Linnteus. Fee is of opinion that one of the UmbeUiferee is meant.
53 In B. xix. c. 53.
^ It is probable, Fee says, that Pliny does not intend here to speak of
the calyx as understood by modern botanists, but the corolla of the plant.
The calyx disappears immediately after the plant has blossomed ; and is
never employed by medical men at the present day, who confine themselves
to the heads or capsules.
^ The variety Album of the Papaver somniferum. See B. xix, c. 53.
56 The variety A. nigrum of tlie Papaver somniferum of DecandoUe.
S'f The incisions are made in the capsules, and towards the upper part
of the peduncle. The account given by Pliny, Fee remarks, diti'ers but
little from that by Kaerapfer, in the early part of lust century.
5s Nine in the morning.
T 2
2/6 PLT?^Y S NATURAL HTSTORT. ["nook XX.
and calyx of the plant ; this being the only kind, in fact, into
the head of which the incision is made. This juice, like that
of any other plant, is received in wool ;^^ or else, if it is in
very minute quantities, it is scraped off with the thumb nail
just as it is from the lettuce, and so again on the following
day, with the portion that has since dried there. If obtained
from the poppy in sufficiently large quantities, this juice
thickens, after which it is kneaded out into lozenges, and dried
in the shade. This juice is possessed not only of certain sopo-
rific qualities, but, if taken in too large quantities, is productive
of sleep unto death even : the name given to it is '' opium. "°"
It was in this way, we learn, that the father of P. Licinius
CsBcina, a man of Praetorian rank, put an end to his life at
Bavilum^^ in Spain, an incurable malady having rendered
existence quite intolerable to him. Many other persons, too,
have ended their lives in a similar way. It is for this reason
that opium has been so strongly exclaimed against by Dia-
goras and Erasistratus ; for they have altogether condemned
it as a deadly poison, forbidding it to be used for infusions
even, as being injurious to the sight. Andreas says, in addi-
tion to this, that the only reason why it does not cause instan-
taneous blindness, is the fact that they adulterate it at Alex-
andria. In later times, however, the use of it has not been
disapproved of — witness the celebrated preparation known as
"diacodion."^- Lozenges are also made of ground popp)'-
seed, which are taken in milk as a soporific. ^^ The seed is
employed, too, with rose-oil for head-ache ; and, in combination
with that oil, is injected into the ears for ear-ache. Mixed
with woman's milk, this seed is used as a liniment for
gout : the leaves, too, are employed in a similar manner.
Taken in vinegar, the seed is prescribed as a cure for erysipelas
and wounds.
For my own part, however, I do not approve of opium
**> This plan, Fee thinks, would not be attended with advantage.
^^ A name, probably, of Eastern origin, and now universally employed.
^^ " Bilbilis" lias been sufrirested.
*oo"
62 Syrop of white poppies was, till recently, known as sirop of diaco-
dium. Opium is now universally regarded as one of the most important
ingredients of the Materia Medica.
63 Poppy-seed, in reality, is not possessed of any soporific qualities what-
ever. This discovery, however, was only made iu the latter part of the
last century, by the French chemist, Rosier.
Chap. 76.] THE WHITE AlfD BLACK POPPT. 277
entering into the composition of eye-salves," and still less of
the preparations from it known as febrifuges,^ digestives, and
coeliacs : the black poppy, however, is very generally pre-
scribed, in wine, for coeliac affections. All the cultivated^
poppies are larger than the others, and the form of the head
is round. In the wild poppy the head is elongated and small,
but it is possessed of more active" properties than the others in
every respect. This head is often boiled, and the decoction ot
it taken to promote sleep, the face being fomented also with
the water. The best poppies are grown in dry localities, and
where it seldom rains.
When the heads and leaves of the poppy are boiled together,
the name given to the decoction is " meconium ;"^^ it is much
less powerful, however, in its effects than opium.
The principal test^^ of the purity of opium is the smell,
which, when genuine, is so penetrating as to be quite insup-
portable. The next best test is that obtained by lighting it at
a lamp ; npon which it ought to burn with a clear, brilliant
flame, and to give out a strong odour when extinguished ; a
thing that never happens when opium has been drugged, for,
in such case, it lights with the greatest difficulty, and the
flame repeatedly goes out. There is another way of testing
its genuineness, by water ; for, if it is pure, it will float like a
thin cloud upon the surface, but, if adulterated, it will unite in
the form of blisters on the water. But the most surprising
thing of all is the fact, that the sun's heat in summer furnishes
a test ; for, if the drug is pure, it will sweat and gradually
melt, till it has all the appearance of the juice when fresh
gathered.
Mnesides is of opinion that the best way of preserving
opium is to mix henbane seed with it ; others, again, recom-
mend that it should be kept with beans.
6i "Collyriis."
^^ *' Lexipyretos," " pepticas," and •' coeliacas" — Greek appellations.
^^ The type of the cultivated poppy is the Papaver somniferuru of
Linnaeus.
^'' This, Fee says, is a matter of doubt.
"* From fiijKOJv^ a "poppy." Tourncfort has described this kind of
opium obtained by dt;coction ; it is held in little esteem.
^^ Fee remarks, tliat this account of the tests of opium is correct in the
extreme.
278 Flint's natueal histoet. ' [Book XX.
CHAP. 77. (19.) THE POPPY CALLED EHCEAS : TWO EEMEDIES.
The poppy which we have™ spoken of under the names of
"rhceas" and the " erratic'* poppy, forms an intermediate va-
riety between the cultivated and the wild poppy ; for it grows
in the fields, it is true, but it is self-set nevertheless. Some
persons eat'^ it, calyx and all, immediately after it is gathered.
This plant is an extremely powerful purgative : five heads of
it, boiled in three semi-sextarii of wine, and taken in drink,
have the effect of producing sleep.
CHAP. 78. THE WILD POPPY CALLED CERATITIS, GLAFCIUM, OE
PAEALII7M : SIX EEMEDIES.
There is one variety of wild poppy known as " ceratitis."^^
It is of a black colour, a cubit in height, and has a thick root
covered with bark, with a head resembling a small bud, bent
and pointed at the end like a horn. The leaves of this plant
are smaller and thinner than those of the other wild poppies,
and the seed, which is very diminutive, is ripe at harvest.
Taken with honied wine, in doses of half an acetabulum, the
seed acts as a purgative. The leaves, beaten up in oil, are a
cure for the white'^ specks which form on the eyes of beasts
of burden. The root, boiled down to one half, in doses of one
acetabulum to two sextarii of water, is prescribed for maladies
of the loins and liver, and the leaves, employed with honey,
are a cure for carbuncles.
Some persons give this kind of poppy the name of *' glau-
cion," and others of " paralium,"^* for it grows, in fact, in
spots exposed to exhalations from the sea, or else in soils of a
nitrous nature.
CHAP. 79. THE WILD POPPY CALLED HERA.CLIIJM, OE APHEON I
FOUE EEMEDIES. DIACODION.
There is another kind'^ of wild poppy, known as "heraclion"
"0 In B. xix. c. 53. The Papaver rhoBas of Linnaeus : the field poppy,
corn poppy, or corn rose.
71 Theophrastus says that it has just the taste of wild endive. Fee re-
marks that the peasants of Treves eat the leaves of this poppy while young.
'2 The Glauciura Corniculatum of Persoon ; the horned poppy, or glau-
cium. This, Fee remarks, is not a poppy in reality, but a species of the
genus Chelidonium. The juice is an irritating poison, and the seed is said
to act as an emetic. "^'^ " Argema." ''^ " By the sea-shore."
"' Not a poppy, but the Euphorbia esula of Linnaeus, a spurge. The
Chap. 80.] THE POrPT CALLED TITHTMA-LON. 279
by some persons, and as " aphron " by others. The leaves of
it, when seen from a distance, have all the appearance of spar-
rows ;'^ the root lies on the surface of the ground, and the seed
has exactly the colour of foam.''' This plant is used for the
purpose of bleaching linen "^ cloths in summer. It is bruised
in a mortar for epilepsy, being given in white wine, in doses
of one acetabulum, and acting as an emetic.
This plant is extremely useful, also, for the composition of
the medicament known as " diacodion,"" and '' arteriace."
This preparation is made with one hundred and twenty heads^
of this or any other kind of wild poppy, steeped for two days
in three sextarii of rain water, after which they are boiled in
it. You must then dry the heads ; which done, boil them
down with honey to one half, at a slow heat. More recently,
there have been added to the mixture, six drachmae of saffron,
hypocisthis,^^ frankincense, and gum acacia, with one sextarius
of raisin wine of Crete. All this, however, is only so much
ostentation ; for the virtue of this simple and ancient prepara-
tion depends solely upon the poppy and the honey.
CHAP. 80. — THE POPPY CALLED TITHTMALON, OK PAEALION : THREE
EEMEDIES.
There is a third kind, again, called "tithymalon;"®- some
milky juice found in the stalk and leaves have caused it to be classed
among the poppies, as other varieties of Euphorbiaceae appear to have
been, among the wild lettuces.
■^ Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 31, compares this plant with the
Struthium — (see B. xix. c. 18). Pliny, or his scribes, have supposed him
to be speaking of the arpovBoQ, or " sparrow" — hence the present mistake.
The Struthium itself has received that name from the resemblance which
its flower bears to a bird with the wings expanded.
'^ Hence its name, " aphron."
'* See B. xix. c. 4. Pliny has here mistaken a passage of Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 31 ; where he attributes this quality to the Struthium,
and not the Heraclium.
■'^ See c. 76 of this Book. It is difficult to conjecture how one of the
Euphorbiaceae, a powerful drastic, could enter into the composition of a
soothing preparation, such as the diacodion is said to have been.
^ " Capitibus." As Fee remarks, the capsules of Euphorbia bear no
resemblance whatever to the heads of the poppy. Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 67,
similarly confounds these two plants.
81 See B. xxvi. c. 31.
^2 See B. xxvi. c. 41. Probably the Euphorbia paralias of Linnaeus, or
Sea euphorbia. Its medicinal properties are similar to those of the Eu-
phorbia esula above mentioned.
280
PLIirr's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XX.
persons give it the name of ''mecon," others of '' paralion.'*
It has a white leaf, resembling that of flax, and a head the size
of a bean. It is gathered when the vine is in blossom, and
dried in the shade. The seed, taken in drink, purges the
bowels, the dose being half an acetabulum, in honied wine.
The head of every species of poppy, whether green or dry, used
as a fomentation, assuages defluxions^^ of the eyes. Opium, if
taken in pure wine immediately after the sting of a scorpion,
prevents any dangerous results. Some persons, however, at-
tribute this virtue to the black poppy only, the head or leaves
being beaten up for the purpose.
CHAP. 81. (20.) PORCILLACA OR PTJRSLAIN, OTHERWISE CALLED
PEPLIS : TWENTV-FIVE REMEDIES.
There is a wild purslain,^^ too, called **peplis," not much
superior in its virtues to the cultivated ^* kind, of which such
remarkable properties are mentioned. It neutralizes the effects,
it is said, of poisoned arrows, and the venom of the serpents
known as haemorrhois and prester ;^^ taken with the food and
applied to the wound, it extracts the poison. The juice, too,
they say, taken in raisin wine, is an antidote for henlDane.
When the plant itself cannot be procured, the seed of it is
found to be equally efficacious. It is a corrective, also, of im-
purities in water ; and beaten up in wine and applied topically,
it is a cure for head-ache and ulcers of the head. Chewed in
combination with honey, it is curative of other kinds of sores.
It is similarly applied to the region of the brain in infants, and
in cases of umbilical hernia; as also for defluxions of the eyes,
in persons of all ages, being applied to the forehead and tem-
ples with polenta. If employed as a liniment for the eyes,
milk and honey are added, and when used for proptosis ^^ of
^3 The fructiferous heads of the Euphorbiaceae, thus employed, would,
as Fee remarks, be productive of most disastrous results.
^ The Euphorbia pcplis of Linnreus.
^ See B. xiii, c. 40. By Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 165, all these virtues are
attributed exclusively to the cultivated purslain. Indeed, there is no ana-
logy between the properties of the two plants ; though neither of them
is possessed of the wonderful virtues as antidotes here mentioned, and they
would only increase the sufferings of asthmatic patients.
86 As to this serpent, see Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 1. 722, et seq.
8'' A kind of spreading tumour, which, according to Scribonius Largus,
would appear as if about to force the eye out of the socket. Fee remarks,
that this malady is no longer known.
Chap. 81.] PORCILLACA OR PIIRSLAIN. 281
the eyes, the leaves are beaten up with bean-shells. In com-
bination with polenta, salt, and vinegar, it is employed as a
fomentation for blisters.
Chewed raw, purslain reduces ulcerations of the mouth and
gum-boils, and cures tooth-ache ; a decoction of it is good, too,
for ulcers of the tonsils. Some persons have added a little
myrrh to it, when so employed. Chewed, it strengthens such
teeth as may happen to be loose, dispels crudities, imparts ad-
ditional strength to the voice, and allays thirst. Used with nut-
galls, linseed, and honey, in equal proportions, it assuages pains
in the neck ; and, combined with honey or Cimolian chalk, it is
good for diseases of the maraillse. The seed of it, taken with
honey, is beneficial for asthma. Eaten in salads,'''' this plant
is very strengthening to the stomach. In burning fevers, ap-
plications of it are made with polenta ; in addition to which,
if chewed, it will cool and refresh the intestines. It arrests
vomiting, also, and for dysentery and abscesses, it is eaten with
vinegar, or else taken with cummin in drink : boiled, it is good
for tenesmus. Taken either in the food or drink, it is good for
epilepsy ; and, taken in doses of one acetabulum in boiled
wine,^ it promotes the menstrual discharge. Employed, also,
as a liniment with salt, it is used as a remedy for fits of hot
gout and erysipelas.
The juice of this plant, taken in drink, strengthens the kid-
neys and bladder, and expels intestinal worms. In conjunc-
tion with oil, it is applied, with polenta, to assuage the pain
of wounds, and it softens indurations of the sinews. Metro-
dorus, who wrote an Abridgment of Botany, ^^ says that it should
be given after delivery, to accelerate the lochia! discharge. It
is also an antaphrodisiac, and prevents the recurrence of las-
civious dreams. One of the principal personages of Spain,
whose son has been Pragtor, is in the habit of carrying the root
of it, to my knowledge, suspended by a string from his neck,
except when he is taking the bath, for an incurable affection
of the uvula ; a precaution by which he has been spared all
inconvenience.
I have found it stated, too, in some authors, that if the head
is rubbed with a liniment of this plant, there will be no de-
83 See B. XXXV. c. 57. ^^ *' Acetariis."
^'^ " Sapa." Grape-juice, boiled down to one third.
*^ 'ETTiroui'jv 'piZoTOVfxipuiv.
282 plint's natueal history. [Book XX.
fluxions perceptible the whole year through. It is generally
thought, however, that purslain weakens the sight.
CHAP. 82. — coriander: twenty-one remedies.
There is no wild coriander ^- to be found ; the best, it is
generally agreed, is that of Egypt. Taken in drink and ap-
plied to the wound, it is a remedy for the sting ^^ of one kind
of serpent, known as the amphisbaena :^^ pounded, it is healing
also for other wounds, as well as for epinyctis and blisters.
Employed in the same state with honey or raisins, it disperses
all tumours and gatherings, and, beaten up in vinegar, it re-
moves abscesses of an inflammator}- nature. Some persons
recommend three grains of it to be taken for tertian fevers, just
before the fit comes on, or else in larger quantities, to be bruised
and applied to the forehead. There are others, again, who
think that it is attended with excellent results, to put coriander
under the pillow before sunrise.
While green, it is possessed of verj^ cooling and refreshing
properties. Combined with honey or raisins, it is an excellent
remedy for spreading ulcers, as also for diseases of the testes,
burns, carbuncles, and maladies of the ears. Applied with
woman's milk, it is good for defluxions of the eyes ; and for
fluxes of the belly and intestines, the seed is taken with water
in drink; it is also taken in drink for cholera, with rue.
Coriander seed, used as a potion with pomegranate juice and
oil, expels worms in the intestines.
Xenocrates states a very marvellous fact, if true; he says,
that if a woman takes one grain of this seed, the menstrual
discharge will be retarded one day, if two grains, two days,
and so on, according to the number of grains taken. Marcus
Varro is of opinion, that if coriander is lightly pounded, and
sprinkled over it with cummin and vinegar, all kinds of meat
may be kept in summer without spoiling.
CHAP. 83. ORAGE I FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
Orage,^* again, is found both wild and cultivated. Pytha-
32 The Coriandrura sativum of Linnaeus. At the present day, wild cori-
ander is commonly found in Italy, on uncultivated soils. It may have been
naturalized, however, Fee thinks, since the time of Pliny.
9-* Nicander says also, that it is a cure for the stings of serpents and
scorpions, but there is no truth in the assertion. ^^ See B. viii. c. 35.
"5 The Atriplex hortensis of Linnaeus. F^e thinks that the wild atri-
Chap. 84.] THE MALLOW. 283
goras has accused this plant of producing dropsy, jaundice, and
paleness of the complexion, and he says that it is extremely
difficult of digestion. He asserts, also, to its disparagement,
that every thing that grows near it in the garden is sure to
be drooping and languid. Diodes and Dionysius have added
a statement, that it gives birth to numerous diseases, and that it
should never be boiled without changing the water repeatedly ;
they say, too, that it is prejudicial to the stomach, and that
it is productive of freckles and pimples on the skin,
I am at a loss to imagine why Solo of Smyrna has stated that
this plant is cultivated in Italy with the greatest difficulty.
Hippocrates ^ prescribes it with beet, as a pessary for affec-
tions of the uterus ; and Lycus of Neapolis recommends it to
be taken in drink, in cases of poisoning by cantharides. He
is of opinion, also, that either raw or boiled, it may be advan-
tageously employed as a liniment for inflammatory swellings,
incipient boils, and all kinds of indurations ; and that, mixed
with oxymel and nitre, it is good for erysipelas and gout. This
plant, it is said, will bring away mal-formed nails, without
producing sores. There are some persons who give orage-seed
with honey for jaundice, and rub the throat and tonsils with
it, nitre being added as well. They employ it, also, to purge
the bowels, and use the seed, boiled, as an emetic, ^^ either taken
by itself, or in conjunction with mallows or lentils.
Wild orage is used for dyeing the hair, as well as the other
purposes above enumerated.
CHAP. 84. (21.) — THE MALLOW CALLKD MALOPE : THIETEEN EEME-
DIES. THE MALLOW CALLED MALACHE : ONE KEMEDT. THE
MALLOW CALLED ALTHLEA, OR PLISTOLOCHIA I FIFTY- NINE REME-
DIES.
Both kinds of mallows,^^ on the other hand, the cultivated
and the wild, are held in very general esteem. These kinds
are subdivided, each of them, into two varieties, according to
plex of Pliny is some kind of Chenopodium, which it is now impossible to
identify. Orage is more of an aliment than a medicament. Applied ex-
ternally, it is soothing and emollient.
96 De Morb. Mulier. B. ii. c. 57.
3' It would not have this effect. The statements here given relative to
the virtues of orage are, in general, considered to be correct.
98 See B. xii. c. 22.
284 ' PLTjrr's NATUKAL HISTOET. [Boole XX.
the size of the leaf. The cultivated mallow with large leaves
is known to the Greeks by the name of " malope," ^^ the other
being called " raalache,"^ — from the circumstance, it is gene-
rally thought, that it relaxes - the bowels. The wild ^ mallow,
again, with large leaves and white roots, is called " althaea,"
and by some persons, on account of its salutary properties,
''plistolochia."^ Every soil in which mallows are sown, is
rendered all the richer thereby. This plant is possessed of re-
markable virtues,^ as a cure for all kinds of stings.^ those of
scorpions, wasps, and similar insects, as well as the bite of the
shrew-mouse, more particularly ; nay, what is even more than
this, if a person has been rubbed with oil in which any one of
the mallows has been beaten up, or even if he carries them on
his person, he will never be stung. A leaf of mallow put upon
a scorpion, will strike it with torpor.
The mallow is an antidote, also, against the poisonous effects
of white ' lead ; and applied raw with saltpetre, it extracts
all kinds of pointed bodies from the flesh. A decoction of it
with the root, taken in drink, neutralizes the poison of the
sea-hare,^ provided, as some say, it is brought off the stomach
by vomiting.
Other marvels are also related in connection with tlie mallow,
but the most surprising thing of all is, that if a person takes
half a cyathus of the juice of any one of them daily, he will be
^^ The Malva silvestris of Linnaeus, or wild mallow.
^ The Malva rotundifolia of Linnaeus, or round-leaved mallow.
2 From fia\d(T(jo), to "soften," or "relax."
2 These wild varieties are the same in every respect as the cultivated
kinds; their essential characteristics not being changed by cultivation.
See further as to the Althaea or marsh mallow, at the latter end of this
Chapter.
* The meaning of this name appears to be unknown. " Pistolochia" is
a not uncommon reading.
5 Mallows were commonly used as a vegetable by the ancients ; and are
so in China and the south of France, at tlie present day. The mucila-
ginous principle which they contain renders them emollient and pectoral ;
they are also sliglitly laxative.
6 The only benefit resulting from the application of mallows would be
the reduction of tlie inflammation ; the plant having no efficacy whatever
in neutraHzing the venom.
"^ Sub-carbonate of lead. The mallow would have little or no eflPect in
such a case.
'^ See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3,
Chap. 84.] THE MALLOW. 285
exempt from all diseases.^ Left to putrefy in wine, mallows are
remedial for running sores of the head, and, mixed with honey,
for lichens and ulcerations of the mouth ; a decoction of the root,
too, is a remedy for dandriff ^" of the head and looseness of the
teeth. With the root of the mallow which has a single stem,^^
it is a good plan to prick the parts about a tooth when it aches,
until the pain has ceased. With the addition of human saliva,
the mallow cleanses scrofulous sores, imposthumes of the parotid
glands, and inflammatory tumours, without producing a wound.
The seed of it, taken in red wine, disperses phlegm and relieves
nausea ; and the root, attached to the person with black wool,
is a remedy for affections of the mamillae. Boiled in milk, and
taken as a pottage, it cures a cough within five days.
Sextius ^""iger says that mallows are prejudicial to the sto-
mach, and Olympias, the Theban authoress, asserts that, em-
ployed with goose-grease, they are productive of abortion.
Some persons are of opinion, that a good handful of the leaves,
taken in oil and wine, promotes the menstrual discharge. At
all events, it is a well-known fact, that if the leaves are strewed
beneath a woman in labour, the delivery will be accelerated ;
but they must be taken away immediately after the birth, or
prolapsus of the uterus will be the consequence. Mallow-juice,
also, is given to women in labour, a decoction of it being taken
fasting in wine, in doses of one hemina.
Mallow seed is attached to the arms of patients suffering
from spermatorrhoea ; and, so naturally adapted is this plant
for the promotion of lustfulness, that the seed of the kind with
a single stem, sprinkled upon the genitals, will increase the
sexual desire in males to an infinite degree, according to
Xenocrates ; who says, too, that if three roots are attached to
the person, in the vicinity of those parts, they will be produc-
tive of a similar result. The same writer informs us also, that
injections of mallows are good for tenesmus and dysentery, and
for maladies of the rectum even, if used as a fomentation
only. The juice is given warm to patients afflicted with melan-
^ The same was said in the middle ages, of the virtues of sage, and in
more recent times of the Panax quinquefolium, the Ginseng of the Chinese.
^" Q. Serenus Sammonicus speaks of the accumulation of dandriff in the
hair to such a degree as to form a noxious malady. He also mentions the
present remedy for it.
1^ Some commentators have supposed this to he the Alcea. rosa of Lin-
ncEUS ; but Fee considers this opinion to be quite unfounded.
286 pltny's natural history. [Book XX.
choly, in doses of three cyathi, and to insane persons^'^ in doses
of four. One hemina of the decoction is prescribed, also, for
epilepsy. ^^ A warm decoction of the juice is employed, too, as
a fomentation for calculus, flatulency, gripings of the stomach,
and opisthotony. The leaves are boiled, and applied with oil,
as a poultice for erysipelas and burns, and raw, with bread, to
arrest inflammation in wounds. A decoction of mallows is
beneficial for affections of the sinews and bladder, and for
gnawing pains of the intestines ; taken, too, as an aliment, or
an injection, they are relaxing to the uterus, and the decoction,
taken with oil, facilitates the passage of the urine.^^
The root of the althaea ^^ is even more efficacious for all the
purposes above enumerated, and for convulsions and ruptures
more particularly. Boiled in water, it arrests looseness of the
bowels ; and taken in white wine, it is a cure for scrofulous
sores, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and inflammations of
the mamillae. A. decoction of the leaves in wine, applied as a
liniment, disperses inflammatory tumours ; and the leaves, first
dried, and then boiled in milk, are a speedy cure for a cough,
however inveterate. Hippocrates prescribes a decoction of the
root to be drunk by persons wounded or thirsty from loss of
blood, and the plant itself as an application to wounds, with
honey and resin. He also recommends it to be employed in a
similar manner for contusions, sprains, and tumours of the
muscles, sinews, and joints, and prescribes it to be taken in
wine for asthma and dysentery. It is a singular thing, that
water in which this root has been put, thickens when exposed
in the open air, and congeals ^^ like ice. The more recently,
however, it has been taken up, the greater are the virtues of
the root.'^
^- It would be of no use wliatever in such cases, Fee says.
^2 Without any good results, Fee says.
^* " Permeatus suaves facit." We can only make a vague guess at the
meaning ; as the passage is, most probably, corrupt.
1^ The Altbaea officinalis of Linnaeus, or marsh-mallow. The medicinal
properties are similar to those of the other varieties of the mallow.
^« It is the fact, that water, in which mallows are steeped, owing to the
mucilage of the root, assumes the appearance of milk.
^^ Fee says that this milky appearance of the water does not depend on
the freshness of the root ; as it is only the aqueous particles that are dried
up, the mucilage preserving its chemical properties in their original in-
tegrity.
Chap. 85.] WILD LAPATHTJM OE 0XALI8. 28/
CHAP. 85. — WILD LAPATHUM OE OXALIS, OTHERWISE CALLED
LAPATHUM CANTHERINUM, OR RUMEX : ONE REMEDY. HYDRO-
LAPATHinu: : two remedies. HIPPOLAPATHUM ; SIX REMEDIES,
- OXYLAPATHXTM : EOTIR REMEDIES.
Lapathum, too, has pretty nearly the same properties.
There is a wild^^ variety, known to some as ** oxalis,"
very similar in taste to the cultivated kind, with pointed
leaves, a colour like that of white beet, and an extremely
diminutive root : our people call it *'rumex,"" while others,
again, give it the name of " lapathum cantherinum." ^*^Mixed
with axle-grease, this plant is very efficacious for scrofu-
lous sores. There is another kind, again, hardly forming
a distinct vai'iety, known as " oxylapathon,"-^ which resembles
the cultivated kind even more than the last, though the
leaves are more pointed and redder : it grows only in marshy
spots. Some authors are found who speak of a '' hydrola-
pathon,"-^ which grows in the water, they say. There is also
another variety, known as " hippolapathon,"^ larger than the
cultivated kind, whiter, and more compact.
The wild varieties of the lapathum are a cure -* for the
stings of scorpions, and protect those who carry the plant on
their person from being stung. A decoction of the root in
vinegar, employed as a gargle, is beneficial to the^' teeth, and
if drunk, is a cure for jaundice. The seed is curative of the
most obstinate maladies of the stomach. ^^ The root of hip-
polapathum, in particular, has the property of bringing off
malformed nails ; and the seed, taken in wine, in doses of two
drachmae, is a cure for dysentery. The seed of oxy lapathum,
^^ The Eumex acetosella of Linneeus, or small sorrel.
^9 See B. xix. c. 60. 20 u jj^j-gg Lapathum."
21 Or " Lapathum with pointed leaves ;" the Rumex acutus of Linnaeus.
22 Qj. a ^atgi^. lapathum ;" the Rumex aquaticus of Linnaeus.
23 Or " horse lapathum ;" the Rumex patientia of Linnaeus : or dock,
as Fee thinks : though, according to Sprengel, the cultivated lapathum was
identical with that plant.
21 The medicinal properties of the lapathum vary according to the parts
of the plant employed. The leaves and stalks of the acid kinds of Rumex
are refreshing, and slightly diuretic and laxative. The action of those
which are not acid is sudorific, antiherpetic, and depurative.
■25 Fee says that it would be of no benefit whatever for tooth-ache.
26 It is not possessed of any stomachic properties, Fee remarks.
288 plent's natural history. [Book XX.
washed in rain-water, with the addition of a piece of gum
acacia, about the size of a lentil, is good for patients troubled
with spitting of blood. -^ Most excellent lozenges are made of
the leaves and root of this plant, with the addition of nitre
and a little incense. When wanted for use, they are first
steeped in vinegar.
CHAP. 86. CTLTIVATED LAPATHTJil *. TWENTY-ONE EHMEDIES.
BULAPATHUM : ONE EE3IEDY.
As to garden lapathum,-® it is good in liniments on the
forehead for defluxious of the eyes. The root of it cures
lichens and leprous sores, and a decoction of it in wine is
remedial for scrofulous swellings, imposthumes of the parotid
glands, and calculus of the bladder. Taken in wine it is a
cure for affections of the spleen, and employed as a fomenta-
tion, it is equally good for coeliac affections, dysentery, and
tenesmus. For all these purposes, the juice of lapathum is
found to be even still more efficacious. It acts as a car-
minative and diuretic, and dispels films on the eyes : put
into the bath, or else rubbed upon the bodj^ without oil,
before taking the bath, it effectually removes all itching sen-
sations. The root of it, chewed, strengthens the teeth, and a
decoction of it in wine arrests'-^ looseness of the stomach :
the leaves, on the other hand, relax it.
^ot to omit any particulars. Solo has added to the above
varieties a bulapathon,^^ which differs only from the others in
the length of the root. This root, taken in wine, is very
beneficial for dysentery.
CHAP. 87. (22.) MUSTARD, THE THREE RINPS OF IT : rORTY-FGIIK
REMEDIFS.
Mustard, of which we have mentioned ^' three different
-' It would be of no utility in such a case, Fee says.
23 Supposed by Fee to be the same as the wild lapathum of the last
Chapter, the Rumex acetosella of Linnaeus ; small sorrel.
-'•' Fee remarks that no part of lapathum is naturally astringent.
30 Or "ox lapathum." Fee considers this to be identical with the
" hippolapathon " of the last Chapter.
31 In B. xix. c. 54. Fee identifies these three varieties of mustard as
follows ; the slender-stemmed mustard of Pliny he identifies with the Sina-
pis alba of Linnaeus, mustard with white seeds. The mustard mentioned
as having the leaves of rape he considers to be the same as the Sinapis
Chap. S7.] MUSTARD. 289
kinds, when speaking of the garden herbs, is ranked by Py-
thagoras among the very first of those plants the pungency of
which mounts upwards; for there is none to be found more
penetrating to the brain and nostrils.
Pounded with vinegar, mustard is employed as a liniment
for the stings of serpents and scorpions, and it effectually neu-
tralizes the poisonous properties of fungi. To cure an immo-
derate secretion of phlegm it is kept in the mouth till it melts,
or else it is mixed with hydromel, and employed as a gargle.
Mustard is chewed for tooth-ache, and is taken as a gargle
with oxymel for affections of the uvula ; it is very beneficial,
also, for all maladies of the stomach. Taken with the food, it
facilitates expectoration^- from the lungs : it is given, too, for
asthma and epileptic fits, in combination with cucumber seed.
It has the effect of quickening the senses, and effectually
clears the head by sneezing, relaxes the stomach, and promotes
the menstrual discharge and the urinary secretions : beaten up
with figs and cummin, in the proportion of one-third of each
ingredient, it is used as an external application for dropsy.
Mixed with vinegar, mustard resuscitates by its powerful
odour persons who have swooned in fits of epilepsy or
lethargy, as well as females suffering from hysterical suffoca-
tions. For the cure of lethargy tordylon is added — that being
the name given to the seed of hartwort'^^ — and if the lethar-
gic sleep should happen to be very profound, an application
of it, Avith figs and vinegar, is made to the legs, or to the
head^* even. Used as an external application, mustard is a
cure for inveterate pains of the chest, loins, hips, shoulders,
and, in general, for all deep-seated pains in any part of the
body, raising blisters ^^ by its caustic properties. Ii, cases of
extreme indurations of the skin, the mustard is applied to the
part without figs; and a cloth is employed doubled, where it is
apprehended that it may burn too powerfully. It is used
ligra of Linnaeus, mustard with black seed ; and that with the leaf of the
•ocket he identifies with the Sinapis erucoides of Linnaeus, the Eruca
iilvestris of Gessner, or rocket-leaved mustard.
32 In reality, mustard is injurious for all affections of the chest and throat.
^' " Seseli."
31 A sinapism applied to the head, Fee remarks, in cases of cerebral
•ongestion, would very soon cause death.
35 Mustard poultices are used extensively at the present day for blisters
)n the chest.
VOL. IT. U
200 PLl.Xr's NATURAL HISTOET. [T^Ook XX.
also, combined with red-earth,-^'' for alopecy, itch-scabs^ le-
prosy, 2>hthiriasis, tetanus, and opisthotony. They employ
it also as a liniment with honey for styes ^' on the eyelids
and films on the eyes.
The juices of mustard are extracted in three different
w^ays, in earthen vessels in which it is left to dry gradually
in the sun. From the thin stem of the plant there exudes
also a milky juice, ^® which when thus hardened is remedial
for tooth- ache. The seed and root, after they have been left
to steep in must, are beaten up together in a mortar; and a
good handful of the mixture is taken to strengthens^ the
tliroat, stomach, eyes, head, and all the senses. This mixture
is extremely good, too, for fits of lassitude in females, being
one of the most wholesome medicines in existence. Taken in
vinegar, mustard disperses calculi in the bladder ; and, in com-
bination with honey and goose-grease, or else Cyprian wax,
it is employed as a liniment for livid spots and bruises. From
the seed, first steeped in olive-oil, and then subjected to
pressure, an oil is extracted, which is employed for rigidity
of the sinews, and chills and numbness in the loins and hips.
CHAP. 88. ADAHCA : FOKTY-EIGHT KEMEDIES.
It is said that adarca, of which we have already made
mention *° when speaking of the forest- trees, has a similar
nature ^^ to that of mustard, and is productive of the same
effects : it grows upon the outer coat of reeds, below the head.
CHAP. 89. MARRUBIUM OR PRASION, OTHERWISE LINOSTROPHON,
PHILOPAIS, OR PHJLOCHARES I TWENTY-NINE REMEDIES.
Most medical writers have spoken in high terms of marru-
^ " Rubrica." 37 « Scabras genas."
3^ This is not the fact ; no juice flows from the stem which is capable
of becoming concrete.
39 As a tonic, mustard-seed is commonly taken whole at the present day.
*o In B. xvi. c. 66. In B. xxxii. c. 52, we shall find PHny speaking of
this substance under the name of " Calamoclmus." Dioscorides, B. v.
c. 137, speaks of adarca as growing in Cappadocia, and as being a salt sub-
stance which adheres to reeds in time of drought.
*^ This, Fee says, cannot possibly be the fact, whatever adarca may
really have been.
Chap. 89.] matirubium: or PBAsroN. 291
bium, or horehound, as a plant of the very greatest utility.
Among the Greeks, it is called " prasion "^'- by some, by
others "iinostrophon,*'^^ and by others, again, ''philopais"*^ or
** philochares :"^° it is a plant too well known to require any
description.^^ The leaves ■*'' and seed beaten up, together, are
good for the stings of serpents, pains of the chest and side,
and inveterate coughs. The branches, too, boiled in water
with panic,^® so as to modify its acridity, are remarkably useful
for persons troubled with spitting ^^ of blood. Horehound is
applied also, with grease, to scrofulous swellings. Some
persons recommend for a cough, a pinch of the fresh seed with
two fingers, boiled with a handful of spelt ^ and a little oil
and salt, the mixture to be taken fasting. Others, again, regard
as quite incomparable for a similar purpose an extract of the
juices of horehound and fennel. Taking three sextarii of the
extract, they boil it down to two, and then add one sextarius
of honey ; after which they again boil it down to two, and
administer one spoonful of the preparation daily, in one cyathus
of water.
Beaten up with honey, horehound is particularly beneficial
for affections of the male organs; employed with vinegar, it
cleanses lichens, and is very salutary for ruptures, convul-
sions, spasms, and contractions of the sinews. Taken in drink
with salt and vinegar, it relaxes the bowels, promotes the
menstrual discharge, and accelerates the after-birth. Dried,
powdered, and taken with honey, it is extremely efiicacious
•^2 The "grass-green" plant. *^ The "twisted flax" plant.
** *• Lad's-love." *^ " Love and grace," apparently.
'^ There are two kinds of prasion mentioned by Dioscoridcs, and by
Pliny at the end of the present Chapter, one of which Fee is inclined to
identify with the Ballota nigra of Linnaeus, the fetid ballota ; and the other
with the Marrubium vulgare of Linnaeus, the white horehound. Bochart
conjectures that the word " marrubium " had a Punic origin, but Linnaeus
thinks that it comes from " IMaria urbs," the " City of the Marshes," si-
tuate on Lake Fucinus, in Italy.
*' Though much used in ancient times, horehound is but little employed
in medicine at the present day : though its medicinal value, Fee thinks,
is very considerable. Candied horehound is employed to some extent in
this country, as a pectoral.
*8 See B. xviii. c. 25.
*9 Its medicinal properties, as recognized in modem times, are in most
respects dissimilar to those mentioned by Pliny.
50 ''Far."
u 2
292 Pliny's natueal histoet. [Book XX.
for a dry cough, as also for gangrenes and hang-nails.^^ The
juice, too, taken with honey, is good for the ears and nos-
trils : it is a remedy also for jaundice, and diminishes the
bilious secretions. Among the few antidotes ^^ for poisons, it
is one of the very best known.
The plant itself, taken with iris and honey, purges the sto-
mach and promotes expectorations : it acts, also, as a strong
diuretic, though, at the same time, care must be taken not to
use it when the bladder is ulcerated and the kidneys are af-
fected. It is said, too, that the juice of horehound improves
the eyesight. Castor speaks of two varieties of it, the black
horehound and the white, which last he considers to be the
best. He puts the juice of it into an empty eggshell, and then
mixes the egg with it, together with honey, in equal pro-
portions : this preparation used warm, he says, will bring
absct-sses to a head, and cleanse and heal them. Beaten up,
too, with stale axle-grease and applied topically, he says, hore-
hound is a cure for the bite of a dog.
CHAP. 90. WILD THYME : EIGHTEEN EEMEDIES.
Wild thyme, it is said, borrows its name, '* serpyllum," from
the fact that it is a creeping^^ plant, a property peculiar to the
wild kind, that which grows in rocky places more particularly.
The cultivated^^ thyme is not a creeping plant, but grows up-
wards, as much a palm in height. That which springs up
spontaneously, grows the most luxuriantly, its leaves and
branches being whiter than those of the other kinds. Thyme
is efficacious as a remedy for the stings of serpents, the cen-
chris^^ more particularly ; also for the sting of the scolopendra,
both sea and land, the leaves and branches being boiled for the
purpose in wine. Burnt, it puts to flight all venomous crea-
5^ " Pterygia." " Pterygium" is also a peculiar disease of the eye.
5"^ " Inter pauca." He has mentioned, however, a vast number of so-
called antidotes or remedies. It is just possible that he may mean, " There
are few antidotes like it for efficacy."
53 " A serpendo :" the Thymus serpyllum of Linnaeus.
s* The Thymus zygis of Linnseus : the Serpyllum folio thymi of C.
Eauhin. Dioscorides says that it is the cultivated thyme that is a creeping
plant.
^* See Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 1. 712, et seq.
Cliap. 91.] SISTMBRniM OR THYME R^TJl^f. 293
tiues by its smell, and it is particularly beneficial as an anti-
dote to the venom of marine animals.
A decoction of it in vinegar is applied for head-ache, with
rose oil. to the temples and forehead, as also for phrenitis and
lethargy : it is given, too, in doses of four drachmas, for grip-
ings of the stomach, strangury, quinsy, and fits of vomiting.
It is taken in water, also, for liver complaints. The leaves are
given in doses of four oboli, in vinegar, for diseases of the
spleen. Beaten up in two cyathi of oxymel, it is used for
spitting of blood.
CHAP. 91. SISYMBRIUM OR THYMBR^UM : TWENTY-THREE
REMEDIES.
Wild®^* sisymbrium, by some persons called " thymbraeum,"
does not grow beyond a foot in height. The kind^® which
grows in watery places, is similar to nasturtium, and they^'
are both of them efficacious for the stings of certain insects,
such as hornets and the like. That which grows in dry loca-
lities is odoriferous, and is employed^® for wreaths : the leaf
of it is narrower than in the other kind. They both of them
alleviate head-ache, and defluxions of the eyes, Philinus says.
Some persons, however, employ bread in addition ; while
others, again, use a decoction of the plant by itself in wine,
It is a cure, also, for epinyctis, and removes spots on the face
in females, by the end of four days; for which purpose, it is
applied at night and taken off in the day-time. It arrests
vomiting, hiccup, gripings, and fluxes of the stomach, whether
taken with the food, or the juice extracted and given in drink.
This plant, however, should never be eaten by pregnant
women, except in cases where the foetus is dead, for the very
application of it is sufficient to produce abortion. Taken with
wine, it is diuretic, and the wild variety expels calculi even.
For persons necessitated to sit up awake, an infusion of it in
vinegar is applied as a liniment to the head.
55* The Sisymbrion menta of Gerard ; the Menta hirsuta of Decandolle,
|)riekly mint. Sprengel, however, takes it to he the Menta silvestris of
modu^ru Botany.
56 The Sisymbrion nasturtium of Linnaeus.
5' Apparently the Sisymbrium just mentioned, and the Nasturtium.
5* Ovid, Fasti, B. iv. L 869, speaks of Sisymbrium as being esteemed by
the Roman ladies for its agreeable smell.
294 PLINY's natural HlSTOl^r. [Book XX.
CHAP. 92. LINSEKD : THIRTY llEMEDIES.
Linseed-^^ is not only used in combination with other sub-
stances, but, employed by itself, it disperses spots on the face
in women : its juice, too, is very beneficial to the sight.
Combined with incense and water, or else with myrrh and
M'inc, it is a cure for defluxions of the eyes, and employed
with honey, grease, or wax, for imposthumes of the parotid
glands. Prepared^° like polenta, it js good for fluxes of the
stomach ; and a decoction of it in water and oil, applied topi-
cally with anise, is prescribed for quinsy. It is sometimes
used parched, also, to arrest looseness of the bowels, and ap-
])lications of it are used, with vinegar, for coeliac affections
and dysentery. It is eaten with raisins, also, for pains in the
liver, and excellent electuaries are made of it for the treatment
of phthisis.
Linseed- meal, with the addition of nitre, salt, or ashes,
softens rigidities of the muscles, sinews, joints, and vertebraB,
as M'ell as of the membranous tissues of the brain. Em-
])loyed with figs, linseed-meal ripens abscesses and brings them
to a head : mixed with the root of wild cucumber, it extracts®^
all foreign bodies from the flesh, as well as splinters of broken
hones. A decoction of linseed-meal in wine prevents ulcers from
spreading, and mixed with honey, it is remedial for pituitous
eruptions. Used with nasturtium, in equal quantities, it
rectifies^- malformed nails ; mixed with resin and myrrh, it
cures affections of the testes and hernia,^ and with water,
gangrenous sores. A decoction of linseed-meal with fenu-
greek, in the proportion of one sextarius of each, in hydromel,
is recommended for pains in the stomach ; and employed as
59 See B. xix. c. 1. The rich mucilage of linseed makes it extremely
valuable, in a medicinal point of view, for poultices. This mucilage is
found in the perisperm more particularly; the kernel containing a fixed
oil, whicli is extremely valuable for numerous purposes. The account
given by Pliny and the other ancient writers of the medicinal uses of
linseed, is, in general, correct.
60 " Inspersura," sprinkled with boiling water ; like oatmeal for por-
ridge, probably.
•"i It would be of no use whatever for such a purpose, Fee says.
•^e " Emendat." By bringing them off, probably.
62 It would be of no utility for hernia, Fee says, or for the cure of gan-
grenous sores.
Chap. 94.] meum:. 29. >
an injection, with oil or honey, it is beneficial for dangerous
affections of the chest and intestines.
CHAP. 93. ELITE : SIX EEMEDIES.
Blite^ seems to be a plant of an inert nature, without
flavour or an)' pungency whatever ; hence it is that, in
Meuander, we find husbands giving this name to their wives,
by way of^* reproach. It is*^ prejudicial to the stomach, and
disturbs the bowels to sucli a degree, as to cause cholera in
some. It is stated, however, that, taken in wine, it is good
for the stings of scorpions; and that it is sometimes used as a
liniment for corns on the feet, and, with oil, for affections of
the spleen and pains in the temples. Hippocrates is of opi-
nion, that if taken with the food,^' it will arrest the menstrual
discharge.
CHAP. 94. (23.) MEUM, AND MEUM ATHAMANTICTJM : SEVEN
REMEDIES.
Meum^® is never cultivated in Italy except by medical men,
and by veiy few of those. There are two varieties of it, the
finer kind being known as '' athamanticum," because, accord-
ing to some, it was first discovered by Athamas ; or else be-
cause, as others think, that of the best quality is found upon
Mount Athamas. ^^ The leaf of it is similar to that of dill, and
the stem is sometimes as much as two cubits in length : the
roots, which run obliquely, are numerous and mostly black,
though sometimes white : it is not of so red a hue as the other
kind.
The root of this plant, pounded or boiled, and taken in water,
is diuretic, and is marvellously efficacious for dispelling flatu-
lency of the stomach. It is good, too, for gripings of the bowels
and affections of the bladder : applied with honey to the
^' The Blitum capitatum of Linnaeus.
^ Hence, too, the Latin -word *' bliteus," meaning "insipid," "sense-
less," or ' worthless."
*^ This is not the case, it being as innocuous as it is insipid. Applied
t(^)ically, the leaves are emollient.
*>" There is no foundation, Fee says, for this opinion.
^^ The iEthusa meum of Linnteus ; our Spignel, or Baldmoney, the
Athamanta Matthioli of "Wulf. By some authorities it is called Fcni-
culum Alpinum perenne. It is possessed of exciting properties, and is uo
longer used in medicine. ^s g^.^ jj. [y. c. 5.
296 pliny's natural ni story. [Book XX.
region of the uterus, it acts as a diuretic ; and used as a liniment
with parsley, upon the lower regions of the abdomen in infants,
it has a similar effect.
CHAP. 95. — fennel: twenty-two remedies.
Fennel has been rendered famous by the serpent, which
tastes it, as already ^^ stated, when it casts its old skin, and
sharpens its sight with the juice of this plant : a fact which has
led to the conclusion that this juice must be beneficial, also, in a
high degree to the human sight. Fennel -juice is gathered when
the stem is swelling with the bud ; after which it is dried in
the sun and applied as an ointment with honey. This plant
is to be found in all parts of the world. The most esteemed
preparation from it, is that made in Iberia, from the tear-like
drops which exude '^ from the stalk and the seed fresh-ga-
thered. The juice is extracted, also, from incisions made in
the root at the first germination of the plant.
CHAP. 96. HiPPOMAKATHKON, OR MYRSINETJM : FIYE REMEDIES.
There is, also, a wild" variety of fennel, known by some
persons as *' hippomarathron," and by others as ''myrsineum;"
it has a larger kaf and a more acrid taste than the other kind.
It is taller, also, about the thickness of a walking-stick, and
has a white root: it grows in warm, but stony localities.
Diodes speaks, too, of another''^ variety of hippomarathron,
with a long narrow leaf, and a seed like that of coriander.
The seed of the cultivated fennel is medicinally employed in
wine, for the stings of scorpions and serpents, and the juice of
it, injected into the ears, has the effect of destroying small
worms that breed there. Fennel is employed as an ingredient
in nearly all our seasonings,'* vinegar'^ sauces more particu-
larly : it is placed also beneath the undercrust of bread. The
"0 See B. viii. c. 41. This plant is the Anethura feniculuin of Lin-
naeus. The seed and roots are still used in medicine, being sudorific,
diuretic, and aperitive.
^1 This resinous juice of fennel is no longer employed, or indeed known,
Fee says, to the curious.
72 "Horse marathrum :" the Cachrys Libanotis of Linnaeus, probably.
■^3 The Seseli tortuosum of Linnaeus, probably.
'* It is sometimes used at the present day for condim.ents, as a substitute
for anise. Pliny's account of its medicinal virtues, Fee says, is replete with
errors.
76 a Oxyporis :" perhaps " salad-dressings."
Chap. 97.] HEMP. 207
teeed, in fevers even, acts as an astringent upon a relaxed sto-
mach, and beaten up with water, it allays nausea : it is higlilr
esteemed, also, for affections of the lungs and liver. Taken
in moderate quantities, it arrests looseness of the bowels, and
.acts as a diuretic ; a decoction of it is good for gripings of the
«tomach, and taken in drink, it restores the milk. The root,
taken in a ptisan/*' purges the kidne5-s — an effect which is
equally produced by a decoction of the juice or of the seed ; the
root is good too, boiled in wine, for dropsy and convulsions.
The leaves are applied to burning tumours, with vinegar,
expel calculi of the bladder, and act as an aphrodisiac.
In whatever way it is taken in drink, fennel lias the pro-
perty of promoting the secretion of the seminal fluids ; and it
is extremely beneficial to the generative organs, whether a de-
coction of the root in wine is employed as a fomentation, or
whether it is used beaten up in oil. Many persons apply
fennel with wax to tumours and bruises, and employ the root,
with the juice of the plant, or else with honey, for the bites of
dogs, and with wine for the stings of multipedes.
Hippomarathron is more efficacious, in every respect, than
cultivated fennel ;'''' it expels calculi more particularly, and,
taken with weak wine, is good for the bladder and irregula-
rities of the menstrual discharge.
In this plant, the seed is more efficacious than the root ;
the dose of either of them being a pinch with two fingers,
beaten up, and mixed with the usual drink. Petrichus, who
wrote a work *' On Serpents,"''® and Micton, who wrote a trea-
tise " On^^ Botany," are of opinion that there is nothing in
existence of greater efficacy against serpents than hippoma-
rathron : indeed, JS'icander®*' has ranked it by no means among
the lowest of antidotes.
CHAP. 97. HEitP : NINE REMEDIES.
Hemp originally grew in the forests,®' where it is found
with a blacker and rougher leaf than in the other ®^ kinds.
76 See B. xviii. c. 13.
'"' Their properties, i'ee says, are vejv similar.
'8 "Ophiaca." 79 " fibizotomumena."
^0 Theriaca, 1. 596. et seq.
SI The wild hemp of Pliny is the Althaea cannabina of Linnjeus : the
hemp marsh-mallow.
^'^ The cultivated hemp is the Cannabis sativa of Liunaus.
298 PLINY's NATURAJi HISTOBT. [Book XX,
Hempseed,*'^ it is said, renders men impotent : the juice of
this seed will extract worms from the ears, or any insect
which may have entered them, though at the cost of producing
head-ache. The virtues of hemp, it is said, are so great, that
an infusion of it in water will cause it to coagulate :^ hence it
is, that if taken in water^ it will arrest looseness in beasts of
burden. A decoction of the root in water, relaxes contractions
of the joints, and cures gout and similar maladies. It is ap-
plied raw to burns, but it must be frequently changed, so as
not to let it dry.
CHAP. 98. FENNEL-GIANT *. EIGHT HEMEDIES.
Fennel-giant^ has a seed similar to that of dill. Thai
which has a single stem, bifurcated^ at the top, is generall}-
thought to be the female plant. The stalks of it are eaten
boiled ;" and, pickled in brine and honey, they are recom-
mended as particularly beneficial to the stomach f^ if taken,
however, in too large quantities, they are apt to produce
head-ache. The root of it in doses of one denarius to twc
cyathi of wine, is used in drink for the stings of serpents, and
the root itself is applied topically for the same purpose, as
also for the cure of gripings of the stomach. Taken in oil
and vinegar, it is used as a check for excessive perspirations,
in fevers even. The inspissated juice of fennel- giant, taker
in quantities the size of a bean, acts as a purgative f^ and the
pith^" of it is good for the uterus, as well as all the maladies
previously mentioned. To arrest haemorrhage, ten of the
seeds are taken in drink, bruised in wine, or else with the
63 He is speaking of the hemp marsh-mallow here, and not the real
hemp ; thougli at the same time he mingles with his statement severa.
facts which are stated hy Dioscorides with reference to the genuine hemp.
See B. xix. c. 56.
** This is evidently stated in reference to the hemp-mallow.
®^ For an account of the Ferula, see B. xiii. c. 42.
.^ An accidental circumstance, Fee says, and no distinctive mark of ses
or species.
>^'' Fee thinks that Pliny's meaning is, that it is eaten as a confection,
similar to those of angelica and parsley stalks at the present day. That,
however, would hardly appear to be the sense of the passage. In B. xix.
c. 56, he speaks of it being dried and used as a seasoning.
s** Fennel-giant is considered to be a good stomachic.
^^ This, Fee tliinks, is jjrobably the fact.
^" The pith, in reality, of the TJmbclliferae, is insipid and inert.
hap 100.] THE COMPOSITION OF THEBIACA. 299
)ith of the plant. There are some persons who think that
he seed should be administered for epilepsy, from the fourth
0 the seventh day of the moon, in doses of one spoonful.
Fennel-giant is naturally so inimical to the mursena, that
lie very touch of it even will kill that fish. Castor was of
pinion that the juice of the root is extremely beneficial to
he sight.
CHAP. 99. THE THISTLE OR SCOLTMOS : SIX EEMEDIES.
"We have ahready^^ spoken, when treating of the garden
lants, of the cultivation of the thistle ; we may as well,
herefore, not delay to mention its medicinal properties. Of
rild thistles there are two varieties ; one^- of which throws
ut numerous stalks immediately it leaves the ground, the
ther^^ being thicker, and having but a single stem. They
ave, both of them, a few leaves only, and covered with
rickles, the head of the plant being protected by thorny
oints : the last mentioned, however, puts forth in the middle
f these points a purple blossom, which turns white with
reat rapidity, and is carried off by the wind ; the Greeks
ive it the name of *' scolymos."
This plant, gathered before it blossoms, and beaten up and
tubjected to pressure, produces a juice, which, applied to the
ead, makes the hair grow again when it has fallen off through
(lopecy. The root of either kind, boiled in water, creates
hirst, it is said, in those who drink it. It strengthens the
comach also, and if we are to believe what is said, has some
ifluence upon the womb in promoting the conception of male
ffspring : at all events, Glaucias, who seems to have paid
he most attention to the subject, has written to that effect,
('he thin juice, like mastich, which exudes from these plants,
uparts sweetness to the breath.
CHAP. 100. (24.) THE COMPOSITION^ OF THERIACA.
But as we are now about to leave the garden plants, we will
lake this opportunity of describing a very famous preparatitm
' 91 In B. xix. c. 43.
92 Xhis, Fee considers to be the Cinara carduncellus of Linnaeus, arti-
hoke thistle, or Cardonette of Provence.
^* The Cinara scolymus of Linnajus probably, our artichoke, which the
ncients do not appear to have eaten. Both the thistle and the artichoke
,re now no longer employed in medicine.
300 fliny's natural history. [Book XX.
extracted from them as an antidote against the stings of all
kinds of venomous animals: it is inscribed in verse ^ uj^on a
stone in the Temple of -^sculapius at Cos.
Take two denarii of wild thyme, and the same quantity of
opopanax and meum respectively ; one denarius of trefoil
seed ; and of aniseed, fennel-seed, ammi, and parsley, six
denarii respectively, with twelve denarii of meal of fitches.
Beat up these ingredients together, and pass them through a
sieve ; after which they must be kneaded with the best wine
that can be had, and then made into lozenges of one victoria-
tus^^ each : one of these is to be given to the patient, steeped
in three cyathi of wine. King Antiochus^^ the Great, it is
said, employed this theriaca ^^ against all kinds of venomous
animals, the asp excepted.
Summary. — Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations,
one thousand, five hundred, and six.
EoMAN- AUTHORS QUOTED. — Cato^ the CensoT, M. Yarro,'
Pompeius Lenaeus,^ C. Valgius,'' Hyginus,^ Sextius Niger ^
8* Galen gives these lines, sixteen in number, in his work De Antidot.
B. ii. c. 14 ; the proportions, liowever, differ from those given by Pliny.
95 Half a denarius ; the weight being so called from the coin which was
stamped with the imnge of the Goddess of Victory. See B. xxxiii. c. 13.
9^ Antiochus II., the father of Antioch us Epiplianes.
9" Or " antidote," In this term has originated our word " treacle," in
the Elizabethan age spelt " triacle." The medicinal virtues of this com-
position were believed in, Fee remarks, so recently as the latter half ol
the last century. The most celebrated, however, of all tlie " theriacae"
of the ancients, was the " Theriaca Androraachi," invented by Andi-onia-
chus, the physician of the Emperor Nero, and very similar to that com-
posed by Mithridates, king of Pontus, and by means of which he was ren-
dered proof, it is said, against all poisons. See a very learned and inter-
esting account of the Theriacae of the ancients, by Dr. Greenhill, in Smith's
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. His articles " Pharmaceu-
tica," and " Therapeutica," will also be found well worth attention by the
reader of Pliny.
' See end of B. iii. 2 ggg ^^(j pf g_ jj^
3 See end of B. xiv.
■^ He is also mentioned in B. xxv. c. 2, as having commenced a treatise
on Medicinal Plants, which he did not live to complete. It is not im-
probable that he is the same Yalgius that is mentioned in high terms by
Horace, B. i. Sat. 10.
5 See end of B. iii. 6 See end of B. xii.
suMMAiir. 301
who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus ' who wrote in Greek,
Celsus,^ Antonius Castor.^
FoEEiGN- AUTHORS QroTED. — Democritus,^" Theophrastus,^^
Orpheus,^- Menanrler^^ who wrote the " Biochresta/* Pytha-
goras/^ Nicander,^^
Mr-DicAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Chrj'sippus/^ Diocles," Ophe-
lion/^ Heraclides/^ Hieesius,-^ Bionysins,-^ Apollodorus ^^ of
Citium, Apollodorus^^ of Tarentum, Praxagoras,^^ Plistoni-
■^ Supposed by some to be the same with the Bassiis Tiillius mentioned
by ancient writers as the friend of Niger, possibly the Sextius Niger here
mentioned. ^ See end of B. vii.
9 He lived at Rome in the first century of tlie Christian era, and pos-
sessed a botanical garden, probably the earhest mentioned. He hvod
more than a hundred years, in perfect health both of body and mind. See
B. XXV. c. 5. 10 Sgg g^(i Qf Q ii_
11 See end of B. iii.
1- A mystic personage of the early Grecian Mythology, under whose
name many spurious works were circulated. Pliny says, B. xxv. c. 2, that
he was the first who wrote with any degree of attention on the subject of
Plants. 13 Sgg gj^d of g_ xix.
1^ See end of B. ii. i^ See end of B. viii.
16 Probably Chrysippus of Cnidos, a pupil of Eudoxus and Philistion,
father of Chrysippus, the physician to Ptolemy Soter, and tutor to Erasis-
tratus. Others, again, think that the work "on the Cabbage," mentioned
by Plinv in c. 33, was written by anotlier Chrysippus, a pupil of Erasis-
tratus, in the third century b.c.
■^ A native of Carystus, in Eubcea, who lived in the fourth century b.c.
He belonged to the medical sect of the Dogmatici, and wrote several medi-
cal works, of which the titles only and a few fragments remain.
18 Of this writer nothing whatever is known.
13 For Heraclides of Heraclea, see end of B. xii. ; for Heraclides of
Pontus, see end of B. iv. ; and for Heraclides of Tarentum, see end of B.
m. They were all physicians.
"0 See end of B. xv. _ 21 gee end of B. xii.
2 It was probably this personage, or the one next mentioned, who wrote
io Ptolemy, one of the kings of Egypt, giving him directions as to what
>vines he should drink. See B. xiv. c. 9. A person of this name wrote a
ivork on Ointments and Chaplets, qu.ted by Athenaeus, and another on
V^enomous Animals, quoted by the same author. This last is probably the
rt^ork referred to by Pliny, B. xxi. cc. 16, 29, &c. It has been suggested
ilso, that the proper reading here is " Apollonius" of Citium, a pupil of
^opyrus, a physician of Alexandria.
'■^3 See the preceding Note.
21 A celebrated physician, a native of the island of Cos. He belonged
o the medical sect of the Dogmatici, and flourished probably in the fourth
century b.c. He was more particularly celebrated for his comparatively
iccurate knowledge of anatomy. The titles only and a few fragments oV
lis works survive.
302 Pliny's natural history. [Book XX.
cus,^^ Medius,^ Dieuches,^' Cleophantus,^^ Philistion,^^ Ascle-
piades,^^ Crateuas,^^ Petronius Diodotus,-^- loUas,^^ Erasistra-
tus/* Diagoras,^^ Andreas/^ Mnesides,^^ Epicharmus,^^ Da-
mioD, ^^ Dalion, *" Sosimenes, ''^ Tlepolemus, *^ Metrodo-
25 A pupil of Praxao:oras. He appears to have written a work on
Anatomy, quoted more than once by Galen.
26 A pupil of Chrysippus of Cuidos, and who lived probably in the
fourth and third centuries b.c. Galen speaks of him as being held in
great repute among the Greeks.
2^ He flourished in the fourth century b.c, and belonged to the medi-
cal sect of the Dogmatici. He wrote some medical works, of which no-
thing but a few fragments remain.
2» He lived probably about the beginning of the third century b.c, as
he was the tutor of Antigenes and Mnemon. He seems to have been
famous for his medicinal prescriptions of wine, and the quantities of coldi
water which he gave to his patients.
29 Born either in Sicily or at Locri Epizephyiii, in Italy. He is sup-
posed to have lived in the fourth century b.c By some persons he was
thought to have been one of the founders of the sect of the Empirici. He
wrote works on Materia Medica and Cookery, and is several times quoted-
by Pliny and Galen. 3o ^^,Q gi^fj Qf ^ yij,
3^ A Greek herbalist, who lived about the beginning of the first cen-
tury B.C. He is mentioned by Galen as one of the most eminent writersi'
on Materia Medica. Another physician of the same name is supposed to
have lived in the time of Hippocrates.
32 A Greek physician, supposed to have lived in or before the first cen-
tury B.c Dioscorides and Saint Epiphani us speak of Petronius a?e(^ Dio-
dotus, making them different persons ; and it is not improbable that the
true reading in c. 32 of this Book, is " Petronius et Diodotus."
3^ See end of B. xii. ^i ggg g^j of B. xi.
35 See end of B. xii.
'^ It is probable that there were several Greek physicians of this name ;
but the only one of whom anytliing certain is known is the physician to
Ptolemy Philopater, king of Egypt, in whose tent he was killed by Theo-
dotus, the JEtolian, b.c 217. He was probably the first writer on hydro-
phobia, Eratosthenes is said to have accused him of plagiarism.
3^ See end of B. xii.
3^ It is doubtful if the person of tliis name to whom Pliny attributes an
work on the Cabbage, in cc. '64. and 36 of this Book, was the same indi-
vidual as Epicharmus of Cos, the Comic poet, born b.c 540. It has been
suggested that the botanical writer was a difi'erent personage, the brother
of the Comic poet Demologus.
39 Possibly the same person as the Damon mentioned at the eiid of B,
vii. He is mentioned in c. 40 of this Book, and in B. xxiv. c. 120, and
wrote a work on the Onion.
i« See end of B. vi.
*i Beyond the mention made of him in c. 73 of this Book, nothing what-
ever is known relative to this writer.
^2 Beyond the mention made of him in c. 73, nothing is known of him.
Some read " Theopolemus."
SUMMAET. 303
IU3/^ Solo," Lycus/^ Olyiupias ^° of Thebes, Philinus/^ Pe-
irichus,^ Micton,*® Glaucias,^ Xenocrates.^^
^3 Probably Metrodorus of Chios, a philosopher, who flourished about
B. c. 330, and professed the doctrine of the Sceptics. Cicero, Acad. ii. 23,
§ 73, gives a translation of the first sentence of his work " On Nature."
*^ A physician of Smyrna. He is called Solon the Dietetic, by Galen ;
but nothing further seems to be known of his history.
45 See end of B. xii.
46 A Theban authoress, who wrote on Medicine ; mentioned also by
Plinius Valerianus, the physician, and Pollux.
*'' A Greek physician, a natiA'e of Cos, the reputed founder of the sect
of the Empirici. He probably lived in the third century b.c. From
Athenoeus we learn that he wrote a work on Botany. A parallel has been
drawn between Philinus and the late Dr. Hahnemann, by ¥. F. Brisken,
Berlin, 1834.
48 See end of B. xix.
4s The Scholiast on Nicander mentions a treatise on Botany written by
a person of this name : and a work of his on Medicine is mentioned by
Labbe as existing in manuscript in the Library at Florence.
°^ A Greek physician of this name belonging to the sect of the Empirici,
lived probably in the third or second century b.c. Galen mentions him
as one of the earliest commentators on the works of Hippocrates. It is
uncertain, however, whether he is the person so often quoted by Pliny.
51 A physician of Aphrodisias, in Cilicia, who lived in the reign of
Tiberius. He wrote some pharmaceutical works, and is censured by Galen
for bis disgusting remedies, such as human brains, fiesh, urine, liver, ex-
crements, &c. There is a short essay by him still in existence, on the
Aliments derived from the Aquatic Animals.
m
BOOK XXI.
AN ACCOUNT OF FLOWERS, AND THOSE USED FOE
CUAPLETS MORE PARTICULARLY.
CHAP. 1. (1.) — THE NAT UEE OF FLO'WEES AlfD GARLANDS.
Cato has recommended that flowers for making chaplets
should also be cultivated in the garden ; varieties remai'kable
for a delicacy which it is quite impossible to express, inas-
much as no individual can find such facilities for describing
them as Nature does for bestowing on them their numerous tints
— Nature, who here in especial shows herself in a sportive
mood, and takes a delight in the prolific display of her varied
productions. The other ^ plants she has produced for our use
and our nutriment, and to them accordingly she has granted
years and even ages of duration : but as for the flowers and
iheir perfumes, she has given them birth for but a day — a
mighty lesson to man, we see, to teach him that that which in
its career is the most beauteous and the most attractive to the
eye, is the very first to fade and die.
Even the limner's art itself possesses no resources for re-
producitig the colours of the flowers in all their varied tints
and combinations, whether we view them in groups alter-
nately blending their hues, or whether arranged in festoons, each
variety by ^ itself, now assuming a circular form, now running
obliquely, and now disposed in a spiral pattern ; or whether,
as we see sometimes, one wreath is interwoven within another.
CHAP. 2. (2.) GARLANDS AND CHAPLETS.
The ancients used chaplets of diminutive size, called
" struppi ;"^ from which comes our name for a chaplet, " stro-
1 See B. xxii. c. 1.
2 " Sive privatis generum funiculis in orbem, in obliquum, in ambitum ;
qiiaedijim coronae per coronas currunt." As we know but little of the forms
of the garlands and chaplets of the ancients, the exact translation of this
passage is very doubtful.
3 According to Boettiger, the word " struppus " means a string arranged
as a fillet or diadem.
Chap. 3.] THE ART OF MAKING GAIiLANDS. 305
phiolum." Indeed, it was only by very slow degrees that
this last word'^ became generalized, as the chaplets that were
used at sacrifices, or were granted as the reward of military
valour, asserted their exclusive right to the name of *' corona."
As for garlands, when they came to be made of flowers, they
received the name of ** serta," from the verb *' sero,"^ or
else from our word '* series."® The use' of flowers for gar-
lands is not so very ancient, among the Greeks even.
CHAP. 3. WHO INVENTED THE AET OF MAZING GARLANDS :
WHEN THEY FIRST RECEIVED THE NAME OF *' COROLLA," AND
FOR WHAT REASON.
For in early times it was the usage to crown the victors in
the sacred contests with branches of trees : and it was only
at a later period, that they began to vary their tints by the
combination^ of flowers, to heighten the effect in turn by their
colour and their smell — an invention due to the ingenuity of
the painter Pausias, at Sicyon,^ and the garland-maker Gly-
cera, a female to whom he was greatly attached, and whose
handiwork was imitated by him in colours. Challenging him
to a trial of skill, she would repeatedly vary her designs, and
thus ii, was in realitj' a contest between art and Nature ; a fact
which we find attested by pictures of that artist even still in
existence, more particularly the one known as the " Stephane-
plocos,"^^ in which he has given a likeness of Glycera herself.
This invention, therefore, is only to be traced to later than the
Hundredth^' Olympiad.
Chaplets of flowers being now the fashion, it was not long
before those came into vogue which are known to us as
* Fee makes the word "vocabulum" apply to "corona," and not to
" struppus ;" but the passage will hardly admit of that rendering.
^ "To bind" or "join together."
6 A " connected line," from the verb "sero."
■^ By "quod," Hardouin takes Pliny to mean, the use of the word
(TTrapTov, among the Greeks, corresponding with the Latin word " sertum."
^ These chaplets, we learn from Festus, were called " pancarpiae."
The olive, oak, laurel, and myrtle, were the trees first used for chaplets.
9 See B. XXXV. c. 40.
ic The " Chaplet-weaver." See B. xxxv. c. 40.
11 B.C. 380.
TOL. IV. X
306 pliny's natural histoet. [Book XXI.
Egyptian^^ chaplets ; and then the winter chaplets, made for
the time at which Earth refuses her flowers, of thin laminae of
horn stained various colours. By slow degrees, too, the name
was introduced at Rome, these garlands being known there
at first as " corollae," a designation given them to express
the remarkable delicacy ^^ of their texture. In more recent
times, again, when the chaplets presented were made of thin
plates ^^ of copper, gilt or silvered, they assumed the name
of '* coroUaria."
CHAP. 4. (3.) WHO WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE CHAPLETS WITH
LEAVES OF SILVER AND GOLD. LEMNISCI : WHO WAS THE FIRST
TO EMBOSS THEM.
