The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)

by the Elder Pliny

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In B. xii. c. 32—it is supposed by some that it is the Roman Libra that is meant, under the name of “Mina,” as containing eighty-four Denarii. If so, it must be the old Roman Libra, as it is more generally thought that the Libra of Pliny’s time contained ninety-six Denarii, of sixty grains, within a fraction.

[2] One thousand Paces made a Roman “Mille Passuum,” or Mile, 1618 yards English.

[3] “Immensæ subtilitatis.” As Cuvier remarks, the ancients have committed more errors in reference to the insects, than to any other portion of the animal world. The discovery of the microscope has served more than anything to correct these erroneous notions.

[4] “Insecta,” “articulated.”

[5] The trunk of the gnat, Cuvier says, contains five silken and pointed threads, which together have the effect of a sting.

[6] The Teredo navalis of Linnæus, not an insect, but one of the mollusks. This is the same creature that is mentioned in B. xvi. c. [80]; but that spoken of in B. viii. c. 74, must have been a land insect.

[7] They respire by orifices in the sides of the body, known to naturalists as stigmata. The whole body, Cuvier says, forms, in a measure, a system of lungs.

[8] Cuvier remarks that the various noises made by insects are in reality not the voice, as they are not produced by air passing through a larynx.

[9] B. ix. c. 6.

[10] Cuvier remarks, that they have a nourishing fluid, which is of a white colour, and acts in place of blood.

[11] The dye of sæpia, Cuvier remarks, is not blood, nor does it act as such, being an excrementitious liquid. It has in addition a bluish, transparent, blood. The same also with the juices of the purple.

[12] “Nervos.” Cuvier says that all insects have a brain, a sort of spinal marrow, and nerves.

[13] “Tutius.”

[14] Insects have no fat, Cuvier says, except when in the chrysalis state; but they have a fibrous flesh of a whitish colour. They have also viscera, trachea, nerves, and a most complicated organization.

[15] “Melligo.” For further information on this subject consult Bevan on the Honey Bee.

[16] Or “conusis,” “gummy matter.”

[17] Pitch-wax.

[18] A kind of bee-glue; the origin of the name does not seem to be known. Reaumur says that they are all different varieties of bee-glue.

[19] See B. xxii. c. 50.

[20] Different combinations of the pollen of flowers, on which bees feed.

[21] It is formed from the honey that the bee has digested.

[22] Sorrel, or monk’s rhubarb.

[23] A kind of broom.

[24] Spanish broom, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. Ropes were made of it. See B. xix. c. 7.

[25] Or, the “wild man.”

[26] Huber has discovered that there are two kinds of bees of neutral sex, or, as he calls them, unprolific females, the workers, which go out, and the nurses, which are smaller, and stay in the hive to tend the larvæ.

[27] From the honey found in the corollæ of flowers. This, after being prepared in the first stomach of the bee, is deposited in the cell which is formed for its reception.

[28] Cuvier says that the three kinds of cells are absolutely necessary, and that they do not depend on the greater or less abundance. The king of the ancients is what we know as the queen bee, which is impregnated by the drones or males.

[29] This is the fact, but not so their imperfect state.

[30] They do not work, but merely impregnate the queen; after which they are driven from the hive, and perish of cold and starvation.

[31] It appears, as Cuvier says, that the ancients had some notion that the swarm was multiplied by the aid of the drones.

[32] Cuvier says that the cell for the future queen is different from the others, and much larger. The bees also supply the queen larva much more abundantly with food, and of more delicate quality.

[33] Cuvier says that this coincidence with the number of the legs is quite accidental, as it is with the mouth that the animal constructs the cell.

[34] The basis of it is really derived from the calix or corolla of flowers.

[35] See B. iv. c. 24.

[36] In the last Chapter.

[37] Or “Flower-honey.”

[38] Season-honey.

[39] “Vinegar” is the ordinary meaning.

[40] Sillig remarks that the whole of this passage is corrupt.

[41] Hence, perhaps, its name of “acetum.”

[42] The people of Italy.

[43] The 10th of the calends of September, or 23rd August.

[44] Or “heath-honey.” In the north of England the hives are purposely taken to the moors.

[45] “Erice,” “heather,” seems to be a preferable reading to “myrice,” “tamarisk,” which is adopted by Sillig.

[46] 12th September.

[47] “Tetralicem” seems preferable to “tamaricem.”

[48] 13th November.

[49] “Unsmoked” honey.

[50] It takes place while they are on the wing.

[51] The only prolific female, in reality.

[52] Some unprolific females and some males, in reality.

[53] Cuvier thinks that either hornets, or else the drones, must be alluded to. Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 197, et seq., is one of those who think that bees are produced from flowers.

[54] I. e. from flowers.

[55] They arrange the eggs in the cells, but they cannot be said to sit.

[56] This is not the fact. The queen bee commences as a larva, and that the larva of a working bee, Cuvier says, which, placed in a larger cell, and nurtured in a different manner, developes its sex and becomes the queen of the new swarm.

[57] They are then in the chrysalis state.

[58] “Clavus.”

[59] It is the first hatched queen that puts the others to death.

[60] In consequence, really, of their pregnancy.

[61] The greater size of the abdomen makes the wings look shorter.

[62] The queen has a sting, like the working bees, but uses it less frequently.

[63] A place in Germany, where Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, gained a victory over the Germans: the locality is unknown.

[64] “Fur.” A variety, probably, of the drone.

[65] So Virgil says—

——“Hæc certamina tanta
Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent.”—Georg. iv. 87.

[66] If it is left in the wound, the insect dies, being torn asunder.

[67] Of course this is fabulous, as the drones are males.

[68] Though belonging to the same class, they are not of degenerate kinds.

[69] The “mule-gnat.”

[70] See Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 27.

[71] The reading seems doubtful, and the meaning is probably unknown.

[72] “Injury of the young.”

[73] There are two kinds of hive-moth—the Phalæna tinea mellanella of Linnæus, and the Phalæna tortrix cereana. It deposits its larva in holes which it makes in the wax.

[74] In consequence of closing the stigmata, and so impeding their respiration. The same result, no doubt, is produced by the honey when smeared over their bodies.

[75] B. xxi. c. 42.

[76] Cuvier says that a hive has been known to last more than thirty years: but it is doubtful if bees ever live so long as ten, or, except the queen, little more than one.

[77] Though Virgil tells the same story, in B. iv. of the Georgics, in relation to the shepherd Aristæus, all this is entirely fabulous.

[78] Georg. B. iv. l. 284, et seq.

[79] Under roofs, and sometimes in the ground: hornets build in the hollows of trees.

[80] Called “Sphæx” by Linnæus.

[81] The true version is, that after killing the insect they bury it with their eggs as food for their future young.

[82] Cuvier says that it is the males, and not the females, that have no sting.

[83] What modern naturalists call the “Hymenoptera.”

[84] Some kind of wasp, or, as Cuvier says, probably the mason bee.

[85] Called “bombyx” also; though, as Cuvier remarks, of a kind altogether different from the preceding one.

[86] The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of Coæ vestes. These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk.

[87] This account is derived from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 19.

[88] “Lanificia.”

[89] Early in the reign of Tiberius, as we learn from Tacitus, the senate enacted “ne vestis Serica viros fædaret”—“That men should not defile themselves by wearing garments of silk,” Ann. B. ii. c. 33.

[90] The Aranea lupus of Linnæus.

[91] As Cuvier observes, he has here guessed at the truth.

[92] They copulate in a manner dissimilar to that of any other insects—the male fecundates the female by the aid of feelers, which he introduces into the vulva of the female situate beneath the anterior part of the abdomen.

[93] Cuvier remarks, that the scorpion is viviparous; but the young are white when born, and wrapped up in an oval mass, for which reason they may easily be taken for maggots or grubs.

[94] This must be understood of the scorpion of Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The sting of that of the south of Europe is not generally dangerous.

[95] Cuvier seems to regard this as fanciful: he says that the instances of seven joints are but rarely to be met with.

[96] There are no winged scorpions. Cuvier thinks that he may possibly allude to the panorpis, or scorpion-fly, the abdomen of which terminates in a forceps, which resembles the tail of the scorpion.

[97] Probably the panorpis.

[98] See B. xxix. c. 29.

[99] The starred or spotted lizard.

[100] The stellio of the Romans is the “ascalabos” or “ascalabotes” of the Greeks, the lizard into which Ascalabus was changed by Ceres: see Ovid, Met. B. v. l. 450, et seq. Pliny also mentions this in B. xxix. c. 4, though he speaks of some difference in their appearance. It is a species of gecko, the tarentola of Italy, the tarente of Provence, and the geckotta, probably, of Lacepède. The gecko, Cuvier says, is not venomous; but it causes small blisters to rise on the skin when it walks over it, the result, probably, of the extreme sharpness of its nails.

[101] See c. [28] of this Book, and B. viii. c. 95; B. xxx. c. 27.

[102] A general name for the grasshopper. Cuvier remarks, that Pliny is less clear on this subject than Aristotle, the author from whom he has borrowed.

[103] “Correptis” seems a preferable reading to “conrupti,” that adopted by Sillig.

[104] The female has this, and employs it for piercing dead branches in which to deposit its eggs.

[105] The “mother of the grasshopper.”

[106] The trunk of the grasshopper, Cuvier says, is situate so low down, that it seems to be attached to the breast. With it the insect extracts the juices of leaves and stalks.

[107] Or “twig-grasshopper.”

[108] Or “corn-grasshopper.”

[109] Or “oat-grasshopper.”

[110] The river Cæcina. See B. iii. c. 15. This river is by Strabo, B. vi. c. 260, called the Alex. Ælian has the story that the Locrian grasshoppers become silent in the territory of Rhegium, and those of Rhegium in the territory of Locri, thereby implying that they each have a note in its own respective country.

[111] Cuvier says that the observations in this Chapter, derived from Aristotle, are remarkable for their exactness, and show that that philosopher had studied insects with the greatest attention.

[112] Or sheath; the Coleoptera of the naturalists.

[113] The flying stag-beetle, the Lucanus cervus of Linnæus.

[114] The dung-beetle, the Scarabæus pilularius of Linnæus.

[115] Various kinds of crickets.

[116] Cuvier says that it is on the two sides of the abdomen that the male carries its light, while the whole posterior part of the female is shining.

[117] In the glow-worm of France, the Lampyris noctiluca of Linnæus, the female is without wings, while the male gives but little light. In that of Italy, the Lampyris Italica, both sexes are winged.

[118] “Blattæ.” See B. xxix. c. 39, where three kinds are specified.

[119] This beetle appears to be unknown. Cuvier suggests that the Scarabæus nasicornis of Linnæus, which haunts dead bark, or the Scarabæus auratus may be the insect referred to.

[120] “Fatal to the beetle.”

[121] Cuvier remarks that this assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, is incorrect. The wings of many of the Coleoptera are articulated in the middle, and so double, one part on the other, to enter the sheath.

[122] Cuvier remarks, that the panorpis has a tail very like that of the scorpion; and that the ephemera, the ichneumons and others, have tails also. Aristotle, in the corresponding place, only says that the insects do not use the tail to direct their flight.

[123] These are merely the feelers of the jaws.

[124] Not instead of, but in addition to, the tongue, by the aid of which they suck.

[125] Evidently meaning the trunk.

[126] See B. xxix. c. 39.

[127] It is not true that the young locusts are destitute of feet.

[128] 7th May.

[129] 18th July.

[130] 11th May.

[131] Cuvier treats this story as purely imaginary.

[132] Cuvier says that some have been known nearly a foot long, but not more.

[133] He alludes to the ravages committed by the swarms of the migratory locust, Grillus migratorius of Linnæus.

[134] Julius Obsequens speaks of a pestilence there, created by the dead bodies of the locusts, which caused the death of 8000 persons.

[135] See also B. vi. c. 35.

[136] What are commonly called ants’ eggs, are in reality their larvæ and nymphæ. Enveloped in a sort of tunic, these last, Cuvier says, are like grains of corn, and from this probably has arisen the story that they lay up grains against the winter, a period through which in reality they do not eat.

[137] They stow away bits of meat and detached portions of fruit, to nourish their larvæ with their juices.

[138] It is in reality their larvæ that they thus bring out to dry. The working ants, or neutrals, are the ones on which these labours devolve: the males and females are winged, the working ants are without wings.

[139] “Ad recognitionem mutuam.”

[140] Some modern writers express an opinion that when they meet, they converse and encourage one another by the medium of touch and smell.

[141] See B. v. c. 31.

[142] M. de Veltheim thinks that by this is really meant the Canis corsac, the small fox of India, but that by some mistake it was represented by travellers as an ant. It is not improbable, Cuvier says, that some quadruped, in making holes in the ground, may have occasionally thrown up some grains of the precious metal. The story is derived from the narratives of Clearchus and Megasthenes. Another interpretation of this story has also been suggested. We find from some remarks of Mr. Wilson, in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society, on the Mahabharata, a Sanscrit poem, that various tribes on the mountains Meru and Mandara (supposed to lie between Hindostan and Tibet) used to sell grains of gold, which they called paippilaka, or “ant-gold,” which, they said, was thrown up by ants, in Sanscrit called pippilaka. In travelling westward, this story, in itself, no doubt, untrue, may very probably have been magnified to its present dimensions.

[143] Cuvier observes, that this is a very correct account of the cabbage or radish butterfly, the Papilio brassicæ or Papilio raphani of Linnæus.

[144] Cossi. See B. xvii. c. [37].

[145] Tæniæ.

[146] He alludes to the Morbus pediculosus.

[147] Aristotle says, in the corresponding passage, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 26, that the animals which are affected by lice, are more particularly exposed to them when they change the water in which they wash.

[148] Or “leapers.”

[149] He alludes to dog-ticks and ox-ticks, the Acarus ricinus of Linnæus, and the Acarus reduvius of Schrank.

[150] In c. 32 he has said the same of the grasshopper; in relation to its drink.

[151] A variety of the Cynips of Linnæus, which in vast numbers will sometimes adhere to the ears of dogs.

[152] These are really the larvæ of night-moths. His account here is purely imaginary.

[153] He speaks of the Cynips psenes of Linnæus, which breeds on the blossom of the fig-tree, and aids in its fecundation. See B. xv. c. [21].

[154] He alludes to various coleopterous insects, which are not included among the Cantharides of the modern naturalists. They are first an egg, then a larva, then a nympha, and then the insect fully developed.

[155] See B. xxix. c. 30.

[156] The redness sometimes observed on the snow of the Alps and the Pyrenees, is supposed by De Lamarck to be produced by animalculæ: other naturalists, however, suppose it to arise from vegetable or mineral causes.

[157] Cuvier thinks that he alludes to a variety of the ephemera or the phryganea of Linnæus, the case-wing flies, many of which are particularly short-lived. These are by no means peculiar to the river Bog or Hypanis.

[158] “Living for a day.”

[159] They only appear to be so, from the peculiar streaks on the eyes. Linnæus has hence called one variety, the Tabanus cæcutiens.

[160] Or with pounded chalk or whitening. Ælian adds, “if they are placed in the sun,” which appears necessary for the full success of the experiment. Life appears to be suspended in such cases for a period of surprising length.

[161] Probably the golden pheasant, as already mentioned.

[162] Some kind of heron or crane, Cuvier thinks.

[163] The Alauda cristata of Linnæus, so called from “galera,” a pointed cap like a helmet.

[164] The fifth legion.

[165] The hoopoe, B. x. c. 44.

[166] Savigny and Cuvier take this to be the Ardea virgo of Linnæus, a native of Numidia.

[167] The suddenness of their appearance, no doubt, was fabulous; but we have well-authenticated cases in recent times of substances growing on the human head, to all appearance resembling horns, and arising from a disordered secretion of the hair. Witness the case of Mary Davies, a so-called horn from whose head is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The story of Genucius Cippus, the Roman prætor, is told by Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 565, et seq.

[168] A spitter, or second year stag, according to Cuvier.

[169] “Broad-horned.” The Cervus dama of Linnæus.

[170] “Dama.” The Antelope redunca of Linnæus, Cuvier thinks.

[171] No doubt a kind of antelope.

[172] “Lyras” seems preferable to “liras.”

[173] There are several varieties of oxen, in which the horns adhere to the skin, and not to the cranium.

[174] B. viii. cc. 29-31.

[175] The Coluber cerastes of Linnæus. See B. viii. c. 35.

[176] The drinking-horns of our Saxon ancestors are well known to the antiquarian.

[177] The “urna” was half an “amphora,” or nearly three gallons.

[178] See B. xxxv. c. 41.

[179] The rhinoceros. See B. viii. c. 39.

[180] He surely must except the Phrygian oxen with the moveable horns, which he has previously mentioned.

[181] Or “long-haired.” See B. iii. c. 7.

[182] See B. iv. c. 31.

[183] See B. iv. c. 22.

[184] See B. v. c. 29.

[185] Φαλακροκόραξ. See B. x. c. 68.

[186] He borrows this from Aristotle.

[187] B. viii. c. 54, and B. x. c. 58. The skull of the bear is not thinner or weaker than that of other animals of its own size; but the skull of the parrot, in proportion to those of other birds, is remarkably hard.

[188] See B. vii. c. 1.

[189] Cuvier says that these are the larvæ of the œstrus, which are deposited on the lips of quadrupeds, and so make their way to various cavities.

[190] B. ix. c. 40.

[191] Or razor-sheath. See B. x. c. 88.

[192] Aristotle was of this opinion, but Galen maintained that the mole can see. Its eye is extremely small, and hard on the surface.

[193] Or “white” heron. As Cuvier remarks, this is probably a mere augur’s fable.

[194] It is almost needless to remark, that both snails, as well as locusts and grasshoppers, have eyes.

[195] Lumbricus.

[196] B. vii. c. 2.

[197] “Cæsii.”

[198] The same has been said also of Cardan, the elder Scaliger, Theodore Beza, the French physician Mairan, and the republican Camille Desmoulins.

[199] Caligula.

[200] Hardouin with justice doubts the soundness of this alleged reason.

[201] He alludes, probably, to some method of curing cataract; perhaps somewhat similar to that mentioned by him in B. xx. c. 20.

[202] This was done by the nearest relatives. This usage still prevails in this country, the eyelids being pressed down with pieces of gold or silver.

[203] Or “squint-eyed.”

[204] Or “cock-eyed.”

[205] B. viii. c. 45.

[206] B. viii, c. 51.

[207] See B. xxv. c. 50.

[208] Or crustaceous covering.

[209] Kohl is still used in the east for the same purpose.

[210] Aristotle says so, Hist. Anim. B. iii. c. 10.

[211] “The eyebrows.”

[212] This is not the fact.

[213] With their nails when mourning for the dead.

[214] Hence the word “nasutus,” a sneering, captious, or sarcastic man.

[215] “Flat-nosed,” and “snub-nosed.”

[216] A Roman family—the reading of this word seems doubtful.

[217] In reality, the under one only.

[218] He is incorrect in speaking of dogs as having serrated teeth.

[219] In the dugong also, babiroussa, muntjac, and others.

[220] The morse and the dugong are instances to the contrary.

[221] The females of the elephant, morse, dugong, chevrotin, and muntjac have them, and they are equally as useful as with the male, only, perhaps, not so strong.

[222] This is incorrect, unless he merely means ranged in one continuous line; and even then he is in error.

[223] See B. ix. c. 29. This is called the parrot-fish, from the resemblance of its upper and lower jaws to the beak of a parrot.

[224] They present this appearance from being worn away at the surface.

[225] Rondelet would read “gula,” the throat. This, though repudiated by Hardouin, is approved of by Cuvier, who justly looks upon the ordinary reading as an absurdity. Many fish, he says, and more especially the osseous ones, have teeth in the pharynx.

[226] There is always one fang, at least, ready to supply the place of the one in front, if lost by any accident.

[227] Like the jugglers of the East at the present day. But it is very doubtful whether the poison fang is in all instances previously extracted from the serpents which they handle.

[228] But the camel, as well as the lama, has an incisive bone, provided with an incisive tooth on each side, and has canine and molar teeth as well.

[229] If by this term he means teeth separated from each other, the assertion is incorrect, as in these animals we find the molars separated from the lower incisives by a very considerable space.

[230] Cuvier says, as far as the sea-urchin is concerned, very simply, and merely by looking at it, as its five teeth are very apparent.

[231] The incisors are in number, and very nearly in appearance, like those of man. The canines are different in shape, though similar in number. What he says about the elephant, is peculiar to that of India.

[232] See B. ix. c. 88.

[233] Very few other animals are born with teeth, in their natural state. Apes, dogs, and cats are not born with teeth.

[234] From the fourth to the eighth month in reality, during which the four central incisors appear.

[235] The only ones that do not change are those which have three molars on each side of the jaw.

[236] This is erroneous: they change the incisors and molars as well.

[237] See B. xxviii. c. 78.

[238] By us known as the “wisdom” teeth.

[239] This is not the fact: they have usually the same number, but there are exceptions on both sides. The same is also the case with sheep, goats, and swine.

[240] This is not very uncommon.

[241] Not at all an uncommon occurrence.

[242] Of the second set.

[243] It is only in the horse and the ass that these indications can be relied upon.

[244] Columellares.

[245] This has no such effect.

[246] The contrary is the case: it will be more prolific.

[247] Swine change them just the same as other animals.

[248] By certain appearances in the incisors, the age of a horse up to its twenty-fourth year, or even beyond, may be judged of: the other signs cannot be so positively relied upon.

[249] B. viii. c. 15.

[250] “Sævissima dentibus,” seems to be a preferable reading to “sævissime dentiunt.”

[251] Only two-forked in reality.

[252] It is not covered with hair.

[253] It is not bifurcate.

[254] These are horny, conical papillæ, the summits of which point backwards.

[255] See B. ix. c. 60.

[256] “Criers.”

[257] One of the titles of the goddess Fortuna.

[258] “Uva,” or “grape.”

[259] More generally “epiglottis.” It is found in some few reptiles. This passage is omitted by Sillig.

[260] Gullet, or pharynx.

[261] Stomachum.

[262] All these animals, on the contrary, have seven vertebræ.

[263] This is not the fact. The spinal marrow, even, may be wounded, without death being the immediate result.

[264] Snow-water, we know, is apt to produce goitre.

[265] “Stomachus.” More properly, the œsophagus, or ventricle.

[266] Lacunæ modo.

[267] Or turtle. It has a tongue, and though it has no teeth, the jaws are edged with a horny substance like the bills of birds.

[268] “Crenis” is read for “renis:” otherwise the passage is unintelligible: it is still most probably in a corrupt state.

[269] Among all the mammiferæ and the birds, the heart has four cavities, two on each side.

[270] Mens.

[271] This is a mistake. The heart is subject to disease, equally with other parts of the body.

[272] In spite of what Schenkius says in confirmation of Pliny, this is very doubtful. Of course it must increase from childhood, but the increase surely does not continue till the fiftieth year.

[273] See an account of him in the Messeniaca of Pausanias.

[274] In this part of the story may have originated that of the escape of Sindbad the Sailor, when buried in the vault with the body of his wife.—See the “Arabian Nights.”

[275] “Rex Sacrorum.” This was a priest elected from the patricians, on whom the priestly duties devolved, which had been originally performed by the kings of Rome. He ranked above the Pontifex Maximus, but was possessed of little or no political influence.

[276] No doubt there was trickery in this.

[277] By supernatural agency.

[278] This was P. Vitellius, who served under Germanicus in Germany. He was one of the accusers of Cn. Piso, who was charged with having poisoned Germanicus.

[279] The cardiac disease, as alleged.

[280] B. ix. c. 6.

[281] But see B. viii. c. 51, and B. xxviii. c. 29.

[282] Plutarch says that it was the “caput,” or “head” of the liver that was wanting. M. Marcellus was slain while reconnoitring the Carthaginian camp by night.

[283] Caligula.

[284] 1st of January.

[285] By his niece and wife, Agrippina, the mother of Nero.

[286] See B. iv. c. 11. Tharne does not seem to be known. Of course, this story about the hares is fabulous.

[287] There must be some corrupt reading here; for, as Sillig remarks, who ever heard of a siege which lasted a hundred years?

[288] Or diaphragm; from “præ,” “before,” and “cor,” the “heart.”

[289] With Sardonic laughter, as Hardouin remarks.

[290] Or small guts.

[291] Or front intestines.

[292] The coot, probably.

[293] He alludes to the papillæ of the mucous gland.

[294] The colic.

[295] “Lupus cervarius.” Probably the lynx.

[296] The belly of the elephant presents five transversal folds.

[297] See B. xxviii. c. 77. This substance, known by the name of egagropile, consists of the hair which the animal has swallowed when licking itself. It assumes a round form, in consequence of the action of the intestines.

[298] Perhaps the godwit, or stone-plover, the Scolopax ægocephala of Linnæus.

[299] See also B. xxvi. c. 83.

[300] This may be done with safety in dogs or other animals.

[301] See B. v. c. 32.

[302] See p. [68].

[303] This is not the case. Birds have kidneys, but of an irregular form.

[304] This is a mistake. It does cicatrize.

[305] Or bag.

[306] “The (principal) place.”

[307] Ajasson renders this passage: “The effects are fatal when this organ, becoming displaced, absorbs the air.” The text is probably corrupt.

[308] Varro, De Re Rust. B. ii. c. 4, says that he saw an instance of this in Arcadia.

[309] This is not the case.

[310] There is no similarity whatever between the spinal marrow and that which is found in the other bones.

[311] The hare and the partridge, for instance.

[312] There is considerable doubt what the ancients exactly meant by the “nervi;” and whether, in fact, they had any definite idea of “nerves,” in our acceptation of the word. Pliny here expresses the opinions entertained by Aristotle. “Tendons,” or “sinews,” would almost appear to be the proper translation of the word.

[313] See B. xxviii. c. 41.

[314] In allusion, probably, to hæmorrhoids, or piles.

[315] See B. vii. c. 12.

[316] Bears, dormice, serpents, &c.

[317] The polypus and the chameleon.

[318] See B. viii. cc. 51, 52.

[319] Walking-sticks are still made of it.

[320] As already mentioned, this is not the fact.

[321] See B. ix. c. 43.

[322] It is not improbable that, under this name, some kind of large vampire bat was meant; but, as Pliny says, it is impossible to arrive at any certain knowledge on the subject. The best account given of the strix is that in Ovid’s Fasti, B. vi. The name was given opprobriously to supposed witches, the “foul and midnight hags” of Shakspeare.

[323] This assertion is borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 14.

[324] Or biestings.

[325] See B. xxviii. c. 12. Poppæa Sabina, first the mistress, then the wife, of the Emperor Nero.

[326] “Spuma.” He calls it so, because it floats on the surface. See B. xxviii. c. 35. The “acor,” or acrid liquid, which he speaks of, is, no doubt, butter-milk.

[327] Or whey.

[328] Nismes, in France. Hardouin speaks of goats’-milk cheeses made in its neighbourhood, and known as fromages de Baux.

[329] Probably the modern Losere and Gevaudan. See B. iv. c. 19.

[330] For the Docleatæ, see B. iii. c. 26.

[331] For the Centrones, see B. iii. c. 24. He perhaps refers to the modern fromage de Passi.

[332] The modern Marquisat de Cive, which still produces excellent cheese.

[333] See B. xiv. c. [8].

[334] And more especially at Salona in Bithynia.

[335] “Etiam ubi non videtur major.” This is probably corrupt.

[336] He wrote a poem, in which the principal Latin dramatists are enumerated, in the order of merit. A. Gellius, B. xv. c. 24, has preserved a portion of it.

[337] Germanicus.

[338] This seems to be the meaning of “imbricatus.”

[339] Though wounds in the knee are highly dangerous, death does not necessarily ensue.

[340] Of another person, who had thus forfeited his bail. It was the custom to touch the ear of the attesting witness.

[341] The goddess of retribution. See B. xxviii. c. 5, where he makes further mention of her statue in the Capitol.

[342] The frog is, in some measure, an exception.

[343] Or “flat-foot,” “splay-foot,” “large-foot,” and “club-footed.”

[344] Words meaning “knock-kneed,” “bow-legged,” and “wry-legged.”

[345] The rhinoceros.

[346] Or wryneck.

[347] See B. x. c. 5.

[348] Supposed to be the Hirundo apus of Linnæus. Of the “oce” nothing is known; indeed, the reading is very doubtful.

[349] B. ix. c. 44.

[350] He evidently means insects of the centipede class. See B. xxix. c. 39.

[351] B. x. c. 83.

[352] Such as circumcision among the Jews.

[353] See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[354] Probably the buzzard; from this story also called the “triorchis.”

[355] Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 9.

[356] See B. ix. c. 52.

[357] “Aper.”

[358] B. ix. c. 7.

[359] See c. [65] of the present Book.

[360] Not the dumb son mentioned by Herodotus, who saved his father’s life at the taking of Sardes.

[361] Like the whispering gallery of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

[362] “Non aliter quam oculis.” On this, few will be found to agree with Pliny.

[363] And not to “conceal” them, according to the opinion of some modern politicians.

[364] But they are borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 9.

[365] See B. xii. c. [7].

[366] B. vii. c. 2.

[367] See B. xxix. c. 23.

[368] See c. [21] of the present Book.

[369] B. ix. c. 33.

[370] Or Fish-eaters.

[371] Or bulimia.

[372] See end of B. ii.

[373] See end of B. ii.

[374] C. Tremellius Scrofa, a friend of M. Varro, and one of the early writers on agriculture.

[375] See end of B. x.

[376] See end of B. vii.

[377] See end of B. ix.

[378] See end of B. vii.

[379] See end of B. viii.

[380] See end of B. ii.

[381] See end of B. ii.

[382] See end of B. x.

[383] See end of B. iii.

[384] Nothing seems to be known of this writer.

[385] See end of B. vii.

[386] See end of B. vii.

[387] See end of B. ii.

[388] See end of B. ii.

[389] See end of B. vi.

[390] See end of B. x.

[391] C. Oppius, one of the most intimate friends of Julius Cæsar, for whom, with Balbus, he acted in Spain. Of his numerous biographical and historical works, none have survived to our time.

[392] See end of B. ii.

[393] See end of B. ii.

[394] Probably Neoptolemus of Paros, who wrote a book of Epigrams, a treatise on Languages, and other works.

[395] Of Soli, an observer of the habits of bees. His portrait is said still to exist, on a cornelian, attentively observing a swarm of bees. He wrote upon bees, honey, and the art of mixing wines.

[396] Probably a different writer from the one mentioned at the end of B. viii.; nothing seems to be known of him.

[397] See end of B. viii.

[398] See end of B. viii.

[399] See end of B. x.

[400] A philosopher of Agrigentum, and disciple of Pythagoras. He is said to have perished in the crater of Mount Etna. He wrote numerous works, of which only some fragments exist.

[401] See end of B. iv.

[402] Apparently the same as the King Philometor, mentioned below. See end of B. viii.

[403] Of this writer nothing seems to be known.

[404] See end of B. vii.

[405] Of Chalcedon, one of the most famous physicians of antiquity. He was physician to Phalaris, the tyrant of Sicily, and is said to have dissected criminals alive. He was the first that paid particular attention to the nervous system.

[406] A native of Iulis, in Cos, or else Ceos, grandson of Aristotle, and disciple of Theophrastus. He acquired great reputation as a physician, at the court of Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, where he discovered the supposed disease of Prince Antiochus, who had fallen in love with his step-mother, Stratonice. Of his numerous medical works, only the titles and a few fragments exist.

[407] See end of B. vii.

[408] A physician of Laodicæa, founder of the school of the Methodici. He was a pupil of Asclepiades, and died about B.C. 43. Of his medical works only a few fragments survive.

[409] See end of B. ii.

[410] See end of B. viii.

[411] See end of B. viii.

[412] See end of B. viii.

[413] See end of B. iii.

[414] See end of B. vii.

[415] See King [Attalus], above.

[416] “Animâ.” The notion that plants are possessed of a soul or spirit, is derived from the Greek philosophers, who attributed to them intellect also, and sense.

[417] Vitruvius mentions the people of Gaul, Hispania, Lusitania, and Aquitania, as living in his day in dwellings covered with oak shingles, or with straw.

[418] See B. vi. c. 20, and B. xi. c. [26].

[419] Desfontaines remarks, that we may still trace vestiges of this custom in the fine trees that grow near church porches, and in church-yards. Of course, his remark will apply to France more particularly.

[420] It is doubtful whether the æsculus of the Romans was the same as the bay-oak, the holm-oak, or the beech. See B. xvi. c. [4].

[421] See further on this subject in Phædrus’s Fables, B. iii. f. 17.

[422] Reckoning the promulsis, antecæna, or gustatio, not as a course, but only a prelude, the bellaria, or dessert, at the Roman banquets, formed the second course, or mensa. It consisted of fruits uncooked, sweetmeats, and pastry.

[423] He alludes to the pursuit of the elephant, for the purpose of obtaining ivory, which was extensively used in his day, in making the statues of the divinities.

[424] A sarcastic antithesis. And yet Dalechamps would read “hominum” instead of “numinum”!

[425] Præmissa. The exact meaning of this word does not appear. Though all the MSS. agree in it, it is probably a corrupt reading. Plutarch, in his Life of Camillus, says that the wine of Italy was first introduced in Gaul by Aruns, the Etruscan.

[426] The Platanus orientalis of Linnæus. It received its name from the Greek πλάτος, “breadth,” by reason of its wide-spreading branches.

[427] For further mention of this island, now Tremiti, see B. iii. c. 30.

[428] He alludes, probably, to the “vectigal solarium,” a sort of ground-rent which the tributary nations paid to the Roman treasury. Virgil and Homer speak of the shade of the plane-tree, as a pleasant resort for festive parties.

[429] It is not improbable that Pliny, in copying from Theophrastus, has here committed an error. That author, B. ix. c. 7, says: ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ἀδρίᾳ πλάτανον οὔ φασιν εἶναι, πλὴν περὶ τὸ Διομήδους ἱερόν· σπανίαν δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πάσῃ. “They say that in Adria there are no plane-trees, except about the temple of Diomedes: and that they are extremely rare in Italy.” Pliny, probably, when his secretary was reading to him, mistook the word σπανίαν, “rare,” for Ἱσπανίᾳ “in Spain.”

[430] It has been remarked that, in reality, this process would only tend to impede its growth. Macrobius tells us, that Hortensius was guilty of this singular folly.

[431] Situate near the sea-shore. It was here that Plato taught. See B. xxxi. c. 3.

[432] Caligula.

[433] It is supposed that he here alludes sarcastically to the extreme corpulence of Caligula.

[434] M. Fée, the learned editor of the botanical books in Ajasson’s translation, remarks, that this cannot have been the Platanus of the botanists, and that there is no tree of Europe, which does not lose its leaves, that at all resembles it.

[435] The tendency, namely, to lose their leaves.

[436] Grandson of Asinius Pollio. Tacitus tells us, that he was one of those whom Piso requested to undertake his defence, when charged with having poisoned Germanicus; but he declined the office.

[437] Or “ground plane-trees.” It is by no means uncommon to see dwarf varieties of the larger trees, which are thus reduced to the dimensions of mere shrubs.

[438] C. Matius Calvena, the friend of Julius and Augustus Cæsar, as also of Cicero. He is supposed to have translated the Iliad into Latin verse, and to have written a work on cookery.

[439] See B. xxiii. c. 55. Fée remarks, that the ancients confounded the citron with the orange-tree.

[440] Fée remarks, that this is not the case. The arbute is described in B. xv. c. [28].

[441] In the time of Plutarch, it had begun to be somewhat more used. It makes one of the very finest preserves.

[442] At the present day, it is cultivated all over India, in China, South America, and the southern parts of Europe. Fée says, that they grow even in the open air in the gardens of Malmaison.

[443] B. xi. c. 115. Virgil says the same, Georg. B. ii. ll. 134, 135. Theophrastus seems to say, that it was the outer rind that was so used.

[444] See B. vi. c. 20.

[445] See B. vii. c. 2. The tree to which he alludes is unknown.

[446] Georg. B. ii. ll. 116, 117.

[447] B. iii. c. 97. There is little doubt that, under the general name of “ebony,” the wood of many kinds of trees was, and is still, imported into the western world, so that both Herodotus and Virgil may have been correct in representing ebony as the product of both India and Æthiopia.

[448] Herodotus says two hundred.

[449] In Italy, whither he had retired from the hostile attacks of his fellow-citizens. It is supposed by Le Vayer and others, that Pliny is wrong in his assertion, that Herodotus wrote to this effect while at Thurii; though Dr. Schmitz is inclined to be of opinion that he is right in his statement.

[450] B. iii. c. 115.

[451] B. vi. c. 35.

[452] Fée remarks, that the words of Pliny do not afford us any means of judging precisely what tree it was that he understood by the name of ebony. He borrows his account mainly from Theophrastus.

[453] It is not known to what tree he alludes.

[454] This account of the Ficus Indica, or religiosa, known to us as the banian-tree, is borrowed entirely from Theophrastus. Fée remarks, however, that he is wrong in some of his statements, for that the leaves are not crescent-shaped, but oblong and pointed, and that the fruit has not a pleasant flavour, and is only eaten by the birds.

[455] See B. vi. c. 23.

[456] Sprengel and Bauhin are of opinion that the banana is the tree meant here; Dodonæus thinks that it is the pomegranate. Thevet says that the pala is the paquovera of India, the fruit of which is called pacona. The account is borrowed from Theophrastus.

[457] The Gymnosophists, or Brahmins.

[458] Called Syndraci in B. vi. c. 25.

[459] It is not improbable that the Tamarindus Indica of Linnæus is the tree here alluded to: though M. Fée combats that opinion.

[460] See Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 5.

[461] Dalechamps and Desfontaines are of opinion, that the pistachio, or Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus, is here alluded to; but Fée considers that there are no indications to lead to such a conclusion.

[462] It is not improbable that he may here allude to the cotton-tree, of which further mention is made in c. [xxi]. of the present Book.

[463] Fée is of opinion that Cynorrhodon here means, not the dog-rose, but the gall which is formed on the tree by the sting of the Cynips bedeguar.

[464] Fée expresses himself at a loss to conjecture what trees are here meant by Pliny.

[465] Fée remarks, that there are many inaccuracies in the account here given by Pliny of the pepper-tree, and that it does not bear any resemblance to the juniper-tree. The grains, he says, grow in clusters, and not in a husk or pod; and he remarks, that the long pepper and the black pepper, of which the white is only a variety divested of the outer coat, are distinct species. He also observes, that the real long pepper, the Piper longum of Linnæus, was not known to the ancients.

[466] Fée remarks, that this is not a correct description of ginger, the Amomum zingiber of Linnæus. Dioscorides was one of those who thought that ginger was the root of the pepper-tree.

[467] It is very doubtful what tree is here alluded to by Pliny, though certain that it is not one of the pepper-trees. Sprengel takes it to be the Daphne Thymelæa.

[468] It has been suggested that under this name the clove is meant, though Fée and Desfontaines express a contrary opinion. Sprengel thinks that it is the Vitex trifolia of Linnæus, and Bauhin suggests the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus. Fée thinks it may have possibly been the Myrtus caryophyllata of Ceylon, the fruit of which corresponds to the description here given by Pliny.

[469] See c. [52] of the present Book.

[470] Or “Lycium.” It is impossible to say with exactness what the medical liquid called “Lycion” was. Catechu, an extract from the tan of the acacia, has been suggested; though the fruit of that tree does not answer the present description.

[471] Fée suggests that this may possibly be the Lycium Europæum of Linnæus, a shrub not uncommonly found in the south of Europe.

[472] The Rhamnus Lycioides of Linnæus, known to us as buckthorn. The berries of many varieties of the Rhamnus are violent purgatives.

[473] What he means under this head is not known. Fée speaks of a tree which the Brahmins call macre, and which the Portuguese called arvore de las camaras, arvore sancto, arvore de sancto Thome, but of which they have given no further particulars. Acosta, Clusius, and Bauhin have also professed to give accounts of it, but they do not lead to its identification. De Jussieu thinks that either the Soulamea, the Rex amaroris of Rumphius, or else the Polycardia of Commerson is meant. It seems by no means impossible that mace, the covering of the nutmeg, is the substance alluded to, an opinion that is supported by Gerard and Desfontaines.

[474] “Saccharon.” Fée suggests that Pliny alludes to a peculiar kind of crystallized sugar, that is found in the bamboo cane, though, at the same time, he thinks it not improbable that he may have heard of the genuine sugar-cane; as Strabo, B. xv., speaks of a honey found in India, prepared without the aid of bees, and Lucan has the line—

“Quique bibunt tenerâ dulces ab arundine succos,”

evidently referring to a sugar in the form of a syrup, and not of crystal, like that of the Bambos arundinacea. It is by no means improbable, that Pliny, or rather Dioscorides, from whom he copies, confuses the two kinds of sugar; as it is well known that the Saccharum officinarum, or sugar-cane, has been cultivated from a very early period in Arabia Felix.

[475] It is unknown what plant is here alluded to by Pliny, but Sprengel suggests that it is the Acacia latronum.

[476] From the description, this would appear to be a sort of poisonous horse-radish.

[477] There is a tree in India, as we are informed by Fée, which is known as the Excæcaria Agallochum, the juice of which is remarkably acrid. Sailors, on striking it with a hatchet, and causing the juice to spirt into their eyes, have been in danger of losing their sight. It is possible that this may be the tree here alluded to by Pliny.

[478] He borrows the account of this marvellous shrub from Theophrastus. No such plant is likely to have ever existed; though small, and even large, snakes may occasionally take refuge among shrubs and hollow trees.

[479] There is little doubt that the Hedysarum Alhagi of Linnæus is here meant, from which a kind of honey or manna flows, known as “Eastern” manna, or tereniabin. It is not so high as the fig-tree, and is found in Khorasan, Syria, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. The manna distils principally in the morning.

[480] Fée remarks, that it is singular that a resinous gum, such as bdellium, should have been used in commerce for now two thousand years, and yet its origin remain unknown. Kæmpfer and Rumphus are of opinion, that the tree which produces it is the one known to naturalists as the Borassus flabelliformis of Linnæus, or the Lontarus of others. It is imported into Europe from Arabia and India, and is often found mixed with gum Arabic.

[481] Περατικὸν; from περατὰ γῆς, “the remotest parts of the earth,” from which it was brought.

[482] The modern name of this tree is unknown.

[483] B. vi. c. 28.

[484] It is supposed that the Rhizophora Mangle of Linnæus is the tree that is here described. It grows on all the coasts of India, from Siam to the entrance of the Persian Gulf. It takes root on spots which have been inundated by the sea, and its boughs bend downwards, and taking root in the earth, advance gradually towards the sea. The leaf and fruit have the characteristics of those of the arbute and almond as here mentioned.

[485] B. vi. c. 32.

[486] Fée suggests that some kind of mangrove is probably alluded to, of the kind known as avicennia, or bruguiera.

[487] See B. vi. c. 20.

[488] “Cotonei.” To this resemblance of its fruit to the quince, the cotton-tree, which is here alluded to, not improbably owes its modern name.

[489] The cotton-tree, or Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus. It is worthy of remark, that Pliny copies here almost literally from Theophrastus. According to Philostratus, the byssus, or fine tissues worn by the Egyptian priests, were made of cotton.

[490] The Malthiola incana.

[491] Fée suggests that this may be a Magnolia; but, as he remarks, most plants open and shut at certain hours; consequently, this cannot be regarded as any peculiar characteristic, sufficient to lead with certainty to its identification.

[492] Theophrastus, from whom our author is copying, says that this is the case only with the fig-tree there.

[493] According to most commentators, this is the Costus Arabicus of Linnæus. Dioscorides mentions three varieties of costus: the Arabian, which is of the best quality, and is white and odoriferous; the Indian, which is black and smooth; and the Syrian, which is of the colour of wax, dusky, and strong smelling. Fée, however, doubts whether the modern costus is the same thing as that of the ancients; for, as he says, although it has a sweet odour, it does not deserve the appellation of a “precious aromatic,” which we find constantly given to it by the ancients.

[494] See B. vi. c. 23.

[495] It is probable that the nard of the ancients, from which they extracted the famous nard-oil, was not the same plant which we know as the Indian nard, or Andropogon nardus of Linnæus. Indeed, it has been pretty conclusively established by Sir William Jones, in his “Asiatic Researches,” that the Valeriana Jatamansi is the plant from which they obtained the oil. Among the Hindoos, it is known as djatâmansi, and by the Arabs under the name of sombul, or “spike,” from the fact of the base being surrounded with ears or spikes, whence, probably, the Roman appellation. This species of valerian grows in the more distant and mountainous parts of India, Bootan and Nepaul, for instance.

[496] From the Greek, ὄζαινα, “a putrid sore.” Fée suggests that this may have been the Nardus hadrosphærum of the moderns.

[497] Fée supposes that this is not lavender, as some have thought, but the Allium victorialis of modern naturalists, which is still mixed with the nard from the Andropogon. He doubts the possibility of its having been adulterated with substances of such a different nature as those mentioned here by Pliny.

[498] Fée is of opinion, that the Greek writers, from whom Pliny copied this passage, intended to speak of the ears of nard, or spikenard.

[499] According to Dioscorides, this appellation only means such nard as is cultivated in certain mountains of India which look toward Syria, and which, according to that author, was the best nard of all. Dalechamps and Hardouin, however, ridicule this explanation of the term.

[500] Generally supposed to be the Valeriana Celtica of modern naturalists. See B. xxi. c. 79.

[501] Probably the Valeriana Italica of modern naturalists.

[502] See B. xix. c. 48.

[503] Known in this country as fox-glove, our Lady’s gloves, sage of Jerusalem, or clown’s spikenard. See B. xxi. c. 16.

[504] Not always, but very seldom, Brotier says. Clusius has established, from observation, that this plant is only a variety of the Valeriana Celtica.

[505] Fée remarks, that the name “baccara,” in Greek, properly belonged to this plant, but that it was transferred by the Romans to the field nard, with which the Asarum had become confounded. It is the same as the Asarum Europæum of modern naturalists; but it does not, as Pliny asserts, flower twice in the year.

[506] It is by no means settled among naturalists, what plant the Amomum of the ancients was; indeed, there has been the greatest divergence of opinion. Tragus takes it to be a kind of bindweed: Matthioli, the Piper Æthiopicum of Linnæus: Cordus and Scaliger, the rose of Jericho, the Anastatica hierocuntica of Linnæus. Gesner thinks it to have been the garden pepper, the Solanum bacciferum of Tournefort: Cæsalpinus the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus: Plukenet and Sprengel the Cissus vitiginea, while Fée and Paulet look upon it as not improbably identical with the Amomum racemosum of Linnæus. The name is probably derived from the Arabic hahmâma, the Arabians having first introduced it to the notice of the Greeks.

[507] Supposed to have been only the Amomum, in an unripe state, as Pliny himself suggests.

[508] Still known in pharmacy as “cardamum.” It is not, however, as Pliny says, found in Arabia, but in India; from which it probably reached the Greeks and Romans by way of the Red Sea. There are three kinds known in modern commerce, the large, the middle size, and the small. M. Bonastre, “Journal de Pharmacie,” May, 1828, is of opinion, that the word cardamomum signifies “amomum in pods,” the Egyptian kardh meaning “pod,” or “husk.” It is, however, more generally supposed, that the Greek word, καρδία, “heart,” enters into its composition.

[509] “Verus” seems a preferable reading here to “vero,” which has been adopted by Sillig.

[510] See c. [42] of the present Book.

[511] Virgil, Georg. B. ii. l. 139, mentions Panchaia, in Arabia, as being more especially the country of frankincense. That region corresponds with the modern Yemen. It is, however, a well-ascertained fact, that it grows in India as well, and it is supposed that the greater part of it used by the ancients was in reality imported from that country. The Indian incense is the product of a tree belonging to the terebinth class, named by Roxburgh, who first discovered it, Boswellia thurifera. It is more especially found in the mountainous parts of India. On the other hand, it has been asserted that the Arabian incense was the product of a coniferous tree, either the Juniperus Lycia, the Juniperus Phœnicea, or the Juniperus thurifera of Linnæus. But, as Fée justly remarks, it would appear more reasonable to look among the terebinths of Arabia for the incense tree, if one of that class produces it in India, and more especially because the coniferous trees produce only resins, while the terebinths produce gum resins, to which class of vegetable products frankincense evidently belonged. In commerce, the gum resin, Olibanum, the produce of the Boswellia serrata, and imported from the Levant, bears the name of frankincense.

[512] See B. vi. c. 32. Their name is still preserved in the modern Hadramaut, to the east of Aden.

[513] See B. vi. cc. 31 and 32. He was the son of Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus, by whom he was adopted.

[514] This seems the most probable among these various surmises and conjectures.

[515] These words are said by some to be derived from the Greek, καρφὸς, “a hollow stalk,” on account of its lightness, and δᾳδίον, “a torch,” on account of its resinous and inflammable qualities. It is, however, much more probable that they were derived from the Arabic, and not from the Celto-Scythic, as Poinsinet conjectures.

[516] Fée is probably right in his conjecture, that it was so called solely in consequence of its superior strength.

[517] Meaning “drop” incense.

[518] “Undivided” incense.

[519] From their being the size of an ὄροβος, or “chick-pea.”

[520] There is some doubt as to the correctness of this reading. The “manna” here mentioned is quite a different substance to the manna of modern commerce, obtained from the Fraxinus ornus of naturalists.

[521] He was a kinsman of Olympias, the mother of Alexander, and a man of very austere habits. Plutarch says, that on this occasion Alexander sent to Leonidas 600 talents’ weight of incense and myrrh.

[522] See B. vi. c. 32.

[523] Probably the same as the deity, Assabinus, mentioned by Pliny in c. 42 of the present Book. Theophrastus mentions him as identical with the sun, others, again, with Jupiter. Theophrastus says that the god received not a tenth part, but a third.

[524] As to this place and the Gebanitæ, see B. vi. c. 32.

[525] There must surely be some mistake in these numbers.

[526] The Mediterranean.

[527] In c. [19] of the present Book.

[528] It is supposed to be the product of an amyris, but is not now esteemed as a perfume; but is used in medicine as a tonic. Forskhal has attributed to the Amyris kataf, or kafal, the production of myrrh. According to Ehrenberg, a very similar tree, though constituting a different species, the Balsamodendrum myrrha, also produces this substance. It is imported into Europe from both Abyssinia and Arabia. It was much used by the ancients, to flavour their wines.

[529] See B. vi. c. 32.

[530] Theophrastus says the terebinth.

[531] From the Greek στάζω, “to drop.” Fée observes, that the moderns know nothing positive as to the mode of extracting myrrh from the tree. See the account given by Ovid, Met. B. x. l. 500 et seq. of the transformation of Myrrha into this tree,—“The warm drops fall from the tree. The tears, even, have their own honour; and the myrrh that distils from the bark bears the name of its mistress, and in no age will remain unknown.”

[532] Fée remarks, that at the present day we are acquainted only with one kind of myrrh; the fragments which bear an impression like those of nails being not a distinct kind, but a simple variety in appearance only. He thinks, also, that Pliny may very possibly be describing several distinct resinous products, under the one name of myrrh. An account of these various districts will be found in B. vi. c. 32.

[533] Hardouin suggests that it may be so called from the island of Dia, mentioned by Strabo, B. xvi.

[534] “Collatitia.” The reading, however, is very doubtful.

[535] What this was is now unknown. Fée suggests that it may have been bdellium, which is found in considerable quantities in the myrrh that is imported at the present day.

[536] This is most probably the meaning of Pliny’s expression—“Ergo transit in mastichen;” though Hardouin reads it as meaning that myrrh sometimes degenerates to mastich: and Fée, understanding the passage in the same sense, remarks that the statement is purely fabulous. Mastich, he says, is the produce of the Pistacia lentiscus of Linnæus, which abounds in Greece and the other parts of southern Europe. The greater part of the mastich of commerce comes from the island of Chio. It is impossible to conjecture to what plant Pliny here alludes, with the head of a thistle.

[537] This kind, Fée says, is quite unknown to the moderns.

[538] This substance is still gathered from the Cistus creticus of Linnæus, which is supposed to be the same as the plant leda, mentioned by Pliny. It is also most probably the same as the Cisthon, mentioned by Pliny in B. xxiv. c. 48. It is very commonly found in Spain. The substance is gathered from off the leaves, not by the aid of goats, but with whips furnished with several thongs, with which the shrubs are beaten. There are two sorts of ladanum known in commerce; the one friable, and mixed with earthy substances, and known as “ladanum in tortis;” the other black, and soft to the fingers, the only adventitious substances in which are a little sand and a few hairs.

[539] See B. vi. c. 32.

[540] For some further account of this substance, see B. xxix. c. 10. Filthy as it was, the œsypum, or sweat and grease of sheep, was used by the Roman ladies as one of their most choice cosmetics. Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” more than once inveighs against the use of it.

[541] From the Greek ἔναιμον, “styptic,” or “blood-stopping.” It is at the present day called gum “de lecce” in Italy. Fée says that it is not often procured from the olive-trees of France, though it is found very commonly on those of Naples and Calabria. It has no active powers, he says, as a medicine.

[542] Hardouin suggests that they may be the pelagiæ, mentioned again in B. xiii. c. 51.

[543] See B. vi. c. 31.

[544] Although the savin shrub, the Juniperus Sabina of Linnæus, bears this name in Greek, it is evident, as Fée says, that Pliny does not allude to it, but to a coniferous tree, as it is that family which produces a resinous wood with a balsamic odour when ignited. Bauhin and others would make the tree meant to be the Thuya occidentalis of Linnæus; but, as Fée observes, that tree is in reality a native originally of Canada, while the Thuya orientalis is a native of Japan. He suggests, however, that the Thuya articulata of Mount Atlas may have possibly been the citrus of Pliny.

[545] See end of B. v.

[546] All these are mentioned in B. vi. c. 31.

[547] It is not known what wood is meant under this name. Aloe, and some other woods, when ignited are slightly narcotic.

[548] See B. v. c. 21.

[549] See B. vi. c. 30.

[550] See c. [55] of the present Book.

[551] Because its perfumes were held in such high esteem, for burning on the piles of the dead. This, of course, was done primarily to avoid the offensive smell.

[552] The bark of the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum of the modern naturalists, the cinnamon-tree of Ceylon.

[553] B. iii.

[554] See B. vi. c. 34.

[555] See B. vi. c. 26.

[556] As Fée observes, this description does not at all resemble that of the cinnamon-tree of Ceylon, as known to us. M. Bonastre is of opinion that the nutmeg-tree was known to the ancients under this name; but, as Fée observes, the nutmeg could never have been taken for a bark, and cinnamon is described as such in the ancient writers. He inclines to think that their cinnamon was really the bark of a species of amyris.

[557] See c. [33] of the present Book, and the Note.

[558] Or “wood of cinnamon.”

[559] “Interrasili.” Gold partly embossed, and partly left plain, was thus called.

[560] The Empress Livia.

[561] There has been considerable doubt what plant it was that produced the cassia of the ancients. Fée, after diligently enquiring into the subject, inclines to think that it was the Laurus cassia of Linnæus, the same tree that produces the cassia of the present day.

[562] There is little doubt that all this is fabulous.

[563] Or, “smelling like balsam.”

[564] “Looking like laurel.”

[565] “Equal to cinnamon.” Fée thinks that it is a variety of the Laurus cassia.

[566] He probably alludes to the Daphne Cnidium of Linnæus, which, as Fée remarks, is altogether different from the Laurus cassia, or genuine cassia.

[567] A gum resin of some unknown species, but not improbably, Fée thinks, the produce of some of the Amyrides. Sprengel thinks that it was produced from the Gardenia gummifera.

[568] Aloe-wood.

[569] According to Poinsinet, these Arabic words derive their origin from the Slavonic; the first signifying a “cordial drug,” or “alexipharmic,” and the other a drug “which divides itself into tablets.” It is impossible to divine what drugs are meant by these names.

[570] Signifying the “unguent acorn,” or “nut.” There is little doubt that the behen or ben nut of the Arabians is meant, of which there are several sorts. It is used by the Hindoos for calico printing and pharmacy, and was formerly employed in Europe in the arts, and for medical purposes. It is no longer used as a perfume. The “oil of ben” used in commerce is extracted from the fruit of the Moringa oleifera of naturalists. It is inodorous; for which reason, Fée is of opinion that the name signifies “the oily nut,” and quotes Dioscorides, who says, B. iv., that an oil is extracted from this balanus, which is used as an ingredient in unguents, in place of other oils. Fée also says that at the present day it is used by perfumers, to fix or arrest the evanescent odours of such flowers as the jasmine and the lily.

[571] This Æthiopian variety is quite unknown, and is, as Fée remarks, most probably of a different species from the genuine myrobalanus.

[572] See B. vi. c. 32.

[573] “Curing thirst.” Dioscorides, B. i. c. 148, says that it was so called from, being full of juice, which quenched thirst like water.

[574] “Palm-nut.” Fée thinks it not improbable that one of the date-palms is meant, if we may judge from the name. He suggests that possibly the Elais or avoira of Guinea, the Elais Guineensis, which is found as far as Upper Egypt, and which produces a fine oil known as palm-oil, is meant, or possibly the Douma Thebaica, a palm-tree frequently met with in Egypt. On fermentation, a vinous drink is extracted from the last, which is capable of producing intoxication.

[575] Fée remarks, that this must not be confounded with the Calamus aromaticus of the moderns, of which Pliny speaks in B. xxv. c. 100, with sufficient accuracy to enable us to identify it with the Acorus calamus of Linnæus. It is not ascertained by naturalists what plant is meant by Pliny in the present instance, though Fée is of opinion that a gramineous plant of the genus Andropogon is meant. M. Guibourt has suggested that the Indian Gentiana chirayta is the plant. From what Pliny says in B. xiii. c. 21, it appears that this calamus grew in Syria, which is also the native country of the Andropogon schœnanthus.

[576] See B. xxiv. c. 14. The gum resin ammoniacum is still imported into Europe from Africa and the East, in the form of drops or cakes. It is a mildly stimulating expectorant, and is said to be the produce of the Dorema ammoniacum. There are still two sorts in commerce: the first in large masses of a yellow, dirty colour, mingled with heterogeneous substances, and of a plastic consistency. This is the phyrama of Pliny, or mixed ammoniac. The other is in tears, of irregular form and a whitish colour, brittle and vitreous when broken. This is the thrauston, or “friable” ammoniac of Pliny. Jackson says, that the plant which produces it is common in Morocco, and is called feskouk, resembling a large stalk of fennel. The ammoniac of Morocco is not, however, imported into this country, being too much impregnated with sand, in consequence of not being gathered till it falls to the ground.

[577] Solinus tells us, that the tree itself is called Metops.

[578] It is clear that, under this name, certain lichens of a hairy or filamentary nature are meant. They adhere, Dioscorides tells us, to the cedar, the white poplar, and the oak. The white ones belong, probably, to the Usnea florida of Linnæus, the red ones to the Usnea barbata, and the black ones to the Alectoria jubata, an almost inodorous lichen.

[579] Probably the Roccella tinctoria of Linnæus, a lichen most commonly found upon rocks.

[580] The henné, the Lawsonia inermis of the modern naturalists, a shrub found in Egypt, Syria, and Barbary. From this tree the henna is made with which the women of the East stain the skin of their hands and feet.

[581] The jujube-tree. See B. xv. c. [14].

[582] See B. xx. c. 82.

[583] Or privet.

[584] But in B. xxiv. c. 68, he says that this plant grows in the island of Rhodes.

[585] According to Fée, this is the same as the Lignum Rhodianum, or wood of Rhodes, of commerce, sometimes also called, but incorrectly, wood of roses. It is, probably, the same as the Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus.

[586] Or “red sceptre,” probably so called from the flowers clustering along the whole length of the branches.

[587] A liquid matter extracted from the beaver.

[588] Generally regarded as identical with the Teucrium Marum of Linnæus, a sweet-smelling shrub found in the south of Europe and the East, by us commonly known as “herb mastich,” somewhat similar to marjoram. Fée says that the marum of Egypt is a kind of sage, the Salvia Æthiopis of Linnæus.

[589] Balsam (or balm of Mecca, as it is sometimes called) is the produce of two trees, probably varieties of one another, of the terebinth family, belonging to the genus Amyris. So far from being a native solely of Judæa, Bruce assures us that its original country was that which produces myrrh, in the vicinity of Babelmandel, and that the inhabitants use the wood solely for fuel. In Judæa it appears to have been cultivated solely in gardens; and it was this tree which produced the famous balm of Gilead of Scripture. The balsam trees known to us do not at all correspond with Pliny’s description, as they do not resemble either the vine or myrtle, nor are their leaves at all like those of rue.

[590] “Malleolis.” So called when the new shoot of the tree springing from a branch of the former year, is cut off for the sake of planting, with a bit of the old wood on each side of it, in the form of a mallet.

[591] “Easily cut.” This and the other kinds, the names of which mean “rough barked,” and “good length,” are probably only varieties of the same tree, in different states.

[592] This is said, probably, in allusion to the smell, and not the taste. Fée remarks, that Pliny speaks with a considerable degree of exaggeration, as its odour is very inferior to that of several balsams which contain benzoic acid. The balsam obtained by incision, as mentioned by Pliny, is not brought to Europe, but only that obtained by the process of decoction; which is known as “balm of Mecca,” or of Judæa. It is difficult to believe, according to Fée, that it was adulterated with the substances here mentioned by Pliny; oil of roses having been always a very precious commodity, wax being likely to change its nature entirely, and gums not being of a nature to combine with it. Its asserted effects upon milk he states to be entirely fabulous; the statement is derived from Dioscorides.

[593] The concha, or “shell,” was a Greek and Roman liquid measure, of which there were two sizes. The smaller was half a cyathus, .0412 of an English pint; the larger was about three times the size of the former, and was known also as the oxybaphum.

[594] Or “wood of balsam.” It is still known in European commerce by its ancient name. The fruit is called Carpobalsamum.

[595] See B. xxvi. cc. 53, 54.

[596] These localities are mentioned in B. v.

[597] The Storax officinalis of Linnæus, a tree found in the south of Europe and the Levant. The variety found in France, and known as the Aliboufier, produces no storax, or at least a very small proportion. The storax of commerce appears in three states—grain storax, with which Pliny does not appear to have been acquainted; amygdalite, which is perhaps the sort which he speaks of as adulterated with bitter almonds; and lump storax, of reddish brown colour, which is frequently mixed with wood dust, or worm dust, as mentioned by Pliny, and is but little esteemed. The tree is also called Liquidambar styraciflua.

[598] A shrub of the family of Ombelliferæ, belonging to the genus bubon. It is a native of Asia Minor and Syria.

[599] See B. xix. c. 52, and B. xx. c. 75.

[600] This was a common notion with the Romans. Virgil, Georg. B. iii. l. 415, says:—

“Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros.”

Though considered to produce a pleasant perfume by the ancients, it is no longer held in estimation for that quality, and is only employed in some slight degree for medical purposes.

[601] The produce of the Pastinaca opopanax of Linnæus, or the Panax Copticum of Bauhin, an umbelliferous plant which abounds in the East, and is not uncommon in the south of France. The gum called Opopanax was formerly used, and its supposed virtues are indicated by its name, which signifies “the juice which is the universal remedy.”

[602] The umbelliferous plant known as the Heracleum spondylium of Linnæus. It is commonly found in France, where it is called Berce-branc-ursine. It received its name from the resemblance of its smell to that of the sphondyle, a fetid kind of wood-beetle.

[603] Some suppose this tree to be the Laurus cassia of Linnæus, or wild cinnamon; others take it for the betel, the Piper betel of Linnæus. Clusius thinks that the name is derived from the Indian Tamalpatra, the name given from time immemorial to the leaf of a tree known by the Arabs as the Cadegi-indi, possibly the same as the Katou-carua of the Malabars.

[604] From the Greek ὀμφάκιον, being made of unripe grapes. As Fée remarks, that made from the olive is correctly described as a kind of oil, but that made from the grape must have been a rob, or pure verjuice. These two liquids must have had totally different qualities, and resembled each other in nothing but the name. That extracted from the olive is mentioned again in B. xxiii. c. 4, in reference to its medicinal properties.

[605] These grapes are described in B. xiv. c. [4] and c. [11].

[606] “Reliquum corpus.” It is not clear what is the meaning of this. The passage is either in a corrupt state, or defective.

[607] A singular metal, one would think, for keeping verjuice in.

[608] From the Greek βρύον, “moss.” He speaks again of these grapes of the white poplar in B. xxiv. c. 34; also in c. 51 of the present Book. Hardouin thinks that he is speaking of moss. Fée is of opinion, that the blossoms or buds of the tree are meant, which have a fragrant smell. This is the more probable, as we find Pliny here speaking of the œnanthe, or vine-flower, by which Fée supposes that he means the blossom of the Vitis vinifera of Linnæus, which exhales a delightful perfume.

[609] The bud, probably, of the Juniperus Lycia.

[610] See B. vi. c. 31.

[611] Said to have been a surname given by some nations to the god Bacchus.

[612] It is generally supposed by the commentators, that Pliny makes a mistake here, and that the elate or spathe was not a tree, but the envelope or capsule, containing the flowers and fruit of a tree, which is supposed by some to have been really the Phœnix dactylifera, or date-palm. There can be little doubt that he is mistaken in his mention of the abies or fir-tree here. See B. xxiii. c. 53.

[613] Bauhin thinks that this juice or oil was extracted from the nutmeg, the Myristica moschata of Thunberg, and Bonastre is of the same opinion. But, as Fée observes, the nutmeg is a native of India, and Pliny speaks of the Comacum as coming from Syria. Some authors, he adds, who are of this opinion, think also that the other cinnamomum mentioned by Pliny was no other than the nutmeg, which they take to be the same as the chrysobalanos, or “golden nut,” of Galen.

[614] See end of B. ii.

[615] See end of B. ii.

[616] See end of B. vii.

[617] Fabianus Papirius: see end of B. ii.

[618] See end of B. ii.

[619] See end of B. iii.

[620] The son of a freedman; some further particulars are given of him by Pliny in B. xxxiii. c. 1. By his talents and eloquence, he attained considerable distinction at Rome. He was made a senator by Appius Claudius, and was curule ædile B.C. 303. He published a collection of legal rules, entitled the “Jus Flavianum.”

[621] See end of B. viii.

[622] See end of B. iii.

[623] See end of B. vii.

[624] See end of B. v.

[625] See end of B. ii.

[626] Probably the same as the Niger mentioned by Dioscorides as a writer on Materia Medica. He is also mentioned by Epiphanius and Galen; but Dioscorides charges him with numerous blunders in his accounts of vegetable productions.

[627] A compiler of Roman history, who wrote at the beginning of the second century before Christ. He wrote Annals of Rome from the earliest to his own times: only a few fragments of his work have survived.

[628] See end of B. ii.

[629] C. Sempronius Tuditanus, consul of Rome, B.C. 129. He wrote a book of historical Commentaries. He was maternal grandfather of the orator Hortensius.

[630] See end of B. ii.

[631] See end of B. iii.

[632] See end of B. ii.

[633] A native of Olynthus. His mother, Hero, was a cousin of the philosopher Aristotle, under whose tutelage he was educated. It is generally supposed that he was put to death by order of Alexander the Great, but in what manner is a matter of uncertainty. He wrote a History of Greece, and numerous other learned works. Some MSS. are still extant, professing to be his writings; but they are generally looked upon as spurious.