Crassus Dives ^^ was the first who gave chaplets with arti-
ficial leaves of silver and gold, at the games celebrated by him.
To embellish these chaplets, and to confer additional honour
on them, lemnisci were added, in imitation of the Etruscan
chaplets, which ought properly to have none but lemnisci '®
made of gold. For a long period these lemnisci were desti-
tute of ornament i^' P. Claudius Pulcher^^ was the first who
taught us to emboss ^^ them, and added leaves of tinsel to the
laminae "° of which the lemniscus was formed.
CHAP. 5. THE GREAT HONOUR IN WHICH CHAPLETS WERE HELD
BY THE ANCIENTS.
Chaplets, however, were always held in a high degree of
estimation, those even which were acquired at the public
games. Eor it was the usage of the citizens to go down in
person to take part in the contests of the Circus, and to
send their slaves and horses thither as well. Hence it is that
we find it thus written in the laws of the Twelve Tables :
12 From Athenoeus, B. xv. c. 2, et seq., wo learn that the Egyptian
chaplets were made of ivy, narcissus, pomegranate blossoms, &c.
'•^ " Corolla," being the diminutive of " corona."
1* Or tinsel. ^^ The " Rich."
16 Ribbons or streamers. " "Pari."
18 Consul, A.u.c. 570.
19 Or "engrave," "caelare." He is probably speaking here of golden
lemnisci,
20 «' Philyrse." This was properly the inner bark of the linden-tree ;
but it is not improbable that thin plates of metal were also so called, from
the resemblance. The passage, however, admits of various modes of ex-
planation.
Chap. 6.] CHAPLETS. 307
" If any person has gained a chaplet himself, or by his
money,'^^ let the same be given to him as the reward of his
prowess.*' There is no doubt that by the words " gained by
his money," the laws meant a chaplet which had been gained
by his slaves or horses. Well then, what was the honour ac-
quired thereby ? It was the right secured by the victor, for
himself and for his parents, after death, to be crowned with-
out fail, while the body was laid out in the house, ^^ and on its
being carried ^^ to the tomb.
On other occasions, chaplets were not indiscriminately
worn, not even those which had been won in the games.
CHAP. 6. THE SEVERITY OF THE AlfCIEIfTS IN" EEPEEENCE TO
CHAPLETS.
Indeed the rules upon this point were remarkably severe.
L. Fulvius, a banker,-* having been accused, at the time of
the Second Punic War, of looking down from the balcony ^'^
of his house upon the Forum, with a chaplet of roses upon
his head, was imprisoned by order of the Senate, and was not
liberated before the war was brought to a close. P. Muna-
tius, having placed upon his head a chaplet of flowers taken
from the statue of Marsyas,'^ was condemned by the Trium-
viri to be put in chains. Upon his making appeal to the
tribunes of the people, they refused to intercede in his behalf
— a very different state of things to that at Athens, where
the young men,-^ in their drunken revelry, were in the habit,
21 "Pecunia." Fee compares this usage with the employment of jockies
at horse-races in England and France.
22 " Intus positus esset." 23 u Poris ferretur."
2* Or " raoney-clianger," " argentarius."
25 "Epergula sua." Scaliger thinks that the "pergula" was a part
of a house built oat into the street, while, according to Ernesti, it was a
little room in the upper part of a house. In B. xxxv. c. 36, it clearly
means a room on the ground-floor.
26 In the Fora of ancient cities there was frequently a statue of this my-
thological personage, with one hand erect, in token, Servius says (on
B. iv. 1. 58 of the ^neid), of the freedom of the state, Marsyas having been
the minister of Bacchus, the god of liberty. His statue in the Forum of
Rome was the place of assembly for the courtesans of that city, who used
to crown it with chaplets of flowers. See also Horace i. Sat. 6. 1. 120 ;
Juvenal, Sat. 9. 1. 1 and 2; and Martial, ii. Ep. 64. 1. 7.
2' Cujacius thinks that Pliny has in view here Polemon of Athens, who
when a young man, in his drunken revelry, burst into the school of Xeno-
crates. the philosoplier, with his fellow-revellers, wearing his festive gar-
X 2
308 PLINY'S NATUR^VI. HISTORY. [Book XXI.
before midday, of making their way into the very schools of
the philosophers even. Among ourselves, no such instance of
a similar licentiousness is to be found, unless, indeed, in the
case of the daughter-^ of the late Emperor Augustus, who, in
her nocturnal debaucheries, placed a chaplet on the statue^'
of Marsyas» conduct deeply deplored in the letters of that
god.^
CHAP. 7. A CITIZEN DECKED WITH FLOWERS BY THE ROMAN
PEOPLE.
Scipio is the only person that ever received from the Roman
people the honour of being decked with flowers. This
Scipio received the surname of Scrapie, ^^ from his remarkable
resemblance to a certain person of that name who dealt in
pigs. He died in his tribuneship, greatly beloved by the
people, and in every way worthy of the family of the Africani.
The property he left was not sufficient to pay the expenses of
his burial ; upon which the people made a subscription and
contracted ^'^ for his funeral, flowers being scattered upon the
body from every possible quarter^ as it was borne along.
CHAP. 8. — PLAITED CHAPLETS. NEEDLE-WORK CHAPLBTS.
NARD-LEAF CHAPLETS. SILKEN CHAPLETS.
In those days, too, chaplets were employed in honour of the
gods, the Lares, public as well as domestic, the sepulchres,^*
and the Manes. The highest place, however, in public esti-
mation, was held by the plaited chaplet ; such as we find used
land on his head. Being arrested, however, by the discourse, he stopped
to listen, and at length, tearing off the garland, determined to enter on a
more abstemious course of life. Becoming an ardent disciple of Xeno-
crates, he ultimately succeeded him at the head of the school. The pas-
sage as given in the text, from its apparent incompleteness, would appear
to be in a mutilated state.
28 Julia. See B. vii. c, 46.
29 Thus acknowledging herself to be no better than a common courtesan.
30 " lUius dei." ^^ See B. vii. c. 10.
32 " Funus elocavit."
33 « E prospectu orani." " From every look-out :" i.e. from the roofs,
doors, and windows.
3* This usage is still observed in the itmnortelles, laid on the tombs of
departed friends, in CathoUc countries on the continent. Tibullus alludes
to it, B. ii. El. 4 :
*' Atque aliquis senior veteres veneratus amores,
Annua constructo serta dabit tumulo."
Chap. 9.] CHAPLETS. 309
by the Salii in their sacred rites, and at the solemnization of
their yearly ^^ banquets. In later times, the rose chaplet has
been adopted, and luxury arose at last to such a pitch that a
chaplet was held in no esteem at all if it did not consist en-
tirely of leaves sown together with the needle. More recently,
again, they have been imported from India, or from nations
beyond the countries of India.
But it is looked upon as the most refined of all, to present
chaplets made of nard leaves, or else of silk of many colours
steeped in unguents. Such is the pitch to which the luxu-
riousness of our women has at last arrived !
CHAP. 9. AUTnOES WHO HAVE WEITTEI^ ON ELOWPHIS. AX
ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO QUEEN CLEOPATKA AND CHAPLETS.
Among the Greeks, the physicians Mnesitheus and Calli-
machus have written separate treatises on the subject of
chaplets, making mention of such flowers as are injurious to
the head.-''^ For, in fact, the health is here concerned to some
extent, as it is at the moments of carousal and gaiety in par-
ticular that penetrating odours steal insidiously upon the
brain — witness an instance in the wicked cunning displayed
upon one occasion by Cleopatra.
At the time when preparations were making for the battle
that was eventually fought at Actium, Antonius held the
queen in such extreme distrust as to be in dread of her very
attentions even, and would not so much as touch his food,
unless another person had tasted it first. Upon this, the
queen, it is said, wishing to amuse herself with his fears, had
the extremities of the flowers in a chaplet dipped in poison, and
then placed it upon her head.^^ After a time, as the hilarity
increased apace, she challenged Antonius to swallow the chap-
es At the conclusion of the festival of Mars on the 1st of March, and
for several successive days. These entertainments were celebrated in the
Temple of that god, and were proverbial for their excellence.
3s It is a well-known fact, as Fee remarks, that the smell of flowers is
productive, in some persons, of head-ache, nausea, and vertigo. lie states
also that persons have been known to meet their death from sleeping all
night in the midst of odoriferous flowers.
3" "Ipsaque capiti imposita." Holland and Ajasson render this as
though Cleopatra placed the garland on Antony's head, and not her own.
Littre agrees with the translation here adopted.
of
310 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book XXI.
lets, mixed up with their drink. Who, under such circumstances
as these, could have apprehended treachery? Accordingly,
the leaves were stripped from off the chaplet, and thrown into
the cup. Just as Antonius was on the very point of drinkin
she arrested his arm with her hand. — " Behold, Marcus An
tonius," said she, *' the woman against whom you are so care-
ful to take these new precautions of yours in employing your
tasters ! And would then, if I could exist without you, either
means or opportunity of effecting my purpose be wanting to
me?" Saying this, she ordered a man to be brought from
prison, and made him drink off the potion ; he did so, and
fell dead^^ upon the spot.
Besides the two authors above-mentioned, Theophrastus,^^
among the Greeks, has written on the subject of flowers.
Some of our own writers also have given the title of " Antho-
logica" to their works, but no one, to my knowledge at least,
has treated expressly ''° of flowers. In fact, we ourselves have
no intention here of discussing the mode of wearing chaplets,
for that would be frivolous*^ indeed ; but shall proceed to
state such particulars in relation to flowers as shall appear to
us deserving of remark.
CHAP. 10. (4.) — THE ROSE : TWELVE VARIETIES OF IT.
The people of our country were acquainted with but very
few garland flowers among the garden plants, and those few
hardly any but the violet and the rose. The plant which bears
the rose is, properly speaking, more of a thorn than a shrub —
indeed, we sometimes find it growing on a bramble''^ even ;
the flower having, even then, a pleasant smell, though by no
means penetrating. The flower in all roses is originally en-
closed in a bud,*^ with a grained surface within, which gra-
dually swells, and assumes the form of a green pointed cone,
similar to our alabaster"** unguent boxes in shape. Gradually
33 Fee remarks that \ye know of no poisons, hydrocyanic or prussic acid
excepted, so instantaneous in their effects as this ; and that it is very
doubtful if they were acquainted with that poison.
39 Hist. Plant. B. vi. cc. 6, 7. *o " Persecutiis est."
*i A characteristic, it would appear, of the greater part of the inform-
ation already given in this Book.
^"^ He alludes to the wild rose or eglantine. See B. xvi. c. 71.
*3 " Granoso cortice."
*♦ Boxes of a pyramidal shape. See B. ix. c. 56.
Chap. 10.1 THE EOSE. 311
acquiring a ruddy tint, this bud opens little by little, until at
last it comes into full blow, developing the calyx, and em-
bracing the yellow-pointed filaments which stand erect in the
centre of it.
The employment of the rose in chaplets is, so to say, the
least*^ use that is made of it. The flower is steeped in oil, a
practice which has prevailed from the times of the Trojan war,
as Homer*^ bears witness ; in addition to which, it now forms
an ingredient in our unguents, as mentioned on a previous
occasion.^' It is employed also by itself for certain medicinal
purposes, and is used in plasters and eye-salves^® for its pene-
trating qualities : it is used, also, to perfume the delicacies of
our banquets, and is never attended with any noxious results.
The most esteemed kinds of rose among us are those of
Praeneste^^ and Campania.^" Some persons have added to these
varieties the rose of Miletus,^^ the flower of which is an ex-
tremely brilliant red, and has never more than a dozen petals.
The next to it is the rose of Trachyn,^^ not so red as the last,
and then that of Alabanda,^^ with whitish petals, but not so
highly esteemed. The least esteemed of all, however, is the
thorn rose,^^ the petals of which are numerous, but extremely
*' Still, even for that pui'pose the rose was very extensively used. One
ancient author states that, even in the middle of winter, the more luxurious
Komans were not satisfied without roses swimming in their Falernian wine ;
and we find Horace repeatedly alluding to the chaplets of roses worn by
the guests at banquets. Hence probably arose the expression, "Under
the rose." Fee is evidently mistaken in thinking that PUny implies here,
that it was but rarely used in chaplets.
« II. xxiii. 1. 186. 47 B. siii. c. 2.
48 "Collyriis."
*9 Clusius was of opinion tliat this was the Provence rose, the Rosa
Gallica of Linnaeus.
^ The same rose, probably, of which Virgil says, Georg. B. iv. 1. 119,
" Biferique rosaria Pfesti" — " And the rose-beds of Paestum, that bear
twice in the year." It has been suggested that it is identical with the
Eosa alba vulgaris major of Bauhin, the Rosa alba of Decandolle : but,
as F6e says, it is very questionable if this is correct, this white rose blossom-
ing but once a year.
5^ A simple variety of the Rosa Gallica of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
5'^ See B, iv. c. 14. According to J. Bauhin, this is the pale, flesh-
coloured rose, called the " rose of France," — the " Rosa rubello flore,
majore, pleno, incarnata vulgo." Others, again, take it to be the Damascus
rose.
53 See B. V. c. 29. A variety of the white rose, F^e thinks, tlie de-
termination of which must be sought among the Eglantines.
*^ "Spiniola." A variety belonging to or approaching the Eglantine
312 Pliny's natueal histoet. [Book XXI.
small. The essential points of difference in the rose are the
number^^ of the petals, the comparative number^^ of thorns on
the stem, the colour, and the smell. The number of the petals,
which is never less than live, goes on increasing in amount,
till we find one variety with as many as a hundred, and
thence known as the *' centifolia :"^' in Italy, it is to be found
in Campania, and in Greece, in the vicinity of Philippi, though
this last is not the place of its naturaP^ growth. Mount Pan-
gseus,^^ in the same vicinity, produces a rose with numerous
petals of diminutive size : the people of those parts are in the
habit of transplanting it, a method which greatly tends to im-
prove its growth. This kind, however, is not remarkable for
its smell, nor yet is the rose which has u very large or very
broad petal : indeed, we may state in a few words, that the
best proof of the perfume of the flower is the comparative
roughness of the calyx. ^"
Caepio, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, as-
serts that the centifolia is never employed for chaplets, except
at the extreme^^ points of union as it were, being remarkable
neither for its smelP^ nor its beauty. There is another variety
in all probability. Fee makes mention here of a kind called the Rosa
myriacantha by Decandolle (the "thousand-thorn rose"), which is found in
great abundance in the south of Europe, and other parts of it.
^5 Fee remarks on this passage, that the beauty of the flower and the
number of the petals are always in an inverse proportion to the number of
thorns, which disappear successively the more carefully the plant is culti-
vated.
55 This is most probably the meaning of " Asperitate, levore."
^"^ Still known as the " Rosa centifolia." Its petals sometimes exceed
three hundred in number ; and it is the most esteemed of all for its frag-
rant smell.
^^ '* Non suae terrag proventu."
^"^ This rose is mentioned also by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 6.
From the description that Pliny gives of it, Fee is inclined to think that
it is some variety of the Rosa rubrifolia, which is often found in moun-
tainous localities.
«" This assertion is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c.
6. Fee remarks that there is no truth in it. It is not improbable, how-
ever, that the word "cortex" here may mean, not the calyx, but tlie bark
of the stem, in reference to its exemptiom from thorns. The rpaxv to
KUTw of Theophrastus would seem to admit of that rendering. See Note
^ above.
61 "Extremas vclut ad cardines."
62 This is not tlie case with the Rosa centifolia of modern botany. See
Note ^^ above. It is not improbable, however, that the reading is "pro-
babilis," and that this passage belongs to the next sentence.
Cliap. 10.] THE ROSE. 313
of rose, too, called the ''Grecian" rose by our people, and
"lychnis"^ by the Greeks: it grows nowhere except in
humid soils, and has never more than five petals : it does not
exceed the violet in size, and is destitute of smell. There is
another kind, again, known to us as the ''Grsecula,"" the
petals of which are tightly rolled together, and which never
open except when pressed in the hand, it having always the
appearance, in fact, of being in bud : the petals of it are re-
markably large. Another kind, again, springs from a stem
like that of the mallow, the leaves being similar to those of
the olive — the name given to it is " macetum.*'^ There is
the rose of autumn, too, known to us as the ** coroniola,"^
which is of a middle size, between the varieties just mentioned.
All these kinds, however, are destitute of smell, with the
exception of the coroniola, and the one which grows on the
bramble i^'' so extended is the scope for fictitious^^ productions !
And, indeed, the genuine rose, for the most part, is indebted
for its qualities to the nature of the soil. That of Cyrense^^ is
the most odoriferous of all, and hence it is that the unguents
of that place are so remarkably fine : at Carthage, again, in
Spain, there are early''" roses throughout all the winter. The
temperature, too, of the climate is not without its influence :
for in some years we find the roses much less odoriferous than
in others ; in addition to which, their smell is always more
powerful when grown in dry soils''^ than in humid ones. The
6^ The Lychnis, Fee remarks, is erroneously classed by Pliny among
the roses. It is generally agreed among naturalists that it is the garden
flower, the Agrostemma coronaria of Linnaeus ; which, however, does not
grow in humid soils, but in steep, rocky places.
6* Or "small Greek" rose. Some commentators have identified it with
the Rosa silvestris, odorata, flore albo of C. Bauhin, a wild white rose.
^ Sillig thinks that this may mean the "Macedonian" rose. Another
reading is " moscheuton." Fee says that it is not a rose at all, but one of
the Malvaceae belonging to the genus Alcaea ; one variety of which is
called the Alcoea rosa.
«8 Or "little chaplet." Possibly a variety of the Eglantine, the Rosa
canina or .dog-rose, Fee suggests.
s' The Eglantine.
68 This seems to be the meaning of " tot modis adulteratur :" the rosea
without smell appearing to him to be not genuine roses.
69 The Rosa Damasccna of Miller, Fee thinks, our Damascus rose.
~^ The earliest rose in France and Spain, Fee Siiys, is the "pompon,"
the variety Pomponosa of the Rosa centifolia.
''^ This is consistent with modern experience.
314 PLirfs NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXI.
rose does not admit of being planted in either a rich or an
argillaceous soil, nor yet on irrigated land ; being contented
with a thin, light earth, and more particularly attached to
ground on which old building rubbish has been laid.
The rose of Campania is early, that of Miletus late, but it is
the rose of Praeneste that goes off the very latest of all. For
the rose, the ground is generally dug to a greater depth than it
is for corn, but not so deep as for the vine. It grows but very
slowly''^ from the seed, which is found in the calyx beneath the
petals of the flower, covered with a sort of down ; hence it is
that the method of grafting is usually the one preferred, or else
propagation from the eyes of the root, as in the reed.''^ One
kind is grafted, which bears a pale flower, with thorny
branches of a remarkable length ; it belongs to the quinquefolia
variety, being one of the Greek roses.'^* All roses are improved
by being pruned and cauterized; transplanting, too, makes
them grow, like the vine, all the better, and with the greatest
rapidity. The slips are cut some four fingers in length or
more, and are planted immediately after the setting of the
Vergiliae ; then, while the west winds are prevalent, they are
transplanted at intervals of a foot, the earth being frequently
turned up about them.
Persons whose object it is to grow early roses, make a hole
a foot in width about the root, and pour warm water into it,
at the period when the buds are beginning to put forth.'^
CHAP. 11. (5.) THE LILY : FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.
The lily holds the next highest rank after the rose, and has
a certain affinity'^® with it in respect of its unguent and the
oil extracted from it, which is known to us as ** lirinon.""
''^ From Theophrastus, Hist. PLint. B. vi. c. 6. The rose is but very
rarely reproduced from seed.
7^ See B. xvi. c. 67, and B. xvii. c. 33.
?* Previously mentioned in tliis Chapter. The meaning of this passage,
however, is extremely doubtful. " Unum genus inseritur pallidae, spinosse,
longissimis virgis, quinquifolise, quae Graecis altera est."
'5 If the water was only lukewarm. Fee says, it would be of no use,
and if hotter, the speedy death of the tree would be the result.
'6 « Quadam cognatione." He alludes to a maceration of the petals of
the rose and lily in oil. The aroma of the lily, Fee says, has not been
fixed by any method yet found.
" See B. xiii. c. 2.
Chap, 11.] THE LILT. 315
Blended, too, with roses, the lily'^ produces a remarkably fine
effect ; for it begins to make its appearance, in fact, just as the
rose is in the very middle of its season. There is no flower
that grows to a greater height than the lily, sometimes, in-
deed, as much as three cubits ; the head of it being always
drooping, as though the neck of the flower were unable to
support its weight. The whiteness of the lily is quite remark-
able, the petals being striated on the exterior ; the flower is
narrow at the base, and gradually expanding in shape like a
tapering'^ cup with the edges curving outwards, the fine pistils
of the flower, and the stamens with their antherae of a saffron
colour, standing erect in the middle.^*' Hence the perfume of
the lily, as well as its colour, is two-fold, there being one for
the petals and another for the stamens. The difference, how-
ever, between them is but very small, and when the flower is
employed for making lily unguents and oils, the petals are
never rejected.
There is a flower, not unlike the lily, produced by the plant
known to us as the '' convolvulus."^^ It grows among shrubs,
is totally destitute of smell, and has not the yellow antherae of
the lily within : only vying with it in its whiteness, it would
almost appear to be the rough sketch ^^ made by Kature when
she was learning how to make the lily. The white lily is
propagated in all the various ways which are employed for the
cultivation of the rose,®^ as also by means of a certain tearlike
7s The Lihum candidum of Linnaeus. Fee remarks that the " Lilium"
of the Romans and the Xdpiov of the Greeks is evidently derived from
the laleh of the Persians.
'9 " Calathi." The "calathus" was a work-basket of tapering shape ;
it was also used for carrying fruits and flowers, Ovid, Art. Am. ii. 264.
Cups, too, for wine were called by this name, Virg. Eel. v. 71.
*»•' As this passage has been somewhat ampMed in the translation, it
will perhaps be as well to insert it : '• Resupinis per ambitum labris, te-
nuique pilo et staminum stantibus in medio crocis."
^1 The Convolvulus sajpium of modern botany ; the only resemblance
in which to the lily is in the colour, it being totally different in every other
respect.
^- " Rudimentum." She must have set to work in a very roundabout
way, Fee thinks, and one in which it would be quite impossible for a na-
turalist to follow her.
^ The white lily is reproduced from the offsets of the bulbs ; and, as
Fee justly remarks, it is highly absurd to compare the mode of culti-
vation with that of the rose, which is propagated from slips.
316 pltnt's natural histoet. [Book XXI
gum®^ which belongs to it, similaily to hipposelinum^^ in fact :
indeed, there is no plant that is more prolific than this, a sin-
gle root often giving birth to as many as fifty bulbs.^^ There
is, also, a red lily, known by the name of '' crinon"^^ to the
Greeks, though there are some authors who call the flower of
it ^' cynorrodon." ^^ The most esteemed are those of Antiochia
and Laodicea in Syria, and next to them that of Phaselis.^'*
To the fourth rank belongs the flower that grows in Italy.
CHAP, 12. THE NARCISSUS I THREE VARIETIES OF IT.
There is a purple®^ lily, too, which sometimes has a double
stem ; it differs only from the other lilies in having a more
fleshy root and a bulb of larger size, but undivided : ^^ the
name given to it is " narcissus."^^ A second variety of this lily
has a white flower, with a purple corolla. There is also this
difierence between the ordinary lily and the narcissus, that in
the latter the leaves spring from the root of the plant. The
finest are those which grow on the mountains of Lycia. A
third variety is similar to the others in every respect, except
that the corolla of the plant is green. They are all of them
late ^^ flowers: indeed, they only bloom after the setting of
Arcturus,^* and at the time of the autumnal equinox.
^* This absurd notion is derived from Theophrastus, Hist, Plant. B. ii.
c. 2, and B. vi. c. 6. ^5 gee B. xix. c. 48.
66 The root really consists of certain fine fibres, to which the bulbs, or
rather cloves or offsets, are attached.
8"' Judging from what Theocritus says, in his 35th Idyl, the " crinon "
would appear to have been a white lily. Sprengel, however, takes the red
lily of Pliny to be the scarlet lily, the Lilium Chalcedonicum of Linnaeus.
68 Or " dog-rose :" a name now given to one of the wild roses.
83 See B. xiii. c. 9.
9'' Pee remarks, that it is singular that Pliny, as also Virgil, Eel. v. 1. 38,
should have given the epithet " purpureus" to the Narcissus. It is owing,
Fee says, to the red nectary of the flower, which is also bordered with a
very bright red. ^^ Into cloves or offsets.
92 The Narcissus poeticus of Linnseus. Pliny gives the origin of its
name in c. 75 of this Book.
93 Though supported by Theophrastus, this assertion is quite erroneous.
In France, even. Fee says, the Narcissus poeticus blossoms at the end of
April, and sooner, probably, in the climates of Greece and Italy.
^ See B. xviii. c. 76. It is just possible that Pliny and Theophrastus
may be speaking of the Narcissus serotinus of Linnaeus, which is found in
great abundance in the southern provinces of Naples, and is undoubtedly
the flower alluded to by Virgil in the words, "Nee sera coraantem Narcis-
Bum," Georg. iv. 11. 122, 123.
Chap. 14.] THE TIOLET. 31/
CHAP. 13. HOW SEED IS STAINED TO PEODGCE TINTED FLOWERS.
There has been invented^-'' also a method of tinting the lily,
thanks to the taste of mankind for monstrous productions.
The dried stalks ^^ of the lily are tied together in the month of
July, and hung up in the smoke : then, in the following
March, when the small knots^'^ are beginning to disclose them-
selves, the stalks are left to steep in the lees of black or Greek
wine, in order that they may contract its colour, and are then
planted out in small trenches, some semi-sextarii of wine-lees
being poured around them. By this method purple lilies are
obtained, it being a very remarkable thing that we should be
able to dye a plant to such a degree as to make it produce a
coloured flower.
CHAP. 14. (6.) — HOW THE SEVEKAL VARIETIES OF THE VIOLET
AliE RESPECTIVELY PRODUCED, GROWN, AND CULTIVATED. THE
THREE DIFFERENT COLOURS OF THE VIOLET. THE FIVE VARIETIES
OF THE YELLOW VIOLET.
I^ext after the roses and the lilies, the violet is held in the
highest esteem : of this there are several varieties, the pur-
ple,^^ the yellow, and the white, all of them reproduced from
plants, like the cabbage. The purple violet, which springs
up spontaneously in sunny spots, with a thin, meagre soil, has
larger petals than the others, springing immediately from the
root, which is of a fleshy substance. This violet has a name,
too, distinct from the other wild kinds, being called "ion," ^^
and from it the iantbine ^ cloth takes its name.
Among the cultivated kinds, the yellow- violet is held in the
greatest esteem. The Tusculan violet, and that known as the
95 Yee remarks, that the extravagant proceeding here described by
Pliny with a seriousness that is perfectly ridiculous, does not merit any
discussion.
^6 When detached from the bulb, the stem of the lUy will infallibly die.
^' "Nudantibus se nodulis." There are no such knots in the lily, as
Fee remarks.
88 The Viola odorata of Linnaeus. ^^ The Greek name.
^ "lanthina vestis," violet-coloured.
2 Dcsfontaines identifies this with the Cheiranthus Cheiri ; but Fee says
that there is little doubt that it belongs to the Viola tricolor herbensis
(pansy, or heart's-ease), in the petals of which the yellow predominates,
and the type of which is the field violet, or Viola arvensis, the flowers of
which are extremely small, and entirely yellow.
318 plint's natural histoet. [BookXXI.
** marine " ^ violet, have petals somewhat broader than the
others, but not so odoriferous ; the Calatian * violet, too, which
has a smaller leaf, is entirely destitute of smell. This last is
a present to us from the autumn, the others from the spring.
CHAP. 15. — THE CALTHA. THE SCOPA KEGIA.
"Next to it comes the caltha, the flowers of which are of
similar colour and size f in the number of its petals, however,
it surpasses the marine violet, the petals of which are never
more than five in number. The marine violet is surpassed,
too, by the other in smell ; that of the caltha being very power-
ful. The smell, too, is no less powerful in the plant known as
the ^'scopa regia;"^ but there it is the leaves of the plant,
and not the flowers, that are odoriferous.
CHAP. 16. THE BACCHAR. THE COMBRETUM. ASARUM.
The bacchar,' too, by some persons known as 'Afield nard,"
3 This lias been identified with the Cheiranthus incanus, the Cheiranthus
tricuspidatus of the shores of the Mediterranean, the Hesperis maritima of
Linnaeus ; also, by some commentators, with the Campanula Medium of
Linnaeus.
* So called, according to Pintianus and Salmasius, from Calatia, a town
of Italy. Fee adopts the reading " Calathiana," and considers it to have
received that name from its resemblance to the Caltha mentioned in the
next Chapter. Dalechamps identifies it with the Digitalis purpurea;
Gessner, Dodonseus, and Thalius, with the Gentiana pneumananthe, others
with the Gentiana ciliata and Pannonica, and Sprengel with the Gentiana
verna of Linnaeus. Fee admits himself totally at a loss on the subject.
5 " Concolori amplitudine." Gronovius, with considerable justice, ex-
presses himself at a loss as to the exact meaning of these words. If
Sprengel and Salmasius are right in their conjectures that the Caltha of
Pliny and Virgil is the marigold, our Calendula officinalis, the passage
cannot mean that the flower of it is of the same size and colour with
any variety of the violet mentioned in the preceding Chapter. From the
description given of it by Dioscorides, it is more than probable that the
Caltha of the ancients is not the marigold, and Hai'douin is probably
right in his conjecture that Pliny intends to describe a variety of the violet
under the name. Fee is at a loss as to its identification.
6 Or "royal broom." Sprengel thinks that this is the Chenopodium
Bcoparia, a plant common in Greece and Italy ; and Fee is inclined to
coincide with that opinion, though, as he says, there are numerous other
plants with odoriferous leaves and pliant shoots, as its name, broom, would
seem to imply. Other writers would identify it with a Sideritis, and
others, again,, with an Achillea.
' See B. xii. c. 26. Fee is inclined to coincide with Ruellius, and to
identify this with the Digitalis purpiu-ea, clown's spikenard, or our Lady's
Chap. 17.] SArFEON. 319
is odoriferous in the root only. In former times, it was tlie
practice to make unguents of this root, as we learn from the
poet Aristophanes, a writer of the Ancient Comedy ; from
which circumstance some persons have erroneously given the
name of '' exotic**^ to the plant. The smell of it strongly re-
sembles that of cinnamomum; and the plant grows in thin
soils, which are free from all humidity.
The name of " combretum "^ is given to a plant that bears
a very strong resemblance to it, the leaves of which taper to
the fineness of threads ; in height, however, it is taller than
the bacchar. These are the only ^o ■» if n. a. rpj^g error,
however, ought to be corrected, on the part of those who have
bestowed upon the bacchar the name of ''field nard ;" for that
in reality is the surname given to another plant, known to the
Greeks as '' asaron," the description and features of which we
have already ^^ mentioned, when speaking of the different va-
rieties of nard. I find, too, that the name of " asaron " has
been given to this plant, from the circumstance of its never ^-
being employed in the composition of chaplets.
CHAP. 17. — SAFPfiON : IN WHAT PLACES IT GEOWS BEST. WHAT
FLOWEES WEEE KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THE TEOJAN WAK.
The wild saffron ^^ is the best ; indeed, in Italy it is of no
gloves. The only strong objection to this is the fact that the root of the
digitalis has a very faint but disagreeable smell, and not at all like that of
cinnamon. But then, as Fee says, we have no positive proof that the
*' cinnamomum" of the ancients is identical with our cinnamon. See Vol.
iii. p. 138. Sprengel takes the " bacchar" of Virgil to be the Valeriana
Celtica, and the " baccharis" of the Greeks to be the Gnaphalium san-
guineum, a plant of Egypt and Palestine. The bacchar has been also
identified with the Asperula odorata of Linnaeus, the Geum urbanum of
Linnffius (the root of which has the smell of cloves), the Inula Vaillantii,
the Salvia Sclarca, and many other plants.
^ " Barbaricam." Everything that was not indigenous to the territory
of Rome, was "barbarum," or '' barbaricum."
^ Caesalpinus says that this is a rushy plant, called, in Tuscany, Herba
luziola ; but Fee is quite at a loss for its identification.
^^ Sillig is most probably right in his surmise that there is an hiatus
here.
1^ In B. xii. c. 27. Asarum Europaeum, or foal-foot.
12 Probably meaning thatitcomes from a, ''not," and oaipcj, "to adorn."
13 Or Crocus, the Crocus sativus of Linnaeus, from the prepared stigmata
of which the safi'ron of commerce is made. It is still found growing wild
on the mountains in the vicinity of Athens, and is extensively cultivated
in many parts of Europe.
320 plint's natural history. [Book XXI.
use whatever to attempt to propagate it, the produce of a w'hole
bed of saffron being boiled down to a single scruple ; it is repro-
duced by offsets from the bulb. The cultivated saffron is
larger, finer, and better looking than the other kinds, but has
much less efiicacy. This plant is everywhere degenerating,^*
and is far from prolific at Cyrenae even, a place where the
flowers are always of the very finest quality. The most es-
teemed saffron, however, is that of Cilicia, and there of Mount
Corycus in particular ; next comes the saffron of Mount Olym-
pus, in Lycia, and then of Centuripa, in Sicily ; some persons,
however, have given the second rank to the Phlegrsean ^^ saf-
iTon.
There is nothing so much adulterated^^ as saffron : the best
proof of its goodness is when it snaps under pressure by the
fingers, as though it were friable;^'' for when it is moist, a
state which it owes to being adulterated, it is limp, and will
not snap asunder. Another way of testing it, again, is to
apply it with the hand to the face, upon which, if good, it will
be found to be slightly caustic to the face and eyes. There is
a peculiar kind, too, of cultivated saffron, which is in general
extremely mild, being only of middling ^^ quality ; the name
given to it is "dialeucon."^^ The saffron of Cyrenaica, again,
is faulty in the opposite extreme ; for it is darker than any
other kind, and is apt to spoil very quickly. The best saffron
everywhere is that which is of the most unctuous qualitj', and
the filaments of which are the shortest ; the worst being that
which emits a musty smell.
Mucianus informs us that in Lycia, at the end of seven or
eight years, the saffron is transplanted into a piece of ground
which has been prepared for the purpose, and that in this way
^^ "Degenerans ubique." Judging from what he states below, he may
possibly meau, if grown repeatedly on the same soil.
15 He may allude either to the city of Phlegra of Macedonia, or to the
Phlegraean Plains in Campania, which were remarkable for their fertility.
Virgil speaks of the saffron of Mount Tmolus in Cilicia.
10 It is very extensively adulterated As-ith the petals of the marigold, as
also the Carthamus tinctorius, safflower, or bastard saffron.
" This is the case ; for when it is brittle it shows that it has not been
adulterated with water, to add to its weight.
-« Perhaps the reading here, '* Cum sit in medio candidum," is prefer-
able ; " because it is white in the middle."
19 •• White throughout."
Chap. 18.] THE MATURE OF ODOUES. 321
it is prevented from degenerating. It is never ^° used for chap-
lets, being a plant with an extremely narrow leaf, as fine almost
as a hair ; but it combines remarkably well with wine, sweet
wine in particular. Eeduced to a powder, it is used to per-
fume ^^ the theatres.
Saffron blossoms about the setting of the Yerf]:ilioe, for a few
days " only, the leaf expelling the flower. It is verdant-^ at
the time of the winter solstice, and then it is that they gather
it ; it is usually dried in the shade, and if in winter, all the
better. The root of this plant is fleshy, and more lorg-lived'-^
than that of the other bulbous plants. It loves to be beaten
and trodden '^ under foot, and in fact, the worse it is treated
the better it thrives : hence it is, that it grows so vigorously
by the side of foot-paths and fountains. (7.) Saffron was
already held in high esteem in the time of the Trojan War ;
at all events, Homer, ^^ we find, makes mention of these three
flowers, the lotus," the saffron, and the hyacinth.
CHAP. 18. THE NATURE OF ODOURS.
All the odoriferous-^ substances, and consequently the plants,
differ from one another in their colour, smell, and juices. It
is but rarely-^ that the taste of an odoriferous^ substance is not
20 Ke contradicts himself here ; for in c. 79 of tLis Book, he says that
shaplets of saffron are good for dispelling the fumes of wine.
•^ " Ad theatra repleuda." It Avas the custom to discharge saffron-water
Dver the theatres with pipes, and sometimes the saffron was mixed with
mne for the purpose. It was discharged through pipes of very minute
3ore, so that it fell upon the spectators in the form of the finest dust. See
Lucretius, B. ii. 1. 416 ; Lucan, Phars. ix. 1. 808—810 ; and Seneca, Epist.
22 It flowers so rapidly, in fact, that it is diiBcult to avoid the loss of a
)art of the harvest.
23 The whole of this passage is from Theophrastus, De Odorib.
21 This statement, though borrowed from Theophrastus, is not consis-
ent with fact. The root of saffron is not more long-lived than any other
)ulbs of tlie Liliaceae.
25 Because. Dalechamps says, all the juices are thereby thrown back into
he root, which consequently bears a stronger flower the next year.
26 II. xiv. 1. 348. 27 See B. xiii. c. 32.
^ 28 AH these statements as to the odours of various substances, are from
'heophrastus, L)e Causis, B. vi. c. 22.
29 fle does not say, however, that it is but rarely that a bitter substance
> not odoriferous ; a sense in which Fee seems to have understood him, as
e says, " This assertion is not true in general, and there are numerous
VOL. IV. Y
322 pliny's natural histoet. [Book XXI.
"bitter; while sweet substances, on the other hand, are but
rarely odoriferous. Thus it is, too, that wine is more odorife-
rous than must, and all the wild plants more so than the cul-
tivated ones."*' Some flowers have a sweet smell at a distance,
the edge of which is taken off when they come nearer ; such is
the case with the violet, for instance. The rose, when fresh
gathered, has a more powerful smell at a distance, and dried,^^
when brought nearer. All plants have a more penetrating
odour, also, in spring ^' and in the morning ; as the hour of
midday approaches, the scent becomes gradually weakened. ^^
The flowers, too, of young plants are less odoriferous than those
of old ones ; but it is at mid- age ^ that the odour is most pene-
trating in them all.
The rose and the crocus ^^ have a more powerful smell when
gathered in fine weather, and all plants are more powerfully
scented in hot climates than in cold ones. In Egypt, however,
the flowers are far from odoriferous, owing to the dews and
exhalations with which the air is charged, in consequence of
the extended surface of the river. Some plants have an agree-
able, though at the same time extremely powerful smell ; some,
again, while green, have no^^ smell at all, owing to the excess
of moisture, the buceros for example, which is the same as
exceptions ; for instance, quassia wood, which is inodorous and yet in-
tensely bitter." The essential oil, he remarks, elaborated in the tissue of
the corolla, is the ordinary source of the emanations of the flower.
^^ Fee remarks that cultivation gives to plants a softer and more aqueous
consistency, which is consequently injurious to the developement of the
essential oil.
31 Theophrastus, from whom this is borrowed, might have said witli
more justice, Fee remarks, that certain roses have more odour when dried
than when fresh gathered. Such is the case, he says, with the Provence
rose. Fresh roses, however, have a more pronounced smell, the nearer
they are to the olfactory organs.
^■- This is hy no means invariably the case : in fact, the smell of most
odoriferous plants is most powerful in summer.
23 Because the essential oils evaporate more rapidly.
'* With Littre, we adopt the reading "aetate," "mid-age," and
not "aestate," "midsummer," for although the assertion would be in
general correct, Pliny would contradict the statement just made, that
all plants have a more penetrating odour in spring. This reading is sup-
ported also by the text of Theophrastus.
35 Or saffron.
36 This is a just observation, but the instances might be greatly ex-
tended, as Fee says.
Chap. IS.] TnE NATUEE OF ODOUES. 323
fenugreek.^" Not all flowers which have a penetrating odour
are destitute of juices, the violet, the rose, and the crocus, fur
example ; those, on the other hand, which have a penetrating
odour, but are destitute of juices, have all of tliera a very pow-
erful smell, as we find the case with the two varieties^** of tlie
lily. The abrotonum^^ and the amaracus "^"^ have a pungent
smell. In some plants, it is the flower only that is sweet, the
other parts being inodorous, the violet and the rose, for example.
Among the garden plants, the most odoriferous are the dry
ones, such as rue, mint, and parsley, as also those which grow
on dry soils. Some fruits become more odoriferous the older
they are, the quince, for example, which has also a stronger
smell when gathered than while upon the tree. Some plants,
again, have no smell but when broken asunder, or when bruised,
and others only when they are stripped of their bark. Certain
vegetable substances, too, only give out a smell when subjected
to the action of fire, such as frankincense and myrrh, for ex-
ample. All flowers are more bitter to the taste wlien bruised
than when left untouched.*^ Some plants preserve their smell
a longer time when dried, the melilote, for example ; others,
again, make the place itself more odoriferous where they grow,
the iris"*- for instance, which will even render the whole of a
tree odoriferous, the roots of which it may happen to have
touched. The hesperis ^^ has a more powerful odour at night,
a property to which it owes its name.
Among the animals, we find none that are odoriferous, un-
less, indeed, we are inclined to put faith in what has been said
about the panther.**
2' See B. xviii. c. 39.
28 The white lily and the red lily. See c. 11 of this Book.
33 As to the Abrotonum, see B. xiii. c. 2, and c. 34 of this Book.
■10 See c. 35 of this Book.
'*^ Or in other words, the interior of the petals has a more bitter flavour
than that of the exterior surface.
1- Pliny makes a mistake here, in copying from Theophrastus. De Causis,
B. vi. c. 25. That author is speaking not of the flower, but of the rain-
bow, under the name of " iris." Pliny has himself made a similar state-
nient as to the rainbow, in B. xii. c. 52, which he would appear here to
have forgotten.
■*^ The Cheiranthus tristis of Linnaeus, or sad gilliflower, Fee thinks.
^•* See B. viii. c. 23. Pliny did not know of the existence of the musk-
deer, the Muschus moscliiferus of Eastern Asia : and he seems not to have
thought of the civet, (if, indeed, it was known to him) the fox, the weasel,
Y 2
45
324 Pliny's natusal history. [Book XXL
CnAP. 19. THE IRIS.
There is still another distinction, which ought not to be
omitted, — the fact, that many of the odoriferous plants never
enter into the composition of garlands, the iris ^^ and the sali-
unca, for example, although, both of them, of a most exquisite
odour. In the iris, it is the root *'' only that is held in esteem,
it being extensively employed in perfumery and medicine. The
iris of the finest quality is that found in Illyricum,"*^ and in
that country, even, not in the maritime parts of it, but in the
forests on the banks of the river Drilon'*^ and near Narona.
The next best is that of Macedonia, ^° the plant being extremely
elongated, white, and thin. The iris of Africa ^^ occupies the
third rank, being the largest of them all, and of an extremely
bitter taste.
The iris of Illyiicum comprehends two varieties — one of
which is the raphanitis, so called from its resemblance to the
radish,^^ of a somewhat red colour, and superior ^^ in quality to
the other, which is known as the " rhizotomus." The best
kind of iris is that which produces sneezing ^* when handled.
The stem of this plant is a cubit in length, and erect, the flower
being of various colours, like the rainbow, to which circum-
stance it is indebted for its name. The iris, too, of Pisidia^^
is far from being held in disesteem. Persons^^ who intend taking
and the polecat, the exhalations from which have a peculiar smell. The
same, too, with the urine of the panther and other animals of the genus
Felis.
^^ For some superstitious reason, in all probability. Pliny mentions
below, the formalities with which tliis plant ought to be gathered.
*° See B. xiii. c. 2. The ancient type of this plant, our iris, sword-
lily, or flower-de-luce, was probably the Iris Florentina or Florentine iris
of modern botany.
*^ At the present day, too, it is the root of the plant that is the most
important part of it.
^'^ The Iris Florentina, probably, of Linnaeus.
*3 ]\Ientioned by Nicander, Theriaca, 1. 43.
^ Probably a variety only of the preceding kind.
51 The most common varieties in Africa are the Iris alata of Lamarck,
I. Mauritanica of Clusius, I. juncea, and I. stylosa of Desfontaines.
52 " llaphanus." C. Bauhin identifies the Rhaphanitis with the Iris biflora,
and the Rhizotomus with the Iris angustifolia prunum redolens.
^» See c. 38 of this iiook.
^ 54 No kind of iris, Fee says, fresh or dried, whole or powdered, is pro-
ductive of this effect.
55 Very similar, probably, to that of lUyria.
^ All these superstitious are from Theophrastus, Ilist. Plant. B. ix. c. 9.
Chap. 21.] THE POLIUM, OH TEUTHEION. 325
up the iris, drencti the ground about it some three months be-
fore with hydromel, as though a sort of atonement offered to
appease the earth ; with the point of a sword, too, they trace
three circles round it, and the moment they gather it, they lift
it up towards the heavens.
The iris is a plant of a caustic nature, and when handled, it
causes blisters like burns to rise. It is a point particularly
recommended, that those who gather it should be in a state of
chastity. The root, not only when dried,^^ but while still in
the ground, is very quickly attacked by worms. In former
times, it was Leucas and Elis that supplied us with the best
oil ^ of iris, for there it has long been cultivated ; at the present
day, however, the best comes from Pamphjiia, though that of
Cilicia and the northern climates is held in high esteem.
CHAP. 20. THE SALIUXCA.
The saliunca ^^ has a rather short leaf, which does not admit
of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which
it is held together ; being more of a herb than a flower, and
so closely matted and tangled that it would almost appear to
have been pressed together with the hand — in short, it is a
turf ^° of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in Pannonia and
the sunny regions of ]S"oricum and the Alps, as also the vicinity
of the city of Eporedia ;" the smell being so remarkably sweet
that the crops of it have been of late quite as profitable as the
working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued for the
pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept.
CHAP. 21. THE POLTUir, OE TEUTHETOX.
It is the same, too, with the polium,^- a herb employed for
a similar purpose among the Greeks, and highly extolled by
Musseus and Hesiod, who assert that it is useful for every pur-
pose, and more particularly for the acquisition of fame and
honour f^ indeed, it is a truly marvellous production, if it is
57 This, Fee says, is quite consistent with modern experience.
58 "Irinum." See B. xiii. c. 2.
53 Frohahly the Valeriana Celtica of LinnaBUS. See B. xii. c. 27, where
it is mentioned as GaUic nard.
^ " Cfespes." 6i See B. iii. c, 21.
62 Probably the Teucrium polium of Linnaeus ; the herb poley, or poley-
mountain.
^=' By those who carry it on their person.
326 pli^t's natural histoet. pookXXI.
the fact, as they state, that its leaves are white in the morning,
purple at midday, and azure ^'^^ at sunset. There are two
varieties of it, the field polium, which is larger, and the wild,^*
which is more diminutive. Some persons give it the name of
** teuthrion."^^ The leaves resemble the white hairs of a
human being ; they take their rise immediately from the root,
and never exceed a palm in height.
CHAP. 22. (8.) FABRICS WHICH KIVAL THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS.
We have now said enough on the subject of the odoriferous
flowers ; in relation to which, luxury not only glories in having
vanquished l^ature in the composition of unguents, but has
even gone so far as to challenge, in her fabrics, those flowers
which are more particularly recommended by the beauty of
their tints. I remark that the following are the three princi-
pal^ colours; the red, that of the kermes^^ for instance, which,
beginning in the tints of the rose, reflects, when viewed^^ side-
ways and held up to the light, the shades that are found in the
Tyrian purple,^^ and the colours of the dibapha^°and Laconian
cloths : the amethystine colour, which is borrowed from the
violet, and to which, bordering as it does on the purple, we
have given the name of " ianthinum "''^ — it must, however, be
remembered, that we here give a general name to a colour
which is subdivided into numerous tints — and a third, properly
known as the *'conchyliated" colour, but which comprehends
^^* Tliis marvel is related by Dioscorides in reference to tlie Tripoliura,
and not the Polium.
^ The Teucrium montanum, probably, of Linnaeus.
'^^ This name belongs, properly, to the wild or mountain Polium.
66 '< Principales." The meaning of this term is explained at the end of
this Chapter. Red, yellow, and blue — or else, red, green, and violet, are
probably the primary colours of light.
^^ See \^. ix. c. 65, and B. xvi. c. 12. lie alludes to the Coccus ilicis
of Linnaeus.
^s See B. xxxvii. c. 40, as to the meaning of the word " Suspectus."
This passage, however, as Sillig remarks, is hopelessly corrupt.
6s See Ji. ix. cc. 60, 63.
"^ " Doubly-dyed," or " twice dipped," in purple. See B. ix. c. 63.
Littre remarks here that, according to Doctor Bizio, it was the Murex
braudaris that produced the Tyrian purple, and the Murex trunculus the
amethystine purple.
71 Or <■<■ violet-colour." See B. xxxvii. c. 40.
'2 For further information on these tints, see B. ix. cc. 64, 65.
Chap. 23.] THE AMARANTH. 327
a variety of shades, such, for instance, as the tints of the helio-
tropium, and others of a deeper colour, the hues of the mallow,
inclining to a full purple, and the colours of the late '^ violet ;
this last being the most vivid, in fact, of all the conchyliated
tints. The rival colours being now set side by side, jSTature
and luxury may enter the lists, to vie for the mastery.
I find it stated that, in the most ancient times, yellow was
held in the highest esteem, but v.^as reserved exclusively for
the nuptial veils''^ of females ; for which reason it is perhaps
that we do not find it included among the principal colours,
those being used in common by males and females : indeed, it
is the circumstance of their being used by both sexes in com-
mon that gives them their rank as principal colours.
CHAP. 23. THE AMAEANTH.
There is no doubt that all the eiforts of art are surpassed
by the amaranth,'* which is, to speak correctly, rather a purple
ear'^ than a flower, and, at the same time, quite inodorous. It is
a marvellous feature in this plant, that it takes a delight in being
gathered ; indeed, the more it is plucked, the better it grows.
It comes into flower in the month of August, and lasts through-
out the autumn. The finest of all is the amaranth of Alex-
andria, which is generally gathered for keeping ; for it is a
really marvellous'^' fact, that when all the other flowers have
gone out, the amaranth, upon being dipped in water, comes to
life again : it is used also for making winter chaplets. The
peculiar quality of the amaranth is sufficiently indicated by
its name, it having been so called from the circumstance that
it never fades. "^
■^3 Belonging, probably. Fee thinks, to the Cruciferse of the genera
Hosperis and Cheiranthus.
'^ " Flaranieis " The " flarameum," or flame-coloured veil of the bride,
was of a briglit yellow, or rather orange-colour, perhaps.
''^ The Celosia cristata of Linnaeus.
'6 " Spica," The moderns have been enabled to equal the velvety ap-
pearance of the amaranth in the tints imparted by them to their velvets.
The Italians call it the " velvet-flower."
<■' The real fact is. that the amarantli, being naturally a dry flower, and
having little humidity to lose, keeps better than most others.
''^ I'rom the Greek a, "not," and fiapdiveoOai, " to fade."
328 PLTirr's NATUEAL HISTORT. [Book XXI.
CHAP. 24. THE CYANOS : THE HOLOCHETBOS.
The name,'^ too, of the cyanos^" indicates its colour, and so
does that of the holochrysos.^^ None of these flowers were
in use in the time of Alexander the Great, for the authors, we
find, who flourished at a period immediately after his decease,
have made not the slightest mention of them; from which
circumstance it is very clear that they only came into fashion
at a later period. Still, however, who can entertain any
doubt that they were first introduced by the Greeks, from
the fact that Italy has only their Greek names by which to
designate them ?
CHAP. 25. THE PETILIUM : THE BfJLLIO.
Eut, by Hercules! it is Italy herself that has given its
name to the petilium,^^ an autumnal flower, which springs up
in the vicinity of thorny brakes, and recommends itself solely
by its colour, which is that of the wild rose. The petals of
it are small, and five in number ; and it is a remarkable cir-
cumstance in this plant, that the head of it droops at first, and
it is only after it becomes erect that the petals make their ap-
pearance, forming a small corolla of vai'ious colours, enclosing
a yellow seed.
The bellio,^^ too, is a yellow flower, formed of ®^ fifty-five
filaments circularly arranged, in the shape of a chaplet. These
are, both of them, meadow flowers, which are mostly of no use
whatever, and consequently without names : even the flowers
just mentioned are known sometimes by one name, and some-
times by another.
"^^ Being the Greek for " blue" or " azure."
^^ The Ceutaurea cyanus of Linnrcus ; our blue-bell,
SI Meaning " all gold." It has been identified with the Gnaphalium
stoechas of Linnaeus, the immortelle of the French, which forms the ingre-
dient for their funereal chaplets.
^2 Sprengel says that tliis is the Geum rivale of Linnaeus; but then the
Gcuni is a spring, and not an autumn flower, its blossoms bear no resem-
blance to those of the eglantine, and its seeds are not yellow.
83 Generally supposed to be the Chrysanthemum segetum, or golden
daisy.
«* " Pastillicantibus quinquagenis quinis barbulis coronatur." Pliny is
unusually verbose here.
Chap. 2S.] SHEUBS. 329
CHAP. 26. THE CHETSOCOME, OE CHEYSITTS.
The chrj-socome,^^ or chrysitis, lias no Latin appellation : it
is a palm in height, the flowers forming clusters of a golden
colour. The root of it is black, and it has a taste both rougli
and sweet : it is found growing in stony and umbrageous
spots.
CHAP. 27. (9.) SHRUBS, THE BLOSSOMS OF WHICH AEE USED FOE
CHAPLETS.
Having thus passed in review nearly all the best-known
colours, we must now give our attention to the chaplets which,
are pleasing merely on account of the variety of their mate-
rials. Of such chaplets there ai'e two kinds, one composed of
flowers, the other of leaves. The flowers so employed, I may
say, are those of broom^^ — the 5'ellow blossom gathered from
it — the rhododendron,^' and the jujube,^® also known as the
tree of Cappadocia, which bears an odoriferous flower similar
to that of the olive. Among the brambles, too, we find the
cyclaminum growing, of which we shall have to speak more
at length on a future occasion :®^ its flower, which reflects the
hues of the purple of Colossae,^*^ is used as an ingredient in
chaplets.
CHAP. 28. SHEUBS, THE LEAVES OF WHICH AEE USED FOE
CHAPLETS.
The leaves, also, of smilax and ivy are employed in chaplets ;
indeed, the clusters of these plants are held in the very highest
esteem for this purpose : we have already^^ spoken of them at
sufficient length when treating of the shrubs. There are also
other kinds of shrubs, which can only be indicated by their
^5 " Golden locks," or " gold plant ;" probably the Chrysocoraa linosyris
of Linnseas ; though the name appears to have been given to numerous
plants.
^^ See B. xvi. c. 69, B. xviii. c. 65, B. xix. c. 2, B. xxiv. c. 40 ; also
c. 42 of the present Book.
8' The Nerium oleander of Linnseus. See B. xvi. c. 33, and B. xxiv.
cc. 47, 49.
*« As to the Zizyphum, or jujube, see B. xv. c. 14. The flower, as Pliny
says, is not unlike that of the olive ; but Fee remarks, that it may at the
present day as justly be called the tree of Provence or of Italy, as in
ancient times " the tree of Cappadocia."
•^9 B. XXV. c. 67. 90 See B. v. c. 41.
91 See B. xvi. cc. 62 and 63, and B. xxiv. cc. 47 and 49.
330 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXI.
Greek names, little attention having been paid by the framers
of our language to this branch of nomenclature. Most of
them grow in foreign countries, it is true ; but still, it is our
duty to make some mention of them, as it is of Nature in
general that we are speaking, and not of Italy in particular.
CHAP. 29. THE MELOTHRON, SPIRJEA, AND ORIGANUM. THE
CNEOKIJM OR CASSIA ; TWO VARIETIES OF IT. TUE MELISSOPHYL-
lilJM OR MELITT.1:NA. the MKLILOTE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
CAMPANIAN GARLAND.
Thus it is, til at we find employed for chaplets, the leaves of
the meiothron,'^" spiraea,®^ origanum, ^^ cneorum,^^ by Hyginus
called " cassia," conyza or cunilago,^'^ melissophyllou or apias-
trum,^''' and melilote, known to us by the name of " Campa-
nian^^ garland," the best kind of melilote'^^ in Italy being that
of Campania, in Greece that of Cape Sunium, and next to that
the produce of Chalcidice and Crete : but wherever this plant
grows it is only to be found in rugged and wild localities. The
name '' sertula" or '' garland," which it bears, sufficiently
proves that this plant was formerly much used in the compo-
sition of chaplets. The smell, as well as the flower, closely
resembles that of saffron, though the stem itself is white ; the
shorter and more fleshy the leaves, the more highly it is
esteemed.
CHAP. 30. THREE VARIETIES OF TREFOIL : THE MYOPHONUM.
The leaves of- trefoil also are employed for making chaplets.
There are three varieties : the first being called by the Greeks
sometimes "minyanthes," ^ and sometimes '* asphaltion ;"
the leaves of it, which the garland-makers employ, are larger
than those of the other kinds. The second variety, known as
^'^ Or Vitis alba, " white vine," the Bryonia dioica of modern botany.
See B. xxiii. c. 16.
^2 The Spiraea sulicifolia of Linnaeus, or meadowsweet.
91 See B. XX. c. 67, and c. 30 of this Book.
5^ The Daphne Cnidium of Linnaeus. See B. xxiii. c. 35 ; also B. xii.
c. 43. It is altogether diiferent from the Laurus cassia, or genuine cassia.
96 See B. XX. c. 63. 97 ggg b. xx. c. 45.
9s '• Sertula Carapana."
99 Most probably, Fee thinks, the Trifolium Melilotus officinalis, a
clover, or trefoil.
1 The Psoranthea bituminosa of Linnaeus. It is found on declivities
near the sea-coast, in the south of Europe.
/
Chap. 31.] TiiTilE. 331
the ''oxytriphyllon,"- has a pointed leaf ; and the third has
the smallest leaf of them all. Among these plants there am
some which have a tough, sinewy stem, such as marathron,^
for instance, hipporaarathron,* and the myophonum.^ The um-
bels, too, of fennel-giant and the purple flowers^ of the ivy are
employed for this purpose ; as also another kind of ivy very
similar to the wild rose,'^ the colour only of which is attractive,
the flower being quite inodorous. There are also two^ varieties
used of the cneorum, the black and the white, this last being
odoriferous : they are both of them provided with branches,
and they blossom after the autumnal equinox.^
(10.) There are the same number of varieties, also, of ori-
ganum employed in making chaplets, one of which is destitute
of seed, the other, which is also odoriferous, being known as
the Cretan^" origanum.
CHAP. 31. TWO VARIETIES OF THYME. PLANTS PRODUCED FROM
BLOSSOMS AND NOT FROM SEED.
There are also as many varieties of thyme^^ employed, the
one white, the other dark :^- it flowers about the summer sol-
stice, when the bees cull from it. From this plant a sort of
augury is derived, as to how the honey is likely to turn out :
2 " Pointed trefoil." Pliny has probably committed an error here, as
Lioscorides makes ox}T)hyllura, minyanthes, and asphaltiura to be difierent
names of the same variety. Sprengel, however, identifies this pointed
trefoil with the Trifolium Italicum of Linnaeus.
'" The Anethum fseniculum of Linnaeus. See B. viii. c. 41, B. xx. c. 95,
and B. xxx. c. 9. * See B. xx. c. 96.
5 The "mouse-killer." Probably the Aconitum napellus of Linnaeus.
See B. xxvii. e. 2. e gge B. xvi. c. 62.
■'' Fee remarks, that there is no such ivy in existence ; he agrees with
Dalechamps in the opinion that Pliny has confounded KiaffoQ, " ivy," with
Ki<TTo^, the " rock-rose. See B. xvi. c. 62.
8 The Daphne Cnidium and the Daphne Cneorum of Linnaeus. See B.
xxiii. c. 35, and B. xv, c. 7.
9 In reality, they blossom in April and May, and mostly a second time
in autumn as well, the Daphne Cneorum in particular.
10 See B. xx. c. 69.
11 Under the head " Thymus," Fee thinks that both the Satureia capi-
tata of Linnaeus, headed savory, and the Thymus vulgaris, and Tliymus
zygis of Linnaeus (varieties of thyme), should be included.
1- Fee thinks that in the expression " nigricans," he may allude to the
deep red of the stalk of some kinds of thyme, more particularly at the end
of summer. It is the Thymus zigis that has a white, downy stem.
332 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book XXI.
for the bee-keepers have reason to look for a large crop when
the thyme blossoms in considerable abundance. Thyme re-
ceives great injury from showers of rain, and is very apt to
shed its blossom. The seed of thyme is so minute^^ as to be
imperceptible, and yet that of origanum, which is also ex-
tremely minute, does not escape the sight. But what matters
it that Nature has thus concealed it from our view ? For we
have reason to conclude that it exists in the flower itself;
which, when sown in the ground, gives birth to the plant
— what is there, in fact, that the industry of man has left
untried ?
The honey of Attica is generally looked upon as the best in
all t^-e world ; for which reason it is that the thyme of that
country has been transplanted, being reproduced, as already
stated, with the greatest difficulty, from the blossom. But
there is also another peculiarity in the nature of the thyme of
Attica, which has greatly tended to frustrate these attempts^
it will never live except in the vicinity of breezes from the
sea. In former times, it was the general belief that this is the
case with all kinds of thyme, and that this is the reason why
it does not grow in Arcadia : ^* at a period when it was univer-
sally supposed, too, that the olive never grows beyond three
hundi'ed stadia^^ from the sea. But, at the present day, we
know for certain that in the province of Gallia Narbonensis
the Stony Plains^^ are quite overgrown with thyme ; this being,
in fact, the only source of revenue to those parts, thousands
of sheep^^ being brought thither from distant countries to
browse upon the plant.
CHAP. 32. CONYZA.
There are two varieties of conyza, also, employed in making
13 From Theophrastiis, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 2, and De Causis, B. i.
c. 5. Fee suggests, that the seed, lying at the bottom of the calyx, may
have escaped notice, and that in reality, when the ancients imagined they
vrere sowing the blossoms, they were putting the seed in the earth. That,
in fact, seems to agree with the view which Pliny takes of the matter.
1* Which lies in the interior of the Peloponnesus.
15 See B. XV. c. 1.
ifi " Lapidei Campi." See B. iii. c. 5.
1' Similar to our practice of depasturing sheep on Dartmoor and other
favourito moors and downs.
Chap. 33.] THE FLOWEU or JOYE. 333
chaplets, the male^^ plant and the female. The difFerence
consists in the leaves, those of the female plant being thinner,
more tapering, and narrower, and those of the male being of
an imbricated shape, the plant having a greater number of
branches. The blossom, too, of the male plant is more vivid
than that of the female : in both kinds it is late in making its
appearance, not till after the rising of Arcturus.
The smell of the male conyza is more powerful than that
of the female plant : the latter, however, is of a more pene-
trating nature, for which reason it is that the female plant is
held in higher esteem for the treatment of the bites of animals.
The leaves of the female plant have exactly the smell of honey ;
and the root of the male has received the name of ** libanotis"
from some : we have already made mention^^ of it on a previ-
ous occasion.
CHAP. 33. THE FLOWER OF JOVE. THE HEIIEEOCALLES. THE
HELENIUM. THE PHLOX. PLANTS IN WHICH THE BEANCHES
AND ROOTS ARE ODORIFEROIJS.
Of the following plants, too, it is only the leaves that are
employed for chaplets — the flower of J"ove,^° the amaracus,
the hemerocalles,-^ the abrotonum, the helenium,-- sisym-
brium,-^ and wild thyme, all of them ligneous plants, grow-
ing in a manner similar to the rose. The flower of Jove is
pleasing only for its colours, being quite inodorous ; which is
the case also with the plant known by the Greek name of
" phlox. "-^ All the plants, too, which we have just mentioned
are odoriferous, both in the branches and the leaves, with the
sole exception of wild thyme. -^ The helenium is said to have
^8 Fee takes this to be the Inula viscosa of Desfontaines, and identifies
the other kind with the Inula pulicaria of Linnaeus. See 13. xx. cc. 63, 64.
19 E. sx. c. 64.
2'^ Supposed to be the same as the Agrostemma coronaria of Linnreus.
-1 Spivngel identifies it with the Pancratium raaritimum of Linnaeus.
As described by Dioscorides, however, Fee takes it to be the Lilium Mar-
tagon, or Turk's-cap lily. See c. 90 of this Book.
■-■- This is different from the Helenium of the Greeks, the Inula Hele-
nium of Linnaeus, mentioned in B. xv. c. 7. Spvengel identifies it with
the Teucrium Creticum of Linnaeus, the Cretan germander.
23 See B. XX. c. 91. _ ^
-^ " Flame." Sprengel identifies it with the Agrostemma coronaria of
Linnaeus, making the flower of Jove to be the Agrostemma flos Jovis.
"^ Fee remarks, that if thb is our Thymus serpyllum, this exception is
inexact.
331 pliny"s natural history. [Book XXI.
had its origin in the tears of Helen, and hence it is that the
kind grown in the ishmd of Helena-^ is so highly esteemed. It
is a shrub which throws out its tiny branches along the ground,
some nine inches in length, with a leaf very similar to that of
wild thyme.
CHAP. 34. THE ABROTONUM. TUE ADONIUM I TWO VARIETIES
OF IT. PLAXTS WHICH EEPKODUCE THEMSELVES. THE LEU-
CAXTHEMU^I.
The flower of the abrotonum,-'' which makes its appearance
in summer, has a powerful but agreeable smell ; it is of a
bright golden colour. Left to range at large, it reproduces
itself by layers from the tops of the branches : but when it is
propagated by the hand of man, it is better to grow it from
the seed than from the roots or slips, though even from the seed
it is not grown Avithout considerable trouble. The young
plants are transplanted in summer, which is the case also with
the adonium.^^ They are both of them plants of a very chilly
nature, though, at the same time, they are apt to receive in-
jury if too much exposed to the sun : when, however, they
have gained sufficient strength, they throw out branches like
those of rue.
The leucanthemiim-^ has a similar smell to that of the
abrotonum : it is a foliated plant, with a white flower.
CHAP. 35. (11.) TWO VARIETIES OF THE AMARACrS.
Diodes, the physician, and the people of Sicily have given
the name of " amaracus" to the plant known in Egypt and
Syria as sampsuchum.^° It is reproduced two ways, from
25 For two islands of this name, see B. iv. c. 20, and c. 23.
27 The female Abrotonum is identified with the Santolina chamaecypa-
rissus of Linnagus : the little-cypress Santoline. The mule is the Aj-te-
misia abrotonum of Linnoeus, our southern- wood.
2" Pliny has probably committed an error here in transcribing from
Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 7, who, when speaking of the abroto-
num, says, " It is transplanted in earthen pots, in the way employed for
the gardens of Adonis," these gardens being moveable parterres, laid out
in pots or vases. "We cannot agree with Hardouin, who looks upon the
Adonium as a variety of tlie Abrotonum, and censures Salmasius for ac-
cusing Pliny of committing an error here.
>9 The " White flower." See B. xxii. c. 26.
30 See B. xiii. c. 2. Tlie sampsuchum, or amaracus, is generally
thought to be the swe(;t marjoram, or Origanum marjorana of Linnoeus.
But Fee identifies it with the Origanum majoranoides of Willdenow, our
organy, wild or false marjoram.
Chap. 37.] THE MELTLOTE. 335
seed and from cuttings, being more long-lived than the pre-
ceding plants, and possessed of a more agreeable smell. The
amaracus, like the abrotonum, has a great abundance of seed,
but while the abrotonum has a single root, which penetrates
deep into the ground, thos€ of the other plant adhere but
lightly to the surface of the earth. Those of the other plants
which love the shade, water, and manure, are generally set
at the beginning of autumn, and even, in some localities, in
spring.
CHAP. 36. — THE NTCTEGRETON, CHENOMYCflE, OR NTCTALOrS.
Democritus has regarded the nyctegreton^^ as one of the
most singular of plants. According to that author, it is of a
dark red colour, has leaves like those of a thorn, and creeps
upon the ground. He says that it grows in Gedrosia^- more
particularlj', and that it is taken up by the roots immediately
after the vernal equinox, and dried in the moonlight for thirty
days ; after which preparation it emits light by night. He
states also, that the Magi and the kings of Parthia em-
ploy this plant in their ceremonies when they make a vow to
perform an undertaking; that another name given to it is
*' chenomyche,"^^ from the circumstance that, at the very
sight of it, geese will manifest the greatest alarm ; and that by
some persons, again, it is known as the " nyctalops,"*"^ from the
light which it emits at a considerable distance by night.
CHAP. 37. WHERE THE MELILOTE IS FOUND.
The melilote""^^ is found growing everywhere, though that
of Attica is held in the highest esteem. In all countries, how-
ever, it is preferred when fresh gathered ; that too, the colour
of which is not white, but approaches as nearly as possible to
31 The *' night- watcher." According to Sprengel, this is the Csesalpina
pulcherrima of Linnaeus. But, as Fee says, tliat is entirely an Indian
plant, and has only been introduced but very recently into Europe. Har-
douin identifies it with a plant called " lunaria" by the naturalists of his
day, which shines, he says, Avith the moon at night.
^■- The Ca^alpina pulcherrima is not to be found in or near Gedrosia (in
ancient Persia), but solely on the shores of the iJay of Bengal.
33 From x^f^^^i "geese," and /iuj^o 5, a "corner;'' because geese run
into a corner on seeing it.
3* As to the meaning of this word, see B. xxviii. c. 47.
35 See c, 29 o£ this Book.
336 pliny's natural history. [Book XXI.
the colour of saffron. In Italy, however, it is the white kind
that is the most odoriferous.
CHAP. 38. THE SUCCESSION IN WHICH FLOWEES BLOSSOM : THE
SPRING FLOWERS. TILK TIOLKT. THE CHAPLET ANEMONE,
THE (ENANTHE. THE MELAMION. THE HELICHRYSOS. THE
GLADIOLUS. THE HYACINTH.