[634] See end of B. vii.

[635] See end of B. vii.

[636] A native of Lampsacus, and disciple of Diogenes the Cynic. He accompanied Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expedition. He wrote a history of the reigns of Philip and Alexander, and a history of Greece, in twelve books. Only a few fragments of his works are left.

[637] See end of B. vii.

[638] See end of B. vi.

[639] See end of B. ii.

[640] There was a native of Mendæ, in Sicily, of this name, who wrote a history of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse. It was, probably, a different person of this name who wrote a work on the East; if such is the case, Pliny most probably quotes from the work of the latter.

[641] Nothing seems to be known of this writer; but it is suggested that he may have accompanied Nearchus and Onesicritus in the East.

[642] See end of B. vi.

[643] Nothing is known of him; but Hardouin suggests that he may have accompanied Alexander the Great in his Eastern expedition.

[644] See end of B. iv.

[645] An officer at the court of Alexander the Great, who wrote a collection of anecdotes respecting the private life and reign of that emperor, some fragments of which are preserved by Athenæus.

[646] See end of B. iv.

[647] He is supposed to have been the same with the person of that name who wrote a history of Alexander the Great; but nothing further is known of him.

[648] A physician of Neapolis, who is supposed to have lived in the early part of the first century after Christ.

[649] A writer on medicine, of whom all further particulars have perished.

[650] Possibly Ephippus of Olynthus, a Greek historian of the reign of Alexander the Great.

[651] See end of B. viii.

[652] An ancient Greek historian, mentioned also by Strabo; but no further particulars are known of him.

[653] The founder of the dynasty of the Egyptian Ptolemies, which ended in Cleopatra, B.C. 38: he wrote a narrative of the wars of Alexander, which is frequently quoted by the later writers, and served as the groundwork for Arrian’s history.

[654] A native of Pella, who wrote a history of Macedonia down to the wars of Alexander the Great. There was another writer of the same name, a native of Philippi, who also wrote a treatise, either geographical or historical, relative to Macedonia.

[655] A native of Amphipolis, though some make him to have been an Ephesian. The age in which he lived is not exactly known. He attacked the writings of Homer with such uncalled-for asperity, that his name has been proverbial for a snarling, captious critic. He is said to have met with a violent death. His literary productions were numerous, but none of them have come down to us.

[656] See end of B. ii.

[657] See end of B. viii.

[658] See end of B. [xi].

[659] See end of B. iii.

[660] See end of B. v.

[661] See end of B. [xi].

[662] A physician of Heraclea, near Ephesus. He wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates.

[663] Nothing is known of him; but it has been suggested that he may have been the author of a few fragments on veterinary surgery which still exist.

[664] There were many physicians and surgeons of this name, but probably Dionysius of Samos is meant, or else Sallustius Dionysius, quoted by Pliny, B. xxxii. c. 26.

[665] Also called Democedes, a physician of Crotona, who practised at Ægina. He was afterwards physician to Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, and King Darius, whose foot he cured. His work on medicine has perished.

[666] Nothing whatever is known of this writer.

[667] Nothing is known relative to this writer.

[668] Nothing is known of him.

[669] Or Iölaus, a native of Bithynia, who wrote a work on Materia Medica. He was probably a contemporary of Heraclides of Tarentum, in the third century B.C.

[670] A physician of Tarentum, who belonged to the Empiric sect. He wrote several medical works, and is highly commended by Galen. Only a few fragments of his writings remain.

[671] An historical and geographical writer, frequently quoted by Pliny. From the mention made of him in B. xxxvii. c. 2, it would appear that he flourished during the time of Pliny, or very shortly before.

[672] See end of B. ii.

[673] Fée remarks, that most of the unguents and perfumes of which Pliny here speaks would find but little favour at the present day.

[674] This does not appear to be exactly the case, for in the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, l. 186, we find “rose-scented” oil mentioned, indeed, Pliny himself alludes to it a little further on.

[675] “Nidorem.” This term was used in reference to the smell of burnt or roasted animal substances. It is not improbable that he alludes to the stench arising from the burnt sacrifices.

[676] The “Thuya articulata.” See c. [29] of the present Book.

[677] “Scrinium.” See B. vii. c. 30.

[678] The use of perfumes more probably originated in India, than among the Persians.

[679] But of seeds or plants.

[680] The perfumes of Delos themselves had nothing in particular to recommend them; but as it was the centre of the worship of Apollo, it is not improbable that exquisite perfumes formed a large proportion of the offerings brought thither from all parts of the world.

[681] In Egypt. See B. v. c. 11. The unguents of Mendes are again mentioned in the present Chapter.

[682] Or flower-de-luce. This perfume was called Irinum. The Iris Florentina of the botanists, Fée says, has the smell of the violet. For the composition of this perfume, see Dioscorides, B. i. c. 67.

[683] Rhodinum.

[684] See B. v. c. 26.

[685] Crocinum; made from the Crocus sativus of naturalists.

[686] See B. xii. c. [62]. It was made from the flowers of the vine, mixed with omphacium.

[687] Amaracinum. The amaracus is supposed to have been the Origanum majoranoides of the moderns. Dioscorides, B. i. c. 59, says that the best was made at Cyzicus.

[688] Melinum. See B. xxiii. c. 54.

[689] Cyprinum. See B. xii. c. [51]. The cyprus was the modern Lawsonia inermis.

[690] Made from the oil of bitter almonds. See B. xv. c. [7].

[691] Or “all Athenian.” We find in Athenæus, B. xv. c. 15, the composition of this unguent.

[692] From what is said by Apollonius in the passage of Athenæus last quoted, it has been thought that this was the same as the unguent called nardinum. It is very doubtful, however.

[693] Narcissinum. See B. xxi. c. 75. Dioscorides gives the composition of this unguent, B. i. c. 54.

[694] Among the stymmata, Dioscorides ranges the sweet-rush, the sweet-scented calamus and xylo-balsamum; and among the hedysmata amomum, nard, myrrh, balsam, costus, and marjoram. The latter constituted the base of unguents, the former were only added occasionally.

[695] Cinnabar is never used to colour cosmetics at the present day, from its tendency to excoriate the skin. See B. xxiii. c. 39.

[696] This is still used for colouring cosmetics at the present day. See B. xxii. c. 23.

[697] Fée remarks, that salt can be of no use; but by falling to the bottom without dissolving, would rather tend to spoil the unguent.

[698] See B. xii. c. [60]. The name “bryon” seems also to have been extended to the buds of various trees of the Conifera class and of the white poplar. It is probably to the buds of the last tree that Pliny here alludes.

[699] Oil of ben. See B. xii. c. [48].

[700] Or metopium. See Note [690] above.

[701] Made from olives. See B. xii. c. [60].

[702] See B. xii. c. [29].

[703] The modern Andropogon schœnanthus. See B. xii. c. 48.

[704] See B. xii. c. [48].

[705] Carpobalsamum. See. B. xii. c. [54].

[706] See B. xii. c. [56].

[707] Fluid resin of coniferous trees of Europe.

[708] See B. xv. c. [35].

[709] Cupressus semper-virens. He does not say what part of the tree was employed.

[710] See B. xii. c. [36].

[711] See c. [34] of the present Book.

[712] The alkanet and cinnabar were only used for colouring.

[713] “Sampsuchinum.” It is generally supposed that the sampsuchum, and the amaracus were the same, the sweet marjoram, or Origanum marjorana of Linnæus. Fée, however, is of a contrary opinion. See B. xxi. c. 35. In Dioscorides, B. i. c. 59, there is a difference made between sampsuchinum and amaracinum, though but a very slight one.

[714] The bark of the Cassia lignea of the pharmacopœa, the Laurus cassia of botany. See B. xii. c. [43].

[715] See B. xii. c. [26]. The Andropogon nardus of Linnæus.

[716] See B. xii. c. [41].

[717] See B. xxiii. c. 54, also B. xv. c. [10]. The Malum struthium, or “sparrow quince,” was an oblong variety of the fruit.

[718] Sesamum orientale of Linnæus. See B. xviii. c. 22, and B. xxii. c. 54.

[719] Balm of Gilead. See B. xii. c. [54].

[720] Southernwood. The Artemisia abrotonum of Linnæus.

[721] Or lily unguent, made of the lily of Susa, which had probably a more powerful smell than that of Europe. Dioscorides gives its composition, B. i. c. 63.

[722] The Crocus sativus of Linnæus.

[723] Cyprinum. It has been previously mentioned in this Chapter.

[724] See B. xii. c. [52].

[725] The gum resin of the Pastinaca opopanax of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. [57].

[726] Or unguent of fenugreek, from the Greek τῆλις, meaning that plant, the Trigonella fœnum Græcum of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 120.

[727] See B. ii. c. 26, and B. xxi. c. 68-70.

[728] The Trifolium melilotus of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 30.

[729] See B. xii. c. [53].

[730] He would imply that it was so called from the Greek μεγὰς, “great;” but it was more generally said that it received its name from its inventor, Megalus.

[731] See B. xii. c. [5].

[732] Fée does not appear to credit this statement. By the use of the word “ventiletur,” “fanned” may be possibly implied.

[733] See B. xii. c. [59].

[734] The Agnus castus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 38. The leaves are quite inodorous, though the fruit of this plant is slightly aromatic.

[735] “Externa.” The reading is doubtful, and it is difficult to say what is the exact meaning of the word.

[736] Cinnamomino.

[737] Nardinum.

[738] Or leaf unguent, so called from being made of leaves of nard. See B. xii. c. [27].

[739] See B. xii. c. [25].

[740] See B. xii. c. [28].

[741] See B. xii. c. [26], [27], where the list is given.

[742] See B. xii. c. [35].

[743] Susinum. See p. [163].

[744] Summa auctoritas rei.

[745] See B. xii. c. [46].

[746] See B. xii. c. [53].

[747] See B. xii. c. [55].

[748] See B. xii. c. [37].

[749] See B. xii. c. [48].

[750] See B. xii. c. [48].

[751] See B. xii. c. [45].

[752] Fée suggests that this may be the Nymphæa cœrulea of Savigny, a plant that is common in the Nile, and the flowers of which exhale a sweet odour.

[753] The diapasmata were dry, odoriferous powders, similar to those used at the present day in sachets and scent-bags.

[754] “Fæcem unguenti.”

[755] This word is still used in pharmacy to denote the husks or residuary matter left after the extraction of the juice.

[756] See B. xxxvi. c. 12. See also Mark xiv. 7, and John xii. 3. Leaden boxes were also used for a similar purpose.

[757] Odores.

[758] “Heres.” The person was so called who succeeded to the property, whether real or personal, of an intestate.

[759] See B. xvii. c. [3], where he quotes this passage from Cicero at length. It appears to be from De Orat. B. iii. c. 69. Both Cicero and Pliny profess to find a smell that arises from the earth itself, through the agency of the sun. But, as Fée remarks, pure earth is perfectly inodorous. He suggests, however, that this odour attributed by the ancients to the earth, may in reality have proceeded from the fibrous roots of thyme and other plants. If such is not the real solution, it seems impossible to suggest any other.

[760] By giving preference to the more simple odours.

[761] “Crassitudo.”

[762] Or “thick” unguent.

[763] We learn from Athenæus, and a passage in the Aulularia of Plautus, that this was done long before Nero’s time, among the Greeks.

[764] Who succeeded Galba. He was one of Nero’s favourite companions in his debaucheries.

[765] Caligula.

[766] Solium.

[767] After victories, for instance, or when marching orders were given.

[768] This is said in bitter irony.

[769] Sub casside.

[770] Asia Minor more particularly.

[771] Exotica.

[772] The organs of taste and of smell.

[773] We have this fact alluded to in the works of Plautus, Juvenal, Martial, and Ælian. The Greeks were particularly fond of mixing myrrh with their wine. Nard wine is also mentioned by Plautus. Miles Gl. iii. 2, 11.

[774] Or Lucius Plautius Plancus. He was proscribed by the triumvirs, with the sanction of his brother. In consequence of his use of perfumes, the place of his concealment “got wind;” and in order to save his slaves, who were being tortured to death because they would not betray him, he voluntarily surrendered himself.

[775] Attaching to the triumvirate.

[776] Capua, its capital, was the great seat of the unguent and perfume manufacture in Italy.

[777] The Phœnix dactylifera of Linnæus. See also B. xii. c. [62], where he seems also to allude to this tree.

[778] At the present day this is not the fact. The village of La Bordighiera, situate on an eminence of the Apennines, grows great quantities of dates, of good quality. At Hieres, Nice, San Remo, and Genoa, they are also grown.

[779] This, too, is not the fact. The dates of Valencia, Seville, and other provinces of Spain, are sweet, and of excellent quality.

[780] Pliny is wrong again in this statement. The date of Barbary, Tunis, Algiers, and Bildulgerid, the “land of dates,” is superior in every respect to that of the East.

[781] The Æthiopians, as we learn from Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8.

[782] Or in a wild state.

[783] “Tectorii vicem.” They were probably planted in rows, close to the wall.

[784] This mode of ascending the date-palm is still practised in the East.

[785] See B. xvi. c. [37].

[786] “Umbracula.” The fibres of the leaves were probably platted or woven, and the “umbracula” made in much the same manner as the straw and fibre hats of the present day.

[787] Most of this is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 9.

[788] Fée remarks, that this account is quite erroneous.

[789] This he copies also from Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8.

[790] Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8, mentions this as a kind of date peculiar to Cyprus.

[791] This is said solely in relation to the date of Cyprus.

[792] Or “dwellers in tents;” similar to the modern Bedouins.

[793] Fée remarks, that in these words we find the first germs of the sexual system that has been established by the modern botanists. He thinks that it is clearly shown by this account, that Pliny was acquainted with the fecundation of plants by the agency of the pollen.

[794] In allusion to the pollen, possibly. See the last [Note].

[795] “Lanugine.” It is possible that in the use of this word, also, he may allude to the pollen. Under the term “pulvis,” “dust,” he probably alludes in exaggerated terms to the same theory.

[796] The same methods of propagating the palm are still followed in the East, and in the countries near the tropics.

[797] In c. [7] of the present Book. See also B. xvii. c. [3].

[798] Fée mentions one near Elvas in Spain, which shot up into seven distinct trees, as it were, from a single trunk. The Douma Thebaica, he says, of Syria and Egypt, a peculiar kind of palm, is also bifurcated. The fruit of it, he thinks, are very probably the Phænico-balanus of B. xii. c. [47].

[799] “Spado.” Represented by the Greek εὔνουχος and ἔνορχος.

[800] “Cæduæ.” Though this is the fact as to some palm-trees, the greater part perish after being cut; the vital bud occupying the summit, and the trunk not being susceptible of any increase.

[801] Cerebrum.

[802] The Chamæreps humilis of the modern botanists. It is found, among other countries, in Spain, Morocco, and Arabia.

[803] Vitilia.

[804] “Vivaces.” Perhaps it may mean that the wood retains the fire for a long time, when it burns.

[805] Fée suggests that Pliny may possibly have confounded the fruit of other palms with the date.

[806] This seems to have been a general name, as Pliny says, meaning an eunuch; but it is evident that it was also used as a proper name, as in the case of the eunuch who slew Artaxerxes, Ochus, B.C. 338, by poison, and of another eunuch who belonged to Darius, but afterwards fell into the hands of Alexander, of whom he became an especial favourite. The name is sometimes written “Bagoüs,” and sometimes “Bagoas.”

[807] Dominantis in aula.

[808] From the Greek σύαγρος, “a wild boar,” as Pliny afterwards states; they being so called from their peculiar wild taste.

[809] See B. vi. c. 39.

[810] Said to have been so called from the Greek κάρη, “the head,” and ὑωδία, “stupidity,” owing to the heady nature of the wine extracted from the fruit.

[811] See B. vi. c. 32, and B. xiv. c. [19].

[812] The Jericho of Scripture.

[813] Athenæus, B. xiv. c. 22, tells us that these dates were thus called from Nicolaus of Damascus, a Peripatetic philosopher, who, when visiting Rome with Herod the Great, made Augustus a present of the finest fruit of the palm-tree that could be procured. This fruit retained its name of “Nicolaän,” down to the middle ages.

[814] Pliny would imply that they are so called from the Greek ἀδέλφια, “a sister,” as being of sister quality to the caryotæ; but it is much more probable, as Fée remarks, that they got this name from being attached in pairs to the same pedicle or stalk.

[815] Pliny certainly seems to imply that they are so called from the Greek πατέω, “to tread under foot,” and Hardouin is of that opinion. Fée, however, thinks the name is from the Hebrew or Syriac “patach,” “to expand,” or “open,” or else from the Hebrew “pathah,” the name of the first vowel, from some fancied resemblance in the form.

[816] From the Greek χυδαῖος, “vulgar,” or “common,” it is supposed. The Jews probably called them so, as being common, or offered by the Gentiles to their idols and divinities. Pliny evidently considers that in the name given to them no compliment was intended to the deities of the heathen mythology.

[817] From its extreme driness, and its shrivelled appearance.

[818] From Theophrastus, B. i. c. 16.

[819] Κύκως in the Greek. It is supposed by Sprengel to be the same as the Cycas circinnalis of Linnæus; but, as Fée remarks, that is only found in India.

[820] From the Greek, meaning “sweetmeats,” or “dessert fruit:” he probably means that in Syria and some parts of Phœnicia they were thus called.

[821] This story, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 5, is doubted by Fée, who says that in the green state they are so hard and nauseous, that it is next to impossible to eat sufficient to be materially incommoded by them.

[822] The Pistacia vera of Linnæus. It was introduced into Rome in the reign of Tiberius. The kernel is of no use whatever in a medical point of view, and what Pliny says about its curing the bite of serpents is perfectly fabulous.

[823] See B. xv. c. [19]. The “carica” was properly the “Carian” fig. “Ficus carica” is, however, the name given to the common fig by the modern botanists.

[824] The parent of our Damascenes, or damsons. See B. xv. c. [13].

[825] Supposed to be the Corda myxa of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. [15].

[826] The Juniperus communis of Linnæus.

[827] The Juniperus Lycia, and the Juniperus Phœnicia, probably, of Linnæus. It has been supposed by some, that it is these trees that produce the frankincense of Africa; but, as Fée observes, the subject is enveloped in considerable obscurity.

[828] The “sharp-leaved” cedar. The Juniperus oxycedrus of Linnæus.

[829] The “Pinus cedrus” of Linnæus. The name “cedrus” was given by the ancients not only to the cedar of Lebanon, but to many others of the Coniferæ as well, and more particularly to several varieties of the juniper.

[830] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[831] Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[832] These varieties, Fée says, are not observed by modern naturalists.

[833] Garidel has remarked, that the trunk of this tree produces coriaceous vesicles, filled with a clear and odoriferous terebinthine, in which pucerons, or aphides, are to be seen floating.

[834] “Rhus.” The Rhus coriaria of Linnæus. Pliny is wrong in distinguishing this tree into sexes, as all the flowers are hermaphroditical, and therefore fruitful.

[835] It is still used by curriers in preparing leather.

[836] See B. xxiv. c. 79. The fruit, which has a pleasant acidity, was used for culinary purposes by the ancients, as it is by the Turks at the present day.

[837] The Ficus sycamorus of Linnæus. It receives its name from being a fig-tree that bears a considerable resemblance to the “morus,” or mulberry-tree.

[838] This is not the case.

[839] This appears to be doubtful, although, as Fée says, the fruit ripens but very slowly.

[840] This, Fée says, is a fallacy.

[841] “Aliam omnem.” This reading seems to be very doubtful.

[842] This wood was very extensively used in Egypt for making the outer cases, or coffins, in which the mummies were enclosed.

[843] This account is borrowed almost entirely from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 2. A variety of the sycamore is probably meant. It is still found in the Isle of Crete.

[844] He seems to mean that the buds do not shoot forth into leaves; the reading, however, varies in the editions, and is extremely doubtful.

[845] Grossus.

[846] The Ceratonia siliqua of Linnæus. It is of the same size as the sycamore, but resembles it in no other respect. It is still common in the localities mentioned by Pliny, and in the south of Spain.

[847] Theophrastus in the number, Hist. Plant. i. 23, and iv. 2. It bears no resemblance to the fig-tree, and the fruit is totally different from the fig. Pliny, too, is wrong in saying that it does not grow in Egypt; the fact being that it is found there in great abundance.

[848] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[849] Fée identifies it with the Egyptian almond, mentioned by Pliny in B. xv. c. [28]; the Myrobalanus chebulus of Wesling, the Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille, and the Xymenia Ægyptiaca of Linnæus. Schreber and Sprengel take it to be the Cordia Sebestana of Linnæus; but that is a tree peculiar to the Antilles. The fruit is in shape like a date, enclosing a large stone with five sides, and covered with a little viscous flesh, of somewhat bitter, though not disagreeable flavour. It is found in the vicinity of Sennaar, and near the Red Sea. The Arabs call it the “date of the Desert.”

[850] See B. xviii. c. 68.

[851] See B. xv. c. [34].

[852] Or ben. See B. xii. cc. [46], [47].

[853] Many have taken this to be the cocoa-nut tree; but, as Fée remarks, that is a tree of India, and this of Egypt. There is little doubt that it is the doum of the Arabs, the Cucifera Thebaica of Delille. The timber of the trunk is much used in Egypt, and of the leaves carpets, bags, and panniers are made. In fact, the description of it and its fruit is almost identical with that here given by Pliny.

[854] The seed or stone of the doum is still used in Egypt for making the beads of chaplets: it admits of a very high polish.

[855] Materies crispioris elegantiæ.

[856] See B. xxiv. c. 67. This is, no doubt, the Acacia Nilotica of Linnæus, which produces the gum Arabic of modern commerce.

[857] This is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 3. Fée suggests that it may have been a kind of myrobalanus. Sprengel identifies it with the Cordia sebestana of the botanists.

[858] “Fuit.” From the use of this word he seems uncertain as to its existence in his time; the account is copied from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 3. Fée suggests that he may here allude to the Baobab, the Adansonia digitata, which grows in Senegal and Sennaar to an enormous size. Prosper Alpinus speaks of it as existing in Egypt. The Arabs call it El-omarah, and the fruit El-kongles.

[859] The Mimosa polyacanthe, probably. Fée says that the mimosæ, respectively known as casta, pudibunda, viva, and sensitiva, with many of the inga, and other leguminous trees, are irritable in the highest degree. The tree here spoken of he considers to be one of the acacias. The passage in Theophrastus speaks of the leaf as shrinking, and not falling, and then as simply reviving.

[860] The Acacia Nilotica of Linnæus, from which we derive the gum Arabic of commerce; and of which a considerable portion is still derived from Egypt.

[861] These gums are chemically different from gum Arabic, and they are used for different purposes in the arts.

[862] The vine does not produce a gum; but when the sap ascends, a juice is secreted, which sometimes becomes solid on the evaporation of the aqueous particles. This substance contains acetate of potassa, which, by the decomposition of that salt, becomes a carbonate of the same base.

[863] This is not a gum, but a resinous product of a peculiar nature. It is known to the moderns by the name of “olivine.”

[864] The sap of the elm leaves a saline deposit on the bark, principally formed of carbonate of potassa. Fée is at a loss to know whether Pliny here alludes to this or to the manna which is incidentally formed by certain insects on some trees and reeds. But, as he justly says, would Pliny say of the latter that it is “ad nihil utile”—“good for nothing”?

[865] A resinous product, no doubt. The frankincense of Africa has been attributed by some to the Juniperus Lycia and Phœnicia.

[866] The Penæa Sarcocolla of Linnæus. The gum resin of this tree is still brought from Abyssinia, but it is not used in medicine. This account is from Dioscorides, B. iii. c. 99. The name is from the Greek σὰρξ, “flesh,” and κόλλα, “glue.”

[867] See B. xxiv. c. 78.

[868] Three denarii per pound.

[869] It is hardly necessary to state that this is not the fact. This plant is the Cyperus papyrus of Linnæus, the “berd” of the modern Egyptians.

[870] Il. B. vi. l. 168. See B. xxxiii. c. 4, where the tablets which are here called “pugillares,” are styled “codicilli” by Pliny.

[871] His argument is, that paper made from the papyrus could not be known in the time of Homer, as that plant only grew in certain districts which had been rescued from the sea since the time of the poet.

[872] Od. B. iv. l. 355.

[873] See B. ii. c. 87.

[874] There is little doubt that parchment was really known many years before the time of Eumenes II., king of Pontus. It is most probable that this king introduced extensive improvements in the manufacture of parchment, for Herodotus mentions writing on skins as common in his time; and in B. v. c. 58, he states that the Ionians had been accustomed to give the name of skins, διφθέραι, to books.

[875] Brachiali radicis obliquæ crassitudine.

[876] This was a pole represented as being carried by Bacchus and his Bacchanalian train. It was mostly terminated by the fir cone, that tree being dedicated to Bacchus, in consequence of the use of its cones and turpentine in making wine. Sometimes it is surmounted by vine or fig leaves, with grapes or berries arranged in form of a cone.

[877] This is not the fact: it has seed in it, though not very easily perceptible. The description here given is otherwise very correct.

[878] Among the ancients the term papyrus was used as a general appellation for all the different plants of the genus Cyperus, which was used for making mats, boats, baskets, and numerous other articles: but one species only was employed for making paper, the Cyperus papyrus, or Byblos. Fée states that the papyrus is no longer to be found in the Delta, where it formerly abounded.

[879] See B. xii. c. [48].

[880] Sometimes translated hemp. A description will be given of it in B. xix. c. 7.

[881] “Intexere.” This would almost appear to mean that they embroidered or interwove the characters. The Persians still write on a stuff made of white silk, gummed and duly prepared for the purpose.

[882] Or “holy” paper. The priests would not allow it to be sold, lest it might be used for profane writing; but after it was once written upon, it was easily procurable. The Romans were in the habit of purchasing it largely in the latter state, and then washing off the writing, and using it as paper of the finest quality. Hence it received the name of “Augustus,” as representing in Latin its Greek name “hieraticus,” or “sacred.” In length of time it became the common impression, as here mentioned, that this name was given to it in honour of Augustus Cæsar.

[883] Near the amphitheatre, probably, of Alexandria.

[884] He alludes to Q. Remmius Fannius Palæmon, a famous grammarian of Rome, though originally a slave. Being manumitted, he opened a school at Rome, which was resorted to by great numbers of pupils, notwithstanding his notoriously bad character. He appears to have established, also, a manufactory for paper at Rome. Suetonius, in his treatise on Illustrious Grammarians, gives a long account of him. He is supposed to have been the preceptor of Quintilian.

[885] Fanniana.

[886] In Lower Egypt.

[887] Ex vilioribus ramentis.

[888] Of Alexandria, probably.

[889] “Shop-paper,” or “paper of commerce.”

[890] Otherwise, probably, the rope would not long hold together.

[891] Fée remarks, that this is by no means the fact. With M. Poiret, he questions the accuracy of Pliny’s account of preparing the papyrus, and is of opinion that it refers more probably to the treatment of some other vegetable substance from which paper was made.

[892] Primo supinâ tabulæ schedâ.

[893] “Scapus.” This was, properly, the cylinder on which the paper was rolled.

[894] Augustan.

[895] Or “long glued” paper: the breadth probably consisted of that of two or more sheets glued or pasted at the edges, the seam running down the roll.

[896] Scheda. One of the leaves of the papyrus, of which the roll of twenty, joined side by side, was formed.

[897] This passage is difficult to be understood, and various attempts have been made to explain it. It is not unlikely that his meaning is that the breadth being doubled, the tearing of one leaf or half breadth entailed of necessity the spoiling of another, making the corresponding half breadth.

[898] He perhaps means a portion of an elephant’s tusk.

[899] Meaning a damp, musty smell.

[900] See B. vii. c. 18, and B. xiv. c. [6]. Also the Life of Pliny, in the Introduction to Vol. i. p. vii.

[901] This story, no doubt, deserves to be rejected as totally fabulous, even though we have Hemina’s word for it.

[902] See B. xvi. c. [70].

[903] B. xii. c. [7], and B. xiii. c. [31]. It was thought that the leaves and juices of the cedar and the citrus preserved books and linen from the attacks of noxious insects.

[904] And because, as Livy says, their doctrines were inimical to the then existing religion.

[905] Val. Maximus says that there were some books written in Latin, on the pontifical rights, and others in Greek on philosophical subjects.

[906] Humanæ Antiquitates.

[907] See B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[908] See B. xxxiii. c. 5.

[909] He implies that it could not have been written upon paper, as the papyrus and the districts which produced it were not in existence in the time of Homer. No doubt this so-called letter, if shown at all, was a forgery, a “pia fraus.” See c. [21] of the present Book.

[910] Il. B. vi. l. 168.

[911] “Codicillos,” as meaning characters written on a surface of wood. πίναξ, as Homer calls it.

[912] It was probably then that the supply of it first began to fail; in the sixth century it was still used, but by the twelfth it had wholly fallen into disuse.

[913] The cotton-tree, Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus.

[914] See B. xii. c. [21], [22].

[915] In c. [9] of the present Book.

[916] See B. vi. c. 36, 37.

[917] Desfontaines observed in the vicinity of Atlas, several trees peculiar to that district. Among others of this nature, he names the Pistacia Atlantica, and the Thuya articulata.

[918] See B. v. c. 1.

[919] Generally supposed to be the Thuya articulata of Desfontaines, the Cedrus Atlantica of other botanists.

[920] This rage for fine tables made of the citrus is alluded to, among others, by Martial and Petronius Arbiter. See also Lucan, A. ix. B. 426, et seq.

[921] It is a rather curious fact that it is in Cicero’s works that we find the earliest mention made of citrus tables, 2nd Oration ag. Verres, s. 4:—“You deprived Q. Lutatius Diodorus of Lilybæum of a citrus table of remarkable age and beauty.”

[922] Somewhere about £9000.

[923] This is considered nothing remarkable at the present day, such is the skill displayed by our cabinet-makers.

[924] Called “Nomiana.”

[925] Tuber.

[926] The European Cyprus, the Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[927] These veins were nothing in reality but the lines of the layers or strata lignea, running perpendicularly in the trunk, and the number of which denotes the age of the tree.

[928] “Tigrinæ.”

[929] “Pantherinæ.” The former tables were probably made of small pieces from the trunk, the latter from the sections of the tubers or knots.

[930] “Crispis.”

[931] Or “parsley-seed” tables. It has also been suggested that the word comes from “apis,” a bee; the wood presenting the appearance of being covered with swarms of bees.

[932] “Mulsum.” This mixture will be found frequently mentioned in the next Book.

[933] Lignum.

[934] Fée remarks that this is incorrect, and that this statement betrays an entire ignorance of the vegetable physiology.

[935] Θύον, “wood of sacrifice.”

[936] Od. B. v. l. 60. Pliny makes a mistake in saying “Circe;” it should be “Calypso.”

[937] Θύον.

[938] Crispius.

[939] He alludes to the citron, the Citrus Medica of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. [7].

[940] The Rhamnus lotus of Linnæus; the Zizyphus lotus of Desfontaines.

[941] The Celtis australis of Linnæus. Fée remarks that Pliny is in error in giving the name of Celtis to the lotus of Africa.

[942] The Lotophagi. See B. v. c. 7.

[943] A kind of grain diet. See B. xviii. c. 29, and B. xxii. c. 61.

[944] The Melilotus officinalis of Linnæus.

[945] The Nymphæa Nelumbo of Linnæus, or Egyptian bean.

[946] He speaks of the indentations on the surface of the poppy-head.

[947] See B. xxii. c. 28.

[948] Fée remarks that there is nothing singular about it, the sun more or less exercising a similar influence on all plants.

[949] The same as the Nymphæa Nelumbo of the Nile, according to Fée.

[950] Probably the Rhamnus paliurus of Linnæus; the Spina Christi of other botanists.

[951] The pomegranate, the Punica granatum of botanists.

[952] Or “grained apple.”

[953] From the Greek ἀπύρηνον, “without kernel.” This Fée would not translate literally, but as meaning that by cultivation the grains had been reduced to a very diminutive size. See B. xxiii. c. 57.

[954] This variety appears to be extinct. Fée doubts if it ever existed.

[955] See B. xxiii. c. 57.

[956] See B. xxiii. c. 60.

[957] “Puniceus,” namely, a kind of purple.

[958] See B. xxvii. c. 52. Sprengel thinks that this is the Neottia spiralis of Schwartz; but Fée is of opinion that it has not hitherto been identified.

[959] Probably the Erica arborea of Linnæus, or “heath” in its several varieties.

[960] Granum Cnidium. The shrub is the Daphne Cnidium of Linnæus.

[961] The “thyme-olive.”

[962] The “ground olive,” or “small olive.” Dioscorides makes a distinction between these two last; and Sprengel has followed it, naming the last Daphne Cnidium, and the first Daphne Cneorum.

[963] See B. xxvii. c. 115.

[964] He says elsewhere that it is like the juniper, which, however, is not the case. Guettard thinks that the tragion is the Androsæmon fetidum, the Hyperium hircinum of the modern botanists. Sprengel also adopts the same opinion. Fée is inclined to think that it was a variety of the Pistacia lentiscus.

[965] Goat’s thorn. The Astragalus Creticus of Linnæus.

[966] He speaks of gum tragacanth.

[967] See B. xxvii. c. 116. Sprengel identifies it with the Salsola tragus of Linnæus.

[968] Probably the Tamarix Gallica of Linnæus. Fée says, in relation to the myrica, that it would seem that the ancients united in one collective name, several plants which resembled each other, not in their botanical characteristics, but in outward appearance. To this, he says, is owing the fact that Dioscorides calls the myrica a tree, Favorinus a herb; Dioscorides says that it is fruitful, Nicander and Pliny call it barren; Virgil calls it small, and Theophrastus says that it is large.

[969] Fée thinks that it is the Tamarix orientalis of Delille.

[970] “Infelix,” meaning “sterile.” He seems to say this more particularly in reference to the brya, which Egypt produces. As to this use of the word “infelix,” see B. xvi. c. [46].

[971] Sprengel and Fée identify this with the Ostrya vulgaris of Willdenow, the Carpinus ostrya of Linnæus.

[972] Or the “luckily named.” It grew on Mount Ordymnus in Lesbos. See Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 31.

[973] The Evonymus Europæus, or else the Evonymus latifolius of botanists, is probably intended to be indicated; but it is a mistake to say that it is poisonous to animals. On the contrary, Fée says that sheep will fatten on its leaves very speedily.

[974] “Statim pestem denuntians.” Pliny appears to be in error here. In copying from Theophrastus, he seems to have found the word φόνος used, really in reference to a blood-red juice which distils from the plant; but as the same word also means slaughter, or death, he seems to have thought that it really bears reference to the noxious qualities of the plant.

[975] Fée censures the use of the word “siliqua,” as inappropriate, although the seed does resemble that of sesamum, the Sesamum orientale of Linnæus.

[976] Or eonis. Fée suggests that in this story, which probably belongs to the region of Fable, some kind of oak may possibly be alluded to.

[977] In the former editions, “adrachne”—the Arbutus integrifolia, Fée says, and not the Arbutus andrachne of Linnæus, as Sprengel thinks.

[978] “Porcillaca.” The Portulaca oleracea of Linnæus.

[979] The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, a sort of sumach.

[980] This is not the fact; the seeds when ripe are merely lost to view in the large tufts of down which grow on the stems.

[981] Generally supposed to be the same as the alaternus, mentioned in B. xvi. c. [45]. Some writers identify it with the Phyllirea angustifolia of Linnæus.

[982] Probably the Ferula communis of Linnæus, the herb or shrub known as “fennel giant.”

[983] The Ferula glauca of Linnæus.

[984] The Ferula nodiflora of Linnæus.

[985] It is still used for that purpose in the south of Europe. The Roman schoolmasters, as we learn from Juvenal, Martial, and others, employed it for the chastisement of their scholars. Pliny is in error in reckoning it among the trees, it really having no pretensions to be considered such. It is said to have received its name from “ferio,” to “beat.”

[986] Sprengel thinks that this is the Thapsia asclepium of the moderns; but Fée takes it to be the Thapsia villosa of Linnæus.

[987] It was valued, Dioscorides says, for its cathartic properties.

[988] Either the Thapsia garganica of Willdenow, or the Thapsia villosa, found in Africa and the south of Europe, though, as Pliny says, the thapsia of Europe is mild in its effects compared with that of Africa. It is common on the coast of Barbary.

[989] Pastillos.

[990] Nocturnis grassationibus.

[991] It is still used in Barbary for the cure of tetter and ringworm.

[992] The story was, that Prometheus, when he stole the heavenly fire from Jupiter, concealed it in a stalk of narthex.

[993] The “caper-tree,” the Capparis spinosa of Linnæus. Fée suggests that Pliny may possibly allude, in some of the features which he describes, to kinds less known; such, for instance, as the Capparis inermis of Forskhal, found in Arabia; the Capparis ovata of Desfontaines, found in Barbary; the Capparis Sinaica, found on Mount Sinai, and remarkable for the size of its fruit; and the Capparis Ægyptiaca of Lamarck, commonly found in Egypt.

[994] The stalk and seed were salted or pickled. The buds or unexpanded flowers of this shrub are admired as a pickle or sauce of delicate flavour.

[995] Fée remarks that this is not the truth, all the kinds possessing the same qualities. There may, however, have been some difference in the mode of salting or pickling them, and possibly productive of noxious effects.

[996] Probably from its thorns, that being the name of the sweet-briar, or dog-rose.

[997] “Serpent grapes.”

[998] Sprengel and Fée take this to be the Cyperus fastigiatus of Linnæus, which Forskhal found in the river Nile.

[999] Spina regia. Some writers have considered this to be the same with the Centaurea solstitialis of Linnæus. Sprengel takes it to be the Cassyta filiformis of Linnæus, a parasitical plant of India. We must conclude, however, with Fée, that both the thorn and the parasite have not hitherto been identified.

[1000] The Makron Teichos. See B. iv. c. 11.

[1001] From the various statements of ancient authors, Fée has come to the conclusion that this name was given to two totally different productions. The cytisus which the poets speak of as grateful to bees and goats, and sheep, he takes to be the Medicago arborea of Linnæus, known to us as Medic trefoil, or lucerne; while the other, a tree with a black wood, he considers identical with the Cytisus laburnum of Linnæus, the laburnum, or false ebony tree.

[1002] A kind of vetch or tare. See B. xviii.

[1003] “Frutex.” When speaking of it as a shrub, he seems to be confounding the tree with the plant.

[1004] Evidently in allusion to the tree.

[1005] He alludes to various kinds of fucus or sea-weed, which grows to a much larger size in the Eastern seas.

[1006] The Mediterranean.

[1007] Whence the word “fucus” of the naturalists.

[1008] Fée suggests that this may be the Laminaria saccharina of Linnæus, being one of the “ulvæ” often thrown up on the coasts of Europe.

[1009] The “green” plant.

[1010] The “girdle” plant.

[1011] The Fucus barbatus, probably, of Linnæus, or else the Fucus eroïdes.

[1012] They are in reality more long-lived than this.

[1013] Fée suggests that it is the Roccella tinctoria of Linnæus.

[1014] The Zostera marina of Linnæus, according to Fée.

[1015] The Ulva lactuca of the moderns, a very common sea-weed.

[1016] The Fucus ericoïdes, Fée suggests, not unlike a fir in appearance.

[1017] Quercus. According to Gmellin, this is the Fucus vesiculosus of Linnæus. Its leaves are indented, somewhat similarly to those of the oak.

[1018] Polybius, as quoted by Athenæus, says that in the Lusitanian Sea there are oaks that bear acorns, on which the thunnies feed and grow fat.

[1019] On the contrary, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 7, that the sea-vine grows near the sea, from which Fée is disposed to consider it a phanerogamous plant. If, on the other hand, it is really a fucus, he thinks that the Fucus uvarius may be meant, the vesicles of which resemble a grape in shape.

[1020] He speaks of a madrepore, Fée thinks, the identity of which it is difficult to determine. Professor Pallas speaks of an Alcyonidium ficus, which lives in the Mediterranean and in the ocean, and which resembles a fig, and has no leaves, but its exterior is not red.

[1021] Fée queries whether this may not be the Gorgonia palma of Linnæus, which has received its name from its resemblance to a small palm-tree.

[1022] These three, Fée thinks, are madrepores or zoophytes, which it would be vain to attempt to identify.

[1023] That is, they dry up to the consistency of pumice.

[1024] “Sitiens.” Delille considers this as identical with his Acacia seyal, a thorny tree, often to be seen in the deserts of Africa.

[1025] Probably zoophytes now unknown.

[1026] Fée suggests that he may allude to the Madrepora fungites of Linnæus, the Fungus lapideus of Bauhin. These are found in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean; but, of course, the story of their appearance during rain is fabulous.

[1027] Sharks; see B. ix. c. 70.

[1028] The companions of Onesicritus and Nearchus.

[1029] Fée hazards a conjecture that this may be the Gorgonia scirpea of Pallas, found in the Indian Seas.

[1030] One of the Gorgoniæ, Fée thinks; but its characteristics are not sufficiently stated to enable us to identify it.

[1031] A fable worthy of Sinbad the Sailor!

[1032] “Isidis crinem.” Fée says that this is evidently black coral, the Gorgonia antipathes of Linnæus.

[1033] “The eyelid of the Graces.” Fée is almost tempted to think that he means red coral.

[1034] Amatoriis.

[1035] Spatalia. Armlets or bracelets.

[1036] By this apparently fabulous story, one would be almost inclined to think that he is speaking of a zoophyte.

[1037] See end of B. ii.

[1038] See end of B. ii.

[1039] See end of B vii.

[1040] Papirius Fabianus. See end of B. ii.

[1041] See end of B. ii.

[1042] See end of B. iii.

[1043] Fabius Pictor. See end of B. x.

[1044] See end of B. viii.

[1045] See end of B. iii.

[1046] Trogus Pompeius. See end of B. vii.

[1047] See end of B. v.

[1048] See end of B. ii.

[1049] See end of B. [xii].

[1050] See end of B. [xii].

[1051] See end of B. ii.

[1052] See end of B. [xii].

[1053] See end of B. ii.

[1054] See end of B. iii.

[1055] See end of B. ii.

[1056] See end of B. [xii].

[1057] See end of B. vii.

[1058] See end of B. vi.

[1059] See end of B. [xii].

[1060] See end of B. vii.

[1061] See end of B. vi.

[1062] See end of B. ii.

[1063] See end of B. [xii].

[1064] See end of B. [xii].

[1065] See end of B. vi.

[1066] See end of B. iv.

[1067] See end of B. iv.

[1068] See end of B. [xii].

[1069] See end of B. iv.

[1070] See end of B. viii.

[1071] See end of B. [xii].

[1072] See end of B. [xii].

[1073] See end of B. [xii].

[1074] See end of B. viii.

[1075] Nothing certain is known of him; but he appears to be the geographer, a native of Lampsacus, mentioned by Strabo in B. xiii.

[1076] See end of B. [xii].

[1077] See end of B. [xii].

[1078] See end of B. [xii].

[1079] See end of B. ii.

[1080] See end of B. viii.

[1081] See end of B. iii.

[1082] A writer on Agriculture, or domestic economy; but nothing further is known of him.

[1083] See end of B. v.

[1084] Perhaps the same writer that is mentioned at the end of B. [xi].

[1085] For two physicians of this name, see end of B. [xii].

[1086] One of his prescriptions is preserved in the works of Galen. Nothing else is known of him.

[1087] See end of B. [xii].

[1088] See end of B. [xii].

[1089] See end of B. [xii].

[1090] See end of B. [xii].

[1091] See end of B. [xii].

[1092] See end of B. [xii].

[1093] See end of B. [xii].

[1094] See end of B. [xii].

[1095] See end of B. [xii].

[1096] This must be understood with considerable modification—many of the tropical trees and plants have been naturalized, and those of America more particularly, in Europe.

[1097] He is probably wrong in looking upon the vine as indigenous to Italy. It was known in very early times in Egypt and Greece, and it is now generally considered that it is indigenous throughout the tract that stretches to the south, from the mountains of Mazandiran on the Caspian to the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Sea, and eastward through Khorassan and Cabul to the base of the Himalayas.

[1098] The art of printing, Fée remarks, utterly precludes the recurrence of such a fact as this.

[1099] In allusion to his poem, the “Works and Days,” the prototype of Virgil’s Georgics.

[1100] He alludes to the legacy-hunters with which Rome abounded in his time. They are spoken of by Seneca, Tacitus, and Juvenal, in terms of severe reprobation.

[1101] This seems to be the meaning of “captatio;” much like what we call “toadying,” or “toad-eating.”

[1102] The “liberales artes,” were those, the pursuit of which was not considered derogatory to the dignity of a free man.

[1103] Vita ipsa desiit.

[1104] Humilitas.

[1105] In the Georgics.

[1106] Theophrastus reckons it among the trees; Columella, B. ii., considers it to occupy a middle position between a tree and a shrub. Horace, B. i. Ode 18, calls it a tree, “arbor.”

[1107] Or “layers,” “propagines.”

[1108] Nubunt, properly “marry.” This is still done in Naples, and other parts of Italy. The use of vine stays there are unknown.

[1109] “Mustum.” Pure, unfermented juice of the grape.

[1110] See B. vii. c. 24.

[1111] Italia Transpadana.

[1112] See B. xxiv. c. 112. The Bauhins are of opinion that this is the Acer opulus of Willdenow, common in Italy, and very branchy.

[1113] “Tabulata in orbem patula.” He probably alludes to the branches extending horizontally from the trunk.

[1114] “In palmam ejus.”

[1115] There is no doubt that the whole of this passage is in a most corrupt state, and we can only guess at its meaning. Sillig suggests a new reading, which, unsupported as it is by any of the MSS., can only be regarded as fanciful, and perhaps as a very slight improvement on the attempts to obtain a solution of the difficulty. Pliny’s main object seems to be to contrast the vines that entwine round poles and rise perpendicularly with those that creep horizontally.

[1116] By throwing out fresh shoots every here and there. Fée, however, seems to think that he means that the grapes themselves, as they trail along the ground, suck up the juices with their pores. These are known in France as “running vines,” and are found in Berry and Anjou.

[1117] He must evidently be speaking of the size of the bunches. See the account of the grapes of Canaan, in Numbers xiii. 24.

[1118] “Durus acinus,” or, according to some readings, “duracinus.”

[1119] From the Greek βουμαστὸς, a cow’s teat, mentioned by Virgil, Georg. ii. 102.

[1120] Or finger-grape.

[1121] From the Greek λεπτορᾶγες, “small-berried.”

[1122] Pensili concamaratæ nodo.

[1123] We have no corresponding word for the Latin “dolium.” It was an oblong earthen vessel, used for much the same purpose as our vats; new wine was generally placed in it. In times later than that of Pliny the dolia were made of wood.

[1124] Hardouin speaks of these grapes as still growing in his time in the Valtelline, and remarkable for their excellence.

[1125] “A patientia.” Because they have suffered from the action of the heat.

[1126] From the thinness of the skin.

[1127] See c. [24], also B. xxiii. c. 24.

[1128] See B. iii. c. 5, and B. xxxiii. c. 24.

[1129] He died in the year B.C. 19.

[1130] A vine sapling was the chief mark of the centurion’s authority.

[1131] The reading “elatas,” has been adopted. If “lentas” is retained, it may mean, “promotion, slow though it be,” for the word “aquila” was often used to denote the rank of the “primipilus,” who had the charge of the eagle of the legion.

[1132] Because it was the privilege solely of those soldiers who were Roman citizens to be beaten with the vine sapling.

[1133] He alludes to the “vinea” used in besieging towns; the first notion of which was derived from the leafy roof afforded by the vines when creeping on the trellis over-head. It was a moveable machine, affording a roof under which the besiegers protected themselves against darts, stones, fire, and other missiles. Raw hides or wet cloths constituted the uppermost layer.

[1134] See B. xxiii. c. 19.

[1135] Many years ago, there were in the gardens of the Luxembourg one thousand four hundred varieties of the French grape, and even then there were many not to be found there; while, at the same time, it was considered that the French kinds did not form more than one-twentieth part of the species known in Europe.

[1136] This vine was said to be of Grecian origin, and to have been conveyed by a Thessalian tribe to Italy, where it was grown at Aminea, a village in the Falernian district of Campania. It is supposed to have been the same as the gros plant of the French. The varieties mentioned by Pliny seem not to have been recognized by the moderns.

[1137] Fée does not give credit to this statement.

[1138] In allusion to the cotton-tree, or else the mulberry leaves covered with the cocoons of the silkworm. See B. vi. c. 20, and B. xii. c. [21]. Virgil, in the Georgics, has the well-known line:

“Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres.”

[1139] See B. iii. c. 9, There are many vines, the wood of which is red, but this species has not been identified.

[1140] From “apis,” a “bee.” He alludes, it is thought, to the muscatel grape, said to have had its name from “musca,” a “fly;” an insect which is greatly attracted by its sweetness.

[1141] Græcula.

[1142] Fée is inclined to think that he alludes to the vine of Corinth, the dried fruit of which are the currants of commerce.

[1143] From the Greek εὐγένεια.

[1144] How Taormina, in Sicily, where, Fée says, it is still to be found. The grapes are red, similar to those of Mascoli near Etna, and much esteemed.

[1145] Picata. See p. [221].

[1146] I. e., pale straw colour.

[1147] It has been supposed that this vine received its name from “fæx;” the wine depositing an unusually large quantity of lees.

[1148] It is doubtful whether this vine had its name from being grown in the district now called Bourges, or that of Bourdeaux. Dalechamps identifies it with the plant d’Orleans.

[1149] The origin of its name is unknown. The text is evidently defective.

[1150] By this name it would be understood that they were of an intermediate colour between rose and white, a not uncommon colour in the grape. Pliny, however, says otherwise, and he is supported by Columella.

[1151] C. Bauhin took this to mean one of the garden currant trees, the Ribes uva crispa of Linnæus, called by Bauhin Grossularia simplici acino, or else Spinosa agrestis. But, as Fée observes, the ancients were not so ignorant as to confound a vine with a currant-bush.

[1152] Like the Portuguese grapes of the present day.

[1153] Crisped and indented.

[1154] This variety, according to Christian de la Vega, was cultivated abundantly in Grenada. The word cocolab, according to some, meant cock’s comb. It is mentioned as a Spanish word by Columella.

[1155] Dalechamps says, that a similar wine was made at Montpellier, and that it was called “piquardant.”

[1156] See B. xxiii. cc. 20, 21.

[1157] Probably from “albus,” “white.” Poinsinet thinks that it may have been so called from the Celtic word alb, or alp, a mountain, and that it grew on elevated spots. This, however, is probably fanciful.

[1158] Called by the Greeks ἀμέθυστον, from its comparatively harmless qualities.

[1159] Or “sober” vine.

[1160] Hardouin says that in his time it was still cultivated about Macerata, in the Roman States. Fée thinks that it may be one of the climbing vines, supported by forks, cultivated in the central provinces of France. See also B. xxiii. c. 19, as to the effects produced by its wine.

[1161] Poinsinet gives a Celto-Scythian origin to this word, and says that it means “injured by fogs.” This appears to be supported in some measure by what is stated below.

[1162] See B. xvii. c. [37].

[1163] Or “thorny” vine. Fée queries why it should be thus called.

[1164] This humid, marshy locality was noted for the badness of its grapes, and consequently of its wine.

[1165] Hardouin thinks that this is the “Marze mina” of the Venetians: whence, perhaps, its ancient name.

[1166] “Testis.” See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[1167] From Murgentum, in Sicily. See B. iii. c. 14.

[1168] From Pompeii, afterwards destroyed. See B. iii c. 9.

[1169] Hardouin, as Fée thinks, without good reason, identifies this with the “Arelaca” of Columella.

[1170] Georgics, ii. 99.

[1171] This seems to be the meaning of “ultro solum lætius facit.” These two lines have been introduced by Sillig, from one of the MSS., for the first time.

[1172] Hardouin thinks that it is so called from Tuder, a town of Etruria. See B. iii. c. 19.

[1173] Sillig suggests that the reading here is corrupt, and that Pliny means to say that the vine called Florentia is particularly excellent, and merely to state that the talpona, &c., are peculiar to Arretium: for, as he says, speaking directly afterwards in disparagement of them, it is not likely he would pronounce them “opima,” of “first-rate quality.”

[1174] From “talpa,” a “mole,” in consequence of its black colour.

[1175] “Album.”

[1176] Probably so called from the Etesian winds, which improved its growth.

[1177] Perhaps meaning “double-seeded.” We may here remark, that the wines of Tuscany, though held in little esteem in ancient times, are highly esteemed at the present day.

[1178] The leaves of most varieties turn red just before the fall.

[1179] And Baccius thinks that this is the kind from which the raisins of the sun, common in Italy, and more particularly in the Valley of Bevagna, the Mevania of Pliny, are made.

[1180] Perhaps from “pumilio,” a dwarf.

[1181] The “royal” vine, according to Poinsinet, who would derive it from the Sclavonic “ban.”

[1182] Previously mentioned, p. [228].

[1183] The residence of Horace, now Tivoli.

[1184] Baccius says that the wine of this grape was thin like water, and that the vine was trained on lofty trees, a mode of cultivation still followed in the vicinity of Rome. Laurentum was situate within a short distance of it, near Ostia.

[1185] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1186] So called from the smoky or intermediate colour of its grapes. Fée suggests that this may be the slow-ripening grape of France, called the “verjus,” or “rognon de coq.”

[1187] Possibly meaning the “mouthful.”

[1188] Perhaps so called from Prusa in Bithynia, a district which bore excellent grapes.

[1189] Or the “turning” grape. A fabulous story no doubt, originating in the name, probably. Fée suggests that it may have originated in the not uncommon practice of letting the bunches hang after they were ripe, and then twisting them, which was thought to increase the juice.

[1190] In the modern Marches of Ancona.

[1191] Georgics, ii. 91, et seq.

Sunt Thasiæ vites, sunt et Mareotides albæ:

* * * * *

Et passo Psithia utilior, tenuisque Lageos,

Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam,

Purpuræ, Preciæque——

[1192] A muscatel, Fée thinks.

[1193] Or “hard-berried.” Fée thinks that the maroquin, or Morocco grape, called the “pied de poule” (or fowl’s foot), at Montpellier, may be the duracinus.

[1194] Or “upright vine.” In Anjou and Herault the vines are of similar character.

[1195] The “finger-like” vine.

[1196] The “pigeon” vine.

[1197] Though very fruitful, it does not bear in large clusters (racemi), but only in small bunches (uvæ).

[1198] The “three-foot” vine.

[1199] Perhaps meaning the “rush” grape, from its shrivelled appearance.

[1200] See c. [3] of this Book.

[1201] The ordinary number of pips or stones is five. It is seldom that we find but one. Virgil mentions this grape, Georg. ii. 95.

[1202] “Chium.” This reading is doubtful. Fée says that between Narni and Terni, eight leagues from Spoleto, a small grape is found, without stones. It is called “uva passa,” or “passerina.” So, too, the Sultana raisin of commerce.

[1203] “Grown for the table.”

[1204] Or “hard-berry.”

[1205] Mentioned by Virgil, Georg. ii. 101.

[1206] Or pitch-grape.

[1207] Perhaps the “noirant,” or “teinturier” of the French.

[1208] Or “garland-clustered” vine.

[1209] Fée says that this is sometimes accidentally the case, but is not the characteristic of any variety now known.

[1210] Or “market-grapes.”

[1211] The “ash-coloured.”

[1212] The “russet-coloured.”

[1213] Probably so called from its grey colour, like that of the ass.

[1214] Or “fox” vine. This variety is unknown.

[1215] So called from Alexandria, in Troas, not in Egypt. Phalacra was in the vicinity of Mount Ida.

[1216] As the leaves of the vine are universally divided, it has been considered by many of the commentators that this is not in reality a vine, but the Arbutus uva ursi of Linnæus. The fruit, however, of that ericaceous plant is remarkably acrid, and not sweet, as Pliny states. Fée rejects this solution.

[1217] Aubenas, in the Vivarais, according to Hardouin; Alps, according to Brotier. We must reject this assertion as fabulous.

[1218] In B.C. 194, for his successes in Spain.

[1219] Mode of culture, locality, climate, and other extraneous circumstances, work, no doubt, an entire change in the nature of the vine.

[1220] Probably the first of the five that he has mentioned in c. 4.

[1221] He has only mentioned one sort in c. [4].

[1222] See c. [4].

[1223] See c. [4].

[1224] We have no corresponding word for this beverage in the English language—a thin, poor liquor, made by pouring water on the husks and stalks after being fully pressed, allowing them to soak, pressing them again, and then fermenting the liquor. It was also called “vinum operarium,” or “labourer’s wine.” As stated in the present instance, grapes were sometimes stored in it for keeping.

[1225] A variety of the Aminean, as stated below.

[1226] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1227] The elder Africanus. He retired in voluntary exile to his country-seat at Liternum, where he died.

[1228] Mercis.

[1229] The suggestion of Sillig has been adopted, for the ordinary reading is evidently corrupt, and absurd as well—“not in the very worst part of a favourite locality”—just the converse of the whole tenor of the story.

[1230] The philosopher, and tutor of Nero.

[1231] Said to have been so called from Maron, a king of Thrace, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Thracian Ismarus. See B. iv. c. 18. Homer mentions this wine in the Odyssey, B. ix. c. 197, et seq. It was red, honey-sweet, fragrant. The place is still called Marogna, in Roumelia, a country the wines of which are still much esteemed.

[1232] See B. vii. c. 57.

[1233] Thus making “mulsum.”

[1234] B. ix. c. 208.

[1235] Indomitus.

[1236] By “black” wines he means those that had the same colour as our port.

[1237] Il. xi. 638. Od. x. 234.

[1238] Cybele. A wine called “Pramnian” was also grown in the island of Icaria, in Lesbos, and in the territory of Ephesus. The scholiast on Nicander says that the grape of the psythia was used in making it. Dioscorides says that it was a “protropum,” first-class wine, made of the juice that voluntarily flowed from the grapes, in consequence of their own pressure.

[1239] B.C. 121.

[1240] “Cooking,” literally, or “boiling.”

[1241] The wines of Burgundy, in particular, become bitter when extremely old.

[1242] See B. vii. c. 18.

[1243] Caligula.

[1244] By some remarkable and peculiar quality, such as in the Opimian wine.

[1245] “Testa,” meaning the amphora.

[1246] See c. [3] of the present Book, where these “picata,” or “pitched-wines,” have been further described.

[1247] On the contrary, Fée says, the coldest wines are those that contain the least alcohol, whereas those of Vienne (in modern Dauphiné) contain more than the majority of wines.

[1248] He implies that wine is an antidote to the poisonous effects of hemlock. This is not the case, but it is said by some that vinegar is. It is the plant hemlock (cicuta) that is meant, and not the fatal draught that was drunk by Socrates and Philopœmen. See further in B. xxiii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95.

[1249] Clitus and Callisthenes.

[1250] Lacus.

[1251] The testa or amphora, made of earth.

[1252] As the wife of Augustus is meant, this reading appears preferable to “Julia.”

[1253] Dion Cassius says “eighty-sixth.”

[1254] See B. iii. c. 22, and B. xvii. c. [3]. Pucinum was in Istria, and the district is said still to produce good wine; according to Dalechamps, the place is called Pizzino d’Istria.

[1255] The hills of Setia, looking down on the Pomptine Marshes: now Sezza, the wine of which is of no repute.

[1256] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1257] See B. iii. c. 9. Between Fundi and Setia; a locality now of no repute for its wines. In B. xxiii. c. 19, Pliny says, that the Cæcuban vine was extinct: but in B. xvii. c. [3], he says that in the Pomptine Marshes it was to be found.

[1258] This was the case, it has been remarked, with Madeira some years ago.

[1259] This is the most celebrated of all the ancient wines, as being more especially the theme of the poets.

[1260] See B. xi. c. [97]. The wines of the Falernian district are no longer held in any esteem; indeed, all the Campanian wines are sour, and of a disagreeable flavour.

[1261] It appears to have been exceedingly rich in alcohol.

[1262] But in B. xxiii. c. 20, he assigns the first rank to the Albanum; possibly, however, as a medicinal wine. The wines of Latium are no longer held in esteem.

[1263] See B. xxiii. c. 21.

[1264] From Surrentum, the promontory forming the southern horn of the Bay of Naples. Ovid and Martial speak in praise of these wines; they were destitute of richness and very dry, in consequence of which they required twenty-five years to ripen.

[1265] Or “dead vinegar.” “Vappa” was vinegar exposed to the air, and so destitute of its properties, and quite insipid.

[1266] Excellent wines are still produced in the vicinity of this place. Massicum was one of the perfumed wines. Gaurus itself produced the “Gauranum,” in small quantity, but of high quality, full-bodied and thick.

[1267] For the Calenian Hills, see B. iii. c. 9; see also B. xxiii. c. 12, for some further account of the wines of Stata. The wines of that district are now held in no esteem.

[1268] From Fundi. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1269] Now Castel del Volturno: although covered with vineyards, its wines are of no account. This wine always tasted as if mixed with some foreign substance.

[1270] Now Piperno. It was a thin and pleasant wine.

[1271] Now Segni, in the States of the Church.

[1272] Written to the Senate, also to Cicero. We learn from Suetonius that they were partly written in cipher.

[1273] Messina, at the present day, exports wines of very good quality, and which attain a great age.

[1274] It was sound, light, and not without body.

[1275] “Lagenæ.” The same spot, now Taormina in Sicily, between Catania and Messina, still produces excellent wines.

[1276] See B. iii. c. 18. Fée says that this is thought to have been the wine of Syrol, of last century, grown near Ancona.

[1277] “Palma.” Notwithstanding this suggestion, it is more generally supposed that they had their name from the place called Palma, near Marano, on the Adriatic. Its wines are still considered of agreeable flavour.

[1278] The wines of modern Cezena enjoy no repute, owing, probably, to the mode of making them.

[1279] Probably so called because it was brought into fashion by Mæcenas.

[1280] See Georg. ii. 95. The wines of the Tyrol, the ancient Rhætia, are still considered as of excellent quality.

[1281] Of Adria, or the Adriatic Sea.

[1282] See B. iii. c. 20. These wines are of little repute.

[1283] In Latium. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1284] From Graviscæ. See B. iii. c. 8.

[1285] See B. ii. c. 96, B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxxvi. c. 49.

[1286] The wines of Genoa are of middling quality only, and but little known.

[1287] Or “juicy” wine.

[1288] Now Beziers, in the south of France. The wines of this part are considered excellent at the present day. That of Frontignan grows in its vicinity. Fée is inclined to think, from Pliny’s remarks here, that the ancients and the moderns differed entirely in their notions as to what constitutes good or bad wine.

[1289] He means, beyond modern Provence, and Languedoc: districts famous for their excellent wines, more particularly the latter.

[1290] Fée deems all this quite incredible. Our English experience, however, tells us that it is by no means so; much of the wine that is drunk in this country is indebted for flavour as well as colour to anything but the grape.

[1291] The wines of modern Otranto are ordinarily of good quality.

[1292] Baccius reads “Seberiniana,” but is probably wrong. If he is not, it might allude to the place now known as San Severino, and which produces excellent wine. Fée thinks that these wines were grown in the territory of Salerno, which still enjoys celebrity for its muscatel wines.

[1293] See B. iii. c. 10. The wines of modern Cosenza still enjoy a high reputation.

[1294] M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, the writer and partisan of Augustus. See end of B. ix.

[1295] A place supposed to have been situated near Thurii.

[1296] See B. iii. c. 15.

[1297] Said by Galen to be very wholesome, as well as pleasant. The wines of the vicinity of Naples are still held in high esteem.

[1298] Galen says that it was very similar to the Falernian.

[1299] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1300] The Trifoline territory was in the vicinity of Cumæ. It is possible that the wine may have had its name from taking three years to come to maturity; or possibly it was owing to some peculiarity in the vine.

[1301] They have been already mentioned in c. [4]. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1302] Twelve o’clock in the day.

[1303] See B. iii. c. 4.

[1304] In Catalonia, which still produces abundance of wine, but in general of inferior repute.

[1305] The wines of Tarragona are still considered good.

[1306] A place in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, destroyed by Sertorius.

[1307] They still enjoy a high repute. The fame of their Malvoisie has extended all over the world.

[1308] He means to illustrate the capricious tastes that existed as to the merits of wines.

[1309] In c. [6] of this Book.

[1310] The Chian held the first rank, the Thasian the second.

[1311] From Arvisium, or Ariusium, a hilly district in the centre of the island. The wine of Chios still retains its ancient celebrity.

[1312] It was remarkable for its sweetness, and aromatics were sometimes mixed with it. Homer calls it harmless. Lesbos still produces choice wines.

[1313] Near Smyrna. Probably similar to the Pramnian wine, mentioned in c. [6].

[1314] See B. v. c. 30. This wine is mentioned again in the next page; it is generally thought, that he is wrong in making the Tmolites and the Mesogites distinct wines, for they are supposed to have been identical.

[1315] If drunk by itself, and not as a flavouring for other wines.

[1316] Bacchus had a temple there.

[1317] The wines of Cyprus are the most choice of all the Grecian wines at the present day.

[1318] In Lycia.

[1319] In Syria. Wine is no longer made there, but the grapes are excellent, and are dried for raisins.

[1320] Now Beyrout. It does not seem that wine is made there now. The Mahometan religion may have tended to the extinction of many of these wines.

[1321] At the village of Sour, on the site of ancient Tyre, the grape is only cultivated for raisins.

[1322] See also c. [22]: probably introduced from Thasos.

[1323] The “smoky” grape.

[1324] The “pitchy” grape.

[1325] A strong wine, Hardouin thinks, from whence its name—“strong enough to subdue a horse.”

[1326] From the small island of Mystus, near Cephallenia.

[1327] So called from the vine the name of which was “canthareus.”

[1328] Made, as already stated, from the juice that flowed spontaneously from the grapes. See also p. [250].

[1329] Or the “burnt up” country, a volcanic district of Mysia, which still retains its ancient fame for its wine. Virgil alludes to this wine in Georg. iv. l. 380:—

—Cape Mæonii carchesia Bacchi.

[1330] Perhaps from Petra in Arabia: though Fée suggests Petra in the Balearic Islands.

[1331] See B. iv. c. 22. In the island of Myconos in the Archipelago an excellent wine is still grown.

[1332] From Mount Mesogis, which divides the tributaries of the Caÿster from those of the Meander. It is generally considered the same as the Tmolites.

[1333] Must or grape-juice boiled down to one half.

[1334] See B. v. c. 29.

[1335] “Mulsum,” or honied wine, was of two kinds; honey mixed with wine, and honey mixed with must or grape-juice.

[1336] From its Greek name, it would seem to mean “of first quality.”

[1337] So called from a place in Eubœa, the modern Negropont. See. B. iv. c. 20. Negropont produces good wines at the present day.

[1338] The locality is unknown.

[1339] From Leucadia, or Leucate; see B. iv. c. 2; the vine was very abundant there.

[1340] From Ambracia. See B. iv. c. 2.

[1341] From the island of Peparethus. See B. iv. c. 23, where he says that from its abundance of vines it was called εὐοινὸς, or “Evenus.”

[1342] B. xxiii. c. 1, and c. 26.

[1343] “Cadis.”

[1344] Fée remarks that this method is still adopted in making several of the liqueurs.