The first of the flowers that announce the approach of spring
is the white ^^ violet ; indeed, in warm localities, it is seen
peeping out in the winter even. Next to it comes the violet
known as the ion, and the purple violet ; then the flame-
coloured flower, the name of which is phlox,^'' but only the wild
one. The cyclaminum^^ blossoms twice a year, in spring and
autumn, standing equally in awe as it does of summer and
of winter. The narcissus and the lily, in the parts beyond sea,
are a little later than the preceding plants : but in Italy, as
we have already ^^ stated, they are in blossom with the rose.
In Greece, too, the anemone *° blooms even later ; it is the
flower of a wild bulb, and is altogether different from the one^^
which we shall have occasion to mention among the medicinal
plants.
Next, after these, come the oenanthe,*- the melanion,^^ and,
among the wild plants, the helichrysos ; " then, another kind
of anemone, known as the " limonia," "^^ and after that the
gladiolus,*^ accompanied by the hyacinth. Last of all, among
the spring flowers, is the rose, which, with the exception in-
deed of the cultivated kinds, is also the first to fade. Among
36 This has been thought to be the Cheiranthus incanus, Cheiranthus
annus, and Leucoium vernura of modern botany ; but Fee is of opinion
that it is next to impossible to identify it. See c. 14 of this Book.
3' See c. 33 of this Book. Sb gee B. xxv. c. 67.
3'J In c. 11 of this Book. There is no late variety of the lily known at
the present day-
do Or " wind flower :" the Anemone coronaria of Linnaeus.
*i A ranunculus. See c. 9-i of this Book.
43 Or " vine-blossom." See c. 95 of this Book,
43 Or " black violet," mentioned by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi.
c. 7. Pliny may probably mean the purple violet, mentioned by him in
c. 14 of this Book. " Melanthiuni" is another reading.
44 Not improbably the same as the " holochrysos," mentioned in c. 24 of
this Book.
45 " Meadow" anemone.
46 «' The little sword." See c. 67 of this Book.
Chap. 39.] THE SUMMER FLOWERS. ' 33/
the others, tlie flowers which last the longest, are the hya-
cinth, the white violet, and the oenanthe ; but to make this
last keep any time in flower, it is necessaiy to gather it re-
peatedly, to prevent it from running to seed. The oenanthe
grows in warm localities, and has exactly the smell of the vine
when in blossom, to which circumstance it is indebted for
its name.
There are two fabulous stories attached to the hyacinth ;*'
according to one of them, it bears the impress of the grief^^
which Apollo felt for the j^outh^^ whom he had so tenderly
loved; and we learn from the other, that it derives its name
from the blood ^^ of Ajax, the veins being so arranged in the
flower as to form the Greek letters A I inscribed upon it.
The helichrysos has a flower resembling gold in aj)pearance,
a small leaf, and a fine, slender, but hard, stem. According
to the Magi, the person who crowns himself with a chaplet
composed of this flower, and takes his unguents from a box
of gold, of the kind generall}' known as " apyron," ^^ will
be sure to secure esteem and glory among his fellowmen.
Such are the flowers of spring.
CITAP. 39. THE SITMMER FLOWERS THE LYCHNIS '. THE TIPHTON.
TWO VARIETIES OF THE POTHOS. TWO VAHIETIES OF THE ORSI-
K Uil. THE VINCAPERVINCA OR CHAMJEDAPHNE A PLANT WHICH
IS AN EVER-GREEN.
The summer flowers come next, the lychnis ^- the flower of
4'^ There have been conflicting opinions as to tlie identification of the
hyacinth of the ancients. Linnajus identifies it with the Delphinium
Ajucis : Sprengel and Salmasius with the Gladiolus communis : Sibthorp
Avith the Gladiolus communis triphyllos : DodonjEUs and Porta the Lilium
bidbiferum : and Martyn and Fee the Lilium Martagon of Linnaeus, the
Turk's-cap lily. From what Pliny says in cc. 39 and 97 of this Book,
and in B. xxv. c. 80, it is pretty clear that under the name of hyacinlh he
has confused the characteristics of two diiferent plants. The hyacinth,
too, of Lioscorides, B. iii. c. 5, is a different plant, I'ee remarks, being
the Hyacinthus comosus of modern botanists.
*8 The Greek AI, "'Alas!" which the ancients fancied they saw im-
pressed on the leaves.
19 See Ovid's j\let. B. x. 1. 162—220.
^^ See Ovid's Met. B. xiii. 1. 397, et seq.
51 '' Unsullied by fire."
*2 Or " light" flower : the Agrostemma coronaria of Linnrcns.
VOL. IV. Z
338 plint's natural utstory. [Book XXI.
Jove, and another kind of lily,^ as also the tiphyon^* and the
amaracus, surnamed that of Phrygia. But tlie most reraark-
ahle flower of all is the pothos, ^^ of which there are two
yarieties, one with the flower of the hyacinth, ^^ and another
with a white flower, which is generally found growing about
grayes, and is better able to stand bad weather. The iris,^^
also, blossoms in summer. All these flowers pass away, how-
eyer, and fade; upon which others assume their places in
autumn, a third kind of iily/^ for instance, saff'ron, and two
yarieties of the orsinum^^ — one of them inodorous and the other
scented — making their appearance, all of them, as soon as the
first autumnal showers fall.
The garland-makers employ the flowers of the thorn^'' eyen
for making chaplets ; the tender shoots, too, of the white
thorn are sometimes preseryed as a choice morseP^ to tempt
the palate.
Such is the succession of the summer flowers in the parts
beyond sea : in Italy, the yiolet is succeeded by the rose, the
lily comes on while the rose is still in flower, the cyanus^- suc-
ceeds the rose, and the amaranth the cyanus. As to the yin-
^ Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 7, mentions the " cerinfhus"
next after the flower of Jove : Pliny seems to have taken it for a kind of
liiy. This flower has not been identified.
'»* Sprengel takes this to be the Lavandula spica, or Lavender.
55 Hardouin identifies this with the Lychnis Chalcedonica, or Cross of
Jerusalem, with which opinion Fee seems inclined to coincide. Other
commentators incline to the opinion that it is the Jasniinum fruticans, a
plant in which, beyond its smell, there is nothing at all remarkable. The
exotic monocotyledon, known as the " Pothos," has no connection with
the plant here mentioned.
»5'This, according to some, is the Lj'chnis Chalcedonica, the next being
the Jasminum fruticans.
5' As known to us, all the varieties of the iris blossom in spring.
5^ The purple lily, Fee thinks.
59 If this is the correct reading, which is very doubtful, this plant is
unknown. M. Jan has suggested that Pliny, in copying from Theophrastus,
Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 7, has read opcivbq by mistake for optivoq, "moun-
tainous," the original meaning being, " Two varieties of saff'ron, one of them
growing on the mountains, the other cultivated;" and this last word being
rendered by Pliny " hebes," translated above as meaning " inodorous."
w The Acanthus, probably. See B. xxii. c. 34, and B. xxiv. c. 66.
51 Forskhal speaks of an acanthus in Arabia, the leaves of which are
eaten raw. Fee thinks, that these shoots might be eaten without any in-
convenience, but doubts if they would make such a tempting morsel as
Pliny describes. ^- Or blue-bell.
Chap. 41.'1 PLANTS SOWir rOE BEES. 339
capervinca,^^ it is an evergreen, the branches from which run
out like so many strings, the leaves surrounding the stem at
each of the knots : though more generally used for the pur-
poses of ornamental gardening, it is sometimes employed in
chaplets when there is a deficiency of other ilowers. Prom the
Greeks this plant has received the name of " chamsedaphne."
CHAP. 40. — THE DrUATION OF LIFE IX THE VAEIOUS KINDS OF
FLOWEES.
At the very utmost, the white^ violet never lasts longer
than three years : should it exceed tliat period, it is sure to
degenerate. The rose-tree will last so long as five years with-
out being pruned or cauterized,^ methods by which it is made
to grow young again. "\Ve liave already stated^^ that the na-
ture of the soil is of the very greatest importance ; for in
Egypt, we find, all these plants are perfectly inodorous, and
it is only the myrtle that has any particular smell. In some
countries, too, the germination of all the plants precedes that
in other parts of the world by so long a period as two months
even. The rose-beds should be well spaded immediately after
the west winds begin to prevail, and, a second time, at the
summer solstice : every care, however, should be paid, between
these two periods, to keeping the ground well raked and
cleaned.
CHAP. 41. (12.) — PLANTS WHICH SHOULD BE SOWN A2I0NG
FLOWEES FOE BEES. THE CEEIXTHA.
Bees and beehives, too, are a subject extremely well suited
to a description of gardens and garland plants, while, at the
same time, where they are successfully managed, they are a
source, without any great outlay, of very considerable profit.
For bees, then, the following plants should be grown — thyme,
apiastrum, the rose, the various violets, the lily, the cytisus,
the bean, the fitch, cunila, the poppy, conyza,^' cassia, the me-
6i Linnaeus and other authorities identify this with the Clematis of
Dioscorides, theVinca major and minor of modern botany, our periwinkle.
Fee, however, is inclined to identify it with the Chamaedaphue, or ground-
laurel of B. xv. c. 39, the Rusciis racemosus of Linnaeus.
61 See c. 38 of this Book.
6^ This method of cultivation, also mentioned by Theophrastus, is never
employed in modern horticulture.
^ lu c. 10 of this Book. 67 gee B. xix. c. 50.
Z 2
340 pli>:t's natural histoet. [Book XXI.
lilote, melissophyllum,^^ and the cerintha.^^ This last is a plant
^vlth a white leaf, bent inwards, the stem of it being a cubit
in height, with a flower at the top presenting a concavity full
of a juice like honey. ' Bees are remarkably fond of the flowers
of these plants, as also the blossoms of mustard, a thing that
is somewhat sui-prising, seeing that it is a well-known fact that
they will not so much as touch the blossoms of the olive : for
which reason, it will be as well to keep that tree at a distance
from them.'°
There are other trees, again, which should be planted as
near the hives as possible, as they attract the swarm when it
first wings its flight, and- so prevent the bees from wandering
to any considerable distance.
CHAP. 42. THE MALADIES OF BEES, AKD THE EE3IEDIES FOR
THK:vr.
The greatest care, too, should be taken to keep the cornel"^
at a distance from the hives ; for if the bees once taste the
blossoms of it, they will speedily die of flux and looseness.
The best remedy in such case is to give them sorb apples
beaten up with honey, or else human urine or that of oxen, or
pomegranate seeds moistened with Aminean'^ wine. It is a
very good plan, too, to plant broom about the hives, the bees
being extremely fond of the blossoms.
CHAP. 43. — THE FOOD OF BEES.
In relation to the food of bees, I have ascertained a very
singular fact, and one that well deserves to be mentioned.
^ " Honey-leaf." The Melissa officinalis of Linnaeus : our balm-
gentle. It is the same as the '* apiastrum," though Phuy has erroneously
made them distinct plants.
69 " Wax-flower." The Cerinthe major of Linnaeus : the greater honey-
wort.
"0 See B. xi. c. 8. On the contrary, Virgil says, Georg. ix. 1. 20, that
a wild olive-tree should be planted near the hives, to protect them with its
shade. Yarro says also, De Re Kust. iii. 16, that the bee extracts honey
from the olive-tree ; but according to Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. ix. c. 64,
it is. from the leaf, and not the flower of that tree that the honey is ex-
tracted.
'1 See B. XV. c. 31. Fee is inclined to doubt the correctness of the
assertion here made by Pliny.
'2 See B. xiv. c. 5. The remedies for the diseases of bees in modern
times are of a very similar nature, but attention is equally paid to the
proper ventilation of the hives.
Chap. 44.] POISONED HONEY. 341
There is a village, called Hostilia, on the banks of the river
Padus : the inhabitants of it, when food"^ fails the bees in their
vicinity, place the hives in boats and convey them some five
miles up the river in the night. In the morning the bees go
forth to feed, and then return to the boats; their locality
being changed from day to day, until at last, as the boats sink
deeper and deeper in the water, it is ascertained that the hives
are full, upon which they are taken home, and the honey is
withdrawn.
(13.) In Spain, too, for the same purpose, they have the
hives carried from place to place on the backs of mules.
CHAP. 44. POISONED HOXEY, AND THE EEMEDIES TO BE EilPLOTED
BY THOSE WHO HAVE EATEN OF IT.
Indeed, the food of bees is of the very greatest importance,
as it is owing to this that we meet with poisonous'* honey
eren. At Heraclia'^ in Pontus, the honey is extremely perni-
cious in certain years, though it is the same bees that make
it at other times. Authors, however, have not informed us
from what flowers this honey is extracted ; we shall, therefore,
take this opportunity of stating what we have ascertained
upon the subject.
There is a certain plant which, from the circumstance that
it proves fatal to beasts of burden, and to goats in particular,
has obtained the name of " aegolethron," "^ and the blossoms of
'3 This plan is still adopted on the river Po, the ancient Padus, as also
at Beauce, in the south of France, where the hives are carried from place
to place upon carts. In the north of England it is the practice to carry
the hives to the moors in autumn.
"* This has been doubted by Spielmann, but it is nevertheless the truth ;
the nature of the sugar secreted by the glands of the nectary, being ana-
logous to that of the plant which furnishes it. The honey gathered from
aconite in Switzerland has been known to produce vertigo and even deli-
rium. Dr. Barton also gives a similar account of the effects of the poisonous
honey collected from the Kalmia latifolia in Pennsylvania ; and Geoffroi
Saint Hilaire says that, having eaten in Brazil some honey prepared by a
wasp called " lecheguana," his life was put in very considerable dangrer
thereby. Xenophon also speaks of the effects of the intoxicating or mad-
dening honey upon some of the Ten Thousand in their retreat.
^^ The rhododendrons and rose laurels, Fee says, which are so numerous
in these p^ts, render the fact here stated extremely probable.
'^ " Goats' death." Fee says that this is the Rhododendron Ponticura
of Linna3us. Desfontaines identifies it with the Azalea Pontica of modern
botany.
342 plint's natural histoet. [Book XXI.
which, steeped in the rains of a wet spring, contract most
noxious properties. Hence it is that it is not every year that
tnese dangerous results are experienced. The following are
the signs of the honey being''' poisonous : it never thickens,
the colour is redder than usual, and it emits a peculiar smell
which immediately produces sneezing ; while, at the same
time, it is more weighty than a similar quantity of good
honey. Persons, when they have eaten of it, throw them-
selves on the ground to cool the body, which is bathed with a
profuse perspiration. There are numerous remedies, of which
we shall have occasion to speak in a more appropriate place ;"*
but as it will be as well to mention some of them on the pre-
sent occasion, by way of being provided for such insidious acci-
dents, I will here state that old honied wine is good, mixed
with the finest honey and rue ; salt meats, also, taken re-
peatedly in small quantities, and as often brought up again.
It is a well-known fact that dogs, after tasting the excre-
tions of persons suffering from these attacks, have been at-
tacked with similar symptoms, and have experienced the same
kind of pains.
Still, however, it is equally well ascertained, that honied
wine prepared from this honey, when old, is altogether innoxi-
ous ; and that there is nothing better than this honey, mixed
with costus,"^ for softening the skin of females, or, combined
with aloes, for the treatment of bruises.
CHAP. 45. MADDENING HONEY.
In the country of the Sanni, in the same part of Pontus,
there is another kind of honey, which, from the madness it
produces, has received the name of ''msenomenon."^^ This
evil effect is generally attributed to the flowers of the rhodo-
dendron,^^ with which the woods there abound ; and that people,
though it pays a tribute to the Romans in wax, derives no
profit whatever from its honey, in consequence of these dan-
gerous properties. In Persis, too, and in Gaetulia, a district
^^ In reality, tliere are no visible signs by which to detect that the honey
is poisonous.
''• B- xxix. c. 31. " See ^^ j,[i c. 25.
73 Waivo^iivoi'j "maddening."
80 The aegolethron of tlie preceding Chapter, Fee thinks. If so, the
word rhododendron, he says, would apply to two plants, the Nerion oleander
or rose laurel (see li. xvi. c. 33), and the Ehododendron Ponticum.
Chap. 46.] HOXET THAT FLIES WILL NOT TOUCH. 343
of Mauritania Caesariensis, bordering on the country of the
Massaesyli, there are poisonous honeycombs found ; and some,
too, only partly so,^^ one of the most insidious things that
possibly could happen, were it not that the livid colour of the
honey gives timely notice of its noxious qualities. What can
we suppose to have possibly been the intention of Nature in
thus laying these traps in our way, giving us honey that is
poisonous in some years and good in others, poisonous in some
parts of the combs and not in others, and that, too, the produce
in all cases of the self-same bees ? It was not enough, forsooth,
to have produced a substance in which poison might be admi-
nistered without the slightest difficulty, but must she herself
administer it as well in the honey, to fall in the way of so
many animated beings ? What, in fact, can have been her
motive, except to render mankind a little more cautious and
somewhat less greedy ?
And has she not provided the very bees, too, with pointed
weapons, and those weapons poisoned to boot ? So it is, and
I shall, therefore, without delay, set forth the remedies to
counteract tlie effects of their stings. It will be found a very
excellent plan to foment the part stung with the juice of mal-
lows^- or of ivy leaves, or else for the person w ho has been stung
to take these juices in drink. It is u very astonishing thing,
however, that the insects which thus carry these poisons in
their mouths and secrete them, should never die themselves
in consequence ; unless it is that jN^ature, that mistress of all
things, has given to bees the same immunity from the effects
of poison which she has granted against the attacks of serpents
to the Psylli^ and the Marsi among men.
CHAP. 46. (14.) — HONEY THAT FLIES WILL NOT TOUCH.
Another marvellous fact, again, connected with honey in
Crete. Upon 3Jount Carma in that island, which is nine
miles in circuit, there is not a fly to be found, and the honey
that is made there no fly will touch. ^* It is by this circum-
81 Fee refuses to credit this : but still such a thing might accidentally
happen.
»- These asserted remedies would be of no use whatever, Fee says.
^ See B. vii. c. 2.
^ Fee seems to take it for granted that Pliny is speaking here of honey
made by other insects than bees; but such does not appear to be the case.
344 pliny's natural history. [Book XXI.
stance that honey said to have come from that district is usually
tested, it being highly prized for medicinal preparations.
CUAF. 47. BEEHIVES, AND THE ATTENTION WHICH SHOITLD BE
PAID TO THEM.
The hives ought to have an aspect due east,®^ but never look-
ing towards the north-east or the west. The best hives arc
those made of bark, the next best those of fennel- giant, and the
next of osier : many persons, too, have them made of mirror-
stone,^^ for tlie purpose of watching^'^ the bees at work within.
It is the best plan to anoint the hives all over with cow-dung.
The lid of the hive should be made to slide from behind, so as
to admit of being shut to within, in case the hive should prove
too large or their labours unproductive ; for, if this is not
done, the bees are apt to become discouraged and abandon
their work. The slide may then be gradually withdrawn, the
increase of space being imperceptible to the bees as the work
progresses. In winter, too, the hives should be covered with
straw, and subjected to repeated fumigations, with burnt cow-
dung more particularly. As this is of kindred®^ origin with
tlie bees, the smoke produced by it is particularly beneficial in
killing all such insects as may happen to breed there, such as
spiders, for instance, moths,^^ and wood-worms f^ while, at the
same time, it stimulates the bees themselves to increased acti-
vity. In fact, there is little difficulty in getting rid of the
spiders, but to destroy the moths, which are a much greater
I)lague, a night must be chosen in spring, just when the mal-
low is ripening, there being no moon, but a clear sky : flam-
beaux are then lighted before the hives, upon which the moths
precipitate themselves in swarms into the flame.
^^ Fee remarks here that Pliny is right, and that Columella and Palla-
dius are wrong, who would have the hives to look due north.
'^ Lapis specularis : a sort of talc, probably. See B. iii. c. 4. B. ix. c.
56. B. XV. c. 1. B. xix. c. 23, and B. xxxvi. c. 45.
^'^ In B. ix. c. 16, he mentions hives made of horn for this purpose.
Glass hives are now made for the purpose, but the moisture which adheres
to tlie interior of the glass prevents the operations of the bees from being-
watched with any degree of nicety.
^'^ " Cognatum hoc." lie probably alludes to the notion entertained
by the ancients tliat bees might be reproduced from the putrefied entrails of
au ox, as wasps from those of a horse. See the story of Aristeeus in B.
iv. of Virgil's Georgics.
ss Or butterflies—" papilionce." '° " Teredines."
Chap. 49.] THE MODE OF PEEPARING WAX. 315
CHAP. 48. THAT BEES AEE SE^'SIBLE OF Uris'OES.
If it is found that the bees are in want of aHment, it Avill
be a good plan to place at the entrance of the hive raisins or
dried figs beaten up,^^ as also carded wool soaked in raisin
wine, boiled^^ must, or hydromel^ and sometimes even the raw^
flesh of poultry. In certain summers, too, when long-con-
tinued drought has deprived them of the nutriment which,
they usually derive from flowers, similar food must be pro-
vided for them.
When the honey is taken, the outlets of the hive should be
well rubbed with melissophyllum or broom, ^* beaten up, or else
the middle of it should be encircled with bands of white vine,
to prevent the bees from taking to flight. It is recommended,
too, that the hone3--pots and combs should be washed with
water : this water, boiled, it is said, will make an extremely
wholesome vinegar.^^
CHAP. 49. THE METHOD OF PREPAEING WAX. THE BEST KINDS
OF WAX. PUNIC WAX.
Wax is made^^ from the honeycombs after the honey has
been extracted. For this purpose, they are first cleaned wilh
water, and then dried three days in the shade : on the fourth
day they are melted on the fire in a new earthen vessel, with
sufficient water to cover them, after which the liquor is strained
off in a wicker basket." The wax is then boiled again with
the same water and in the same pot, and poured into vessels of
cold water, the interior of which has been well rubbed with
honey. The best wax is that known as Punic^^ wax, the next
best being that of a remarkably yellow colour, with the smell
of honey. This last comes from Pontus, and, to my surprise,
it is in no way afi'ected by the poisonous honey which it has
^^ Honeycombs and rough wax are placed in the hive, when the bees
are in want of aliment; also honey and sugar-sirop.
'- '* Defrutum :" grape-juice boiled down to one-half.
93 Fee is at a loss to know how this could be of any service as an ali-
ment to bees.
3^ A mere puerility, Fee says.
^ But extremely weak, no doubt ; for after boiling, the hydromel must
be subjected, first to vinous, and then to acetous, fermentation.
96 The method here described differs but little from that employed at
the present day.
9' " Sporta." 9» Or Carthaginian.
346 plint's natuhal history. [Cook XXT.
contained.^® The next in quality is the Cretan wax, which
contains the largest proportion of propolis/ a substance of
Avhich we have previously made mention when treating of
bees. Next to these varieties comes the Corsican wax, which,
being the produce of the box-tree, is generally thought to be
possessed of certain medicinal properties.
The Punic wax is prepared in the following manner : yellow
wax is first blanched in the open air, after which it is boiled
in water from the open sea, with the addition of some nitre. ^
The flower of the wax, or, in other words, the whitest part of
it, is then skimmed off with spoons, and poured into a vessel
containing a little cold water. After this, it is again boiled
in sea- water by itself, which done, the vessel is left tcr cool.
When this operation has been three times repeated, the wax is
left in the open air upon a mat of rushes, to dry in the light of
the sun and moon; for while the latter adds to its whiteness,
the sun helps to dry^ it. In order, however, that it may not
melt, it is the practice to cover it with a linen cloth : if, when
it has been thus refined, it is boiled once more, the result is a
wax of the greatest possible whiteness.
Punic wax is considered the best for all medicinal prepara-
tions. Wax is made black by the addition of ashes of pa-
pyrus, and a red colour is given to it by the admixture of al-
kanet ; indeed, by the employment of various pigments, it is
made to assume various tints, in which state it is used for
making models,^ and for other purposes without number,
among which we may mention varnishing walls^ and armour,
to protect them from the air. We have given the other par-
ticulars relative to bees and honey, wlien speaking^ of the
nature of those insects. We have now stated pretty nearly
all that we have to say on the subject of the pleasure garden.
99 In reality, the wax has properties totally diflferent from those of the
honey, and it is not always gathered from the same plants.
1 A kind of bee-glue. Ste B. xi. c. 6.
2 Neither the nitre nor the salt, Fee says, would be of the slightest utility.
3 By causing the aqueous particles that may remain in it, to evaporate.
4 Or " likenesses " — '• sirailitudinos." Waxen profiles seem to have been
the favourite likenesses with the liomans ; See the Asinaria of Plautus,
A. iv. so. i. 1. 19, in which one of these portraits is clearly alluded to.
Also Ovid, Heroid. xiii. 1. 152, and Remed. Amor. 1. 723. The "imagines"
also, or busts of their ancestors, which were kept in their "atria," were
made of wax.
= To protect the paintings, probably, with which the walls were decorated.
6 In 13. xi. /
Chap. 51.] THE COLOCASIA. 347
CHAP. 50. (15.) — PLANTS WHICH GROW SPONTANEOtJSLT ! THB
USE MADE OP THEM BY VARIOUS NATIONS, THEIR NATURE, AND
REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH THEM. THE STRAW-
BERRY, THE TAMNUS, AND THE BUTCHEr's BROOM. THE BATIS,
TWO VARIETIES OF IT. THE MEADOW PARSNIP. THE HOP.
We now come to the plants which grow spontaneously, and
which are employed as an aliment by most nations, the people
of Egypt in particular, where they abound in such vast quan-
tities, that, extremely prolific as that country is in corn, it is
perhaps the only one that could subsist without it : so abundant
are its resources in the various kinds of food to be obtained
from plants.
In Italy, however, we are acquainted with but very few of
them ; those few being the strawberry,' the tamnus,^ the
butcher's broom, ^ the sea^° batis, and the garden batis,^^ known
by some persons as Gallic asparagus ; in addition to which we
may mention the meadow parsnip^^ and the hop,'^ which may
be rather termed amusements for the botanist than articles of
food.
CHAP. 51. THE COLOCASIA.
Eut the plant of this nature that is the most famous in
Egypt is the colocasia,^* known as the " cyamos " ^^ to some.
It is gathered in the river !N^ilus, and the stalk of it, boiled,
■^ See B. XV. c. 28.
^ See B. xxiii. c. 17. According to some aiithorities, it is supposed to
be the Delphinium staphis agria of Linnaeus ; but Fee and Desfontaines
identify it with the Tamus communis of Linnaeus, Our Lady's seal.
3 The Ruscus aculeatus of Linnaeus. See B. xxiii. c. 83.
10 In B. xxii. c. 33, this plant is called " halimon." Some authors
identify it with the Atriplex halymus, and others, again, with the Crithmuni
maritimum of Linnaeus. See also B. xxvi. c. 50.
11 Identified by some commentators with the Portulaca sativa or Portu-
laca oleracea of Linnaeus.
12 "Pastinaca pratensis." Fee and Desfontaines are undecided whether
this is the Daucus carota of Linnaeus, the common carrot, or the Pastinacd
sativa, the cultivated parsnip.
13 "Lupus salictarius,'* the "willow wolf," literally; the Humulus
lupulus of Linnaeus. It probably took its Latin name from the tenacity
with which it clung to willows and osiers .
1* The Arum colocasia of Linnaeus.
15 The *' bean." Not, however, the Egyptian bean, which is the Nym-
phaea nelurabo of Linnaeus, the Nelumbum speciosum of Willdenow.
348 Flint's nattjral histokt. [Book XXT-
separates^® into fine filaments when cliewed, like those of the
spider's web. The head,^^ protruding from among the leaves,
is very remarkable ; and the leaves, which are extremely largo,
even when compared with those of trees, are very similar to
those of the plant found in our rivers, and known by the
name of " person ata," ^^ So much do the people of that
country take advantage of the bounteousness displayed by
their river, that they are in the habit of plaiting^^ the leaves
of the colocasia with such skill as to make vessels of various
shapes, which they are extremely fond of using for drinking
vessels. At the present day, however, this plant is cultivated
in Italy.2o
CHAP. 52. THE CrCHORlFM. THE ANTHALIUM OK ANTICELLITJM,
OR ANTHTLLUM. THE (ETUM. THE ARACHIDIS^^.. THE
ARACOS. THE CANDRYALA. THE HYPOCHCERIS. THE CAUCALIS.
THE ANTHRISCUM. THE SCANDIX. THE TRAGOPOGON. THR PAR-
THEmUM OR LEUCANTHES, AMAEACUS, PEEDICIUM, OR MERALIS.
THE TRYCHNUM OR STRYCHNUM, HALICACABUM, CALLIAS, DOR-
YCNION", MAN ICON, PERITTON, NEURAS, MORIO, OR MOLY. THE
CORCHORirS. THE APHACE. THE ACYNOPOS. THE EPIPETROX.
PLANTS WHICH NEVER FLOWER. PLANTS WHICH ARE ALWAYS
IN FLOWER.
In Egypt, next to the colocasia, it is the cichorium that is
held in the highest esteem, a plant which we have already
spoken^^ of under the name of wild endive.^^ It springs up
after the rising of the Yergiliae, and the various portions of it
blossom in succession : the root is supple, and hence is used for
making withes even. The anthalium*^ grows at a greater
^^ These filaments are mentioned also by Martial, Epig., B. viii. Ep.
33, and B. xiii. Ep. 57. But according to Desfontaines, tliis description
applies to the stalks of the Nymphaea lotos, and not of the Arum colocasia.
^^ *' Thyrsus."
18 Desfontaines has identified this with the Arctium lappa of botanists ;
but that is a land plant, and this, Pliny says, grows in the rivers. If
the reading here is correct, it cannot be the plant of the same name men-
tioned in B, XXV. 0. 58.
^3 This applies, Desfontaines snys, to the Nymphfea nelumbo.
20 Here he returns, according to Desfontaines, to the Arum colocasia,
21 See B. XX. c. 29. - " Intubum erraticum."
23 The Cyperus Esculentus of Linna)us.
Chap. 52.] THE EPTPETRON. 349
distance-* from the river ; the fruit of it is round,-^ and about
the size of a medlar, but without either kernel or rind; the
leaves of the plant are similar to those of the cyperus. The
people there eat the fruit of it cooked upon the fire, as also of
the oetum,-® a plant which has a few leaves only, and those ex-
tremely diminutive, though the root is large in proportion.^
The arachidna,^^ again, and the aracos have numerous brancliy
Toots, but neither leaves nor any herbaceous parts, nor, indeed,
anything that makes its appearance above ground.
The other plants that are commonly eaten in Egypt are the
chondrylla,^^ the hypochoeris,^^ the caucalis,^^ the anthriscum,"^
the scaudix, the come, by some persons known as the trago-
pogon,^^ Avith leaves very similar to those of saffron, the par-
thenium,^^ the trychnum,^' and the corchorus f^ with the
aphace ^^ and acynopos,^ which make their appearance at the
equinox. There is a plant also, called the epipetron,^^ which
2* Theoplirastiis, B. iv. c. 10, says that it grows in the sandy soil in the
vicinity of the river.
'^^ It is simihir in appearance to the papvriis, and its tubercles are ob-
long, or round and fleshy, with an agreeable flavour.
■'"' The Arachis hypogeea of Linnajus, the earth pistachio.
27 The root is not large ; but the fruit is so close to the earth that Pliny
may have confounded it with the real root of the plant.
2S Sprengel identifies this with the Lathyrus amphicarpos, and the
aracos Avith the Lathyrus tuberosus, varieties of tlie chiclieling vetch.
Colurana thinks that this last was the arachidna. Fee says that the data
are altogether insuflicient to enable us to form an opinion.
29 The Chondrylla juucea of Linnteus, according to Fee ; but Desfon-
taines identifies it with the Lactuca perennis.
^^ Desfoutaines identifies it with the Hyoseris lucida. Fee says that
the opinion is equally as diflicult to combat as to support.
3^ Fee identifies it with the Caucalis grandifiora of Linnaeus, a native
of Greece. Desfontaines mentions the Caucalis Orientalis, an Eastern plant.
^'^ For this and the Scandix, see B. xxii. c. 38,
33 A chicoraceous plant : the Tragopogou crocifolius of Linnaeus.
31 See c. 104 of tliis Book.
3^ See cc. 35 and 105 of this Book.
2^ The Corchorus olitorius of Linnaeus : still cultivated in Egypt.
3'' Identified by some, but it is doubtful if with any good reason, with the
Leontodon taraxacum of Linnjeus : our dandelion.
^** The reading is doubtthl, and it does not appear to have been iden-
tified.
'■•■> Or " stone-plant :" identified with the Sedum anacamps^ros of Lin-
nieus : a variety of house-leek.
350 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXI.
never blossoms ;*° while the aphace, on tlie other hand, as its
flowers die, from time to time puts forth fresh ones, aud re-
mains" in blossom throughout the winter and tlie spring, until
the following summer.
CHAP. 53. FOUR VARIETIES OE THE CNECOS.
The Egyptians have many other plants also, of little note ;
but they speak in the highest terms of the enecos ;"*'* a plant
unknown to Italy, and which the Egyptians hold in esteem,
not as an article of food, but for the oil it produces, and which
is extracted from the seed. The principal varieties are the
wild and the cultivated kinds ; of the wild variet}', again, there
are two sorts, one of which is less prickly*- than the other, but
with a similar stem, only more upright : hence it is tliat in
former times females used it for distaffs, from which circum-
stance it has received the name of ** atractylis"*^ from some;
the seed of it is white, large, and bitter. The other variety"**
is more prickly, and has a more sinewy stem, which may be
said almost to creep upon the ground ; the seed is small. The
enecos belongs to the thorny plants : indeed, it will be as well
to make some classification of them.
CHAP. 54. PLANTS OF A PRICKLY NATURE I THE ERYNGE, THE
GLYCYRRIZA, THE TRIBULUS, THE ANONIS, THE PHEOS OR
STCEBE, AND THE HIPPOPHAES.
For some plants, in fact, are thorny, while others, again, are
destitute of prickles : the species of tliorny plants are very
numerous. The asparagus** and the scorpio*^ are essentially
thorny plants, having no leaves at all upon them. Some
*° On the contrary, it has a purple flower,
*i It is this, probably, that has caused it to be identified with the Leon-
todon taraxacum.
*^* The Carthamus tinctorius of Linnaeus, or bastard saffron. The seed
of it is a powerful purgative to man, but has no effect on birds : it is much
used for feeding parrots, hence one of its names, '' parrot-seed."
*■■* Identified by Fee with the Atractylis of Dioscorides, the Carthamus
mitissimus of Linnaus ; the Carduucelius mitissimus of DecandoUe.
^■^ From uTpaKTog, " a distaff."
** The Centaurea lanata of DecandoUe, the Centaurea benedicta of
Linnaeus.
45 The Asparagus aphylla of Linnaeus : the leafless asparagus.
*<» The Spartium scorpius of Linnaeus : scorpion-grass, or scorpion- wort-
Ohap. 55.] THE TsETTLE. 351
plants, again, that are pricklj- have leaves as well, such as the
thistle, for instance, the erynge," the glycyrriza,** and the
aettle ;*^ all these plants being provided with leaves that prick
or sting.
Some plants have thorns at the base of their leaves, the
tribulus^^ and the anonis^^ for instance ; others, again, have
thorns, not on the leaves but on the stem, the pheos"- for ex-
ample, known as the stoebe to some. The hippophaes^^ has
thorns at the joints ; the tribulus presents the peculiarity of
bearing a fruit that is thorny.
CHAP. 55. FOUR VARIETIES OF TOE NETTLE. THE LAJilUiE
AND THE SCORPIO.
But of all these plants, it is the nettle that is the best
known to us, the calyces^^ of the blossoms of which produce a
purple down : it frequently exceeds two cubits even in
height.^ There are numerous varieties of this plant; the
wild nettle, known also as the female nettle, does not inflict
so bad a sting as the others. Among the several varieties of
the wild nettle, the one known as the dog^^nettle, stings the
" See B. xxii. c. 8.
*8 See B. xxii. c. 11. The " s^veet-root ;" our hquorice. The Gly-
cyrrhiza ecliinata of Linnaeus bears a prickly fruit; it is of this, Fee
thinks, tliat Pliny speaks here.
^« Fee remarks, that thou«:h the leaf of the nettle is furnished with
numerous stings, or rather prickly hairs, it is quite wrong to look upon
them as thorns, which Pliny, in the present instance, (though not in
the next Chapter) appears to do. Genuine tliorns, he remarks, are ahortive
branches, which, of course, cannot be said of the fine hairs springing from
the nerves of the leaf. See B.xxii, c. 15.
50 Supposed to be the Tribulus terrestris of Linnaeus, a species of thistle :
the leaves of this plant, however, are not provided, Fee remarks, with
thorns at their base, the fruit alone being spinous. Seec. 58 of this Book.
»i See c. 58 of this Book.
5- The Poterium spiuosum of botanists. See B. xxii. c. 13.
»^ See B. xxii. c. 13. Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 5. identifies
this plant with the Stoebe just mentioned.
5* " Acetabulis." Fee complains of the use of this term (meaning a
"small cup") in relation to the calyces of the nettle ; such not being in
reality their form.
5^ Probably in allusion to the Urtica dioica, which grows to a greater
height than the Urtica urens. See B. xxii. c. 15.
°^ " Canina." A variety, probably, of the Urtica urens, the nettle, with
352 PLINX'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXI,
worst, the stem of it even possessing that property ; the leaves
of the nettle are indented at the edge. There is one kind
also, which emits a smell, known as the Herculanean" nettle.
The seed of all the nettles is copious, and black. It is a sin-
gular fact that, though possessed of no spinous points, the
down^^ of the nettle is of a noxious nature, and that, though
ever so lightly touched, it will immediately produce an itch-
ing sensation, and raise a blister on the flesh similar in ap-
pearance to a burn : the well-known remedy for it is olive oil.
The stinging property of the nettle does not belong to the
plant at the earliest period of its growth, but only developes
itself under the influence of the sun. The plant first begins
to grow in the spring, at which period it is by no means a
disagreeable food ;*^ indeed, it has become quite a religious ob-
servance to employ it as such, under the impression that it is
a preventive from diseases the whole year through. The root,
too, of the wild nettle, has the effect of rendering all meat
more tender that is boiled with it.^° The kind that is innoxious
and destitute of all stinging properties, is known as the *' la-
mium." ^^ Of the scorpio^^ we shall have occasion to speak
when treating of the medicinal plants.
tlie exception of the Urtica pilifera, which has the most stinging proper-
ties of all those found in Europe, and the leaves of whicli are the most
deeply indented.
°^ This has not been identified. They are all of them cither inodorous,
or else possessed of a faint, disagreeable smell.
^^ Tliis "lanugo," or down, as he calls it, consists of a fine elongated
tube of cellular tissue, seated upon a gland of similar tissue. In this
gland a poisonous fluid is secreted, and when any pressure is made upon
the gland, the fluid passes upwards in the tube. The nettle of the E:ist,
known as the Devil's Leaf, is of so poisonous a quality as to produce
death.
59 In some parts of the north of England and of Scotland the young
plant of the Urtica dioica is eaten as greens, and is far from a disagreeable
dish, strongly rtserabling spinach. It is also reckoned a very wliolesome
diet, and is taken habitually in the spring, under the impression that it
purifies the blood. This notion, we see from the context, is as old as the
time of the llomans.
60 Dalecliamps speaks of it as tlie custom in his time to wrap up fish
and game in nettles, under the impression that they would keep tlie longer
for it.
61 The dead nettle, or blind nettle. See B. sxii. c. 16.
^' See P.. xxii. c. 17.
Chap. 56.] THE ATRACTTLTS. 3 .70
CHAP. 56. (16). THE CAEDUUS, THE ACOR^"A, THE PHONOS, THE
LEUCACANTHOS, THE CHALCEOS, THE CXECOS, THE POLYACAX-
THOS, THE ONOPYXOS, THE HELXINE, THE SCOLTMOS, THE CHA-
MiELEON", THE TETEALIX, AND ACANTHICE MASTICHE.
The carduus^^ has leaves and a stem eovered with a prickly
down ; the same is the case, too, with the acorna,^^ the leuca-
canthos,^^ the chalceos,*^® the cnecos,"' the polyacanthos,^ the
onopyxos/^ the helxine,"*^ and the scolymos ;'^ the chanieeleon,"'^
however, has no prickles npon the leaves. There is, however,
this difterence among these plants, that some of them have
numerous stems and branches, sucli as the carduus, for in-
stance ; while others, again, have a single stem and no branches,
the cnecos, for example. Some, again, such as the erynge,"^**
are prickly at the head only ; and some blossom in the summer,
the tetralix and the helxine, for instance. The scolymos
llossoms late, and remains a considerable period in flower :
the acorna being distinguished only for its red colour and its
unctuous juice. The atractylis Avould be similar in every
respect to the last, were it not that it is somewhat whiter,
and produces a juice the colour of blood, a circumstance to
A\hich it owes the name of "phonos," "'^ given to it by some.
^^ He probably means the thistle, but possibly the artichoke, imder this
name. See B. xix. cc. 19 and 43, and B. xx. c. 99.
^^ This is probably the same Avith tlie second variety of the "Cnecos,"
mentioned above in c. o3, the Centanrea lanata, or benedicta.
*^^ Probably the Carduus leucographus of Linnaeus,
^^ According to Dalechamps, this is the Echinops ritro of modern
botany. ^' See c. 93 of this Book.
'"■"^ " ]\[any thorns." According to Dalechamps, this is the Carduus spi-
nosissimus angustifolius vulgaris of C. Bauhin, the Cirsium spinosissimum
of Linnaeus.
•^3 Identified by Dalechamps with the Onopot-don Illyricum, or Acan-
tliium of modern botany.
'" The Acarna gummifera of modern botanists, the flowers of which
yield a kind of gum with an agreeable smell. It is quite a different plant
irom Wall pellitory, mentioned in B. xxii. c. 19, under this name.
''^ See B. XX. c. 99, and B. xxii. c. 43.
''^ The black chamaBleon is identified by Fee with the Brotera corym-
hosa of Willdenow : the white variety, mentioned in B. xxii. c. 21, with the
Acarna giiramifera of Willdenow, the Ilelxine above mentioned. Des-
fontaines identities it with the Carlina acaulis.
72* See B. xxii. c. 8. v
'3 Tlie Greek for "blood" or " slaught'Cr."
VOL. IV. A A
354 pliny's katueal history. [Book XXI.
The smell of this plant is powerful, and the seed only ripens
at a late period, and never before autumn, although the same
may be said of all the prickly plants, in fact. All of them
are capable, however, of being reproduced from either seed
or root.
The scolymos, which belongs to the thistle ^^ genus, differs
from the rest of them in the circumstance that the root of it
is boiled and eaten. It is a singular fact that this genus of
plants bears blossoms, buds, and fruit the whole of the summer
through, without any interruption : when the leaf is dried,
the prickles lose their pungency. The helxine is a plant but
rarely seen, and in some countries only. It throws out leaves
at the root, from the middle of which there is a protuberance
in the shape of an apple, covered with leaves of its own : the
head of it contains a thick juice of a sweet flavour, the name
given to which is " acanthice mastiche.'^^
CHAP. 57. THE CACTOS; THE PTERXIX, PAPPUS, AND
ASCALIAS.
The cactos,'^ too, is a plant that grows only in Sicily, having
peculiar characteristics of its own : the root throws out stalks
which creep along the ground, the leaves being broad and
thorny. The naoie given to these stalks is '' cactos," and they
are not disliked as an article of food,'^^ even when old. The
phmt, however, has one stem which grows upright, and is
known by the name of " pternix ;" it has the same sweet
flavour as the other parts, though it will not keep. The seed
of it is covered with a kind of down, known as '^ pappus :"'*^
when this is removed, as well as the rind'^ of the fruit, it is
tender, and like the pith of the palm : the name given to it is
"ascalias."
''' " Cardiius." '^ "Thorn mastich," or "resin."
''s Tliis is not the Cactus of modern botany, a plant mentioned in the
sequel under the name of " Opuntia," but probably the Cinara cardun-
cellus. See B. xx. c. 99,
" Theophrastus says, that when peeled they have a somewhat bitter
flavour, and are kept pickled in brine.
■'8 This name is n^w given by naturalists to the calyx of Compositae,
which exists in the rudimentary condition of a membranous coronet, or of
downy hairs, like silk. " " Cortex."
Chap. 59.] TKE ANTEEMIS. 355
CHAP. 58. THE TEIBULT7S : THE Al^ONIS.
The tribulus^" grows nowhere except in marshy places :
though held in abomination elsewhere,^^ it is employed on the
banks of the Nilus and Strymon as an article of food. It
always bends towards the water, and has a leaf like that of
the elm, with a long stalk. In other parts of the world there
are two varieties of this plant; the one^- with leaves like those
of the chicheling vetch, the other with leaves protected by
prickles. This last variety blossoms also at a later period
than the other, and is mostly found in the hedge-rows about
farm-houses. The seed of it is black, rounder than that of the
other, and enclosed in pods : that of the other variety bears a
resemblance to sand.
Among the prickly plants there is also another kind, known
as the "anonis :"^^ indeed, it has thorns upon the branches,
to which leaves are attached similar to those of rue, the stem
being entirely covered also with leaves, in form resembling a
garland. It comes up in land that has been newly ploughed,
being highly prejudicial to the corn, and long-lived in the
extreme.
CHAP. 59. PLAIS^TS CLASSIFIED- ACCORDHSTG TO THEIR STEMS '. THE
COEO^fOPTIS, THE ANCHUSA, THE ANTHEMIS, THE PHYLLANTHES,
THE CEEPIS, A:srD THE LOTUS.
Some, again, among the prickly plants have a stem which
creeps along the ground, that, for instance, known as the
" coronopus."^^ On the other hand, the anchusa,^^ the root of
which is employed for dyeing wood and wax, has an upright
stem ; which is the case also with some of the plants that are
prickly in a less degree, the anthemis,^ for example, the phyl-
^° The Traptt natans of Linnaeus, or water chesnut, a prickly marsh plant
of Europe and Asia. Hence our word " caltrop."
SI " l)ira res alibi."
82 These two plants have no aflSnity whatever with the one just men-
tioned. The first of these so-called varieties is the Tribulus terrestris of
Linnaeus ; and the second is identified by Fee, though with some doubt,
with the Fagonia Cretica of Linnajus.
^^ The Ononis antiquorum of Linnasus, the Cammock, or rest-harrow.
'* The Cochlearia coronopus. See B. xxii. c. 22.
S5 The Anchusa tinctoria, probably, or dyers' alkan:gt. See B. sxii. c. 23.
6« See B. xxii. c. 26.
356 PLINX'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXI.
lanthes,^' the anemone, and the aphace :^ the crepis,^'' again,
and the lotus,^^ have a foliated stem.
CHAP. 60. PLANTS CLASSIFIED ACCOEDING TO THEIE LEAVES.
PLANTS WHICH NEVEE LOSE THEIE LEAVES: PLANTS WHICH
BLOSSOM A LITTLE AT A TIME : THE HELIOTEOPIUM AND THE
ADIANTUM, THE EEMEDIES DEEIVED PEOM WHICH WILL BE
MENTIONED IN THE FOLLOWING BOOK.
The leaves of plants, as well as those of trees, differ from
one another in the length of the footstalk, and in the breadth
or narrowness of the leaf, and the angles and indentations per-
ceptible on its edge. Other differences are also constituted in
respect of their smell and blossom. The blossom remains on
longer in some of those plants which flower only a little at a
time, such as the ocimum,^^ the heliotropium,^^ the aphace, and
the onochilis,^^ for example.
(17.) Many of these plants, the same as certain among the
trees, never lose their leaves, the heliotropium,^* the adian-
tum ^^ and the polium,^ for instance.
^' It has not been identified with any degree of certainty : the Cen-
taurea nigra and the Campanula rapunculus have been named.
^^ See B. xxvii. c. 21 : also c. 52 of this Book. The name appears to
have been given to both the Leontodon taraxacum and the Lathyras
aphaca of modern botany.
«3 Theophrastus has Picris in the parallel passage, Hist. Plant. B, vii.
c. 9, the Helminthia echioides of Linnaeus. If *' Crepis" is the correct
reading, that plant has not been identified.
^0 The herbaceous kinds are no doubt those alluded to,
51 See B. xix. cc. 31, 36, and 44 ; and B. xx. c. 48. The ocimum of
the Greeks has been identified by some with the Ocimum basiiicura of Lin-
naeus, our basil. That of the Romans seems to have been a name given to
one or more varieties of leguminous plants of the vetch kind.
^2 The Heliotropium Europaeum. See B. xxii. c. 29.
^^ This plant has not been identified, but Fee is inclined, from what
Dioscorides says, B. iv. c. 24, to identify it with either the Litliospermum
fruticosum, or else the Anchusa Italica of Linnaeus.
'^^ This is not the case, if this plant is identical with the Heliotropium
Europaeum, that being an annual.
°^ The Adiantum Capillus Veneris of Linnaeus, or the Asplenium trich-
oraanes of Linna}us. " Venus hair, or coriander maiden hair ; others name
it to be well fern."— T. Cooper. The leaves of these plants last the whole
of their lives.
'•^ The Teuerium rolium of Linnaeus, our poley ; the leaves of which
are remarkably long-lived.
Chap. 62.] THE PERDICIUM!. 357
CHAP. 6 1 . THE VARIOUS KINDS OF E ARED PLANTS : THE STAN-
TOPS ; THE ALOPECUEOS J THE STELEPHUROS, ORTYX, OR PLAN-
TAGO ; THE THRTALLIS.
The eared ^'^ plants form another variety : among them we
find the cynops,^^ the alopecuros/^^ the stelephuros,^ also
known to some persons as the ortyx,^ and to others as the
plantago, of which last we shall have occasion-* to speak m^ore
at length among the medicinal plants, and the thryallis/
The alopecuros, among these, has a soft ear and a thick down,
not unlike a fox's tail in fact, to which resemblance it owes
its name. The plant most like'* it is the stelephuros, were it
not that it blossoms only a little at a time. In the cichorium
and similar plants, the leaves are near the ground, the buds
springing from the root just after the rising of the Yergiliae.^
CHAP. 62- THE PERDICimi. THE ORNITHOGALE.
It is not in Egypt only that the perdicium^ is eaten ; it owes
its name to the partridge,' which bird is extremely fond of
digging it up. The roots of it are thick and very numerous :
and so, too^ with the ornithogale,^ which has a tender white
stalk, and a root half a foot in thickness, bulbous, soft, and
9' "Spicatffi."
38 Fee is in doubt whether to identify it with the Plantago cynops of
the south of Europe, and the banks of the Rhine.
89 " Foxtail." According to Dalechamps, it is the Saccharum cylindricum,
the Lagurus of Linnteus ; but Fee expresses his douhts as to their identity.
1 Fee incUnes to think that it may be the Secale villosum of Linnaeus ;
though the more recent commentators identify it with the Plantago an-
gustifolia. The Saccharum Ravennse has been suggested.
2 Or «' quail." 2. in B. xxv. c. 39.
' Hardouin takes this to be our pimpernel, the Sanguisorba officinalis
of Linnaeus. Sprengel inclines to the Yerbascum lycnnitis of Linnaeus.
* "Proxuma." ^ See B. xviii. c. 66.
6 Supposed by most commentators to be the Parietaria officinalis of
Linnaeus ; "Wall pellitory or parietary. Some, however, have suggested
the Polygonum maritimum, or the Polygonum divaricatum of Linnaeus.
Fee expresses doubts as to its identity, but remarks that the modern Greek
name of pellitory is *' perdikaki." See c. 104 of this Book, and B. xxii.
c. 20.
' " Perdix," the Greek name.
8 Probably the Ornithogalum umbellatum of Linnaeus. Sprengel iden-
tifies it with the Ornithogalum natans : but that variety is not found in
Greece, whUe the other is.
358 plen-y's NATUEAL HISTOBY. [Book XXI.
provided with three or four other offsets attached to it. It is
generally used boiled in pottage."
CHAP. 63. rLAKTS WHICH ONLY MAKE THEIH APPEARANCE AT
THE EXD OF A YEAK. PLANTS WHICH BEGIN TO BLOSSOM AT
THE TOP. PLANTS WHICH BEGIN TO BLOSSOM AT THE LOWER
PART.
It is a remarkable thing that the herb lotus^" and the segi-
lops^^ never make their appearance above ground till the end of
a year after the seed has been sown. The anthemis,^- too, offers
the singular peculiarity that it begins to blossom at the top,
while in all the other plants which flower gradually, it is at
the lower part that the blossom first makes its appearance.
CHAP. 64. THE LAPPA, A PLANT WHICH PRODUCES WITHIN ITSELF.
THE OPUNTIA, WHICH THROWS OUT A ROOT FROM THE LEAF.
In the lappa," too, which clings so tenaciously, there is this
remarkable peculiarity, that within it there grows a flower,
which does not make its appearance, but remains concealed
and there produces the seed, like those among the animals
which produce within themselves. In the vicinity of Opus
there grows a plant ^"* which is very pleasant eating to man,
and the leaf of which, a most singular thing, gives birth to a
root by means of which it reproduces itself.
CSAP. 65. THE lASIONE. THE CHONDRYLLA. THE PICRIS, WHICH
REMAINS IN FLOWER THE WHOLE YEAR THROUGH.
The iasione^^ has a single leaf only, but that so folded and
involved, as to have all the appearance of being several in
number. The chondrylla^^ is bitter, and the juice of the root
'. "Puis."
10 Trobably the Mclilotus coerulea of liinnaeus, Fee says. Desfontaines
mentions the Melilotus Crctica or Italica.
11 The A vena fatua or sterilis ; the barren oat. See B. xviii. c. 44.
12 See B. xxii. c. 26.
13 The Gallium aparinc of Linnaeus. See B. xviii. c. 44.
1* The Opuntia. The Cactus Opuntia of Linnaeus ; the cactus, or
Indian fig.
1= Perhaps the Convolvulus sepium of Linnoous; though Fee dissents
from that opinion. See B. xxii. c. 39.
16 See c. 52 of this Book.
Chap. 68.] THE ASPHODEL. ' 359
is of an acrid taste. The apliace, too, is bitter, and so is the
plant called *' picris," " which also remains in flower the whole
year through : it is to this bitterness that it is indebted for its
name.^^
CHAP. 66. PLANTS IN WHICH THE BLOSSOM MAKES ITS APPEAR-
ANCE BEFORE THE STEM. PLANTS IN WHICH THE STEM APPEARS
BEFORE THE BLOSSOM. PLANTS WHICH BLOSSOM THREE TIMES
IN THE TEAR.
The peculiarities also of the squill and saffron deserve re-
mark; for while all other plants put forth their leaves first,
and then a round stem, these show the stem before the leaf
makes its appearance : in the saffron, however, the blossom is
protruded by the stem, but in the squill it is the stem that
lirst makes its appearance, and then the flower emerges from
it. This plant blossoms three times in the year, indicating
thereby, as previously stated, ^^ the three seasons for ploughing.
CHAP. 67. THE CYPIROS. THE THESION.
Some authors reckon among the bulbs the root of the cypiros,
or gladiolus;^*' it is a pleasant food, and when boiled and
kneaded up with bread, makes it more agreeable to the taste,
and at the same time more weighty. Not unlike it in appear-
ance is the plant known to us as the " thesion,"^' but it is of an
acrid flavour.
CHAP. 68. THE ASPHODEL, OR ROYAL SPEAR. THE ANTHERICUS
OR ALBUCUS.
Other plants of the bulbous kind differ in the leaf: that of
the asphodel-- is long and narrow, that of the squill broad and
supple, and the form of that of the gladiolus is bespoken by its
name.^^ The asphodel is used as an article of food, the seed of
it being parched, and the bulb roasted ;-"* this last, however,
1" See B. xxii. c. 31.
IS From the Greek iriKpoQ. ^^ In E. xviii. c. 65.
20 " Little sword :" tlie Gladiolus communis of Linnteus. See tlie re-
marks on the hyaciuthus of the ancients in the Notes to c. 38 of this Book.
•^' Sprengel says that it is the Thesium linophyllum of modern botany ;
an opinion at which Fee expresses his surprise. See B. xxii. c. 31.
-■- The Asphodehis ramosus of Linnaeus.
-3 " Little sword."
2* It is no longer employed as an article ot food.
360 pliny's natueal nisroiir. [Booli XXI.
should be cooked in hot ashes, and then eaten with salt and
oil. It is beaten up also with figs, and forms, as Hesiod as-
sures us, a very delicate dish. It is said, too, that the asphodel^
planted before the doors of a farm-house, will act as a preserv-
ative against the effects of noxious spells.
Homer,^^ too, makes mention of the asphodel. The bulbs
of it are like moderately-sized turnips, and there is no plant
the root of which has more of them, as many as eighty bulbs
being often grouped together. Theophrastus, and nearly all
the Greek writers, with Pythagoras at the head of them, have
given the name of " anthericos " to its stem, which is one cubit,
and often two, in length, the leaves being very similar to those
of the wild leek ; it is to the root, or in other words, the bulbs,
that they have given the name of asphodel. The people of our
country call this plant "^ *' albucus," and they give the name
of *^ royal '^ spear " to the asphodel the stem of which bears
berries, ^^ thus distinguishing two^^ varieties of it. The albu-
cus has a stalk a cubit in length, large, naked, and smooth, in
reference to which, Mago recommends that it should be cut at
the end of March and the beginning of April, the period at
which it blossoms, and before the seed has begun to swell ; he
says, too, that the stalks should be split, and exposed on the
fourth day in the sun, after which, when dry, they should be
made up into bundles.
The same author states, also, that the Greeks give the name
of "pistana" to the aquatic plant known to us as the '' sa-
gitta ;"^^ and he recommends that it should be stripped of its
bark, and dried in a mild sun, between the ides of May ^^ and
the end of October. He says, too, that it is usual to cut doAvn
to the root, throughout all the month of July, the variety of
the gladiolus called ''cypiros," which is a marsh-plant also,
and at the end of three days to dry it in the sun, until it turns
white ; but that care must be taken every day to carry it under
cover before sunset, the night dews being very injurious to
marsh plants when cut.
25 Od. xi. 539, and xxiv. 13.
26 It is diflBcult to say to what '• illud" refers, if, indeed, it is the correct
reading.
27 *' Hastula regia." -^ " Caulis acinosi."
29 See B. xxii. c. .32.
30 " Arrow." The Sagittaria sagittifolia of Linna3us; our arrow-head,
or adder's tongue. ^i 15th of May.
Chap. G3.] THE HUSH. 361
CHAP. 69. (18.) SIX VAIUETIES OF THE EUSH : FOUR EEMEDIES
DEKIVED FKOM THE CTPIEOS.
Mago has likewise given similar recommendations as to the
rush known to us as the " mariscus,"^- and which is so exten-
sively employed for weaving mats. He says that it should be
gathered in the month of June, up to the middle of July, and
for drying it he gives the same precepts that have been al-
ready ^^ mentioned, in the appropriate place, when speaking of
sedge. He describes a second kind, also, which I find is
generally called the ** marine " rush, and is known to the
Greeks as the ** oxyschoenos."^^
Generally speaking, there are three varieties of this last
rush : the pointed rush, which is barren, and by the Greeks
is called the male rush and the '' oxys :"^^ the female rush,^^
which bears a black seed, and is called the '' melancranis,""
thicker and more bushy than the preceding one : and a third
kind, called the " holoschoenus,"^^ which is larger still. Of
these varieties, the melancranis grows separately from the
Dthers, but the oxys and the holoschoenus will grow upon the
self-same clod. The holoschoenus is the most useful for all
dnds of basket-work, being of a particularly supple and fleshy
lature; it bears a fruit, which resembles eggs attached to one
mother. The rush, again, which we have spoken of as the
nale rush,^^ is reproduced from itself, the summit of it being
3ent down into the earth ; the melancranis, however, is propa-
i^ated from seed. Eeyond this, the roots of all the varieties of
;he rush die every year.
The rush is in general use for making kipes ^" for sea-lishing,
'2 The Schceniis maviscus of Linneeus.
^3 Pliny is guilty of a lapsus memoriae here, for he has nowhere given
my such advice on the suhject. Hardouin refers to B. xviii. c. 67, but
erroneously, for there he is speaking of hay, not " ulva" or sedge.
3-1 The "sharp rush." The Juncus ac'utus of Linneeus; the pointed
)ulrush.
3^ The "pointed" rush. The Schoenus mucronatus of Linnaeus.
3<5 A variety, Fee says, of the Schoenus nigricans of Linnteus, the black
)ulrush. 37 The " black head."
^ The Scirpus holoschoenus of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
39 None of the rushes. Fee remarks, are barren; and when the head is
nsertedin the ground, it is neither more nor less than a sowing of the
seed. Hardouin remarks, however, that by the word '"cacumiue." the
julbous root of the rush is meant, and not the point of the stem.
*^ " Xassce." Baskets with a narrow mouth.
362 PLINY'S NATURAL HiSTOET. [Book XXI.
the more liglit and elegant kinds of basket-work, and the
wicks of lamps, for which last purpose the pith is more par-
ticularly employed.*^ In the vicinity of the maritime Alps,
the rushes grow to such a vast size, that when split they mea-
sure nearly an inch in diameter ; while in Egypt, on the other
hand, they are so extremely fine, that the people there make
sieves of them, for which, indeed, there can be nothing better.
Some authors, again, distinguish another kind of rush, of a
triangular shape, to which they give the name of cyperos,^^
though many persons make no distinction between it and the
'' cypiros," in consequence of the resemblance of the names ;
for our own part, however, we shall observe the distinction.
The cypiros, as we have already *^ stated, is identical with the
gladiolus, a plant with a bulbous root, the most esteemed being
those grown in the Isle of Crete, the next best those of IS^axos,
and the next those of Phoenicia. The cypiros of Crete is
white, with an odour stronglj^ resembling that of nard ; th
produce of Naxos has a more pungent smell, that of Phoenicia
but little odour of any kind, and that of JEgypt none at all ;
for it grow3 in that country as well.
This plant disperses hard tumours of the body — for we shall
here begin to speak of the remedies derived from the various
flowers and odoriferous plants, they being, all of them, of very
considerable utility in medicine. As to the cypiros, then, I
ghall follow Apollodorus, who forbids it to be taken in drink,
though at the same time he admits that it is extremely useful
for calculi of the bladder, and recommends it in fomentations
for the face. He entertains no doubt, however, that it is pro-
ductive of abortion, and he mentions, as a remarkable fact,
that the barbarians,*^ by inhaling the fumes of this plant at
the mouth, thereby diminish the volume of the spleen. They
never go out of the house, he says, till they have inhaled these
41 It has descended in our time to the more humble rushlight; and
even that is fast " going out."
42 Fee identifies it with the Cj'perus longus and Cyperus rotundus of
Linngeus, the odoriferous or round souchet.
^•^ In c. 67 of this Book. The bulb, liowever, of the gladiolus is in-
odorous ; for which reason Fee is inclined to think that Pliny, witli all
his care, is describing a cyperus, perhaps the Cyperus esculcntus.
J^ It would be curious to know who those barbarians were, who thus
smoked cypirus as we do tobacco. Fee queries whether they were Ger-
mans or Gauls, people of i\jiia or of Africa.
Chap. 70.] THE CTPEllOS. 363
fumes, through the agency of which they daily become stronger
and stronger, and more robust. He states, also, that the cypi-
ros, employed as a liniment with oil, is an undoubted remedy
for chafing of the skin, and offensive odours of the arm-pits.
CHAP. 70. THE CYPEEOS ! EOURTEElir EEMEDIES. THE CTPERIS.
THE CYPIRA.
The cyperos, as we have just stated, is a rush of angular shape,
white near the ground, and black and solid at the top. The
lower leaves are more slender than those of the leek, and those
at the top are small, with the seed of the plant lying between
them. The root resembles a black olive, ^^ and when it is of
an oblong shape, the plant is known as the " cyperis,"'*'' being
employed in medicine to a great extent. The cyperos most
highly esteemed is that of the vicinity of the Temple of Jupi-
ter Hammon, the next best being that of Ehodes, the next
that of Therae, and the worst of all that of Egypt, a circumstance
which tends greatly to add to the misunderstanding on the
subject, as that country produces the cypiros as well : but the
cypiros which grows there is extremely hard, and has hardly
any smell at all, while all the other *" varieties of it have an
odour strongly resembling that of nard.
There is adso an Indian plant, called the "cypira,"*® of a
totally different character, and similar to ginger in appearance ;
when chewed, it has exactly the flavour of saffron.
The cyperos, employed medicinally, is possessed of certain
depilatory properties. It is used in liniments for hang-nails
and ulcerous sores of the genitals and of all parts of the body
which are of a humid nature, ulcers of the mouth, for instance.
The root of it is a very efl&cacious remedy for the stings of ser-
pents and scorpions. Taken in drink, it removes obstructions
of the uterus, but if employed in too large doses, it is liable to
cause prolapsus of that organ. It acts also as a diuretic, and
expels calculi of the bladder ; properties which render it ex-
tremely useful in dropsy. It is employed topically, also, for
*5 This applies more particularly, Fee thinks, to the Cyperus rotundus
of Linnaeus.
*^ The Cyperus longus of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
*'' Sillig finds a difficulty here which does not seem to exist. It is
pretty clear that " cseteris" refers to the other varieties of the cypiros,
mentioned in the preceding Chapter.
*^ It has not heen identified.
364 pltny's natural history. [Book XXI.
serpiginous ulcers, those of the throat more particularly, being
usually applied with wine or vinegar.
CHAP. 71. — THE H0L0SCH(ENTJS.
The root of the rush, boiled down to one third in three
lieminae of water, is a cure for cough ; the seed of it, parched
and taken in water, arrests looseness of the bowels and the
menstrual discharge, though at the same time it causes head-
ache. The name given to this rush is holoschoenus ; the parts
of it nearest the root are chewed, as a cure for the bites of
spiders.
I find mention made, also, of one other kind of rush, the
name of which is " euripice ;"^^ the seed, they say, is narcotic,
but the greatest care is necessarj^, not to throw the patient into
a lethargy.
CHAP. 72. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SWEET-SCENTED
RUSH, OR TEUCHITES.
We will also take this opportunity of mentioning the me-
dicinal properties of the sweet-scented rush, which is found
in Ccsle- Syria, as already stated by us in the appropriate
place.^*^ The most esteemed kind, however, is that which
grows in the country of the Nabatsei, and is known as the
'' teuchites ;"^^ the next best being the produce of Babylonia,
and the very worst that of Africa, which is entirely destitute
of smell. This rush is round, and when applied to the tongue,
has a pungent, vinous flavour. The genuine kind, when
rubbed, gives out an odour like that of the rose, and when
broken asunder it is red within. It dispels flatulency, and
hence it is very good for the stomach, and for persons when
vomiting the bile or blood. It arrests hiccup also, promotes
eructations, acts as a diuretic, and is curative of affections of
the bladder. A decoction of it is used for female complaints;
and in cases of opisthotony, it is applied in plasters with dry
resin, these being highly valued for their warming properties.
CHAP. 73. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FLOWERS BEFORE MEN-
TIONED : THIRTY-TWO REMEDIES DERIVED FKOM THE ROSE.
The rose is of an astringent and refreshing nature. Por
^^ Mentioned also by Dioscoridcs. It has not been identified.
50 B. xii. c. 48.
51 Dioscorides says that it grows in Babylonia. It is a variety, no
doubt, of the Andropogon schoenanthus.
Chap. 73.] THE EOSE. 365
medicinal purposes the petals, the flowers, and the heads are
used. Those portions of the petals which are quite white are
known as the ungiets.^' In the flower there is the seed, as
distinguished from the filaments, and in the head there is the
bud," as well as the calyx. The petals are dried, or else the
juice is extracted from them, by one of the three following
methods: Either the leaves are employed whole for the pur-
pose, the unglets not being removed — for these are the parts,
in fact, that contain the most juice — or else the unglets are
first taken ofi" and the residue is then macerated with oil or
wine, in glass vessels placed in the sun. Some persons add
salt as well, and others alkanet,^* or else aspalathus or faweet-
scented rush ; as it is, when thus prepared, a very valuable re-
medy for diseases of the uterus and for dysentery. According
to the third process, the unglets are removed from the petals,
and pounded, after which they are subjected to pressure in a
coarse linen cloth, the juice being received in a copper vessel ;
it is then boiled on a slow fire, until it has acquired the con-
sistence of honey ; for this purpose, however, the most odori-
ferous of the petals should be selected.
(19.) ^''e have already stated,^ when speaking of the va-
rious kinds of wines, how rose wine is made. Eose juice is
much used in injections for the ears, and as a gargle for ulcer-
ations of the mouth, and for the gums and tonsils ; it is em-
ployed also for the stomach, maladies of the uterus, diseases
dt the rectum, and for head-ache. In fevers, it is used, either
by itself or in combination with vinegar, as a remedy for
sleeplessness and nausea. The petals, charred, are used as a
;osmetic for the eyebrows ;^^' and the thighs, when chafed, are
rubbed with them dried ; reduced to powder, too, they are
'oothing for defiuxions of the eyes. The flower of the rose is
soporific, and taken in oxycrate it arrests fluxes in females,
;he white flux in particular; also spitting of blood, and pains
n the stomach, if taken in three cyathi of wine, in sufficient
j^uantity to flavour it.
As to tlie seed of the rose, the best is that which is of a saf-
ron colour, and not more than a year old ; it should be dried,
52 "Ungues," "nails;" in allusion to the white part of the finger-
lails. 53 « Cortex."
^ "Anchusam." 55 jj^ j>^ j-jy q jg^
5'' " In calUblupharum."
366 pliny's natural uistoey. [Book XXI.
too, in the shade. The black seed is worthless. In cases of
tooth-ache, the seed is employed in the form of a liniment ; it
acts also as a diuretic, and is used as a topical application for
the stomach, as also in cases of erysipelas which are not in-
veterate : inhaled at the nostrils, it has the effect of clearing
the brain. The heads of roses, taken in drink, arrest looseness of
the bowels and haemorrhage. The ungiets of the rose are
wholesome in cases of defluxion of the eyes ; but the rose is
very apt to taint all ulcerous sores of the eyes, if it is not aj)-
plied at the very beginning of the defluxion, dried, and in
combination with bread. The petals, too, taken internally, are
extremely wholesome for gnawing pains of the stomach, and
for maladies of the abdomen or intestines ; as also for the tho-
racic organs, if applied externally even : they are preserved, too,
for eating, in a similar manner to lapathum. Great care must
be taken in drying rose-leaves, as they are apt to turn mouldy
very quickly.