[1345] White wine of Cos. Fée thinks that Pliny means to say that the sea water turns the must of a white or pale straw colour, and is of opinion that he has been wrongly informed.

[1346] “Sea-water” wine.

[1347] “Sea-seasoned” wine.

[1348] Fée says, that if the vessels were closed hermetically this would have little or no appreciable effect; if not, it would tend to spoil the wine.

[1349] Athenæus says that the Rhodian wine will not mix so well with sea-water as the Coan. Fée remarks that if Cato’s plan were followed, the wine would become vinegar long before the end of the four years.

[1350] Sillig thinks that the proper reading is “in six” only.

[1351] The sweet wines, in modern times, have the most bouquet or aroma.

[1352] “Albus,” pale straw-colour.

[1353] “Fulvus,” amber-colour.

[1354] Bright and glowing, like Tent and Burgundy.

[1355] “Niger,” the colour of our port.

[1356] Supposed to be a species of Pramnian wine, mentioned in c. [6]. This was used, as also the Aminean, for making omphacium, as mentioned in B. xii. c. [60]. See also c. [18] of this Book.

[1357] “Black psythian.”

[1358] Mentioned by Galen among the sweet wines.

[1359] See B. iii. c. 14. Now Solana in Sicily, which produces excellent wine.

[1360] Honied wine.

[1361] This was evidently a kind of grape sirop, or grape jelly. “Rob” is perhaps, as Hardouin suggests, a not inappropriate name for it.

[1362] When cold, they would have nearly the same consistency.

[1363] The raisin wine of Crete was the most prized of all as a class.

[1364] Mentioned in c. [4]. Probably a muscatel grape.

[1365] See c. [4] of this Book.

[1366] Or “vat.” The common reading was “oleo,” which would imply that they were plunged into boiling oil. Columella favours the latter reading, B. xii. c. 16.

[1367] The reading is probably defective here.

[1368] Passum secundarium.

[1369] Or “always sweet.”

[1370] “Always must.”

[1371] Fervere, “boil,” or “effervesce.”

[1372] “Sweet” drink. Fée seems to think that this sweet wine must have been something similar to champagne. Hardouin says that it corresponds to the vin doux de Limoux, or blanquette de Limoux, and the vin Muscat d’Azile.

[1373] See c. [3] of this Book.

[1374] “Poured,” or “strained through.”

[1375] “Honey wine.” A disagreeable medicament, Fée thinks, rather than a wine.

[1376] Somewhat similar to the vin de premiere goutte of the French. It would seem to have been more of a liqueur than a wine. Tokay is made in a somewhat similar manner.

[1377] Or “second” press wines.

[1378] De Re Rust. c. 153.

[1379] Vinum operarium.

[1380] This method is still adopted, Fée says, in making “piquette,” or “small wine,” throughout most of the countries of Europe.

[1381] Or “wine-lee drink.” It would make an acid beverage, of disagreeable taste.

[1382] “Nobilia.” In c. [29] he speaks of 195 kinds, and, reckoning all the varieties, double that number.

[1383] Fée observes that the varieties of the modern wines are quite innumerable. He remarks also that Pliny does not speak of the Asiatic wines mentioned by Athenæus, which were kept in large bottles, hung in the chimney corner; where the liquid, by evaporation, acquired the consistency of salt. The wines of other countries evidently were little known to Pliny.

[1384] “Circa pericula arbusti.” This is probably the meaning of this very elliptical passage. See p. [218].

[1385] Called Metellus, by Valerius Maximus, B. vi. c. 3.

[1386] See B. xvii. c. [11].

[1387] Over the Celtiberi.

[1388] The younger Pliny, B. ii. Ep. 2, censures this stingy practice. See also Martial, B. iii. Epig. 60.

[1389] That this, however, was not uncommonly done, we may judge from the remark made by the governor of the feast, John ii. 10, to the bridegroom.

[1390] Called “myrrhina.” Fée remarks that the flavour of myrrh is acrid and bitter, its odour strong and disagreeable, and says that it is difficult to conceive how the ancients could drink wine with this substance in solution.

[1391] As the “Persa” has come down to us, we find no mention of myrrh in the passage alluded to.

[1392] See B. xii. c. [49]. This is mentioned in the Persa, A. i. sc. 3, l. 7.

[1393] Aromatic or perfumed wines.

[1394] Murrhinam.

[1395] The Cheat or Impostor: a play of Plautus. See A. ii. sc. 4, l. 51, et seq.

[1396] Must boiled down to half its original quantity.

[1397] Apothecas. The “apothecæ” were rooms at the top of the house, in which the wines were placed for the purpose of seasoning. Sometimes a current of smoke was directed through them. They were quite distinct from the “cella vinaria,” or “wine-cellar.” The Opimian wine is mentioned in c. [4].

[1398] This writer is unknown.

[1399] Or amphora.

[1400] Vessels containing a congius, or the eighth of an amphora, nearly six pints English.

[1401] As to this malady, see B. xi. c. [71].

[1402] B.C. 46.

[1403] B. xii. c. [61].

[1404] Or “labrusca.” “Œnanthinum” means “made of vine flowers.” The wild vine is not a distinct species from the cultivated vine: it is only a variety of it, known in botany as the Vitis silvestris labrusca of Tournefort. Fée thinks that as the must could only be used in autumn, when the wild vine was not flowering, the flowers of it must have been dried.

[1405] “Solstitiales.” Because they withstand the heat of the solstice. Marcellus Empiricus calls them “caniculati,” because they bear the heat of the Dog-star.

[1406] Fée remarks that this assertion is quite erroneous.

[1407] From the Greek, meaning “without strength.” The mixture, Fée remarks, would appear to be neither potable nor wholesome.

[1408] See B. xviii. c. 24. A kind of beer might be made with it, Fée says; but this mixture must have been very unpalatable.

[1409] See B. xiii. c. [32].

[1410] A vinous drink may be made in the manner here stated; but the palm-wine of the peoples of Asia and Africa is only made of the fermented sap of the tree. See B. xiii. c. [9].

[1411] He says “caryotæ,” and not chydææ, in B. xiii. c. [4]. The modius was something more than our peck.

[1412] From the Greek σύκη, a “fig.” This wine was made, Fée thinks, from the produce of some variety of the sycamore. See B. xiii. c. [14].

[1413] “Prime palm” apparently.

[1414] Tortivum, probably: the second squeezing.

[1415] See B. xiii. c. [15].

[1416] See B. xiii. c. [14].

[1417] See B. xiii. c. [16].

[1418] From ῥόα, a “pomegranate.”

[1419] Dioscorides calls it “strobilites.” Fée says that they could be of no service in producing a vinous drink.

[1420] See B. xv. c. [37].

[1421] Or “myrtle wine.”

[1422] Myrtle will not make a wine, but simply a medicament, in which wine is the menstruum.

[1423] Artemisia abrotonum of Linnæus.

[1424] Ruta graveolens of Linnæus.

[1425] Nepeta cataria of Linnæus.

[1426] Thymus serpyllum of Linnæus.

[1427] Marrubium vulgare of Linnæus.

[1428] Grape-juice boiled down to one-third.

[1429] Brassica napus of Linnæus.

[1430] Scilla marina of Linnæus.

[1431] Nardus Gallicus, or Valeriana Celtica of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. [26].

[1432] Nardus silvestris or baccaris.

[1433] Aromatic wines.

[1434] In c. [15] of this Book.

[1435] Valeriana Celtica.

[1436] Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus.

[1437] Andropogon schœnanthus of Linnæus.

[1438] Costus Indicus of Linnæus.

[1439] Andropogon nardus of Linnæus.

[1440] See B. xiii. c. [2].

[1441] See B. xii. c. [43].

[1442] Crocus sativus of Linnæus.

[1443] Asarum Europæum of Linnæus.

[1444] See B. xii. c. [59].

[1445] Condita.

[1446] Piperata.

[1447] Inula helenium of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 91.

[1448] Medicago sativa of Linnæus.

[1449] Symphytum officinale of Linnæus, being all different varieties.

[1450] “Absinthites” made of the Artemisia Pontica of Linnæus. A medicinal wine is still prepared with wormwood; and “apsinthe,” a liqueur much esteemed in France, is made from it.

[1451] Hyssopites.

[1452] Hyssopites officinalis of Linnæus.

[1453] Helleborites.

[1454] Scammonites.

[1455] Fée says that this is not the fact; and queries whether the vulgar notion still entertained on this subject, may not be traced up to our author. It is a not uncommon belief that roses smell all the sweeter if onions are planted near them.

[1456] Lavendula stœchas of Linnæus. See B. xxvii. c. 107.

[1457] Gentiana lutea of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 34. Gentian wine is still made.

[1458] Thymus tragoriganum of Linnæus. See B. xx. c. 68.

[1459] Origanum dictamnus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 63.

[1460] Asarum Europæum of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. [27].

[1461] Query, if not carrot? See B. xxv. c. 64.

[1462] A variety of salvia or sage: it will be mentioned again, further on.

[1463] Laserpitium hirsutum of Linnæus. See B. xxv. cc. 11, 12, and 13.

[1464] Acorus calamus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 100.

[1465] See B. xxi. c. 32.

[1466] See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1467] Atrapora mandragora of Linnæus. This wine would act as a narcotic poison, it would appear.

[1468] Andropogon schœnanthus of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 72.

[1469] The origin and meaning of these names are unknown.

[1470] See B. xii. c. [11]. Juniperus Lycia, and Juniperus Phœnicea of Linnæus.

[1471] Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[1472] Laurus nobilis of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. [39].

[1473] Juniperus communis of Linnæus.

[1474] See B. xiii. c. [12]. The Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1475] See B. xii. c. [36]. The Pistacia lentiscus of Linnæus.

[1476] “Chamelæa.” The Granium Cnidium, Daphne Cnidium, and Daphne cneorum of Linnæus. See B. xiii. c. [35]. Venomous plants, which, taken internally, would be productive of dangerous results.

[1477] Chamæpitrys. The Teucrium chamæpitrys of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 20.

[1478] Chamædrys. The Teucrium chamædrys of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 80. Dioscorides mentions most of these so-called wines.

[1479] Mead, or metheglin. See B. xxii. c. 51.

[1480] There is no ground, Fée says, for this recommendation.

[1481] Stoves are now used for this purpose.

[1482] “Hydromēlum,” on the other hand, made of water and apples, was the same as our modern cider.

[1483] See B. xxiii. c. 9.

[1484] “Subfervefactis.” “Just come on the boil.”

[1485] The oxymel of modern times contains no salt, and is only used as a medicament.

[1486] As drinks, no doubt; and with good reason, as to most of them.

[1487] Coactus.

[1488] Our medicinal wines will mostly keep longer than this, owing probably to the difference in the mode of making the real wines that form their basis.

[1489] There is little doubt that this is fabulous: wine taken in excess, we know, is productive of loss of the senses, frenzy in the shape of delirium tremens.

[1490] This is not unlikely; for, as Fée remarks, the red wines, containing a large proportion of alcohol, act upon the brain and promote sleep, while the white wines, charged with carbonic gas, are productive of wakefulness.

[1491] Or healing vine. See B. xxiii. c. 11.

[1492] “Libanios.” Probably incense was put in this wine, to produce the flavour.

[1493] From ἀ, “not,” and σπένδειν, “to make libation.”

[1494] See c. [9] of this Book. It was introduced, probably, from Thasos.

[1495] From ἐκβάλλω, “to eject.”

[1496] Apothecis.

[1497] He alludes to the working of wines in periods of extreme heat; also in the spring.

[1498] Of our modern wines, Madeira and Bourdeaux improve by being carried across sea. Burgundy, if any thing, deteriorates, by the diminution of its bouquet.

[1499] After the grapes had been trodden and pressed, the husks were taken out and their edges cut, and then again subjected to pressure: the result was known as “tortivum,” or “circumcisivum,” a wine of very inferior quality.

[1500] He alludes to the young shoots, which have an agreeable acidity, owing to acetic and tartaric acids.

[1501] Acetic acid; the result, no doubt, of the faulty mode of manufacture universally prevalent; their wines contained evidently but little alcohol.

[1502] See B. xxiii. c. 24, and B. xxxvi. c. 48.

[1503] A process very likely, as Fée remarks, to turn the wines speedily to vinegar.

[1504] Down to one-third. This practice of using boiled grape-juice as a seasoning, is still followed in Spain in making some of the liqueurs; but it is not generally recommended.

[1505] B. xvi. c. [21].

[1506] Asia Minor, namely.

[1507] B. xiii. c. [12].

[1508] B. xii. c. [37].

[1509] It produces but a very minute quantity of resin, which is no longer an article of commerce.

[1510] See B. xiii. c. [11], and B. xvi. c. [21]. Not the cedar of Lebanon, probably, which only gives a very small quantity of resin, but one of the junipers.

[1511] Fée suggests that this may have been the resin of the Arabian terebinth.

[1512] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1513] Perhaps from the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1514] This was made from the terebinth: but the modern resin of Colophon is extracted from varieties of the coniferæ.

[1515] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1516] Earths are not soluble in oils.

[1517] As being a mark of extreme effeminacy.

[1518] The greater the quantity of alcohol, the more resin the wine would be able to hold in solution.

[1519] See B. xvi. c. [22].

[1520] “Crapula” properly means head-ache, and what is not uncommonly known as “seediness.” Resined wine was thought to be productive of these effects, and hence obtained the name. This kind of wine was used itself, as we see above, in seasoning the other kinds. Fée remarks, that in reality resins have no such effect as imparting body to weak wines.

[1521] The whole of this passage is hopelessly corrupt, and we can only guess at the meaning.

[1522] We have already stated that “vappa” is properly vinegar, which has been exposed to the air and has lost its flavour. In this fresh chemical change, which he calls a second fermentation, the wine becomes vinegar; and probably in the cases he mentions, for some peculiar reason, its speedy transition to “vappa” could not be arrested.

[1523] Mixed with water, it was the “posca,” or common drink of the Roman soldiers; and it was used extensively both by Greeks and Romans in their cooking, and at meals.

[1524] In c. [24].

[1525] By the mixture of ashes, Fée says, the wines would lose their colour, and have a detestable alkaline flavour.

[1526] A perfect absurdity, Fée remarks.

[1527] B. xvi. cc. [16-23].

[1528] Bitterness, driness, and a disagreeable smell.

[1529] Georg. ii. 498.

[1530] See B. iv. c. 12.

[1531] See B. xii. c. [36].

[1532] See B. xxi. c. 19.

[1533] Bees’ wax, Fée remarks, would not have this effect, but vinegar vessels would.

[1534] De Re Rust. c. 23.

[1535] The second “squeezings.”

[1536] If the wine is turning to vinegar, subacetate of lead will be formed.

[1537] They are tartrates, and have no affinity at all with nitre.

[1538] Casks, in fact, similar to those used in France at the present day. In Spain they use earthen jars and the skins of animals.

[1539] Oblong earthen vessels, used as vats.

[1540] “Ventruosa.” He means “round.”

[1541] As oblong ones, probably.

[1542] While fermenting, and before racking off.

[1543] Flos vini, the Mycoderma vini of Desmazieres, a mould or pellicule which forms on the surface, and afterwards falls and is held in suspension.

[1544] Vessels of lead are never used for this purpose at the present day; as that metal would oxidize too rapidly, and liquids would have great difficulty in coming to a boil. A slow fire must have been used by the ancients.

[1545] They were thought to give a bad flavour to the sapa or defrutum.

[1546] A mere puerility, as Fée remarks.

[1547] He does not state the reason, nor does it appear to be known. At the present day warmed wine is sometimes given to a jaded horse, to put him on his legs again.

[1548] Though practised by those who wished to drink largely, this was considered to diminish the flavour of delicate wines.

[1549] See B. xxii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95; also c. [7] of the present Book. Wine is no longer considered an antidote to cicuta or hemlock.

[1550] See B. xxxvi. c. 42.

[1551] This seems to be the meaning of “lectum;” but the passage is obscure.

[1552] Tunicam.

[1553] He satirizes, probably, some kind of gymnastic exercises that had been introduced to promote the speedy passage of the wine through the body.

[1554] “In vino veritas.”

[1555] Fée remarks that this is one proof that the wine of the ancients was essentially different in its nature from ours. In our day wine gives anything but a “pallid” hue.

[1556] “Rapere vitam.”

[1557] See B. xxiii. c. 23.

[1558] Three gallons and three pints!! There must have been some jugglery in this performance.

[1559] Probably towards those guilty of excesses in wine.

[1560] As Præfectus Urbis.

[1561] Love of drinking.

[1562] The mode of testing whether any “heeltaps” were left or not. It was this custom, probably, that gave rise to the favourite game of the cottabus.

[1563] Dr. Middleton, in his Life of Cicero, in his unlimited partiality for the family, quotes this as an instance of courage and high spirit.

[1564] According to Paterculus, he was fond of driving about in a chariot, crowned with ivy, a golden goblet in his hand, and dressed like Bacchus, by which title he ordered himself to be addressed.

[1565] He alludes to beer, or rather sweet wort, for hops were not used till the latter part, probably, of the middle ages. Lupines were sometimes used for flavouring beer.

[1566] Diodorus Siculus says that the Egyptian beer was nearly equal to wine in strength and flavour.

[1567] See end of B. iii.

[1568] See end of B. vii.

[1569] See end of B. vii.

[1570] See end of B. iii.

[1571] See end of B. x.

[1572] See end of B. [xi].

[1573] See end of B. ii.

[1574] Decimus Junius Silanus. He was commissioned by the senate, about B.C. 146, to translate into Latin the twenty-eight books of Mago, the Carthaginian, on Agriculture. See B. xviii. c. [5].

[1575] See end of B. x.

[1576] See end of B. vii.

[1577] See end of B. iii.

[1578] See end of B. iii.

[1579] Julius Græcinus. He was one of the most distinguished orators of his time. Having refused to accuse M. Julius Silanus, he was put to death A.D. 39. He wrote a work, in two books, on the culture of the vine.

[1580] He was a contemporary of Celsus and Columella, the latter of whom states that he wrote a work on a peculiar method of cultivating the vine. See also B. xvii. c. [18].

[1581] See end of B. viii.

[1582] See end of B. vii.

[1583] See end of B. viii.

[1584] Nothing is known of him. He may possibly have written on Husbandry, and seems to have spoken in dispraise of the son of Cicero. See c. [28] of the present Book.

[1585] The famous Roman Comic poet, born B.C. 184. Twenty of his comedies are still in existence.

[1586] For Alfius Flavius, see end of B. ix.; for Cneius Flavius, see end of B. [xii].

[1587] Or Dorsenus Fabius, an ancient Comic dramatist, censured by Horace for the buffoonery of his characters, and the carelessness of his productions. In the 15th Chapter of this Book, Pliny quotes a line from his Acharistio.

[1588] Q. Mutius Scævola, consul B.C. 95, and assassinated by C. Flavius Fimbria, having been proscribed by the Marian faction. He wrote several works on the Roman law, and Cicero was in the number of his disciples.

[1589] Sextus Ælius Pætus Catus, a celebrated jurisconsult, and consul B.C. 198. He wrote a work on the Twelve Tables.

[1590] See end of B. iii.

[1591] Son of Corvinus Messala. He appears to have been a man of bad repute: of his writings nothing seems to be known.

[1592] See end of B. ii.

[1593] A freedman of Pompey, by whose command he translated into Latin the work of Mithridates on Poisons. After Pompey’s death, he maintained himself by keeping a school at Rome.

[1594] For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. Fabianus Sabinus is supposed to have been the same person.

[1595] See end of B. [xii].

[1596] He is mentioned by the elder Seneca, but nothing whatever is known of him.

[1597] See end of B. vii.

[1598] See end of B. iii.

[1599] See end of B. ii.

[1600] See end of B. ii.

[1601] See end of B. viii.

[1602] See end of B. viii.

[1603] See end of B. viii.

[1604] See end of B. iv.

[1605] See end of B. viii.

[1606] See end of B. viii.

[1607] See end of B. viii.

[1608] See end of B. viii.

[1609] See end of B. viii.

[1610] See end of B. viii.

[1611] See end of B. viii.

[1612] See end of B. viii.

[1613] See end of B. [xiii].

[1614] See end of B. viii.

[1615] See end of B. vi.

[1616] See end of B. viii.

[1617] Supposed to have been a writer on Agriculture, but nothing further is known of him.

[1618] See end of B. viii.

[1619] See end of B. viii.

[1620] See end of B. ii.

[1621] See end of B. x.

[1622] See end of B. viii.

[1623] See end of B. viii.

[1624] See end of B. viii.

[1625] See end of B. viii.

[1626] See end of B. [xii].

[1627] See end of B. viii.

[1628] See end of B vii.

[1629] See end of B. ii.

[1630] See end of B. v.

[1631] Hist. Plant. iv. c.

[1632] The Olea Europæa of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1633] This has not been observed to be the fact. It has been known to grow in ancient Mesopotamia, more than one hundred leagues from the sea.

[1634] It is supposed that it is indigenous to Asia, whence it was introduced into Africa and the South of Europe. There is little doubt that long before the period mentioned by Pliny, it was grown in Africa by the Carthaginians, and in the South of Gaul, at the colony of Massilia.

[1635] This work of Hesiod is no longer in existence; but the assertion is exaggerated, even if he alludes to the growth of the tree from seed. Fée remarks that a man who has sown the olive at twenty, may gather excellent fruit before he arrives at old age. It is more generally propagated by slips or sets. If the trunk is destroyed by accident, the roots will throw out fresh suckers.

[1636] This is the case. We may remark that the tree will grow in this country, but the fruit never comes to maturity.

[1637] Georg. ii. 85, also ii. 420.

[1638] Probably the Olea maximo fructu of Tournefort. It has its name from the Greek ὄρχις the “testis,” a name by which it is still known in some parts of Provence.

[1639] Or “shuttle” olive. Probably the modern pickoline, or long olive.

[1640] Probably the Olea media rotunda præcox of Tournefort. It is slightly bitter.

[1641] This is so much the case, that though the olives of Spain and Portugal are among the finest, their oils are of the very worst quality.

[1642] It does not appear that the method of preparing oil by the use of boiling water was known to the ancients. Unripe olives produce an excellent oil, but in very small quantities. Hence they are rarely used for the purpose.

[1643] Called “virgin,” or “native” oil in France, and very highly esteemed.

[1644] Sporta.

[1645] “Exilibus regulis.” A kind of wooden strainer, apparently invented to supersede the wicker, or basket strainer.

[1646] It is more insipid the riper the fruit, and the less odorous.

[1647] By absorbing the oxygen of the air. It may be preserved two or three years even, in vessels hermetically closed. The oil of France keeps better than any other.

[1648] As well as the grape.

[1649] In consequence of the faulty mode of manufacture, the oil of Italy is now inferior to that of France. The oil of Aix is particularly esteemed.

[1650] In Campania. See B. xvii. c. [3]. Horace and Martial speak in praise of the Venafran olive. Hardouin suggests that Licinius Crassus may have introduced the Licinian olive.

[1651] The heat of Africa is unfavourable to the olive.

[1652] The fæces, marc, or lees. This is a crude juice contained in the cellular tissue of the fruit, known as viridine or chlorophylle.

[1653] This is owing, Fée says, to a sort of fermentation, which alters the tissue of the cells containing the oil, displaces the constituent elements, and forms others, such as mucus, sugar, acetic acid, ammoniac, &c. When ripe, the olive contains four oils; that of the skin, the flesh, the stone, and the kernel.

[1654] In B. xii. c. [60].

[1655] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[1656] 16th of September.

[1657] De Causis, B. i. c. 23.

[1658] This cannot possibly increase the oil, but it would render it more fluid, and thereby facilitate its escape from the cells of the berry.

[1659] But Cato, Re Rust. c. 144, adds the very significant words, “injussu domini aut custodis.” “Without the leave of the owner or the keeper.”

[1660] It is found that the olive, after an abundant season, will not bear in the following year; probably the result of exhaustion.

[1661] More commonly spelt “pausia.”

[1662] “Regia.” It is impossible to identify these varieties.

[1663] 8th of February.

[1664] This assertion of Pliny is not generally true. The large olives of Spain yield oil very plentifully.

[1665] Probably a member of the variety known to naturalists as the Olea fructu majori, carne crassâ, of Tournefort, the royal olive or “triparde” of the French. The name is thought to be from the Greek φαῦλος, the fruit being considered valueless from its paucity of oil.

[1666] There are but few olive-trees in either Egypt or Decapolis at the present day, and no attempts are made to extract oil from them.

[1667] “Carnis.” He gives this name to the solid part, or pericarp.

[1668] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1669] These methods are not now adopted for preserving the olive. The fruit are first washed in an alkaline solution, and then placed in salt and water. The colymbas was so called from κολυμβάω, “to swim,” in its own oil, namely. Dioscorides descants on the medicinal properties of the colymbades. B. i. c. 140.

[1670] There are several varieties known of this colour, and more particularly the fruit of the Olea atro-rubens of Gouan.

[1671] The Spanish olive, Hardouin says. Fée thinks that the name “superba,” “haughty,” is given figuratively, as meaning rough and austere.

[1672] The olives of the present Merida, in Spain, are of a rough, disagreeable flavour.

[1673] This seems to be the meaning of “pinguis;” but, as Fée observes, salt would have no such effect as here stated, but would impart a disagreeable flavour to the oil.

[1674] Fée regards this assertion as quite fabulous.

[1675] It will be stated in B. xxviii. c. 13, to what purposes this abominable collection of filth was applied.

[1676] 15th of July. He alludes to the inspection of the Equites, which originally belonged to the Censors, but afterwards to the Emperors. On this occasion there was “recognitio,” or “review,” and then a “transvectio,” or “procession” of the horsemen.

[1677] The ovation was a lesser triumph, at which the general entered the city not in a chariot, but on foot. In later times, however, the victor entered on horseback: and a wreath of myrtle, sometimes laurel, was worn by him. For further particulars as to the ovation, see c. [38] of the present Book.

[1678] Or “oleaster.”

[1679] De Re Rust. c. 6.

[1680] A middling or even poor soil is chosen for the olive at the present day.

[1681] Apparently meaning the “white wax” olive.

[1682] In warm countries, a site exposed to the north is chosen: in colder ones, a site which faces the south.

[1683] See B. xvii. c. [37]. This moss has not been identified with precision; but the leaf of the olive is often attacked by an erysiphus, known to naturalists as the Alphitomorpha communis; but it is white, not of a red colour.

[1684] Fée queries how any one could possibly eat olives that had been steeped in a solution of mastich. They must have been nauseous in the extreme.

[1685] De Re Rust. c. 64.

[1686] “Fracibus.” The opinion of Pliny, that olives deteriorate by being left in the store-room, is considered to be well founded; the olives being apt to ferment, to the deterioration of the oil: at the same time, he is wrong in supposing that the amount of oil diminishes by keeping the berries.

[1687] “Cortinas.” If we may judge from the name, these vessels were three-footed, like a tripod.

[1688] There are no good grounds for this recommendation, which is based on the erroneous supposition that heat increases the oil in the berry. The free circulation of the air also ought not to be restricted, as nothing is gained by it. In general, the method of extracting the oil is the same with the moderns as with the ancients, though these last did not employ the aid of boiling water.

[1689] Labra.

[1690] A “making,” or “batch.”

[1691] Or “flower.”

[1692] It may be remarked, that in this Chapter Pliny totally confounds fixed oils, volatile oils, and medicinal oils. Those in the list which he here gives, and which are not otherwise noticed in the Notes, may be considered to belong to this last class.

[1693] The oleaster furnishes but little oil, and it is seldom extracted. The oil is thinner than ordinary olive oil, and has a stronger odour.

[1694] The Daphne Cneorum and Daphne Cnidium of botanists. See B. xiii. c. [35], also B. xxiv. c. 82. Fée doubts if an oil was ever made from the chamelæa.

[1695] See B. xxiii. c. 41: the Ricinus communis of Linnæus, which abounds in Egypt at the present day. Though it appears to have been formerly sometimes used for the table, at the present day the oil is only known as “castor” oil, a strong purgative. It is one of the fixed oils. The Jews and Abyssinian Christians say that it was under this tree that Jonah sat.

[1696] A “tick.”

[1697] This method, Fée says, is still pursued in America.

[1698] See B. xiii. c. [2]. One of the fixed oils.

[1699] An essential oil may be extracted from either; it is of acrid taste, green, and aromatic; but does not seem to have been known to the ancients. The berries give by decoction a fixed oil, of green colour, sweet, and odoriferous. The oils in general here spoken of by Pliny as extracted from the laurel, are medicinal oils.

[1700] The Laurus latifolia of Bauhin.

[1701] The Myrtus latifolia Romana of Bauhin. It yields an essential oil, and by its decoction might give a fixed oil, in small quantity, but very odoriferous. As boiled with olive oil, he treats it as a volatile oil.

[1702] See B. xxv. c. 100. This myrtle is the Ruscus aculeatus of Linnæus.

[1703] See B. xiii. c. [29], and B xxiii. c. 45. A volatile oil might be extracted from the citrus, if one of the thuyæ, as also from the cypress.

[1704] See B. xxiii. c. 45. It is a fixed oil, still considerably used in some parts of Europe.

[1705] From the Greek καρύα, a “walnut.”

[1706] “Pitch oil.” See B. xxiv. c. 11. This would be a volatile oil.

[1707] See B. xxiii. c. 45, also B. xiii. c. [35]. Fée is of opinion, that as no fixed oil can be extracted from the Daphne Cnidium or Daphne Cneorum, Pliny must allude to a medicinal composition, like the oil of wild myrtle, previously mentioned.

[1708] A fixed oil. See B. xii. c. [36]. The seeds were used for making it. See B. xxiii. c. 45.

[1709] See B. xii. c. [51], and B. xxiii. c. 45. The leaves of the Lawsonia are very odoriferous.

[1710] The myrobalanus, or ben. See B. xii. c. [46], and B. xxiii. c. 46.

[1711] Neither the chesnut nor rice produce any kind of fixed oil.

[1712] See B. xvii. c. [13].

[1713] Or Fish-eaters. See B. xxxii. c. 38. This is one of the fixed oils.

[1714] In reality, no fixed oil can be obtained from them.

[1715] Or wild vine. See B. xii. c. [61], and B. xiii. c. [2].

[1716] Not an oil, so much as a medicinal preparation. Dioscorides mentions as component parts of it, omphacium, sweet rush, Celtic nard, aspalathus, costus, and must. It received its name from γλεῦκος “must.”

[1717] The Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus. See B. xii. c [52], and B. xiii. c. [2].

[1718] See B. xii. c. [48].

[1719] See B. xii. c. [54], and B. xiii. c. [2].

[1720] See B. xii. c. [29].

[1721] See B. xii. c. [57].

[1722] See B. xiii. c. 2, p. [163].

[1723] See B. xii. c. [41].

[1724] See B. xiii. c. [2].

[1725] Fée doubts the possibility of such a resemblance.

[1726] Hyoscyamus. A medicinal oil is still extracted from it. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1727] This medicinal oil is no longer used. The Lupinus albus was formerly held in greater esteem than it is now.

[1728] The Raphanus sativus of Linnæus. See B. xix. c. 26. This is one of the fixed oils; varieties of it are rape oil, and colza oil, now so extensively used.

[1729] From the Greek χόρτος, “grass.” This medicinal oil would be totally without power or effect.

[1730] A fixed oil is still extracted in Egypt from the grain known as sesamum.

[1731] See B. xxii. c. 15.

[1732] From κνίδη, a “nettle.” The nettle, or Urtica urens of Linnæus, has no oleaginous principles in its seed.

[1733] Lily oil is still used as a medicinal composition: it is made from the petals of the white lily, Lilium candidum of Linnæus.

[1734] From Selga, a town of Pisidia. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1735] See B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1736] A volatile oil, mixed with a small proportion of empyreumatic oil and carbon.

[1737] “Oil-honey.” Probably a terebinthine, or oleo-resin. See B. xxiii. c. 50.

[1738] When rancid and oxygenized by age, it has an irritating quality, and may be found useful for herpetic diseases.

[1739] It very probably will have this effect; but at the expense of the colour of the ivory, which very soon will turn yellow.

[1740] It has quite lost its ancient repute: the only use it is now put to is the manufacture of an inferior soap. See B. xxiii. c. 37.

[1741] De Re Rust. cc. 130, 169.

[1742] Dolia and cadi. Fée observes, that this, if done with the modern vessels, would have a tendency to make the oil turn rancid.

[1743] On the contrary, Fée is inclined to think it would attract them, from its mucilaginous properties.

[1744] Olive oil, however, has a tendency to generate verdigrease in copper vessels.

[1745] This, as Fée remarks, is probably so absurd as not to be worth discussing.

[1746] Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.

[1747] If she happens to have destroyed the buds, but not otherwise.

[1748] The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.

[1749] See B. xvi. c. [23]. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an agreeable flavour.

[1750] Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The nuts are slightly resinous.

[1751] Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at the present day to make this preparation.

[1752] The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.

[1753] From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called “melicotones.”

[1754] Or “golden apple.” The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an emblem of love.

[1755] Apparently meaning the “sparrow quince.” Dioscorides, Galen, and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?

[1756] “Early ripener.”

[1757] Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the pear is.

[1758] Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.

[1759] Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.

[1760] We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.

[1761] The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of modern botanists.

[1762] “Mala.” The term “malum,” somewhat similar to “pome” with us, was applied to a number of different fruits: the orange, the citron, the pomegranate, the apricot, and others.

[1763] Or peach.

[1764] See B. xiii. c. [34].

[1765] Or “pound-weight” pears: the Pirus volema of Linnæus.

[1766] Or “hard-berry”—probably in reference to the firmness of the flesh. It is generally thought to be the nectarine.

[1767] “Præcocia.” It is generally thought that in this name originates the word “apricot,” the Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus. There is, however, an early peach that ripens by the middle of July, though it is very doubtful if it was known to Pliny.

[1768] “From above.”

[1769] Perhaps the Prunus ungarica of naturalists, the black damask plum; or else the Prunus perdrigona, the perdrigon.

[1770] Probably the Prunus galatensis of naturalists.

[1771] “Hordearia:” the Prunus præcox of naturalists; probably our harvest plum.

[1772] Or “ass”-plum. The Prunus acinaria of naturalists: the cherry plum of the French.

[1773] Or “wax plum.” The Prunus cereola of naturalists: the mirabelle of the French.

[1774] Possibly the Prunus enucleata of Lamarck: the myrobalan of the French. Many varieties, however, are purple.

[1775] There are two opinions on this: that it is the Prunus Claudiana of Lamarck, the “Reine Claude” of the French; or else that it is identical with the apricot already mentioned, remarkable for the sweetness of its smell.

[1776] Or nut-prune.

[1777] The Prunus insititia of Linnæus.

[1778] The result of this would only be a plum like that of the tree from which the graft was cut.

[1779] The same as with reference to the graft on the apple.

[1780] This is probably quite fabulous.

[1781] B. xiii. c. [10].

[1782] The Prunus Damascena of the naturalists; our common damson, with its numerous varieties.

[1783] Probably the Cordia myxa of Linnæus; the Sebestier of the French. It has a viscous pulp, and is much used as a pectoral. It grows only in Syria and Egypt; and hence Fée is inclined to reject what Pliny says as to its naturalization at Rome, and the account he gives as to its being engrafted on the sorb.

[1784] I. e. Asia Minor.

[1785] Hospitium.

[1786] See B. xiii. c. [17]. The Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille.

[1787] It was this probably, and not the peach-tree, that would not bear fruit in the isle of Rhodes.

[1788] Perseus.

[1789] Fée remarks that the wild plum, the Prunus silvestris or insititia of Linnæus, was to be found in Italy before the days of Cato.

[1790] See B. xii. c. [7].

[1791] Of Media.

[1792] Its fruit will ripen in France, as far north as Tours. It is the Zizyphus vulgaris of Lamarck. It resembles a small plum, and is sometimes used as a sweetmeat. The confection sold as jujube paste is not the dried jelly of this fruit, but merely gum arabic and sugar, coloured.

[1793] A variety of the jujube, Fée is inclined to think. A nut-peach has also been suggested.

[1794] A.U.C. 779.

[1795] Or perhaps embankment: “agger.”

[1796] A reddish colour. For the composition of this colour, see B. xxxv. c. 24.

[1797] “Lanata;” perhaps rather the “downy” fruit; a variety of quince, Fée thinks. Pliny probably had never seen this fruit, in his opinion, and only speaks after Virgil, Ecl. ii. l. 51. “Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala.”

[1798] See B. xii. c. [6]. The Matian and the Cestian apple are thought by Dalechamps to have been the French “court-pendu,” or “short stalk.”

[1799] The Scandian is thought to have been a winter pear.

[1800] Adrian Junius takes this to be the “kers-appel” of the Flemish.

[1801] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 143.

[1802] Dolia.

[1803] Hardouin says that this is the “Pomme d’api” of the French; it is the “Court-pendu” with Adrian Junius.

[1804] The “Pomme de Saint Thomas,” according to Adrian Junius: Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme de Granoi. See B. iii. c. 19, and cc. [17] and [18] of the present Book.

[1805] “Græcula.” So called, perhaps, from Tarentum, situated in Magna Græcia.

[1806] Twins. This variety is unknown.

[1807] Or “red” apple. The red calville of the French, according to Hardouin; the Pomme suzine, according to Dalechamps.

[1808] The Girandotte of the French; the appel-heeren of the Dutch.

[1809] The “early ripener.” Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme Saint Jean, the apple of St. John.

[1810] The Pomme rose, or rose apple, according to Dalechamps.

[1811] Or “erect teat.” The Pomme taponne of the French, according to Dalechamps.

[1812] Or eunuch. The Passe pomme, or Pomme grillotte of the French.

[1813] Or “leaf apple.” Fée remarks that this occasionally happens, but the apple does not form a distinct variety.

[1814] The Pomme pannete, according to Dalechamps: the Pomme gelée of Provence.

[1815] Or “lung” apple. The Pomme folane, according to Dalechamps.

[1816] The Pirus malus of Linnæus, the wild apple, or estranguillon of the French.

[1817] It is doubtful whether he does not allude here to a peculiar variety.

[1818] Or “mealy” apples.

[1819] Or “proud” pear. The Petite muscadelle, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the water-peere of the Dutch.

[1820] From Crustumium in Italy; the Poire perle, or pearl pear, according to Dalechamps: the Jacob’s peere of the Flemish.

[1821] The Poire sucrée, or “sugar-pear,” according to Hardouin; the Bergamotte, according to Dalechamps.

[1822] “Potu.” He would appear to allude to the manufacture of perry.

[1823] The Syrian pear is commended by Martial; it has not been identified, however.

[1824] The Poire musot, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the Engelsche braet-peere of the Flemish.

[1825] The Pirus Pompeiana of Linnæus. Dalechamps identifies it with the Bon chretien, and Adrian Junius with the Taffel-peere of the Flemish.

[1826] The “breast-formed.”

[1827] The Pirus Favonia of Linnæus: the Grosse poire muscadelle of the French.

[1828] The Poire prevost, according to Dalechamps.

[1829] The Poire foré, according to Dalechamps.

[1830] The Saint Thomas’s pear of the Flemish.

[1831] The Poire chat of the French, according to Dalechamps; the Riet-peere of the Flemish.

[1832] “Like onyx.” The Cuisse-madame, according to Dalechamps.

[1833] The Calveau rosat, according to Dalechamps. Perhaps the Poire d’ambre, or amber pear, of the French.

[1834] The Poire d’argent, or silver pear, according to Dalechamps.

[1835] Or “barley pear.” The Poire de Saint Jean, according to Dalechamps; the musquette or muscadella, according to Adrian Junius.

[1836] Barley-harvest.

[1837] So called from its resemblance to the “ampulla,” a big-bellied vessel with a small neck, identified with the Poire d’angoisse by Dalechamps.

[1838] The Poire de jalousie, according to Dalechamps.

[1839] Or gourd-pear. This is the “isbout” according to Adrian Junius, the Poire courge of Dalechamps, and the Poire de sarteau, or de campane of others.

[1840] The Poire de Venus, according to Adrian Junius; the Poire acciole, according to Dalechamps.

[1841] Coloured pear.

[1842] “Regium.” The Poire carmagnole, according to Dalechamps; the Mispeel-peere of the Flemish, according to Adrian Junius.

[1843] The Poire sarteau, according to Dalechamps.

[1844] Georgics, ii. 87.

[1845] “A handful”—probably the pound or pounder pear: the Bergamotte, according to Hardouin; the Bon chretien of summer, according to Adrian Junius.

[1846] De Re Rust. c. 7.

[1847] Or “Seedling.”

[1848] The “early ripener.” Fée suggests that this may be a variety of the Bon chretien.

[1849] Georgics, ii. 69. This statement of Virgil must be regarded as fabulous; grafting being impracticable with trees not of the same family, and not always successful even then.

[1850] This was probably some superstition taught by the augurs for the purpose of enveloping their profession in additional mystery and awe.

[1851] Cadis.

[1852] He probably alludes here to cider and perry. See p. [300], and B. xxiii. c. 62.

[1853] “Pulmentarii vicem;” properly “a substitute for pulmentarium,” which was anything eaten with bread, such as meat, vegetables, &c. He alludes to marmalade. The French raisine is a somewhat similar preparation from pears and quinces boiled in new wine.

[1854] “Specularibus.” He alludes to windows of transparent stone, lapis specularis, or mica; windows of glass being probably unknown in his time. The ordinary windows were merely openings closed with shutters. See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[1855] He must allude to a kind of quince marmalade.

[1856] As Fée remarks, the fruit, if treated thus, would soon lose all the properties for which it is valued.

[1857] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 59.

[1858] A faulty proceeding, however dry it may be.

[1859] This fruit, Fée remarks, keeps but indifferently, and soon becomes soft, vinous, and acid.

[1860] An absurd superstition.

[1861] A method not unlikely to spoil the grape, from the difficulty of removing the coat thus given to it.

[1862] A very absurd notion, as Fée observes. To keep fruit in millet is also condemned.

[1863] Which, of course, must deteriorate the flavour of the grape.

[1864] It is doubtful if they will increase in size, when once plucked.

[1865] The modern authorities recommend the precisely opposite plan.

[1866] As absurd as the use of the bulb of squill.

[1867] In a pit two feet deep, &c. See [above].

[1868] Capsæ.

[1869] See B. xxi. c. 49.

[1870] De Re Rust. B. xii. c. 43.

[1871] These must make raisins of the sun.

[1872] These must have been perfectly dry, or else they would tend to rot the grapes or raisins.

[1873] Columella, for instance, B. xii. c. [43].

[1874] The dust is in reality very liable to spoil the fruit, from the tenacity with which it adheres. In all these methods, little attention would seem to be paid to the retention of the flavour of the fruits.

[1875] A detestable practice, Fée says, as the oil makes an indelible mark on the grape, and gives it an abominable flavour. It is the best method to put the fruit in bags of paper or hair.

[1876] See B. xiii. c. [19].

[1877] There are about forty varieties now known.

[1878] B. xiii. c. [14], [15]. These are the Ficus sycomorus of Linnæus.

[1879] In Troas; called the Alexandrian fig, from the city of Alexandria there. Fée doubts if this was really a fig, and suggests that it might be the fruit of a variety of Diospyros.

[1880] No fig-tree now known is destitute of this.

[1881] Fée treats this as an exaggeration.

[1882] From “mamilla,” a teat.

[1883] In Egypt. The Figue servantine, or cordeliere.

[1884] “Delicata.” The “bon-bouche.”

[1885] Fée suggests that this may have been the small early fig.

[1886] From Livia, the wife of Augustus.

[1887] From Pompeius Magnus.

[1888] Apparently meaning the “marsh” fig.

[1889] The Laconian reed, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 12.

[1890] The “white-wax” fig.

[1891] Fée queries whether it may not be the Grosse bourjasotte.

[1892] Or “people’s” fig. The small early white fig.

[1893] Or “swallow”-fig.

[1894] Or it may mean “white and black,” that being the colour of the fig. Such a variety is still known.

[1895] A Spanish variety; those of the south of Spain are very highly esteemed.

[1896] The modern “black” fig.

[1897] The sun of the former year.

[1898] In Mœsia—the present Servia and Bulgaria.

[1899] Another war is said to have originated in this fruit. Xerxes was tempted by the fine figs of Athens to undertake the invasion of Greece.

[1900] “Tertium ante diem.” In dating from an event, the Romans included both days in the computation; the one they dated from, and the day of, the event.

[1901] In sending for the fig, and thinking of this method of speaking to the feelings of his fellow-countrymen.

[1902] A place in the Forum, where public meetings were held, and certain offences tried.

[1903] He alludes to the Puteal, or enclosed space in the Forum, consecrated by Scribonius Libo, in consequence of the spot having been struck by lightning.

[1904] On the banks of the Tiber, below the Palatine Mount. The whole of this passage is in a most corrupt state, and it is difficult to extract a meaning from it.

[1905] By slips from the old tree, as Tacitus seems to say—“in novos fœtus revivisceret.”

[1906] At the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

[1907] Probably near where the Curtius Lacus had stood in the early days of Rome. The story of Metius Curtius, who leaped into the yawning gulph in the Forum, in order to save his country, is known to every classical reader.

[1908] The Forum.

[1909] See B. xix. c. 6.

[1910] The Ficus Carica of Linnæus. It does bear fruit, though small, and disagreeable to the taste.

[1911] This insect is one of the Hymenoptera; the Cynips Psenes of Linnæus and Fabricius. There is another insect of the same genus, but not so well known.

[1912] Fée observes that the caprification accelerates the ripeness of the fruit, but at the expense of the flavour. For the same purpose the upper part of the fig is often pricked with a pointed quill.

[1913] “Infantiam pomi”—literally, “the infancy of the fruit.”

[1914] Fée denies the truth of this assertion.

[1915] Frumenta.

[1916] A mixture of the sugar of the fruit with the milky juice of the tree, which is a species of caoutchouc.

[1917] Capsis.

[1918] See B. iii. c. 11. The Balearic Isles still produce great quantities of excellent dried figs.

[1919] See B. iii. c. 17.

[1920] Orcæ.

[1921] Cadi.

[1922] Ground, perhaps, into a kind of flour.

[1923] Opsonii vicem. “Opsonium” was anything eaten with bread, such as vegetables, meat, and fish, for instance.

[1924] De Re Rust. c. 56.

[1925] Because they would be sure, under any circumstances, to eat plenty of them.

[1926] See B. xiii. c. [10].

[1927] These were so called from Caunus, a city of Caria, famous for its dried figs. Pronounced “Cavneas,” it would sound to the superstitious, “Cave ne eas,” “Take care that you go not.”

[1928] At Brundisium.

[1929] A.U.C. 801.

[1930] Alba Longa. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1931] The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists.

[1932] The Mespilus germanica of the botanists.

[1933] The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii folio laciniato of C. Bauhin.

[1934] The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrato of C. Bauhin, the Mespilus cotoneaster of J. Bauhin.

[1935] Its identity is matter of uncertainty; but it has been thought to be the Cratægus oxyacantha of modern botanists.

[1936] By “amplissimus,” he must mean that it spreads out very much in proportion to its height, as it is merely a shrub.

[1937] Fée thinks it a tree indigenous to the north.

[1938] The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists.

[1939] The sorb-pear.

[1940] Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus.

[1941] Fée is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of Lamarck. Anguillara thinks that it is the Cratægus of Theophrastus, considered by Sprengel to be identical with the Cratægus azarolus of Linnæus. In ripening, the fruit of the sorb undergoes a sort of vinous fermentation: hence a kind of cider made of it.

[1942] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 145.

[1943] The Juglans regia of Linnæus.

[1944] Tastes have probably altered since this was written.

[1945] These were rude and sometimes obscene songs sung at festivals, and more particularly marriages. While these songs were being sung at the door of the nuptial chamber, it was the custom for the husband to scramble walnuts among the young people assembled there. The walnut is the nut mentioned in Solomon’s Song, vi. 11.

[1946] Or, more probably, from the union of the two portions of the inner shell.

[1947] “Tripudium sonivium;” implying that it was considered sacred to marriage, from the use made of it by the friends of the bridegroom when thrown violently against the nuptial chamber, with the view of drowning the cries of the bride. A very absurd notion, to all appearance.

[1948] The “Persian” nut.

[1949] The “king’s” nut. The walnut-tree still abounds in Persia, and is found wild on the slopes of the Himalaya.

[1950] Implying that it comes from the Greek κάρη, “the head.” Some etymologists think that it is from the Celto-Scythian carw, a boat; such being the shape of the two parts of the inner shell.

[1951] It is still a common notion, Fée says, that it is highly injurious to sleep beneath a walnut-tree.

[1952] It is still used for this purpose.

[1953] Red hair was admired by the Romans. The Roman females used this juice also for dyeing their hair when grey.

[1954] They are not entirely separate.

[1955] The Corylus avellana maxima of Willdenow.

[1956] The filbert, the Corylus tubulosa of Willdenow.

[1957] Abellinum, in Campania. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1958] The down on the nut is more apparent when it is young; but it is easily rubbed off. The outer coat is probably meant.

[1959] Hazel nuts are sometimes roasted in some parts of Europe, but not with us.

[1960] The Amygdalus communis of Linnæus.

[1961] De Re Rust. c. 8. Some think that this was the bitter almond; and the word “acriore,” used by Pliny, would almost seem to imply that such is the case.

[1962] Apparently the “smooth” or “bald” nut. May not a variety something like the hickory nut of America be meant?

[1963] Festus says that a kind of nut was so called, because the Prænestines, when besieged by Hannibal at Casilinum, subsisted upon them. See Livy, B. xxiii. Fée considers it only another name for the common hazel nut.

[1964] De Re Rust. c. 145.

[1965] The soft-shelled almond, or princess almond of the French; the Amygdalus communis fragilis of naturalists.

[1966] This last variety does not seem to have been identified: the hard-shell almonds do not appear to be larger than the others.

[1967] Or “soft” almond, a variety only of the Amygdalus fragilis.

[1968] There is little doubt that Fée is right in his assertion, that this great personage imposed on our author; as no trees of this family are known to bear two crops.

[1969] B. xiii. c. [10].

[1970] In c. [xxi]. of this Book.

[1971] The tree is the Fagus castanea of Linnæus.

[1972] Cortex.

[1973] The common mode of eating it at the present day. The Italians also take off the skin and dry the nut; thus keeping it from year to year. When required for eating, it is softened by the steam of boiling water.

[1974] Not improbably said in allusion to the fasts introduced by the Jews, who had become very numerous in Rome.

[1975] It was said to have come from Castana, a city of Pontus, whence its name “Castanea.” It is probably indigenous to Europe.

[1976] The Greek for “Jove’s acorn.”

[1977] Or “acorn chesnut.” The same variety, Fée says, that is found in the vicinity of Perigueux, small, nearly round, and without any particular flavour.

[1978] The Ganebelone chesnut of Perigueux, Fée says, answers to this description.

[1979] On account of the prickles on the outer shell.

[1980] B. xvii. c. [26].

[1981] Fée says that the royal white chesnut of the vicinity of Perigueux answers to this.

[1982] “Boiling” chesnuts.

[1983] He alludes to wild or horse chesnuts, probably.

[1984] See B. xiii. c. [16.]

[1985] This skin is not eatable. It is fibrous and astringent.

[1986] In B. xvi. c. [6].

[1987] “Acinis.” The grape, ivy-berry, elder-berry, and others.

[1988] “Inter cutem succumque.”

[1989] Baccis. Some confusion is created by the non-existence of English words to denote the difference between “acinus” and “bacca.” The latter is properly the “berry;” the grape being the type of the “acinus.”

[1990] See B. xvi. c. [41]. The mulberry is the Morus nigra of modern naturalists. It is generally thought that this was the only variety known to the ancients; but Fée queries, from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which represents the mulberry as changing from white to blood colour, that the white mulberry was not unknown to them; but through some cause, now unknown, was gradually lost sight of.

[1991] This is still the case with the mulberry.

[1992] See B. xvi. c. [71], and B. xxiv. c. 73. He alludes to the blackberry.

[1993] The common strawberry, the Fragaria vesca of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 50. A native of the Alps and the forests of Gaul, it was unknown to the Greeks.

[1994] The Arbutus unedo of Linnæus. It is one of the ericaceous trees, and its fruit bears a considerable resemblance to the strawberry—otherwise there is not the slightest affinity between them. The taste of the arbute is poor indeed, compared to that of the strawberry.

[1995] He suggests that it is so called from “unum edo,” “I eat but one;” a rather fanciful etymology, it would seem.

[1996] This supposition is not warranted, from merely the fact of there being two names.

[1997] See B. xvi. c. [52].

[1998] See B. xxiv. c. 35.

[1999] See B. xiii. c. [34].

[2000] “Baccis.” Berries, properly so called.

[2001] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.

[2002] Supposed by some to be the holly. See B. xxv. c. 72.

[2003] He alludes to a variety of the cratægus.

[2004] The Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. It is said to have obtained its name from Cerasus, in Asia Minor, where Lucullus found it.

[2005] He must allude to what he has stated in B. xii. c. [3], for he has nowhere said that the cherry will not grow in Egypt. It is said that the cherry is not to be found in Egypt at the present day.

[2006] The griotte cherry of the French, the mazzard of the English.

[2007] A variety of the mazzard, Fée thinks.

[2008] Some take this for the Cerasus Juliana, the guignier of the French, our white heart; others, again, for the merisier, our morello.

[2009] It is most generally thought that this is the Cerasus avium of botanists, our morello, which is a very tender cherry.

[2010] Or “hard berry,” the Prunus bigarella of Linnæus, the red bigaroon.

[2011] Fée queries whether it may not have received its name of “Pliniana” in compliment to our author, or one of his family.

[2012] Hardouin thinks that this Portuguese cherry is the griotte, or mazzard.

[2013] No such cherry is known at the present day.

[2014] Such a graft is impossible; the laurel-cherry must have had some other origin.

[2015] Fée suggests that this may be the early dwarf cherry.

[2016] Or “ground-cherry;” a dwarf variety, if, indeed, it was a cherry-tree at all, of which Fée expresses some doubt.

[2017] This explains, Fée says, why it will not grow in Egypt.

[2018] The Cornus mas of Linnæus. The fruit of the cornel has a tart flavour, but is not eaten in modern Europe, except by school-boys.

[2019] That produces mastich. See B. xii. c. [36].

[2020] He alludes more especially, perhaps, to the use of cicuta or hemlock by drunkards, who looked upon it as an antidote to the effects of wine. See B. xiv. c. [7].

[2021] Fée remarks, that in this enumeration there is no method. Linnæus enumerates eleven principal flavours in the vegetable kingdom—dry or insipid, aqueous, viscous, salt, acrid, styptic, sweet, fat, bitter, acid, and nauseous; these terms, however seem, some of them, to be very indefinite.

[2022] It requires considerable discernment to appropriate nicely its English synonym to these four varieties of tastes, “acer, acutus, acerbus, and acidus,” more especially when we find that the “bitter” and the “rough” are occupied already by the “amarus” and the “austerus.”

[2023] In allusion, probably, to the pungency of the aroma or bouquet.

[2024] Lenitate.

[2025] This seems to be the meaning of “succus.”

[2026] The “insipid.”

[2027] This is so much the case, that the most nauseous medicine may be taken almost with impunity—so far as taste is concerned—by tightly pressing the nostrils while taking it.

[2028] Fée remarks that this is true of fire, and of distilled or perfectly pure water; but that physiologists are universally agreed that the air has its own peculiar smell.

[2029] All fruits that are rich in sugar and amidine, Fée says, either have, or acquire in time, a vinous flavour, by the development of a certain quantity of alcohol.

[2030] In the fruit with a fixed oil, this principle succeeds, when they are ripe, to the mucilaginous.

[2031] He must mean a thinner juice, though still sweet.

[2032] About the peduncle or stalk of the fig. The juice here, Fée says, is a real sugar, of the same nature as that which circulates throughout the whole fruit: the juice in the interior of which is produced by another order of vessels.

[2033] The juice is only foamy when the vinous fermentation is established. It has that appearance, however, when the fruit is bitten with the teeth.

[2034] The “hard-berry,” or nectarine.

[2035] In the sense of aromatic, or penetrating.

[2036] He probably means those of a luscious or sirupy nature, without any acidity whatever.

[2037] He seems to mean that the thick, luscious wines require longer keeping, before they will gain any aroma at all. This would be done, probably, at the expense of their sweetness.

[2038] Or he may mean, that a fine flavour and a fine smell cannot co-exist.

[2039] The reading here should be “acutissimus,” probably, instead of “acerrimus.” The odour exists in the rind of the citron and in the outer coat of the quince; if these are removed, the fruit becomes inodorous.

[2040] “Tenuis.” He may possibly mean “faint.”

[2041] The fruit of the ben, or myrobalanus, the Balanites Ægyptiaca. See B. xiii. cc. [17] and [19].

[2042] Vitium.

[2043] Hard-berry or nectarine. See c. [11].

[2044] Lignum: literally, “wood.” “There is no wood, either within or without.” He has one universal name for what we call shell, seed, stones, pips, grains, &c.

[2045] The “spado,” or “eunuch” date. See B. xiii. c. [8].

[2046] See B. xiii. c. [17]. The fruit of the ben is alluded to, but, as Fée observes, Pliny is wrong in calling it an almond, as it is a pulpy fruit.

[2047] The Nymphæa nelumbo of Linnæus.

[2048] Or shell, which, as Fée remarks, participates but very little in the properties of the flesh.

[2049] Or “honey” apple; see c. [15] of this Book.

[2050] Or “Carian” fig. See c. [19] of this Book.

[2051] See B. xiii. c. [11].

[2052] See B. xiii. c. [42], and B. xx. cc. 9 and 23.

[2053] See B. xiii. c. [26], and B. xxiv. c. 66.

[2054] See B. xiii. c. [22]. Fée remarks that it is singular how the ancients could eat the branches of the fig-tree, the juice being actually a poison.

[2055] See B. xiii. c. [44].

[2056] See c. [26] of this Book.

[2057] He is wrong: the same is the case with the berries of the laurel, and, indeed, many other kinds of berries.

[2058] See c. [7] of this Book.

[2059] See B. xiv. c. [9].

[2060] See B. xii. c. [14].

[2061] A kind of sausage, seasoned with myrtle. See also B. xxvii c. 49.

[2062] He means the Acroceraunian chain in Epirus, mentioned in B. iii.

[2063] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2064] He was one of the companions of Ulysses, fabled by Homer and Ovid to have been transformed by Circe into a swine.

[2065] Μυρσίνη was its Greek name.

[2066] See B. xxv. c. 59.

[2067] See B. xii. c. [2]. Ovid, Fasti, B. iv. l. 15, et seq., says that Venus concealed herself from the gaze of the Satyrs behind this tree.

[2068] Either this story is untrue, or we have a right to suspect that some underhand agency was employed for the purpose of imposing on the superstitious credulity of the Roman people.

[2069] Or Social War. See B. ii c. 85.

[2070] Near the altar of Consus, close to the meta of the Circus.

[2071] De Re Rust. c. 8.

[2072] The so-called wild myrtle does not in reality belong to the genus Myrtus.

[2073] See B. xxiii. c. 83; the Ruscus aculeatus of the family of the Asparagea.

[2074] The common myrtle, Myrtus communis of the naturalists.

[2075] Or Roman myrtle, a variety of the Myrtus communis.

[2076] The “six row” myrtle. Fée thinks that it belongs to the Myrtus angustifolia Bœtica of Bauhin.

[2077] De Re Rust. 125.

[2078] See B. xxiii. c. 81.

[2079] A new proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had peculiar notions of their own, as to the flavour of wine; myrtle berries, he says, would impart to wine a detestable aromatic flavour.

[2080] “Saccis:” the strainer being made of cloth. See B. xiv. c. [28].

[2081] They would be of no assistance whatever, and this statement is entirely fictitious.

[2082] He may possibly mean hernia.

[2083] In addition to all those particulars, he might have stated that the Lares, or household gods, were crowned with myrtle, and that it was not allowed to enter the Temple of Bona Dea.

[2084] A.U.C. 251.

[2085] See the Notes to c. [35] of this Book.

[2086] Because the enemy would be less likely to envy us a bloodless triumph.

[2087] He disdained the more humble myrtle crown, and intrigued successfully with the Senate to allow him to wear a wreath of laurel.

[2088] The Senate refused him a triumph; and he accordingly celebrated one on the Alban Mount, B.C. 231. Paulus Diaconus says that his reason for wearing a myrtle crown was his victory over the Corsicans on the Myrtle Plains, though where they were, or what victory is alluded to, is not known.

[2089] The brother of Valerius Publicola.

[2090] We learn from two passages in Ovid that the laurel was suspended over the gates of the emperors. This, as Fée remarks, was done for two reasons: because it was looked upon as a protection against lightning, and because it was considered an emblem of immortality.

[2091] De Re Rust. 133.

[2092] Or “laurel of Apollo:” it was into this tree that Daphne was fabled to have been changed. See Ovid’s Met. B. i. l. 557, et seq.

[2093] Cato, De Re Rust. c. 121, tells us that this cake was made of fine wheat, must, anise, cummin, suet, cheese, and scraped laurel sprigs. Laurel leaves were placed under it when baked. This mixture was considered a light food, good for the stomach!

[2094] At the Pythian Games celebrated there.

[2095] Meaning that it curves at the edge, something like a pent-house.

[2096] Or tine tree, the Viburnum tinus of Linnæus, one of the caprifolia. It is not reckoned as one of the laurels, though it has many of the same characteristics.

[2097] Regia.

[2098] The barren laurel of the triumphs was the Laurus nobilis of Linnæus, which has only male flowers.

[2099] The Laurus vulgaris folio undulato of the Parisian Hortus, Fée says.

[2100] Not a laurel, nor yet a dicotyledon, Fée says, but one of the Asparagea, probably the Ruscus hypoglossum of Linnæus, sometimes known, however, as the Alexandrian laurel.

[2101] Or “eunuch” laurel; a variety, probably, of the Laurus nobilis.

[2102] The “ground laurel:” according to Sprengel, this is the Ruscus racemosus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 81.

[2103] From Alexandria in Troas: the Ruscus hypophyllum of Linnæus, it is supposed.

[2104] “The tongue below.” This, Fée justly says, would appear to be a more appropriate name for the taxa, mentioned above.

[2105] From the berry being attached to the leaf.

[2106] “The thrower out from below,” perhaps.

[2107] Sprengel thinks that it is the Clematis vitalba of Linnæus. Fuchsius identities it with the Daphne laureola of Linnæus; and Fée thinks it may be either that or the Daphne mezereum of Linnæus.

[2108] “Crown of Alexander.”

[2109] Curiously enough, it is generally considered now more suggestive of war than of peace.

[2110] The despatches were wrapped in laurel leaves.

[2111] Optimus Maximus.

[2112] L. Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin. Pliny alludes to the message sent to Delphi, for the purpose of consulting the oracle on a serpent being seen in the royal palace.

[2113] He alludes to the circumstance of the priestess being asked who should reign at Rome after Tarquin; upon which she answered, “He who first kisses his mother;” on which Brutus, the supposed idiot, stumbled to the ground, and kissed the earth, the mother of all.

[2114] A mere absurdity; the same has been said of the beech, and with equal veracity.

[2115] He makes a distinction between “altar” and “ara” here. The former was the altar of the superior Divinities, the latter of the superior and inferior as well.

[2116] The crackling of the laurel is caused by efforts of the essential oil to escape from the parenchyma or cellular tissue of the leaf, which it breaks with considerable violence when burning.

[2117] Nervorum. See B. xxiii. c. 80.

[2118] Suetonius, c. 66, confirms this. Fée says that the same superstition still exists in some parts of France. See B. ii. c. 56.

[2119] “The Poultry.”

[2120] See c. [39] of this Book.

[2121] See B. xxxi. c. 3. As Poinsinet remarks, this is not strictly true; the name “Vinucius” most probably came from “vinea,” a vineyard. Numerous names were derived also from seeds and vegetables; Piso, Cicero, and Lactuca, for instance, among a host of others. “Scipio,” too, means a “walking-stick.”

[2122] The “laurel-grove.”

[2123] See B. xvii. c. [11].

[2124] See end of B. viii.

[2125] See end of B. ii.

[2126] See end of B. vii.

[2127] See end of B. iii.

[2128] See end of B. vii.

[2129] See end of B. iii.

[2130] See end of B. x.

[2131] See end of B. [xi].

[2132] See end of B. ii.

[2133] See end of B. [xiv].

[2134] See end of B. x.

[2135] See end of B. vii.

[2136] See end of B. iii.

[2137] See end of B. iii.

[2138] See end of B. [xiv].

[2139] See end of B. [xiv].

[2140] See end of B. viii.

[2141] See end of B. vii.

[2142] See end of B. [xiv].

[2143] See end of B. [xiv].

[2144] See end of B. ii.

[2145] See end of B. [xiv].

[2146] See end of B. [xiv].

[2147] See end of B. [xii].

[2148] See end of B. [xiv].

[2149] See end of B. [xiv].

[2150] See end of B. [xiv].

[2151] See end of B. iii.

[2152] See end of B. [xii].

[2153] See end of B. [xiv].

[2154] See end of B. ii.

[2155] See end of B. ii.

[2156] See end of B. viii.

[2157] See end of B. viii.

[2158] See end of B. viii.

[2159] See end of B. iv.

[2160] See end of B. viii.

[2161] See end of B. viii.

[2162] See end of B. viii.

[2163] See end of B. viii.

[2164] See end of B. viii.

[2165] See end of B. viii.

[2166] See end of B. viii.

[2167] See end of B. viii.

[2168] See end of B. viii.

[2169] See end of B. vi.

[2170] See end of B. viii.

[2171] See end of B. [xiv].

[2172] He is mentioned also by Varro and Columella, as a writer upon agriculture; but all further particulars of him are unknown.

[2173] See end of B. viii.

[2174] See end of B. ii.

[2175] See end of B. x.

[2176] See end of B. viii.

[2177] See end of B. viii.

[2178] See end of B. viii.

[2179] See end of B. viii.

[2180] See end of B. [xii].

[2181] See end of B. viii.

[2182] See end of B. viii.

[2183] See end of B. vii.

[2184] See end of B. [xi].

[2185] Beyond what Pliny here says, nothing is known of him.

[2186] See end of B. [xi].

[2187] A physician who lived probably at the end of the first century B.C. He was a disciple of Erasistratus, and founded a medical school at Smyrna. He is quoted by Athenæus, and in B. xxvii. c. 14, Pliny calls him “a physician of no small authority.” He seems to have been a voluminous writer; but none of his works have survived.

[2188] See end of B. [xi].

[2189] See end of B. ii.

[2190] See end of B. v.

[2191] The methods of grafting and inoculation.

[2192] B. xiii. c. [50]. They dwelt between the Ems and the Elbe.

[2193] See B. iv. c. 29.

[2194] “Ulvâ.” This appears to be a general name for all kinds of aquatic fresh-water plants; as “alga” is that of the various sea-weeds.

[2195] He alludes to turf for firing; the Humus turfa of the naturalists.

[2196] Of course this applies only to those who dwelt near the sea-shore, and not those more inland.

[2197] Guichardin remarks, that Pliny does not here bear in mind the sweets of liberty.

[2198] So Laberius says, “Fortuna multis parcere in pœnam solet;” “Fortune is the saving of many, when she means to punish them.”