The petals, too, from which the juice has been extracted,
may be put to some use when dried : powders,^^ for instance,
may be made from them, for the purpose of cheeking the per-
spiration. These powders are sprinkled on the body, upon
leaving the bath, and are left to dry on it, after which they are
washed off with cold water. The little excrescences^^ of
the wild rose, mixed with bears' -grease,^^ are a good remedy
for alopecy.
CKAP. 74. TWENTY-ONE KEMEDIES DERIVED FKOM THE LILT.
The roots of the lily^^* ennoble that flower in manifold ways
by their utility in a medicinal point of view. Taken in wine,
they are good for the stings of serpents, and in cases of poison-
iug by fungi. Eor corns on the feet, they are applied boiled
^' " Diapasmata."
58 "Pilulge." He alludes to the galls produced by an insect of the
C3'nips kind, and known as " bedeguar." They are astringent, but nc
longer employed in medicine.
^^ The efficacy of beai-s' -grease for promoting the growth of the haii
was believed in, Ave find, so early as Pliny's time.
°9* See 0. 11 of this Jiook. The bulbs of the lily contain a mucilage,,
and roasted or boilexl they are sometimes employed, Fee says, to bring in-
flammations to a head. Employed internally, he thinks that they would
be of no use whatever, and there is nothing in their composition, he says
Avhich would induce one to think that they might be employed to advan
tagc in most of the cases mentioned by Pliny.
Chap. 75.] THE NAECIS3US. 367
in wine, net being taken off before the end of three days. A
decoction of them with grease or oil, has the effect of making
the hair grow again upon burns. Taken with honied wine,
they carry off corrupt blood by stool ; they are good, also, for
the spleen and for hernia, and act as an emmenagogue. Boiled
in wine and applied with honey, they are curative of wounds
of the sinews. They are good, too, for lichens, leprous sores,
and scurf upon the face, and they efface wrinkles of the body.
The petals of the lily are boiled in vinegar, and applied, in
combination with polium,*^*^ to wounds; if it should happen,
however, to be a wound of the testes, it is the best plan to
ipply the other ingredients with henbane and wheat-meaL
Lily-seed is applied in cases of erysipelas, and the flowers and
leaves are used as a cataplasm for inveterate ulcers. The
juice which is extracted from the flower is called '' honey"*^^
Dy some persons, and ''syrium" by others ; it is employed as
m emollient for the uterus, and is also used for the purpose of
promoting perspirations, and for bringing suppurations to a
lead,
CHAP. 75. SIXTEEJT KEMEDIES DERIVED EEOM THE NAECISSUS.
Two varieties of the narcissus are employed in medicine,
:he one with a purple^- flower, and the herbaceous narcissus.^^
This last is injurious to the stomach, and hence it is that it
icts both as an emetic and as a purgative : it is prejudicial,
dso, to the sinews, and produces dull, heavy pains in the head :
lence it is that it has received its name, from " narce,"" and
lot from the youth Xarcissus, mentioned in fable. The roots of
)oth kinds of narcissus have a flavour resembling that of wine
nixed with honey. This plant is very useful, applied to
mrns with a little honey, as also to other kinds of wounds,
md sprains. Applied topically, too, with honey and oatmeal,
t is good for tumours, and it is similarly employed for the
:xtraction of foreign substances from the body.
Beaten up in polenta and oil it effects the cure of contu-
ions and blows inflicted by stones ; and, mixed with meal,
60 Or " Foley." See c. 21 of this Book.
61 " Mel." 62 See c. 12 of this Book.
63 The Narcissus pseudo-narcissus of Linnaeus, the meadow narcissus,
r daffodil. The epithet " herbaceous," Fee says, applies, not to the
ower, but to the leaves, which are larger and greener than in the
ther kinds. " "Torpor," or "lethargy."
368 plint's natural HisTOEr. [Book XXI.
it effectually cleauses wounds, and speedily removes black
morphews from the skin. Of this flower oil of narcissus is
made, good for softening indurations of the skin, and for warm-
ing parts of the body that have been frost-bitten. It is very
beneficial, also, for the ears, but is very apt to produce
head-ache.
CHAP. 7Q' SEVENTEEN SEMEMES DERIVED FEOM THE VIOLET.
There are both wild and cultivated violets."^ The purple
violet is of a cooling nature : for inflammations ihej are ap-
plied to the stomach in. the burning heats, and for pains in the
head they are applied to the forehead. Violets, in particular,
are used for defluxions of the eyes, prolapsus of the fundament
and uterus, and suppurations. Worn in chaplets upon the
head, or even smelt at, they dispel the fumes of wine and head-
ache ; and, taken in water, they are a cure for quinsy. The
purple violet, taken in water, is a remedy for epilepsy, in
children more particularly : violet seed is good for the stings
of scorpions.
On the other hand, the flower of the white violet opens sup-
purations, and the plant itself disperses them. Both the white
and the yellow violet check the menstrual discharge, and act
as diuretics. When fresh gathered, they have less virtue, and
hence it is that they are mostly used diy, after being kept a
year. The yellow violet, taken in doses of half a cyathus to
three cyathi of water, promotes the catamenia ; and the roots
of it, applied with vinegar, assuage afl'ections of the spleen, as
also the gout. Mixed with myrrh and saffron, they are good
for inflammation of the eyes. The leaves, applied with honey,
cleanse ulcerous sores of the head, and, combined with cerate,"®
they are good for chaps of the fundament and other moist parts
of the body. Employed with vinegar, they efl'ect the cure of
abscesses.
CHAP. 77. SEVENTEEN HEMEDTES DEKIVED FROM THE BACCHAK.
ONE REMEDY DERIVED FROM; THE COMBRETUM.
The bacchar that is used in medicine is by some of our
writers called the " perpressa." It is very useful for the stingS'
of serpents, head-ache and burning heats in the head, and
c^ See e. U of this Book.
'''' An oiulment made of wax and cil.
'
3hap. 79.] GALLIC NAED. 369
for defluxions of the eyes. It is applied topically for swellings
Df the mamillae after delivery, as also incipient fistulas^'^ of the
3yes, and erj'sipelas ; the smell of it induces sleep. It is
found very beneficial to administer a decoction of the root for
spasms, falls with violence, convulsions, and asthma. For an
inveterate cough, three or four roots of this plant are boiled
iown to one-third ; this decoction acting also as a purgative
for women after miscarriage, and removing stitch in the side,
and calculi of the bladder. Drying powders^ for perspiration
are prepared also from this plant ; and it is laid among gar-
ments for the smell.^^ The combretum which we have spoken''"
of as resembling the bacchar, beaten up with axle -grease, is a
marvellous cure for wounds.
CHAP. 78. EIGHT EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM ASARUii:.
It is generally stated that asarum'^ is good for affections of
the liver, taken in doses of one ounce to a semisextarius of
honied wine mixed with water. It purges the bowels like
hellebore, and is good for dropsy and affections of the thoracic
organs and uterus, as also for jaundice. When mixed with
must, it makes a wine with strongly diuretic qualities. It
is taken up as soon as it begins to put forth its leaves, and is
dried in the shade. It is apt however to turn mouldy very
speedily.
CHAP. 79. (20.) — EIGHT REMEDIES DERIVED FROM GALLIC NAHD.
Some authors, as we have already" stated, having given the
name of " field nard" to the root of the bacchar, we will here
mention the medicinal properties of Gallic nard, of which we
have '' already spoken, when treating of the foreign trees,
deferring further notice of it till the present occasion. In
doses of two drachmae, taken in wine, it is good for the stings
of serpents ; and taken in water or in wine it is employed for
inflations of the colon, maladies of the liver or kidneys, and
suffusions of the gall. Employed by itself or in combination
^ "^gilopiis." «8 « Diapasmata."
69 This, as Fee remarks, can hardly apply to the Digitalis purpurea of
Linnaeus, with which he has identified it, the smell of which is disagree-
able rather than otherwise. '^ In c. 16 of this Book.
■"i The Asarum Europseum of Linnaeus ; our foalfoot. See B. xii. c. 27.
" lu c. 16 of this Book. " In B. xii. c. 26.
VOL. IV. B B
370 pLiirr's natural history. [Book XXI.
with wonnwood it is good for dropsy. It has the property,
also, of arresting excessive discharges of the catamenia.
CHAP. 80. — FOUR REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE PLANT CALLED
"PHX7."
The root of the plant which we have mentioned in the same
place under the name of "phu,"^* is given in drink, eitheic
bruised or boiled, in cases of hysterical suffocation, and for
pains of the chest or sides. It acts as an emmenagogue, and is
generally taken in wine.
CHAP. 81. TWENTY REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SAFFRON.
Saffron does not blend well with honey, or, indeed, with any
sweet substance, though very readily with wine or water : it
is extremely useful in medicine, and is generally kept in horn
boxes. Applied with egg it disperses all kinds of inflamma-
tion, those of the eyes in particular : it is employed also for
hysterical suffocations, and for ulcerations of the stomach, chest,
kidneys, liver, lungs, and bladder. It is particularly useful
also in cases of inflammation of those parts, aud for cough and
pleurisy. It likewise removes itching''^ sensations, and acts as
a diuretic. Persons who have used the precaution of first
taking saffron in drink will never experience surfeit or head-
ache, and will be proof against inebriation. Chaplets too,
made of saffron, and worn on the head, tend to dispel the fumes
of wine. The flower of it is employed topically with Cimo-
lian^^ chalk for erysipelas. It is used also in the composition
of numerous other medicaments.
CHAP. 82. SYRIAN CROCOMAGNA : TWO REMEDIES.
There is also an eye-salve''' which is indebted to this plant
for its name. The lees'^ of the extract of saffron, employed in
the saffron unguent known as " crocomagma," have their own
peculiar utility in cases of cataract and strangury. These lees
'■* B. xii. c. 26. Either the Valeriana Italica, Fee says, or the Vale-
riana Dioscoridis of Sibthorpe, The Valeriana phu and the Valeriana
officinalis of Linnaeus have been suggested by some commentators.
'* Or " prurigo." "^^ See B. xxxv. cc. 18 and 57.
'■^ " Collyrium." Saffron is still the base of certain eye-salves.
'8 Formed, most probably, of all the insoluble substances contained in
tke oil employed in making the " unguentum crocinum."
Chap. 83.] THE IEI3 AIO) THE SAIIUNCA, 371
are of a more warming nature than saffron itself; the best
kind is that which, when put into the mouth, stains the teeth
and saliva the colour of saffron.
CHAP. 83. FORTY-ONE REJiIEDIES DERIVED FROM THE IRIS : TWO
REMEDIES DEBITED FROM THE SALITJNCA.
The red iris is better than the white one. It is ver}^ bene-
ficial to attach this plant to the bodies of infants more par-
ticularly when they are cutting their teeth, or are suffering
from cough ; it is equally good, too, to inject a few drops of it
^hen children are suffering from tape-worm. The other pro-
perties of it differ but very little from those of honey. It
cleanses ulcerous sores of the head, and inveterate abscesses
! 3iore particularly. Taken in doses of two drachmae with honey,
.t relaxes the bowels ; and an infusion of it is good for cough,
pipings of the stomach, and flatulency : taken with vinegar,
too, it cures affections of the spleen. Mixed with oxycrate it
IS good for the bites of serpents and spiders, and, in doses of
bwo drachmae with bread or water, it is employed for the cure
jf the stings of scorpions. It is applied also topically with oil
X) the bites of dogs, and to parts that are excoriated: employed
in a similar manner, too, it is good for pains in the sinews, and
in conabination with resin it is used as a liniment for lumbago
md sciatica. The properties of this plant are of a warming
lature. Inhaled at the nostrils, it produces sneezing and
ileanses the brain, and in cases of head-ache it is applied to-
Djcally in combination with the quince or the strutheum.''' It
iispels the fumes of wine also, and difficulties of breathing^
md taken in doses of two oboli it acts as an emetic : applied
IS a plaster with honey, it extracts splinters of broken bones.
Powdered iris is employed also for whitlows, and, mixed with
sine, for corns and warts, in which case it is left for three days
m the part affected.
Chewed, it is a corrective of bad breath and offensive exha-
ations of the arm-pits, and the juice of it softens all kinds of
ndurations of the body. This plant acts as a soporific, but it
vastes the seminal fluids : it is used also for the treatment of
;haps of the fundament and condylomata, and it heals all sorts
)f excrescences on the body.
" A small kind of quince. See B. xv. cc. 10 and -14.
^ " Orthopnoea. "
B B 2
372 plint's natfeal history. [Book XXI.
Some persons give the name of '* xyris"^^ to the wild iris.
This plant disperses scrofulous sores, as well as tumours and
inguinal swellings ; but it is generally recommended that when
wanted for these purposes it should be pulled up with the left
hand, the party gathering it mentioning the name of the pa-
tient and of the disease for which it is intended to be employed.
"While speaking of this subject, I will take the opportunity of
disclosing the criminal practices of some herbalists — they
keep back a portion of the iris, and of some other plants as
well, the plantago for instance, and, if they think that they
have not been sufficiently well paid and wish to be employed
a second time, bury the part they have kept back in the same
place ; their object being, I suppose,^- to revive the malady
which has just been cured.
The root of the saliunca^^ boiled in wine, arrests vomiting
and strengthens the stomach.
CHAP. 84. EIGHTEEIT REMEDIES DEEIVED FROM THE POLIXTM.
Those persons, according to Musseus and Hesiod, who are
desirous of gaining honour and glory, should rub the body
all over with polium,^^ and handle and cultivate it as much
as possible. They say, too, that it should be kept about the
person as an antidote to poison, and that to keep serpents away it
should be strewed beneath the bed, burnt, or else carried on the
person ; decoctions of it in wine, either fresh-gathered or dried,
should be used too as a liniment for the body. Medical men
prescribe it in vinegar for affections of the spleen, and in wine
for the jaundice ; a decoction of it in wine is recommended
also for incipient dropsy ; and in this way too, it is employed as a
liniment for wounds. This plant has the effect of bringing
away the after-birth and the dead foetus, and of dispelling
pains in various parts of the body : it empties the bladder also,
and is employed in liniments for defluxions of the eyes. In-
®' Tlie Iris fcetidissiraa of LinnPDUs. It grows near Constantinople, and
tlic smell of it is so like that of roast meat, that it is commonly called, Fee
eays, the "leg of mutton iris."
s2 " Credo." It does not exactly appear that Pliny puts faith in this
superstition, as Fee and Desfontaines seem to think ; hut he merely hazards
a supposition as to what are the intentions of these avaricious herbalists. .
83 Seec. 20 of this Book.
8* See c. 21 of this iJook. Fee remarks, that in reality it possesses none
of the qualities that are attributed to it.
Chap. 86.] MELISSOPHTLLUM. 373
deed, there is no plant known that better deserves to form an
ingredient in the medicament known to us as the " alexiphar-
macon :"^ though there are some who say that it is injurious to
the stomach and is apt to stuff the head, and that it produces
abortion — assertions which®^ others, again, totally deny.
There is a superstitious observance also, to the effect that,
for cataract, it ought to be attached to the neck the moment
it is found, ever)^ precaution being taken not to let it touch the
ground. The same persons state too that the leaves of it are
similar to those of thyme, except that they are softer and more
white and downy. Beaten up with wild rue in rain water, it
is said to assuage the pain of the sting of the asp ; it is quite
as astringent too as the flower®" of the pomegranate, and as
efficacious for closing wounds and preventing them from
spreading.
CHAP. 85. — THREE REIMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HOLOCHEYSOS.
SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CHRYSOCOME.
The holochrysos,^^ taken in wine, is a cure for strangury,
and it is employed in liniments for defluxions of the eyes.
Mixed with burnt lees of wine and polenta, it is curative of
lichens.
The root of the chrysocome ®^ is warming and astringent ; it
is taken in drink for affections of the liver and lungs, and a
decoction of it in hydromel is good for pains of the uterus. It
acts as an emmenagogue also, and, administered raw, draws off
the water in dropsj-.
CHAP. 86. — twenty-o:n^e remedies derited from melis-
SOPHYLLUM.
If the bee-hives are rubbed all over with melissophyllum'^
85 The "protection against poisons."
S6 "We have adopted Sillig's emendation of this passage; the words
"aiunt, quod alii" heing evidently required by the context.
8' " Cytinus" appears to be a preferable reading here to " cyanus," tlie
"blue-bell."
^ See c. 24 of this Book. Its medicinal properties, F6e says, are next
to nothing.
89 See c. 26 of this Book. If it is the Chrysocoma linosyris, it has no
peculiar medicinal properties. Fee says. All these statements are found in
Dioscorides.
w See B. XX. c. 45, and c. 41 of this Book. It is a plant of somewhat
stimulating properties, and may possibly be useful. Fee thinks, for nervous
affections.
374 PLirfs NATUHAL HT3T0IIT. [Book XXI.
or mclittsena, the bees will never desert them ; for there is no
flower in which they take greater delight. If branches ^^ of
this plant are used, the bees may be kept within bounds with-
out any dilBSculty. It is an excellent remedy, also, for tVie
stings of bees, wasps, and similar insects, as also for wounds
made by spiders and scorpions ; it is used, too, for hysterical
suifocations, in combination with nitre, and for gripings of the
bowels, with wine. The leaves of it are employed topically
for scrofulous sores, and, in combination with salt, for maladies
of the fundament. A decoction of the juice promotes the men-
strual discharge, dispels inflammations, and heals ulcerous
sores : it is good, too, for diseases of the joints and the bites
of dogs, and is beneficial in cases of inveterate dysentery, and
for coeliac aff'ections, hardness of breathing, diseases of the
spleen, and ulcerations of the thoracic organs. For films on
the eyes, it is considered a most excellent plan to anoint them
with the juice of this plant mixed with honey. •
CHAP. 87. THIRTEEN JiEMEDIES DEEIVED FEOM THE MELILOTE.
The melilote,^^ again, applied with the yolk of an egg, or
else linseed, effects the cure of diseases of the eyes. It assuages
pains, too, in the jaws and head, applied with rose oil; and,
employed with raisin wine, it is good for pains in the ears, and
all kinds of swellings or eruptions on the hands. A decoction
of it in wine, or else the plant itself beaten up raw, is good
for pains in the stomach. It is equally beneficial, too, for
maladies of the uterus ; and for diseases of the testes, prolapsus
of the fundament, and all other diseases of those parts, a de-
coction is made of it, fresh-gathered, in water or in raisin wine.
"With the addition of rose oil, it is used as a liniment for carci-
noma. Boiled in sweet wine, it is particularly useful for the
treatment of the ulcers known as " melicerides." ^^
CHAP. 88. (21.) FOtTR REMEDIES DEEIVED FEOM TREFOIL.
The trefoil,** I know, is generally looked upon as being par-
9* " Scopis." He may possibly mean small brooms made of the sprigs
of the plant.
3- See c. 29 of this Book. The melilote is possessed of no peculiar
energy, but decoctions of it are sometimes employed as a lotion.
'3 Sores " resembling a honey-comb."
« See c. 30 of this Book.
Chap. 89.] THYME. 375
ticularly good for the stings of serpents and scorpions, the seed
being taken in doses of twenty grains, with either wine or
oxycrate ; or else the leaves and the plant itself are boiled toge-
ther, and a decoction made of them ; indeed, it is stated, that
a serpent is never to be seen among trefoil. Celebrated authors,
too, I find, have asserted that twenty-five grains of the seed of
the kind of trefoil which we have^^ spoken of as the "minyan-
thes," are a sufficient antidote for all kinds of poisons : in ad-
dition to which, there are numerous other remedial virtues
ascribed to it.
But these notions, in my opinion, are counterbalanced by
the authority of a writer of the very highest repute : for wc
find the poet Sophocles asserting that the trefoil is a venomous
plant. Simus, too, the physician, maintains that a decoction
of it, or the juice, poured upon the human body, is productive
of burning sensations similar to those experienced by persons
when they have been stung by a serpent and have trefoil ap-
plied to the wound. It is my opinion, then, that trefoil should
never be used in any other capacity than as a counter-poison ;
for it is not improbable that the venom of this plant has a
natural antipathy to all other kinds of poisons, a phaenomenon
which has been observed in many other cases as well. I find
it stated, also, that the seed of the trefoil with an extremely
diminutive leaf, applied in washes to the face, is extremely
beneficial for preserving the freshness of the skin in females.
CHAP. 89. TWENTY-EIGHT EEMEDIES DERIVED FEOM THYME.
Thyme ^ should be gathered while it is in flower, and dried
in the shade. There are two kinds of thyme : the white thyme
with a ligneous root, which grows upon declivities, and is the
most esteemed of the two, and another variety, which is of a
darker colour, and bears a swarthy flower. They are, both of
them, considered to be extremely beneficial to the sight, whe-
ther used as an article of food or as a medicament, and to be
good for inveterate coughs. Used as an electuary, with vine-
gar and salt, they facilitate expectoration, and taken with
honey, they prevent the blood from coagulating. Applied ex-
w In c. 30 of this Book.
^ See c. 31 of this Book. Thyme }-ields an essential oil, possessed of
stimulating properties. Most of the assertions here made as to its virtues
are quite unfounded.
376 plint's natural histoiit. [Book XXI.
terually with mustard, they dispel chronic fluxes of the fauces,
as well as various affections of the stomach and bowels. Still,
however, these plants must be used in moderation, as they are
of a heating nature, for which reason it is that they act so
astringently upon the bowels. In cases of ulceration of the
intestines, the dose should be one denarius of thyme to one
sextarius of oxymel ; the same proportions, too, should be taken
for pains in the sides, between the shoulder-blades, or in the
thoracic organs. Taken with oxymel, these plants are used for
the cure of intestinal diseases, and a similar draught is admin-
istered in cases of alienation of the senses and melancholy.
Thyme is given also for epilepsy, when the fits come on, the
smell of it reviving the patient ; it is said, too, that epileptic
persons should sleep upon soft thyme. It is good, also, for
hardness of breathing, and for asthma and obstructions of the
catamenia. A decoction of thyme in water, boiled down to
one-third, brings away the dead foetus, and it is given to males
with oxymel, as a remedy for flatulency, and in cases of swell-
ing of the abdomen or testes and of pains in the bladder. Ap-
plied with wine, it removes tumours and fluxes, and, in com-
bination with vinegar, callosities and warts. Mixed with wine,
it is used as an external application for sciatica ; and, beaten
up with oil and sprinkled upon wool, it is employed for diseases
of the joints, and for sprains. It is applied, also, to burns,
mixed with hogs' lard. For maladies of the joints of recent
date, thyme is administered in drink, in doses of three oboli to
three cyathi of oxymel. For loss of appetite, it is given, beaten
■up with salt.
CHAP. 90. FOTJK EEMEDIES DERIVED FEOM THE HEjSIEROCALLES.
The hemerocalles ^'' has a soft, pale green leaf, with an odo-
riferous, bulbous root. This root, applied with honey to the
abdomen, draws ofi" the aqueous humours and all corrupt blood.
The leaves of it are applied for defluxions of the eyes, and for
pains in the mamillae, after childbirth.
CHAP. 91. — FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HELENIUM.
The helenium, which springs, as we have already ^* stated,
^^ See c. 33 of this Book. The Pancratium maritimum, if that plant is
identical with it, is but little used, but has a marked action, Fee says,
upon the hiunan frame. s^ lu c. 33 of this Book.
Chap. 02.] THE ABKOTO>'UM. 377
from the tears of Helena, is generally thought to have been
produced for improving the appearance, and to maintain un-
impaired the freshness of the skin in females, both of the face
and of other parts of the body. Besides this, it is generally
supposed that the use of it confers additional graces on the
person, and ensures universal attraction. They say, too, that,
taken with wine, it promotes gaiety of spirit, having, in fact, a
similar effect to the nepenthes, which has been so much vaunted
by Homer, ^'^ as producing forgetfulness of all sorrow. The
juice of this plant is remarkably sweet, and the root of it, taken
fasting in water, is good for hardness of breathing ; it is white
within, and sweet. An infusion of it is taken in wine for the
stings of serpents ; and the plant, bruised, it is said, will kill
mice.
CHAP. 92. — TWE^'lT-•rwo eemedies dekived fkom the
AEHOXONril.
AVe find two varieties of abrotonum^ mentioned, the field,
and the mountain kind; this last, it is generally understood,
is the female plant, the other the male. They are both of them
bitter, like wormwood. That of Sicily is the most esteemed,
and next to it, that of Galatia. The leaves of it are sometimes
employed, but it is the seed that possesses the most warming
^ Od. iv, 1. 221. This has been supposed by many commentators to
have been opium. The origin of the word is vi), "not," and irivBogy
"grief;" and, as Fee says, it would seem to indicate rather a composition
than a plant. Saffron, mandragore, nightshade, and even tea and coffee,
have been suggested by the active imaginations of various writers. Fee is
of opinion that it is impossible to come to any satisfactory conclusion, but
inclines to the belief that either the poppy or a preparation from it, is
meant. In confirraation of this opinion, it is a singular fact, that, as Dr.
Paris remarks (in his Pharmacologia), the Nepenthes of Homer was ob-
tained from Thebes in Egypt, and that tincture of opium, or laudanum,
has received the name of " Thebaic tincture." Gorraeus, in his '• Defini-
tiones Medicse," thinks that the herb alluded to is the Inula Campania,
or Elecampane, which was also said to have derived its name of
" Helenium" from Hehm. Dr. Greenhill, in Smith's Dictionary of An-
tiquities, inclines to the opinion that it was opium. See the article
" Pharmaceutica."
1 See c. 34 of this Book. Both of the plants mentioned share the me-
dicinal properties of wormwood, being stimulants, tonics, anthelmintics,
and febrifuges. It would be dangerous, however. Fee says, to administer
them in most of the cases mentioned by Pliny, nor would they be good for
strangury, or affections of the chest.
378 plixy's natueal history. [Book XXI.
properties; hence it is, that it is so beneficial for maladies of
the sinews,^ for cough, hardness of breathing, convulsions, rup-
tures, lumbago, and strangury. Several handfuls of this plant
are boiled down to one- third, and the decoction of it, in doses
of four cyathi, is administered in drink. The seed is given,
pounded, in water, in doses of one drachma; it is very good
for afi'ections of the uterus.
Mixed with barley-meal, this plant brings tumours to a
head, and boiled with quinces, it is employed as a liniment for
inflammations of the eyes. It keeps away serpents, and for
their stings it is either taken in wine, or else employed in
combination with it as a liniment. It is extremely efficacious,
also, for the stings of those noxious insects by which shivering
fits and chills are produced, such as the scorpion and the spider
called " phalangium,"^ for example ; taken in a potion, it is
good for other kinds of poison, as also for shivering fits, how-
ever produced, and for the extraction of foreign substances ad-
hering to the flesh ; it has the efl'ect, also, of expelling intes-
tinal worms. It is stated that a sprig of this plant, if put be-
neath the pillow, will act as an aphrodisiac, and that it is of
the very greatest efficacy against all those charms and speUs by
which impotence is produced.
CHAP. 93. (22.) — ONE EEMEDT DERIVED rROM THE LEUCANTHE-
inJM. NINE REMEDIES DERIVED EROM THE AMARACUS.
The leucanthemum,^ mixed with two-thirds of vinegar, is
curative of asthma. The sampsuchum or amaracus,^ — that of
Cyprus being the most highly esteemed, and possessed of the
finest smell — is a remedy for the stings of scorpions, applied
to the wound with vinegar and salt. Used as a pessary, too,
it is very beneficial in cases of menstrual derangement ; but
when taken in drink, its properties are not so powerfully de-
veloped. Used with polenta, it heals defluxions of the eyes ;
and the juice of it, boiled, dispels gripings of the stomach. It
is useful, too, for strangury and dropsy; and. in a dry state, it
promotes sneezing. There is an oil extracted from it, known
2 *< Nervis." Pliny had no knowledge, probably, of the nervous system ;
but Fee seems to think that such is his meaning here. See B. xi. c. 88.
3 See B. xi. cc. 24, 28, and 29.
* See c. 34 of this Book ; also B. xxii. c. 26.
5 See c. 35 of this Book,
Chap. 94.] THE A>'EMONE OE PHEENION. 379
as '' sampsuchinum," or " amaracinum," wMch is very good
for wanning and softening the sinews ; it has a warming effect,
also, upon the uterus. The leaves are good for bruises, beaten
up with honey, and, mixed with wax, for sprains.
CKAP. 94. (23.) — TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE ANEMONE OR
PHRENION.
We have as yet spoken® only of the anemone used for making
chaplets ; we will now proceed to describe those kinds which
are employed for medicinal purposes. Some persons give the
name of " phrenion" to this plant : there are two species of
it ; one of which is wild,' and the other grows on cultivated^
spots ; though they are, both of them, attached to a sandy
soil. Of the cultivated anemone there are numerous varieties ;
some, and these are the most abundant, have a scarlet flower,
while others, again, have a flower that is purple or else milk-
white. The leaves of all these three kinds bear a strong re-
semblance to parsley, and it is not often that they exceed half
a foot in height, the head being very similar to that of aspa-
ragus. The flower never opens, except while the wind is
blowing, a circumstance to which it owes its name.^ The wild
anemone is larger than the cultivated one, and has broader
leaves, with a scarlet flower.
Some persons erroneously take the wild anemone to be the
same as the argemone,^" while others, again, identify it with
the poppy which we have mentioned^^ under the name of
^'rhoeas :" there is, however, a great difference between them,
as these two other plants blossom later than the anemone, nor
does the anemone possess a juice or a calyx like theirs ; besides
which, it terminates in a head like that of asparagus.
The various kinds of anemone are good for pains and in-
flammations of the head, diseases of the uterus, and stoppage
of the milk in females ; taken, too, in a ptisan, or applied as a
pessary in wool, they promote the menstrual discharge. The
root, chewed, has a tendency to bring away the phlegm, and
« In c. 38 of this Book.
'' The Anemone coronaria of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
^ Probahly the Adonis aestivalis of Linnaeus, a ranunculus. These
plants are of an acrid, irritating nature, and rank at the present day among
the vegetable poisons.
3 The " wind-flower," from the Greek dvtfiog, " wind."
10 See B. xxv. c. 26. " In B. xix. c. 53.
380 pli:n-t's natural HISTOET. [Book XXI.
is a cure for tooth-ache : a decoction of it is good, too, for
defluxions of the eyes,^^ and effaces the scars left by wounds.
The Magi have attributed many very wonderful properties to
these plants : they recommend it to be gathered at the earliest
moment in the year that it is seen, and certain words to be
repeated, to the effect that it is being gathered as a remedy for
tertian and quartan fevers ; after which the flower must be
wrapped up in red cloth and kept in the shade, in order to be
attached to the person when wanted. The root of the ane-
mone with a scarlet flower, beaten up and applied to the body
of any animated being,^^ produces an ulcer there by the agency
of its acrid qualities ; hence it is that it is so much employed
as a detergent for ulcerous sores.
CHAP. 95. (24.) — SIX EEMEDIES DERIVED FKOM THE (ENANTHE.
The cenanthe" is a plant which is found growing upon
rocks, has the leaf of the parsnip, and a large root with nu-
merous fibres. The stalk of it and the leaves, taken with
honey and black wine, facilitate delivery and bring away the
after-birth : taken with honey, also, they are a cure for cough,
and act as a powerful diuretic. The root of this plant is cura-
tive of diseases of the bladder-
CHAP. 96. (25.) ELEVEX REMEDIES DERIVED PROM THE
HELICHRYSOS.
The helichrysos is by some persons called the " chrysan-
themon.^** It has small, white branches, with leaves of a
whitish colour, similar to those of the abrotonum. The clusters,
disposed around it, and glistening like gold in the rays of the
sun, are never known to fade ; hence it is that they make
chaplets of it for the gods, a custom which was most faithfully
observed by Ptolemseus, the king of Egypt. This plant grows
in shrubberies : taken in wine, it acts as a diuretic and emme-
nagogue, and, in combination with honey, it is employed topi-
cally for burns. It is taken also in potions for the stings of
serpents, and for pains in the loins; and, with honied wine, it
12 As Fee remarks, it would be very dangerous to use it.
^^ " Cuique aniraalium."
1* The (Enanthe pimpinellifolia of Linnaeus. If taken internally, Fee
says, it would tend to aggravate the disease so treated, in a very high
degree. ii* See c. 38. Also B. xxvi. c. 55.
Cbnp. 98.] THE LYCHNIS. 381
removes coagulated blood in the abdominal regions and the
bladder. The leaves of it, beaten up and taken in doses of
three oboli, in white wine, arrest the menstrual discharge
when in excess.
The smell of this plant is far from disagreeable, and hence
it is kept with clothes, to protect them from the attacks of
vermin.
CKAP. 97. (26.) EIGHT EEMEDIES DERIVED FliOlil THE HTACr^TH.
The hj^acinth^^ grows in Gaul more particularly, where it
is employed for the dye called "hysginum."^^ The root of it
is bulbous, and is well known among the dealers in slaves :
applied to the body, with sweet wine, it retards the signs of
puberty, ^^ and prevents them from developing themselves. It
is curative, also, of gripings of the stomach, and of the bites of
spiders, and it acts as a diuretic. The seed is administered,
with abrotonum, for the stings of serpents and scorpions, and
for jaundice.
CHAP. 98. — SEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LYCHNIS.
The seed of the lychnis, ^^ too, which is just the colour of
fire, is beaten up and taken in drink for tlie stings of serpents,
scorpions, hornets, and other insects of similar nature : the
wild variety, however, is prejudicial to the stomach. It acts
as a laxative to the bowels ; and, taken in doses of two
drachm93, is remarkably efficacious for carrying oif the bile.
So extremely baneful is it to scorpions, that if they so much
as see it, they are struck with torpor. The people of Asia
call the root of it " bolites," and they say that if it is attached
to the body it will effectually disperse albugo. ^^
15 Scec. 38 of this Book; also B. xvi. c. 31.
16 From tlie herb "bysge," used for dyeing a deep red. See B. ix. c.
65, and B. xxi. c. 36. No such colour, Fee says, can be obtained from
the petals of either the Lilium Martagon or the Gladiolus communis, with
•which it has been identified.
1' It has no such effect ; and the slave-dealers certainly lost their pnins
in cosmetizing their shaves with it, their object being to make them look
younger than they really were, and not older, as Hardouin seems to think.
18 See c. 10 of this Book.
15 White specks in the pupil of the eye, or whiteness of the cornea.
382 Flint's natiteal histoet. [Book XXI.
CHAP. 99. (27.) FOUR REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE VINCA-
PERVINCA.
The vincapervinca,^*^ too, or chamsedaphne,^^ is dried and
pounded, and given to dropsical patients m water, in doses of
one spoonful ; a method or treatment which speedily draws off
the water, A decoction of it, in ashes, with a sprinkling of
wine, has the effect of drjdng tumours : the juice, too, is em-
ployed as a remedy for diseases of the ears. Applied to the
regions of the stomach, this plant is said to be remarkably
good for diarrhoea.
CHAP. 100. THREE REMEDIES DERIVBD FROM BTJTCHER's BROOM.
A decoction of the root of butcher's broom^^ is recommended to
be taken every other day for calculus in the bladder, strangury,
and bloody urine. The root, however, should be taken up
one day, and boiled the next, the proportion of it being one
sextarius to two cyathi of wine. Some persons beat up the
root raw, and take it in water : it is generally considered, too,
that there is nothing in existence more beneficial to the male
organs than the young stalks of the plant, beaten up and used
with vinegar.
CHAP. 101. TWO REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BATIS.
The batis,^^ too, relaxes the bowels, and, beaten up raw,
it is employed topically for the gout. The people of Egypt
cultivate the acinos,^* too, both as an article of food and for
making chaplets. This plant would be the same thing as
ocimum, were it not that the leaves and branches of it are
rougher, and that it has a powerful smell. It promotes the
catamenia, and acts as a diuretic.
CHAP. 102. (28.) TWO REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE COLOCASIA.
The colocasia,^^ according to Glaucias, softens the acridity of
humours of the body, and is beneficial to the stomach.
20 See c. 39 of this Book. 21 » Ground-laurel."
22 See c. 50, and B. xxiii. c. 83. The medicinal properties of this plant
are not developed to any great extent ; but it was thought till lately, Fee
says, to be an excellent diuretic, 23 Qqq q 49 andB. xxvi. c. 50.
2* The Thymus acinos of Linnaeus.
25 See c. 51 of this Book, it is an alimentary plant, but eaten raw, it
is possessed of some acridity.
Chap. 104.] THE PARTHENIUM, LEUOANTHES, OK AMABACUS. 383
CHAP. 103. (29.) — SIX KEMEDIES DEPJVED FKOM THE ANTHYL-
LIUM OR ANTHYLLT7M.
The people of Egypt eat tbe anthalium,*® but I cannot find
that they make any other use of it ; but there is another plant
called the '* anthyllium,"^''' or, by some persons, the ''anthyl-
lum," of which there are two kinds : one, similar in its leaves
and branches to the lentil, a palm in height, growing in sandy
soils exposed to the sun, and of a somewhat saltish taste ; the
other, bearing a strong resemblance to the chamaepitys,^® but
smaller and more downy, with a purple flower, a strong smell,
and growing in stony spots.
The first kind, mixed with rose-oil and applied with milk,
is extremely good for afi'ections of the uterus and all kinds of
sores : it is taken as a potion for strangury and gravel in the
kidneys, in doses of three drachmae. The other kind is taken
in drink, with oxymel, in doses of four drachmae, for indura-
tions of the uterus, gripings of the bowels, and epilepsy.
CHAP. 104. (30.) EIGHT EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE PARTHE-
Nirikl, LEUCANTHES, OR AMARACUS.
The parthenium^^ is by some persons called the "leucan-
thes," and by others the " amaracus." Celsus, among the
Latin writers, gives it the names of " perdicium"^" and ''mu-
ralis." It grows in the hedge-rows of gardens, and has the
smell of an apple, with a bitter taste. With the decoction of
it, fomentations are made for maladies of the fundament, and
for inflammations and indurations of the uterus : dried and
applied with honey and vinegar, it carries off black bile, for
which reason it is considered good for vertigo and calculus in
the bladder. It is employed as a liniment, also, for erysipe-
las, and, mixed with stale axle-grease, for scrofulous sores.
For tertian fevers the Magi recommend that it should be
taken up with the left hand, it being mentioned at the time
for whom it is gathered, care being also taken not to look back
-^ The Cyperus esculentus of Linnaeus, the esculent souchet.
-■^ The two varieties are identified with the Cressa Cretica and the
Teucrium iva of Linnaeus. The latter plant is said to be a sudorific.
23 See B. xxvi. c. 53.
29 The Matricaria parthenium of Linnaeus. See c. 52.
^ De Re Med. ii. 33. It must not be confounded with the plant of
that name mentioned in c. 62 of this Book.
384 Flint's natueal kistoet. [Book XXL
while doing so : a leaf of it should be laid beneath the patient's
tongue, after which it must be eaten in a cj'athus of water.
CHAP. 105. (31.) — EIGHT REMEDIES DERITED FROM THE TRTCH-
NUM OR STRYCHNtTM, HALICACABUM, CALLIAS, DORCYNION,
MAKICON, NEURAS, MORIO, OR MOLY.
The trychnon^^ is by some called " strychnon ;" I only wish
that the garland-makers of Egypt would never use this plant
in making their chaplets, being deceived as they are by the
resemblance in the leaves of both kinds to those of ivy. One
of these kinds, bearing scarlet berries with a stone, enclosed
in follicules, is by some persons called the "halicacabum,"^- by
others the '^callion," and by the people of our country, the
" vesicaria," from the circumstance of its being highly bene-
ficial to the bladder^^ and in cases of calculus.
The trychnon is more of a woody shrub than a herb, with
large follicules, broad and turbinated, and a large berry within,
which ripens in the month of November. A tliird^"* kind,
again, has a leaf resembling that of ocimum — but it is not my
intention to give an exact description of it, as I am here speak-
ing of remedies, and not of poisons ; for a few drops of the
juice, in fact, are quite sufficient to produce insanity. The
Greek writers, however, have even turned this property into
matter for jesting; for, according to them, taken in doses of
one drachma, this plant is productive of delusive and prurient
fancies, and of vain, fantastic visions, which vividly present all
the appearance of reality : they say, too, that if the dose is
doubled, it will produce downright madness, and that any fur-
ther addition to it, will result in instant death.
This is the same plant which the more well-meaning writers
have called in their innocence " dorycnion,"^^ from the circum-
stance that weapons used in battle are poisoned with it — for it
grows everj^ where — while others, again, who have treated of it
31 The Solanum nigrum of Linnaeus, or black night-shade. See B.
xxiii. c. 108.
^2 The Physalis alkekengi of Linnaeus ; red night-shade, alkekengi, or
\vinter cherry. Fee remarks, that the varieties of this plant in Egypt are
very numerous, and tliat in many phices, till very recently, it was em-
ployed as an article of food, ^^ "Vesica."
3i The Solanum villosum of Lamarck.
^ From ^opu, a "spear."
Chap. lOo.] THF HALICACABUM. 385
more at length,^® have given it the surname of '* manicon/'-*'
Those, on the other hand, who have iniquitously concealed its
real qualities, give it the name of '' erythron" or *'neuras,"
and others ''perisson" — details, however, which need not be
entered into more fully, except for the purpose of putting
persons upon their guard.
There is another kind, again, also called '' halicacabum,"'
which possesses narcotic qualities, and is productive of death
even more speedily than opium : by some persons it is called
** morio," and by others *'moly.""^ It has, however, been
highly extolled by Diodes and Evenor, and, indeed, Timaristus
has gone so far as to sing its praises in verse. With a wonder-
ful obliviousness of remedies really harmless, they tell us, for-
sooth, that it is an instantaneous remedy for loose teeth to
rinse them with halicacabum steeped in wine : but at the same
time they add the qualification that it must not be kept in the
mouth too long, or else delirium will be the result. This, how-
ever, is pointing out remedies with a veugeance, the employ-
ment of which will be attended with worse results than the
malady itself.
There is a third kind^^ of halicacabum, that is esteemed as an
ai'ticle of food ; but even though the flavour of it may be pre-
ferred to garden plants, and although Xenocrates assures us that
there is no bodily malady for which the trychnos is not highly
beneficial, they are none of them so valuable as to make me
think it proper to speak more at length upon the subject, more
particularly as there are so many other remedies, which are
unattended with danger. Persons who wish to pass themselves
off for true prophets, and who know too well how to impose
upon the superstitions of others, take the root of the halicaca-
bum in drink. The remedy against this poison — and it is with
much greater pleasure that I state it — is to drink large quan-
tities of honied wine made hot. I must not omit the fact,
too, that this plant is naturally so baneful to the asp, that when
the root is placed near that reptile, the very animal which
kills others by striking them with torpor, is struck with torpor
3^ " Apertius," as suggested by Sillig, is a preferable reading to " par-
cms."
" From fidvia, " madness."
^ The Physalis somnifera of Linnajus, the somniferous nightshade.
'^ The Solanum melongena of Liunijeas.
TOL. IV. C C
386 pliny's natural history. [Book XXI.
itself; hence it is, that, beaten up with oil, it is used as a cure
for the sting of the asp.
CHAP. 106. — SIX MEDICINES DERIVED FEOM THE COR-
CHORUS.
The corchorus*'' is a plant which is used at Alexandria as an
article of food : the leaves of it are rolled up, one upon the
other, like those of the mulberrj^ and it is wholesome, it is
said, for the viscera, and in cases of alopecy, being good also
for the removal of freckles. I find it stated also, that it cures
the scab in cattle very rapidly : and, according to Nicander,^^
it is a remedy for the stings of serpents, if gathered before it
blossoms.
CHAP. 107. — THREE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CNECOS.
There would be no necessity to speak at any length of the
cnecos or atractylis,^- an Egyptian plant, were it not for the fact
that it offers a most efficacious remedy for the stings of veno-
mous animals, as also in cases of poisoning by fungi. It is
a well-known fact, that persons, when stung by the scorpion,
arc not sensible of any painful effects so long as they hold this
plant in their hand.
CHAP. 108. (33.) — ONE REMEDY DERIVED FROM THE
PESOLUTA.
The Egyptians also cultivate the pesoluta'*'"' in their gardens,
for chaplets. There are two kinds of this plant, the male and
the female : either of them, it is said, placed beneath the per-
son, when in bed, acts as an antaphrodisiac, upon the male sex
more particularly.
CHAP. 109. (34.) AN EXPLANATION OF GREEK TERMS RE-
LATIVE TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
As we have occasion to make use of Greek names very fre-
quently when speaking of weights and measures,** I shall here
subjoin, once for all, some explanation of them.
The Attic di-aclima — for it is generally the Attic reckoning
40 Tlie Corchorus oUtorius of Linnieus. See B. xxv. c. 92.
41 Theriaca, p. 44. *2 gee c. 53 of this Book.
*3 It has not been identified. Dalechamps, without any proof, identifies
it with the Tussilago pctasites of modern botany.
^* See the Introduction to A'ol. 111.
Chap. 109.] SUMMAEY. 387
that medical men employ — is much the same in weight as the
silver denarius, and is equivalent to six oboli, the obolus being
ten chalci ; the cyathus is equal in weight to ten drachmae.
When the measure of an acetabulum is spoken of, it is the
same as one fourth part of a heraina, or fifteen drachmae in
weight. The Greek mna, or, as we more generally call it,
** mina," equals one hundred Attic drachmae in weight,
SuMMABY. — Eemedies, narratives, and observations, seven
hundred and thirty.
KoMAN AUTHOKs QUOTED. — Cato the Censor,^^ M. Yarro,^^ An-
tias,*' Caepio,*^ Vestinus,^^ Vibius Eufus,^^ Hyginus,^^ Pompo-
nius Mela," Pompeius Lenaeus,^^ Cornelius Celsus,^' Calpurnius
Bassus,^^ C. Valgius,^^ Licinius Macer,^^ Sextius jN'iger °® who
wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus ^^ who wrote in Greek, Antonius
Castor.^'^
FoEEiGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Theophrastus,"^ Democritus,^-
Orpheus, ^^ Pythagoras," Mago,^ Menander^® who wrote the
Biochresta, Meander,®'' Homer, Hesiod,®^ Musaeus,®^ Sophocles,'''
Anaxilaiis."'^
*5 See end of B. iii. ^^ gee end of B. ii. ^' See end of B. ii.
*^ A writer on flowers and chaplets, in the time of Tiberius. Nothing
whatever beyond this seems to be known of him.
*^ C. Julius Atticus V^estinus, or, according to some authorities, M. At-
ticus Yestinus. He was consul a.d. 65 ; and, though innocent, was put
to death by Nero's order, for alleged participation in the conspiracy of Fiso.
50 See end of B. xiv.
51 See end of B. iii.
52 See end of B. iii.
53 See end of B. xiv.
^ See end of B. vii.
55 See end of B. xvi.
56 See end of B. xx.
57 See end of B. xix.
5^ See end of B. xii.
59 See end of B. xx.
60 See end of B. xx.
See also B. xxv. c. 5.
61 See end of B. iii.
6- See end of B. ii.
63 See end of B. xx.
e-i See end of B. ii.
6= See end of B. viii.
66 See end of B. xix.
6''' See end of B. viii.
6*^ See end of B. A'ii.
6^ An alleged disciple of Orpheus, and probably as fabulous a personage.
Many works, now lost, passed under his name.
''" One of the most celebrated of the Greek tragic writers -, born e.g. 49.5-
Of his 127 tragedies, only seven have come down to us.
''^ A Pythagorean philosopher, a native of one of the cities called Lu-
0 C 2
388 pliny's NATUBAL HISTOET. [Bool- XXI.
Medical authors quoted. — Mnesitheus '''^ who wrote on
Chaplets, Callimaclius "^ who wTote on Chaplets, Phanias "^ the
physician, Simus,'^ Timaristus,"^ Hippocrates,'^ Chrysippus,'**
Diocles,'^ Ophelion,^" Heraclides,^^ Hicesiiis,®- Dionysius,®^ Apol-
lodorus ®* of Citium, Apollodorus ^^ of Tarentum, Praxagoras,^^
Plistonicus/^ Mediiis,^** Dieuches,^^ Cleophantus,^" Philistio,^^
Asclepiades,^- Crateuas,^^ Petronius Diodotus,^^ lollas,^^ Erasis-
tratus,^^ Diagoras,^' Andreas, ^^ Mnesides,^^ Epicharmus,^ Da-
mion,- Dalion,^ Sosimenes,* Tlepolemus,^ Metrodorus,^ Solo,""
Lj^cus,^ Olympias^ of Thebes, Philinus,^° Petrichus,^^ Micton,^^
Glaucias,^^ Xenocrates.^*
rissa. Being accused of magical practices, he was banished from the city
of Rome by the Emperor Augustus. The explanation of these charges is,
that he probahly possessed a superior knowledge of natural philosophy.
See B. XX". c. 95. B. xxviii. c. 49. B. xxxii. c. 52, and B. xxxv. c. 50.
~''' A physician, a native of Athens in the fourth century b.c. He is
supposed to have belonged to the sect of the Dogmatici, and was greatly
celebrated for his classification of diseases. He wrote on diet and drink,
among other subjects.
■'•^ Probably the same writer that is mentioned at the end of B. iv. ; or,
possibly, a physician of that name, who was a disciple of Herophilus, and
lived about the second century b.c.
''^ A distinguished Peripatetic philosopher of Eresos in Lesbos, a disciple
of Aristotle, and a contemporary of Theophrastus.
'^ Of this writer, nothing Avhatever is known, beyond the mention made
of him in c. 88 of this Book, and in B. xxii. c. 32'.
'*' Xotliing whatever is known relative to this writer.
'^ See end of B. vii. ''^ See end of B. xx.
"3 See end of B. xx. so See end of B. xx.
*'^ For Heraclides of Pontus, see end of B. iv. For Heraclides of Ta-
rentum, see end of B. xii.
^'^ See end of B. xv. ^^ See end of B. xii.
•^1 See end of B. xx. S' See end of B. xx.
^^ See end of B. xx. ^' See end of B. xx.
s** See end of B. xx. ^^ See end of B. xx.
a*^ See end of B. xx. ^^ See end of 15. xx.
^- See end of B. vii. -'^ See end of B. xx.
^* See end of B. xx. ^» See end of B. xii.
^° See end of B. xi. ^^ See end of B. xii.
98 See end of B. xx. ^^ See end of B, xii.
1 See end of B. xx. ^ See end of B. xx.
3 See end of B. vi. * See end of B. xx.
* See end of B. xx. * See end of B. xx.
' See end of B. xx. ® See end of B. xii.
9 See end of B. xx. ^o gee end of B. xx.
^1 See end of B. xix, ^^ See end of B. xx.
13 See end of B. xx. ^* See end of B. xx.
38y
BOOK XXII.
THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND FRGITS.
CHAP. 1. THE PEOPEETIES OF PLANTS.
IN'attjre and the earth might have well filled the measure of
our admiration, if we had nothing else to do but to consider
the properties enumerated in the preceding Book, and the nu-
merous varieties of plants that we find created for the wants
or the enjoyment of mankind. And yet, how much is there
still left for us to describe, and how many discoveries of a still
more astonishing nature ! The greater part, in fact, of the
plants there mentioned recommend themselves to us by their
taste, their fragrance, or their beauty, and so invite us to
make repeated trials of their virtues : but, on the other hand,
the properties of those which remain to be described, furnish
us with abundant proof that nothing has been created by Ilature
without some purpose to fulfil, unrevealed to us though it
may be.
CHAP. 2. (1.) PLANTS TJSED BY NATIONS FOR THE ADOENIIENT OF
THE PERSON.
I remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign na-
tions which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ
certain plants for the embellishment of the person. That,
among some barbarous peoples, the females^ stain the face by
means of various plants, there can be little doubt, and among
the Daci and the Sarmatse we find the men even marking^ their
bodies. There is a plant in Gaul, similar to the plantago in
appearance, and known there by the name of "giastum:"'^
1 Fee remarks, that at the present day, in all savage nations in which
tatooing is practised, the men display more taste and care in the operation
than is shewn by the females. There is little doubt that it is the art of
tatooing the body, or in other words, first puncturing it and then rubbing
in various colours, that is here spoken of by Pliny.
2 " Inscribunt." ""Writing upon," or "tatooing," evidently.
3 Our " woad," the Isatis tinctoria of LinuaDUs, which imparts a blue
390 plint's natueal histoet. [Book XXII.
Avith it both matrons and girls* among tlie people of Britain
are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking
part in the performance of certain sacred rites ; rivalling
hereby the swarthy hue of the ^Ethiopians, they go in a state
of nature.
CHAP. 3. (2.) EMPLOYMENT OF PLANTS FOE DYEING. EXPLANA-
TION OF THE TEB.MS SAGMEN, VEKBENA, AND CLARIGATIO.
We know, too, that from plants are extracted admirable
colours for dyeing; and, not to mention the berries^ of Galatia,^
Africa, and Lusitania, which furnish the coccus, a dye re-
served for the military costume' of our generals, the people of
Gaul beyond the Alps produce the Tyrian colours, the conchy-
liated,^ and all the other hues, by the agency of plants^ alone.
They have not there to seek the murex at the bottom of the
sea, or to expose themselves to be the prey of the monsters of
the deep, while tearing it from their jaws, nor have they to go
searching in depths to which no anchor has penetrated — and
all this for the purpose of finding the means Avhereby some
mother of a family may appear more charming in the eyes of
her paramour, or the seducer may make himself more captivat-
ing to the wife of another man. Standing on dry land, the
people there gather in their dyes just as we do our crops of
colour. The root of this Celtic "wcmd is probably '' glas," *'blue," whence
also our word " glass ;" and it is not improbable that the name of glass-
was given to it from tlio blue tints which it presented, Julius Caesar and
Poraponius Mela translate this word " glastum," by the Latin " vitrum,"
"glass."
* "Conjuges nurusque." Caesar says that all the people in Britain were
in the habit of staining the body with woad, to add to the horror of their
appearance in battle. Poraponius Mela expresses himself as uncertain for
Avhat purpose it was done, whether it was to add to their beauty, or for
some other reasons to him unknown.
s " Granis." What the ancients took to be a vegetable substance, is
now known to be an insect, the kermes of the Quercus coccifera.
6 See B. ix. c. 63.
■^ " Paludamentis." The " paludaraentum" was the cloak worn by a
Roman general when in command, his principal officers, and personal at-
tendants. It was open in front, reached to the knees or thereabout, and
hung over the shoulders, being fastened across the chest by a clasp. It
was commonly white or purple,
8 For an account of all these colours see B. ix. cc. 60 — 65,
* The vaccinium for instance. See B. xvi. c. 31.
Chap. 3.] PLANTS FOR DYEING. 391
corn — though one great fault in them is, that they wash'° out;
were it not for which, luxury would have the means of be-
decking itself with far greater magnificence, or, at all events,
at the price of far less danger.
It is not my purpose, however, here to enter further into
these details, nor shall I make the attempt, by substituting
resources attended with fewer risks, to circumscribe luxury
within the limits of frugality ; though, at the same time, I
shall have to speak on another occasion how that vegetable
productions are employed for staining stone and imparting
their colours to walls. ^^ Still, however, I should not have
omitted to enlarge upon the art of dyeing, had I found that it
had ever been looked upon as forming one of our liberaP^ arts.
Meantime, I shall be actuated by higher considerations, and
shall proceed to show in what esteem we are bound to hold
the mute^" plants even, or in other words, the plants of little
note. For, indeed, the authors and founders of the Roman
sway have derived from these very plants even almost bound-
less results ; as it was these same plants, and no others, that
afforded them the ''sagmen,"^* employed in seasons of public
calamity, and the " verbena" of our sacred rites and embassies.
These two names, no doubt, originally signified the same thing,
— a green turf torn up from the citadel with the earth attached
to it ; and hence, when envoys were dispatched to the enemy
for the purpose of clarigation, or, in other words, with the
object of clearhf" demanding restitution of property that had
been carried off, one of these oflicers was always known as
the " verbenarius."^^
1° Fee thinks that the art of dyeing with alkanet and madder may be
here alluded to. ^^ See B. xxxv. c. 1.
>2 The "good," "ingenuous," or "liberal" arts were those which might
be practised by free men without loss of dignity. Pliny is somewhat in-
consistent here, for he makes no scruple at enlarging upon tlie art of me-
dicine, which among the Romans was properly not a liberal, but a servile,
art.
13 •'Sardis."
^* Festus says the " verbenae," or pure herbs, were called "sagmina,"
because they were taken from a sacred (sacer) place. It is more generally
supposed that " sagmen" comes from " saiicio," " to render inviolable,"
the person of the bearer being looked upon as inviolable.
15 "dart'."
18 Or bearer of the " verbena." See further on this subject in 13. xxv.
C. 59.
392 Flint's natural histoet. [Book XXII.
CHAP. 4. (3.) THE GRASS CROAVN ! HOW EAKELY IT HAS BEEN"
AWARDED.
Of all the crowns with which, in the days of its majesty,
the all- sovereign people, the ruler of the earth, recompensed
the valour of its citizens, there was none attended with higher
glory than the crown of grass/'' The crowns^^ bedecked with
gems of gold, the vallar, mural, rostrate, civic, and triumphal
crowns, were, all of them, inferior to this : great, indeed, was
the difference between them, and far in the background were
they thrown by it. As to all the rest, a single individual
could confer them, a general or commander on his soldiers for
instance, or, as on some occasions, on his colleague : the senate,
too, exempt from the cares and anxieties of war, and the people
in the enjoyment of repose, could award them, together with
the honours of a triumj^h.
(4.) But as for the crown of grass, it was never conferred
except at a crisis of extreme desperation, never voted except
by the acclamation of the whole army, and never to any one
but to him who had been its preserver. Other crowns were
awarded by the generals to the soldiers, this alone by the
soldiers, and to the general. This crown is known also as the
*' obsidional" crown, from the circumstance of a beleaguered
army being delivered, and so preserved from fearful disaster.
If we are to regard as a glorious and a hallowed reward the
civic crown, presented for preserving the life of a single citizen,
and him, perhaps, of the very humblest rank, what, pray, ought
to be thought of a whole army being saved, and indebted for its
preservation to the valour of a single individual ?
The crown thus presented was made of green grass,^^
gathered on the spot where the troops so rescued had been
beleaguered. Indeed, in early times, it was the usual token of
victory for the vanquished to present to the conqueror a handful
of grass ; signifying thereby that they surrendered^*^ their na-
tive soil, the land that had nurtured them, and the very right
even there to be interred — a usage which, to my own know-
ledge, still exists among the nations of Germany.^^
^7 *' Corona graminca."
^8 For a description of these various crowns, see B. xvi. c. 3.
'3 Sometimes also, weeds, or Avild flowers.
20 See Servius on tlie iEneid, B. viii. 1. 128.
21 iN^o doubt, the old English custom of delivering seisin by presenting
a turf, originated in this.
Chap. 5.] PERSONS PiiESENTED WITH THE GEASS CROWN. 393
CHAP. 5. (5.) THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED
WITH THIS CROWN.
L. Siccius Dentatus-^ was presented with this crown but
once, though he gained as many as fourteen civic crowns, and
fought one hundred and twenty battles, in all of which he was
victorious — so rarely is it that an army has to thank a single
individual only for its preservation ! Some generals, how-
ever, have been presented with more than one of these crowns,
P. Decius Mus,-^ the military tribune, for example, who re-
ceived one from his own army, and another from the troops
which he had rescued-^ when surrounded. He testified by an
act of devoutness in what high esteem he held such an honour
as this, for, adorned with these insignia, he sacrificed a white
ox to Mars, together with one hundred red oxen, which had
been presented to him by the beleaguered troops as the recom-
pense of his valour : it was this same Decius, who afterwards,
when consul, with Imperiosus-^ for his colleague, devoted his
life to secure victory to his fellow-citizens.
This crown was presented also by the senate and people of
Kome — a distinction than which I know of nothing in exist-
ence more glorious — to that same Fabius-^ wlio restored the
fortunes of Rome by avoiding a battle ; not, however, on the
occasion when he preserved the master of the horse'-'' and his
army ; for then it was deemed preferable by those who were
indebted to him for their preservation to present him with a
crown under a new title, that of ^' father." The crown of
grass was, however, awarded to him, with that unanimity
which I have mentioned, after Hannibal had been expelled
from Italj' ; being the only crowTi, in fact, that has hitherto
been placed upon the head of a citizen by the hands of the
state itself, and, another remarkable distinction, the only one
that has ever been conferred by the w^hole of Italy united.
22 See B. vii. c. 29. 23 See B. xvi. c. 5.
2* In the Samnite war. He died b.c. 340.
2= Titus Manlius Torquatus Imperiosus, consul a.u.c. 414. It was he
who put his own son to death for engaging the enemy against orders.
26 Q,, Fabius Maximus, surnamed Cunctator, for his skill in avoiding an
engagement with Hannibal, and so wearing out the Carthaginian troops.
2^ Q. Miuutius, the Mugistcr Equitum. ^
394 Pliny's natukal nisTOJtr. [Book XXII.
CHAP. 6. (6.) THE ONLY CENirRION THAT HAS BEEN THUS
HONOUKED.
In addition to the persons abeady mentioned, the honour
of this crown has been awarded to M. Calpurnius riamma,^
then a military tribune in Sicily ; but up to the present time
it has been given to a single centurion only, Cneius Petreius
Atinas, during the war with the Cimbri. This soldier, while
acting as primipilus^^ under Catulus, on finding all retreat for
his legion cut off by the enemy, harangued the troops, and
after slaying his tribune who hesitated to cut a way through the
encampment of the enemy, brought away the legion in safety.
I find it stated also by some authors, that, in addition to this
honour, this same Petreius, clad in the praetexta, oifered sacri-
fice at the altar, to the sound of the pipe,^° in presence of the
then consuls,^^ Marius and Catulus.
The Dictator Sylla has also stated in his memoirs, that when
legatus in the Marsic War he was presented with this crown
by the army, at Nola ; an event which he caused to be com-
memorated in a painting at his Tusculan villa, which after-
wards became the property of Cicero. If there is any truth
in this statement, I can only say that it renders his memory
all the more execrable, and that, by his proscriptions, Avith his
own hand he tore this crown from his brow, for few indeed
were the citizens whom he thus preserved, in comparison with
those he slaughtered at a later period. And let him even add
to this high honour his proud surname of " Felix, "^" if he will ;
all the glories of this crown he surrendered to Sertorius, from
the moment that he put his proscribed fellow- citizens in a
stage of siege throughout the whole world.
Yarro, too, relates that Scipio ^milianus was awarded the
obsidional crown in Africa, under tlie consul Manilius,^^ for the
preservation of three cohorts, by bringing as many to their
rescue ; an event commemorated by an inscription upon the,
base of the statue erected in honour of him by the now deified
Emperor Augustus, in the Forum which bears his name. Au-
28 See Livy, B. xxii.
29 The primipilus was the first centurion of the first maniple of the
triarii ; also called " primus centurionum."
30 '< Ad tibicinem." si a.u.c. 652.
33 The "Fortunate." 33 ^.u.c. 605.
Chap. 7.] CHAPLET PLANTS. 395
gustus himself was also presented by the senate with the obsi-
dional crown, upon the ides^^ of September, in the consulships^
of M. Cicero the Younger, the civic crown being looked upon
as not commensurate with his deserts. Beyond these, I do not
find any one mentioned as having been rewarded with this
honour.
CHAP. 7. EEMEDIES DERIVED FKOM OTHER CHAPLET PLANTS.
JN'o plant^® in particular was employed in the composition of
this crown, such only being used as were found growing on
the spot so imperilled ; and thus did they become the means,
however humble and unnoted themselves, of conferring high
honour and renown. All this, however, is but little known
among us at the present day ; a fact which I am the less sur-
prised at, when I reflect that those plants even are treated
with the same indifference, the purpose of which it is to pre-
serve our health, to allay our bodily pains, and to repel the
advances of death ! And who is there that would not visit
with censure, and justly visit, the manners of the present day ?
Luxury and effeminacy have augmented the price at w^hich
we live, and never Avas life more hankered after, or worse
cared^^ for, than it is at present. This, however, we look upon
as the business of others, forsooth ; other persons must see to it,
without our troubling ourselves to request them, and the phy-
sicians must exercise the necessary providence in our behalves.-'^
As for ourselves, we go on enjoying our pleasures, and are con-
tent to live — a thing that in my opinion reflects the highest
possible disgrace — by putting faith in others.^^
Nay, even more than this, we ourselves are held in derision
by many, for undertaking these researches, and are charged
with busying ourselves with mere frivolities I It is some
solace, however, in the prosecution of these our boundless
labours, to have Nature as our sharer in this contempt : Na-
ture who, as we will prove beyond a doubt, has never failed
in coming to the assistance of man, and has implanted^" reme-
34 1.3th of September. 35 ^ -jj^c. 723.
36 Hence we may conchide that the word " gramen" signified not only
"grass," but any plant in general.
3'' By reason of the luxury and sensuality universally prevalent.
3^ This is said in bitter irony.
39 Trusting to the goo4 faith and research of the physician.
*o " Inseruisse."
396 Pliny's is^atueal histoky. [Book XXII.
dies for our use in the most despised even of the vegetable pro-
ductions, medicaments in plants which repel us with their
thorns.
It is of these, in fact, that it remains for us now to speak, as
next in succession to those which we have mentioned in the
preceding Book ; and here we cannot sufficiently admire, and,
indeed, adore,*^ the wondrous providence displayed by Nature.
She had given us, as already*- shewn, plants soft to the touch,
and agreeable to the palate ; in the llowers she had painted
the remedies for our diseases with her varied tints, and, while
commingling the useful Avith the delicious, had attracted our
attention by means of the pleasures of the eye. Here, how-
ever, she has devised another class of plants, bristling and re-
pulsive to the sight, and dangerous to the touch ; so much so,
indeed, that we fancy we all but hear the voice of her who
made them as she reveals to us her motives for so doing. It is
her wish, she says, that no ravening cattle may browse upon
them, that no wanton hand may tear them up, that no heed-
less footstep may tread them down, that no bird, perching there,
may break tliem : and in thus fortifying them with thorns, and
arming them with weapons, it has been lier grand object
to save and protect the remedies which they afford to man.
Thus we see, the very qualities even which we hold in such
aversion, have been devised by Nature for the benefit and ad-
vantage of mankind.
"O^
CHAP. 8. (7.) — THE ERYNGE OR ERYNGIFM.
In the first rank of the plants armed with prickles, the
erj-nge^^ or erj-ngion stands pre-eminent, a vegetable production
held in high esteem as an antidote formed for the poison of ser-
pents and all venomous substances. For stings and bites of
this nature, the root is taken in wine in doses of one drachma,
or if, as generally is the case, the wound is attended with
fever, in water. It is employed also, in the form of a lini-
*i " Araplecti." 42 i^ the Twentieth Book.
*3 It has been tliought by some that this is the Scolymus maculatiis of
Linnaeus; the spotted yellow thistle. I^ut the more general opinion is
that it is the cringo, or Eryngium canipestre of Linnaeus. It derives its
name from the Greek ipfvytiv, from its asserted property of dispelling
flatulent eructations. It is possessed in reality of few medicinal proper-
ties, and is only used occasiouully, at the present day, as a diuietic. See
B. xxi, c. 56.
Chap. 9.] THE ERTXGIUSr. 397
ment, for wounds, and is found to be particularly efficacious
for those inflicted by Avater-snakes or frogs. The physician
Heraclides states it as his opinion that, boiled in goose-broth,
it is a more valuable remedy than any other known, for aco-
nite"^* and other poisons. ^^ Apollodorus recommends that, in
cases of poisoning, it should be boiled with a frog, and other
authorities, in water only. It is a hardy plant, having much
the appearance of a shrub, with prickly leaves and a jointed
stem ; it grows a cubit or more in height. Sometimes it is
found of a whitish colour, and sometimes black,*^ the root of it
being odoriferous. It is cultivated in gardens, but it is fre-
quently to be found growing"*^ spontaneously in rugged and
craggy localities. It grows, too, on the sea-shore, in which case
it is tougher and darker than usual, the leaf resembling that of
parsley.^^
CHAP. 9. (8.) — THE EErXGIUM, CALLED CENTUM CAPITA I THIRTY
REMEDIES.
The white variety of the eryngium is known in our lan-
guage as the "centum capita."*^ It has all the properties above-
mentioned, and the Greeks employ both the stalk and the root
as an article of fbod,^ either boiled or raw. There are some
marvellous facts related in connexion with this plant ; the root^'
^* See B. xxvii. c. 2.
*5 By the word "toxica," Poinsinet would understand, not poisons in
g-eneral, but the venom of the toad, which was called, he says, in the
Celtic and Celto-Scythic languages, toussac and tossa. Fee ridicules the
notion.
^^ Or rather. Fee says, deep blue. He identifies this with the Eryngium
cyaneum of Linnaeus, the eringo, with a blue flower.
^'' This, as well as the next, is identical, probably, with the Eryngium
maritimum of Linnaeus ; our sea-holly. The species found in Greece, in
addition to the above; are the Eryngium tricuspidatum, multifidum, and
parviflorum.
^^ Pliny probably makes a mistake here, and reads ctKivov, " parsley,"
for aKoXvf^LOQ, a " thistle." Dalechanips is of this opinion, from an ex-
amination of the leaf; and Brotier adopts it.
^^ Or " hun(h-ed heads," the ordinary Eryngium campestre of Linnaeus.
It is still called panicaut a cent tetes, by the French.
^*' It is no longer used for this purpose ; but Fee is of opinion that it
owes its French name of " pnnicaut," from having been used in former
times as a substitute for bread — pain.
*^ It is not improbable that this plant is the same as the mandrake of
Genesis^ c. xxx. 14 ; which is said to have borne some reseniblanccj to the
human figure, and is spoken of by the commentators as male and femule.
398 Pliny's natural history. [Book XXII.
of it, it is said, bears a strong resemblance to the organs of
either sex ; it is but rarely found, but if a root resembling the
male organs should happen to fall in the Avay of a man, it
"will ensure him woman's love ; hence it is that Pliaon the
Lesbian was so passionately beloved^^ by Sappho. Upon this
subject, too, there have been numerous other reveries, not only
on the part of the Magi, but of Pythagorean philosophers even
as well.
So far as its medicinal properties are concerned, in addition
to those already mentioned, this plant, taken in hydromel, is
good for flatulency, gripings of the bowels, diseases of the
heart, stomach, liver, and thoracic organs, and, taken in oxy-
crate, for affections of the spleen. Mixed with hydromel, it is
recommended also for diseases of the kidneys, strangury, opistho-
tony, spasms, lumbago, dropsy, epilepsy, suppression or excess of
the catamenia, and all maladies of the uterus. Applied with
honey, it extracts foreign substances from the body, and, with
salted axle-grease and cerate, it disperses scrofulous sores, im-
posthumes of the parotid glands, inflamed tumours, denudations
of the bones, and fractures. Taken before drinking, it pre-
vents the fumes of wine from rising to the head, and it arrests
looseness of the bowels. Some of our authors have recom-
mended that this plant should be gathered at the period of
the summer solstice, and that it should be applied, in combi-
nation with rain water, for all kinds of maladies of the neck.
They say too, that, attached as an amulet to the person, it is a
cui'e for albugo. ^^
CHAP. 10. (9.) THE ACANOS ; ONE REMEDY.
There are some authors, too, who make the acanos^^ to be a
species of eryngium. It is a thorny plant, stunted, and
spreading, with prickles of a considerable size. Applied topi-
cally, they say, it arrests haemorrhage in a most remarkable
degree.
^2 The root contains a small quantity of essential oil, with, stimulating
properties ; and tliis fact, Fee thinks, Avould, to a certain extent, explain
this story of Sappho. It is not improbable that it was for these proper-
ties that it was valued by the rival wives of Jacob.
^■^ Wliite specks in the eye.
^ Sprengel identifies tliis with the Onopordum acanthium; but Fee
thinks that if it belongs to the Onopordum at all, it is more likely to be
the Onopordum acaulton, or the 0. Gra^cum.
Chap. 11.] THE GLTCYEEHIZA. 399
CilAP. 11. THE GLYCYRKHIZA OK ADIPSOS : FIFTEEN"
REMEDIES.
Other authors, again, have erroneously taken the glycyrr-
hiza^' to be a kind of eryngium : it will, therefore, be as well
to take this opportunity of making some further mention of it.
There can be no doubt, however, that this is one of the thorny
plants, the leaves of it being covered with prickles,^*^ substan-
tial, and viscous and gummy to the touch : it has much the
appearance of a shrub, is a couple of cubits in height, and
bears a flower like that of the hyacinth, and a fruit the size
of the little round balls^" of the plane. The best kind is that
grown in Cilicia, and the next best that of Pontus ; the root
of it is sweet, and this is the only part that is used. It is
gathered at the setting of the Vergiliae,^^ the root of it being
long, like that of the vine.^^ That which is yellow, the co-
lour of boxwood in fact, is superior to the darker kind, and
the flexible is better than the brittle. Boiled down to one-
third, it is employed for pessaries ; but, for general purposes,
a decoction is made of it of the consistency of honey. Some-
times, also, it is used pounded, and it is in this form that it is
applied as a liniment for wounds and all affections of the
throat. The juice*^" of it is also very good for the voice, for
which purpose it is thickened and then placed beneath the
tongue : it is good, too, for the chest and liver.
We have already stated^^ that this plant has the effect of
=5 Or "sweet-root," our liquorice; the Glj'cyrrhiza glabra of Linnaeus.
In reality, Fee remarks, there is no resemblance whatever between it and
the Eryngium, no kind of liquorice being prickly.
^6 "Echinatis;" literally, '*likea hedge-bog." Phny, it is supposed,
read here erroneously in the Greek text, (from which Dioscorides has also
borrowed) hiKOTa ^x'^'V) "like a hedge-hog," for loLKora (rx^^ft "like
those of the lentisk."
" " Pilularum." ss Qr Pleiades.
^* Dioscorides compares the root, with less exactness, with that of gentian.
^^ The same preparation that is known to us as Spanish liquorice or
Spanish juice.
^^ In B. xi. c. 119. It certainly has the effect of palling the appetite,
but in many people it has the effect of creating thirst instead of allaying
it. Fee thinks that from the fecula and sugar that it contains, it may
possibly be nourishing, and he states that it is the basis of a favourite
liquor in the great cities of France. Spanish liquorice water is used in
England, but only by school-boys, as a matter of taste, and by patients
as a matter of necessity.
400 pliny's natueal histoht. [BookXXil.
allaying hunger and thirst : hence it is that some authors
have given it the name of '* adipsos/'^'^ and have prescribed it
for dropsical patients, to allay thirst. It is for this reason,
too, that it is chewed as a stomatic,^^ and that the powder of it
is often, sprinkled on ulcerous sores of the mouth and films^^ on
the eyes : it heals, too, excrescences^^ of the bladder, pains in
the kidneys, condylomata,^^ and ulcerous sores of the genitals.
Some persons have given it in potions for quartan fevers, the
doses being two drachmae, mixed with pepper in one hemina
of water. Chewed, and applied to wounds, it arrests hsemorr-
hage :^^ some authors have asserted, also, that it expels calculi
of the bladder.
CHAP. 12. (10.) — TWO vauieties of the teibtjlus; twelve
EEMKDIES.
Of the two^^ kinds of tribulus, tlie one is a garden plant,
the other grows in rivers only. There is a juice extracted from
them which is employed for diseases of the eyes, it being of a
cool and refreshing nature, and, consequently, useful for in-
flammations and abscesses. Used with honey, this juice is
curative of spontaneous ulcerations, those of the mouth in par-
ticular ; it is good also for affections of the tonsils. Taken in
a potion, it breaks calculi of the bladder.
The Thracians who dwell on the banks of the river Strymon
feed their horses^^ on the leaves of the tribulus, and employ the
kernels as an article of food, making of them a very agreeable
kind of bread, which acts astringently'" upon the bowels. The
62 The Greek for " witliout tliirst."
ti3 Or " mouth medicine." Beyond being a bechic, or cough-medicine,
it has np medicinal properties whatever.
<** "Pterygiis." The word " pterj-gia" has been previously used as
meaning a sort of hang-nail, or, perhaps, wliitlow.
«5 " Scabiem."
^^ Swellings of the anus more particularly.
^'' It has in reality no such effect.
^^ Probably the Fagouia Oretica and the Trapa natans of Linnaeus. See
B. xxi. c. 58. The first, Fee remarks, is a native of Candia, tlie ancient
Crete, and a stranger to the climates of Greece and Italy. This may ac-
count for Pliny calling it a garden plant.
69 This is said. Fee remarks, in reference to the Trapa natans, the seed
of which is rich in fecula, and very nutritious.
''^ "Contrahat ventrem." It would not act, Fee says, as an astringent,
Chap. 14.] THE niPPOPHAES. 401
root, if gathered by persons in a state of chastity and purity,'-
disperses scrofulous sores ; and the seed, used as an amulet,
allays the pains attendant upon varicose veins : pounded and
mixed witli water, it destroys fleas.
CHAP. 13. (11.) THE STCEBE OR PHEOS.
The stoebe,''^ by some persons known as the "pheos," boiled
in wine, is particularly good for the cure of suppurations of the
ears, and for extravasations of blood in the eyes from the efl'ects
of a blow. It is employed also in injections for haemorrhage
and dysentery.
CHAP. 14. (12.) — TWO VARIETIES OF THE HIPPOPHAES : TWO
REMEDIES.
The hippophaes" grows in sandy soils, and on the sea-shore.
It is a plant with white thorns, and covered with clusters, like
the ivy, the berries being white, and partly red. The root of
it is full of a juice which is either used by itself, or else is made
up into lozenges Avith meal of fitches : taken in doses of one
obolus, it carries off bile, and it is extremely beneficial if
used with honied wine. There is another'^^ hippophaes, with-
out either stalk or flowers, and consisting only of diminutive
leaves : the juice of this also is wonderfully useful for dropsy.
These plants would appear, too, to be remarkably well
adapted to the constitution of the horse, as it can be for no
Dther reason than this that they have received their name."^
Dut would have the effect of imparting nutriment in a very high degree,
ivithout overloading the stomach.
"^^ A harmless, or, perhaps, beneficial, superstition.
''- The synonym of this plant is probably unknovra. Dalechamps iden-
.ifies it with the Sagittaria sagittifolia, C. Bauhin with the Centaurea cal-
;itrapa, and Clusius, Belli, and Sprengel, with the Poterium spinosum.
STone of these plants, however, are prickly and aquatic, characteristics, ac-
cording to Theophrastus, of the Stoebe : Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 11. Fee
•onsiders its identification next to impossible.
3 Probably the Hippophaes rhamnoides of Linnaeus. This, however,
I'ee says, has no milky juice, but a dry, tough, ligneous root. Spi-engil
dentifies it with the Euphorbia spinosa of Linnaeus, on account of Us
nilky juice; but that plant, as Fee remarks, does not bear berries, pru-
)erly so called, and the fruit is yellow and prickly.
'* See B. xxvii. c. 66. It is identified by Fee with the Carduus stcllatus
•r Centaurea calcitrapa of Linnaeus, the common star-tliistle.
'3 As compounds ofiTTTrog, a "horse." Hardouin, however, thinks that
VOL. IV. D D
402 PLINy's NATUIIAL HISTOBT. [Book XXII.
Por, in fact, there are certain plants which have been created
as remedies for the diseases of animals, the Divinity being
bounteously lavish of his succours and resources ; so much
so, indeed, that we cannot suflSciently admire the wisdom with
which he has arranged them according to the classes of ani-
mated beings which they are to serve, the causes which give
rise to their various maladies, and the times at which they are
likely to be in requisition : hence it is that there is no class
of beings, no season, and, so to speak, no day, that is without
its remedy.
CHAP. 15. (13.) THE NETTLE : SIXTY-ONE REMEDIES.
What plant can there possibly be that is more an object of
our aversion than the nettle ?"^ And yet, in addition to the
oil which we have already mentioned^^ as being extracted from
it in Egypt, it abounds in medicinal properties. The seed of
it, according to Nicander, is an antidote to the poison of hem-
lock,^® of fungi, and of quicksilver.'^^ ApoUodorus prescribes
it, too, taken in the broth of a boiled tortoise,®^ for the bite of
the salamander,**^ and as an antidote for the poison of henbane,
serpents, and scorpions. The stinging pungency even of the
nettle has its uses ; for, by its contact, it braces the uvula, and
eifects the cure of prolapsus of the uterus, and of procidence
of the anus in infants. By touching the legs of persons in a
lethargy, and the forehead more particularly, with nettles,
tlie names 'nnrocpaeQ and i7r7r6(pai(TTov have another origin, and that
they are compounds ot'^aoi;, "lustre," — from the brilliancy which they were
said to impart to cloths — and 'iTnrog, in an augmentative sense, meaning
" great lustre."
''^ See B. xxi. c. 55. Only two species of the nettle, Fee remarks, wera
known to the ancients, the Urtica urens and the U. dioica ; and these have
been confounded by Pliny and other writers.
'' In B. XV. c. 7. The Urtica urens has no oleaginous principles, and
the oil of nettles, as Fee says, must have been a medicinal composition,
the properties of which are more than hypothetical. The plant boiled, lie
remarks, can have no medicinal properties whatever, and it is with justice
excluded from the modern Materia Medica. It is, however, still employed '
by some few practitioners, and the leaves are used, in some cases, to restore
the vital action, by means of urtication.
■^^ " Cicutae."
"9 Mercury, as already mentioned in a previous Note, is not poisonous.
■^ " Testudinis." He may, possibly, mean a turtle.
«i See B. X. c. 86.
Chap. 15.] THE NETTLE. 403
they are awakened.®^ Applied with salt, the nettle is used to
heal the bites of dogs, and beaten up and applied topically, it
arrests bleeding®^ at the nostrils, the root in particular. Mixed
with salt, also, it is employed for the cure of cancers and foul
ulcers ; and, applied in a similar manner, it cures sprains and
inflamed tumours, as well as imposthumes of the parotid glands
and denudations of the bones. The se^d of it, taken with
boiled must, dispels hysterical suffocations, and, applied topi-
cally, it arrests mucous discharges of the nostrils. Taken with
hydromel, after dinner, in doses of two oboli, the seed pro-
duces a gentle vomit f^ and a dose of one obolus, taken in
wine, has the effect of dispelling lassitude. The seed is pre-
scribed also, parched, and in d©ses of one acetabulum, for
affections of the uterus ; and, taken in boiled®^ must, it is a
remedy for flatulency of the stomach. Taken in an electuary,
with honey, it gives relief in hardness of breathing, and
clears the chest by expectoration : applied with linseed, it is a
cure for pains in the side, with the addition of some hyssop
and a little pepper. The seed is employed also in the form of
a liniment for affections of the spleen, and, parched and taken
with the food, it acts as a laxative in constipation of the bowels.
Hippocrates^^ says that the seed, taken in drink, acts as a pur-
gative upon the uterus ; and that taken, parched, with sweet
wine, in doses of one acetabulum, or applied externally with
juice of mallows, it alle\iates pains in that organ. He
states also that, used with hydromel and salt, it expels intes-
tinal worms, and that a liniment made of the seed will restore
the hair when falling off. Many persons, too, employ the seed
topically, with old oil, for diseases of the joints, and for gout,
or else the leaves beaten up with bears' -grease : the root, too,
pounded in vinegar, is no less useful for the same purposes, as
82 The process of " urtication." alluded to in Note ''.
83 Fee considers this extremely doubtful.
8* An abominable refinement (if we may us'e the term) in gluttony,
"which would appear to have been practised among the Romans ; though
Fee thinks it possible that such a practice may have been considered ad-
visable in the medical treatment of certain maladies. Be this as it may,
the system of using vomits has prevailed to some extent in this country,
and during the present century, too, among persons in the fashionable
world, when expected to play their part at several entertainments in one
evening.
^•'^ " Sapa" Grnpe-juice boiled down to one-third,
85 De ilorb. Mul.' text. '17.
D D 2
40-1 pliny's natuhal histoey. [Book XXII;
also for aifections of the spleen. Boiled in wme, and applied
with stale axle-grease and salt, the root disperses inflamed tu-*
mours, and, dried, it is used as a depilatory.
Phanias, the physician, has enlarged upon the praises of the
nettle, and he assures us that, taken with the food, either
boiled or preserved, it is extremely beneficial for affections of
the trachea, cough, fluxes of the bowels, stomachic complaints,
inflamed tumours, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and chil-
blains ; that, taken with oil, it acts as a sudorific ; and that,
boiled with shell-fish, it relaxes the bowels. He says, too,
that taken with a ptisan,^^ it facilitates expectoration and acts
as an emmenagogue, and that, applied with salt, it prevents
ulcers from spreading. The juice of the nettle is also used :
applied to the forehead, it arrests bleeding at the nose, taken
in drink it acts as a diuretic and breaks calculi in the bladder,
and, used as a gargle, it braces the uvula when relaxed.
Nettle-seed should be gathered at harvest-time : that of
Alexandria is the most highly esteemed. For all these dif-
ferent purposes the milder and more tender plants are the
best, the wild nettle^ in particular : this last, taken in wine,
has the additional property of removing leprous spots on the
face. When animals refuse to couple, it is recommended to
rub the sexual organs with nettles.^^
CHAP. 16.(14.) — thelamium: seven remedies.
The variety of nettle, too, which we have already^° spoken
of under the name of "lamium,"^^ the most innoxious of them
all, the leaves not having the projierty of stinging, is used
for the cure of bruises and contusions, with a sprinlcling^- of salt,
as also for burns and scrofulous sores, tumours, gout, and
wounds. The middle of the leaf is white, and is used for
the cure of erysipelas. Some of our authors have distin-
guished the various species of this plant according to their
respective seasons ; thus, for instance, the root of the autumn
nettle, they say, carried on the person as an amulet, is a cure
for tertian fevers, if due care is taken, when pulling up the
«' See ?.. xviii. c. 13. «§ gee B. xxi. c. 55.
^3 See Hippocrates, Ilippiatr. ^ In B. xxi. c. 5S.
5' The Laniiura maculatiira of Linnaeus : dead nettle, or archangel.
The same as the Leuce, mentioned in B. xK\n. c. 77.
^^ " Cum mica salis-."
Chap. 18.J THE LEUCACA^THA. 405
root, to mention the patient's name, and to state who he is and
who are his parents. They say, too, that this plant is pro-
ductive of similar results in quartan fever : and they pretend
that the root of the nettle, with the addition of salt, will ex-
tract foreign substances from the body ; and that the leaves,
mixed with stale axle-grease, will disperse scrofulous sores, or
if they suppurate, cauterize them and cause them to fill up
with new flesh.
CHAP. 17. (15.) THE SCOEPIO, TWO KINDS OF IT: ONE REMEDY.
The scorpio^-^ has received its appellation from the animal of
that name, in consequence of the resemblance of its seeds to a
scorpion's tail. The leaves of it are few in number, and it is
efficacious for the sting^* of the animal from which it derives
its name. There is also another plant^^ known by the same
name, and possessed of similar properties ; it is destitute of
leaves, has a stem like that of asparagus, ^^ and a shai^p point
at the top, to which it owes its appellation.
CHAP. 18. (16.) THE LEUCACANTHA, PHYLLOS, ISCHIAS, OR
POLYGONATOS ; FOUR REMEDIES.
The leucacantha,^^ known also as the phyllos, ischias, or
polygonatos,^^ has a root like that of the cypirus, which, when
chewed, has the effect of curing^^ tooth-ache ; as also pains in
the sides and loins, according to Hicesius, the seed or juice
being taken in drink, in doses of eight drachmae. — This plant
is employed also for the cure of ruptures and convulsions.
*3 The Spartium scorpius of Linnaeus, or the Scorpiurus sulcata of Lin-
naeus : scorpion-grass, or scorpion-wort.
9* Its properties are entirely inert, and it has no such virtues as those
here mentioned. As Fee remarks, we might be quite sure, however, from
the form of the seeds, that this property would be ascribed to it in the
Materia Medica of the ancients.
35 Supposed to be the Salsola tragus of Linnaeus, kali, or glass-wort.
^ Not the Asparagus officinalis, Fee says, but the Asparagus acutifolius,
the stem of which is somewhat prickly.
9^ See B. xxi. cc. 56 and 104, in which last Chapter it is called " leucan-
thes." Desfontaines suggests that it may be either the Carduus leuco-
graphus, or the Cnicum Casabonae.
^^ Literally, "many-cornered." " Leucacontha" means " whitethorn,"
and *' Leucanthes" '• white-flowered."
99 Fee thinks this very improbable.
406 pli:nx's natuhal histouy. [Book XXII.
CHAP. 19.(17). — thehelxine: twelve eemedies.
The helxine^ is called by some, " perdicium," from the cir-
cumstance of its forming the principal food of partridges.'
Other persons, however, give it the name of '' sideritis," and
to some it is known as '' parthcnium." It has leaves, the
shape of which is a mixture of those of the plantago and the
marrubium ;^ the stalks are slight and closely packed, and are
of a light red colour. The seeds, enclosed in heads resembling
those of the lappa,* adhere to the clothes, a circumstance, it is
said, to which it owes its name^ of " helxine." We have
already stated in the preceding Book® what are the character-
istics of the plant properly so called.
The one of which we are now speaking is used for dyeing'
wool, and is employed for the cure of erysipelas, tumours, all
kinds of abscesses, and burns. The juice of it, taken in doses
of one cyathus with white lead, is a cure for inflamed tumours,
incipient swellings of the throat, and inveterate coughs.® It
is good, too, for all maladies of the humid parts of the body,
the tonsillary glands, for instance ; and, in combination with
rose oil, it is useful for varicose veins. It is employed topically
for the gout, with goat suet and Cyprian wax.
^ It must not be confounded, Fee says, with the Helxine, a tuberous
root, mentioned in B. xxi. c. 56. He thinks also that Pliny is in error
in giving it the name of " Perdicium," Avhich may possibly liave been a
synonym of the other Helxine. Fe-e comes to the conclusion that the
Perdicium of B. xxi. c. 62, if not the same as the Helxine of c. 56, cannot
be identified ; that the Helxine of B. xxi. c, 56, is the Acarna gummifera ;
and that the Helxine here mentioned is identical with the Perdicium of
this and the next Chapter, being the Parietaria officinalis of Linnaeus,
pavietary or wall pellitory. The confusion has probably arisen from the
similarity of the name of the i^ivr], the plant mentioned in B. xxi. c. £6,
and the tXKivr}^ the Helxine of the present Chapter.
'^ " Perdices." As stated in the last Note, the name has probably been
given in error to the Helxine or pellitory.
3 Or horehound. * See B. xxi. c. 64.
5 From f'X/cw, to "drag."
^ In c. 5Q. Properly the " Ixine." See Note ^ above.
' Pellitory possesses no colouring properties whatever.
* It has no meLlicinal virtues beyond acting, possibly, in some degret,
as a diuretic.
Chap. 21.] THE CHAMELEON. 407
CHAP. 20. THE PERDICIUM, PARTHENIUil, UECEOLAMS, OR
ASTEKCUil : ELEVEN REMEDIES.
The perdicium or parthenium.^ — for^° tlie sideritis is, in rea-
lity, a different plant — is known to the people of our country
as the herb urceolaris,^^ and to some persons as the '' aster-
cum." The leaf of it is similar to that of ocinmra, but
darker, and it is found growing on tiled roofs and walls.
Beaten up with a sprinkling of salt, it has all the medicinal
properties of the lamium,^- and is used in a similar manner.
The juice of it, taken warm, is good, too, for suppurated ab-
scesses ; but for the cure of convulsions, ruptures, bruises,
and the effects of falls from a height, or of the overturning of
vehicles, it is possessed of singular virtues.
A slave, who was held in high esteem by Pericles,^^ the ruler
of the Athenians, being engaged upon the buildings of a temple
in the citadel, while creeping along the top of the roof, hap-
pened to fall ; from the effects of which he was relieved, it is
said, by this plant, the virtues whereof had been disclosed to
Pericles by Minerva in a dream. Hence it is that it was first
called " parthenium,"" and was consecrated to that goddess.
It is this slave of whom there is a famous statue in molten
bronze, well known as the Splanchnoptes.'^
CHAP, 21. (18.) THE CHAMELEON, IXIAS, ULOPHONON, OR
CTNOZOLON ; TWO VARIETIES OF IT : TWELVE REMEDIES.
The chamaeleon^® is spoken of as the "ixias," by some
authors. There are two species of this plant ; the white kind
has a rougher leaf than the other, and creeps along the ground,
erecting its prickles like the quills of a hedgehog ; the root of
^ The Partheniura of Celsus, mentioned by Pliny in B. xxi. 104, is not
identical with this Perdicium (tliough there also he gives it that name), but
is the Matricaria Parthenium of Linnaeus, a different plant. See Notes to
C. 19.
10 In reference to what was said at the beginning of the preceding
Chapter. n Or " pitcher plant." ^- See c. 16 of this Uook.
13 Plutarch, in his life of Pericles, tells the same story about the slave,
but does not speak of the appearance of Minerva. He relates a story,
however, of her appearance to Sylla, pointing out a spot near the Acro-
polis, where the Parthenium grew.
u Or " Virgin" plant, Minerva being called " Parthenos," the " virgin."
1* One who "cooks entrails." See B. xxxiv. cc. 19 and 31.
16 See B. xxi. c. oQ. The white is identified with the Acarna gummi-
fera of Linnaeus, the dark or black with the Brotera corymbosa of Linnaeus.
408 pliny's natural history. [Book XXII.
it is sweet, and the odour very powerful. In some places
it secretes, just as they say incense ^' is produced, a white vis-
cous substance beneath the axils of the leaves, about the rising
of the Dog-star more particularly. To this viscous nature it
owes its name of " ixias ;" "* females^^ make use of it as a sub-
stitute for mastich. As to its name of "chamseleon,"^^ that
is given to it from the varying tints of the leaves ; for it
changes its colours, in fact, just according to the soil, being
black in one place, green in another, blue in a third, yellow
elsewhere, and of various other colours as well.
A decoction of the root of the white chamgeleon is em-
ployed for the cure^° of dropsy, being taken in doses of one
drachma in raisin wine. This decoction, taken in doses of
one acetabulum, in astringent wine, with some sprigs of ori-
ganum in it, has the effect of expelling intestinal worms : it is
good, too, as a diuretic. Mixed with polenta, the juice of it
will kill dogs and swine ; with the addition of water and oil,
it will attract mice to it and destroy^^ them, unless they imme-
diately drink water to counteract its effects. Some persons
recommend the root of it to be kept, cut in small pieces, and
suspended from the ceiling; when wanted, it must be boiled
and taken with the food, for the cure of those fluxes to which
the Greeks have given the name of ''rheumatismi."^^
In reference to the dark kind, some writers say that the one
which bears a purple flower is the male, and that with a violet
flower, the female. They grow together, upon a stem, a cubit
in length, and a finger in thickness. The root of these j)lants,
boiled with sulphur and bitumen, is employed for the cure of
lichens ; and they are chewed, or a decoction of them made
in vinegar, to fasten loose teeth. The juice of them is em-
ployed for the cure of scab in animals, and it has the property
of killing ticks upon dogs. Upon steers it takes effect like a
1^ See B. xii. c. 33. i^' Viscus.
^^ Olivier states ( Voyage dans V Empire Ottoman, i. 312) that the women
in the isles of Naxos and Scio still chew this glutinous substance, in the
same manner that mastich is used in other places.
19 Fee is inclined to doubt tliis, and thinks that, as it is a creeping
plant, the name may have been derived from xanai, ''on the ground."
-" Theophrastus, Galen, and Dioscorides state to tlie same elfect, and
Fee thinks it possible it may possess a certain degree of activity.
2"' Fee says that it possesses no such poisonous properties.
^■■^ Rheum, or catarrhs.
Chap. 23.] THE ANCHUS4. 409
sort of quinsy ; from which circumstance it has received the
name of " ulophonon"^^ from some, as also that of cynozolon-*
from its offensive smell. These plants produce also a viscus,
which is a most excellent remedy for ulcers. The roots of all
the different kinds are an antidote to the sting of the scorpion.
CHAP. 22. (19.) THE C0R0^^0PUS.
The coronopus^^ is an elongated plant, with fissures in the
leaves. It is sometimes cultivated, as the root, roasted in
hot ashes, is found to be an excellent remedy for cceliac com-
plaints.
CHAP. 23. (20.) — THE anchusa; fourteen remedies.
The root of the anchusa,*^ too, is made use of, a plant a
finger in thickness. It is split into leaves like the papyrus,
and when touched it stains the hands the colour of blood ; it
is used for imparting rich colours to wool. Applied with
cerate it heals ulcerous sores, those of aged people in parti-
cular : it is employed also for the cure of burns. It is in-
soluble in water, but dissolves in oil, this being, in fact, the
test of its genuineness. It is administered also, in doses of
one drachma, in wine, for nephretic pains, or else, if tliere is
fever, in a decoction of balanus ;" it is employed in a similar
manner, also, for affections of the liver and spleen, and for en-
larged secretions of the bile. Applied with vinegar, it is used
for the cure of leprosy and the removal of freckles. The
leaves, beaten up with honey and meal, are applied topically for
sprains; and taken in honied wine, in doses of two drachmae,
they arrest looseness of the bowels.^ A decoction of the root
in water, it is said, kills fleas.
23 From ovXov (bovop, "dreadful death," a name which, Fee observes,
it does not merit, its properties not being poisonous.
2^ From Kvvog o^rj, " smell of a dog." This is a more justifiable ap-
pellation, as the smell of it is very disagreeable.
-5 The Cochlearia coronopus of Linnaeus, crow's-foot, or buck's-horn
plantain.
26 The Anchusa tinctoriaof Linnaeus, alkanet, orcanet, or dyers' bugloss.
27 See B. xii. c. 46.
38 This plant is no longer used for medicinal purposes ; but Fee thinks
that, as the leaves in all probability contain nitrate of potash, they may
have diuretic properties.
410 PLtNY's NATUUAL HISTORY. [Book XXIL
CKAP. 24. — THE PSEUDOANCHUSA, ECHIS, OE DORIS I TDKEE
REMEDIES.
There is another plant, similar to the preceding one, and
hence known as the " pseudoanchusa,"^'' though by some it is
called '' echis,"^*^ or "doris," as well as by many other names.
It is more downy than the other plant, however, and not so
substantial ; the leaves, too, are thinner, and more drooping.
The root of it, treated with oil, does not give out any red juice,
a sign by which it is distinguished from the genuine anchusa.
The leaves of this plant, or the seed, taken in drink, are ex-
tremely efficacious for the stings of serpents ; the leaves, too,
are applied topically to the wound ; and the powerful smell of
them will keep serpents at a distance. A preparation of this
plant is taken, also, as a potion, for affections of the vertebra.
The Magi recommend that the leaves of it should be plucked
with the left hand, it being mentioned at the same time for
whom they are being gathered : after which, they are to be
worn as an amulet, attached to the person, for the cure of tertian
fevers. ^^
CUAP. 25. (21.) — THE ONOCHILON, ARCHEBION, ONOCHELIS,
RHEXIA, OR ENCHRYSA : THIRTY REMEDIES.
There is another plant, too, the proper name of which is
" onochilon,"^- but which some people call ''anchusa," others
"archebion," and others, again, '* onochelis," or ''rhexia,"
and, more universally, " enchrysa." This plant has a diminu-
tive stem, a purple flower, rough leaves and branches, and a
root the colour of blood at harvest-time, though dark and
'' The Anehusa Italica of Linnreus, according to Fee, false alkanet, or
wild hugloss. Though resembling the genuine plant in its external
features, it has no colouring properties. Sprengel identifies it with the
Lithosperraum fruticosuni of Linnaeus, a plant, as Fee remarks, very dif-
ferent in its appearance from the genuine alkanet.
30 In erroneously giving it this name, Fee remarks that Pliny has con-
founded the pseudoanchusa with the txiov of the Greeks, the Echium ruhrum
of Linnajus, and has attributed to it the characteristics of the latter plant.
31 Fee remarks, that all that Pliny says of the medicinal properties of
this plant does not mei-it the honour of a discussion.
32 Fee identifies it with the Echium Creticura of Linnaeus. Desfon-
taines takes it to be the Anchusa tinctoria of Linnaeus. Fee is of opinion
that the name really given to this plant was "enchrysa," and not "an-
chusa. "
Chap. 26.] THE ANTHEMIS. 411
swarthy at other times. It grows in sandy soils, and is ex-
tremely efficacious for the stings of serpents, vipers in particular,
the roots or le-aves of it being taken indifferently with the
food, or in the drink. It developes its virtues at harvest-time,
more especially : the leaves of it, when bruised, have just the
smell of a cucumber. This plant is prescribed, in doses of
three cyathi, for prolapsus of the uterus, and, taken with hj-s-
sop, it expels tape- worms. For pains in the liver or kidneys,
it is taken in hydromel, if the patient shows symptoms of fever,
but if not, in wine. With the root of it a liniment is made,
for the removal of freckles and leprous sores ; and it is asserted
that persons who carry this root about them will never be at-
tacked by serpents.
There is another "^ plant, again, very similar to this, with a
red flower, and somewhat smaller. It is applied to the same
uses as the other ; it is asserted, too, that if it is chewed, and
then spit out upon a serpent, it will cause its instantaneous
death.
CHAP. 26. THE A^'THEMIS, LEUCANTHEMIS, LErCANTHEMrM,
cham^meltjlvr, or melanthiu3i ; three varieties op it :
elevp:n remedies.
The anthemis has been highly extolled by Asclepiades.
Some persons call it *'leucanthemis,"^* some leucanthemum,
others, again, " eranthemis,"^^ from its flowering in spring, and
others " chamaemelon,*'^^ because it has a smell like that of an
apple: sometimes, too, it is called " melanthion."^' There are
three varieties of this plant, which only differ from one another
in the flower ; they do not exceed a palm in height, and they
bear small blossoms like those of rue, white, yellow,^^ or purple.
This plant is mostly found in thin, poor soils, or growing
near foot-paths. It is usually gathered in spring, and put by
33 The Lithospermum fruticosum of Linnjeus ; cromill, or stone-crap.
^^ Fee, adopting the opinion of Sibthorpe, thinks that under these names
Pliny is speaking of several varieties of the Anthemis, or camomile, and he
identifies them as follows : the Leucanthemis, or white camomile, he con-
siders to be the same as the Anthemis Chia of Linnaius ; the Eranthemis
to be the Anthemis rosea of Sibthorpe ; the Mclanthion to be the Anthemis
tinctoria, or dyers' camomile of Sibthorpe : and the Chamsemelon to be the
Matricaria charaomilla of Linnaeus, the common camomile. Sprengel
differs from these opinions as to the identification of the several varieties.
^* " Spring flower." se "Ground apple."
3" *' Black flower." 38 " Malinis," apple-colour.
412 pltny's natural uistout. [Book XXII.
for the purpose of making chaplets. At the same season, too,
medical men pound the leaves, and make them up into lozenges,
the same being done with the flowers also, and the root. All
the parts of this plant are administered together, in doses of one
drachma, for the stings of serpents of all kinds. Taken in drink,
too, they bring away the dead foetus, act as an emmenagogue
and diuretic, and disperse calculi of the bladder. The anthe-
mis is employed, also, for the cure of flatulency, afl'ections of
the liver, excessive secretions of the bile, and fistulas of the
eye ; chewed, it heals running sores. Of all the diff'erent
varieties, the one that is most efficacious for the treatment of
calculi is that with the purple flower, ^Hhe leaves and stem*" of
which are somewhat larger than those of the other kinds.
Some persons, and with strict propriety, give to this last the
name of *' eranthemis."
CHAP. 27. THE LOTUS PLANT : FOUR REMEDIES.
Those who think that the lotus is nothing but a tree only,
can easily be refuted, if upon the authority of Homer *^ only ;
for that poet names the lotus first of all among the herbs which
grow to administer to the pleasures of the gods. The leaves
of this plant, ^•^ mixed with honey, disperse the marks of sores,
argema/^ and films upon the eyes.
CHAP. 28. — THE LOTOMETRA I TWO REMEDIES.
The lotometra ** is a cultivated lotus ; with the seed of it,
which resembles millet, the shepherds in Egypt make a coarse
bread, which they mostly knead with water or milk. It is
said, however, that there is nothing lighter or more wholesome
than this bread, so long as it is eaten warm ; but that when it
gets cold, it becomes heavy and more difficult of digestion.
It is a well-known fact, that persons who use it as a diet are
59 See Note 3*.
^^ " Fruticis." The camomile is still extensively used in medicine for
fomentations, and the decoction of it is highly esteemed, taken fasting, as
a tonic. 4i II. xiv. 347.
^2 The Melilotus officinalis of Linnaeus. See B. xiii. c. 32, and the
Notes.
43 White specks in the black of the eye, with a red tinge.
4* Or " Mother of the Lotus ;" the Nymphsea lotus of Linnseus. See B.
xiii. c. 32. "Ex loto sata" may probably mean that it springs from the
seed of the lotus, in which case, as Fee remarks, it must be identified with
the Lotus.
CLap. 29.] THE HELIOTllOPIUiT. 413
never attacked by dysentery, tenesmus, or other affections of
the bowels ; hence it is, that this plant is reckoned among the
remedies for that class of diseases.
CHAP. 29. — THE HELIOTEOPITJM, HELIOSCOPIUM, OR VERRUCARTA :
TWELVE REMEDIES. THE HELIOTROPIUM, TKICOCCUil, OR SCOR-
PIURON: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
"We have spoken more than once^* of the marvels of the helio-
tropium, which turns ^^ with the sun, in cloudy weather even,
so great is its sympathy with that luminary. At night, as
though in regret, it closes its blue flower.
There are two species of heliotropium, the tricoccum *~ and
the helioscopium,*^ the latter being the taller of the two,
though they neither of them exceed half *^ a foot in height. The
helioscopium throws out branches from the root, and the seed
of it, enclosed in follicules,^ is gathered at harvest-time. It
grows nowhere but in a rich soil, a highly- cultivated one more
particularly ; the tricoccum, on the other hand, is to be found
growing everywhere. I And it stated, that the helioscopium,
boiled, is considered an agiec able food, and that taken in milk,
it is gently laxative^^ to the bowels ; while, again, a decoction of
it, taken as a potion, acts as a most effectual purgative. The
*^ B. xviii. c. 67, and B. xix. c. 58.
^s This apparent marvel is owing to the necessity of light to certain
flowers for the purposes of fecundation, while those which open at night
require more moisture than light for their reproduction.
*^ Or ".three-grained," probably, Fee says, from the three cells in the
capsule. He identifies this plant with the "Croton tinctorium of Linnaeus^
the turnsole, or sun-flower.
*8 Fee identifies it with the Heliotropium Europaeum of Linnasus, the
heliotrope, or verrucaria. The Heliotropium of Ovid and other poets,
with a violet or blue flower, is, no doubt, a different plant, and is identified
by Sprengel, Desfontaines, and Fee with the Hesperis matronalis of Lin-
naeus, rocket or Julian, or, as we not inaptly call it, from its pleasant smell,
cherry-pie. Pliny speaks of his Heliotropium as having a " blue flower,"
coeruleura. This is probably an error on his part, and it is supposed by
commentators that he read in the Greek text vTroiropfvpov, " somewhat
purple," by mistake for vTTOTrvppov, "somewhat red," as we find it.
*2 As known at the present day, tliey grow to a much greater height
than this.
^ This, Fee remarks, cannot apply to either the Heliotropium Euro-
paeum or the Croton tinctorium. He thinks it not improbable that Pliny
may have named one plant, and given a description of another.
^'^ The Heliotropium Europaeum, Fee says, has no medicinal properties.
414 pltny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXII.
juice of this plant is collected in summer, at the sixth ^^ hour
of the day ; it is usually mixed with wine, which makes ^^ it
keep all the better. Combined with rose-oil, it alleviates
head-ache. The juice extracted from the leaves, combined
with salt, removes warts ; from which circumstance our people
have given this plant the name of " verrucaria,"^* although,
from its various properties, it fully merits a better name. For,
taken in wine or hydromel, it is an antidote to the venom of
serpents and scorpions," as ApoUophanes and Apollodorus state.
The leaves, too, employed topically, are a cure for the cerebral
affections of infants, known as '• siriasis,"^^ as also for convul-
sions, even when they are epileptic. It is very wholesome,
too, to gargle the mouth with a decoction of this plant. Taken
in drink, it expels tapeworm and gravel, and, with the addition
of cummin, it will disperse calculi. A decoction of the plant
with the root, mixed with the leaves and some suet of a he-goat,
is applied topically for the cure of gout.
The other kind, which we have spoken^''' of as being called
the " tricoccum," and which also bears the name of '' scor-
piuron,"^^ has leaves that are not only smaller than those of
the other kind, but droop downwards towards the ground : the
seed of it resembles a scorpion's tail, to which, in fact, it owes
its latter appellation. It is of great efficacy for injuries received
from all kinds of venomous insects and the spider known as
the " phalangium," but more particularly for the stings of
scorpions, if applied topically. ^^ Those who carry it about their
person are never stung by a scorpion, and it is said that if a
circle is traced on the ground around a scorpion with a sprig
of this plant, the animal will never move out oi it, and that if
a scorpion is covered with it, or even sprinkled with the water
in which it has been steeped, it will die that instant. Four
5- Midday, namely. ^' " Sic firmior."
5' The "wart plant;" from "verruca," a "wart."
^5 Tliis notion arose probably, Fee thinks, from the clusters of its flowers
resembling the tail of a scorpion in appearance.
56 Probably an inflammation of the membranes of the brain.
*'' At the beginning of this Chapter.
*3 " Scorpion's tail." Dioscoridcs gives this name to the Helioscopium,
or great Heliotropium.
^* Fee is surprised that no mention is made of its colouring properties,
it being extremely rich in the colouring principle, and having been much
used in former times for dyeing purposes.
Chap. 30.] THE ADIANTUM. 415
grains of the seed, taken in drink, are said to be a cure for the
quartan fever, and three for the tertian ; a similar efifect being
produced by carrying the plant three times round the patient,
and then laying it under his head. The seed, too, acts as an
aphrodisiac, and, applied with honey, it disperses inflamed
tumours. This kind of heliotropium, as well as the other, ex-
tracts warts radically,^" and excrescences of the anus. Applied
topically, the seed draws off corrupt blood from the vertebrae
and loins ; and a similar effect is produced by taking a decoc-
tion of it in chicken broth, or with beet and lentils. The
husks ^^ of the seed restore the natural colour to lividities of
the skin. According to the Magi, the patient himself should
make four knots in the heliotropium for a quartan, and three
for a tertian fever, at the same time offering a prayer that he
may recover to untie them, the plant being left in the ground
meanwhile.
CUAP, 30. THE ADIANTUM, CALLITRICHOS, TRICnOMA^ES, POLT-
TKTCHOS, OR SaXIFKAGUM ; TWO VARIETIES OF IT : TWENTY-
EIGHT REMEDIES.
Equally marvellous, too, in other respects, is the adian-
tum f- it is green in summer, never dies in the winter, mani-
fests an aversion to water, and, when sprinkled with water or
dipped in it, has all the appearance of having been dried, so
great is its antipathy to moisture ; a circumstance to which it
owes the name of " adiantum,"®^ given to it by the Greeks.
In other respects, it is a shrub which might be well employed
in ornamental gardening. ^^ Some persons give it the name of
^^^ This notion, Fee says, was long attached to the Heliotropium Euro-
pseum, and to it, it is indebted for its present name of " verrucaria."
•"^ " Cortex seminis,"
'^ Fee identifies it with the Asplenium trichomanes of Linnseus, spleen-
wort, or ccterach. The Adiantum of Hippocrates and other Greek writers,
he takes to be the Adiantum capillus Veneris of Linmeus, Venus' hair, or
maiden hair. Though Pliny would seem not to have been acquainted
with the hitter plant, he ascribes to the first one many of its properties and
characteristics, deriving his information, probably, from a writer who was
acquainted with both. See B. xxi. c. 60.
^'^ From o, " not," ^nd diaivui, " to wet." This is owing, Fee re-
marks, to the coat of waxen enamel or varnisli with which the leaves are
provided. The same is the case also vnth the leaf of the cabbage and
other plants.
^ The Asplenium trichomanes, Fee says, would not admit of being
clipped for ornamental gardening.
416 pliny's natural history. [Book XXII.
''callitrichos,"^ and others of ''polytrichos," both of tliem
bearing reference to its property of imparting colour to the
hair. For this purpose, a decoction of it is made in wine
with parsley-seed, large quantities of oil being added, if it is
desired to make the hair thick and curly as well : it has also
the property of preventing the hair from coming off.
There are two kinds of this plant, one being whiter than,
the other, which last is swarthy and more stunted. It is the
larger kind that is known as the *' polytrichos," or, as some
call it, the *' trichomanes." Both plants have tiny branches
of a bright black colour, and leaves like those of fern, the
lower ones being rough and tawny, and all of them lying close
together and attached to footstalks arranged on either side of
the stem : of root, so to say, there is nothing.*^ This plant
frequents umbrageous rocks, walls sprinkled with the spray
of running water, grottoes of fountains more particularly, and
crags surrounded with streamlets, a fact that is all the more
remarkable in a plant which derives no benefit from water.
The adiantum is of singular efficacy in expelling and break-
ing calculi of the bladder, the dark kind in particular ; and it
is for this reason, in my opinion, rather than because it grows
upon stones, that it has received from the people of our
country its name of ^' saxifragum."^^ It is taken in wine, the
usual dose being a pinch of it in three fingers. Both these
plants are diuretics, and act as an antidote to the venom of ser-
pents and spiders : a decoction of them in wine arrests looseness
of the bowels. A wreath of them, worn on the head, alleviates
head-ache. For the bite of the scolopendra they are applied
topically, but they must be removed every now and then, to
prevent them from cauterizing the flesh : ^^ they are employed
in a similar manner also for alopecy.®^ They disperse
scrofulous sores, scurf on the face, and running ulcers of the
head. A decoction of them is useful also for asthma, affec-
tions of the liver and spleen, enlarged secretions of the gall,
" "Fine hair," and "thick hair." These names originated more pro-
bably in the appearance of the plant than in any effects it may have pro-
duced as a dye for the hair.
^■'' On the contrary, Fee says, the root is composed of numerous fibres,
^' "Stone-breaking."
^'^ Fee is of opinion that they possess no such property.
*^ Loss of the hair.
Chap. 32.] THE ASPHODEL. 417
and dropsy. In combination with wormwood, they form a
liniment for strangury and affections of the kidneys ; they
have the effect also of bringing away the after-birth, and act
as an emmenagogue. Taken with vinegar or juice of bramble-
berries, they arrest haemorrhage. Combined with rose-oil
they are employed as a liniment for excoriations on infants,
the parts affected being first fomented with wine. The leaves,
steeped in the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty,
and beaten up with saltpetre, compose a liniment which, it is
said, prevents wrinkles from forming on the abdomen in
females. It is a general belief that partridges and cocks are
rendered more pugnacious if this plant is mixed with their
food; and it is looked upon as particularly beneficial for
cattle.
CHAP. 31. (22.) THE PICRIS; ONE REMEDY. THE THESION ;
ONE EEMEDY.
The picris^** derives its name from its intense bitterness, as
we have previously stated. The leaf of it is round ; it is re-
markably efficacious for the removal of warts.
The thesium,^^ too, has a bitterness not unlike it : it is a
powerful purgative, for which purpose it is employed bruised
in water.
CHAP. 32. THE ASPHODEL ; FIFTY-ONE EEMEDIES.
The asphodeP' is one of the most celebrated of all the plants,
BO much so, indeed, that by some persons it has been called
" heroum." ^^ Hesiod has mentioned the fact of its growing in
rivers, and Dionysius distinguishes it into male and female."
It has been observed that the bulbs of it, boiled with a ptisan,
are remarkably good for consumption and phthisis,'^ and that
'° See B. xxi. c. 65. The Picris asplenioides of Linnaeus, Fee thinks,
though Sprengel identifies it with the Helminthia echioides of Linnaeus ;
but the leaves of that plant are not round.
71 See B. xxi. c. 67. '2 See B. xii. c. 68.
" " Plant of the heroes."
''^ Mere varieties of the plant, so called with reference, probably, to the
relative energy of their properties.
'5 Eegarded in a medicinal point of view the bulb of the asphodel pos-
sesses some emollient properties, and nothing more. As an application to
sores and abscesses it may reduce the inflammation, and being rich in
mucilage, the pulp may form a nourishing food. All the other statements
aa to its medicinal properties are, as Fee remarks, quite fabulous.
VOL. IV. E E
418 Flint's NATUEAL HI STOET. [Book XXII.
bread in which they have been kneaded up with the meal, is
extremely wholesome. Nicander"^ recommends also, for the
stings of serpents and scorpions, either the stalk, which we
have already''^ spoken of under the name of *' anthericus," or
else the seed or bulbs, to be taken in wine, in doses of three
drachmae ; and he says that these should be strewed beneath
the bed, if there is any apprehension of their presence. The
asphodel is prescribed also for wounds inflicted by marine
animals of a venomous nature, and the bite of the land scolo-
pendra. It is quite wonderful how the snails, in Campania,
seek the stalk of this plant, and dry it by extracting the
inside. The leaves, too, are applied with wine to wounds
made by venomous animals, and the bulbs are beaten up with
polenta and similarly used for aff'ections of the sinews and
joints. It is also a very good plan to rub lichens with them
chopped up and mixed with vinegar, and to apply them in
water to putrid sores, as also to inflammations of the testes or
mamillse. Boiled in lees of wine, and applied in a linen pledget,
they are used for the cure of defluxions of the eyes.
Whatever the malady may happen to be, it is generally in
a boiled^® state that the bulbs are employed ; but for foul
ulcers of the legs and for chaps upon any part of the body,
they are dried and reduced to powder. The bulbs are usually
gathered in autumn,''^ a period when their medicinal properties
are most fully developed. The juice extracted from them
pounded, or else a decoction of them, is good, mixed with honey,
for pains in the body : it is employed also with dried iris and a
little salt by those who wish to impart an agreeable odour to
the person. The leaves are used for the cure of the various
maladies above mentioned, as also, boiled in wine, for scrofu-
lous sores, inflamed tumours, and ulcers of the face. The ashes
of the root are a remedy for alopecy and chaps on the feet ;
and an extract of the root, boiled in oil, is good for burns and
chilblains. It is injected also into the ears for deafness, and,
for tooth- ache, it is poured into the ear opposite to the part
affected. A moderate dose of the root, taken in drink, acts as
'6 ThoriaGa, p. 39. '^ i^ b, xxi. c. 68.
'8 This practice, as Fee remarks, was based on sound principles, the
acrid properties of the bulbs being removed by boiling.
■'^ Most medicinal roots are gathered at this period, their properties
being, as Pliny says, most fully developed in the autumn.
Chap. 33.] THE HALIMOT?-. 419
a diuretic and emmenagogue ; it is good also for pains in the
sides, ruptures, convulsions, and coughs, in doses of one drachma,
taken in wine. Chewed, the root promotes vomiting, but the
seed, taken internally, disorders the bowels.
Chrysermus used to employ a decoction of the root, in wine,
for imposthumes of the parotid glands ; and he has prescribed
it, in combination with cachrys,^'' in wine, for the cure of
scrofulous sores. Some persons say that if, after applying the
root to the sores, a part of it is hung up in the smoke to dry,
and not taken down till the end of four days, the sores
will gradually dry up with this portion of the root. Sophocles^^
ased to employ it both ways, boiled and raw, for the cure of
gout ; and he prescribes it, boiled in oil, for chilblains, and,
in vinegar, for jaundice and dropsy. It has been stated,
also, that, used as a friction with wine and honey, or taken in
irink, it acts as an aphrodisiac. Xenocrates assures us, too,
:hat a decoction of the root in vinegar removes lichens, itch-
5cabs, and leprous sores ; and that a decoction of it, with hen-
Dane and tar, has a similar effect, and is good also for the re-
noval of bad odours^^ of the armpits and thighs : he states,
dso, that if the head is well rubbed with the root, being first
;haved, the hair will curl all the better for it. Simus pre-
scribes a decoction of it, in wine, to be taken for calculi in
he kidneys ; and Hippocrates recommends the seed for ob-
structions of the spleen. The root, or else a decoction of it,
ipplied topically, restores the hair in beasts of burden, where it
las been lost by ulcerations or scab. It has the effect, too, of
iriving away rats and mice, and of exterminating them, if
ilaced before their holes.
CHAP. 33.— THE HALIMON ! FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
Some authors have thought that it is the asphodel that is
ailed " halimon" by Hesiod, an opinion which appears to me
11- founded; halimon^^ being the name of a distinct plant,
80 See B. xvi. c. 11.
81 Other readings are Diocles, Socles, and Socrates. If " Sophocles" is
le correct reading, all memorials of this pliysician have perished, beyond
le mention made of him by Caelius Aurelianus, Chron. c. i.
82 "Yitia."
8>* The Atriplox halimus of Linnaeus, sea orach. Belon says that it is
•und in great abundance in Candia, tlie ancient Crete, where it is known
1 " haliniatia," and the tops of the stalks are used as food.
E E 2
420 PLTNT S NATURAL HISTORY. [Eook XXII.
which has been the occasion of no few mistakes committed by
writers. According- to some, it is a tufted shrub, white, des-
titute of thorns, and with leaves like those of the olive, only
softer ; which eaten boiled, are an agreeable food. The roofe,
they say, taken in doses of one drachma in hydromel, allays
gripings of the bowels, and is a cure for ruptures and convul-
sions. Others, again, pronounce it to be a vegetable grovnng
near the sea-shore,®^ of a salt taste — to which, in fact, it
owes its name — with leaves somewhat round but elongated,
and much esteemed as an article of food. They say, too, that
there are two species of it, the wild and the cultivated,^^ and
that, mixed with bread, they are good, both of them, for dy-
senteiy, even if ulceration should have supervened, and are
usefid for stomachic affections, in combination with vinegar.
They state, also, that this plant is applied raw to ulcers of long
standing, and that it modifies the inflammation of recent
wounds, and the pain attendant upon sprains of the feet and
affections of the bladder. The wild halimon, they tell us,
has thinner leaves than the other, but is more effectual as a
medicament in all the above cases, as also for the cure of itch,
whether in man or beast. The root, too, according to them,
employed as a friction, renders the skin more clear, and the
teeth whiter ; and they assert that if the seed of it is put
beneath the tongue, no thirst will be experienced. They
state, also, that this kind is eaten as well as the other, and that
they are, both of them, preserved.
Crateuas has spoken of a third^*^ kind also, Avith longer
leaves than the others, and more hairy : it has the smell of
the cypress, he says, and grows beneath the ivy more particu-
larly. He states that this plant is extremely good for
opisthotony and contractions of the sinews, taken in doses of
three oboli to one sextarius of water.
s* Hence its name, liXiiiov, from a\g, the "sea,*' and not, as Pliny says,
from its salt taste.
^^ " Mitius." Fee says that if this word means "cultivated," the
plant mentioned cannot be the Atriplex halimus ; in which case he is
indined to identify it with the Atriplex portulacoides of Linnaeus ; the
leaves and young stalks of which, preserved in vinegar, have an agreeable
taste.
^ Some other plant, probably, Fee thinks.
Chap. 35.] THE EUrLEUISON. 421
CHA.P. 34. THE ACANTHUS, P^DEKOS, OE MELAMPHYLLOS : PITE
KEMECIES.
The acanthus ^ is a plant that grows in cities, and is used
in ornamental gardening. It has a broad, long leaf, and is
used as a covering for the margins of ornamental waters and of
parterres in gardens.^^ There are two varieties of it ; the one
that is thorny^^ and crisped is the shorter of the two ; the
other, which is smooth,^" is by some persons called " psede-
ros,"" and by others *' melamphyllos."^^ rpj^g p^^^ of this
last is remarkably good for burns and sprains ; and, boiled with
the food, a ptisan more particularly, it is equally good for
ruptures, spasms, and patients who are in apprehension of
phthisis. The root is also beaten up and applied warm for
hot gout.
CHAP. 35. TnE BUPLEUKON : FIVE KEMEDIES.
' The bupleuron^^ is reckoned by the Greeks in the number
of the leguminous plants which grow spontaneously. The
stem of it is a cubit in height, the leaves are long and nu-
merous, and the head resembles that of dill. It has been
extolled as an aliment by Hippocrates, and for its medicinal
properties by Glaucon and Nicander. The seed of it is good
for the stings of serpents; and the leaves, or else the juice, ap-
plied as a liniment with wine, bring away the after-birth. The
leaves, also, in combination with salt and wine, are applied to
s^ As to the Acanthus or thorn, in a more general sense, see B. xxiy.
c. 66, and the Notes.
^^ Phny the Younger speaks of the Acanthus being used for a similar
purpose, Epist. B. v. Ep. 6.
^* The Acanthus spinosus of Linnoeus.
'" The Acanthus mollis of Linnaeus ; the brankursinc.
91 " Lad's love."
8- " Black-leafed." Fee thinks it probable that this name may have been
given to the variety " niger," of I^iiller, which grows in great abundance
in Sicily and Italy.
93 " Bull's side," apparently. Fee Bays that the identification of this
plant is quite uncertain ; the Buplevrum rigidum of Linuseus, the Bup-
levrum Baldense of Willdenow, and the Amuii majus of liinnaeus, having
been suggested. The first, he thinks, could never have been used as a
vegetable, and the second is only found oa Mount Baldo in Carniohi, and
in Croatia. Though the Animi majus is m'>re tlian a cubit in height, and
could never h^'e been used as a vegetable, lie looks upon it as tUe most
likely of the three. The seeds of it were formerly used as a carminative.
422 PLINr'3 NA-TURAL HISTOST. [Book XXI I.
Bcrofulous sores. The root is prescribed in wine for the stings
of serpents, and as a diuretic.
CHAP. 36. THE BTJPE.EST1S : ONE KEJrEDT.
"With a remarkable degree of inconsistency, the Greek writers,
while praising the buprestis®* as an aliment, point out certain
antidotes^* to it, as though it were a poison. The very name,
however, proves to a certainty that it is poisonous to cattle,
and it is generally admitted that, on tasting it, they burst^®
asunder : we shall, therefore, say no more about it. Is there
any reason, in fact, why, when we are speaking of the mate-
rials employed in making our grass crowns, we should de-
scribe a poison ? or really ought we to enlarge upon it only to
please the libidinous fancies of those who imagine that there is
not a more powerful aphrodisiac in existence than this, when
taken in drink ?
CHAP. 37. THE ELAPHOBOSCON : NIlfE BEMEDIES.
The elaphoboscon ^ is a ferulaceous plant, articulated, and
about a finger in thickness. The seed of it is like that of dill,
hanging in umbels resembling those of hart- wort in appearance,
but not bitter. The leaves are very like those of olusatrum.^^
This plant, too, is highly spoken of as an article of food ; in
addition to which, it is preserved and kept as a diuretic ^^ and
for the purpose of assuaging pains in the sides, curing rup-
tures and convulsions, and dispelling flatulency and colic. It
9* Sprengel and Desfontaines consider it to be the Buplevrum rotiinrli-
folium : but Fee is of a contrary opinion, and thinks that it is impossible
to identify it.
3^ Though Hardouin attempts to defend him, it is more than probable
that it is Pliny himself who is in error here ; and that he has confounded
the plant Buprestis with the insect of that name, which belongs to the
class of Canthurides, and received its name (burn-cow) from its fatal ef-
fects when eaten by cattle.
96 See B. XXX. c. 10.
'" " Stag's food." Fee adopts the opinion of Sprengel and Sibthorpe,
that this is the Pastinaca sutiva of Linnaeus, the cultivated parsnip.
Desfontaines identifies it with the Slum sisarum ; but, as Fee says, that
plant is but rarely found in Greece.
'•^ See B. XX. c. 18. For the olusatrum, see B. xx. c. 46.
93 The parsnip is no longer employed for its medicinal properties ; but
for a long time, the seed was looked upon as a diuretic and febrifuge.
The root contains a considerable quantity of saccharine matter.
Chap. 39.] THE lASIOTfE. 423
is used, too, for the cure of wounds inflicted by serpents and all
kinds of animals that sting ; so much so, indeed, that, as the
story goes, stags, by eating of it, fortify themselves against the
attacks of serpents. The root, too, applied topically, with the
addition of nitre, is a cure for fistula, but, when wanted for
this purpose, it must be dried first, so as to retain none of the
juice ; though, on the other hand, this juice does not at all
impair its efficacy as an antidote to the poison of serpents.
CHAP. 38. THE SCANDIX : NINE EEMF.DIES. THE ANTHEISCUM :
TWO KEMEDIES.
The scandix,^ too, is reckoned by the Greeks in the number
of the wild vegetables, as we learn from Opion and Erasis-
tratus. Boiled, it arrests- looseness of the bowels ; and the
seed of it, administered with vinegar, immediately stops
hiccup. It is employed topically for burns, and acts as a diure-
tic ; a decoction of it is good, too, for afiections of the stomach,
liver, kidneys, and bladder. It is this plant that furnished
Aristophanes with his joke^ against the poet Eui'ipides, that
his mother used to sell not real vegetables, but only scandix.
The anthriscum* would be exactly the same plant as the
scandix, if its leaves were somewhat thinner and more odor-
iferous. Its principal virtue is that it reinvigorates the body
when exhausted by sexual excesses, and acts as a stimulant
upon the enfeebled powers of old age. It arrests leucorrhoea
in females.
CHAP. 39. — THE iasiojst;; four remedies.
The iasione,^ which is also looked upon as a wild vegetable,
is a creeping plant, full of a milky juice : it bears a white
^ Sprengel identifies it with the ChaBropbyllum sativum of Linnaeus, the
scandix cerifolium, our common chervil ; but Fee considers it to be the
same as the Scandix pecten Veneris of Linnaeus, the Venus' comb chervil
Pliny has mentioned a "scandix" also in B. xxi. c. 52, but erroneously,
Fee thinks.
2 It is not used for any medicinal purposes at the present day.
3 Acham. A. ii. sc. 4 : " Get some scandix from your mother, and give
it me." The same joke also appears in the "Equites ;" and A. Gelliiis,
B. XV. c. 20, says that Theopompus speaks of the mother of Euripides as
having been a greengrocer.
* Fee identifies it with the Anthriscus odoratus of Linnaeus, the culti-
vated chervil. See B. xxi. c. 52.
^ See B. xxi. c. 65.
424 pltnt's natural histohy. [Book XXII.
flower, the name given to which is "concilium." The chief
recommendation of this plant, too, is that it acts as an aphro-
disiac. Eaten with the food, raw, in vinegar, it promotes the
secretion of the milk in nursing women. It is salutary also
for patients who are apprehensive of phthisis ; and, applied to
the head of infants, it makes the hair grow, and renders the
Bcalp more firm.
CHAP. 40. — THE CATJCALIS: TWELVE HEME DIES.
The caucalis," too, is an edible plant. It resembles fennel in
appearance, and has a short stem with a white flower ;' it is
usually considered a good cordial.^ The juice, too, of this plant
is taken as a potion, being particularly recommended as a sto-
machic, a diuretic, an expellent of calculi and gravel, and for the
cure of irritations of the bladder. It has the effect, also, of
attenuating morbid secretions^ of the spleen, liver, and kidneys.
The seed of it acts as an emmenagogue, and dispels the bilious
secretions after child-birth : it is prescribed also, for males, in
cases of seminal weakness. Chrysippus is of opinion that this
plant promotes conception ; for which purpose it is taken by
women in wine, fasting. It is employed in the form of a lini-
ment, for wounds inflicted by marine animals of a venomous na-
ture, at least we find it so stated by Petrichus in his poem.^°
CHAP. 41. — THE sium: elevex remedies.
Among these plants there is reckoned also the sium :^^ it
grows in the water, has a leaf broader than that of parsley,
thicker, and of a more swarthy colour, bears a considerable
quantity of seed, and has the taste of nasturtium. It is an
active diuretic, is very good for the kidneys and spleen, and acts
as an emmenagogue, either eaten by itself as an aliment, ^^ or
« See B. xxi. c. 52.
' This is tlie Caucalis grandiflora of Linnaeus, Fee thinks.
8 "Medicine tor the heart." All these statements as to its medicinal
properties, are quite erroneous, Fee says.
8 "Pituitas."
10 On Antidotes for the stings of serpents. See end of B. lix.
11 The Simn angustifolium has been named, but Fee prefers identifying
it with the Sium latifolium of Linnaeus, water-parsley.
12 Fee savs that at tlie present day it is held in suspicion as an article
of food, and that it is said to pro<luce madness in ruminating animals.
He thinks it not improbable that Pliny here attributes to it some of the
properties which in reality belong to cresses.
Chap. 43.] THE SCOLTMOS. 425
taken in the form of a decoction ; the seed of it is taken in
wine, in doses of two drachmae. It disperses calculi in the blad-
der, and neutralizes the action of water which tends to their
formation. Used in the form of an injection, it is good for dy-
sentery, and applied topically, for the removal of freckles. It
is applied by females, at night, for the removal of spots on the
face, a result which it produces almost instantaneously. It
has the effect also of assuaging hernia, and is good for the scab
in horses.
CHAP. 42. THE SILLYBUil.
The sillybum'^ resembles the white chamseleon, and is a
plant quite as prickly. In Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia, the
countries where it grows, it is not thought worth while to
boil it, the cooking of it being so extremely troublesome, it is
said. It is of no use whatever in medicine.
CHAP. 43. THE SCOLYMOS OR LIMONIA : FIVE EEiTRDIES.
The scolymos,^'* too, is used as an aliment^^ in the East, where
it has also the name of " limonia."^^ This is ashrub-like plant,
which never exceeds a cubit in height, with tufted leaves and
a black root, but sweet. Eratosthenes speaks highly of it as
a diet used by the poor. It is said to possess diuretic proper-
ties in a very high degree, and to heal lichens and leprous sores,
applied with vinegar. Taken in wine it acts as an aphrodisiac,
according to the testimony of Hesiod''' and Alcaeus ; who have
stated in their writings, that while it is in blossom, the song
of the grasshopper is louder than at other times, women more
inflamed with desire, and men less inclined to amorous inter-
course ; and that it is by a kind of foresight on the part of
Nature that this powerful stimulant is then in its greatest per-
fection. The root, too, used without the pith, corrects the
noisome odour of the armpits, in doses of one ounce to two
heminse of Ealernian wine ; the mixture being boiled down to
'3 See B. xxvi. c. 25. Sprengel identifies it witli the Carduus ma-
rianus of Linnaeus. Fee inclines, however, to the belief that it is the
Sonchus palustris of Linnaeus; the marsh sow-thistle.
'* Spreng-el identifies it with the Scolynius maculatus of Linnaius, but
Fee prefers the Scolymus Hispanicus of Linnajus, the Spanish thistle.
'' Fee says that the Scolymus grandiflorus is still eaten iu Barbary.
'^ The " meadow-plant."
" Works and Days, 1. 582.
426 plint's natural UISTORT. [Book XXII,
one third, and taken fasting after the bath, as also after meals, a
cyathus at a time. It is a remarkable thing, but Xenocrates
assures us that he has ascertained it experimentally, that these
bad odours are carried off by the urine.
CHAP. 44. THE SONCHOS ; TWO YAEIETIES 1 FlfTEEN EEMEDIES.
The sonchos,^^ too, is edible — at least, it was this that, accord-
ing to Callimachus, Hecale" set before Theseus. There are two
kinds, the white^" and the black :^^ they are, both of them,
similar to the lettuce, except that they are prickly, with a stem
a cubit in height, angular, and hollow within ; when broken,
the stem gives out an abundance of milky juice. The white
kind, which derives its colour from the milk it contains, is good
for hardness of breathing, if eaten dressed with seasoning like
the lettuce. Erasistratus says that it carries off calculi by
tlie urine, and that, chewed, it is a corrective of bad breath.
The juice of it, taken warm in doses of three cyathi, with
white wine and oil, facilitates delivery, but the patient must
he careful to walk about immediately after drinking it : it
is also given in broth.
A decoction of the stalk renders the milk more abundant in
nursing women, and improves the complexion of the infants
suckled by them ; it is also remarkably beneficial for females
when the milk coagulates. The juice of it is used as an injection
for the ears, and is taken warm in doses of one cyathus^ for stran-
gury, as also for gnawing pains of the stomach, with cucumber
seed and pine nuts. It is emploj^ed topically for abscesses of
the rectum, and is taken in drink for the stings of serpents
and scorpions, the root also being applied to the wounds.
The root, boiled in oil, with the rind of a pomegranate, is a
^5 The Sonchus oleraceus of Linnaeus, the common sow-thistle.
^^ A poor old woman, who hospitably entertained Theseus when on
his expedition for the purpose of slaying the Marathonian bull. Theseus
instituted a sacrifice at Athens in honour of her. See Ovid, Remed. Am.
1. 747, and Callim. Fragm. 40.
20 The Sonchus arvensis of Linnaeus, the field sow-thistle.
2^ The Sonchus oleraceus asper of Linnaeus, the prickly-leafed sow-
thistle. These plants are eaten as a salad in some countries. They pos-
sess but little energy in a medicinal point of view, but they are cooling
and slightly laxative. The marvels here related by Pliny, Fee says, are
entirely fabulous.
Chap. 45.] THE COIS^DEION. 427
remedy for diseases of the ears — all these remedies, however,
be it remembered, are derived from the white kind.
As to the black sonchos, Cieemporus forbids it to be eaten,
as being productive of diseases, but at the same time he ap-
proves of the use of the white. Agathocles, however, goes so
far as to assert that the juice of the black kind is an antidote
for poisoning by bulls' blood ; and, indeed, it is generally agreed
that the black sonchos has certain refreshing properties ; for
which reason cataplasms of it may be advantageously applied
with polenta. Zeno recommends the root of the white kind
for strangury.
CHAP. 45. THE CONDEION OE CHONDRTLLA : SIX EEMEDIES.
The condrion,^^ or chondrylla, has leaves, eaten away, as it
were, at the edges, and similar to those of endive, a
stalk less than a foot in length and full of a bitter juice,
and a root resembling that of the bean, and occasionally very
ramified. It produces, near the surface of the earth, a sort
of mastich,^ in a tubercular form, the size of a bean ; this
mastich, it is said, employed as a pessary, promotes the men-
strual discharge. This plant, pounded whole with the roots,
is divided into lozenges, which are employed for the stings of
serpents, and probably with good effect ; for field mice, it is
said, when injured by those reptiles, are in the habit of eating
this plant. A decoction of it in wine arrests looseness of the
bowels, and makes a most excellent substitute for gum, as a
bandoline for the eye-lashes,^ even when the hairs are most
stubborn. Dorotheus says, in his poems, that it is extremely
good for the stomach and the digestive organs. Some persons,
however, have been of opinion that it is unwholesome for fe-
males, bad for the eyesight, and productive of impotence in
the male sex.
22 Sibthorpe thinks that this is the Chondrilla ramosissiraa of Linnaeus ;
but F6e identifies it with the Chondrilla juncea of Linnaeus. The Lac-
tuca perennis has also been suggested. See B. xxi. cc. 52 and 65.
23 In the Isle of Lemnos, at the present day, a milky juice is extracted
from tlie root of the Chondrilla juncea.
2* To keep the hairs in their proper place._
428 pliny's natuhal history. [Book XXII.
CHAP. 46. — mushrooms: peculiakities of theik growth.
Among those vegetable productions which are eaten with
risk, I shall, with good reason, include mushrooms ;^'' a very
dainty food, it is true, but deservedly held in disesteem since
the notorious crime committed by Agrippina, who, through
their agency, poisoned her husband, the Emperor Claudius,
and at the same moment, in the person of his son Nero, in-
flicted another poisonous curse upon the whole world, herselP^
in particular.