[2199] He alludes to the vicinity of the Zuyder Zee. See B. iv. c. 29. The spots where these forests once stood are now cultivated plains, covered with villages and other works of the industry of man.

[2200] “Quercus.” We shall see, in the course of this Book, that its identity has not been satisfactorily established.

[2201] See B. iv. c. 28, and the Note, Vol. i. p. 348. The village of Hercingen, near Waldsee, is supposed to retain the ancient name.

[2202] “Robora.” It will be seen in this Book that the robur has not been identified, any more than the quercus.

[2203] Fée treats this story as utterly fabulous. The branches of the Ficus Indica grow downwards, and so form arcades certainly; but such is not the case with any European tree.

[2204] Not only oaks, but a variety of other trees, were included under this name by the ancients; the “glans” embracing not only the acorn, but the mast of the beech, and the hard fruits of other trees

[2205] He alludes to the crown of oak-leaves, which was suspended on the gates before the palace of the emperors. A civic crown had been voted by the senate to Julius Cæsar, on the ground of having saved his country.

[2206] Given to the first man who scaled the wall of a besieged place. It was made of gold, and decorated with turrets.

[2207] Given to the first soldier who surmounted the vallum or entrenchments. It was made of gold, and ornamented with “valli,” or palisades.

[2208] One of the varieties of the triumphal crown was the “corona aurea,” or “golden crown.”

[2209] Made of gold, and decorated with the “rostra,” or “beaks” of ships.

[2210] See B. vii. c. 31.

[2211] The orator’s stage in the Forum was decorated with the “rostra,” or “beaks” of the ships of the Antiates; hence it received the name of “Rostrum.” The locality of the Rostra was changed by Julius Cæsar.

[2212] Alluding to the prostitution of the Rostra by the tribunes and others for the purposes of sedition, and the presentation by Augustus of the rostrate crown to Agrippa.

[2213] Which was suspended, as already mentioned, at the gate of his palace.

[2214] Athenæus and Fabius Pictor say that Janus was the first wearer of a crown; Pherecydes says it was Saturn, Diodorus Siculus Jupiter, and Leo Ægyptiacus Isis, who wore one of wheat.

[2215] Il. xiii, 736.

[2216] See cc. [34] and [35] of the present Book.

[2217] The Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemæan games.

[2218] See B. vii. c. 27.

[2219] He is called Tullus Hostilius by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the same as his grandson.

[2220] A.U.C. 411. The leaves of the holm-oak were employed by Romulus on the occasion above-mentioned.

[2221] These varieties of the oak will be considered in the next chapter.

[2222] At the Olympic games celebrated in honour of Jupiter. At Olympia there was a statue of that god, one of the master-pieces of Phidias.

[2223] Implying thereby, that the city that could produce a man who could so distinguish himself, stood in no need of walls.

[2224] In the Circus.

[2225] In B. vii. c. 29.

[2226] B. vii. c. 29.

[2227] Livy says eight. He saved the life of Servilius, the Master of the Horse.

[2228] “Glandes.” Under this name, for which we do not appear to have any English equivalent, were included, as already mentioned, not only the acorn of the oak, but the nut or mast of the beech, and probably most of the hard or kernel fruits. In the present instance Pliny probably alludes only to the fruit of the oak and the beech. Acorns are but little used as an article of food in these days. Roasted, they have been proposed as a substitute for coffee.

[2229] The acorn of the Quercus ballota of Linnæus is probably meant, which is still much used in the province of Salamanca, and forms an agreeable article of food. This acorn, Fée says, contains a considerable proportion of saccharine matter, and is better roasted in the ashes than boiled in water. It is not, however, used as a dessert, as in the time of the Romans. These acorns are sold at market in Andalusia in the month of October.

[2230] So far as it goes, the kernel of the mast or beech-nut is not unpalatable; but in the English beech it is very diminutive.

[2231] The word “quercus” is frequently used as a general name for the oak; but throughout the present Book it is most employed as meaning a distinct variety of the oak, one of the larger kinds, Fée says, and answering to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck, the Quercus robur of Linnæus, and the Rouvre of the French.

[2232] This also has been much employed as a general name for the oak; but here, and in other parts of this Book, it is applied to one variety. Fée thinks that it answers to the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith, sometimes also called “rouvre” by the French.

[2233] The Quercus æsculus of Linnæus. It is not improbable that this oak is a different tree from the “Æsculus” of Horace and Virgil, which was perhaps either a walnut, or a variety of the beech.

[2234] It has been suggested that this is the same with the Quercus cerrus of Linnæus, and the Quercus crinita of Lamarck, the gland of which is placed in a prickly cupule. It is rarely found in France, but is often to be met with in Piedmont and the Apennines.

[2235] The Fagus silvatica of Lamarck. Its Latin name, “fagus,” is supposed to have been derived from the Greek φάγω, “to eat.” An oil is extracted from the acorns or nuts, that is much used in some parts of France.

[2236] He speaks probably of one of the galls which are found attached to the leaves of the forest trees.

[2237] “Ilex.” Fée thinks that the varieties known as the Prinos and the Ballota were often confounded by the ancients with the “ilex” or “holm-oak.” This tree, he says, bears no resemblance to the ordinary oak, except in the blossoms and the fruit. It is the Ilex of Linnæus, the “yeuse,” or “green oak,” of the French.

[2238] The Quercus suber of Linnæus; it is found more particularly in the department of the Landes in France.

[2239] As Fée remarks, Pliny is clearly in error here; one kind being the veritable ilex or holm oak, the other, the aquifolium or holly, quite a different tree.

[2240] The smilax or milax was a real holm oak, but the aquifolia was the holly.

[2241] Od. xi. 242. Fée remarks that the berry of the holly has no resemblance to the acorn whatever, and he says that this statement of Pliny almost leads him to think that the second variety here mentioned by him was not in reality the holly, but a variety of the quercus.

[2242] Fée observes that, properly speaking, there is no sex in the oak, the individuals being neither male nor female. The Flora Danica however, as he observes, gives the name of “Quercus fœmina” to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck.

[2243] Or “broad-leaved” oak; one of the varieties of the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith—Flor. Brit.

[2244] This statement is contrary to general experience in modern times, the flavour of the acorn being uniformly acrid and bitter throughout. It is not impossible, however, that the flavour may have been more palatable in ancient times.

[2245] A variety of the common oak, the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck; Sprengel takes it to be the Quercus ballota of Desfontaines.

[2246] The Quercus ægilops of Linnæus. It is a native of Piedmont, some parts of Italy, and the island of Crete.

[2247] Pliny’s account of making charcoal is derived from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 10. Fée remarks that it differs little from the method adopted in France at the present day.

[2248] The Quercus Hispanica, probably, of Lamarck, of which Fée thinks the Quercus pseudo-suber of Desfontaines is a variety; it is found in Greece and on the shores of the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar. The Greek name signifies the “sea cork-tree.”

[2249] The statement here given as to the effect of beech-mast on swine, is destitute, Fée remarks, of all foundation. If fed upon it, their flesh will naturally be of a soft, spongy nature.

[2250] This assertion is perhaps too general; gall-nuts are produced in very small quantities by the holm-oak.

[2251] A variety of the Quercus racemosa, which produces the green gall-nut of Aleppo, considered in modern, as in ancient, times the choicest in quality.

[2252] Theophrastus says the end of June.

[2253] Its growth, in reality, is not so rapid as this.

[2254] Such a thing is never seen at the present day.

[2255] In Syria, we have mentioned the galls of Aleppo in Note [2251].

[2256] This is the case when the inside has been eaten away by the insect that breeds there; of course, in such case it is hollow, light, and worthless.

[2257] The ancients were not aware that the gall was produced from the eggs of the cynips, deposited upon the leaf or bark of the tree. Tan and gallic acid are its principal component parts.

[2258] A substance quite unknown now; but it is very doubtful if Pliny is rightly informed here.

[2259] A fungous gall, produced by the Cynips fungosa. It is not used for any domestic purpose at the present day.

[2260] This kind of gall is now unknown. Fée questions the assertion about its juice.

[2261] The Cynips quercus baccarum of Linnæus, one of the common galls.

[2262] The root cynips, the Cynips radicum of Fourcroi, produces these galls, which lie near the root, and have the appearance of ligneous nodosities. It is harder than wood, and contains cells, in which the larva of the insect lies coiled up.

[2263] This is a proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had observed the existence of the cynips; though, at the same time, it is equally evident that they did not know the important part it acts in the formation of the gall.

[2264] This word, as employed by Theophrastus, means a catkin, the Julus amentum of the botanists; but it is doubtful if Pliny attaches this meaning to the word, as the lime or linden-tree has no catkin, but an inflorescence of a different character. It is not improbable that, under this name, he alludes to some excrescence.

[2265] These were the “boletus” and the “suillus” the last of which seem only to have been recently introduced at table in the time of Pliny. See B. xxii. c. 47.

[2266] He alludes clearly to fungi of radically different qualities, as the nature of the trees beneath which they grow cannot possibly influence them, any further than by the various proportions of shade they afford. The soil, however, exercises great influence on the quality of the fungus; growing upon a hill, it may be innoxious, while in a wet soil it may be productive of death.

[2267] See cc. [93], [94], and [95], of this Book.

[2268] Works and Days, l. 230.

[2269] Pliny seems to have here taken in a literal sense, what has been said figuratively by Virgil, Ecl. iv. l. 26:

“Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella;”

and by Ovid, in relation to the Golden Age, Met. i. 113:

“Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.”

Fée remarks, that we find on the leaf of the lime-tree a thin, sugary deposit, left by insects, and that a species of manna exudes from the Coniferæ, as also the bark of the beech. This, however, is never the case with the oak.

[2270] B. xi. c. [12].

[2271] By this word, Fée observes, we must not understand the word “nitre,” in the modern sense, but the sub-carbonate of potash; while the ashes of trees growing on the shores of the sea produce a sub-carbonate of soda.

[2272] “Coccus.” This is not a gall, but the distended body of an insect, the kermes, which grows on a peculiar oak, the “Quercus coccifera,” found in the south of Europe.

[2273] We have previously mentioned, that he seems to have confounded the holly with the holm oak.

[2274] Poinsinet, rather absurdly, as it would appear, finds in this word the origin of our word “cochineal.”

[2275] The kermes berry is but little used in Spain, or, indeed, anywhere else, since the discovery of the cochineal of America.

[2276] B. ix. c. 65.

[2277] Not the white agaric, Fée says, of modern pharmacy; but, as no kind of agaric is found in the oak, it does not seem possible to identify it. See B. xxv. c. 57.

[2278] It is evident that no fungus would give out phosphoric light; but it may have resulted from old wood in a state of decomposition.

[2279] It is pretty clear that one of the lichens of the genus usnea is here referred to. Amadue, or German tinder, seems somewhat similar.

[2280] B. xii. c. [50].

[2281] On the contrary, Fée says, the acorn of the Quercus suber is of a sweet and agreeable flavour, and is much sought as a food for pigs. The hams of Bayonne are said to owe their high reputation to the acorns of the cork-tree.

[2282] The word “cork” is clearly derived from the Latin “cortex,” “bark.” See Beckmann’s History of Inventions, V. i. p. 320, et seq., Bohn’s Edition, for a very interesting account of this tree.

[2283] This passage, the meaning of which is so obvious, is discussed at some length by Beckmann, Vol. i. pp. 321, 322.

[2284] It is still employed for making soles which are impervious to the wet.

[2285] It is doubtful whether this name was given to the shoes, or the females who wore them, and we have therefore preserved the doubt, in the ambiguous “them.” Beckmann also discusses this passage, p. 321. He informs us, p. 322, that the Roman ladies who wished to appear taller than they really were, were in the habit of putting plenty of cork under their soles.

[2286] At the present day, it grows in the greatest abundance in France, the Landes more particularly.

[2287] This is still the case in some of the poorer provinces of Spain.

[2288] As Fée remarks, Mars is no longer the Divinity in honour of whom characters are traced on the bark of trees.

[2289] On the contrary. Fée says, the resinous woods are the most proof of all against the action of the air.

[2290] Festus says that the Fagutal, a shrine of Jupiter, was so called from a beech tree (fagus) that stood there, and was sacred to that god.

[2291] Or osier.

[2292] Or “plantation of the æsculus.”

[2293] A.U.C. 367.

[2294] Fée regards this as an extremely doubtful assertion.

[2295] The Pinus pinea of Linnæus, the cultivated pine.

[2296] The Pinus silvestris of Linnæus, the wild pine; the Pinus maritima of Lamarck is a variety of it.

[2297] B. xv. c. [9].

[2298] In c. [23] of this Book.

[2299] A variety of the Pinus silvestris of Linnæus.

[2300] “Liburnicæ.” See B. ix. cc. 5 and 48.

[2301] The Abies excelsa of Decandolle—the Pesse or Faux sapin (false fir) of the French. This tree, however, has not the pectinated, or comb-like leaf, mentioned by Pliny in c. [38].

[2302] It is still known in commerce as “false incense;” and is often sold as incense for the rites of the Roman church: while sometimes it is purposely employed, as being cheaper.

[2303] A great street in Capua, which consisted entirely of the shops of sellers of unguents and perfumes.

[2304] It has the same pyramidal form as the pitch-tree. It is still much used in ship-building, both for its resinous and durable qualities and the lightness of the wood.

[2305] The presence of resin is not looked upon as any defect in the fir at the present day. It produces what is known in commerce as “Strasbourg turpentine.”

[2306] The Abies larix of Linnæus, and the Larix Europæa, it is thought, of Decandolles.

[2307] It is the Venice turpentine of commerce. Each tree will furnish seven or eight pounds each year for half a century.

[2308] It is doubtful if the tæda, or torch-tree, has been identified. Some take it to be the Pinus mugho of Miller, the torch-pine of the French; others, again, suggest that it is the same as the Pinus cembro of the botanists.

[2309] So called from its resemblance to a fig. Fée says that there is little doubt that this pretended fruit was merely a resinous secretion, which hardens and assumes the form of a fig.

[2310] He somewhat mistranslates a passage of Theophrastus here, who, without transforming the larch into another tree, says that it is a sign of disease in the larch, when its secretions are augmented to such a degree that it seems to turn itself into resin.

[2311] The lamp-black of commerce is made from the soot of the pine.

[2312] This statement, though supported by that of Vitruvius, B. ii. c. 9, is quite erroneous. The wood of the larch gives out more heat than that of the fir, and produces more live coal in proportion.

[2313] This, Fée remarks, is the fact.

[2314] This description is inexact, and we should have some difficulty in recognizing here the larch as known to us.

[2315] Pliny is in error here, there being no distinction of sex in the coniferous trees. All that he relates relative to the differences between the male and female pine is consequently false. He has, however, in this instance, only perpetuated an erroneous opinion of Theophrastus.

[2316] This is an erroneous statement. The larch has its cone, as well as the rest. It is possible, however, that its small size may have caused it to be overlooked by Pliny.

[2317] Or “louse-bearing.” As Fée says, it is difficult to see the analogy.

[2318] The Taxus baccata of Linnæus. The account here given is in general very correct.

[2319] It is supposed that Pliny derives this notion as to the yew berry from Julius Cæsar, who says that “Cativulcus killed himself with the yew, a tree which grows in great abundance in Gaul and Germany.” It is, however, now known that the berry is quite innocuous; but the leaves and shoots are destructive of animal life.

[2320] “Viatoria;” probably not unlike our travelling flasks and pocket-pistols. This statement made by Pliny is not at all improbable.

[2321] This statement does not deserve a serious contradiction.

[2322] It is not improbable, however, that τόξον, an “arrow,” is of older date than “taxus,” as signifying the name of the yew.

[2323] Numerous varieties of the coniferæ supply us with tar, and Pliny is in error in deriving it solely from the torch-tree, the Pinus mugho of Linnæus.

[2324] See B. xxiv. c. 23.

[2325] It is still obtained in a similar way.

[2326] Fée remarks, that Pliny is in error here; this red, watery fluid formed in the extraction of tars, being quite a different thing from “cedrium,” the alkitran or kitran of the Arabs; which is not improbably made from a cedar, or perhaps the Juniperus Phœnicea, called “Cedrus” by the two Bauhins and Tournefort. He says that it is not likely that the Egyptians would use this red substance for the purpose of preserving the dead, charged as it is with empyreumatic oil, and destitute of all properties peculiar to resins.

[2327] See B. xxi. c. 3, and B. xxiv. c. 23.

[2328] This is impracticable; neither vinegar, wine, nor water, will mingle with pitch. These resins, however, if stirred up briskly in hot water, become of a paler colour, and acquire an additional suppleness.

[2329] Perhaps so called from Calabria, a country where the pine abounded, and part of which was called Bruttium.

[2330] Or wine-vats.

[2331] See c. [8] of the present Book.

[2332] Stillaticia.

[2333] See B. xiv. c. [25].

[2334] This operation removes from the pitch a great portion of its essential oil, and disengages it of any extraneous bodies that may have been mixed with it.

[2335] Fée remarks that there is no necessity for this selection, though no doubt rain-water is superior to spring or cistern water, for some purposes, from its holding no terreous salts in solution.

[2336] This would colour the resin more strongly, Fée says, and give it a greater degree of friability.

[2337] See B. xxxiv. c. 20.

[2338] See B. xiv. c. [25], and B. xxiv. c. 22.

[2339] “Sartago.” Generally understood to be the same as our frying-pan. Fée remarks that this method would most inevitably cause the mass infusion to ignite; and should such not be the case, a coloured resin would be the result, coloured with a large quantity of carbon, and destitute of all the essential oil that the resin originally contained.

[2340] See B. xiv. c. [20].

[2341] The terebinthine of the mastich, Fée says, is an oleo-resin, or in other words, composed of an essential oil and a resin.

[2342] Apparently meaning “boiled pitch.”

[2343] See B. xxiv. c. 26.

[2344] This account has been borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B ix. c. ii. The modern method of extracting the resin of the pine is very similar.

[2345] There is no foundation whatever for this statement.

[2346] The pith of the pine cannot be separated from the wood, and, indeed, is not easily distinguished from it. Fée says that in some of these trees masses of resin are found in the cavities which run longitudinally with the fibres, and queries whether this may not be the “marrow” or “pith” of the tree mentioned by Pliny.

[2347] As a torch or candle, probably.

[2348] This division of the larch into sexes, as previously mentioned, is only fanciful, and has no foundation in fact. The result of this operation, Fée says, would be only a sort of tar.

[2349] See B. xxxv. c. 51. He alludes to the bitumen known as asphalt, bitumen of Judæa, mineral pitch, mountain pitch, malthe, pissalphate.

[2350] These particulars, borrowed from Theophrastus, are in general correct.

[2351] This is not the fact; the essential oil in which the resin so greatly abounds, becomes volatile with remarkable facility.

[2352] Most probably one of the varieties of the pine; but the mode in which Pliny expresses himself renders it impossible to identify it with any precision.

[2353] B. xv. c. [9].

[2354] The name borne also by the torch-tree.

[2355] See c. [76] of this Book.

[2356] He does not speak in this place of the “ornus” or “mountain ash;” nor, as Fée observes, does he mention the use of the bark of the ash as a febrifuge, or of its leaves as a purgative. This ash is the Fraxinus excelsior of Decandolles.

[2357] Il. xxiv. 277.

[2358] Pliny makes a mistake here, in copying from Theophrastus, who says that it is the yew that bears so strong a resemblance to the cedar.

[2359] Or “bull’s-ash.” This variety does not seem to have been identified.

[2360] This statement results from his misinterpretation of the language of Theophrastus, who is really speaking of the yew, which Pliny mistakes for the ash.

[2361] Miller asserts that, if given to cows, this leaf will impart a bad flavour to the milk; a statement which; Fée says, is quite incorrect.

[2362] A merely fanciful notion, without apparently the slightest foundation: the same, too, may be said of the alleged antipathy of the serpent to the beech-tree, which is neither venomous nor odoriferous.

[2363] This story of Pliny has been corroborated by M. de Verone, and as strongly contradicted by Camerarius and Charras: with M. Fée, then, we must leave it to the reader to judge which is the most likely to be speaking the truth. It is not improbable that Pliny may have been imposed upon, as his credulity would not at all times preclude him from being duped.

[2364] There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the flowers are hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties: the male of Pliny being the Tilia microphylla of Decandolles, and a variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus; and the female being the Tilia platyphyllos, another variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus.

[2365] Not at all singular, Fée says, the fruit being dry and insipid.

[2366] In France these cords are still made, and are used for well-ropes, wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are made of the outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia.

[2367] See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. l. 337, speaks of the revellers at drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra.

[2368] “Teredo.” If he means under this name to include the tinea as well, the assertion is far too general, as this wood is eaten away by insects, though more slowly than the majority of the non-resinous woods. It is sometimes perforated quite through by the larvæ of the byrrhus, our death-watch.

[2369] This is incorrect. It attains a very considerable height, and sometimes an enormous size. The trunk is known to grow to as much as forty or fifty feet in circumference.

[2370] The maple is much less in size than what the lime or linden really is.

[2371] See B. xiii. c. [29].

[2372] Fée says there are but five varieties of the maple known in France. He doubts whether the common maple, the Acer campestre of Linnæus, was known to the ancients.

[2373] Fée identifies it with the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, the Acer montanum candidum of C. Bauhin. This tree is not uncommon in Italy.

[2374] “Acer pavonaceum:” “peacock maple.” He gives a similar account of the spots on the wood of the citrus, B. xiii. c. [19].

[2375] Or “thick-veined” maple.

[2376] Supposed by Fée to be the Acer Monspessulanus of Linnæus, also the Acer trilobum of Linnæus.

[2377] A variety of the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, according to Fée.

[2378] The Carpinus betulus of Linnæus; the horn-beam or yoke-elm.

[2379] “Silicios.” This word appears to be explained by the accompanying word “laminas;” but it is very doubtful what is the correct reading.

[2380] The Alnus glutinosa of Decandolles. In c. [38], Pliny says, very incorrectly, that the alder has a remarkably thick leaf; and in c. [45], with equal incorrectness, that it bears neither seed nor fruit.

[2381] Fée observes, that it is incorrect to say that the male tree blossoms before the female, if such is Pliny’s meaning here.

[2382] From the Greek, meaning “a tree with clusters.” It is the Staphylea pinnata of Linnæus, the wild or false pistachio of the French.

[2383] “Siliqua.” This term, Fée says, is very inappropriate to the fruit of this tree, which is contained in a membranous capsule. The kernel is oily, and has the taste of the almond more than the nut.

[2384] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2385] It is still extensively used for a similar purpose.

[2386] There are only two species now known: that previously mentioned, and the Buxus Balearica of Lamarck. The first is divided into the four varieties, arborescens, angustifolia, suffruticosa, and myrtifolia.

[2387] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus; very common in the south of France, and on the banks of the Loire.

[2388] It is doubtful if this is a box at all. The wild olive, mentioned in B. xv. c. [7], has the same name; all the varieties of the box emit a disagreeable smell.

[2389] A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus suffruticosa of Lamarck.

[2390] The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind.

[2391] In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29.

[2392] The arborescent variety.

[2393] This is doubted by Fée, but it is by no means impossible. In Pennsylvania the bees collect a poisonous honey from the Kalmia latifolia.

[2394] A very good charcoal might be made from it, but the wood is too valuable for such a purpose. It burns with a bright, clear flame, and throws out a considerable heat.

[2395] Although (in common, too, with other trees) it is used as a support for the vine, that does not any the more make it of the same nature as the fruit-trees.

[2396] The Ulmus effusa of Willdenow; the Ulmus montana of Smith: Flor. Brit.

[2397] The Ulmus campestris of Linnæus; the Ulmus marita of other botanists.

[2398] The ordinary elm, Fée thinks.

[2399] A variety of the Ulmus campestris, probably.

[2400] This name is still preserved by botanists. Pliny is incorrect in saying that the large elm produces no seed, the only difference being that the seed is smaller than in the other kinds. Columella, B. v. c. 6, contradicts the statement here made by Pliny, but says that it appears to be sterile, in comparison with the others.

[2401] The Pinus maritima of Linnæus, which produces the greater part of the resins used in France, is found, however, in great abundance in the flat country of the Landes.

[2402] On the contrary, the yoke-elm, or horn-beam, grows almost exclusively on the plains; and the same with the cornel and the poplar.

[2403] The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, the fustic. See B. xiii. c. [41]. This, however, imparts a yellow colour, while Pliny speaks of a purple. It has been asserted, however, that the roots of it produce a fine red. There is no tree in Europe that produces a purple for dyeing.

[2404] The maple, the ash, and the service-tree, are as often found in the plains as on the hills.

[2405] See c. [43], and B. xxiv. c. 43. The Cornus sanguinea of Linnæus, the blood-red cornel; the branches of which are red in the winter, and the fruit filled with a blood-red juice. This is probably the same shrub as the male cornel, mentioned further on by Pliny.

[2406] The Genista tinctoria of Linnæus, or “dyers’” broom.

[2407] Or “service-tree,” the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus. It thrives just as well in a warm locality as a cold one.

[2408] The Betula alba of Linnæus. It was an object of terror not only in the hands of the Roman lictor, but in those of the pedagogue also, and is still to some extent. Hence it was formerly nicknamed “Arbor sapientiæ,” the “tree of wisdom.”

[2409] This is no longer done in France, but it is in Russia, where they extract from it an empyreumatic oil, which is used in preparing Russia leather, and which imparts to it its agreeable smell.

[2410] Boys, both of whose parents were surviving, used to carry before the bride a torch of white thorn. This thorn was, not improbably, the “Cratægus oxyacantha” of Linnæus, which bears a white flower. See B. xxiv. c. 66.

[2411] The Cytisus laburnum of Linnæus, also known as “false ebony,” still a native of the Alps.

[2412] But blackish in the centre; whence its name of false ebony.

[2413] Meaning the clusters of the flowers.

[2414] The Anthyllis barba Jovis of modern botanists. The leaves have upon them a silvery down, whence the name “argyrophylla,” given to it by Mænch.

[2415] But in c. [30], he says that the poplar grows on hilly or mountainous declivities.

[2416] This tree has not been satisfactorily identified; but Fée is of opinion that it is probably a variety of the willow, the Salix vitellina of Linnæus. Sprengel thinks that it is the Salix capræa.

[2417] The Ligustrum vulgare of Linnæus. It has black fruit and a white flower, and is rendered famous by the lines of Virgil—Ecl. ii. 17:

“O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori;

Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.”

It is evidently this juxtaposition that has prompted Pliny to mention the vaccinium in the succeeding passage. In B. xii. c. [51], and B. xxiv. c. 45, Pliny seems inclined to confound this shrub with the Cyprus, the Lawsonia inermis of Linnæus, the Henna of the east, a totally different plant.

[2418] Wooden tallies used by public officers in keeping their accounts. They were employed till the middle ages.

[2419] The Primus mahaleb, Desfontaines says; but Fée identifies it with the black heath-berry, or whortle-berry, still called “vaciet” in France. It does not, however, grow, as Pliny says, in watery places, but in woods and on shrubby hills.

[2420] See B. xxi. c. 97.

[2421] These observations, Fée says, are borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iii. c. 4, and are founded on truth.

[2422] “Silvestres,” and “urbaniores.”

[2423] Urbanæ.

[2424] The Nerion oleander of Linnæus; the laurel-rose, or rose of St. Anthony of the French; it has some distant resemblance to the olive-tree, but its leaf is that of the laurel, and its flower very similar to that of the rose.

[2425] See B. xxiv. c. 61.

[2426] “Nerion” is the Greek name.

[2427] It has certain dangerous properties, which cause the herbivorous animals to avoid touching it. It acts strongly on the muscular system, and, as Fée remarks, used as an antidote to the stings of serpents, it is not improbable that its effect would be the worst of the two.

[2428] See B. xiii. c. [37]. The tamarisk of the moderns is not an evergreen, which has caused writers to doubt if it is identical with the tamariscus of the ancients, and to be disposed to look for it among the larger ericæ or heaths. The leaves of the larch fall every year; those of the other evergreens mostly every two or three years.

[2429] See B. xiii. c. [40].

[2430] See B. xiii. c. [40]. This assertion of Pliny is erroneous, as these trees are in reality evergreens, though all trees of that class are liable to lose their leaves through certain maladies.

[2431] “Quercus.” The ilex or holm-oak is an evergreen.

[2432] Pliny is in error here. Varro, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 7, has made mention of this tree.

[2433] The hot climates possess a greater number of evergreens than the temperate regions, but not of the same species or genus. The vine invariably loses its leaves each year.

[2434] This last assertion, Fée says, is far from true, in relation to the coniferous trees.

[2435] See B. xv. c. [7].

[2436] The Populus alba of Linnæus.

[2437] The Populus nigra of Linnæus.

[2438] The Populus tremula of Linnæus. This statement as to the leaves of the poplar is verified by modern experience.

[2439] This does not appear to be exactly correct as to the ivy. The leaves on the young suckers or the old and sterile branches are divided into three or five regular lobes, while those which grow on the branches destined to bear the blossoms are ovals or lanceolated ovals in shape.

[2440] It is not from the leaves, but from the fruit of the tree that this down falls; the seeds being enveloped with a cottony substance. This passage is hopelessly corrupt.

[2441] See B. xviii. c. 68, where he enlarges still further on this asserted peculiarity; he borrows his statement from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. i. c. 16.

[2442] These statements are quite conformable with the fact.

[2443] This statement is quite true, so far as the fact that the leaves have not the same position in the day-time as during the night: the changes of position vary greatly, however, in the different kinds. It is generally thought that an organic irritability is the cause of this phenomenon.

[2444] This seems to be the meaning of “In aliis gentium lana est.” He alludes, probably, to cotton or silk: see B. vi. c. 20. Thunberg tells us that at Roodesand, near the Cape of Good Hope, there grows so thick a down on the Buplevrum giganteum of Lamarck, that it is employed to imitate a sort of white velvet, and is used for bonnets, gloves, stockings, &c.

[2445] B. xiii. c. [7].

[2446] “Genere ilicum.” It is not improbable that he here refers to the variety of the holm-oak which he has previously called “aquifolia,” apparently confounding it with the holly. See c. [8] of this Book.

[2447] See B. xiii. c. [37].

[2448] This must be understood of the young leaf of the alder, which has a sort of thick gummy varnish on it.

[2449] B. xiii. c. [7].

[2450] B. xv. c. [15]. Pliny is not correct here; the leaf of the pear is oval or lanceolated, while that of the apple is oval and somewhat angular, though not exactly “mucronata,” or sharply pointed.

[2451] Not exactly “divided,” but strongly lobed.

[2452] If this is the case, the pitch-tree can hardly be identical with the false fir, the Abies excelsa of Decandolles. See c. [18] of this Book, and the Note.

[2453] This passage would be apt to mislead, did we not know that the leaves of the coniferous trees here mentioned are not prickly, in the same sense as those of the holly, which are armed with very formidable weapons.

[2454] More particularly in the Populus tremula, the “quivering” poplar.

[2455] Crepitantia.

[2456] See B. xv. c. [15]. Not a species, but an accidental monstrosity.

[2457] See B. xv. c. [37], where he speaks of the Hexastich myrtle.

[2458] The leaves of the elm and the tree supposed to be identical with the cytisus of the ancients have no characteristics in common. See B. xiii. c. [47], and the Notes.

[2459] De Re Rust. cc. 5, 30, 45.

[2460] Very inappropriate food for cattle, it would appear: the fig leaf being charged with a corrosive milky juice; the leaf of the holm oak, hard and leathery; and that of the ivy, bitter and nauseous in the highest degree.

[2461] Eighth of February.

[2462] See B. viii. c. 67.

[2463] Catlitio.

[2464] He alludes to the period of the rising of the sap; an entirely distinct process from germination.

[2465] This statement, as also that relative to the holm oak, and other trees previously mentioned, is quite incorrect. The blossoms of the fig-tree are very much concealed, however, from view in the involucre of the clinanthium.

[2466] This is not the fact, though the blossom of the juniper is of humble character, and not easily seen. Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 6, only says that it is a matter of doubt, what Pliny so positively affirms.

[2467] This is the fact; the male tree is sterile, but it fecundates the female.

[2468] These remarks, borrowed from Theophrastus, are generally consistent with our experience.

[2469] Fée remarks that Pliny here copies from Theophrastus, a writer of Greece, without making allowance for the difference of localities. Theophrastus, however, gives the laurel an earlier period for budding than Pliny does.

[2470] The Rhamnus paliurus of Linnæus.

[2471] This is entirely fanciful: though it is the case that in some trees, the ligneous ones, namely, there are two germinations in the year, one at the beginning of spring, which acts more particularly on the branches, and the other at the end of summer, which acts more upon the parts nearer the roots.

[2472] See B. xviii. c. 57.

[2473] There is no such thing as a third budding.

[2474] As already stated, there are never more than two germinations.

[2475] This rupture of the epidermis, caused by the formation beneath of new ligneous and conical layers, takes place not solely, as Pliny and Theophrastus state, at the time of germination, but slowly and continuously.

[2476] On the contrary, they are irregular both in their commencement and their duration.

[2477] This is not the case; each bud is independent of the one that has preceded it. A sucker, however, newly developed may give birth to buds not at the extremity, but throughout the whole length of it.

[2478] See B. xviii. c. 67. What Pliny says here is in general true, though its germination does not take place with such rapidity as he states.

[2479] A mere fable, of course.

[2480] In the last Chapter.

[2481] In Paris, Fée says, the almond does not blossom till March. If the tree should blossom too soon, it is often at the expense of the fruit.

[2482] Probably the apricot. See B. xv. c. [12].

[2483] See B. xv. c. [11].

[2484] See B. xxiv. c. 8.

[2485] This, of course, is not the fact. As to the succeeding statements, they are borrowed mostly from Theophrastus, and are in general correct.