Some of the poisonous mushrooms are easily known, being
of a rank, unwholesome look, light red without and livid
within, with the clefts-'' considerably enlarged, and a pale,
sickly margin to the head.^^ These characteristics, however,
are not presented by others of the poisonous kinds ; but being
dry to all appearance and strongly resembling the genuine
ones, they present white spots upon tlie head, on the surface
of the outer coat. The earth, in fact, first produces the
uterus^^* or receptacle for the mushroom, and then the mush-
room within, like the yolk in the egg. . iSTor is this envelope
less conducive to the nutrition of the young mushroom [than
is the albumen of the egg to that of the chicken.] Bursting
forth from the envelope at the moment of its first appearance,
as it gradually increases it becomes transformed into a sub-
stantial stalk ; it is but very rarely, too, that we find two grow-
ing from a single foot-stalk. The generative^^ principle of
the mushroom is in the slime and the fermenting juices of the
damp earth, or of the roots of most of the glandiferous trees.
It appears at first in the shape of a sort of viscous foam, and
then assumes a more substantial but membranous form, after
which, as already stated, the young mushroom appears.
In general, these plants are of a pernicious nature, and the
*' " Boleti." 26 <^\q having been put to death by liira.
2' " Rimosa stria."
'8 This description would apply to many of the fungi known as toad-
stools at the present day.
'^'^* A true description. Fee says, of the agaric oronge, or the laseras
mushroom.
29 The true origin of fungi has not been discovered till a compara-
tively recent period, since the days of Linnaeus even. It is now known
that they are propagated by microscopic granules which are lodged in.
particular receptacles, or else by a dissolution and dispersion of their fila-
mentous tissues.
Chap. 47.] TVHQl. 429
use of them should be altogether rejected ; fur if by chance
they should happen to grow near a hob-nail,^'' a piece of rusty
iron, or a bit of rotten cloth, they will immediately imbibe all
these foreign emanations and flavours, and transform th<3m into
poison. Who, in fact, is able to distinguish them, except those
who dwell in the country, or the persons^^ that are in the habit
of gathering them ? There are other circumstances, too, which
render them noxious ; if they grow near the hole of a serpent, ^^
for instance, or if they should happen to have been breathed
upon by one when just beginning to open ; being all the more
disposed to imbibe the venom from their natural affinity to
poisonous substances.
It will therefore be as well to be on our guard during the
season at which the serpents have not as yet retired to their
holes for the winter. The best sign to know this by is a mul-
titude of herbs, of trees, and of shrubs, which remain green
from the time that these reptiles leave their holes till their re-
turn ; indeed, the ash alone will be quite sufficient for the
purpose, the leaves of it never coming out after the serpents
have made their appearance, or beginning to fall before they
have retired to their holes. The entire existence of the mush-
room , from its birth to its death, is never more than seven
days.^^
CHAP. 47. (23.) — fungi; signs by which the venomous kinds
MAT BE KECOGNJZED : NINE EEMEDIES.
Fungi are of a more humid nature than the last, and are di-
vided into numerous kinds, all of which are derived solely from
the pituitous humours ^* of trees. The safest are those, the
30 "Clavus cahgaris." A nail of a caliga, or military boot. See B.
>ii. c. 44, and B. ix. c. 33.
31 The peasants, Fee says, who are in the habit of gathering them, may
probably be better trusted than the most learned authors that have writteu
on the subject. He thinks it the best plan, however, to avoid all risks,
by confining ourselves to the use of the common field mushroom, the morel,
and one or two other well-known kinds.
3- A prejudice entirely without foundation, Fee remarks.
33 Fee says that from this it is evident that Pliny understands only the
Btalk mushrooms under the name of " boleti ;" the fungi which adhere to
trees living more years, many of them, than Pliny mentions days.
3^ " Ex pituita." Fee thinks that under the name of " boleti," Pliny
means exclusively agarics or mushrooms of the division Amanites, which
coiitains both the best and the most noxious kinds — the oronge for in-
stance, and the false oronge.
430 pliny's natural history. [Look XXII.
flesh of which is red,^^ the colour being more pronounced than
that of the mushroom. The next best are the white ^® ones, the
stems of which have a head very similar to the apex^'' worn by
the riamens ; and a third kind are the suilli,^ very conve-
niently adapted for poisoning. Indeed, it is but very recently
that they have carried off whole families, and all the guests at
a banquet ; Annaeus Serenus,^^ for instance, the prefect of Nero's
guard, together with all the tribunes and centurions. What
great pleasure, then, can there be in partaking of a dish of so
doubtful ^^ a character as this ? Some persons have classified
these fungi according to the trees to which they are indebted
for their formation, the fig, for instance, the fennel -giant, and
the gummiferous trees ; those belonging to the beech, the robur,
and the cypress, not being edible, as already mentioned."'^ But
who is there to give us a guarantee when they come to market,
that these distinctions have been observed ?
All the poisonous fungi are of a livid colour ; and the degree
of similaritj^ borne by the sap of the tree itself to that of the
fig will afford an additional indication whether they are venom-
ous or not. AYe have already mentioned ^' various remedies
for the poison of fungi, and shall have occasion to make mention
of others ; but in the mean time, it will be as well to observe
that they themselves also have some medicinal*^ uses. Glaucias
55 The Agaricus campestris of Linnaeus, Fee thinks, our common field
mushroom, or, possibly, the Agaricus deliciosus of Linnaeus.
^ The Agaricus procerus of Schoefer, probably, the tall columelle, Fee
thinks.
^"^ A cap worn by the Flamen; or chief-priest, of a somewhat conical
shape ; very similar in form to the Russian helmet of the present day.
^** " Swine mushrooms." Fee suggests that this may be the Boletus
edulis of FiuUiard.
^"^ A valued friend of the philosopher Seneca, as we learn from Tacitus,
and Seneca's Epistles, Ep. 63.
*o See Martial's Epigrams, B. i. Ep. 2L
*i In B. xvi. c. 11. In that passage, however, the pine is mentioned.
and not the beech.
*2 In B. XX. c. 13, ef pa.tsim.
*3 Fee says that the fungi are but little used in modern medicine : the
whitjD bolet, he says, or larch bolot, is sometimes employed as a purgative,
and some German writers have spoken in praise of the Boletus suaveolens
of BuUiard. as a remedy for pulmonary phthisis. The agaric known aa
amailue, or German tinder, is also employed in surgery. Fee remarks that
uil that Pliny says as to the medicinal properties of mushrooms and fungi
is more or less hazardous.
Chap. 48.] SILPHIUil. 431
is of opinion that mushrooms are good for the stomach. The
Builli are dried and strung upon a rush, as we see done with those
brought from Bithynia. They are employed as a remedy for
the fluxes known as " rheumatismi,"" and for excrescences of
the fundament, which they diminish and gradually consume.
They are used, also, for freckles and spots on women's faces.
A Mash, too, is made of them, as is done with lead,"^^ for mala-
dies of the eyes. Steeped in water, they are applied topically
to foul ulcers, eruptions of the head, and bites inflicted by
dogs.
I would here also give some general directions for the cook-
ing of mushrooms, as this is the only article of food that the
voluptuaries of the present day are in the habit of dressing
with their own hands, and so feeding upon it in anticipation,
being provided with amber-handled'** knives and silver plates
and dishes for the purpose. Those fungi may be looked upon
as bad which become hard in cooking ; while those, on the other
hand, are comparatively innoxious, which admit of being tho-
roughly boiled, with the addition of some nitre. They will
be all the safer if they are boiled with some meat or the stalks
of pears : it is a very good plan, too, to eat pears directly after
tliem. Vinegar, too, being of a nature diametrically opposed
to them, neutralizes^^ their dangerous qualities.
CHA.P. 48. SILPHITJM : SEVEN EEMEDIES.
All these productions owe their origin to rain,^® and by rain
is silphium produced. It originally came from Cyrense, as
already" stated : at the present day, it is mostly imported from
Syria, the produce of which countiy, though better than that
of ]^Iedia, is inferior to the Parthian kind. As already ob-
served,*' the silphium of Cy rente no longer exists. It is of
considerable use in medicine, the leaves of it being employed
to purge the uterus, and as an expellent of the dead foetus ;
for which purposes a decoction of them is made in white
*^ Rheums, or catarrhs. *5 g^e B. xixiv. c. 50.
*^ " Sucinis novaculis." This may possibly mean "knives of amber ;"
and it is not improbable that the use of amber may have been thought a
means of detecting the poisonous qualities of fungi.
*'' This, as Fee remarks, is tlie case. All kinds of fungi, too, it is said,
may be eaten witli impunity, if first boiled in salt water.
'^ In reality, rain only facilitates their developonieut.
*3 In B. xix. c. lo. 50 In B. xix. c. 15.
432 PLimr's natural history. [Book XXII.
aromatic wine, and taken in doses of one acetabulnm, imme-
diately after the bath. The root of it is good for irritations of
the trachea, and is employed topically for extravasated blood ;
but, used as an aliment, it is difficult of digestion, being pro-
ductive of flatulency and eructations : it is injurious, also, to
the urinary secretions. Combined with wine and oil, it is ex-
tremely good for bruises, and, with wax, for the cure of scro-
fulous sores. Eepeated fumigations with the root cause ex-
crescences of the anus to subside.
CHAP. 49. LASER : THIRTY-NHJTE REMEDIES.
Laser, a juice which distils from silphium, as we have al-
ready ^^ stated, and reckoned among the most precious gifts
presented to us by Nature, is made use of in numerous medi-
cinal preparations. Employed by itself, it warms and revives
persons benumbed with cold, and, taken in drink, it alleviates
affections of the sinews. It is given to females in wine, and
is used with soft wool as a pessary to promote the menstrual
discharge. Mixed with wax, it extracts corns on the feet,
after they have been first loosened with the knife : a piece of
it, the size of a chick-pea, melted in water, acts as a diuretic.
Andreas assures us that, taken in considerable doses even, it is
never productive of flatulency, and that it greatly promotes
the digestion, both in aged people and females ; he says, too,
that it is better used in winter than in summer, and that even
then, it is best suited for those whose beverage is water : but
due care must be taken that there is no internal ulceration.
Taken with the food, it is very refreshing for patients just re-
covering froDi an illness ; indeed, if it is used at the proper
time, it has all the virtues of a desiccatory," though it is more
wholesome for persons who are in the habit of using it than
for those who do not ordinarily employ it.
As to external maladies, the undoubted virtues of this medi-
cament are universally acknowledged : taken in drink, it has
" In B. xix. c. 15. Asafoetida, Fee says, if it bears any relation to the
laser of the ancients, had till very recently the reputation of being an em-
menagogue, a hydragogue, a vermifuge, and a purgative. Applied topi-
cally, too, it is emollient, and is used for the cure of corns and tumours.
"Whatever Laser may have been, there is little doubt that much that is here
stated by Pliny is either fabulous or erroneous.
*2 "Cauterium." *
Chap. 49.] LASEii. , 433
the effect, also, of neutralizing the venom of serpents and of
poisoned weapons, and, applied with ^Yater, it is in general use
for the cure of wounds. In combination with oil, it is only
used as a liniment for the stings of scorpions, and with barley-
meal or drie-d figs, for the cure of ulcers that have not come to
a l^ead. It is applied topically, also, to carbuncles, with ru(3
or honey, or else by itself, with some viscous substance to
make it adhere; for the bites of dogs, also, it is similarly em-
ployed. A decoction of it in vinegar, Avith pomegranate rind,
is used for excrescences^^ of the fundament, and, mixed witli
nitre, for the corns commonly kn©wn as " morticini."''^' In
cases of alopecy which have been first treated with nitre, it
makes the liair grow again, applied with wine and saiFron, or
else pepper or mouse-dung and vinegar. For chilblains, fo-
mentations are made of it with wine, or liniments with oil ;
as also for callosities and indurations. Tor corns on the feet,
if pared first, it is particularly useful, as also as a preservative
against the effects of bad water, and of unhealthy climates or
weather. It is prescribed for cough, too, afiections of the
uvula, jaundice of long standing, dropsy, and hoarseness, having
the effect of instantly clearing the throat and restoring the
voice. Diluted in oxycrate, and applied with a sponge, it
assuages the pains in gout.
It is given also in broth ^ to patients suffering from pleurisy,
when about to take wine ; and it is prescribed fur convulsions
and opisthotony, in pills about as large as a chick-pea, coated
with wax. For quinsy, it is used as a gargle, and to patients
troubled with asthma or inveterate cough, it is given with
leeks in vinegar; it is prescribed, also, Avith vinegar, after
drinking butter-milk.^^ It is recommended with wine for con-
sum[)tive affections of the viscera and epilepsy, and with hy-
dromel for paralysis of the tongue ; with a decoction of hone}',
it forms a liniment for sciatica and lumbago.
For my own part, I should not recommend,^' what some
authors advise, to insert a pill of laser, covered with wax, in
a hollow tooth, for tooth-ache ; being warned to the contrary
^3 What Pliny here says of Laser, Dioscorides, 13. iii. c. 9^, sa^s of the
root of Silphium. a* "Dead" corns.
== Or pottage — " In sorbitione."
^^ Probably to prevent it turning sour on the stomach.
5' Lioscorides, liowever, gives this advice, li. iii. c. 94.
TOL. IV. r r
434 PLINl's KATtJllA.L HISTOilT. [Book XXII.
by a remarkable case of a man, who, after doing so, threw
himself headlong from the top of a house. Besides, it is a
well-known fact, that if it is rubbed on the muzzle of a bull, it
irritates him to an extraordinary degree ; and that if it is mixed
with wine, it will cause serpents to burst — those reptiles being
extremely fond of wane. In addition to this, I should not
advise any one to rub the gums mth Attic honey, although
that practice is recommended by some.
It would be an endless task to enumerate all the uses to
which laser is put, in combination with other substances ; and
the more so, as it is only our object to treat of simple reme-
dies, it being these in which Nature displays her resources.
In the compound remedies, too, we often find our judgment
deceived, and quite at fault, from our comparative inattention
to the sympathy or antipathy which naturally exists between
the ingredients employed — on this subject, however, we shall
have to enlarge on a future occasion.^^
50, (24.) — PEOPOLis: five remedies.
Honey would be held in no less esteem than laser, were it
not for the fact that nearly every country produces it.^^ Laser
is the production of Nature herself; but, for the formation of
honey, she has created an insect, as already described. *^°
The uses to which honey is put are quite innumerable, if we
only consider the vast number of compositions in which it
forms an ingredient. First of all, there is the propolis,^^
which we find in the hives, as already^' mentioned. This
substance has the property of extracting stings and all foreign
bodies from the flesh, dispersing tumours, ripening indurations,
allaying pains of the sinews, and cicatrizing ulcers of the most
obstinate nature.
As to hotiey itself, it is of so peculiar a nature, that it pre-
vents putrefaction^' from supervening, by reason of its sweet-
58 In c. 56 of this Book.
59 It is this, in fact, combined with its utility, that ought to cause it to
be so highly esteemed.
^^ In B. xi. c. 4, et seq. ^^ Bee-bread, or bee-glue.
63 In B. xi. c, 6. It is a vegetable substance, Fee says, not elaborated
by the bees. It is still employed in medicine, he says, for resolutive
fumigations.
63 The Babylonians employed it for the purpose of embulming.
Chap. 51.] INFLUENCES OF DIFFEEENT ALIMENTS. 435
ness solely, and not any inherent acridity, its natural proper-
ties being altogether different from those of salt. It is
employed with the greatest success for affections®^ of the throat
and tonsils, for quinsy and all ailments of the mouth, as also
in fever, when the tongue is parched. Decoctions of it are
used also for peripneumony and pleurisy, for wounds inflicted
by serpents, and for the poison of fungi. For paralysis, it is
prescribed in honied wine, though that liquor also has its own
peculiar virtues. Honey is used with rose-oil, as an injection
for the ears ; it has the effect also of exterminating nits and
foul vermin of the head. It is the best plan always to skim
it before using it.
Still, however, honey has a tendency to inflate^ the stomach ;
it increases the bilious secretions also, produces qualmishness,
and, according to some, if employed by itself, is injurious^® to
the sight : though, on the other hand, there are persons who
recommend ulcerations at the corners of the eyes to be touched
with honey.
As to the elementary principles of honey, the different
varieties of it, the countries where it is found, and its charac-
teristic features, we have enlarged upon them on previous
occasions : first, ®^ when treating of the nature of bees, and
secondly, when speaking®^ of that of flowers; the plan of this
work compelling us to separate subjects which ought properly
to be united, if we would arrive at a thorough knowledge of
the operations of Nature.
CHAP. 51. THE VAEIOUS INFLUENCES OF DIFFEEENT ALIMENTS
UPON THE DISPOSITION.
While speaking of the uses of honey, we ought also to treat
of the properties of hydromel.®^ There are two kinds of hy-
dromel, one of which is prepared at the moment, and taken
while fresh, ^° the other being kept to ripen. The first,
^* It is of an emollient nature, and is preferred to sugar for sweetening
liquids, in a multitude of instances,
^^ Fee denies this ;_but there is no doubt that honey has this tendency
with some persons.
66 Fee says that this is not the case.
6' In B. xi. c. 13. 6s In B. xxi. c. 44.
69 " Aqua mulsa." See B. xiv. c. 20, where it is described as Hydro-
meli, or Melicraton.
"° Fee says that this must have been a wholesome beverage, but that it
F F 2
436 pliisT"s i^atural htstoey. [Book XXII.
which is made of skimmed honey, is an extremely whole-
some beverage for invalids who take nothing but a light diet,
such as strained alica for instance : it reinvigorates the body,
is soothing to the mouth and stomach, and by its refreshing
properties allays feverish heats. I find it stated,'^ too, by
some authors, that to relax thc/bowels it should be taken cold,
and that it is particularly well-suited for persons of a chilly
temperament, or of a weak and pusillanimous'^- constitution,
such as the Greeks, for instance, call " micropsychi/'
For there is a theory,'''^ remarkable for its extreme ingenuity,
first established by Plato, according to which the primary atoms
of bodies, as they happen to be smooth or rough, angular or
round, are more or less adapted to the various temperaments
of individuals : and hence it is, that the same substances are
not universally sweet or bitter to all. So, when afi'ected with
lassitude or thirst, we are more prone to anger than art other
times. '^* These asperities, however, of the disposition, or rather
I should say of the mind,'^ are capable of being modified by
the sweeter beverages ; as they tend to lubricate the passages
for the respiration, and to mollify the channels, the work of
inhalation and exhalation being thereby unimpeded by any
rigidities. Every person must be sensible of this experiment-
ally, in his own case : there is no one in whom anger, afflic-
tion, sadness, and all the emotions of the mind may not, in
some degree, be modified by diet. It will therefore be worth
our while to observe what aliments they are which exercise a
physical eff'ect, not only upon the body, but the disposition
as well.
CHAP. 52. UYDEOArEL : EIGFTEEIs^ EEMEDIES.
V
Hydromel is recommended, too, as very good for a cough :
■n'ould cease to be so after undiergoing fermentation. Ih the description
of its uses there are some errors, Fee says, combined with some rational
observations.
"' See B. xviii. c. 29; also c. 61 of this Book.
'- This seems to be the meaning of "praeparci" here, though it gene-
rally signifies " niggardly," or " sordid."
■^3 Fee combats this theory at considerable length ; but there can. be
little doubt that the same substance has not the same taste to all indi-
viduals.
'^ Seneca makes a similar observation, De Ira, B. iii. c. 10.
"'^ " Animi sen potius anima:."
Chap. 53.] EC^iTIED WI>^£. 437
taken warm, it promotes vomiting. AVitli the addition of oil
it counteracts the poison of white lead ; "^ of henbane, also,
and of the halicaeabum, as already stated,'^ if taken in milk,
asses' milk in particular. It is used as an injection for dis-
eases of the ears, and in cases of fistula of the generative
organs. AVith crumb of bread it is applied as a poultice to
the uterus, as also to tumours suddenly formed, sprains, and
all affections which require soothing aj)plications. The more
recent writers have condemned the use of fermented hydro-
mel, as being not so harmless as water, and less strengthening
than wine. After it has been kept a considerable time, it
becomes transformed into a wine,'® which, it is universally
agreed, is extremely prejudicial to the stomach, and injurious
to the nerves."^^
CHAP. 53. HONIED WINE*. SIX REMEDIES.
As to honied ^° wine, that is always the best which has been
made with old wine : honey, too, incorporates with it very
readily, which is never the case with sweet^^ wine. When
made with astringent wine, it does not clog the stomach, nor
has it that effect when the honey has been boiled : in this last
case, too, it causes less flatulency, an inconvenience generally
incidental to this beverage. It acts as a stimulant alsj upon
a failing appetite ; taken cold it relaxes the bowels, but used
warm it acts astringently, in most cases, at least. It has a
tendency also to make flesh. Many persons have attained an
extreme old age, by taking bread soaked in honied wine, and
no other diet — the famous instance of PoUio Romilius, for ex-
ample. This man was more than one hundred years old when
the late Emperor Augustus, who was then his host,^- asked
"8 It is the oil, Fee says, and not the hydromel, that combats the effects
of the white lead, a subcarbonate of lead.
'" In B. xxi. c. 105. "^^ Mead, or raetheglin.
'9 This is, perhaps, the meaning of " nervis" here, but it is very doubt-
ful. See Kote S in p. 77 of Vol. III.
«o "Mulsum."
SI *' Dulci." Fee thinks, but erroneously, that by this word he means
"must," er grape-juico, and ccmbats the assertion. Honied wine, he
says, is used at the present day (in France, of course,) as a popular cure
for recent wounds and inveterate ulcers. As a beverage, it was very highly
esteemed by the ancients. See B. vii. c. 54.
«- "Hospos." It may possibly mean his "guest," but the other is
more probable.
438 puny's natural history. [Book XXII.
Lim by what means in particular he had retained such remark-
able vigour of mind and body. — ''Honied wine within, oil
without," ^^ was his answer. According to Varro, the jaun-
dice has the name of " royal disease"®^ given to it, because its
cure is effected with honied wine.®*
CHAP. 54. 3IELITITES I THREE REMEDIES.
"We have already described how melitites®^ is prepared, of
must and honey, when speaking on the subject of wines. It
is, I think, some ages, however, since this kind of beverage
was made, so extremely productive as it was found to be of
flatulency. It used, however, to be given in fever, to relieve
inveterate costiveness of the bowels, as also for gout and affec-
tions of the sinews. It was prescribed also for females who
were not in the habit of taking wine.
CHAP. 55. WAX : EIGHT REMEDIES.
To an account of honey, that of wax is naturally appended,
of the origin, qualities, and different kinds of which, we have
previously made mention®' on the appropriate occasions.
Every kind of wax is emollient and warming, and tends to
the formation of new flesh ; fresh wax is, however, the best.
It is given in broth to persons troubled with dysenter)'-, and
the combs themselves are sometimes used in a pottage made of
parched alica. Wax counteracts the bad effects®® of milk ;
and ten pills of wax, the size of a grain of millet, will pre-
vent milk from coagulating in the stomach. Tor swellings in
the groin, it is found beneficial to apply a plaster of white wax
to the pubes.
^ " Intus mulso, foris oleo." The people of Corsica were famous for
being long-lived, which was attributed to their extensive use of honey.
ti « Regius morbus."
^ Honied wine being considered so noble a beverage, Celsus says, that
" during its cure, the patient must be kept to his chamber, and the mind
must be kept cheerful, with gaiety and pastimes, for which reason it is
called the ' royal disease,' " B. iii. c. 24. In the text Pliny calls it " arqua-
torum morbus." the " disease of the bow-like," if we may be allowed the
term. The origin of this term, according to Scribonius Largus, is the word
" arcus," the rainbow, from a fancied resemblance of the colour of the
skin, when affected with jaundice, to the green tints of the rainbow.
86 In B. xiv. c. 11. 87 In B. xi. c. 8, and B. xxi. c. 49.
^ "When it curdles on the stomach.
Chap. 56.] MEDTCIJfAL COMPOS1TIO^^S. 439
CHAP. 56. EEMAEKS IN DlS^AKAGEME^"r OF MEDICINAL
COMPOSITIONS.
As to the different uses to which wax is applied, in combi-
nation with other substances in medicine, we could no more
make an enumeration of them than we could of all the other
ingredients which form part of our medicinal compositions.
These preparations, as we have already^^ observed, are the re-
sults of human invention. Cerates, poultices, ^^* plasters, eye-
salves, antidotes, — none of these have been formed by Nature,
that parent and divine framer of the universe ; they are merely
the inventions of the laboratory, or rather, to say the truth,
of human avarice.^*' The works of Nature are brought into
existence complete and perfect in every respect, her ingre-
dients being but few in number, selected as they are from a
due appreciation of cause and effect, and not from mere guess-
work ; thus, for instance, if a dry substance is wanted to as-
sume a liquefied form, a liquid, of course, must be employed as
a vehicle, while liquids, on the other hand, must be united with
a dry substance to render them consistent. But as for man,
when he pretends, with balance in^^ hand, to unite and com-
bine the various elementary substances, he employs himself
not merely upon guesswork, but proves himself guilty of down-
right impudence.
It is not my intention to touch upon the medicaments af-
forded by the drugs of India, or Arabia and other foreign
climates : I have no liking for drugs that come from so great a
distance f' they are not produced for us, no, nor yet for the
natives of those countries, or else they would not be so ready
to sell them to us. Let people buy them if they please, as
ingredients in perfumes, unguents, and other appliances of
luxury ; let them buy them as adjuncts to their superstitions
even, if incense and costus we must have to propitiate the
gods; but as to health, we can enjoy that blessing without
^ In c. 49 of this Book. ^^* " Malagmata."
^ Fee, at some length, and with considerable justice, combats this
assertion ; though at the same time he remarks tliat Pliny is right in call-
ing the attention of the medical world to the use of simple substances.
yi " Scripulatim " — " By scruples."
92 He forgets that many of them could only be produced by the agency
of an Eastern sun.
440 punt's natuiial nrsxORT. [Book XXII.
their assistance, as we can easily prove — tlie greater reason
then has luxury to blush at its excesses.
CHAP. 57. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM GRAIN. SILIGO : ONE RE-
MEDY. WHEAT : ONE REMEDY. CHAEE : TWO R"EMEDIES. SPELT :
ONE REMEDY. BRAN : ONE REMEDY. OLYRA, OR ARINCA : TWO
REMEDIES.
Having now described the remedies derived from flowers, both
those which enter into the composition of garlands, and the
ordinary' garden ones, as well as from the vegetable productions,
how could we possibly omit those which are derived from the
cereals ?
(25.) It will be only proper then, to make some mention of
these as well. In the first place, however, let us remark that
it is a fact universally acknowledged, that it is the most intel-
ligent of the animated beings that derive their subsistence
from grain. The grain of siligo^^ highly roasted and pounded
in Aminean^^ wine, applied to the eyes, heals defluxions of
those organs f^ and the grain of wheat, parched on a plate of
iron, is an instantaneous remedy for frost-bite in various parts
of the body. Wheat-meal, boiled in vinegar, is good for con-
tractions of the sinews, and bran,^^ mixed with rose-oil, dried
figs, and myxa^^ plums boiled down together, forms an excel-
lent gargle^* for the tonsillary glands and throat.
Sextus Pomponius, who had a son praetor, and who was
himself the first citizen of I^earer Spain, was on one occasion
attacked with gout, while superintending the Avinnowing in
his granaries ; upon which, he immediately thrust his legs,
to above the knees, in a heap of wheat. He found himself re-
lieved, the swelling in the legs subsided in a most surprising
degree, and from that time he always employed this remedy :
indeed, the action of grain in masses is so extremely powerful
as to cause the entire evaporation of the liquor in a cask. Men of
experience in these matters recommend warm chaff of Avheat
or barley, as an application for hernia, and fomentations with
93 See B. xviii. c. 20. oi See B. xiv. c. 5.
sa Fee says that it can have no such effect.
86 The bran of wheat. Fee says, is of a soothing nature, and that of
barley slightly astringent.
y' See li. XV. c. 12, and B. xvii. c. 14.
98 Tlie only truth iu this statement, Fee says, is, that wheat bran makes
a good gargie.
Chap. 58.] TAKIOUS KINDS OF MEAL. 441
the water in which it has been boiled. In the grain
known^^ as spelt, there is a small worm found, similar in ap-
pearance to the teredo :^ if this is put with wax into the hol-
low of carious teeth, they will come out, it is said, or, indeed,
if the teeth are only rubbed with it. Another name given
to olyra, as already^* mentioned, is ** arinca :" with a decoc-
tion of it a medicament is made, known in Egypt as ^'athera,"
and extremely good for infants. For adult persons it is em-
ployed in the form of a liniment.
CHAP. 58. THE YAEIOUS KINDS OF MEAL: TWE5fTY-EIGIIT
liEilEDIES.
Earley--meal, raw or boiled, disperses, softens, or ripens ga-
therings and inflammatory tumours ; and for other purposes
a decoction of it is made in hydromel, or with dried figs. If
required for pains in the liver, it must be boiled with oxycrate
in wine. When it is a matter of doubt whether an abscess
should be made to suppurate or be dispersed, it is a better
plan to boil the meal in vinegar, or lees of vinegar, or else
with a decoction of quinces or pears. For the bite of the
millepede,^ it is emploj-ed with honey, and for the stings of
serpents, and to j^revent suppurations, with vinegar. To pro-
mote suppuration, it should be used with oxycrate, with the
addition of Gallic resin. For gatherings, also, that have come
to a head, and ulcers of long standing, it must be employed
in combination with resin, and for indurations, with pigeons'
dung, dried figs, or ashes. For inflammation of the tendons,
or of the intestines and sides, or for pains in the male organs and
denudations of the bones, it is used with poppies, or melilote ;
and for scrofulous sores, it is used with pitch and oil, mixed
with the urine of a youth who has not reached the years of pu-
berty. It is employed also with fenugreek for tumours of
the thoracic organs, and in fevers, with honey, or stale grease.
For suppurations, however, wheat-meal is much more sooth-
99 See B. xviii. c. 19.
1 See B. xvi. c. 80. This insect, or weevil, Fee says, is the Calandra
granaria. It strongly resembles the Avorm or maggot found in nuts, it
can be of no efficacv whatever for the removal of carious tcetli.
i* In B. xviii. c."20. 2 s^e B. xviii. c. 13.
^ Or multipede. For these purposes, an Fee says, it is of no use
Vi^hatcver.
442 plint's KATUEAL niStOHT. [Look XXII,
ing ;^ it is applied topically also for afFections of the sinews,
mixed with the juice of henbane, and for the cure of freckles,
with vinegar and honey. The meal of zea,^ from which, as
already^ stated, an alica is made, appears to be more efficacious
than that of barley even ; but that of the three month'' kind
is the most emollient. It is applied warm, in red wine, to
the stings of scorpions, as also for affections of the trachea,
and spitting of blood : for coughs, it is employed in combina-
tion with goat suet or butter.
The meal of fenugreek,^ however, is the most soothing of
them all : boiled with wine and nitre, it heals running ulcers,
eruptions on the body, and diseases of the feet and mamillae.
The meal of sera^ is more detergent than the other kinds, for
inveterate ulcers and gangrenes : in combination with rad-
ishes, salt, and vinegar, it heals lichens, and with virgin sul-
phur, leprosy : for head-ache, it is applied to the forehead
with goose-grease. Boiled in wine, with pigeons* dung and
linseed, it ripens inflamed tumours and scrofulous sores.
CHAP. 59. — polenta: eight kemedies.
Of the various kinds of polenta we have already treated
sufficiently'" at length, when speaking of the places where it
is made. It differs from barley meal, in being parched, a pro-
cess which renders it more w^holesome for the stomach. It
arrests looseness of the bowels, and heals inflammatory erup-
tions ; and it is employed as a liniment for the eyes, and for
head-ache, combined with mint or some other refreshing herb.
It is used in a similar manner also for chilblains and wounds
inflicted by serpents ; and with wine, for burns. It has the
effect also of checking pustular eruptions.
CHAP. 60. FINE FLOUR ! FIVE EEilEDIES. PULS : ONE REMEDY.
MEAL USED FOR PASTING PAPYRUS I ONE REMEDY.
The flour^^ of bolted meal, kneaded into a paste, has the
^ It is no better, Fee says, than rye or barley-meal.
5 See B. xviii. cc. 19, 29. e ^^ ^ xviii. c. 29.
' " Trimestris." See B. xviii. c. 12.
« r6e remarks, that this meal is still valued for its maturative pro-
perties. ^ Hair-grass, probably, or darnel. See B. xviii. c. 44.
10 In B. xviii. c. 14. Injections of meal are still employed. Fee says,
for diarrhoea.
11 The flour of the grain called " far," Fee thinks. Seo B. xviii. c. 10.
Chap. 61.] AMCA. 443
property of drawing^^ out the humours of the body : hence it
is applied to bruises gorged with blood, to extract the corrupt
matter, even to soaking the bandages^^ employed : used with
boiled must, it is still more efficacious. It is used as an ap-
plication also for callosities of the feet and corns ; boiled with
old oil and pitch, and applied as hot as possible, it cures con-
dylomata and all other maladies of the fundament in a most
surprising manner. Puls^^ is a very feeding diet. The meaP'
used for pasting the sheets of papyrus is given warm to pa-
tients for spitting of blood, and is found to be an eftectual
cure.
CHAP, 61. — alica: six bemedies.
Alica is quite a Koman invention, and not a very ancient
one : for otherwise^^ the Greeks would never have written in
such high terms of the praises of ptisan in preference. I do
not think that it was yet in use in the days of Pompeius
Magnus, a circumstance which will explain why hardly any
mention has been made of it in the works of the school of
Asclepiades. That it is a most excellent preparation no one
can have a doubt, whether it is used strained in hydromel, or
whether it is boiled and taken in the form of broth or puis. To
arrest flux of the bowels, it is first parched and then boiled
with honeycomb, as already mentioned i^"^ but it is more par-
ticularly useful when there is a tendency to phthisis after a
long iUness, the proper proportions being three cyathi of it to
one sextarius of water. This mixture is boiled tiU all the
water has gone off by evaporation, after which one sextarius
of sheep' or goats' milk is added : it is then taken by the
patient daily, and after a time some honey is added. By this
kind of nutriment a deep decline may be cured.
^- This statement is probably founded upon the notion that corn has
the property of attracting liquids, even when enclosed in vessels.
^^ A paste of this kind, if applied to a recent wound, would have the
effect of preventing cicatrization, and giving free access to the flow of
blood. 14 See B. xviii, c. 19.
15 Or " flour." See B. xiii. c. 26.
1^ Fee remarks, that the Greeks tvere acquainted with alica, to which
they gave the name of xovdpog ; indeed, Galen expressly states that it was
well known in the days of Hippocrates, who says that it rs more nourish-
ing than ptisan. Festus says that alica is so called, " quod alit," because
it nourishes the body. — See B. xviii. c. 29.
" In c. 55 of this Book.
444 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXII.
CHAP. 62. — millet: six hemedies.
Millet'^ arrests looseness of the bowels and dispels gripings
of the stomach, for which purposes it is first parched. Por
pains in the sinews, and of various other descriptions, it is
applied hot, in a bag, to the part affected. Indeed, there is
no better topical application known, as it is extremel)^ light
and emollient, and retains heat for a very long time : hence it
is that it is so much employed in all those cases in which the
application of heat is necessary. The meal of it, mixed with
tar, is applied to wounds inflicted by serpents and millepedes.
CHAP. 63. — PANIC : rouR remedies.
Diodes, the phj'sician, has given to panic^^ the name of
" honey of corn."*° It has the same properties as millet, and,
taken in wine, it is good for dysentery. In a similar manner,
too, it is applied to such parts of the body as require to be
treated with heat. Boiled in goats'-milk, and taken twice
a-day, it arrests looseness of the bowels ; and, used in a similar
manner, it is very good for gripings of the stomach.
CHAP. 64. SESAME ! SEVEN P.EMRDIES. SESAMOIDES I THREE
EEMEDIES. ANTICVRICUM : THREE liEMEDIES.
Sesame,-^ pounded and taken in wine, arrests vomiting : it
is applied also topically to inflammations of the ears, and burns.
It has a similar effect even while in the blade ; and in that
state, a decoction of it in wine is used as a liniment for the
eyes. As an aliment it is injurious to the stomach, and im-
parts a bad odour to the breath. It is an antidote to the bite
of the spotted lizard, and heals the cancerous sore known as
*' cacoethes."^^ The oil made from it, as already^^ mentioned, is
good for the ears.
Sesamo'ides^^ owes its name to its resemblance to sesame ;
IS See B. xviii. c. 24.
19 See B xviii. c. 25. 20 u^i^^i fnirrnm."
21 See E, xviii. c. 22. It is still used in medicine in Egypt, and as a
cosmetic.
22 Or " bad habit."
2^ In B. XV. c. 7. See also B. xxiii. c. 49. Fee thinks it not unlikely
that oil of sesame might have this effect. The people of Egypt still look
upon this grain as an antophtbahnic, but, as lee says, without any good
reason.
2* "Like sesame."
Chap. 5,i.] BARLEi'. 445
the grain"^ of it, however, is bitter, and the leaf more dimi-
nutive : it is found growing in sandy soils. Taken in water,
it carries off bile, and, with the seed, a liniment is made for
er3-sipelas : it disperses inflamed swellings also. Besides this,
there is another^® sesamoides, which grows at Anticyra, and,
for that reason, is known by some as '' anticyricon." In
other respects, it is similar to the plant erigeron, of which we
shall have to speak-^ on a future occasion; but the seed of it
is like that of sesame. It is given in sweet wine as an eva-
cuant, in doses of a pinch in three fingers, mixed with an
obolus and a half of white hellebore ; this .preparation being-
employed principally as a purgative, in cases of insanity, me-
lancholy, epilepsy, and gout. Taken alone, in doses of one
drachma, it purges by stool.
CHAP. 65. BAKLEY : ITINE REMEDIES. MOTJSE-BAKLET, BY 1>HE
GREEKS CALLED PHCE^flCE : ONE REMEDY.
The whitest barley is the best. Boiled^^ in rain-water, the
pulp of it is divided into lozenges, which are used in injec-
tions for ulcerations of tlie intestines and the uterus. The
ashes of barley are applied to burns, to bones da*uded of the
flesh, to purulent eruptions, and to the bite of the shrew-
mouse : sprinkled with, salt and honey they impart whiteness
to the teeth, and sweetness to the breath. It is alleged that
persons who are in the habit of eating barley-bread are never
troubled with gout in the feet : they say, too, that if a person
takes nine grains of barley, and traces three times round a
boil, with each of them in the left hand, and then throws
them all into the fire, he will exiperience an immediate cure.
There is another plant, too, known as "phoenice" by the
25 Sprengel has identified this plant, the '* smaller" Sesamoides of Dios-
eorides, with the Astragalus sesameus of Linnaeus, or tlse with tlie Reseda
canescens. Other naturalists have mentioned the Catanauche caeruLa of
Linnaeus, the Passerina hirsuta of Linnasus, and the Passerina polvgalte-
ofolia of Lapeyrouse. Fee is of opinion that it has not been identified.
28 Altogethe'r a different plant; Sprengel identifies it with the Paseda
Iklediterranca, but Fee dissents from that opinion, and is inclined to agree
with the opinion of Dalechamps, that it is the Daplme Tartonraira of Liu-
naens, which is a strong pargative.
'-^7 In B. XXV c. 106.
28 Fee remarks that this Chapter includes a number of gross prejudices
which it is not worth while to examine or contradict.
446 PLINY's NATURJlL HISTOUT. [Book XXII.
Greeks, and as " mouse-barley"^^ by us : pounded and taken
in wine, it acts remarkably well as an emmenagogue.
CHAP. 66. PTISAN" : FOrR REMEDIES.
To ptisan,^ whi^h is a preparation of barley, Hippocrates''
has devoted a whole treatise ; praises, however, which at the
present day are all transferred to " alica," being, as it is, a
much more wholesome preparation. Hippocrates, however,
recommends it as a pottage, for the comparative ease with
which, from its lubricous nature, it is swallowed ; as also, be-
cause it allays thirst, never swells in the stomach, passes easily
through the intestines, and is the only food that admits of
being given twice a-day in fever, at least to patients who are
in the habit of taking two meals — so opposed is his method
to that of those physicians who are for famishing their pa-
tients. He forbids it to be given, however, without being
first strained ; for no part, he says, of the ptisan, except the
water, ^- should be used. He says, too, that it must never be
taken while the feet are cold, and, indeed, that no drink of
any kind should be taken then. With wheat a more viscous
kind of ptisan is made, which is found to be still more effica-
cious for ulcerations of the trachea.
CHAP. 67. AMTLTJM I EIGHT REMEDIES. OATS : OlfE REMEDY.
Amylum^^ weakens the eyesight,^* and is bad for the throat,
whatever opinions may be held to the contrary. It has the
effect also of arresting looseness of the bowels, and curing de-
fluxions and ulcerations of the eyes, as also pustules and con-
gestions of the blood. It molMes indurations of the eyelids,
and is given with egg to persons when they vomit blood. For
pains of the bladder, half an ounce of it is prescribed with an
egg, and as much raisin wine as three egg-shells will hold,
the mixture to be made lukewarm and taken immediately
after the bath. Oatmeal, boiled in vinegar, removes moles.
-9 "Hordeum murinum." Anguillara, Matthioli, and Sprengelidentify
it with the Lolium perenno of Linna3us ; but, as Fee says, it is clear tliat
Pliuy had in view the modern Hordeum murinum, mouse-barley.
"•^ See B. xviii. c. 15.
31 At the present day, as Fee says, oatmeal is preferred to barley-meal.
2'^ Being our "barley-water," in fact.
as Our " starch" probably. See B. xviii. c. 17.
3* A prejudice, Fee says, which is totally without foundation.
Chap. 69.] BEANS. 447
CHAP. 68. BREAD : TWENTY-ONE EEMEDIES.
Bread, ^ too, which forms our ordinary nutriment, possesses
medicinal properties, almost without number. Aj)plied with
water and oil, or else rose-oil, it softens abscesses ; and, with
hydromel, it is remarkably soothing for indurations. It is pre-
scribed with wine to produce delitescence, or when a defluxion
requires to be checked ; or, if additional activity is required,
with vinegar. It is employed also for the morbid defluxions of
rheum, known to the Greeks as '' rheumatismi," and for
bruises and sprains. For all these purposes, however, bread
made with leaven, and known as " autopyrus,"^® is the best.
It is applied also to whitlows, in vinegar, and to callosities of
the feet. Stale bread, or sailors'-bread,^'' beaten up and baked
again, arrests looseness of the bowels. For persons who wish to
improve the voice, dry bread is very good, taken fasting ; it
is useful also as a preservative against catarrhs. The bread
called " sitanius," and which is made of three-month^' wheat,
applied with honey, is a very efficient cure for contusions of
the face and scaly eruptions. White bread, steeped in hot or
cold water, furnishes a very light and wholesome aliment for
patients. Soaked in wine, it is applied as a poultice for
swellings of the eyes, and used in a similar manner, or with
the addition of dried myrtle, it is good for pustules on the
head. Persons troubled with palsy are recommended to take
bread soaked in water, fasting, immediately after the bath.
Burnt bread modifies the close smell of bedrooms, and, used
in the strainers,"^ it neutralizes bad odours in wine.
CHAP. 69. BEANS : SIXTEEN ILEMEDIES.
Beans,'" too, furnish us with some remedies. Parched whole,
and thrown hot into strong vinegar, they are a cure for grip-
25 Bread, as made at the present day, is but Httle used in modern medi-
cine, beyond being tlie basis of many kinds of poultices. A decoction of
bread with laudanum, is kno\vn in medicine, Fee says, as the "white
decoction."
36 " Unseparated from the bran."
2' Probably like the military bread, made of the coarsest meal, and un-
formented.
3s See B. xviii. c. 12. 39 "Saccos." See B. xiv. c. 28.
*^ Sie B. xviii. c. 30. Bean meal is but little used in modern medicine,
but most that Pliny here says is probably well founded ; with the exception,
however, of his statement as to its employment for diseases of the chest.
448 plikt's KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXII.
ings of the bowels. Bruised, and boiled with garlic, they are
taken with the daily food for inveterate coughs, and for sup-
purations of the chest. Chewed by a person fasting, they are
applied topically to ripen boils, or to disperse them; and,
boiled in wine, they are employed for swellings of the testes
and diseases of the genitals. Bean-meal, boiled in vinegar,
ripens tumours and breaks them, and heals contusions and
burns. M. Yarro assures us that beans are very good for the
voice. The ashes of bean stalks and shells, with stale hogs'-
lard, are good for sciatica and inveterate pains of the sinews.
The husks, too, boiled down, by themselves, to one -third,
arrest looseness of the bowels.
CHAP. 70. LENTILS I SEVENTEEN EEilEDIES.
Those lentils*- are the best which boil the most easily, and
those in particular which absorb the most water. They injure
the eye-sight,"*'-^ no doubt, and inflate the stomach ; but taken
with the food, they act astringently upon the bowels, miore
particularly if they are thoroughly boiled in rain-water : if,
on the other hand, they arc lightly boiled, they are laxative.*^
They break purulent ulcers, and they cleanse and cicatrize
ulcerations of the mouth. Applied topicall}^ they allay all
kinds of abscesses, when ulcerated and chapped more parti-
cularly ; with melilote or quinces they are applied to defluxions
of the eyes, and with polenta they are employed topically for
suppurations. A decoction of them is used for ulcerations of
the mouth and genitals, and, with rose-oil or quinces, for
diseases of the fundament. For affections which demand a
more active remedy, they are used with pomegranate rind,
and the addition of a little honey ; to prevent the composition
from drying too quickly, beet leaves are added. They are ap-
plied topically, also, to scrofulous sores, and to tumours, whether
ripe or only coming to a head, being thoroughly boiled first
in vinegar. Mixed witli hydromel they are employed for the
cure of chaps, and with pomegranate rind for gangrenes.
With polenta they are used for gout, for diseases of the
uterus and kidneys, for chilblains, and for ulcerations which
^^ Most of the properties here ascribed to the lentil, Fee says, are quite
ilhisory.
*- This, Fee remarks, is not the fact.
** This statement, Fee thinks, is probably conformable v>^ith truth.
Chap. 71.] THE ELELISPHACOS. 449
cicatrize with difficulty. For a disordered stomach, tliirty
grains should be eaten.
For cholera," however, and dysentery, it is the best plan to
boil the lentils in three waters, in which case they should
always be parched first, and tben pounded as fine as possible,
either by themselves, or else with quinces, pears, myrtle, wild
endive, black beet, or plantago. Lentils are bad for the
lungs, head-ache, all nervous affections, and bile, and are very
apt to cause restlessness at night. They are useful, however,
for pustules, erysipelas, and affections of the mamillse, boiled
in sea-water; and, applied with vinegar, they disperse indura-
tions and scrofulous sores. As a stomachic, they are mixed,
like polenta, with the drink given to patients. Parboiled in
water, and then pounded and bolted through a sieve to disen-
gage the bran, they are good for burns, care being taken to
add a little honey as they heal : they are boiled, also, with
oxycrate for diseases of tlie throat."*^
There is a marsh-lentil**^ also, which grows spontaneously
in stagnant waters. It is of a cooling nature, for which rea-
son it is emplo)^ed topically for abscesses, and for gout in par-
ticular, either by itself or with polenta. Its glutinous pro-
perties render it a good medicine for intestinal hernia.
CEAP. 71. THE ELELISPHACOS, SPHACOS, OE SALVIA '. THIKTEEN
KEMEDIES.
The plant called by the Greeks " elelisphacos,''*' or " spha-
cos," is a species of wild lentil, lighter than the cultivated one,
and with a leaf, smaller, drier, and more odoriferous. There
is also another *^ kind of it, of a wilder nature, and possessed
" Fee remarks, that we must not confound the cholera of the ancients
with the Indian cholera, our cholera morbus. Celsus describes the cholera
■with great exactness, B. iv. c. 11.
*5 They would be of no benefit, Fee thinks, in such a case.
*" It bears no relation whatever to the lentil, not being a legumiuo;i.'?
plant. Fee would include under this liead the Lemna minor, the Lemna
gibba, and the Lemna polyrrhiza of modern botany, all being found to-
gether in the same stagnant water.
*' Fee remarks, that Pliny is clearly speaking of two essentially different
plants under this name ; the first, he thinks, may very probably be the
Ervum tetraspermura of Linnaeus.
*s This, Fee thinks, is the Salvia officinalis of Linnaus, our common
sage, which hixa uo affinity whatever wit'n the lentil.
VOL. lY. G a
450 PLINY' S NATUllAL HISTORY. [Book XXII.
of a powerful smell, the other one being milder. It^^ has leaves
the shape of a quince, but white and smaller : they are gene-
rally boiled with the branches. Tliis plant acts as an emme-
nagogue and a diuretic : and it affords a remedy for wounds
inflicted by the sting-ray/^ having the property of benumbing
Ihe part affected. It is taken in drink with wormwood for
dysjmtery : employed with wine it accelerates the catamenia
when retarded, a decoction of it having the effect of arresting
them when in excess : the plant, applied by itself, stanclies
the blood of wounds. It is a cure, too, for the stings of ser-
pents, and a decoction of it in wine allays prurigo of the
testes.
Our herbalists of the present day take for the '' elelisphacos"
of the Greeks tlie "salvia"*^ of the Latins, a plant similar in
appearance to mint, white and aromatic. Applied externally,
it expels the dead foetus, as also worms which breed in ulcers
and in the ears.
CHAP. 72. THE CHICKPEA AND THE CHICHELING VETCH I
TWENTY-THEEE REMEDIES.
There is a wild chickpea also, which resembles in its leaf the
cultivated kind,*^ and has a powerful smell. Taken in con-
siderable quantities, it relaxes the bowels, and produces griping
pains and flatulency ; parched, however, it is looked upon as
more wholesome. The chicheling vetch, ^'^ again, acts more bene-
ficially upon the bowels. The meal of both kinds heals running
sores of the head — that of the wdld sort being the more effica-
cious of the two — as also epilepsy, swellings of the liver, and
stings inflicted by serpents. It acts as an emmenagogue and
a diuretic, used in the grain more particularly, and it is a cure
for lichens, inflammations of the testes, jaundice, and dropsy.
All these kinds, however, exercise an injurious effect upon
ulcerations of the bladder and kidneys : but in combination
with honey they are verj- good for gangrenous sores, and the
cancer known as '* cacoethes." The following is a method
" Sprengel thinks that he is speaking here of the Salvia triloba of
Linnreus.
^ The Trygon pastinnca of Linnjeus.
51 " Sa^e," the phmt, no doubt, tliat lie has been dcscribinfif.
" See B. xviii, c. 32. Fee tliinks tliat the wild cicer is identical with
our cultivated one, the Cicer rietinum.
53 See B. xviii. ec. 26 and 32.
Chap. 73.] THE riTCH. 451
adopted for the cure of all kinds of warts : ou the first day of
the moon, each wart must be touched with a single chick]»ea,
after which, the party must tie up the pease in a linen cloth,
and throw it behind him ; bj' adopting this plan, it is thought,
the warts will be made to disappear.
Our authors recommend the plant known as the "ariotinum"^
to be boiled in water with salt, and two C5'athi of the decoction
to be taken for strangurj-. Employed in a similar manner, it
expels calculi, and cures jaundice. The water in which the
leaves and stalks of this jdant have been boiled, applied as a
fomentation as hot as possible, allaj's gout in the feet, an effect
equally produced by the plant itself, beaten up and applied
warm. A decoction of the columbine^ chickpea, it is thought,
moderates the shivering fits in tertian or quartan fevers ; and
the black kind, beaten up with half a nut-gall, and applied
with raisin wine, is a cure for ulcers of the eyes.
CHAP. 73. THE FITCH : TWENTY KEMEDIES.
In speaking of the fitch, ^ we liave mentioned certain pro-
perties belonging to it; and, indeed, the ancients have at-
tributed to it no fewer virtues than they have to the cabbage.
Eor the stings of serpents, it is employed with vinegar ; as
also for bites inflicted by crocodiles and human beings. If a
person eats of it, fasting, every day, according to authors of
the very highest authority, the spleen will gradually diminish.
The meal of it removes spots on the face and other parts of the
body. It prevents ulcers from spreading also, and is extremely
efficacious for affections of the mamillae : mixed with wine, it
makes carbuncles break. Parched, and taken with a piece of
honey the size of a hazel nut, it cures dysuria, flatulency,
affections of the liver, tenesmus, and that state of the body in
which no nourishment is derived from th«^ food, generally known
as '' atrophy." For cutaneous eruption?, plasters are made of
it boiled with honey, being left to remain four days on the part
aftected. Applied with honey, it prevents inflamed tumours
from suppurating. A decoction of it, employed as a fomenta-
5^ Or " ram's head" cicer; from its fancied resemblance to it : the name
ifi still given to the cultivated plant.
*5 Or "pigeon" cicer. See B. xviii. c. 32. Fee thinks it probable that
this plant may be a variety of tlie Ervum.
'^ In B. xviii. c. 38. The Ervum ervilia of Linnaeus ; it is no long^ir
employed in medicine.
G G 2
452 pli2?y's natural HisTonr. [Book XXII.
tion, cures chilblains and prurigo ; and it is thought by some,
that if it is talven daih*, fasting, it will improve the complexion
of all parts of the body.
Used as an aliment, this jnjlse is far from Avholesome,""^ being
apt to produce vomiting, disorder the bowels, and stuff the
liead and stomach. It weakens the knees also ; but the effects
of it ma}" be modified by keeping it in soak for several days, in
which case it is remarkably beneficial for oxen and beasts of
burden. The pods of it, beaten up green with the stalks and
leaves, before they harden, stain the hair black.
CHAP. 74. — Lrpr^Es: thirtt-ftve eemedies.
There are wild lupines,^ also, inferior in every respect to
the cultivated kinds, except in their bitterness. Of all the
alimentary substances, there are none which are less heavy or
more usefuP^ than dried lupines. Their bitterness is consider-
ably modified by cooking them on hot ashes, or steeping them
in hot water. Employed frequently as an article of food, they
impart freshness to the colour ; the bitter lupine, too, is good for
the sting of the asp. Dried lupines, stripped of the husk and
pounded, are applied in a linen cloth to black ulcers, in which
they make new flesh : boiled in vinegar, they disperse scrofu-
lous sores and imposthumes of the parotid glands. A decoc-
tion of them, with rue and pepper, is given in fever even, as
an expellent of intestinal worms,^" to patients under thirty
years of age. Tor children, also, they are applied to the sto-
mach as a vermifuge, the patient fasting in the meantime ; and,
according to another mode of treatment, they are parched and
taken in boiled must or in honey.
Lupines have the effect of stimulating the appetite, and of
dispelling nausea. The meal of them, kneaded up with vine-
gar, and applied in the bath, removes pimples and prurigo ;
employed alone, it dries up ulcei'ous sores. It cures braises
also, and, used with polenta, allays inflammations. The wild
lupine is found to be the most efficacious for debility of the
*' Fee says that this is the case, and that the use of it is said to produce
a marked debility.
^^ See B. xviii. c, 10.
^3 Fee remarks that it is surprising to find the ancients scttin? so much
value on the lupine, a plant that is bitter and almost nauseous, difficult to ■■
boil, and bad of dit^estion.
w It must be tlie rue, Fee savs, that acts tic the A'ermifuge.
Chap. 75.] THE IRIO. 453
hips and loins. A dfcoction of tliem, used as a fomenta-
tion, removes freckles and improves the skin ; and lupines,
either wild or cultivated, boiled down to the consistency of
honey, are a cure for black eruptions and leprosy. An appli-
cation of cultivated lupines causes carbuncles to break, and re-
duces inflamed tumours and scrofulous sores, or else brings ihem
to a head : boiled in vinegar, they restore the flesh when cica-
trized to its proper colour. Thoroughly boiled in rain-M'ater,
the decoction of them furnishes a detersive medicine, of which
fomentations are made for gangrenes, purulent eruptions, and
running ulcers. This decoction is very good, taken in drink,
for affections of the spleen, and with honey, for retardations of
the catamenia. Beaten up raw, with dried figs, lupines are
applied externally to the spleen. A decoction of the root acts
as a diuretic.
The herb chamaeleon,^^ also, is boiled with lupines, and the
water of it strained oft', to be used as a potion for cattle.
Lupines boiled in amurca,^'* or a decoction of them mixed with
amurca, heals the itch in beasts. The smoke of lupines kills "
gnats.
CHAP. T5. IRIO, OE ERTSlirril. BY THE GAULS CALLED TELA:
FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
'When treating of the cereals, we have already stated " that
the irio, which strongly resembles sesame, is also called " ery-
simon " by the Greeks : the Gauls give it the name of " vela."
It is a branchy plant, with leaves like those of rocket, but a
little narrower, and a seed similar to that of nasturtium. "With
honey, it is extremely good for cough and purulent expectora-
tions : it is given, also, for jaundice and affections of the loins,
pleurisy, gripings of the bowels, and coeliac affections, and is
used in liniments for imposthuiues of the parotid glands and car-
cinomatous affections. Employed with water, or with honey,
it is useful for inflammations of the testes, and is extremely
beneflcial for the diseases of infants. Mixed with honey and
figs, it is good for affections of the fundament and diseases of
«i See c. 24 of this Book. «' Lees of olive oil.
6s This is not the fact.
" In B, xviii. c. 22. Racine, in his letters to Boileau, speaks of a
chorister of Notre Dame, who recovered his voice by the aid of this plant.
454 PLI]S"r'd NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXII.
tlie joints ; and taken in dnnk, it is an excellent antidote to
poisons. It is used, also, for asthma,^ and with stale axle-
j,n*ease for fistulas j but it must not be allowed to touch the
interior of them.
CHAP. 76. nORMINUM I SIX REMEDIES.
Horminum resembles cummin, as already stated,®^ in its
seed; but in other respects, it is like the leek.*^ It grows to
some nine inches in height, and there are two varieties of it.
In one of these the seed is oblong, and darker than that of the
other, and the plant itself is in request as an aphrodisiac, and
for the cure of argema and albugo in the eyas : of the other
kind the seed is whiter, and of a rounder form. Both kinds,
pounded and applied with water, are used for the extraction
of thorns from the body. The leaves, steeped in vinegar, dis-
perse tumours, either used by themselves, or in combination
with honey ; they are employed, also, to disperse boils, before
they have come to a head, and other collections of acrid hu-
CHAP. 77. DARNEL I FIVE REMKDIKS.
Even more than this — the very plants which are the bane of
the corn-tield are not without their medicinal uses. Darnel**
has received from Virgil ^^ the epithet of " unhappy ;" and yet,
ground and boiled with vinegar, it is used as an application for
the cure of impetigo, which is the more speedily effected the
oftener the application is renewed. It is employed, also, with
oxymel, for the cure of gout and other painful diseases. The
following is the mode of treatment : for one sextarius of vine-
gar, two ounces of honey is the right proportion ; three sex-
tarii having been tlius prepared, two sextarii of darnel meal
are boiled down in it to a proper consistency, the mixture being
a[)plied warm to the i)art affected. This meal, too, is used for
the extraction of splinters of broken bones.
85 It is still used, Fee says, for cou2:hs. ^ In B. xviii. c. 22.
6^ Dioscoiiiles says, horehound. The Horminum, apparently, has not
been identitifd.,
^^ See B. xviii. c. 44. Darnol acts upon the brain to such an extent as
to produce symptoms like those of drunkenness ; to which property it is
indebted for its French name of ivraie. It is no lounger used in medicine.
«^3 Georg. i. 153; "Infehx lolium, et steriles domiuantur avemie."
Chap. SI.] INJURIES INFLICTED BY INSECTS. 455
CHAr. 78. — TH"E PLANT MILIARIA : ONE REMEDY.
** ^riliaria " ''^ is the name given to a plant which kills millot :
tin's plant, it is said, is a cure for gout in beasts of burden,
beaten up and administered in wine, with the aid of a horn.
CHAP. 79. BKOMOS: ONE REMEDY.
Bromos"^ is the seed also of a plant which bears an ear. It
is a kind of oat which grows among corn, to which it is inju-
rious ; tjie leaves and stalk of it resemble those of wheat, and
at the extremity it bears seeds, hanging down, something liko
small locusts'^- in appearance. The seed of this ])lant is useful
for plasters, like barley and otber grain of a similar nature.
A decoction of it is good for coughs.
CHAP. 80. OHOBANCHE, OK CYNOMORION : ONE REMEDY.
We have mentioued^^ orobanche as the name of a ])lant
which kills the fitch and other leguminous plants. Some
persons have called it " cynomorion," from the resemblance
which it bears to the genitals of a dog. The stem of it is
leafless, thick, and red. It is eaten either raw, or boiled in the
saucepan, while young and tender.
CHAP. 81. REMEDIES FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY INSECTS WHICH
RKEED AMONG LEGUMINOUS PLANTS.
There are some venomous insects also, of the solipuga'Mdnd,
which breed upon leguminous plants, and which, by stinging
the hands, endanger life. For these stings all those remedies
are efficacious which have been mentioned for the bite of the
spider and the phalangium.'^ Such, then, are the medicinal
j)roperties for which the cereals are employed.
'■^ Fee identifies this plant with the Cuscuta Europsea of Linnseus.
Spren.s:el takes it to be the Panicum verticillatmn of Linnaeus.
'1 The Avena sativa of LimiiBus ; the cultivated oat, and not the Greek
oat of I), xviii. c. 42.
''■- The term " locusta" has been borrowed by botanists to cliaracterizii
the fructification of gramineous plants.
''^ In B. xviii. c. 44. The present, Fee thinks, is a different plant from
the Cuscuta Europsea, and he identifies it with the Orobanche caryophyU
lacea of Smith, or else the Orobanche ramosa of Liunieus. The Oro-
banche is so called from its choking (dyxn) the orobus or ervum. It is
also found to be injurious to beans, trefoil, and hemp. In Italy, the stalks
are eaten as a substitute for asparagus.
7* See B. viii. c. 43. -* See B. x. c. 95, and B. ii. cc. 24, 28.
456 pltnt's natural histoet. [Book XXIL
CHAP. 82. THE USE MADE OF THE TEAST OF ZYTHUM.
Different beverages, too, are made from the cereals, zytlium
in Egypt, cselia and cerea in Spain, cervesia'^ and numerous
liquors in Gaul and other provinces. The yeast'"' of all of these
is used by women as a cosmetic for the face. — But as we are
now speaking of beverages, it will be the best plan to pass on
to the various uses of wine, and to make a beginning witli the
vine of our account of the medicinal properties of the trees.
•
ScMMAKY. — Remedies, naiTatives, and observations, nine
hundred and six.
Authors quoted. — All those mentioned in the preceding
Book ; and, in addition to them, Chrysermus,"^ Eratosthenes,''
and Alcaeus.®"
'6 As to the beers of the ancients, see B. xiv. c. 29. Very few par-
ticulars are known of them ; but we learn from the Talmud, where it is
called zeithnm. that zythum was an Egyptian beverage made of barley, wild
saflVon, and salt, in equal parts. In the Mishna, the Jews are enjoined
not to use it during the Passover.
''' *'Spuma;" literally, •' foam."
'^ A physician who lived, probably, at the end of the second or the be-
ginning of the first century B.C., as he was one of the tutors of Heraclides
of Krythrae. His definition of the pulse has been preserved by Galen, De
Differ. Puis. B. iv. c. 10, and an anecdote of him is mentioned by Sextua
Empiricus.
" See end of B. ii.
^^ A native of Mytilene, in the island of Lesbos, the earliest of the
^olian lyric poets. He flourished at the latter end of the seventh cen-
tury B.C. Of his Odes only a few fragments, with some Epigrams, have
come down to us.
457
BOOK XXIII.
THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES.
CHAP. 1. (1.) INTRODUCTION'.
"We have now set forth the various properties, medicinal or
otherwise, as well of the cereals as of the other productions
which lie upon^ the surface of the earth, for the purpose either
of serving us for food, or for the gratification of our senses
with their flowers or perfumes. In the trees, however,
Pomona has entered the lists with them, and has imparted
certain medicinal properties to the fruits as they hang. !N'ot con-
tent with protecting and nourishing, under the shadow of the
trees, the various plants which we have'^ already described,
she would even appear to be indignant, as it were, at the
thought that we should derive more succour from those pro-
ductions which are further removed from the canopy of heaven,
and which have only come into use in times comparatively re-
cent. For she bids man bear in mind that it was the fruits of
the trees which formed his first nourishment, and that it was
these which first led him to look upwards towards the heavens :
and not only this, but she reminds him, too, that even still it
is quite possible for him to derive his aliment from the trees,
without being indebted to grain for his subsistence.
CHAP. 2. THE VINE.
But, by Hercules ! it is the vine more particularly to which
she has accorded these medicinal properties, as though she
were not contented with her generosity in providing it with
such delicious flavours, and perfumes, and essences, in its om-
phacium, its oenanthe, and its massaris, preparations upon
which we have already^ enlarged. " It is to me," she says,
" that man is indebted for the greater part of his enjoyments,
^ In contradistinction to the fruits which hang from trees.
2 See B. xvii. c. 18. 3 i^ b. xii. cc. 60 and 61.
458 pliny's natural msTORr. [TJook XXIII.
it is I that produce for him the flowing wine and the trickling
oil, it is I that ripen the date and other fruits in numbers so
varied ; and all this, not insisting, like the earth, on their pur-
chase at the cost of fatigues and labours. No necessity do I
create for ploughing with the aid of oxen, for beating out
upon the threshing-floor, or for bruising under the millstone,
and all in. order that man may earn his food at some indefinite
time by this vast expenditure of toil. As for me, all my gifts
are preseated to him ready prepared : for no anxieties or
fatigues do they call, but, on the contrary, they ofl'er them-
selves spontaneously, and even fall to the ground, if man
should be too indolent to reach them as they hang." Vying
even with herself, Pomona has done still more for our ])rac-
tical advantage than for the mere gratification of our pleasures
and caprices.
CHAP. 3. — THE LEAVES AND SHOOTS OF THE VINE : SEVEN
REMEDIES.
^The leaves and shoots of the vine, employed with polenta,
allay head-ache and reduce inflammations :* the leaves, too,
applied by themselves with cold water, are good for burning
pains in the stomach ; and, used with barley-meal, are excel-
lent applications for diseases of the joints. The shoots, beaten
up and applied, have the property of drying up all kinds of
running tumours, and the juice extracted from them is used
as an injection for the cure of dysentery. The tears of the
vine, which would appear to be a sort of gum, will heal le-
prous sores, lichens, and itch-scabs, if treated first with nitre :
used with oil, and applied frequently to superfluous hairs, they
act as a depilatory, those more particularly which exude from
the vine when burnt in a green state : this last liquid has the
eff'ect, too, of removing warts. An infusion of the shoots in
water, taken in drink, is good for persons troubled with spitting
of blood, and for the fainting fits which sometimes ensue upon
conception.
* All this passage is found in Dioscorides, B. v. c. 1, Avho probably
borrowed it from the same sources as our author.
5 Fee remarks, that all the statements liere made as to the medicinal
properties of the vine arc entirely unfounded, except that with reference
to the bark of the vine : as it contains a small quantity of tannin, it might
possibly, in certain cases, arrest hiemorrhage.
Chap. 4.] ompuacil'm:. 459
The bark of the vine and the dried leaves arrest the flou-mg
of blood from wounds, and make the sores cicatrize more
rapidly. The juice of the white vine,® extracted from it wliile
green, effectually removes cutaneous'' eruptions. The ashes®
of the cuttings of vines, and of the husks of the grapes, ap-
plied with vinegar, are curative of condylomata and diseases
of the fundament ; as also of sprains, burns, and swellings of
the spleen, applied with rose-oil, rue, and vinegar. Used with
wine, but without oil, they make a fomentation for erysipelas
and parts of the body which are chafed ; they act as a depila-
tory also.^ For affections of the spleen the ashes of vine-
cuttings, moistened with vinegar, are administered in drink,
being taken in doses of two cyathi in warm water ; after which
the patient must take due care to lie upon the side in which
the spleen is situate.
The tendrils, too, which the vine throws out as it climbs,
beaten up in water and drunk, have the effect of arresting
habitual vomiting. The ashes of the vine, used with stale
axle- grease, are good for tumours, act as a detergent upon fis-
tulas, and speedily effect a radical cure ; the same, too, with
pains and contractions of the sinews, occasioned by cold. Ap-
plied with oil, they are useful for contusions, and with vinegar
and nitre, for fleshy excrescences upon the bones : in combina-
tion with oil, they are good, too, for wounds inflicted by scor-
pions and dogs. The ashes of the bark, employed by them-
selves, restore the hair to such parts of the body as have suf-
fered from the action of fire.
CHAP. 4. — OMPHACIUM EXTRACTED FROil THE VINE I FOURTEEN
RKMEDIES.
We have already ^^ mentioned, when speaking of the com-
position of unguents, how omphacium is made from the grape,
when it is just beginniDg to form : we shall now proceed to
speak of its medicinal properties. Omphacium heals ulcerations
of the humid parts of the body, such as the mouth, tonsillary
6 This cannot be the bryony, Fee says, but simply a variety of the grape
vine with white fruit. See further in c. 5 of ttiis liook.
" " Impetigines."
« Alkaline ashes, which would differ but very little, F^ says, from those
of other vegetable productions.
9 This statement as to the caustic properties of the ashes is bised upon
U-uth. 1" lu 1^. xii. c. 60.
460 Pliny's natural htstobt. [Book XXIII.
jflands, and generative organs, for example; it is very good,
too, for the sight, for rough spots upon the eyelids, ulcers at the
corners of the eyes, films upon the eyes, running sores on all
parts of the hody, cicatrizations" slow in forming, and purulent
discharges from the ears. The powerful action of omphaciuru
is modified by the admixture of honey or raisin wine. It is
very useful, too, for dysentery, spitting of blood, and quinsy.
CHAP. 5.— (ENANTHE I TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES.
Next to omphacium comes oenanthe, a product of the wild
vine, described by us already ^^ when treating of the unguents.
The most esteemed kind is that of Syiia, the produce of the
■white vine ^^ in the vicinity of the mountains of Antiochia and
Laodicea in particular. Being of a cooling, astringent nature,
it is used for sprinkling upon sores, and is employed as a to-
pical application for diseases of the stomach. It acts also as a
diuretic, and is good for maladies of the liver, head-ache,
dysentery, cceliac affections, and attacks of cholera : for nausea,
it is taken in doses of one obolus in vinegar. It acts as a desic-
cative upon running eruptions of the head, and is extremely
efficacious for maladies of the humid parts of the body ; hence
it is that it is employed, with honey and saffron, for ulcers of
the mouth, and for diseases of the generative organs and the
fundament. It arrests looseness of the bowels, and heals erup-
tions of the eyelids and runnings at the eyes : taken with wine,
it cures derangements of the stomach, and with cold water,
Bintting of blood.
The ashes of oenanthe are highly esteemed as an ingredient
in eye- salves, and as a detergent for ulcers, whitlows, and
hang-nails ;^* to obtain these ashes, it is put into an oven, and
left there till the bread is thoroughly baked.
1' Saraceniis, upon Dioscorides, B. v. c. 6, thinks that Pliny, in copying
from the Greek, has made a mistake here, and tliat he lias taken ov\op^
the "gums," for oi/Xj}, a "cicatrix;" the corresponding passage in
Dioscorides being ovXa TrXaSapa, "flaccidity," or "humidity of the
gums."
i'^ In B. xii. c. 61. See also B. xiii. c. 2, B, xiv. c. 18, and B. xv. c. 7.
(Enanthc, or vine-blossom, possesses no active medicinal properties, and
the statements made liere by Pliny are in all probability unfounded.
^3 Not tlie white vine, or Bryonia alba of modern botany, but probably
some variety of the cultivated vine with white fruit, Tlje flower of the
bryony is inodorous, and would be of no utility in the composition of
perfumes. ^* "Pterygia."
Chap. 6.] " PKESEEVED GIIAPES. 461
As to massaris,^^ it is used as a perfume only. The renown
attached to all these preparations is due solely to the innate
greediness of mankind, which has racked its invention to gather
the productions of the earth before they have arrived at ma-
turity.
CHAP. 6. GRAPES, FEESH GATHERED.
As to grapes when allowed to gain maturity, the black ones
have more marked properties '^ than the others ; and hence it
is, that the wine made from them is not so agreeable. Tlie
white grapes, on the other hand, are sweeter, for, being trans-
parent, the air penetrates them with greater facility.
Grapes fresh gathered are productive of flatulency, and dis-
turb the stomach and bowels; hence it is that they are avoided
in fevers, in large quantities more particularly. Indeed, they
are very apt to produce oppression of the head, and to bring on
tlie malady known as lethargy. ''' Grapes which have been
gathered, and left to hang for some time, are much less ^^ inju-
rious, the exposure to tlie air rendering them beneficial even to
the stomach, and refreshing to the patient, as they are slightly
cooling, and tend to remove nausea and qualmishness.
CHAP. 7. VARIOUS E:INDS of preserved grapes : ELEVEN
REMEDIES.
Grapes which have been preserved in wine or in must are
trying to the head, ^ext to the grapes which have been left
to hang in the air, are those which have been kept in chaff;
but as to those which have been preserved among grape husks,
they are injurious ^*' to the head, the bladder, and the stomach,
^^ See B. xii. c. 61. It was prepared from vine-blossoms gathered in
Africa.
^s This remark is founded, in a great measure, upon fact. The skin of
the black crrape contains a colouring- principle in considerable abundance,
and a small proportion of tannin ;"thHt of tlie white grape possesses no
colourino- principle, but a considerable quantity of tannin. The white
grape contains more saccharine matter than the black one, and they arc
both of them of a laxative nature.
^■^ Littre remarks, that under the name of *' lethargus," a febrile malady
is probably meant, which belongs probably to the class of pseudo con-
tinuous fevers.
'8 Fee thinks that in reality there can be liftle or no difference in their
effects, but that, beins: eaten in larger quantities at the vintage than after-
wards, it stands to reason that the result will be different.
'^ The t'ormentation, producing a certain amount of alcohol, would,
naturally produce this result.
462 PLINr's NATUllAL llISTOliY. [Buok XXIII.
though at the same time they arrest looseness of the bowels,
and are extremely good for patients troubled with spitting of
blood. When preserved in must, they are worse even in their
effects than when kept among husks; boiled^*' must, too, ren-
ders them injurious to the stomach. It is the opinion of medical
writers, that grapes kept^^ in rain-water are the most whole-
some of all, even though they are by no means agreeable eating;
for the benefit of them is particularly experienced in burning
pains of the stomach, biliousness arising from a disordered liver,
vomiting of bile, and attacks of cholera, as also dropsy and
burning fevers.
Grapes kept in earthen pots sharpen the taste, the stomach,
and the appetite; it is thought, however, that they are ren-
dered a little heavy ^^ by the exhalations fi'om the husks with
which they are covered. ^^ If vine-blossoras are given to
poultry, mixed with their food, they will never touch the
grapes.^*
CHAP. 8. CUTTINGS OF THE VINE : ONE KEMEDY.
Such cuttings of the vine as have borne grapes, have an
astringent effect, when they are preserved in earthen ^ pots,
more particularly.
CHAP. 9. GRAPE- STONES : SIX EEMEDIES.
Grape-stones, also, have a similar -* property ; it is through
them that wine is so apt to produce head-ache. Parched and
then pounded, they are beneficial for the stomach ; and this
powder is sprinkled, like polenta, in the beverage of patients
suffering from dysentery, coeliac affections, and derangements
of the stomach. A decoction of them is useful, also, as a fo-
mentation for itch-scabs and prurigo.
20 " Sapa :" must boiled down to one-third.
21 This, as Fee remarks, is quite impossible ; grapes put in rain-water
would spoil immediately, and become totally unfit to eat.
2^ By the transformation, namely, of the juices into alcohol.
23 See B. xiv. c. 3.
2* A notion quite unfounded, as Fee remarks. See B. xiv. c. 18.
25 A prejudice equally destitute of foundation,
26 Grape-stones have an astringent effect, and Fee states that in modern
times an oil is extracted from thorn of an agreeable flavour, and applicable
to many economical purposes. They are no longer used in medicine.
Chap. 12.] EAISI>^8. 463
, CFAP. 10. GKAPE-HTJSKS : EIGHT REMEDIES.
Grape-husks, used by themselves, are less injurious to the
head and bladder than grape-stones are : beaten up with salt,
they form an excellent liniment for inflammations of the ma-
niillse. A decoction of them, taken in drink, or employed as
a fomentation, is good for inveterate dysentery, and coeliac af-
fections.
CHAP. 11. THE GRAPES OF THE THERIACA : FOUR REMEDIES.
The grape of the theriaca, of which we have already made
mention" on the appropriate occasion, is eaten by way of anti-
dote to the stings of serpents. It is recommended, too, to eat
the young shoots of this tree, and to apply them topically.
The wine and vinegar made from these grapes are productive
of a similar salutary effect.***
CHAP. 12. RAISINS, OR ASTAPHIS : FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
Eaisins, the name given to which is '* astaphis," would be
injurious to the stomach, abdomen, and intestines, were it not
for the stones within them, which act as a corrective. ^^ When
the stones are removed, raisins, it is thought, are beneficial to
the bladder, and good for cough ;^'' in the last case, the raisin
of the white grape is considered the best. Raisins are good
also for the trachea and the kidneys, and the wine made from
them is particularlj^ efficacious for the sting of the serpent
called hasmorrhois.^^ In combination with meal of cummin or
coriander, they are employed topically for inflammations of the
testes. For carbuncles and diseases of the joints, the stones
are removed, and the raisins are pounded with rue ; if used
for ulcers, the sores must be first fomented with Avine.
Used with the stones, raisins are a cure for epinyctis, honey-
comb ulcers,^^ and dysentery; and for gangrenes they are applied
topically with radish rind and honey, being first boiled in oil.
They are used with panax,-'*^ for gout and loose nails ; and they
2' In B. xiv. c. 22.
23 Hence the name " theriaca," from 0/)p, a " wild animal," and a/cio/xat,
" to cure."
29 By reason, probably, of their astringent properties.
^ Though no longer used medicinally, they are still considered to be
good pectorals. ^^ See B. xx. cc. 23 and 81.
32 "Ceria;" known in modern medicine as " fivus."
35 The Pastinaca opopanax of Linnaeus. See B. xii. c. 67.
464 Pliny's natural uistort. [Book XXIII.
are sometimes eaten by themselves, in combination with pep-
per, for the purpose of cleansing the mouth and clearing- tlie
brain.
CHAP. 13 THE ASTAPHISAGRIA, OTHERWISE CALLED STAPfllS OK
TAMIXIA : TWELVE EEMEDIKS.
The wdld astaphis, otherwise called staphis,'* is by some per-
sons erroneously called " uva taminia;"^^ for it is altogether a
distinct plant from the other. It has a black, upright stem, with
leaves resembling those of the labrusca,^ and bears what we may
call a pod,^^ rather than a grape, green, similar to a chick-pea
in appearance, and enclosing a kernel of triangular form. The
fruit of it ripens with the vintage and turns black, while the
berries of the taminia,^^ as is w^ell known, are red ; this last,
too, as we are aware, grows only in shaded spots, while the
wild astaphis, on the other hand, loves a site that is exposed
to the sun.
I would not recommend any one to use the kernels'^' of the
wild astaphis as a purgative, as it is very doubtful whether they
might not choke the patient : nor w^ould I advise them to be
employed for the purpose of attenuating the phlegm, as they
are extremely irritating to the throat. Beaten up, however, and
applied topically, they kill vermin-*^ in the head and other parts
ot the body, more particularly if they are used with sanda-
rach ; they are very useful, too, for itch-scabs and prurigo. A
decoction of the kernels is made with vinegar, for the cure of
tooth-ache,' diseases of the ears, cicatrices^^ that are slow in
healing, and running sores.
The blossoms of the plant are beaten up and taken in wine
^ Identified with the Delphinium staphis agria of Linnaeus.
^ '•' Taminian grape." ^® Or wild vine.
^" The fruit is formed of three oblong capsules, containing a triangular
seed of black brown colour, about the size of a kidney bean.
=^^ This is not the white vine or bryony, mentioned in c. 16 of tliis
Book, but the Tamus communis of Linnaeus.
^^ The seeds, which are remarkably pungent and powerful in their
effects, are only used, at the present day, iu medicinal preparations fur
cattle.
*" This is still done at the present day; to which it is indebted for its
French name I' herbe pediculaire, or louse-plant.
*^ Pliny seems again to have fallen into the error of mistaking ov\ov,
the " ffums " for ovXij, a "cicatrix ;'' the corrtsponding passage in JJios-
corides, i>. iv. c. lo6, being "dcfluxions of the gums."
Chap. 15.] THE SALICASTRUM. 485
for stings*- inflicted by serpents ; but, as to the seed, I would
strongly recommend its rejection, on account of its extremely
pungent properties. Some persons give to this plant the name
of '* pituitaria,"" and use it as a common application for
stings inflicted by serpents.
CHAP. 14. THE LABKUSCA, OK TVILD TI>'E : TWEITE EEMEDIES.
The labrusca, too, produces an (lenanthe, which has been
described at sufficient length already :" by the Greeks the la-
brusca is known as the wild vine." The leaves of it are thick
and of a whitish colour, the stem is jointed, and the bark full
of fissures : it bears grapes of a scarlet'*^ hue, like the coccus,
which are made use of by females for the purpose of improving
the complexion, and removing spots upon the face. Pounded
with the leaves and the juice extracted from the tree, these
grapes are usefully employed for the treatment of lumbago
and sciatica. A decoction of the root*' in water, taken in two
cyathi of Coan wine, promotes an alvine evacuation of aqueous
secretions ; for whicli reason it is prescribed for dropsy.
I am inclined to think that this is the plant that is com-
monly known as the ''uva taminia;"*^ it is in great request as
an amulet, and is employed, thougli as a gargle only, in cases
of spitting blood ; for which purpose, salt, thyme, and oxymel
are added to it, care being taken not to swallow any of the
mixture. It is generally looked upon as unsafe to employ it as
a purgative.
CHAP. 15. THE SALICASTllUM : TWELVE EEMEDIES.
There is another plant," similar to the labrusca, but found
*2 They would be of no use whatever. Fee says, for such a purpose.
** As tending to carry off " pituita," or phlegm.
^1 In B. xii. c. 61.
*^ "Anipelos agria," Fee observes, that this Chapter is full of errors,
Pliny beginning by speaking of the wild vine, the variety Labrusca of the
Vitis vinifcra of Linnajus, and then proceeding to describe what is really
the Bryonia dioica of modern botany, and applying its characteristics to
the wild vine, or labrusca.
**' This is not the case with the wild vine.
^' The root of the wild vine is not of a purgative nature.
*^ As already stated, this is not identical with the wild vine, but is the
Tamus communis of Linnaeus.
■^9 The Solanum dulcamara of modern bofany lias been suggested;
though there is but little resemblance between the leaves of that variety of
nightshade and those of the wild vine.
VOL. IV. H H
4G6 Pliny's natural histoet. [Book XXIII.
groTring in willow-beds ; for which reason it is known by a
distinct name, though the uses to which it is applied are just
the same. The name given to it is " salicastrum ;" beaten up
with oxymel, it displays marvellous efficacj^ in the removal of
itch-scab and prurigo in men and cattle.
CHAP. 16. THE WHITE VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED AMPELOLEUCE,
STAPH YLE, MELOTHRON, PSILOTRUM, ARCHEZOSTIS, CEDROSTIS,
OR MADON : THIRTY-ONE REMEDIES.
The white vine^'' is known to the Greeks by the various
names of ampeloleuce, staphyle, melothron, psilotrum, arche-
zostis, cedrostis, and madon. The twigs of this tree are
jointed, thin, and climbing, with considerable interstices be-
tween the knots. ^^ The leaves, attached to the numerous
shoots, and about the size of an ivy leaf, are jagged at the
edges, like that of the vine. The root of it is large and white,
and very like a radish^- at first ; from it issue several stems,
similar to asparagus in appearance. These stems, eaten boiled,
are both purgative and diuretic. The leaves, too, as well as
the stems, are possessed of caustic^^ properties ; for which
reason they are employed topically with salt, for phagedaenic
sores, gangrenes, and putrid ulcers of the legs. The fruit of
the tree is in the form of grapes thinly scattered, the juice of
which is red at first, and afterwards of a saff'ron colour. This
fruit^* is well known to curriers, who are in the habit of using
it in preparing leather. It is employed also in the form of a
liniment for itch-scabs and leprous spots; and a decoction of
it with wheat, taken in drink, increases the milk in women
when nursing. The root of this tree, so renowned for
the numerous medicinal purposes to which it is applied, is
pounded and taken in wine, in doses of two drachma, for the
cure of stings inflicted by serpents :*^ it has the effect, also, of
50 The Bryonia alba of Linnseus ; the bryony, white vine, or white jalap.
5' This description, Fee says, is pretty correct, and the account of its
properties sufficiently exact. It is a violent poison, and is no longer used
in medicine.
5i It is still called by the French navet du diable, or devil's turnip.
^3 ''Exulcerant corpus." Our author. Fee says, may here be taxed
with some exaggeration,
51 The fruit is no longer used for this purpose.
55 It is a matter of extreme doubt if there i^ any foundation for this
statement.
Chap. 16.] THE WHITE VINE. 467
removing spots upon the face, moles aud freckles, as well as
scars and bruises : a decoction of it in oil is productive of a
similar effect. A decoction of it is given to drink for epi-
lepsy,^^ and to persons troubled with a disordered mind or
suffering from vertigo, the dose being one drachma daily, for a
whole year : taken in larger quantities, it is apt sometimes to
disorder^^ the senses. It is possessed, also, of one very remark-
able property, applied with " water in the same manner as
biyonia, of extracting splintered bones, for which reason it is
known to some persons by the name of white brj'onia : the
other kind, however, which is black, is found to answer
the purpose better, in combination with honey and frank-
incense.
The white vine disperses incipient suppurations, ripens
them when they are inveterate, and acts as a detergent : it
operates also as an emmenagogue and diuretic. An electu-
ary is prepared from it for asthma and pains in the sides, as
also for convulsions and ruptures. Taken in drink for thirty
days together, in doses of three oboli, it has the effect of re-
ducing the spleen ; and it is used, in combination with figs,
for the cure of hangnails^^ on the fingers. Applied with wine,
it brings away the after-birth, and, taken in hydromel, in
doses of one drachma, it carries off phlegm. The juice of the
root should be extracted before the fruit ripens; applied either
by itself or with meal of fitches, it imparts an improved com-
plexion and a certain degree of suppleness to the skin : it has
the effect also of repelling serpents. The root itself, too,
beaten up with a pulpy fig, will remove wrinkles on the body,
if the person using it takes care to walk a couple of stadia im-
mediately after the application ; otherwise it would leave marks
upon the skin, unless, indeed, it were washed off immediately
with cold water. The black vine, too, is better for this pur-
pose than the white one, as the latter is very apt to be pro-
ductive of itching.
^ Tt would be productive of no good effect in such case, nor, indeed, iu
most of the cases here mentioned.
57 "Purgat" is the reading given by Sillig; but, judging from the cor-
responding passage in Dioscorides, vnoTapc'iTTti, " turbat," or " contur-
bat," is the proper reading. ^ " Pterygiis."
H H 2
468 PLINT'a NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXIII.
CHAP. 17. THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHI-
RONIA, GYN^CANTHE, OR APRONIA *. THIRTY-FIVE REJklEBIES.
For there is also a black vine, properly knoAvn as the '' bry-
onia,"^^ though by some persons it is called the " chironia,"
and by others the '' gynnecanthe," or *' apronia." It differs only
from the one previously mentioned in its colour, which, as
already stated,^" is black. The shoots of this tree, which
resemble asparagus in appearance, are preferred by Diodes for
eating to real asparagus,^^ as a diuretic and for its property of
reducing the spleen. It is found growing in shrubberies or
I'eed-beds more particularly. The root of it, which is black
outside, and of the colour of box within, is even more efficacious
for the extraction of splintered bones than the plant last men-
tioned ; in addition to which, it has the property of being a
specific for excoriations of the neck in cattle. It is said, too,
that if a person plants it around a farm, it will be sure to
keep hawks away, and to preserve the poultry-yard^'^ in perfect
safety. Attached to the ankles, it tends to disperse the blood,-
congested or otherwise, which may have settled in those
parts of the body, whether in human beings or in beasts of
burden.
Thus much with reference to the various species of vines.
CHAP. 18. must: FIFTEEN- REMEDIES.
The various kinds of must^^ have different properties ; some
of them being black, some white, and others of intermediate
shades of colour. There is a difference, too, between the kinds
of must from which wine is made, and those from which
raisin wine is prepared. The various degrees of care and at-
tention on the part of the maker, render the differences that
^^ This is in reality not the modern bryony, or white vine, but the
Tamus coinniuuis of Linnaeus, the black vine, or taminier of the French,
the uva tarainia, probably, of Chapter 13.
61* In the last Chapter.
^^ The slioots of the Tamus communis are still eaten in Tuscany as a
substitute for asparagus, to which, however, they are inferior in quality.
It is there kuown by the name of tamaro.
c- An absurdity, as Fee remarks, not worthy of discussion. The same,
too, as to the next assertion.
*^3 Of course there arc as many varieties of must, or grape-juice, as
tliere are of wines. Alust is of a purgative and emollient nature, but is
no louger employed in medicine.
Chap. 19.] PARTICULAES EELATIVE TO WINE. 469
already exist, quite innumerable ; we shall therefore content
ourselves with taking a general view onl)'- of their medicinal
uses.
Every kind of must is unwholesome to the stomach, but of
a soothing nature to the venous S3'stera. Taken off at a draught,
immediately after the bath, must is fataP^ in its effects. It
acts as an antidote'^ to cantharides and stings inflicted by ser-
pents, those of the haemorrhois and the salamandra^ in parti-
cular. It is productive of head-ache, and is prejudicial to the
throat, but it is good for the kidneys, liver, and inner coat of
the bladder, by reason of its lubricating properties. It is par-
ticularly effectual also in cases of injuries inflicted by the in-
sect known as the " buprestis."^^
Taken with oil as a vomit, it neutralizes the bad effects of
opium,^^ milk that has curdled upon the stomach, hemlock, do-
rycnium,^^ and other poisons.™ For all these purposes, how-
ever, white must is not so efiicacious, while must prepared
from raisins of the sun has a more pleasant flavour, and is
productive of a less degree of oppression to the head.
CHAP. 19. PAETICULAES RELATIVE TO WINE.
We have already''^ described the various kinds of wine, the
numerous differences which exist between them, and most of
the properties which each kind possesses. There is no subject
that presents greater difficulties than this, or, indeed, a more
varied field for discussion, it being extremely difiicult to pro-
nounce whether wine is more generally injurious in its effects,
or beneficial. And then, in addition to this, how very uncer-
tain is it, whether, the moment we have drunk it, it will be
productive of salutary results, or turn out no better than so
much poison ! However, it is only with reference to its medi-
cinal properties, that we are now about to speak of it.
^^ See c. 30 of this Book. Of course there is little or no truth in this
assertion.
c^ In reality it has no such effect. '^^ See B. x. c. 86.
67 See B. xxii. c. 36, and B. xxx. c. 10.
6s In cases of poisoning by opium or hemlock, the use of it, Fee says,
•would be prejudicial.
6? See B. xxi. c. 105. 7o "Toxica."
'^ In B. xiv. cc. 8, 9, 10. It is impossible, with any degree of accu-
racy, to discuss the properties of these various wines, as they no longer
exist.
470 pliny's natural history. [Book XXIII.
Asclepiacles has composed a whole treatise (which has
thence received its name'^^) on the proper methods of adminis-
tering wine ; and the number of commentators who have since
written on this treatise, is almost innumerable. For my own
part, with all that gravity which becomes a lloman, and one
zealous for- the furtherance of liberal pursuits, I shall enter into a
careful examination of this subject, not, indeed, in the cha-
racter of a physician, but as a careful investigator of the
etfects which wine is likely to produce upon the health of man-
kind. To treat, however, of the medicinal properties of each
individual kind, would be a labour without end, and quite in-
exhaustible ; the more so, as the opinions of medical men are
so entirely at variance upon the subject.
CHAP. 20. THE STJKRENTINE WINES : THREE REMEDIES. THE
ALBAJSr WINES : TWO REMEDIES. THE FAXERNIAN WIKES : SIX
REMEDIES.
Our ancestors set the highest value upon the wines of
Surrentum ;''^ but at a later period the preference was given
to the Alban, or the Falernian wines. More recently, again,
other varieties of wine have come into fashion, quite in accord-
ance with that most unreasonable mode of proceeding, ac-
cording to which, each person, as he hnds a wine most to his
taste, extols it as superior to all others. Suppose, now, that all
persons were quite agreed as to the superiority of some par-
ticular kind of wine, how small a proportion of mankind
would be enabled to make use of it ! As it is, even the rich never
drink it in an unsophisticated state ; the morals of the ago
being such, that it is the name only of a vintage that is sold,
the wines being adulterated the very moment they enter the
vat. Hence it is, by Hercules ! — a thing truly astounding —
that, in reality, a wine is more innoxious in its effects, in pro-
portion as it enjoys a less extended renown. The three kinds,
.however, of which we have made mention, appear to have
maintained, with the least diminution, their ancient repute.
The Falernian wine, it a person should be desirous to know
the marked characteristics of Avines according to age, is in-
jurious to the health, either too new or too old; at fifteen
''^ '• Cognominatum" appears to be a better reading than " cognomi-
natus," whicli Sillig has adopted ; as it is mucli more probable that the
work received its name from the subject tlian that the writer did,
'* All these wiues are described iu B. xiv.
Chap. 22.] OTHEE WIXES. 471
years it begins to be of medium age. Falernian wine of this
age, taken cold, is good for the stomach, but not when taken
warm. For an inveterate cough and for quartan fevers, it is
a good plan to drink it neat, fasting. There is no wine that
quickens the action of the venous system so much as this ; it
acts astringently upon the bowels, and is feeding to the body.
It has been thought, however, that this wine is productive of
injury to the sight, and that it is far from beneficial to the
nerves"* and the bladder.
The Alban wines are more salutary to the nervous system,
but the sweet kinds are not so beneficial to the stomach. The
rough wines of Alba are even better than those of Falernum,
but they do not promote the digestion so well, and have a
slight tendency to overload the stomach.
As to the Surreutine wines, they have no such effect upon
the stomach, nor are they at all trying to the head ; they have
the property also of arresting defluxions of the stomach and
intestines. The Caecuban wines are no longer grown.
CHAP. 21. — xnE SETINE wines; one observation upon them.
THE STATAN WINES ; ONE OBSEKVATION UPON THEM. THE
SIGNIAN WINES ; ONE EEMEDY.
Among the wines, however, which still exist, those of Setia^®
promote the digestion, having more strength than the Surren-
tine wines, and more roughness than those of Alba. The
wines of Falernum are not so powerful. Those of Stata are
but very little inferior in quality to the wines already men-
tioned. It is universally agreed that the wines of Signia are
extremely beneficial in cases of derangement of the bowels.
CHAP. 22. OTHER WINES .' SIXTY-FOUR REMEDIES,
As to the other wines, they may be spoken of in general
terms. By the use of wine, the human vigour, blood, and
complexion are improved. It is wine that makes up for all
the difference between the middle or temperate zone, and those
which lie on either side of it, the juice of the vine conferring
as much vigour and robustness upon the inhabitants of our
part of the earth as the rigorousness''" of the climate does
75 n l^ervis." As to the meaning of this word, see B. xi. c. 8S.
'6 These wines also are described in B. xiv.
" "Feritas."
472 PLINY's NATURAL HISTORY. [Eook XXIII.
upon tlie people there. Milk, used as a beverage, strengihens.
the bones, liquids extracted from the cereals nourish the
sinews, and water imparts nutriment to the flesh : hence it is
that persons who contine themselves to these several liquids as
a beverage, are of a less ruddy complexion than the wine-
drinker, less robust, and less able to endure fatigue. By the
use of wine in moderation the sinews are strengthened, but
taken in excess it proves injurious to them ; the same, too,
with the eyes. Wine refreshes the stomach, sharpens the
appetite, takes off the keen edge of sorrows and anxieties,
warms the body, acts beneficially as a diuretic, and invites
sleep. In addition to these properties, it arrests vomiting, and
we find that pledgets of wool, soaked in wine, and applied to
abscesses, are extremely beneficial. According to Asclepiades,
the virtues possessed by wine are hardly equalled by the ma-
jestic attributes of the gods themselves.
Old wine bears admixture with a larger quantity of water, and
acts more powerfully as a diuretic, though at the same time it
is less eff'ectual for quenching thirst. Sweet wine, again, is
less inebriating, but stays longer on the stomach, while rough
wine is more easy of digestion. The wine that becomes mel-
low with the greatest rapidity is the lightest, and that which
becomes sweeter the older it is, is not so injurious to the
nerves. Wines that are rich and black,'^ are not so bene-
ficial to the stomach ; but, at the same time, they are more
feeding to the body. Thin-bodied rough wines are not so
feeding, but are more wholesome to the stomach, and pass
ofi-' more speedily by urine, though they are all the more
liable to fly to the head ; a remark which will apply, once for
all, to liquids of every kind.
Wine that has been mellowed by the agency of smoke is
extremely unwholesome — a fraudulent method of preparation
that has been invented in the wine-lofts''^ of the retail dealers.
At the present day, however, this plan is adopted in private
families even, when it is wished to give the appearance of ma-
turity to wines that have become carious. ^° Indeed, this terra
carious has been used very appositely by the ancients with
reference to wines ; for we find that in the case of wood eveu,
smoke exercises a caustic effect upon the carious parts, and
■^8 The colour of our Port.
'3 " Apothecis." ^^ " Cariem trahunt."
Chap. 23.] OBSERVATIONS RELATIYE TO WINE. 4/3
eats them away ; and yet we, on the otlier hand, persuade
ourselves that an adventitious age may be imparted to wines
by the bitter twang derived from smoke !^^
Those wines which are extremely pale, become more whole-
some the older they are. The more generous^'^ a wdne is, the
thicker it becomes with age ; while, at the same time, it
contracts a bitter flavour, which is fa:r from exercising a bene-
ficial efiect upon the health. To season another wine, that is
not so old, with this, is nothing less than to make an unwhole-
some preparation. The more of its own natural flavour^^ a
wine possesses, the more wholesome it is ; and the best age for
a wine is that which naturally belongs to it, a medium age
being the one that is the most generally esteemed.
CHAP. 23. SIXTT-ONE OBSERVATIONS EELATIVE TO WINE.
Persons whose wish it is to make flesh, or to keep the bowels
relaxed, will do well to drink while taking their food. Those,
on the other hand, who wish to reduce themselves, or prevent
the bov.-els from being relaxed, should abstain from drinking
while taking their meals, and drink but a very little only
when they have done eating. To drink wine fasting is a
fashion of recent introduction^^ only, and an extremely bad
one for persons engaged in matters of importance, and requir-
ing a continued application of the mental faculties. Wine, no
doubt, was taken fasting in ancient times, but then it was as
a preparative for sleep and repose from worldly cares ; and it
is for this reason that, in Homer, ^^ we find Helen presenting
it to the guests before the repast. It is upon this fact, too,
that the common proverb is founded, which says that " wis-
dom is obscured by wine."®^ It is to wine that we men are
indebted for being the only animated beings that drink Avithout
being thirsty. When drinking wine, it is a very good plan to
take a draught of water every now and then ; and to take one
long draught of it at the last, cold water taken internally
having the eff'ect of instantaneously dispelling inebriation.
81 While the ancients thought that the cariousness or results of old age
were removed by the agency of smoke.
s2 See B. xiv. c. 6. §3 "Saliva."
81 In the time of the Emperor Tiberius. See B. xiv. c. 28.
85 Odyssey, B. iv. 1. 219, et seq.
^ " Sapientiam vino obombrari."
4/4 pliny's natural history. [Book XXIII.
It is strongly recommended by Hesiod^' to drink undiluted
wine^^ for twenty days before the rising of the Dog-star, and
as many after. Pure wine, too, acts as an antidote to hem-
lock, coriander,®^ henbane, mistletoe, opium, mercury, as also
to stings inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, the phalangiura,
serpents, and scorpions ; all kinds of poison, in fact, which are
of a cold nature, the venom of the hsemorrhois and the
prester,^" in particular, and the noxious effects of fungi. Un-
diluted wine is good, too, in eases of flatulency, gnawing pains
in the thoracic organs, excessive vomitings at the stomach,
fluxes of the bowels and intestines, dysentery, excessive per-
spirations after prolonged fits of coughing, and defluxions of
various kinds. In the cardiac^^ disease, it is a good plan to
apply a sponge soaked in neat wine to the left breast : in all
these cases, however, old white wine is the best. A fomenta-
tion of hot wine applied to the genitals of beasts of burden is
found to be very beneficial ; and, introduced into the mouth,
with the aid of a horn, it has the efi'ect of removing all sen-
sations of fatigue.^^ It is asserted that in apes, and other quad-
rupeds with toes, the growth will be impeded if they are
accustomed to drink undiluted wine.^^
CHAP. 24. IN WHAT MALADIES WINE SHOULT) BE ADMINISTERED;
HOW IT SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED, AND AT WHAT TIMES.
We shall now proceed to speak of wine in relation to its
medicinal uses. The wines of Campania^^ which have the
least body, are the most wholesome beverage for persons of
rank and station ; and for the lower classes^^ the best kind of
wine is that which is the most pleasant to the person who
drinks it, provided he is in robust health. For persons of all
ranks, however, the most serviceable wine is that the strength
s' Works and Days, 1. 594. ^ Mernm."
^9 It is surprising, as Fee says, to find coriander enumerated among the
poisons. ]\Iistletoe, too, and mercury are neither of them poisons. As to
hemlock, see B. xiv, c. 7.
9" See Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 11. 722, 791.
'•>^ See B. xi. c. 71.
92 This method is still employed with race-horses. See B. xiv. c. 28.
^^ It is still a very prevalent notion that the growth of dogs is stunted
hy giving them raw spirits.
^* The wines of Surrentum and Stata were Carapanian wines.
95 "Volgo."
Chap. 24.] MALAPIES IN TVHICH WINE IS USEFUL. 475
of "which has been reduced by the strainer f^ for we must bear
in mind that wine is nothing else but juice of grapes which
has acquired strength by the process of fermentation. A mix-
ture of numerous kinds of wine is universally bad, and the
most wholesome wine of all is that to which no ingredient has
been added when in a state of must ; indeed, it is still better
if the vessels even in which it is kept have never been pitched.^''
As to wines which have been treated with marble, gypsum,
or lime,'^ where is the man, however robust he may be, that
has not stood in dread of them ?
"Wines which have been prepared with sea-water^' are par-
ticularly injurious to the stomach, nerves, and bladder. Those
which have been seasoned with resin are generally looked
upon as beneficial to a cold stomach, but are considered unsuit-
able where there is a tendency to vomit : the same, too, with
must, boiled grape-juice,^ and raisin wine. New wines sea-
soned with resin are good for no one, being productive of
vertigo and head-ache : hence it is that the name of " cra-
pula" ^ has been given equally to new resined wines, and to
the surfeit and head-aclie which they produce.
The wines above mentioned ^ by name, are good for cough
and catarrh, as also for coeiiac afi'ections, dysentery, and
the catamenia. Those wines of this sort which are red * or
black,^ are more astringent and more heating than the others.
Wines which have been seasoned with pitch only, are not sd
injurious ; but at the same time we must bear in mind that
pitch is neither more nor less than resin liquefied' by the action
of fire. These pitched wines are of a heating nature, promote
the digestion, and act as a purgative ; they are good, also, for
the chest and the bowels, for pains in the uterus, if there are
no signs of fever, for inveterate fluxes, ulcerations, ruptures,
spasms, suppurated abscesses, debility of the sinews, flatulency,
^'^ " Sacco." A strainer of linen cloth. See B. xiv. c. 28, and B. six.
c. 19. While it diminished the strength, however, it was considered to
injure the flavour.
9'' In that case. Fee says, they would differ but little fi'om the wines of
the present day. See B. xiv. c. 25,
98 See B. xiv. c. 24. 99 See B. xiv. cc. 9, 10.
^ " Sapa." 2 See }^ ^[y^ c, 25.
3 Surrentine, Alban, Falernian, &c.
* The colour of Tent and Biu-gundy. ** The colour of Port.
5 See B. xiv. c. 25.
476 PLIiSrr's Is'ATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIIl*
cougli. asthma, and sprains, in which last case they are applied
in uncleansed wool. For all these purposes the wine is pre-
ferred which has naturall)'- the flavour of pitch,^ and is
thence known as ''picatum :" it is generally agreed, however,
that the produce of the \dne called '* helvennaca,"' if taken in
too large a quantity, is trying to the head.
In reference to the treatment of fever, it is well known that
wine should never bo given, unless the patient is an aged per-
son, or the symptoms are beginning to abate. In cases of acute
fever, wine must never be given, under any circumstance,
except when there is an evident remission of the attack, and
more particularly if this takes place in the night, for then the
danger is diminished by one half, there being the probability
of the patient sleeping off the effects of the wine. It is equally
forbidden, also, to females just after delivery or a miscarriage,
and to patients suffering from over-indulgence of the sexual
passions ; nor should it be given in cases of head-ache, of
maladies in which the attacks are attended with chills at the
extremities, of fever accompanied with cough, of tremulous-
ness ^ in the sinews, of pains in the fauces, or where the disease
is found to concentrate itself in the iliac regions. Wine is
strictly forbidden, too, in cases of induration of the thoracic
organs, violent throbbings of the veins, opisthotony, tetanus,
asthma, and hardness of breathing attended with fever.
Wine is far from beneficial for a patient, when the eyes are
fixed and rigid, and when the eyelids are immoveable, or else
relaxed and heavj' ; in cases, too, where, with an incessant nic-
tation, the eyes are more than usually brilliant, or where the
eyelids refuse to close — the same, too, if that symptom
should occur in sleep — or where the eyes are suffused with
blood, or congealed matter makes its appearance in the corners
of those organs. The same rule should be observed, also, when
the tongue is heavy and swollen, or when there is an impedi-
ment from time to time in the speech, when the urine is passed
with diiBculty, or when a person has been seized with a sudden
fright, with spasms, or recurrent fits of torpor, or experiences
Beminal discharges during sleep.
6 See B. xiv. cc. 3, 4.
7 See B. xiv. c. 4 : Vol. III. p. 227.
8 " Tremore nervorum ;" perhaps " nervousness."
Chap. 26.] ARTIFICIAL WINES. 477
CHAP, 25. NINETY-ONE 0T5SERVATI0NS WITH REFERENCE TO
WINE.
It is a well-ascertained fact, that in the cardiac ^ disease the
only resource is wine. According to some authorities, how-
ever, wine should only be given when the attacks come on,
while others, again, are of opinion, that it must only be ad-
ministered between the attacks ; it being the object with the
former to arrest the profuse perspirations, while the latter base
their practice on an impression that it may be given with more
safety at a moment when the malady has diminished in inten-
sity ; and this I find is the opinion entertained by most people.
In all cases, wine must only be administered just after taking
food, never after sleep, and under no circumstances after any
other kind of drink, or in other words, only when the patient
is thirsty ; in no case whatever should it be given, except at the
very last extremity. Wine is better suited to males than to
females, to aged pe£>ple than to youths, to youths than to chil-
dren, and to persons who are used to it than to those who are
not in the habit of taking it ; winter, too, is a better time for
using it than summer. As to the quantity to be prescribed,
and the proportion of water to be mixed with it, that depends
entirely upon the strength of the wine ; it is generally thought,
however, that the best proportions are one cyathus of wine and
two of water. If, however, there is a derangement of the
stomach, and if the food does not pass downward, the wine must
be given in a larger proportion.
CHAP. 26. ARTIFICIAL WINES.
Among tlie artificial wines, the preparation of which we
have^'^ described, [there are some which]/^ I think, are no
longer made ; in addition to which, it would be a mere loss of
time to enlarge upon their medicinal eftects, having expa-
tiated elsewhere upon the properties of the various elements of
which they are composed. And then, besides, the conceits of
the medical men in relation to these wines have really passed
all bounds ; they pretend, for instance, that a wine extracted
^ See B. xi. c. 71. There is litde doubt tliat generous wine promotes
the rapid circulation of tlie blood.
1" In B. xiv. CO. 18, 19, 20.
^1 In accordance with the suggestion of Sillig, we insert " sunt quas,"
otherwise the passage is defective.
478 pliny's natural history. [Book XXIII.
from turnips ^' is good for recruiting the exliausted strength,
after exercises in arms or on horseback ; and, not to speak of
other preparations, they attribute a simihir effect to wine of
juniper.^^ Who is there, too, that would think of looking
upon wormwood wine " as superior in its effects to wormwood
itself?
I shall pass in silence the rest of these preparations, and
among them palm wine/^ which is injurious to the head, and
is beneficial only as a laxative to the bowels, and as a cure for
spitting of blood. We cannot, however, look upon the liquor
which we have spoken of '^ under the name of ** bion," as being
an artificial wine ; for the Avhole art of making it consists merely
in the employment of grapes before they have arrived at ma-
turity. This preparation is extremely good for a deranged
stomach or an imperfect digestion, as also for pregnane)^ faint-
ing fits, paralysis, fits of trembling, vertigo, gripings of the
bowels, and sciatica. It is said, too, that in times of pesti-
lence, and for persons on a long journey, this liquid forms a
beverage of remarkable efficacy.
CHAP. 27. TTTfEGAR: TWENTY- EIGHT REMEDIES.
Wine, even when it has lost its vinous properties, still re-
tains some medicinal virtues. Yinegar possesses cooling pro-
perties in the very highest degree, and is no less efficacious as
a resolvent ; it has the property, too, of effervescing,^^ when
poured upon the ground. We have frequently had occasion,
and shall again have occasion, to mention the various medicinal
compositions in which it forms an. ingredient. Taken by itself,
it dispels nausea and arrests hiccup, and if smelt at, it will
prevent sneezing : retained in the mouth, it prevents a person
from being inconvenienced by the heat^® of the bath. It is used
as a beverage also, in combination with water, ^^ and employed
12 This would be a vigorous liquor, Fee thinks, and a good tonic ;
similar, in fact, to the modern antiscorbutic wines.
13 Fee queries whether this was made from the fermented berries, or
from an infusion of tliem in wine. In the former case it would bear some
Blight resemblance to our gin.
11 " Apsinthites." See 13. xiv. c. 19.
15 See B. xiii. c. 9. i'' In B. xiv. c. 10.
i'? The vinegar of the present day does not appear to have any such
property. ^^ Colsus says the same thing, B, i. c. 3.
19 *' Posca," or vinegar and water, sometimes mixed with eggs, was the
common drink of the lower classes at Eome, and of the soldiers when on
service.
Cnap. 27.] TINLGAr. 479
as a gargle, it is found by many to be ver}' whc-lesome to the
stomach, particularly convalesceuts and persons suffering from
sun-stroke ; used as a fomentation, too, this mixture is ex-
tremely beneficial to the eyes. Vinegar is used remedially
when a leech has been swallowed ;'*^ and it has the property of
healing leprous sores,-^ scorbutic eruptions, running ulcers,
wounds inflicted by dogs, scorpions, and scolopendrse, and the
bite of the shrew-mouse. It is good,too, as a preventive of the
itching sensations produced by the venom of all stinging ani-
mals, and as an antidote to the bite of the millepede.
Applied warm in a sponge, in the proportion of three sex-
tarii to two ounces of sulphur or a bunch of hyssop, vinegar
is a remedy for maladies of the fundament. To arrest the
haemorrhage which ensues upon the operation-^ of lithotomy,
and, indeed, all other operations of a similar nature, it is usual
to apply vinegar in a sponge, and at the same time to admin-
ister it internally in doses of two cyathi, the very strongest
possible being employed. Vinegar has the effect also of
dissolving coagulated blood ; for the cure of lichens, it is used
both internally and externally. Used as an injection, it ar-
rests looseness of the bowels and fluxes of the intestines ; it is
similarly employed, too, for procidenceof the rectum and uterus.
Vinegar acts as a cure for inveterate coughs, defluxions of
the throat, hardness of breathing, and looseness of the teeth :
but it acts injuriously upon the bladder and the sinews, when
relaxed. Medical men were for a long time in ignorance how
beneficicd vinegar is for the sting of the asp ; for it was only
recently that a man, while carrying a bladder-^ of vinegar, hap-
pening to be stung by an asp upon which he trod, found to his
surprise that whenever he put down the bladder he felt the sting,
but that when he took it up again, he seemed as though he
had never been hurt ; a circumstance which at once suggested
to him the remedial properties of the vinegar, upon drinking
some of which he experienced a cure. It is with vinegar, too,
-•^ There is little doubt that it would be advantageous to employ vinegar
in such a case ; the animal would be compelled to withdraw its hold, and
vomiting would be facilitated. Strong salt and water, Fee thinks, would
be still more efficacious.
21 It would be of no use whatever, Fee thinks, in any of these cases,
-- An operation which, though known to the Greeks and Romans, ap-
pears to have been completely lost sight of in the middle ages.
^ Or leather baff, "utrem."
480 pltnt's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
and nothing else, that persons rinse the mouth after sucking
the poison from a wound. This liquid, in fact, exercises a
predominance not only upon various articles of food, but upou
many other substances as well. Poured upon rocks in con-
siderable quantities, it has the effect of splitting^^ them, when
the action of fire alone has been unable to produce any effect
thereon. As a seasoning, too, there is no kind that is more
agreeable than vinegar, or that has a greater tendency to
heighten the flavour of food. When it is employed for this
purpose, its extreme tartness is modified with burnt bread or
wine, or else it is heightened by the addition of pepper, and of
laser ;-^ in all cases, too, salt modifies it 3 strength.
While speaking of vinegar, we must not omit to mention a
very remarkable case in connexion with it : in the latter years
of his life, M. Agrippa was dreadfully afflicted with gout, so
much so, in fact, that he was quite unable to endure the tor-
ments to which he was subjected. Upon this, guided by the
ominous advice of one of his medical attendants, though un-
known to Augustus, at the moment of an extremely severe
attack he plunged his legs into hot vinegar, content to pur-
chase exemption from such cruel torments as he suffered, if
even at the price of all use and sensation in those limbs,
« :3f ^- ^4 *^26
CHAP. 28. (2.) SQUILL VINEGAK: SEVElfTEEN REMEDIES.
Squill vinegar is the more esteemed, the older it is. In
addition to the properties which we have ah'eady'^' mentioned,
it is useful in cases Avhere the food turns sour upon the sto-
mach, a mere taste of it being sufficient to act as a corrective.
It is good, too, when persons are seized with vomiting, while
2* See B. XXX, c. 21. From Livy and Plutarch we leani that Hannibal
employed this method of splitting the rocks when making his way across
the Alps. Fee, at considerable length, disputes the credibility of this
account, and thinks it only a wonderful story invented by the Eomans to
account for their defeat by Hannibal.
-» See B, xix. c. 5.
25 Sillig has little doubt that this passage is incomplete, and that the
end of it should be to the effect, " the result of which was, that be was
eflectually cured." A very similar story is related of Servius Clodius, a
Ivoman knight, in B. xxv. c. 7.
-" In B. XX. c. 39. It is still employed in medicine ; but the statements
liere made, as Fee says, do not merit a serious discussion.
Chap. 30.] SAPA. 481
fasting, having the effect of indurating the passages of the
throat and stomach. It is a corrective, also, of bad breath,
strengthens the teeth and gums, and improves the complexion.
Used as a gargle, squill vinegar remedies hardness of hear-
ing, and opens the passages of the ears, while at the same
time it tends to improve the sight. It is verj- good, too, for
epilepsy, melancholy, vertigo, hysterical suffocatious, blows,
falls with violence, and extravasations of blood in consequence,
as also for debility of the sinews, and diseases of the kidneys.
In cases of internal ulceration, however, the use of it must be
avoided.
CHAP. 29. OXYMELI '. SEVEN KEMEDIES.
The following, as we learn from Dieuches, was the manner
in which oxymeli^® was prepared by the ancients. In a caul-
dron they used to put ten minae of honey, five heminse of old
vinegar, a pound and a quarter of sea-salt, and five sextarii
of rain-water ; the mixture was then boiled together till it
had simmered some ten times, after which it was poured off,
and pui" by for keeping. Asclepiades, however, condemned
this pre^^aration, and put an end to the use of it, though be-
fore his time it used to be given in fevers even. Still, how-
ever, it is generally admitted that it was useful for the cure
of stings inflicted by the serpent known as the '' seps,*'2^and
that it acted as an antidote to opium^" and mistletoe. It was
usefully employed also, warm, as a gargle for quinsy and
maladies of the ears, and for affections of the mouth and
throat ; for all these purposes, however, at the present day,
oxalme is employed, the best kind of which is made with
5alt and fresh vinegar.
CHAP. 30. — SAPA: SEVEN EEMEDTES.
Sapa^ has a close affinity with wine, being nothing else
28 See B. xiv. c. 21. The modern oxymel, as Fee remarks, consists of
loney dissolved in white vinegar, and bears no resemblance to the mon-
itrous composition here described, and wliich no stomach, he says, isould
)ossibly support.
29 See Lucan'sPharsalia, B. ix. 1!. 723, 776.
^^ Fee thinks that there may be some foundation for this statement, as
'inegar acts efficaciously as a remedy to the effects of narcotic poisons.
Vlistletoe, as already stated^ is not a poison.
31 Grape-juice boiled down to one-third. See B. xiv. c. 11.
VOt. IV. II
482 plint's natueal histoet. [BookXXIII.
but must boiled down to one third : that which is prepared
from white must ia the best. It is used medicinally in cases
of injuries inflicted by cantharides, the buprestis,'- the pine-
caterpillars known as pityocampae/^^ salamanders, and all ve-
nomous bites and stings. Taken with onions it has the effect
of bringing away the dead foetus and the after-birth. Accord-
ing to Fabianus, it acts as a poison, if taken by a person fast-
ing, immediately after the bath.^*
CHAP. 31. LEES OF WINE: TWELVE REMEDIES,
Next in the natural order come the lees of these several
liquids. The lees of^^ wine are so extremely powerful as to
prove fatal to persons on descending into the vats.^^ The
proper precaution for preventing this, is to let down a light first,
which so long as it refuses to burn, is significant of danger.
"Wine-lees, in an unrinsed^' state, form an ingredient in several
medicinal preparations : with an equal proportion of iris,^^ a
liniment is prepared from them for purulent eruptions ; and
either moist or dried, they are used for stings inflicted by the
phalangium, and for inflammations"^ of the testes, mamillae,
or other parts of the body. A deeoction of wine-lees is pre-
pared, too, with barley-meal and powdered frankincense ; after
which it is first parched and then dried. The test of its being
properly boiled, is its imparting, when cold, a burning sensa-
tion to the tongue. When left exposed to the air, wine-lees
very rapidly lose their virtues ; which, on the other hand, are
greatly heightened by the action of fire.
Wine-lees are very useful, too, boiled with figs, for the cure
3- See c. 18 of this Book. The account here given of the medicinal
properties of sapa is altogether unfounded.
3» A worm that grows in the pine-tree, the Phalaena bombyx pityocampa
of Linn?eus.
2* A mere absurdity, of course. See c. 18 of this Book.
^ The lees of wine are charged with sub-tartarate of potash, a quan-
tity of colouring matter more or less, and a small proportion of wine. They
are no longer used in medicine. Under the term "fa?x vini," Pliny includes
the pulp or husks of grapes after the must has been expressed.
3* In consequence of the carbonic gas disengaged before the fermenta-
tion is finished, asphyxia being tlie result.
^'^ By the use of this term lie evidently means grape husks.
38 Or flower-de-luce. See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.
*9 Wine-lees would only -have the effect of increasing the inflammation.
Chap. 32.] LEES OF VINEGAR. 483
of lichens and cutaneous eruptions; they are applied also in a
similar manner to leprous sores and running ulcers. Taken
in drink, they act as an antidote to the poison of fungi, and
more particularly if they are undiluted ; boiled and then rinsed,
they are used in preparations for the eyes. They are employed
also topically for diseases of the testes and generative organs,
and are taken in wine for strangury. When wine-lees have
lost their strength, they are still useful for cleansing the body
11 and scouring clothes, in which case they act as a substitute
' for gum acacia.**'
CHAP. 32. LEES OF VINEGAR ! SEVENTEEN EEMEDIES.
The lees of vinegar,*^ as a matter of course, considering the
material from which they are derived, are much more acrid
than those of wine, and more caustic in their effects. This
f substance prevents the increase of suppuration, and, employed
i topically, is good for the stomach, intestines, and regions of
the abdomen. It has the property also of arresting fluxes of
those parts, and the catamenia when in excess ; it disperses
j inflamed tumours which have not come to a head, and is a cure
I for quinsy. Applied with wax, it is curative of erysipelas.
It reduces swellings of the mamillse when gorged with milk,
aud removes malformed nails. Employed with polenta, it is
very efficacious for the cure of stings inflicted by the serpent
called cerastes;*- and in combination with melanthium,*^ it
heals bites inflicted by crocodiles and dogs.
Yinegar lees, too, by being subjected to the action of fii^e,
acquire additional strength.** Mixed in this state with oil of
iiiastich, and applied to the hair, they turn*^ it red in a single
night. Applied with water in linen, as a pessary, they act as a
detergent upon the uterus.
40 See B. xxiv. c. 67.
*i Their properties are similar to those of wine-lees, but they are no
longer used in medicine. The statements here made by our author, Fee
remarks, are entirely fabulous.
•12 Or horned serpent. See B. xi. c. 45.
" See B. XX. c. 71.
** This, as Fee observes, is probably the case.
^^ It must be remembered that red hair was greatly admired by the
Komans.
I I 2
^84 pli:st's NATIJEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
CHAP. 33. — LEES OF SAPA : FOTJE KEMEDIES.
The lees*'^ of sapa are used for the cure of burns, it being
the best plan to employ with them the down that grows on
the reed ; a decoction too, of these lees, is good for the cure of
an inveterate cough. They are boiled also in a saucepan with
salt and grease as an ointment for tumours of the jaws and
neck.
CHAP. 34. (3.) THE LEAVES OF THE OLIVE : TWENTY-THREE
REMEDIES.
The next rank, after the vine, clearly belongs to the oHve.
The leaves of the olive-tree are astringent,*® detergent, and
binding in the highest degree. Chewed and applied to sores,
they are of a healing nature ; and applied topically with oil,
they are good for head-ache. A decoction of them with honey
makes a good liniment for such parts of the body as have been
subjected to cauterization, as also for inflammations of the gums,
whitlows, and foul and putrid ulcers : combined with honey,
they arrest discharges of blood from the nervous *^ parts of the
body. The juice of olive leaves is efficacious for carbuncular
ulcers and pustules about the eyes, and for procidence of the
pupil ; hence it is much employed in the composition of eye-
salves, having the additional propert}^ of healing inveterate
runnings of the eyes, and ulcerations of the eyelids.
This juice is extracted by pouring wine and rain-water
upon the leaves, and then pounding them ; after which the
pulp is dried and divided into lozenges. Used with wool,
as a pessary, this preparation arrests menstruation when in
excess, and is very useful for the treatment of purulent sores,
condylomata, eiysipelas, spreading ulcers, and epinyctis.
CHAP. 35 — THE BLOSSOM OF THE OLIVE : FOUR BEilEDIES.
The blossom,^ too, of the olive-tree possesses similar pro-
*" The thicker parts of boiled grape-juice. These lees have no affinity
■with those of wine or \nnegar.
*^ They are rich in tannin and gallic acid, and Fee states that they
have been proposed as a substitute for quinine. The statements here made
by Pliny, he says, in reference to their properties, are hypothetical.
■^^ " Nervosis."
^'' X'o medicinal use is now made of it, but its properties would be very
similar to those of the leaves.
Chap. 36.] OLIVES. 485
perties. The young branches are burnt when just beginning
to blossom, and of the ashes a substitute for spodium*^ 13
made, upon which wine is poured, and it is then burnt afresh.
To suppurations and inflamed tumours these ashes are applied, or
else the leaves, beaten up with honey ; for the eyes, they are
used with polenta. The juice which exudes" from the wood,
when burnt in a green state, heals lichens, scaly eruptions, and
running ulcers.
As to the juice ^ which exudes naturally from the olive-
tree, and more particularly that of Ethiopia, we cannot be
sufficiently surpiised that authors should have been found to
recommend it as an application for tooth- ache, and to tell us
at the same time that it is a poison, and even that we must
have recourse to the wild olive for it. The bark of tlie roots
of the olive, as young and tender a tree as possible being
selected, scraped and taken every now and then in honey, is
good ^ for patients suffering from spitting of blood and puru-
lent expectorations. The ashes of the tree itself, mixed with
axl^-grease, are useful for the cure of tumours, and heal
fistulas by the extraction of the vicious humours which they
contain.
CHAP. 36. — WHITE OLIVES : FOUR ee:u:edies. black olives :
THKEE EEMEDIES.
"WTiite olives are wholesome for the upper regions of the
stomach, but not so good for the bowels. Eaten by themselves,
habitually as a diet, quite fresh and before they are pre-
served, they are remarkably serviceable, having the effect of
curing gravel, ^^ and of strengthening the teeth when worn or
loosened by the use of meat.
51 Impure metallic oxide. See B. xix. c. 4, and B. xxxiv. c. 52. The
ashes of the branches would be an impure sub-carbonate of potass, which
would act, Fee says, as a powerful irritant.
52 A sort of pyroligneous acid, which would have the noxious eflFect of
throwing inward the eruptions.
53 This juice or tear (lacrima) Fee thinks to be the same with tbe En-
hsemon, mentioned in B, xii. c. 38 ; the properties of which are quite in-
active, though Dioscorides, B. i. c. 139, speaks of it as a poison.
5i Probably in consequence of the tannin and galHc acid, which it con-
tains in great abundance.
55 Fee says that all these statements as to the medicinal properties of
olives are false.
486 PLINt's NATXJBAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
Elack olives, on the other hand, are not so wholesome for
the upper regions of the stomach, but are better for the
bowels ; they are not good, however, for the head or for the
eyes. Both kinds, pounded and applied topically, are good
for the cure of burns, but the black olive is sometimes chewed
iirst, and instantly applied to the sore, for the purpose of pre-
venting blisters from forming. Colymbades ^® act as a deter-
gent for foul ulcers, but they are bad for persons suffering
from strangury.
CHAP. 37. AMUECA OF OLIVES : TWENTY-0]S^E REMEDIES.
As to the amurca of olives, we might appear to have said
enough on the subject already," taking Cato as our guide ; it
remains, however, to speak of the medicinal uses oi this sub-
stance. It is extremely serviceable as a strengthener of the
gums,^ and for the cure of ulcers of the moath ; it has the
effect, also, of strengthening loose teeth in the sockets, and an
application of it is good for erysipelas and spreading ulcers.
Por chilblains, the amurca of the black ojive is the best, as
also as a fomentation for infants ; that of the white olive is
used, with wool, as a pessary for affections of the uterus. Of
both kinds, however, the amurca is much more serviceable
when boiled ; this being done in a vessel of Cyprian copper, to
the consistency of honey. Thus prepared, it is used, accord-
ing to the necessities of the case, with either vinegar, old
wine, or honied wine, for the treatment of maladies of the
mouth, teeth, and ears, and for running ulcers, ^^ diseases of the
generative organs, and chaps on various parts of the body. It
is employed topically, for the cure of wounds, in a linen
pledget, and for sprains, in wool : as a medicament, it is of great
utility, more particularly when old, as in such case it effects
the cure of fistula.^°
It is used as an injection for ulcerations of the fundament,
the generative organs, and the uterus, and is employed topi-
cally for incipient gout and diseases of the joints. Boiled
5s Or preserved olives. See B. xv. c. 4.
57 B. XV. c. 8.
53 Fee thinks that it would exercise quite a contrary effect. Marc of
olives is no longer used in medicine.
53 It would produce no good effect in the treatment of ulcers.
so Fee remarks that it would have no such effect.
■Uhap. 38.] TKE LEAVES OF THE WILD OLTTE. 487
down again, with omphacium,^^ to the consistency of honey,
Bt extracts decayed teeth ; and, in combination with a decoc-
tion of lupines and the plant chamaeleon,^- it is a marvellous
cure for itch in beasts of burden.^ Fomentations of amurca
in a raw state^ are extremely good for gout.
CHAP, 38. (4.) — THE LEAVES OF THE WILD OLIVE : SIXTEEN
EE5IEDIES.
The leaves of the wild olive are possessed of similar pro-
iperties. The spodium^ that is made by burning the young
branches is of remarkable efficacy for arresting fluxes; it
allays inflammations of the eyes also, acts as a detergent upon
ulcerous sores, makes the flesh grow on wounds from which it
has been removed, and acts gently as a caustic upon fleshy
excrescences, drying them up and making them cicatrize. The
rest of its properties are similar to those of the cultivated olive.
There is, however, one peculiarity in it; the leaves, boiled
with honey, are given in doses of a spoonful for spitting of
blood. ^ The oil, too, of the wild olive is more acrid, and
possesses greater energy than that of the cultivated olive ;
hence it is that it is usual to rinse the mouth with it for the
purpose of strengthening the teeth."
The leaves, too, are applied topically, with wine, to whit-
lows, carbuncles, and all kinds of gatherings ; and, with
honey, to sores which require a detergent. Both a decoction
of the leaves and the natural juices of the wild olive form
ingredients in medicaments for the eyes ; and the latter are
found useful as an injection for the ears, in the case of puru-
lent discharges even. From the blossom of the wild olive a
liniment is prepared for condylomata and epinyctis : it is ap-
plied also to the abdomen, with barley-meal, for fluxes, and to
the head, with oil, for head-ache. In cases where the scalp
becomes detached from the cranium, the young branches,
61 See B. xii. c. 60. 62 ggg B. xxii. c. 21.
63 Fee thinks that it might prove useful in this case.
64 Unboiled.
•^ See c. 35. There is no analogy, Fee says, between marc of ohves
and the leaves of the wild olive.
66 This is hardly a peculiarity, for he has said already that the cultivated
olive is employed with honey to arrest the flow of blood.
6' The tannin which it contains in great abundance may possibly have
this effect.
488 Flint's natueal histoet. [Book XXIII.
boiled and applied with honey, have a healing effect. These
branches, too, when arrived at maturity, taken with the food,
arrest diarrhoea : parched and beaten up with honey, they
act as a detergent upon corroding sores, and bring carbuncles
to a head and dispers them.
CHAP. 39. OMPHACIUM : THREE EEMEDIES.
As to olive oil, we have abundantly treated of its nature
and elements already.^ It now remains to speak of the medi-
cinal properties of the various kinds of oil. The most useful
of all is omphacium,^^ and next to that, green oil ;'° in addi-
tion to which, we may remark that oil ought to be as fresh as
possible, except in cases where old oil is absolutely required.
For medicinal purposes, too, oil should be extremely fluid,
have an agreeable smell, and be free from'''^ all taste, just the
converse, in fact, of the property which we look for in food.
Omphacium is good for the gums, and if kept from time to
time in the mouth, there is nothing better as a preservative of
the whiteness of the teeth. It checks profuse perspirations.
CBAP. 40. OIL OF (ENANTHE I TWENTY-EIGHT REMEDIES.
Oil of oenanthe'^''' has just the same properties as oil of roses.
Like oil in general, it makes the body supple, and imparts to
it strength and vigour ; it is injurious to the stomach, pro-
motes the increase of ulcers, irritates the fauces, and deadens
the effect of all poisons, white-lead and gypsum in particular,
if taken in hydromel or a decoction of dried figs. Taken with
water, it is good as an antidote to the effects of opium, and to
injuries inflicted by cantharides, the buprestis, the salamandra,
and the pine caterpillar.'^ Taken pure as an emetic, it is
highly esteemed as an antidote in all the before-mentioned
cases. It is also a refreshing remedy for extreme lassitude,
and for fits of shivering from cold. Taken warm, in doses of
six cyathi, and more particularly when boiled with rue,''^* it
68 In B. XV. c. 2. 69 See B. xii. c. 60.
'0 See B. xii. c. 60. An inferior kind of omphacium.
'1 " Nonmordeat." Probably in the sense of " have no pungency."
'2 Or " (Enanthinum." See B. xii. c. 61, and B. xv. c. 7.
" See c. 30 of this Book.
73* Fee remarks, that a modern physician would dread to administer sucli
a dose, rue being a very dangerous plant in its effects. He-also remarks
that it is doubtful whether Pliny is speaking throughout this Chapter of
olive oil or of oil of cenanthe ; and such is the fact, though most probably
the latter is intended to be spoken of.
Chap. 41.] CASTOE OIL. 489
relieves gripings of the stomach and expels intestinal worms.
Taken in doses of one hemina with wine and warm water, or
else with barley water,'^ it acts as a purgative upon the bowels.
It is useful, also, in the composition of plasters for wounds,
and it cleanses the complexion of the fa"ce. Injected into the
nostrils of oxen, till it produces eructation, it cures attacks of
flatulency.
"When old. it is of a more warming nature than when new,
and acts more energetically as a sudorific, and as a resolvent
for indurations. It is very efficacious'^ in cases of lethargy,
and more particularly in the decline of the disease. Mixed
with an equal proportion of honey which has not been smoked,"'^
it contributes in some degree to the improvement of the sight.
It is a remedy, also for head-ache ; and, in combination with
water, for the burning attacks in fevers. If old oil should
happen not to be at hand, the new oil is boiled to act as a sub-
stitute for it.
CHAP. 41. CASTOR OIL! SIXTEEN EEMEDIES.
Castor'^^ oil, taken with an equal quantity of warm water, acts
as a purgative'^ upon the bowels. It is said, too, that as a
purgative this oil acts more particularly upon the regions of
the diaphragm.'^ It is very useful for diseases of the joints,
all kinds of indurations, affections of the uterus and ears, and
for burns : employed with the ashes of the murex,^*' it heals
itch-scabs and inflammations of the fundament. It improves
the complexion also, and by its fertilizing tendencies promotes
the growth of the hair. The cicus, or seed from which this
oil is made, no animal will touch ; and from these grape-like
seeds^^ wicks are made,^^ which burn with a peculiar brilliancy ;
'•^ " Ptisanse succo."
'^ Fee thinks that it can have no such efficacy, whether it be olive oil
or oil of cenanthe that is the subject of discussion.
""^ " Acapni." See B. xi. c. 15.
'■^ " Oleum cicinum." See B. xv. c. 7.
'8 It is still used in medicine for tlie same purpose.
■'s " Praecordia ;" either the diaphragm, or the parts above it, such as
the heart and chest.
80 See B. ix. c. 52. si See B. xv. c. 7.
S2 Fee is at a loss to know how these wicks could have been made :
most probably, however, the seeds were beaten up into a pulp for the pur-
pose. The oil is still used for lamps in some countries, though, as Pliny
says, in consequence of its extreme thickness, the light it gives is not
grood.
490 pliny's natfral histoet. [BookXXKI.
the light, howerer, that is produced by the oil is very dim, in
consequence of its extreme thickness. The leaves are applied
topically with vinegar for erysipelas, and fresh-gathered, they
are used by themselves for diseases of the mamillae and de-
fluxions ; a decoction of them in wine, with polenta and saf-
fron, is good for inflammations of various kinds. Boiled by
themselves, and applied to the face for three successive days,
they improve the complexion.
CHAP. 42. — OIL OF ALMOIiTDS: SIXTEEN REMEDIES.
Oil of almonds is of a purgative and emollient nature ; it
eftaces wrinkles on the skin, improves the complexion, and, in
combination with honey, removes spots on the face. A decoc-
tion of it with oil of roses, honey, and pomegranate rind, is
good for the ears, and exterminates the small worms that breed
there ; it has the efi'ect also, of dispelling hardness of hearing,
recurrent tinglings and singing in the ears, and is curative of
head-ache and pains in the eyes. Used with wax, it cures
boils, and scorches by exposure to the sun f^ in combination
w^ith wine it heals running ulcers and scaly eruptions, and
with melilote, condylomatous swellings. Applied by itself to
the head, it invites sleep.*'
CHAP. 43. — OIL OF LATJKEL : NINE HEMEDIES.
As to oil of laurel,^ the fresher and greener it is, the more
valuable are its properties. It is of a heating nature, and is
consequently applied, warm, in a pomegranate rind, for para-
lysis, spasms, sciatica, bruises, head-ache, catarrhs of long
standing, and diseases of the ears.
CHAP. 44.^ — OIL OF MYRTLE I TWENTY REMEDIES.
Oil of myrtle has similar properties.^^ It is of an astringent
and indurative nature ; mixed with the scoria of copper, and
83 « A sole ustis." Not coup de soleil, or " sun-stroke," as Littre renders
it. Oil of almonds is still a favourite ingredient in cosmetics,
^ There is no truLh, Fee says, in this assertion.
85 Fixed oil of laurel contains a certain proportion of volatile oil, to
which it is indel^ed for the excellence of its smell. It is still used as a
liniment for rheumatic pains and other affections.
^ As prepared by the ancients, it has no analogous properties with oil of
laurel. Myrtle oil is no longer used in medicine.
Chap. 45.] OIL OP CHAM^MTESINE. 491
wax, it cures diseases of the gums, tooth- ache, dysentery,
ulcerations of the uterus, affections of the bladder, inveterate
or running ulcers, eruptions, and burns. It exercises a heal-
ing effect also, upon excoriations, scaly eruptions, chaps, con-
dylomata, and sprains, and it neutralizes offensive odours of the
body. This oil is an antidote^' to cantharides, the buprestis,
and other dangerous poisons of a corrosive nature.
^CHAP. 45. OIL OF CHAM^MYESINE OR OXYMYESINE ; OIL OF
CYPEESS ; OIL OF CITRUS J OIL OF WALNUTS ; OIL OF CNIDIUM ;
OIL OF MASTICH ; OIL OF BALANUS ; VARIOUS REMEDIES.
Oil of chamaemjTsine, or oxymyrsine,®^ possesses similar pro-
perties. Oil of cypress^^ also, produces the same effects as oil
of myrtle, and the same as to oil of citrus.^^ Oil of walnuts,
which we have previously mentioned^^ as being called *'caryi-
non," is good for alopecy, and is injected into the ears for the
cure of hardness of hearing. Used as a liniment, it relieves
head-ache ; but in other respects it is of an inert nature and
disagreeable taste ; indeed, if part only of one of the kernels
should happen to be decayed, the whole making is spoilt.
The oil extracted from the grain of Cnidos^- has similar pro-
perties to castor^^ oil. Oil of mastich^* is very useful as an
ingredient in the medicinal preparation known as " acopum;''®^
indeed it would be fully as efficacious as oil of roses, were it
not found to be somewhat too styptic in its effects. It is em-
ployed in cases of too profuse perspiration, and for the cure
of pimples produced thereby. It is extremely efficacious also
87 Such is not the case.
88 The wild myrtle, or little holly. See B. xv. c. 7. The oil would be
inodorous, and not possessed, as Pliny says, of properties similar to those
of oil of myrtle.
89 See B. xv. c. 7. Fee thinks that it may have possibly been prepared
from a decoction of leaves of cypress.
90 See B. xiii. cc. 1. 29, and B. xv. c. 7.
91 See B. xv. c. 7. Oil of walnuts is used but little in medicine at the
present day, but it is employed for numerous other purposes.
92 " Granum Cnidium.*' See B. xv. c. 7.
93 It would only resemble castor oU in its drastic properties ; the latter
is a fixed natural oil, the former an artificial one.
91 See B. XV. c. 7. An oil is still extracted in Italy from the faiit of
the Pistacia lentiscus ; but it is no longer used in medicine.
95 From the Greek dicoTrog, " relieving weariness."
492 plint's natural itistoht. [Book XXII L
for itch in beasts of burden. Oil of balanns^^ removes spots
on the skin, boils, freckles, and maladies of the gums."
CHAP, 46. THE CYPRUS, AND THE OIL EXTRACTED FROM IT;
SIXTEEN REMEDIES. GLEUCINUM : ONE REMEDY.
TVe have already enlarged^^ upon the nature of the Cyprus,
and the method of preparing oU of Cyprus. This oil is natu-
rally warming, and relaxes the sinews. The leaves of the
•tree are used as an application to the stomach,^^ and the juice
of them is applied in a pessary for irritations of the uterus.
Fresh gathered and chewed, the leaves are applied to running
ulcers of the head, ulcerations of the mouth, gatherings, and
condylomatous sores. A decoction of the leaves is very useful
also for burns and sprains. Beaten up and applied with the
juice of the strutheum,^ they turn the hair red. The blos-
soms, applied to the head with vinegar, relieve head- ache,
and the ashes of them, burnt in a pot of raw earth, are cura-
tive of corrosive sores and putrid ulcers, either employed by
themselves, or in combination with honey. ITie odour- exhaled
by these blossoms induces sleep.
The oil called " gleucinum"^ has certain astringent and re-
freshing properties similar to those of oil of oenanthe.
CHAP. 47. OIL OF BALSAMUM : FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
The oil of balsamum is by far the most valuable of them all,
as already stated * by us, when treating of the unguents. It
is extremely efficacious for the venom of all kinds of serpents,
95 Or "ben." See B. xii c. 46, and B. xv. c. 7. Oil of ben is stiU
made, but it has no such effects as those mentioned by our author.
9^ Pliny appears to have made the same error here in compiling from
the Greek, as ne has done in Chapters 4 and 13, in mistaking the Greek
word signifying "scars," for that meaning "gums."
9^ In B. xii. c. 51, and B. xv. c. 7.
99 The Cyprus, or henna, is but little kno^wn in Europe : but it is em-
ployed for many purposes in the East. The leaves, which have a powerful
smell, are used for the purpose of dyeing and staining various parts of the
body.
^ Pliny has most probably committed an error here in mentioning the
" strutheum," or sparrow-quince ; for the corresponding passage in Dios-
corides, B. i. c. 124, speaks of the " struthion," the Gypsophila struthium
of Linnaeus, or possibly, as Littre thinks, the Saponaria officinalis. See
B. xix. c. 18.
2 This, Fee thinks, may probably be the case.
3 See B. XV. c. 7.
** In B. xii. c. 54. Balm of Mecca, Fee says, possesses properties little
different from the turpentines extracted from the Conifbrae.
Chap. 49.] OIL OF HEyBA^^E. 493
is very beneficial to the eyesight, disperses films upon the eyes,
assuages hardness of breathing, and acts emolliently upon all
kinds of gatherings and indurations. It has the effect, also,
of preventing the blood from coagulating, acts as a detergent
upon ulcers, and is remarkably beneficial for diseases of the
ears, head-ache, trembling,^ spasms, and ruptures. Taken in
milk, it is an antidote to the poison of aconite, and used as a
liniment upon the access of the shivering fits in fevers, it modi-
fies their violerce. Still, however, it should be used but spa-
ringly, as it is of a very caustic nature, and, if not employed in
moderation, is apt to augment the malady.
CHAP. 48. ilALOBATHTXM : FIVE EEMEDIES.
We have already^ spoken, also, of the nature of maloba-
thrum, and the various kinds of it. It acts as a diuretic, and,
sprinkled in wine upon the eyes, it is used very advantageously
for defluxious of those organs. It is applied also to the fore-
head, for the pui-pose of promoting sleep ; but it acts with
still greater efficacy, if the nostrils are rubbed with it, or if it
is taken in water. The leaves, placed beneath the tongue,
impart a sweetness to the mouth and breath, and put among
clothes, they produce a similar efi'ect.
CHAP. 49. OIL OF HEXBAN'E : TWO EEiTEDTES. OIL OF LUPINES :
OXE EEMEDV. OIL OF NAECISSUS : ONE EEMEDr. OIL OF
RADISHES : FIVE REilEDIES. OIL OF SESAME : THEEE EEilEDIES.
OIL OF LILIES : THEEE REilEDIES. OIL OF SELGA : ONE REMEDY.
OIL OF IGEVirM : ONE EEMEDY.
Oil of henbane" is of an emoUient nature, but it is bad for
the nerves ; taken in drink, it disturbs the brain. Thermi-
num,® or oil of lupines, is emollient, and very similar to oil of
roses in its 65*00 ts. As to oil of narcissus, we have already "
spoken of it when describing that flower. Oil of radishes -^
5 "Tremulis."
6 In B. xii. c. 59. ^Vhaterer malobathrum may have been, this was an
artificial oil, no doubt.
' " nyoscj-aminum." A fixed oil with nai'cotic properties, and most
probably, highly dangerous in its efi'ccts.
^ From the Greek d'spficg, a lupine.
^ In B. sxi. c. 75.
10 A fixed oil, charged with a small proportion of essential oil.
494 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
cures phthiriasis ^^ contracted in a long illness, and removes
roughness of the skin upon the face. Oil of sesame is curative
of pains in the ears, spreading ulcers, and the cancer ^^ known
as '' cacoethes.'* Oil of lilies, which we have previously ^^
mentioned as being called oil of Phaselis and oil of Syria, is
extremely good for the kidneys and for promoting perspiration,
as also as an emollient for the uterus, and as tending to bring
internal tumours to a head. As to oil of Selga, we have al-
ready ^* spoken of it as being strengthening to the tendons ;
which is the case, also, with the herbaceous ^^ oil which the
people of Iguvium ^^ sell, on the Tlaminian Way.
CHAP. 50. EL^OMELI : TWO EEMEDIES. OIL OF PITCH : TWO
EEMEDIES.
Elaeomeli, which, as we have already ^^ stated, exudes from
the olive-trees of Syria, has a flavour like that of honey, but
not without a certain nauseous taste. It relaxes the bowels,
and carries off the bilious secretions more particularly, if taken
in doses of two cyathi, in a semisextarius of water. After
drinking it, the patient falls into a torpor, and requires to be
aroused every now and then. Persons, when about to drink
for a wager, are in the habit of taking ^^ a cyathus of it, by way
of prelude. Oil of pitch ^^ is employed for the cure of cough,
and of itch in cattle.
CHAP. 51. THE PALM : NINE EEMEDIES.
"Next in rank after the vine and the olive comes the palm.
Dates fresh-gathered have an inebriating ^^ effect, and are pro-
ductive of head-ache ; when dried, they are not so injurious.
It would appear, too, that they are not wholesome to the sto-
mach ; they have an irritating ^^ effect on coughs, but are very
^^ Fee is of opinion that applied to the body it would exterminate
vermin.
^2 Malignant cancer, ^3 In B, xxi. c. 11. i* In B. xv. c. 7.
^5 Similar, probably, to the narcotic oil, or banme tranquille of the French.
16 See B. XV. c. 7. ^' In B. xv. c. 7.
1® Probably because its oleaginous properties would tend to prevent im-
bibition and absorption, while its narcotic qualities would in some degree
neutralize the strength of the wine. Almonds have a somewhat similar
eflfect.
19 " Pissinum." See B. xv. c.^7. 20 This is not the fact.
21 On the contrary, they are used at the present day as a pectoral ; and
many so-caUed pectoral sirops are prepared from them.
Chap. o3.] THE PALM. 495
nourishing to the body. The ancients used to give a decoction
of them to patients, as a substitute for hj-dromel, with the view
of recruiting the strength and allaying thirst, the Thebaic date
being held in preference for the purpose. Dates are vfery use-
ful, too, for persons troubled with spitting of blood, when taken
in the food more particularly. The dates called caryotsD," in
combination with quinces, wax, and saffron, are applied topi-
cally for affections of the stomach, bladder, abdomen, and in-
testines : they are good for bruises also. Date- stones,"^ burnt
in a new earthen vessel, produce an ash which, when rinsed,
is employed as a substitute for spodium,^^ and is used as an in-
gredient in eye-salves, and, with the addition of nard, in washes
for the eye-brows.-^
CKAP. 52. (5.) — THE PALM WHICH PEODUCES MYROBALANUM :
THREE REMEDIES.
Of the palm which produces myrobalanum,^® the most
esteemed kind is that grown in Egypt ;-^ the dates of which,
unlike those of the other kinds, are without stones. Used with
astringent wine, they arrest ^^ diarrhoea and the catamenia, and
promote the cicatrization of wounds.
CHAP. 53. THE PALM CALLED ELATE : SIXTEEN REMEDIES.
The palm called '' elate,"-' or *' spathe," furnishes its buds,
leaves, and bark for medicinal purposes. The leaves are ap-
plied to the thoracic regions, stomach, and liver, and to spreading
ulcers, but they are adverse to cicatrization. The bark ^° of the
tree, while tender, mixed with wax and resin, heals itch-scab
in the course of twenty days : a decoction, also, is made of it
22 See B. Yi. c. 37, and B. xiii. c. 9.
23 They have no properties, when burnt, to distinguish them from the
asheis of other vegetables.
21 Impure metallic oxide. 25 u Calliblephara."
26 See B. xii. cc. 46, 47.
2'' Fee is of opinion that this is not the " myrobalanum" of B. xii. c.
46, the behen or ben nut, but the pbconicobalauus of c. 47 in that Book ;
and, indeed, there can be little doubt that Pliny has committed an error
here in substituting one for the oiher.
28 "Ciet," "promote," is the reading adopted by Sillig, but "sistit"
is supported b^ the parallel passage in Dioscorides.
29 See B. xii. c. 62, and the Note, in reference to the mistake which
Pliny appears to have committed in reference to this term.
3" In reality, it is quite inert.
496 pliity's natural HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
for diseases of the testes. Used as a fumigation, it tui^ns the
hair black, and brings away the foetus. It is given in drink,
also, for diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and thoracic organs ;
but it acts injuriously upon the head and nerves. The decoc-
tion of this bark has the effect, also, of arresting fluxes of the
uterus and the bowels : the ashes of it are used with white wine
for griping pains in the stomach, and form a very efficacious
remedy for affections of the uterus.
CHAP. 54. (6.) — REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES,
FRUIT, BRANCHES, 3ARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF
VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES.
TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION
UPON STRUTHEA.
We next come to the medicinal properties of the various
kinds of apples. The spring fruits of this nature are sour and
unwholesome^^ to the stomach, disturb the bowels, contract the
bladder, and act injuriously upon the nerves ; when cooked,
however, they are of a more harmless nature. Quinces are
more pleasant eating when cooked; still however, eaten
raw, provided they are ripe, they are very usefuP^ for spitting
of blood, dysentery, cholera, and coeliac affections ; indeed,
they are not of the same efficacy when cooked, as they then
lose the astringent properties which belong to their juice.
They are applied also to the breast in the burning attacks of
fever, and, in spite of what has been stated above, they are
occasionally boiled in rain-water for the various purposes be-
fore-mentioned. Por pains in the stomach they are applied^^
like a cerate, either raw or boiled. The down upon them
heals^* carbuncles.
Boiled in wine, and applied with wax, they restore the hair,
when it has been lost by alopecy. A conserve of raw quinces
in honey relaxes the bowels ; and they add very materially to
the sweetness of the honey, and render it more wholesome to
the stomach. Boiled quinces preserved in honey are beaten
up with a decoction of rose-leaves, and are taken as food by some
'^ In consequence of the malic and tartaric acid which they contam.
'8 Quinces are of an astringent nature ; and an astringent sirop, Fee
says, is still prepared from tliem.
^ They are no longer used for this purpose.
** Fee observes that it has no such effect.
Chap. 55.] APPLES. 497
for the cure of affections of the stomach. The juice of raw quinces
is very good, also, for the spleen, hardness of breathing, dropsy,
affections of the mamillse, condylomata, and varicose veins.
The blossoms, either fresh or dried, are useful for inflamma-
tions of the eyes, spitting of blood, and irregularities of the
catamenia. By beating them up with sweet wine, a sooth-
ing sirop is prepared, which is very beneficial for coeliac
affections and diseases of the liver : with a decoction of them
a fomentation is made for procidence of the uterus and in-
testines.
From quinces an oil is also extracted, which we have spoken
of under the name of '' melinum i"^'^ in order to make it, the
fruit must not have been grown in a damp soil ; hence it is
that the quinces which come from Sicily are so highly esteemed
for the purpose ; while, on the other hand, the strutheum,^^
though of a kindred kind, is not so good.
A circle" is traced round the root of this tree, and the root
itself is then pulled up with the left hand, care being taken
by the person who does so to state at the same moment the
oliject for which it is so pulled up, and for whom. Worn as
an amulet, this root is a cure for scrofula.
CHAP. 5b. — THE SWEET APPLES CALLED MELIilELA : SIX OBSEEVA-
TIONS rPON THEM. SOUii APPLES : FOTJK OBSERVATIONS UPON
THEM.
The apples known as " melimela,"^® and the other sweet
apples, relax the stomach and bowels, but are productive of
heat and thirst, ^^ though they do not act injuriously upon the
nervous system. The orbiculata^" arrest diarrhoea and vomit-
ing, and act as a diuretic. Wild apples resemble the sour apples
of spring, and act astringently upon the bowels : indeed, for
this purpose they should always be used before they are ripe.
35 B. xiii. c. 2.
36 Or " sparrow-qnince." See B. xv. c. 10.
s'^ He states this so gravely, tliat ho would almost appear to 'believe it.
38 "Honey apples." SeeB. xv. c. 15, where this apple is also called
the " musteum."'
^9 A purgative sirop of apples^, causinj? thirst, was made hy the aucients,
the receipt for which was attributed to Kinj^ Sapor.
^° Or " round" apples. See B. xv. c. 15,
VOL. IV. K K
498 pltnt's natural histort. [Book XXIII.
CHAP. 56. CITRO^'S : five OBSEEVAXIOIfS UPON THEM.
Citrons," either the pulp of them or the pips, are taken in
wine as an antidote to poisons. A decoction of citrons, or the
juice extracted from them, is used as a gargle to impart sweet-
ness to the breath.*- The pips of this fruit are recommended
for pregnant women to chew when affected with qualmish-
ness. Citrons are good, also, for a weak stomach, but it is not
easy to eat them except with vinegar.*^
CHAP. 57. — PUMC APPLES 0"R POMEGKAKATES : TWEKTT-SIX
REMEDIES.
It would be a mere loss of time to recapitulate the nine*^
different varieties of the pomegranate. The sweet pome-
granates, or, in other words, tliose known by the name of
" apyrena,"'*^ are generally considered to be injurious to the
stomach ; they are productive, also, of flatulency, and are bad
for the teeth and gums. The kind which closely resembles the
last in flavour, and which we have spoken of as the " vinous"
pomegranate, has very diminutive pips, and is thought to be
somewhat more wholesome than the others. They have an
astringent effect upou the stomach and bowels, provided they
are taken in moderation, and not to satiety ; but even these,
or, indeed, any other kind, should never be given in fevers, as
neither the substance nor the juice of the fruit acts otherwise
than injuriously under those circumstances. They sliould,
also, be equally^^ abstained from in cases of vomiting and
bilious evacuations.
In this fruit Xature has revealed to us a grape, and, so to
say, not must, but a wine ready made, both grape and wine
being enclosed in a tougher skin.*' The rind of the sour
2)omegranate is employed for many purposes. It is in very
•*• See B. xii. c. 7. *- See B. xi. c. 15, and B, xii. c. 7.
^3 As Fee says, tliis observation is quite unaccountable. lie queries
whether a sweet fruit may not possibly ho meant, the sweet lime, for in-
stance, the flavour of wliich is very sickly, and would require to be
l)(;io;]itene(l by tlie assistance of an acid.
** See B. xiii. c. 34 ; where, liowever, he has only distinguished them
accordinc: to their flavour, sweet, vinous, &c.
^5 " Without pi2)s." See B, xiii. c. bi.
^'^ This and the previous precaution given, Fee considers to be mere
puerilities.
*7 Than tliat of the ordinary grape, probably.
Chap. 58.] THE COMPOSITION CALLED STOilATICE. 4 1^9
common use with curriers for tanning^^ leather, from which cir-
cumstance it has received the name of *' malicorium."^^ Me-
dical men assure us that the rind is diuretic, and tliat, boiled
wdth nut-galls in vinegar, it strengthens loose teeth in the
sockets. It is prescribed also for pregnant women when suf-
fering from qualmishness, the flavour of it quickening the
fcBtus. A pomegranate is cut, and left to soak in rain-water
for some three days ; after which the infusion is given cold to
persons suffering from coBliac affections and spitting of blood.
CHAP. 5 8. THE COMPOSITION CALLED STOJ^ATICE : FOUETEEN
KEMEDIES.
"With the sour pomegranate a medicament is made, which is
known as '* stomatice," and is extremely good for affections of
the mouth, nostrils, and ears, dimness of siglit, films upon the
eyes,^ diseases of the generative organs, corrosive sores called
**nomge," and fleshy excrescences in ulcers ; it is useful, also,
as an antidote to the venom of the sea-hare.*^^ The following
is the method of making it : the rind is taken off the fruit,
and the pips are pounded, after which the juice is boiled
down to one-third, and then mixed with saffron, split alum,"
myrrh, and Attic honey, the proportions being half a pound
of each.
Some persons have another way of making it : a number
of sour pomegranates are pounded, after which the juice is
boiled down in a new cauldron to the consistency of honey.
This composition is used for various affections of the genera-
tive organs and fundament, and, indeed, all those diseases
which are treated with lycium." It is employed, also, for
the cure of purulent discharges from the ears, incipient de-
fluxions of the eyes, and red spots upon the hands. Branches
of the pomegranate have the effect of repelling the attacks of
serpents." Pomegranate rind, boiled in wine and applied, is
a cure for chilblains. A pomegranate, boihid down to one-
third in three hemina) of wine, is a cure for griping pains in
48 See B. xiii. c. 34.
<8 The '* leather apple." apparently. It is more probable, as Ilardouin
says, that it was so called from the toughness of the rind.
^> " Pterygiis." ^^ See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.
52 '« Aluraen scissum." See B. xxxi. c. 39, and B. xxxv. c. 52.
" See B. xii. c. 15, and B. xxiv. c. 77.
5i An absurd notion, without any apparent foundation.
K K 2
500 PLINT's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
the bowels and for tape-worm.^ A'pomegranate, put in a new
earthen pot tightly coYered and burnt in a furnace, and then
pounded and taken in wine, arrests looseness of the bowels,
and dispels griping pains in the stomach.
CHAP. 59. CYTINUS I EIGHT REMEDIES.
The Greeks have given the name of cytinus ^^ to the first
germs of this tree when it is just beginning to blossom.
These germs have a singular property, which has been re-
marked by many. If a person, after taking ofi" everything
that is fastened upon the body, his girdle, for instance, shoes,
and even his ring, plucks one of them with two fingers of
the left hand, the thumb, namely, and the fourth finger, and,
after rubbing it gently round his eyes, puts it into his mouth
and swallows ^'^ it without letting it touch his teeth, he will
experience, it is said, no malady of the eyes throughout all
the year. These germs, dried and pounded, check the growth
of fleshy excrescences ; they are good also for the gums and
teeth ; and if the teeth are loose a decoction of the germs will
strengthen them.
The young pomegranates ^^ themselves are beaten up and
applied as a liniment to spreading or putrid sores ; they are
used also for inflammations of the eyes and intestines, and
nearly all the purposes for which pomegranate-rind is used.
They are remedial also for the stings of scorpions.
CHAP. 60. — BALAUSTIUM : TWELVE REMEDIES.
AVe cannot sufiiciently admire the care and diligence dis-
played by the ancients, who, in their enquiries into every
subject, have left nothing untried. Within the cytinus, before
the pomegranate itself makes its appearance, there are dimi-
nutive flowers, the name given to which, as already ^^ stated,
^5 All vegetable productions rich in tannin are thought to possess the
property of acting as a vermifuge.
5<i The calyx of the blossom of the pomegranate. Its properties are
remarkably astringent.
^' Tbis would be nearly an impossibilit)', as the calyx is hard and co-
riaceous, and of considerable size. JS^othing, however, is allowed to stand
in the way of superstition.
^^ " Ipsa corpuscula." The exact meaning of this expression is some-
what doubtful : Ilardouiu takes it to be the lower part of the cytinus.
59 In B. xiii. c. 34.
Chap. 61.] THE WILD POMEGEANATE. 50 1
is *' balaustium." ^^ These blossoms, even, have not escaped
their enquiries ; it having been ascertained by them that they
are an excellent remedy for stings inflicted by the scorpion.
Taken in drink, thej^ arrest the catamenia, and are curative
of ulcers of the mouth, tonsillary glands, and uvula, as also of
spitting of blood, derangement of the. stomach and bowels,
diseases of the generative organs, and running sores in all
parts of the body.
The ancients also dried these blossoms, to try their efficacy
in that state, and made the discovery that, pulverized, they
cure patients suffering from dysentery when at the very point
of death even, and that they arrest looseness of the bowels.
They have not disdained, too, to make trial of tlie pips of the
pomegranate : parched and then pounded, these pips are good
for the stomach, sprinkled in the food or drink. To arrest
looseness of the bowels, they are taken in rain-water. A
decoction of the juices of the root, in doses of one victori-
atus,^^ exterminates tape- worm ;^- and the root itself, boiled
down in water to a thick consistency, is employed for the
same purposes as lycium.^^
CHAP. 61. — THE WILD POMEGliANATE.
There is a tree, also, which is called the wild pomegranate,**
on account of its strong resemblance to the cultivated pome-
granate. The roots of it have a red bark, which taken in
wine in doses of one denarius, promotes sleep. The seed of
60 The corolla of the flower. Dioscoridcs, B. i. c. 152, makes the "ba-
laustium" to be the blossom of the wild pomegranate, and the " cytinus"
to be that of the cultivated fruit. Theophrastus, however, and Galen,
give the same account of the cytinus as Pliny. Holland has this quaint
marginal Note on the passage : " Here is Pliny out of the way ;"..not im-
probably in reference to the statement of Dioscorides.
61 Or Quinarius. See Introduction to Vol. III.
62 These statements, Fee says, are quite unfounded.
63 See B. xii. c. 15, and B. xxiv. c. 77.
^ Fee thinks that there is no doubt tliat this was really the pomegranate,
left to grow wild. Dalechamps and Fee suggest that, misled by the
resemblance of the Greek names, Pliny has here attributed to the wild
?omegranate the properties attributed to the red poppy, or corn poppy,
[ardouin, however, is not of that opinion, and thinks that the mention of
the roots of the plant proves that Pliny has not committed any error here ;
as in B. xx. c. 77, he has attributed the narcotic effects of the poppy to
the head only.
502 PLUSTY's NATCTIAL HIPTORT. [Book XXIII,
it taken in drink is curative of dropsy. Gnats are kept at a
distance by the smoke of burnt pomegranate rind.
CHAP. 62. (7.) — peaks: twelve observations xtpon them.
All kinds of pears, as an aliment, are indigestible,^^ to
persons in robust health, even ; but to invalids they are for-
bidden as rigidly as wine. Boiled, however, they are re-
markably agreeable and wholesome, those of Crustumium^
in particular. All kinds of pears, too, boiled with honey, are
wholesome to the stomach. Cataplasms of a resolvent nature
are made with pears, and a decoction of them is used to dis-
perse indurations. They are efficacious, also, in cases of poi-
soning^^ by mushrooms and fungi, as much by reason of their
heaviness, as by the neutralizing effects of their juice.
The wild pear ripens but very slowly. Cut in slices and
hung in the air to dry, it arrests looseness of the bowels,
an effect which is equally produced by a decoction of it taken
in drink ; in which case the leaves also are boiled up together
with the fruit. The ashes of pear-tree wood are even more
efficacious^ as an antidote to the poison of fungi.
A load of apples or pears, however small, is singularly
fatiguing ^^ to beasts of burden ; the best plan to counteract
this, they say, is to give the animals some to eat, or at least
to shew them the fruit before starting.
CHAP. 63. — PIGS : one hundred and eleven observations
UPON them. ^
The milky juice of the fig-tree possesses kindred properties
with vinegar ;^° hence it is, that, like rennet, it curdles milk.
This juice is collected before the fruit ripens, and dried in the
shade ; being used with yolk of egg as a liniment, or else in
drink, with amylum,'' to bring ulcers to a head and break
^5 This depends considerably, as Fee says, upon the kind of pear.
66 See B. XV. c. 16.
6" There is no truth whatever in this statement.
63 They are equally inefficacious for the purpose,
"3 See B. xxiv. c. 1. An absurdity, upon which Fee has uselessly ex-
pended a dozen lines of indignation.
'0 In reality it has no affinity with vinegar or any other acid, and the
fact that it curdles milk is no proof whatever that such is the case.
"^ See B. xviii. c. 17.
Chap. 63.] FIGS, 503
them, and for the purposes of an eramenagogue. With meal
of fenugreek and vinegar, it is applied topicallj^ for gout ; it
acts also as a depilatory," heals eruptions of the ej-elids,
lichens and itch-scabs, and relaxes the] bowels. The milk of
the lig-tree is naturally curative of the stings of hornets,
wasps, and similar insects, and is remarkably useful for wounds
inflicted by scorpions. Mixed with axle-grease it removes
warts. With the leaves and figs still green an application is
made for scrofulous '^ and other sores of a nature which requires
emollients or resolvents. The leaves, too, used by themselves,
are productive of a similar effect. In addition to this, they
are employed for other purposes, as a friction for lichens, for
example, for alopecy, and other diseases which require caustic
applications. The young shoots of the brandies are used as
an application to the skin in cases of bites inflicted by dogs.
With honej' they are applied to the ulcers known as honey-
comb ulcers ;'^ mixed with the leaves of wdld poppies they ex-
tract'^ splinters of bones; and the leaves beaten up in vinegar
are a cure for bites inflicted by dogs. The young white shoots
of the black '^ fig are applied topically, wdth w^ax, to boils, and
bites inflicted by the shrew-mouse : and tlie aslies of their
leaves are used for the cure of gangrenes and the reduction of
fleshy excrescences.
Ripe figs are diuretic and laxative ; they promote the per-
spiration, and bring out pimples ; hence it is that they are un-
w^holesome in autumn, the perspirations which they excite
being always attended with shivering. They are injurious
also to the stomach, though for a short time only ; and it is
generally thought that they spoil the voice. The figs which
are the last to ripen are more wholesome than the first, but
those which are drugged'"' for the purpose of ripening them
are never wholesome. This fruit invigorates the young, and
improves the health of the aged and retards the formation of
wrinkles ; it allays thirst, and is of a cooling nature, for
"2 Being of a caustic nature, it might have this effect, Fee tliinks. It
is, however, no longer employed in medicine. He is also of opinion that
the juice of the fig-tree mij^ht be useful in making cheese.
'3 Here, also, the caustic nature of their juices might render them
useful.
'^ " Ceria :" now known in surgery as " favus."
■^5 This and the next statement are equally untrue.
'6 See B. XV. c. 19. '' " Sledicatte." See B. xvi. c. 51.
504 plist's Is^ATTTBAL HISTOHT. [BoolXXITI.
which reason it should never be declined in those fevers of an
astringent tendency which are known as *' stegDce."
Dried figs are injurious to the stomach,'* but are beneficial
in a marvellous degree to the throat and fauces. They are of
a warming nature, are productive of thirst, and relax the bowels,
but are unwholesome in stomachic complaints and fluxes of the
bowels. In all cases they are beneficial for the bladder, hard-
ness of breathing, and asthma, as also for diseases of the liver,
kidneys, and spleen. They are nourishing and invigorating,
for which reason, the athletes in former times used them as
food : Pythagoras, the gymnast, being the first who intro-
duced among them a flesh diet."' Figs are extremely useful
for patients recovering from a long illness, and for persons
suffering from epilepsy or dropsy. They are applied topically
also in all cases where sores require to be brought to a head,
or dispersed ; and they are still more efficacious when mixed
with lime or nitre. Boiled with hyssop they act as a purga-
tive on the pectoral organs, carry off the phlegm, and cure
inveterate coughs : boiled with wine they heal maladies of
the fundament, and tumours of the jaws. A decoction of them
is applied also to boils, inflamed tumours, and imposthumes
of the parotid glands. This decoction, too, is found very
useful as a fomentation for disorders incident to females.
Eoiled with fenugreek,^" figs are very useful in cases of
pleurisy and peripneumony. A decoction of them with
rue is good for griping pains in the bowels ; in combination
with verdigris,^^ they are used for ulcers of the legs and im-
posthumes of the parotid glands; with pomegranates, for hang-
nails ; ^ and with wax, for burns and chilblains. Boiled in
wine, with wormwood and barley-meal, they are employed
for dropsy. Eaten with nitre, they relax the bowels ; and
beaten up with salt they are applied to stings inflicted by
scorpions. Boiled in wine, and applied topically, they bring
carbuncles to a head. In cases of carcinoma, unattended with
ulceration, it is a singularly good plan to apply to the part the
'8 They produce lieart-bum and flatulency.
'5 " Ad carnes eos transtulit." Dalechamps takes this to mean " sho^red
them that the flesh was increased by eating figs." This Pythagoras was
probably the Saraian pugilist who gained a victory in 01. 48.
^•"J This herb is rich in mucilage, and of a soothing nature.
61 '*^ris flore." 82 u ptgrygiis."
Chap. 64,] THE TTriD TIG. 505
pulpiest fig that can be procured ; the same, too, with pha-
gedaenic sores.
As to the ashes of the fig, those of no tree known are of a
more acrid character,^ being of a detergent and astringent
nature, and tending to make new flesh and to promote the
cicatrization of wounds. They are also taken in drink, for
the purpose of dissolving coagulated blood, as also for bruises,
falls with violence, ruptures, convulsions * * * * ia
one cyathus respectively of water and oil. They are adminis-
tered also for tetanus and spasms, and are used either in a
potion, or as an injection for coeliac affections and dysentery.
Employed as a liniment with oil, they have a wanning effect ;
and kneaded into a paste with wax and rose-oil, they heal
bums, leaving the slightest scar only. Applied in oil, as a
liniment, they are a cure for weakness of sight, and are used
as a dentifrice in diseases of the teeth.
It is said, too, that if a patient draws downward a branch
of a fig-tree, and turns up his head and bites off some knot
or other of it, without being seen by any one, and then wears
it in a leather bag suspended by a stiiag from his aeck, it is a
certain cure for scrofulous sores and imposthumes of the parotid
glands. The bark of this tree, beat-en up with oil, cures
ulcerations of the abdomen. Green figs, applied raw, with
the addition of nitre and meal, remove warts and wens.^
The ashes of the suckers which spring from the roots are used
as a substitute for spodium.^ Burnt over a second time and
incorporated with white lead, they are divided into cakes
which are used for the cure of ulcerations of the eyes and
eruptions.
CHAP. 64. THE WILD FIG I FOETT-TWO OBSEBTATIONS UPON IT.
The wild fig, again, is even more efficacious in its properties
than the cultivated one. It has not so large a proportion of
milky juice as the other : a slip of it put into milk has the
effect of curdling it and turning it into cheese. This juice,
collected and indurated by being subjected to pressure, im-
«3 This is the case, as they are remarkahly rich in alkaline salts. The
assertion, however, as to their properties, is. as Fee savs, hypothetical.
&^ "Thymes."
f^ Metallic ashes, or dross. See B. xxxiv. c. 52.
506 pltnt's natueal histoet. [Eook XXIII.
parts a fine flavour ^^ to ineat, being steeped in vinegar for the
purpose, and then rubbed upon it. It is used also as an in-
gredient in blisters, and taken internally it relaxes the bowels.
Used with amyluni,^^ it opens the passages of the uterus, and
combined with the yolk of an egg it acts as an emmenagogue.
Mixed with meal of fenugreek it is applied topically for
gout, and is used for the dispersion of leprous sores, itch -scabs,
lichens, and freckles : it is an antidote also to the stings
of venomous animals, and to the bites of dogs. Applied to
the teeth in wool, or introduced into the cavitj^ of a carious
tooth, this juice cures tooth-ache. ^^ The young shoots and
the leaves, mixed with meal of fitches, act as an antidote to
the poison of marine animals, wine being added to the prepa-
ration. In boiling beef a great saving of fire- wood may be
effected, by putting some of these shoots in the pot.^^
The figs in a green state, applied topically, soften and disperse
scrofulous sores and all kinds of gatherings, and the leaves, to
a certain extent, have a similar efi'ect. The softer leaves are
applied with vinegar for the cure of running ulcers, epinyctis,
and scaly eruptions. With the leaves, mixed with honey, honey-
comb ulcers ^° are treated, and wounds inflicted by dogs ; the
leaves are applied, too, fresh, with wine, to phagedaenic sores.
In combination with poppy-leaves, they extract splintered,
bones. Wild figs, in a green state, employed as a fumigation,
dispel flatulency; and an infusion of them, used as a potion,
combats the deleterious efl'ects of bullocks' blood, white-lead,
and coagulated milk, taken internally. Boiled in water, and
employed as a cataplasm, they cure imposthumes of the parotid
glands. The shoots, or the green'figs, gathered as young as
possible, are taken in wine for stings inflicted by scorj^ions.
The milky juice is also poured into the wound, and the leaves
are applied to it : the bite of the shrew-mouse is treated in a
similar manner. The ashes of the young branches are curative
of relaxations of the uvula ; and the ashes of the tree itself,
mixed with honey, have the effect of healing chaps. A de-
s^ " Suavitatem." Fee is justly at a loss to understand how this could
be. It is doubtful whether Pliny does not mean that hy the use of this
substance meat was liept fresh.
^7 See B. xviii. c. 17.
^^ Fee thinks that, owing to its acridity, it may possibly have this effect.
^^ There is probably no foundation for this statement.
«o Favus.
Chap. 66.] PLUMS. 507
coction of the root, boiled in wine, is good for tooth-aclie.
The winter wild fig, boiled in vinegar and pounded, is a cure
for impetigo : tlie branches are first barked for the purpose
and then scraped ; these scrapings, which are as fine as saw-
dust, being applied topically to the parts aftected.
There is also one medicinal property of a marvellous nature
attributed to the wild fig : if a youth who has not arrived at
puberty breaks off a branch, and then with his teeth tears off
the bark swelling with the sap, the pith of this branch, we are
assured, attached as an amulet to the person before sunrise,
will prevent the formation of scrofulous sores. A branch of
this tree, attached to the neck of a bull, however furious, ex-
ercises such a marvellous effect upon him as to restrain his
ferocity, ^^ and render him quite immoveable.
CHAP. 65. THE HERB ERINEON *. THEEE REMEDIES.
It will be as well to speak here, in consequence of the simi-
larity of name,^- of the herb which is known to the Greeks as
the " erineon." This plant^^ is a palm in height, and has
mostly five small stems : in appearance it resembles ocimum,
and bears a white flower, with a small, black, seed. Beaten up
with Attic honey, it is a cure for defluxions of the eyes. In
whatever way it is gathered, it yields a considerable abun-
dance of sweet, milky, juice. With the addition of a little
nitre, this plant is extremely useful for pains in the ears. The
leaves of it have the property of neutralizing poisons.
CHAP. 66. PLUMS : POUR OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.
The leaves^^ of the plum, boiled in wine, are useful for the
tonsillary glands, the gums, and the uvula, the mouth being
rinsed with the decoction every now and then. As for the
fruit itself, it is relaxing'^ to the bowels ; but it is not very
91 Plutarch, Sympos. ii. 7, tells the same absurd story.
92 To " erineon," the Greek for wild fig.
93 Supposed to be the Campanula rapunculus of Linnaeus, the ram-
pion ; though Fee expresses some doubts. Guilandiu has suggested the
iJieracium Sabaudum of Linnaeus, an opinion which Fee thinks not alto-
gether destitute of probability.
91 The leaves of this tree contain a large proportion of tannin, to
which they owe their astringent properties.
9= Prunes, the produce of the plum-tree, called the plum of Saint Julien,
are still used as a purgative.
508 ' pltnt's natural nisTORT. [Eook XXIir.
"wholesome to the stomach, though its bad effects are little
more than momentary.
CHAP. 67. PEACHES : TWO REMEDIES.
Peaches, again, are more wholesome than plums ; and the
same is the case with the juice of the fruit, extracted, and
taken in either wine or vinegar. Indeed, what known fruit
is there that is more wholesome as an aliment than this ?
There is none, in fact, that has a less powerful smell, ^^ or a
greater abundance of juice, though it has a tendency to create
thirst. ^^ The leaves of it, beaten up and applied topically,
arrest haemorrhage : the kernels, mixed with oil and vinegar,
are used as a liniment for head-ache. ^^
CHAP. 68. WILD PLUMS : TWO REMEDIES.
The fruit of the wild plum, or the bark of the root,^^ boiled
down to one-third in one hemina of astringent wine, arrests
looseness of the bowels and griping pains in the stomach :
the proper dose of the decoction is one cyathus.
CHAP. 69. THE LICHEN ON PLUM-TREES : TWO REMEDIES.
Upon the bark of the wild and cultivated plums we find an
excrescence' growing, known to the Greeks by the name of
*' lichen :" it is remarkably good for chaps and condjdomatous
swellings.
CHAP. 70. MULBERRIES : THIRTY-NINE REMEDIES.
In Egypt and in the Isle of Cyprus there are, as already
^ A most singular assertion, as Fee says, and one that universal expe-
rience proves to be unfounded.
^' On the contrary, it quenches thirst.
98 Fee thinks that, owing to the hydro-cyanic acid which the kernels
contain, there may possibly be some foundation for this statement of their
curative effects.
99 Both the root and the finiit are of an astringent nature. From this
fruit an extract is prepared, Fee says, rich in tannin, and called in Franco
Acacia nostras, from its resemblance to the juice of the Egyptian Acacia.
^ " Limus." Fee thinks that this may possibly be the Evernia prunastri
of modern botany. It has been suggested, however, that Pliny has com-
mitted an error here, and tliat in copying from the Greek source he has
mistaken the author's mention of tlie cure of lichens by the gum of the
plum-tree, for an account of a lichen which grows on the tree. Such, in
fact, is the statement of Dioscorides in Jj. i. c. 174, though he does not
mention chaps and condylomata.
€hap, 71.] STOiiATiCE. ^' 509
stated,^ mulberry- trees of a peculiar kind, being of a nature
that is truly marvellous ; for, if the outer bark is peeled off,
they emit a great abundance of juice ; but if a deeper inci-
sion is made, they are found to be quite dry.^ This juice is
[ an antidote to the venom of serpents, is good for dysentery,
I disperses inflamed tumours and all kinds of gatherings, heals
wounds, and allays both head-ache and ear-ache : it is taken
in drink for affections of the spleen, and is used as a liniment
for the same purpose, as also for fits of shivering. This juice,
however, very soon breeds worms.
Among ourselves, too, the juice which exudes from the
mulberry-tree is employed for an equal number of purposes :
taken in wine, it neutralizes the noxious effects of aconite* and
the venom of spiders, relaxes the bowels, and expels tape-
worm and other animals which breed in the intestines ;^ the
bark of the tree, pounded, has also a similar effect. The
leaves, boiled in rain-water with the bark of the black fig and
the vine, are used for dyeing the hair.
The juice of the fruit has a laxative effect immediately upon
the bowels, though the fruit itself, for the moment, acts bene-
ficially upon the stomach, being of a refreshing nature, but pro-
ductive of thirst. If no other food is taken upon them, mul-
berries'' are of a swelling tendency. The juice of unripe mul-
berries acts astringently upon the bowels. The marvels which
are presented by this tree, and of which we have made some
mention " when describing it, would almost appear to belong
to a creature gifted with animation.
CHAP. 71. THE MEDICAMENT CALLED STOMATICE, AliTERIACE, OB
PANCHKESTOS. FOUK KEMEDIES.
From the fruit of the mulberry a medicament is prepared,
called ''panchrestos,'"* ''stomatice," or "arteriace:" the fol-
lowing is the method employed. Three sextarii of the juice
2 In B. xiii. cc. 14, 15, where he calls it a fig-tree. He alludes to the
sycamore. ■* See B. xvL^c. 72.
•* This statement is entirely unfounded.
5 Considering that the |leaves and bark are rich in tannin and gallic
acid, it might be worth while to ascertain if there is any truth in this
assertion.
6 But Horace says, Sat. B. ii, s. 4, 1. 22, that mulberries are remark-
ably wholesome as a dessert. " In B. xvi. c. 41.
" " All-healing," <' mouth-medicine," and " medicine for the trachea."
510 Pliny's NATUEAL HISTORY . [Book XXIII.
are reduced, at a slow heat, to the consistency of honey ; two
denarii of dried omphacium^ or one of myrrh, with one dena-
rius of saffron, are then added, the whole being beaten up to-
gether and mixed with the decoction. There is no medica-
ment known that is more soothing than this, for affections of
the mouth, the trachea, the uvula, and the stomach. There
is also another mode of preparing it ; two sextarii of mulberry
juice and one of Attic honey are boiled down in the manner
above stated.
There are some other marvellous properties, also, which are
mentioned in reference to this tree. When the tree is in bud,
and before the appearance of the leaves, the germs of the fruit
must be gathered with the left hand — the Greeks give them
the name of ''ricini."^° These germs, worn as an amulet
before they have touched the ground, have the effect of arrest-
ing haemorrhage, whether proceeding from a wound, from the
mouth, from the nostrils, or from piles ; for which purposes
they are, accordingly, put away and kept. Similar virtues
are attributed to a branch just beginning to bear, broken off at
full moon, provided also it has not touched the ground : this
branch, it is said, attached to the arm, is peculiarly efficacious
for the suppression of the catamenia when in excess. The
same effect is produced, it is said, when the woman herself
pulls it off, whatever time it may happen to be, care being
taken not to let it touch the ground, and to wear it attached to
the body. The leaves of the mulberry-tree beaten up fresh,
or a decoction of them dried, are applied topically for stings
inflicted by serpents : an infusion of them, taken in drink, is
equally efficacious for that purpose. The juice extracted from
the bark of the root, taken in wine or oxycrate, counteracts
the venom of the scorpion.
We must also give some account of the method of preparing
this medicament employed by the ancients : extracting the
juice from the fruit, both ripe and unripe, they mixed it to-
gether, and then boiled it down in a copper vessel to the con-
s See B. xii. c. 60. A rob, or sirop of mulberries is prepared for much
the same purposes at tlie present day, but Avitbout the OTUphaciura, myrrh,
or saffron. An " arteriace" is also mentioned in B. sx. c. 79.
^° Hermolaiis Barbarus is possibly right in suggesting " cytini," which
name has been previously mcnlioned iu connection with the calyx of the
pomegranate.
Ckap. 72.] ' CHERHtES. 511
sistencj' of honey. Some persons were in tlie habit of adding
myrrh and cypress, and then left it to liurden in the sun, raixing
it with a spatula three times a-day. Such was their receipt for
the stomaiice, which was also employed by them to promote
the cicatrization of wounds. There was another metliod, also,
of dealing with the juice of this fruit : extracting the juice,
they used the dried fruit with various articles of food,^^ as
tending to heighten the flavour ; and they were in the liabit
of employing it medicinally''^ for corroding ulcers, pituitous
expectorations, and all cases in which astringents were re-
quired for the viscera. They used it also for the purpose of
cleaning^^ the teeth. A third mode of employing the juices of
this tree is to boil down the leaves and root, the decoction
being used, with oil,^^* as a liniment for the cure of burns.
The leaves are also applied by themselves for the same
purpose.
An incision made in the root at harvest- time, supplies a
juice that is extremely useful for tooth-ache, gatherings, and
suppurations; it acts, also, as a purgative upon the bowels.
Mulberry-leaves, macerated in urine, remove the hair from
liides.
CHAP. 72. CHERTirES: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.
Cherries are relaxing to the bowels and unwholesome'^ to
the stomach ; in a dried state, however, they are astringent
and diuretic.'^ I find it stated by some authors, that if
cherries are taken early in the morning covered with dew,
the kernels being eaten with them, the bowels will be so
strongly acted upon as to effect a cure for gout in the feet.
11 From the account given by Dioscorides, B. i. c. 181, this appears to
he the meaning of the passage, which is very clliptically expressed, if, ui-
deed, it is not imperfect.
12 In a powdered state, probably, as mentioned by Dioscorides.
13 The use of the word "conluebant" would almost make it appear that
he is speaking of a liquid.
13* The juice (if. indeed, Pliny intends to specify it as an ingredient)
will not, as Fee remarks, combine with oil. Dioscorides says, B. i. c. 180,
that the leaves are bruised aud applied with oil to burns.
11 Black cherries, Fee says, bigaroous, and others, with a firm flesh,
are the most unwholesome. See B. xv. c 30.
1' This property. Fee says, is attributed by some, in modfm tinn-s, not
to the flesh, or pericarpus of the cherry, but to the stalks of the fruit.
512 plint's natural history. [Book XXIII,
CHAP. 73. MEDLARS : TWO REMEDIES. SORBS I TWO REMEDIES.
Medlars, the setania^^ excepted, which has pretty nearly
the same properties as the apple, act astringently upon the
stomach and arrest looseness of the bowels. The same is the
case, too, with dried sorbs ;^' but when eaten fresh, they are
beneficial to the stomach, and are good for fluxes of the bowels.
CHAP. 74. (8.) PIIfE-NUTS : thirteen REMEDIES.
Pine-nuts, ^^ with the resin in them, are slightly bruised, and
then boiled down in water to one-half, the proportion of water
being one sextarius to each nut. This decoction, taken in
doses of two cyathi, is used for the cure of spitting of blood.
The bark of the tree, boiled in wine, is given for griping pains
in the bowels. The kernels of the pine-nut allay thirst, and
assuage acridities and gnawing pains in the stomach; they
tend also to neutralize vicious humours in that region, recruit
the strength, and are salutary to the kidneys and the bladder.
Thej^ would seem, however, to exercise an irritating effect ^^
upon the fauces, and to increase cough. Taken in water, wine,
raisin wine, or a decoction of dates, they carry off bile. For
gnawing pains in the stomach of extreme violence, they are
mixed with cucumber-seed and juice of purslain ; they are em-
ployed, too, in a similar manner for ulcerations of the bladder
and kidneys, ^° having a diuretic effect.
CHAP. 75. ALMONDS : TWENTY-NINE REMEDIES.
A decoction of the root of the bitter almond -^ clears the
complexion, and gives the face a brighter colour.-"^ Bitter al-
monds are provocative of sleep, '^ and sharpen the appetite ;
16 See B. XT. c. 22. i" See B. xv. c. 23.
18 They are no longer used in medicine, Fee says, but the buds of the
pine and fir, the properties of which are analogous, are still used, though
not in cases of haemoptysis.
1'-* In a rancid state particularly, they would have this effect.
20 Fee thinks that the mixtiu-e might be useful in these cases.
21 See B. XV. c. 24.
22 " Hilariorem." At the present day it is not a decoction of the root,
hut the fixed oil of the kernels, that is used as a cosmetic; for which pur-
pose it is used with oil of sweet almonds and wax.
23 Their narcotic effect is owing to the prussic, or hydro-cyanic, acid
which they contain.
Chap. 76.] GREEK NUTS. 513
they act, also, as a diuretic and as an emmenagogue. They
are used topically for head- ache, when there is fever more par-
ticularly. Should the head-ache proceed from inebriation,-*
they are applied with vinegar, rose-oil, and one sextarius of
water. Used in combination with amylum ^^ and mint, they
arrest haemorrhage. They are useful, also, for lethargy and
epilepsy, and the head is anointed with them for the cure of
epinyctis. In combination with wine, they heal putrid ulcers
of an inveterate nature, and, with honey, bites inflicted by
dogs.-^ They are employed, also, for the cure of scaly erup-
tions of the face, the parts affected being fomented first.
Taken in water, or, as is often done, in an electuary, with
resin of terebinth,-'' they remove pains in the liver and kidneys;
used with raisin wine, they are good for calculus and strangury.
Bruised in hydromel, they are useful for cleansing the skin ;
and taken in an electuary Avith the addition of a small propor-
tion of elelisphacus,^® they are good for diseases of the liver,
cough, and colic, a piece about the size of a hazel-nut being
taken in honey. It is said that if five bitter almonds are taken
by a person before sitting down to drink, he will be proof
against inebriation ;-^ and that foxes, if they eat bitter al-
monds, ^° will be sure to die immediately, if they cannot find
water to lap.
As to sweet almonds, their remedial properties are not ^^ so
extensive ; still, however, they are of a pui'gative nature, and
are diuretic. Eaten fresh, they are difficult ^^ of digestion.
CHAP. 76. GEEEK KUTS I ONE EEIIEDY.
'; Greek nuts,^^ taken in vinegar with wormwood seed, are said
"^ Almonds "were a faTourite food with the monks in the middle ages ;
not improbably because they tended to dispel the fumes of wine. Almond
milk, similar to our custard, was a standing dish at their " charities" anil
anniversaries. '-^ See B. xviii. c. 17.
26 They would be of no use whatever in these cases.
27 Otherwise turpentine. '^^ See B. xxii. c. 71.
23 See Note -^ above. Plutarch tells us that Drusus, the brother of
Tiberius, one of the greatest drinkers of his time, used almonds for thi.-j
purpose. Fee will not believe that they have any such preventive effect.
"" Almonds will kill small animals, birds, for instance,
2^ They are much more used in modern medicine tlian bitter almonds.
^2 There is some ground, Fee says, for this assertion,
33 See B. XV, c. 24, where Pliny expresses himself at a loss as to their
identification.
TOL. rV. L L
514 Pliny's natueal histoet. [Book XXIII.
to be a cure for jaundice. Used alone, they are employed
topically for the treatment of diseases of the fundament, and
condylomata in particular, as also cough and spitting of blood.
CHAP. 77. WALNUTS I TWENTY-FOUR EEMEDIES. THE MITHEI-
DATIC ANTIDOTE.
"Walnuts'* have received their name in Greek from being
oppressive ^'^ to the head; for, in fact, the emanations^^ from the
tree itself and the leaves penetrate to the brain. The kernels,
also, have a similar effect when eaten, though not in so marked
a degree. When fresh gathered, they are most agreeable
eating ; for when dry, they are more oleaginous, unwholesome
to the stomach, difficult of digestion, productive of head-ache,
and bad for cough,^^ or for a person when about to take an emetic
fasting : they ai"e good in cases of tenesmus only, as they carry
off the pituitous humours of the body. Eaten beforehand, they
deaden the effects of poison, and, employed with rue and oil,
they are a cure for quinsy. They act as a corrective, also, to
onions, and modify their flavour. They are applied to inflam-
mations of the ears, with a little honey, and with rue they are
used for affections of the mamillas, and for sprains. With
onions, salt, and honey, they are applied to bites inflicted by
dogs or human beings. Walnut-shells are used for cauteri-
zing 2^ carious teeth ; and with these shells, burnt and then
beaten up in oil or wine, the heads of infants are anointed,
they having a tendency to make the hair grow ; hence they
are used in a similar manner for alopecy also. These nuts,
eaten in considerable numbers, act as an expellent upon tape-
worm.^^ Walnuts, when very old, are**' curative of gangrenous
sores and carbuncles, of bruises also. Green walnut-sheUs *^
31 See B. XV. c. 24.
35 JLcipva, from Kupog, "heaviness," or Kaptj, the "head." See Vol.
III. p. 316.
36 A mere prejudice, no doubt.
^"^ The rancidity of the oil which they contain, renders them irritating
to the throat and stomach.
38 Fee remarks, that it is difficult to see how this could be done.
39 This statement, as Fee remarks, is quite unfounded.
*o This assertion is also entirely imaginary.
*i "Cortex juglandium." Fee says that hy this term is meant, not tlie
green out?r shell, husk, or pericarpus of the walnut, but the bark of the
tree.
Chap. 78] HAZEL-NFTS. 515
are employed for the cure of lichens and dysentery, and the
leaves are beaten up with vinegar as an application for ear-
ache."^^
After the defeat of that mighty monarch, Mithridates, Cneius
Pompeius found in his private cabinet a recipe for an antidote
in his own hand- writing ; it was to the following effect :*^ —
Take two dried walnuts, two figs, and twenty leaves of rue ;
pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt ;
if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against
all poisons for that day.^"* "Walnut kernels, chewed by a man
fasting, and applied to the wound, effect an instantaneous cure,
it is said, of bites inflicted by a mad dog.
CHAP. 78. hazel-nuts: three observations FTON' THEM.
PISTACHIO-NUTS I EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEil. CHESNUTS ;
FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.
Hazel-nuts ^ are productive of head-ache, and flatulency of
the stomach ; they contribute, however, to the increase of flesh
more than would be imagined. Parched, they are remedial for
catarrhs, and beaten up and taken with hydromel,^^ they are
good for an inveterate cough. Some persons add grains of
pepper,'*^ and others take them in raisin v/ine.
Pistachio-nuts'*® have the same properties, and are produc-
tive of the same effects, as pine-nuts ; in addition to which,
they are used as an antidote to the venom "'^ of serpents, eaten
or taken in drink.
*2 This asserted use of them has not been verified by modern experience .
*3 The various receipts for the preparation of this Mithridate or anti-
dote differ very widely ; and, indeed, the probability is, as Dr. Heberden
says, that Mithridates was as much a stranger to his own antidote, as
modern physicians have since been to the medicines daily advertised under
their names. Mithridates is said to have so fortified nimself against all
noxious drugs and poisons, that none would produce any effect when he
attempted to destroy himself — a mere fable, no doubt.
-^^ This, we are told by Galen, was regularly done by the Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, De Antid. B. i. c. i.
45 See B. XV. c. 24.
*s An emulsion of them fresh, with honey, might be useful, Fee thinks,
in such a case.
4^ Either of these additions would certainly neutralize the good effects
of the emulsion. The addition of raisin wine, however, is recommended
by Dioscorides.
*s See B. xiii. c. 10.
43 They are of no efficacy whatever for such a purpose.
L L 2
516 PLINTHS NATITEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
Chesnuts ^° have a powerful effect in arresting fluxes of the
stomach and intestines, are relaxing to the bowels, are bene-
licial in cases of spitting of blood, and have a tendency to make
flesh.^i
chap. 79. caeobs: five obseevations tjpon them. the
coenel; o]S"e eemedy. the fetjit of the aebutus.
Fresh carobs^- are unwholesome to the stomach, and relax-
ing to the bowels ;^^ in a dried state, however, they are astrin-
gent, and are much more beneficial to the stomach ; they are
diuretic also. For pains in the stomach, persons boil three
Syrian carobs^ with one sextarius of water, down to one-half,
and drink the decoction.
The juices which exude from the branches of the comeP
are received on a plate of red-hot iron^^ without it touching the
wood ; the rust of which is applied for the cure of incipient
lichens. The arbutus or unedo®^ bears a fruit that is difficult
of digestion, and injurious to the stomach.
CHAP. 80. THE LATJEEL ; SIXTY- NINE OBSEEVATIONS UPON IT.
All parts of the laurel, both the leaves, bark, and berries,
are of a warming^^ nature; and a decoction of them, the
leaves in particular, is very useful for affections of the blad-
der and uterus. ^^ The leaves, applied topically, neutralize the
poison of VvTisps, bees, and hornets, as also that of serpents,
the seps,^° dipsas,^^ and viper, in particular. Boiled in oil,
^0 See B. XV. c. 25. They are no longer used in medicine, and, as Fee
says, it is extremely doubtful if they possess any of the properties here at-
tributed to them.
^^ They are still looked upon as very nourishing, as, indeed, is the case
with all the feculent fruits.
^2 See B. XV. c.926.
°^ They are productive of colic and diarrhoea.
51 See B. xiii. c. 16. ^5 See B. xv. c. 31.
56 The juice of the sap would, to all appearance, produce an acetate or
oxide of iron.
57 See B. XV. c. 28.
58 All parts of the laurel, the berries in particular, are impregnated with
an essential oil with a powerful odour and of an exciting nature. Upon
this volatile principle, and nothing else, the whole of its medicinal pro-
perties are based.
59 This assertion, Fee says, is no better than fabulous.
•^0 See Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 11. 723, 776.
61 See the Pharsalia, B. ix. 1. 719.
Chap. 80.] THE LAUREL. 517
they promote the catamenia ; and the more tender of the leaves
beaten up with polenta, are used for inflammations of the eyes,
with rue for inflammations of the testes, and with rose- oil, or
oil of iris,*^- for head-ache. Three leaves, chewed and swal-
lowed for three days in succession, are a cure for cough, and
beaten up with honey, for asthma. The bark of the root is
dangerous to pregnant women ; the root itself disperses cul-
culi, and taken in doses of three oboli in aromatic wine, it
acts beneficially on the liver. The leaves, taken in drink, act
as an emetic f^ and the berries, pounded and applied as a pes-
sary, or else taken in drink, promote menstruation. Two of
the berries with the skin removed, taken in wine, are a cure
for inveterate cough and hardness of breathing ; if, however,
this is accompanied wdth fever, they are given in water, or
else in an electuary with raisin wine, or boiled in hydromel.
Employed in a similar manner, they are good for phthisis, and
for all defluxions of the chest, as they have the eff'ect of
detaching the phlegm and bringing it off.
For stings inflicted by scorpions, four laurel-berries are
taken in wine. Applied with oil, they are a cure for epi-
nyctis, freckles, running sores, ulcers of the mouth, and scaly
eruptions. The juice of the berries is curative of porrigo
and phthiriasis ; and for pains in the ears, or hardness of hear-
ing, it is injected into those organs with old wine and oil of
roses. All venomous creatures fly at the approach of persons
who have been anointed with this juice : taken in drink, the
juice of the small-leaved^^ laurel in particular, it is good for
stings inflicted by them. The berries,^^ used with wine, neu-
tralize the venom of serpents, scorpions, and spiders ; they
are applied also, topically, with oil and vinegar, in diseases of
the spleen and liver, and with honey to gangrenous sores. In
cases of lassitude and shivering fits, it is a very good plan to
rub the body with juice of laurel-berries mixed with nitre.
Some persons are of opinion that delivery is accelerated by
taking laurel- root to the amount of one acetabulum, in water.
and that, used fresh, it is better than dried. It is recommended
62 "Irino." See B. xiii. c. 2,
63 This assertion, Fee says, is untrue.
6^ See B. XT. c. 39.
C5 All tliese statements as to the properties of the henries. Fee says, are
isypothetical and more than doubtful.
L L 3
518 PLimr's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
by some authorities, to take ten of the berries in drink, for
the sting of the scorpion ; and in cases of relaxation of the
uvula, to boil a quarter of a pound of the berries, or leaves,
in three sextarii of water, down to one third, the decoction
being used warm, as a gargle. For head-ache, also, it is re-
commended to bruise an uneven number of the berries in oil,
the mixture being warmed for use.
The leaves of the Delphic laureP^ bruised and applied to the
nostrils from time to time, are a preservative®^ against conta-
gion in pestilence, and more particularly if they are burnt.
The oil of the®^ Delphic laurel is employed in the preparation
of cerates and the medicinal composition known as "acopum,"^^
and is used for fits of shivering occasioned by cold, for the
relaxation of the sinews, and for the cure of pains in the side
and the cold attacks in feversj" Warmed in the rind of a
pomegranate, it is applied topically for the cure of ear-ache. A
decoction of the leaves boiled down in water to one third, used
as a gargle, braces the uvula, and taken in drink allays pains
in the bowels and intestines. The more tender leaves, bruised
in wine and applied at night, are a cure for pimples and
prurigo.
The other varieties of the laurel possess properties which
are nearly analogous. The root of the laurel of Alexandria,''^
or of Mount Ida,''^ accelerates delivery, being administered in
doses of three denarii to three cyathi of sweet wine ; it acts
also as an emmenagogue, and brings away the after-birth.
Taken in drink in a similar manner, the wild laurel, known as
*' daphnoides " and by the other names which we have men-
tioned,''^ is productive of beneficial effects. The leaves of it,
either fresh or dried, taken in doses of three drachmae, in
hydromel with salt, act as a purgative''^ upon the bowels.
6''' The Laurus nobilis of modern botany.
^^ A statement, Fee says, that is altogether illusory.
<5^ Of the berries, Fee thinks.
^^ See c. 45 of this Book; also B. xxvii. c. 13.
""^ Fee thinks that this oil, in conjunction with adipose substances, might
be useful for the treatment of rheumatic affections.
"1 The Ruscus hypophyllum of Linnaeus. It is quite inodorous, Fee
says, and has no analogous properties whatever with the next-mentioned
pfcant.
72 See B. XV. c. 39. " In B. xv. c. 39.
'* The peasantry of France, Fee says, still use as a purgative the berries
Chap. 81.] THE MYRTLE. 519
The wood, chewed, brings off phlegm, and the leaves act as
an " emetic ;" they are unwholesome, however, to the stomach.
The berries, too, are sometimes taken, fifteen in number, as a
purgative.
CHAP. 81. MYETLE ; SIXTY OBSEEVATIONS UPON IT.
The white'^ cultivated myrtle is employed for fewer medi-
cinal purposes than the black one."'^ The berries'^ of it are
good for spitting of blood, and taken in wine, they neutralize
the poison of fungi. They impart an agreeable smell'^ to the
breath, even when eaten the day before ; thus, for instance, in
Menander we find the Synaristosse"^ eating them. They are
taken also for dysentery, ^° in doses of one denarius, in wine :
and they are employed lukewarm, in wine, for the cure of
obstinate ulcers on the extremities. Mixed with polenta, they
are employed topically in ophthalmia, and for the cardiac
disease®^ they are applied to the left breast. For stings in-
flicted by scorpions, diseases of the bladder, head- ache, and
fistulas of the eye before suppuration, they are similarly em-
ployed ; and for tumours and pituitous eruptions, the kernels
are first removed and the berries are then pounded in old
wine. The juice of the berries^^ acts astringently upon the
bowels, and is diuretic : mixed with cerate it is applied topi-
cally to blisters, pituitous eruptions, and wounds inflicted by
the phalangium ; it imparts a black tint,^^ also, to the hair.
of the Daphne mezereum, and of the Daphne laureola ; and in Aragon
and Catalonia, the leaves of the Thymelea are used for a similar purpose.
The employment of them, however, is not unattended with danger.
'''" A variety with white berries, but which variety it appears impossible
to say.
76 See B. XV. c. 37.
'" The leaves and berries are bitter, and rich in volatile oil.
'^ This is consistent with fact.
■^5 A work of some kind, (perhaps a play, if the comic writer; Menander,
is the person alluded to) the title of which means " the Women Dining
together." Hardouin, with justice, ridicules the notion of Ortelius that
this is the name of some place or town.
^^ The astringency communicated by the tannin which they contain
would probably make them useful for dysentery ; if at the same time, as
Fee says, they are not too exciting, by reason of their essential oil.
81 See B. xi. c. 71.
82 " Succus seminis." Sillig has " succus feminis," apparently a mis-
print— the only one that has been met with thus far in his elaborate edition.
83 It might change the colour of the hair, but for a short time only.
520 PLINX'S KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXIII.
The oil of this myrtle is of a more soothing nature than the
juice, and the wine^* which is extracted from it, and *which
possesses the property of never inebriating, is even more so.
This wine, used when old, acts astringently upon the stomach
and bowels, cures griping pains in those regions, and dispels
nausea.
The dried leaves, powdered and sprinkled upon the body,
check profuse perspirations, in fever even ; they are good, too,
used as a fomentation, for coeliac affections, procidence of the
uterus, diseases of the fundament, running ulcers, erysipelas,
loss of the hair, scaly and other eruptions, and burns. This
powder is used as an ingredient, also, in the plasters known as
''liparae ;"^^ and for the same reason the oil of the leaves is
used for a similar purpose, being extremely efficacious as an
application to the humid parts of the body, the mouth and the
uterus, for example.
The leaves themselves, beaten up with wine, neutralize^" the
bad effects of fungi ; and they are employed, in combination
with wax, for diseases of the joints, and gatherings. A decoc-
tion of them, in wine, is taken for dysentery and dropsy.
Dried and reduced to powder, they are sprinkled upon ulcers
and haemorrhages. They are useful, also, for the removal of
freckles, and for the cure of hang-nails,^" whitlows, condylo-
mata, affections of the testes, and sordid ulcers. In combination
with cerate, they are used for burns.
Tor purulent discharges from the ears, the ashes of the
leaves are employed, as well as the juice and the decoction :
the ashes are also used in the composition of antidotes. For a
similar purpose the blossoms are stripped froni off the young
branches, which are burnt in a furnace, and then pounded in
wine. The ashes of the leaves, too, are used for the cure of
burns. To prevent ulcerations from causing swellings in the
inguinal glands, it will suffice for tlie patient to carry®® a sprig
of myrtle about him which has never touched the ground or
any implement of iron. ,
8* See B. XV. c, 37.
^^ Cerates, or adipose or oleaginous plasters.
^ In reality they have no such effect.
^^ " Pterygia."
88 Fee says here — " Pliny terminates, by a credulity quite unworthy of
him, a Chapter, full of false or exaggerated assertions, relative to the pro-
perties of the myrtle."
Chap. 83.] THE WILD MYRTLE. 521
CHAP. 82. — MYRTIDANXJM : THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
AYe have already described the manner in which myrtidanum^*
is made. Applied in a pessary, or as a fomentation or liniment,
it is good for affections of the uterus, being much more effica-
cious than the bark of the tree, or the leaves and seed. There
is a juice also extracted from the more tender leaves, which
are pounded in a mortar for the purpose, astringent wine, or,
according to one method, rain-water, being poured upon them
a little at a time. This extract is used for the cure of ulcers of
the mouth, the fundament, the uterus, and the abdomen.
It is employed, also, for dyeing the hair black, the suppression
of exudations at the arm-pits,^" the removal of freckles, and
other purposes in which astringents are required.
CHAP. 83. THE WILT) MYRTLE, OTHERWISE CALLED OXYMrRSINE,
OR CHAMJEMYRSINE, AND THE RTJSCIJS : SIX REMEDIES.
The wild myrtle, oxymyrsine,^^ or chamsemyrsine, differs
from the cultivated myrtle in the redness of its berries and its
diminutive height. The root of it is held in high esteem ; a
decoction of it, in wine, is taken for pains in the kidneys and
strangury, more particularly when the urine is thick and
fetid. Pounded in wine, it is employed for the cure of jaun-
dice, and as a purgative for the uterus. The same method is
adopted, also, with the young shoots, which are sometimes
roasted in hot ashes and eaten as a substitute for asparagus.^^
The berries, taken with wine, or oil and vinegar, break
calculi^^ of the bladder : beaten up with rose-oil and vinegar,
they allay head-ache. Taken in drink, they are curative of
jaundice. Castor calls the wild myrtle with prickly leaves,
or oxymyrsine, from which brooms are made, bj' the name of
*' ruscus"^"* — the medicinal properties of it are just the same.
Thus much, then, with reference to the medicinal pro-
«9 Or "myrtle-wine." See B. xiv. c. 19 ; also B. xv. c. 35.
9'^ "Alarum perfusiones."
9^ See B. XV. cc. 7, 37 : the Ruscus aculeatus of Liunzeus, or little
holly of the French, belonging to the Asparagea, and not tlie myrtles.
32 Being of the same family, of course there is a great resemblance.
'^ In reality they have no such lithotriptic nature, Fee says.
^* A kindred plant with the one already mentioned by our author : it
is stiU used for making brooms in some parts of Europe.
522 plint's natueal histoet. [Book XXIII.
perties of tlie cultivated trees ; let us now pass on to the wild
ones.
Sfmmatiy. — Eemedies, narratives, and observations, nine
hundred and eiarhteen.
'O'
EoMAN- AT7TH0ES QTJOTED. — C. Valgius,^ Pompeius Leuseus,'
Sextius Mger^ who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus* . who wrote
in Greek, Antonius j Castor/ M. Yarro,^ Cornelius Celsus,'
Fabianus.^
FoKEiGN AUTHOES QTTOTED. — Theophrastus,^ Democritus,^"
Orpheus,^^ Pythagoras,^^ Mago,^^ Menander^^ who wrote the
"Eiochresta," Nicander/'^Homer, Hesiod,^^ Musseus," Sopho-
cles,^^ Anaxilaiis.^^
't
Medical atjthoes quoted. — Mnesitheus,^" Callimachus,^^
Phanias ^^ the physician, Timaristus,^^ Simus,^* Hippocrates,^
Chrysippus,^" Diodes,-^ Ophelion,^^ Heraclides/® Hicesius,^"
Dionysius,^^ Apollodorus ^~ of Citium, Apollodorus^^ of Taren-
tum, Plistonicus,^* Medius,^^ Dieuches,^'' Cleophantus," Phi-
listion,^^ Asclepiades,^^ Crateuas,*" Petronius Diodotus,*^ lollas,^^
1 See end of B. xx. 2 gee end of B. xir.
3 See end of B. xii.j * See end of B. xx.
^ See end of B. xx. s gee end of B. ii.
' See end of B. vii.
^ For Fabianus Paphius, see end' of B. ii. ; for Fabianus Sabinus, see
end of B. xviii.
9 See end of B. iii. 10 See end of B. ii.
11 See end of B. xx. 12 gee end of B. ii.
13 See end of B. viii. 1* See end of B. xix.
15 See end of B. viii. • ^^ See end of B. vii.
17 See end of B. xxi. is See end of B. xxi.
19 See end of B. xxi. 20 gee end of B. xxi.
21 See end of B. iv.i 22 ggc end of B. xxi.
23 See end of B. xxi. -* See end of B. xxi.
25 gee end of B. vii. 26 gee end.of B. xx.
2- See end of B. xx. 28 gee end of B. xx.
29 See end of B. xii. so gee end of B. xv.
31 See end of B. xii. "' 32 gee end of B. xx.
33 See end of B. xx. 34 gee end of B. xx.
35 gee end of B. xx. 36 gge end of B. xx.
37 gee end of B. xx. 38 gee end of B. xx.
39 See end of B. vii. ^° See end of B. xx.
41 See end of B. xx. ^2 gge end of B. xii.
SUMMAET. 523
Erasistratus,^^ Diagoras/* Andreas/^ Mnesides,^ Epicharmus/''
Damion,^^ Dalion/^ Sosimenes,^" Tlepolemus/^ Metrodorus,'^-
Solo,53 Lycus," Olympias" of Thebes, Philinus,^ Petrichus,"
Micton/® Glaucias,^^ Xenocrates.*^
<'3 See end of B. xi.
^* See end of B. xii.
*5 See end of B. xx.
« See end of B. xii.
47 See end of B. xx.
48 See end of B. xx.
^*9 See end of B. vi.
50 See end of B. xx.
51 See end of B. xx.
52 See end of B. xx.
53 See end of B. xx.
5t See end of B. xii.
5s See end of B. xx.
56 See end of B. xx.
57 See end of B. xix.
58 See end of B. xx.
58 See end of B. xx.
60 See end of B. xx.
END OF YOL. lY.
J. BILLING, PKINTEE AND STEREOTYPER, WOKING, SUBEEY.
^
rJ
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