[2486] The rising of the sap.

[2487] The Pleiades. See B. xviii. cc. 59, 60.

[2488] It was supposed in astrology that the stars exercised an effect equally upon animal and vegetable life.

[2489] 25th of July.

[2490] See B. xviii. c. 68.

[2491] The Cornus mas of botanists; probably the Frutex sanguineus mentioned in c. [30]. See also B. xv. c. [31].

[2492] Probably the Lonicera Alpigena of Linnæus; the fruit of which resembles a cherry, but is of a sour flavour, and produces vomiting.

[2493] The wood is so durable, that a tree of this kind in the forest of Montmorency is said to be a thousand years old.

[2494] See B. xviii. cc. 59, 60.

[2495] See c. [6] of this Book.

[2496] See B. xii. c. [7].

[2497] This supposed marvel merely arises from the fact that the fruit has a strong ligneous stalk, which almost precludes the possibility of its dropping off. This is the case, too, not only with the pine, but with numerous other trees as well.

[2498] “Dried” nuts.

[2499] See B. xxiv. c. 41.

[2500] But in B. xxiv. c. 32, he speaks of the fruit of the black poplar as an antidote for epilepsy. In fact, he is quite in error in denying a seed to any of these trees.

[2501] See c. [29] of this Book.

[2502] The Rhamnus alaternus of Linnæus, the Phylica elatior of C. Bauhin. In reality, it bears a small black berry, of purgative qualities.

[2503] “Infelices,” “unhappy” rather.

[2504] Daughter of Sithon, king of Thrace, who hanged herself on account of the supposed inconstancy of her lover, Demophöon. See Ovid, Heroid. 2.

[2505] This must not be taken to the letter; indeed, Fée thinks that the proper meaning is:—“Young trees do not produce fruit till they have arrived at a certain state of maturity.” Trees mostly continue on the increase till they die.

[2506] See B. xvii. c. [2]. The assertion here made has not been confirmed by experience.

[2507] “Frugiperda:” in the Greek, ὠλεσίκαρπον. See Homer. Od. x. l. 510. It has been suggested, Pliny says, that the willow seed had this epithet from its effect in causing abortion; but he does not seem to share the opinion.

[2508] This cannot be a willow, Fée remarks; indeed, Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 5, speaks of a black poplar as growing there.

[2509] See B. xv. c. [13]. It is not impossible that Pliny may have mistaken here the Persea, or Balanites Ægyptiaca, for the Persica, or peach. See p. [296].

[2510] Fée remarks, that this expression is remarkable as giving a just notion of the relative functions of the male and female in plants. He says that one might almost be tempted to believe that they suspected something of the nature and functions of the pistils and stamens.

[2511] This statement, which is drawn from Theophrastus, is rather fanciful than rigorously true.

[2512] B. xiii. c. [7].

[2513] Or “forerunner.” The Spaniards call a similar fig “brevas,” the “ready ripener.”

[2514] See B. xv. c. [19].

[2515] See B. xv. c. [21].

[2516] This does not happen in the northern climates; though sometimes it is the case that a fruit-tree blossoms again towards the end of summer, and if the autumn is fine and prolonged, these late fruits will ripen. Such a phenomenon, however, is of very rare occurrence.

[2517] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[2518] “Insanæ.” There are some varieties of the vine which blossom more than once, and bear green grapes and fully ripe ones at the same moment.

[2519] De Re Rust. c. 7.

[2520] The suggested reading, “apud matrem magnam,” seems preferable to “apud mare,” and receives support from what is said relative to Smyrna in B. xiv. c. [6].

[2521] See B. v. c. 3.

[2522] B. xviii. c. 51.

[2523] B. xv. c. [19].

[2524] This is not the fact: the fruits of all trees have their proper time for ripening.

[2525] He speaks here in too general terms; the pear, for instance, is not more fruitful when old than when young.

[2526] He speaks of the process of caprification. See B. xv. c. [21].

[2527] So our proverb, “Soon ripe, soon rotten;” applicable to mankind as well as trees. See B. xxiii. c. 23.

[2528] See B. xv. c. [27]. The mulberry tree will live for several centuries.

[2529] This stimulates the sap, and adds to its activity: but the tree grows old all the sooner, being the more speedily exhausted.

[2530] In cc. [9-14] of the present Book.

[2531] This passage is quite unintelligible; and it is with good reason that Fée questions whether Pliny really understood the author that he copied from.

[2532] Fée remarks, that Pliny does not seem to know that the catkin is an assemblage of flowers, and that without it the tree would be totally barren.

[2533] Pliny blunders sadly here, in copying from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 16. He mixes up a description of the box and the cratægus, or holm-oak, making the latter to be a seed of the former: and he then attributes a mistletoe to the box, which Theophrastus speaks of as growing on the cratægus.

[2534] See c. [93], where he enlarges on the varieties of the mistletoe.

[2535] See B. xxiv. c. 71.

[2536] He means the garden or border-box, mentioned in c. [28] of this Book.

[2537] See B. xiii. c. [17]: the African lotus, probably; the Zizyphus lotus of Desfontaines.

[2538] This statement is entirely incorrect. If a tree loses the terminal bud, it will grow no higher; but it will not die if the extremities of the branches are cut. Such, in fact, is much more likely to happen when they are all cut off, from the extreme loss of juices which must naturally ensue at the several cicatrices united.

[2539] The Celtis australis of Linnæus. Pliny is in error in calling this tree the “Grecian bean.” In B. xiii. c. [22], he erroneously calls the African lotus by the name of “celtis,” which only belongs to the lotus of Italy; that of Africa being altogether different.

[2540] The bark, which is astringent, is still used in preparing skins, and a black colouring matter extracted from the root is employed in dyeing wool.

[2541] Quite an accidental resemblance, if, indeed, it ever existed.

[2542] “Oculus”—the bud on the trunk.

[2543] This must be either a mistake or an exaggeration; the cherry never being a very large tree.

[2544] It is evident that he is speaking of the epidermis only, and not the cortical layers and the liber.

[2545] The roots of trees being ligneous, “carnosæ,” Fée remarks, is an inappropriate term.

[2546] Georg. ii. 291.

[2547] “Lagenas.” Fée takes this to mean here vessels to hold liquids, and remarks that the workers in wicker cannot attain this degree of perfection at the present day.

[2548] Pliny is in error in rejecting this notion.

[2549] See B. xii. c. [5], and B. xiii. c. [29]. What Pliny states of the fir, or Abies pectinata, Theophrastus relates of the πεύκη, or Abies excelsa of Decandolles. There is little doubt that in either case the statement is incorrect.

[2550] On the contrary, the roots of trees increase in size till the period of their death.

[2551] By preventing the action of the air from drying the roots, and so killing the tree.

[2552] A grove, probably, consecrated to the Muses.

[2553] These stories must be regarded as either fables or impostures; though it is very possible for a tree to survive after the epidermis has been removed with the adze.

[2554] See B. xvii. c. [9].

[2555] In c. [7] of this Book.

[2556] It is not improbable that he has in view here the passage in Virgil’s Georgics, B. ii. l. 109, et seq.

[2557] Or balm of Gilead. See B. xii. c. [54]. Bruce assures us that it is indigenous to Abyssinia; if so, it has been transplanted in Arabia. It is no more to be found in Judæa.

[2558] This is inserted, as it is evident that the text without it is imperfect. Fée says that even in Judæa it was transplanted from Arabia.

[2559] As to the identification of the cinnamomum of Pliny, see B. xii. cc. [41] and [42], and the Notes.

[2560] As to the question of the identity of the amomum, see B. xii. c. [28].

[2561] See B. xii. c. [26].

[2562] This cannot be the ordinary Piper nigrum, or black pepper, which does not deserve the title “arbor.” It is, no doubt, the pepper of Italy, which he mentions in B. xii. c. [14].

[2563] The Cassia Italica, probably, of B. xii. c. [43]. The cassia of the East could not possibly survive in Italy. The fact is, no doubt, that the Romans gave the names of cassia, piper, and amomum, to certain indigenous plants, and then persuaded themselves that they had the genuine plants of the East.

[2564] See B. xii. c. [30].

[2565] Under the name of Cedrus, no doubt, several of the junipers have been included. See B. xiii. c. [11].

[2566] Fée is inclined to doubt this statement. The myrtle has been known to stand the winters of Lower Brittany.

[2567] Owing, no doubt, as Fée says, solely to bad methods of cultivation. The same, too, with the grafted peach and the Greek nut or almond.

[2568] The Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus, the Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle.

[2569] De Re Rust. cc. 48, 151.

[2570] “Morosa;” meaning that it reaches maturity but very slowly.

[2571] Tristis tentantum sensu torquebit amaror.—Virg. Georg. ii. 247.

[2572] This statement is exaggerated.

[2573] It is still to be seen very frequently in the cemeteries of Greece and Constantinople.

[2574] The cypress is in reality monœcious, the structure of the same plant being both male and female.

[2575] This was formerly done with the cypress, in England, to a considerable extent. Such absurdities are now but rare.

[2576] The Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle: and a variety of the Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2577] The Cupressus horizontalis of Miller; the variety B of the C. sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2578] The present name given to this tree in the island of Crete, is the “daughter’s dowry.”

[2579] De Re Rust. c. 151.

[2580] B. iii. c. 12.

[2581] This, Fée says, is the case with none of the coniferous trees.

[2582] Of course this spontaneous creation of the cypress is fabulous; and, indeed, the whole account, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is greatly exaggerated.

[2583] B. xix. c. 15.

[2584] This story, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is evidently fabulous.

[2585] Meaning Asia Minor.

[2586] Hist. Plant. B. iii c. 10.

[2587] See B. vi. c. 23.

[2588] Bacchus, after the alleged conquest by him of India, was said to have returned crowned with ivy, and seated in a car drawn by tigers.

[2589] It is a mistake to suppose that the ivy exhausts the juices of trees. Its tendrils fasten upon the cortical fissures; and, if the tree is but small, its development is apt to be retarded thereby. It is beneficial, rather than destructive, to walls.

[2590] This plant is really monœcious or androgynous.

[2591] The Rosa Eglanteria.

[2592] The Hedera helix of Linnæus, or, possibly, a variety of it with variegated leaves.

[2593] The Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin, the common ivy.

[2594] The Hedera major sterilis of C. Bauhin.

[2595] The first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera helix of Linnæus.

[2596] A wreath of ivy was the usual prize in the poetic contests.

[2597] See B. v. c. 16, and B. vi. c. 23.

[2598] The “red berry” and the “golden fruit.”

[2599] The berries are yellow in the first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera poetica of C. Bauhin.

[2600] This is the case sometimes with the black ivy, the Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin. Only isolated cases, however, are to be met with.

[2601] There is an ivy of this kind, the Hedera humi repens of botanists; but most of the commentators are of opinion that it is the ground ivy, the Glechoma hederacea of Linnæus, that is spoken of. Sprengel takes it to be the Anthirrinum Azarina, from which opinion, however, Fée dissents.

[2602] The Smilax aspera of Linnæus; the sarsaparilla plant.

[2603] Fée is inclined to question this; but the breadth of the tablets may have been very small in this instance.

[2604] Of course this is fabulous: though it is not impossible that the writing on the tablets may sometimes have caused “a noise in the world,” and that hence the poets may have given rise to this story.

[2605] Pliny borrows this fabulous story from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 3.

[2606] The reeds cannot be appropriately ranked among the shrubs.

[2607] For musical purposes, namely.

[2608] B. v. c. 20.

[2609] “Calamus.” The so-called reed of the East, used for making darts and arrows, does not belong to the genus Arundo, but to those of the Bambos and Nastus.

[2610] Few readers of history will fail to recollect the report made to King Henry V. by Davy Gam, before the battle of Agincourt:—“The enemy are so numerous,” said the messenger, “that their arrows will darken the sun.” “We must e’en be content to fight in the dark then,” was the warrior’s reply.

[2611] See B. vii. c. 2. This is probably an exaggeration. He alludes to the Bambos arundinacea of Lamarck, the Arundo arbor of C. Bauhin.

[2612] The Arundo donax of Linnæus.

[2613] Or the pipe-reed.

[2614] The tibia, or pipe, was played lengthwise, like the flageolet or clarionet.

[2615] A variety of the Arundo donax. The Orchomenian reed is of the same class. The fistula was played sideways; and seems to have been a name given both to the Syrinx or the Pandæan pipes, and the flute, properly so called.

[2616] In the last Chapter. The Arundo donax, probably, so far as European warfare was concerned.

[2617] A variety of the Arundo donax of Linnæus.

[2618] This is not the fact.

[2619] The Arundo versicolor of Miller.

[2620] Constantinus and Schneider, upon Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 11, suspect the correctness of this word.

[2621] See B. xx. c. 88, and B. xxxii. c. 52.

[2622] The Arundo phragmites of Linnæus. The Plotias, no doubt, was only a variety of it.

[2623] “Arundo tibialis.” The story about the time taken by it to grow, and the increase of the waters, is, of course, fabulous.

[2624] The “yoke reed,” or “reed for a double flute.”

[2625] Perhaps so called from the silkiness of its flossy pinicules.

[2626] This seems to be the meaning of “ad inclusos cantus.”

[2627] B. xviii. c. 74.

[2628] Lingulis.

[2629] The words “dextræ” and “sinistræ,” denote the treble and the bass flutes; it is thought by some, because the former were held with the right hand, and the latter with the left. Two treble or bass flutes were occasionally played on at the same time.

[2630] See B. xiii. c. [32].

[2631] These were of the variety Zeugites, previously mentioned.

[2632] Fée suggests, that what he mentions here may not have been a reed at all, but one of the cyperaceous plants, the papyrus, perhaps.

[2633] De Re Rust. c. 6. It was the donax that was thus employed; as it is in France at the present day.

[2634] Oculis. See B. xvii. c. [33].

[2635] See B. xix. c. 42.

[2636] The white willow, Salix Alba of Linnæus.

[2637] The Salix vitellina more particularly is used in France for this purpose.

[2638] The Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2639] The Salix amygdalina of Linnæus.

[2640] De Re Rust. c. 6. Fée remarks that the notions of modern agriculturists are very different on this point.

[2641] The Salix purpurea of Linnæus: the Salix vulgaris rubens of C. Bauhin.

[2642] This belongs, probably, to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2643] Fée queries whether this may not be the Salix incana of Schrank and Hoffmann, the bark of which is a brown green.

[2644] Belonging to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2645] Belonging to the Salix purpurea of Linnæus.

[2646] Field-mouse or squirrel colour. See B. viii. c. 82. The same, probably, as the Salix vitellina of Linnæus.

[2647] A variety, Fée thinks, of the Salix rubens.

[2648] The Scirpus lacustris of Linnæus.

[2649] And not in front of them.

[2650] Mapalia.

[2651] Egypt, namely.

[2652] The bramble is sometimes found on the banks of watery spots and in marshy localities, but more frequently in mountainous and arid spots.

[2653] Known to us as blackberries. This tree is the Rubus fruticosus of Linnæus; the same as the Rubus tomentosus, and the Rubus corylifolius of other modern botanists.

[2654] The Rosa canina of Linnæus: the dog-rose or Eglantine.

[2655] The Rubus Idæus of botanists; the ordinary raspberry.

[2656] See B. xxiv. c. 75.

[2657] See B. xxiv. c. 35.

[2658] They are still used for dyeing, but not for staining the hair.

[2659] Only as a purgative, probably.

[2660] Though the acid it contains would curdle milk, still its natural acridity would disqualify it from being used for making cheese.

[2661] The white sap or inner bark; the aubier of the French. Fée remarks, that its supposed analogy with fat is incorrect.

[2662] He means the outer ligneous layers of the wood. They differ only in their relative hardness.

[2663] “Pulpæ.” The ligneous fibres which form the tissue of the bark.

[2664] “Venæ.” By this term he probably means the nutritive vessels and the ligneous fibres united. It was anciently the general belief that the fibres acted their part in the nutriment of the tree.

[2665] “Graphium.” Properly a stylus or iron pen.

[2666] “Glandia.” This analogy, Fée remarks, does not hold good.

[2667] See B. xiii. c. [29], and c. [27] of this Book.

[2668] And at an angle with the grain or fibre of the wood.

[2669] And at right angles. In the Dicotyledons, the disposition of the fibres is longitudinal and transversal.

[2670] Guttum.

[2671] For the simple reason, because the part near the root is of greater diameter.

[2672] Soft ligneous layers.

[2673] In c. [72] of this Book.

[2674] Hard wood—such as we know generally as “heart;” “heart of oak” for instance.

[2675] Probably that of the ligneous layers near the pith or sap.

[2676] “Limo:” the alburnum previously mentioned.

[2677] This practice was formerly forbidden by the forest laws of France.

[2678] In B. xviii.

[2679] Pliny borrows this superstition from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 1.

[2680] This was the name of mimic sea-fights, exhibited at Rome in the Circus or amphitheatres, or else in lakes dug expressly for the purpose. Hardouin says, there were five Naumachiæ at Rome, in the 14th region of the City.

[2681] This practice is no longer followed.

[2682] De Re Rust. c. 31; also cc. 17 and 37.

[2683] This practice is observed in modern times.

[2684] C. [37].

[2685] Pliny, no doubt, observes an analogy between the hair of the human head, and trees as forming the hair of the earth. The superstition here mentioned, Fée says, was, till very recently, observed in France to a considerable extent.

[2686] De Re Rust. 1, 37.

[2687] Terebinthine or turpentine.

[2688] “Ad fabrorum intestina opera medulla sectilis.” This passage is probably corrupt.

[2689] In c. [74].

[2690] With reference to the fir, namely.

[2691] B. iii. c. 5.

[2692] B. iv. c. 3.

[2693] An additional proof, perhaps, that the cedar of the ancients is only one of the junipers, and that, as Fée says, they were not acquainted with the real cedar.

[2694] B. iii. c. 4.

[2695] “Spiras.” It seems to have been the opinion of the ancients that the internal knots of the wood are formed spirally. Such is not the fact, as they consist of independent layers.

[2696] Centra.

[2697] He takes this account from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 3.

[2698] The greatest height, Fée says, of any tree known, is that of the palm, known as ceroxylon; it sometimes attains a height of 250 feet. Adanson speaks of the baobab as being 90 feet in circumference.

[2699] In c. [74].

[2700] See B. xix. c. 6.

[2701] A spot enclosed in the Campus Martius, for the resort of the people during the Comitia, and when giving their votes.

[2702] “Diribitorium.” This was the place, probably, where the diribitores distributed to the citizens the tabellæ, with which they voted in the Comitia, or else, as Wunder thinks, divided the votes, acting as “tellers,” in the modern phrase.

[2703] Caligula.

[2704] B. xxxvi. c. 14.

[2705] See B. xxxvi. c. 14. This was a mortar made of volcanic ashes, which hardened under water. It is now known as Pozzuolane.

[2706] The Pinus cedrus of Linnæus.

[2707] The canoes were formed probably of the fir.

[2708] The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

[2709] See B. xiii. c. [27].

[2710] This, Fée says, is not the case, if the Syrian terebinth is the same as the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[2711] This is not the case; a nail has a firm hold in all resinous woods.

[2712] This is evidently a puerile absurdity: but it is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 4.

[2713] The savages of North America, and, indeed, of all parts of the globe, seem to have been acquainted with this method of kindling fire from the very earliest times.

[2714] See B. xxiv. c. 49. The Viticella, belonging to the genus clematis.

[2715] This unfounded notion is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 4.

[2716] In the modern botanical sense of the word, the male trees do not bear at all.

[2717] Asia Minor, namely. See B. xxxv. c. 21.

[2718] The junctures where the pieces of wood are united by glue. This is to be observed very easily in the greater part of the oaken statuary that is so plentiful in the churches of Belgium.

[2719] Cypress is perhaps the most lasting of all woods.

[2720] One of the earliest appellations, probably, of Jupiter among the Romans. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. iii. l. 445, et seq.

[2721] This is correct. Their resin defends them from the action of the air, from damp, and the attacks of noxious insects.

[2722] A variety of the oak. See c. [6] of this Book.

[2723] As mentioned at the end of c. [74].

[2724] See B. xi. c. [2].

[2725] See B. xvii. c. [37].

[2726] In c. [74].

[2727] There is nothing very surprising in this, as most woods are preserved better when completely immersed in water, than when exposed to the variations of the atmosphere.

[2728] He borrows this fable from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 5.

[2729] This process, Fée says, would be attended with no success.

[2730] It is not quite clear whether he intends this observation to apply to the poplar and the palm, or to the last only. It is true, however, in neither case, and is contrary, as Fée observes, to all physical laws.

[2731] The resistance that woods offer when placed vertically is in the same ratio as that presented by them when employed horizontally. This paragraph is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 4, and B. v. cc. 6, 7, 8.

[2732] Ferula.

[2733] In c. [77].

[2734] See c. [24].

[2735] Fée thinks, from the context, that the meaning is, that the vine was employed in the construction of chariots; it depends entirely on the punctuation adopted.

[2736] This could only have happened in the first year that they were so employed.

[2737] De Re Rust. c. 31.

[2738] It is singular, Fée says, to find the wood of the palm, and that of the poplar, which are destitute of veins, enumerated among those employed for veneering.

[2739] In c. [27].

[2740] According to Adanson, the baobab will live for more than six thousand years.

[2741] The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

[2742] In consequence of the disputes between the patricians and plebeians.

[2743] Thus deriving Lucina from “lucus,” a grove.

[2744] Capillos.

[2745] An area before the temple of Vulcan.

[2746] “Stationes municipiorum.” A sort of exchange, near the Forum, where the citizens met to discuss the topics of the day.

[2747] See B. iv. c. 18. Of course, this story must be regarded as fabulous.

[2748] Quercus.

[2749] These are fables founded upon the known longevity of trees, which, as Fée remarks, Pliny relates with a truly “infantine simplicity.”

[2750] See B. v. c. 43.

[2751] See B. v. c. 29.

[2752] The palm is by no means a long-lived tree.

[2753] The pomegranate, on the contrary, has been known to live many centuries.

[2754] He has elsewhere said that the vine is extremely long-lived.

[2755] In the last Chapter he has spoken of a laurel having existed for many centuries.

[2756] To its great detriment, probably.

[2757] Fée says that no holm-oak is ever known to attain this size.

[2758] See c. [62].

[2759] Sprengel says that this is the parasitic plant, which he calls Cassyta filiformis. Fée says that this opinion, though perhaps not to be absolutely rejected, must be accepted with reserve.

[2760] It does not seem to have been identified.

[2761] See B. xviii. c. 33.

[2762] Serpyllum. See B. xx. c. 90.

[2763] A mistletoe, apparently, growing upon the wild olive. Fée says that no such viscus appears to be known.

[2764] See B. xxvii. c. 66. The Calcitrapa stellata of Lamarck. Fée remarks that Pliny has committed a great error, in making it a parasite of the Spina fullonia. Dioscorides only says that the two plants grow in the same spots.

[2765] The Viscum Europæum of modern naturalists.

[2766] The Viscum album of Linnæus; but Sprengel takes it to be the Loranthus Europæus.

[2767] Fée questions whether this may not be the Loranthus Europæus.

[2768] The Viscum album of Linnæus; the oak mistletoe or real mistletoe.

[2769] This is not the fact: it grows upon a vast multitude of other trees.

[2770] It is no longer used for this purpose.

[2771] The mistletoe never in any case loses its leaves, upon whatever tree it may grow.

[2772] This is, of course, untrue; but the seeds, after being voided by birds, are more likely to adhere to the bark of trees, and so find a nidus for germination.

[2773] The exact opposite is the case, the female being the fruitful plant.

[2774] The method used in Italy for making bird-lime is very similar at the present day.

[2775] Magos.

[2776] Decandolle was of opinion, that the mistletoe of the Druids was not a viscum, but the Loranthus Europæus, which is much more commonly found on oaks.

[2777] Δρῦς, an “oak.” It is much more probable that it was of Celtic origin.

[2778] Omnia sanantem.

[2779] “Sagum.” Properly, a “military cloak.”

[2780] It was, in comparatively recent times, supposed to be efficacious for epilepsy.

[2781] See end of B. ii.

[2782] Author of a History or Annals of Rome. Nothing further is known of him.

[2783] See end of B. vi.

[2784] See end of B. ii.

[2785] See end of B. iii.

[2786] See end of B. vii.

[2787] See end of B. iii.

[2788] See end of B. ii.

[2789] See end of B. ii.

[2790] See end of B. vii.

[2791] He is wholly unknown; but is conjectured to have lived in the reign of Caligula or Tiberius.

[2792] See end of B. vii.

[2793] See end of B. [xii].

[2794] He is unknown; but Solinus speaks of him as a valuable writer.

[2795] M. Vitruvius Pollio, an eminent architect, employed by Augustus. His valuable work on architecture is still extant.

[2796] See end of B. [xiv].

[2797] See end of B. iii.

[2798] See end of B. vii.

[2799] See end of B. iii.

[2800] See end of B. ii.

[2801] See end of B. ii.

[2802] He alludes to the various shrubs and trees, mentioned as growing in the sea, B. xiii. c. [48]; but which there is little doubt, in reality belong to the class of fuci.

[2803] “Fiunt verius quam nascuntur;” a distinction perpetuated in the adage, “Poeta nascitur, non fit.”

[2804] He probably alludes to his remark in B. xvi. c. [1].

[2805] Q. Luctatius Catulus, the colleague of Marius. Being afterwards condemned to die by Marius, he suffocated himself with the fumes of charcoal.

[2806] A.U.C. 659.

[2807] Valerius Maximus, B. ix. c. 1, relates this story somewhat differently.

[2808] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.

[2809] See B. xxxvi. cc. 3 and 24.

[2810] When, in his capacity of ædile, he gave theatrical representations for the benefit of the public.

[2811] As Fée remarks, this usage has been reversed in modern times, and plants often receive their botanical names from men.

[2812] See B. xviii. c. 4.

[2813] Or north north-east, as Fée says. He adds that this aspect in reality is not favourable to vegetation. Pliny commits the error of copying exactly from Theophrastus, and thereby giving advice to Roman agriculturists, which was properly suited to the climate of Greece only.

[2814] This is borrowed from Theophrastus; but, as Fée remarks, if suitable to the climate of Greece, it is not so to that of Italy or France, where vegetation is much more promoted by a south wind.

[2815] This assertion, Fée says, is erroneous. See B. xvi. c. [46].

[2816] B. xviii. c. 66.

[2817] See c. [30] of this Book. These notions as to critical periods to plants connected with the constellations, Fée says, are now almost dispelled; though they still prevail in France, to some extent.

[2818] “Coitus.” See B. xvi. cc. [39] and [42].

[2819] See B. xvi. c. [46].

[2820] From Theophrastus, De Causis, B. ii. c. 1.

[2821] He alludes to the words of Virgil, Georg. i. 100:—

“Humida solstitia, atque hiemes orate serenas,

Agricolæ; hiberno lætissima pulvere farra.”

Fée remarks, that the cultivators of the modern times are more of the opinion of the poet than the naturalist.

[2822] Because rains would cause the young fruit to fall off. He here attacks the first portion of the precepts of Virgil; but only, it appears, in reference to the vine.

[2823] “Lactescentibus.” Fée remarks on the appropriateness of this expression, as the act of germination, he says, in the cereals and all the seeds in which the perisperm is feculent, changes the fecula into an emulsive liquid, in which state the seed may be said, with Pliny, to be “lactescent.”

[2824] Which appears to have been extensively done with the young garden trees.

[2825] Georg. ii. 398.

[2826] Taken altogether, a southern aspect is preferable to all others.

[2827] See B. ii. c. 46.

[2828] Cc. [46] and [47].

[2829] He seems to lose sight of the fact that they bud before those that look to the north.

[2830] B. xvi. cc. [30], [31].

[2831] A rich black mould, probably.

[2832] A ferruginous argilla.

[2833] It must of necessity denote a soil rich in humus, though not, of course, adapted for all kinds of cultivation.

[2834] He alludes to the difficulty with which argilla, from its tenacity, is employed in cultivation.

[2835] Columella says the contrary, and so does Virgil, Georg. ii. 226, speaking of this fact as a method of ascertaining the respective qualities of the earth.

[2836] Virgil, Georg. ii. 220, says the contrary.

[2837] In allusion to what Virgil says, Georg. ii. 254:—

“Quæ gravis est, ipso tacitam se pondere prodit,

Quæque levis——”

Fée remarks, however, that it is easy enough to analyse the earth, and ascertain the proportions of humus, and of the siliceous, cretaceous, or argillaceous earths; the relative proportions of which render it strong or light, as the case may be.

[2838] As Fée says, these earths vary according to the nature of the soils that are brought down by the streams; in general, however, they are extremely prolific.

[2839] Fée says that Pliny is here guilty of some degree of exaggeration. See B. iii. c. 9, p. 195 of Vol. 1: also B. xviii. c. 29.

[2840] “Tophus;” formed of volcanic scoriæ. Fée remarks, that it is somewhat similar in nature to marl, and that though unproductive by itself, it is beneficial when mixed with vegetable earth. Tufa and marl appear to have been often confounded by the ancient writers.

[2841] Georg. ii. 189.

[2842] The Pteris aquilina of the modern botanists.

[2843] Marine salt, or sub-hydrochlorate of soda, Fée thinks, is here alluded to. It is still used with varied success in some parts of the west of France.

[2844] Hardouin says, that he here alludes to the proverbial saying among the ancients, “Perflare altissima ventos”—“The winds blow only on the most elevated ground.”

[2845] In B. xiv. cc. [4] and [12].

[2846] “Emisso.” Fée would appear to think that the lake suddenly made its appearance, after an earthquake, and from the context he would appear to be right. These accounts are all of them borrowed from Theophrastus.

[2847] See B. v. c. 36.

[2848] See B. xv. c. [2].

[2849] See B. xiv. c. [8].

[2850] See B. xiv. c. [8].

[2851] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2852] See B. iii. c. 17.

[2853] Sumen. Properly, “udder.” A cow’s udder was considered one of the choicest of delicacies by the Romans.

[2854] This is, of course, an exaggeration. The stake must have been driven in very deep to disappear so speedily.

[2855] De Re Rust. 5.

[2856] This he says in reference to his belief, with Epicurus, in the eternity of matter.

[2857] De Re Rust. 1.

[2858] See B. iii. c. 6.

[2859] De Re Rust. 151.

[2860] “Pulla.” The “vegetable” earth of modern botanists.

[2861] “Teneram.”

[2862] Iliad, xviii. 541 and 548.

[2863] Vulcan.

[2864] De Oratore, sec. 39.

[2865] See B. xiii. c. [4].

[2866] “Sapiunt,” rather than “redolent.”

[2867] This supposed flavour of the earth is, in reality, attributable to the extraneous vegetable matter which it contains.

[2868] See B. xii. c. [52], as to this notion.

[2869] The reason being, that in such cases the soil is saturated with thyme, origanum, mint, and other odoriferous herbs.

[2870] This opinion is contrary to that expressed by Columella, B. ii. c. 1; but the justice of it is universally recognized. Upon this theory, too, is based the modern practice of alternating the crops in successive years, the necessity of providing for heavy rents, not allowing the land to enjoy absolute rest.

[2871] This has not come to pass even yet, nearly two thousand years since the days of Pliny.

[2872] See B. v. c. 3, and B. xviii. c. 21.

[2873] Fée taxes our author here with exaggeration. For Byzacium, see B. v. c. 3, and B. xviii. c. 21.

[2874] Nevertheless, as Fée remarks, the method is often practised with great success. Pliny is at issue here with Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 25.

[2875] A natural mixture of argilla and calcareous stones, or subcarbonate of chalk. Fée remarks, that the ancients were not acquainted with the proper method of applying it. Marl only exercises its fertilizing influence after being reduced to dust by the action of the atmosphere, by absorbing the oxygen of the air, and giving to vegetation the carbonic acid that is necessary for their nourishment.

[2876] “White argilla.” This, Fée thinks, is the calcareous marl, three varieties of which are known, the compact, the schistoid, and the friable.

[2877] At the present day there are only two varieties of marl recognized, the argillaceous and the calcareous; it is to the latter, Fée thinks, that the varieties here mentioned as anciently recognized, belonged.

[2878] The Marga terrea of Linnæus. It abounds in various parts of Europe.

[2879] From the Greek, meaning “not bitter marl.”

[2880] Marl does not begin to fertilize till several years after it has been laid down; hence, it is generally recommended to marl the land a little at a time, and often. If the ground is fully marled, it requires to be marled afresh in about eight or ten years, and not fifty, as Pliny says.

[2881] “Argentaria.” Used, probably, in the same way as whitening in modern times. See B. xxxv. c. 58.

[2882] An exaggeration, no doubt.

[2883] Probably meaning “smooth marl;” a variety, Fée thinks, of argillaceous marl, and, perhaps, the potter’s argillaceous marl, or potter’s argil. He suggests, also that it may have possibly been the Marga fullonum saponacea lamellosa of Valerius; in other words, fullers’ earth.

[2884] Creta fullonia.

[2885] See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[2886] This would rather seem to be a name borrowed from the Greek, αἰγλήεις, “shining,” and πελιὸς, “white.” Notwithstanding the resemblance, however, it is just possible that it may have been derived from the Gallic. Fée queries whether this is the schistoid calcareous marl, or the schistoid argillaceous marl, the laminæ of which divide with great facility, and the varieties of which display many colours.

[2887] A variety of the terreous marl.

[2888] It has the effect of augmenting their fruitfulness, and ameliorating the quality of the fruit. Lime is still considered an excellent improver for strong, humid soils.

[2889] From this passage, Fée thinks that the Columbine marl must have been of the white, slightly sparkling kind.

[2890] Though ashes fertilize the ground, more particularly when of an argillaceous nature, they are not so extensively used now as in ancient times. Pliny alludes here more particularly to wood and dunghill ashes.

[2891] This, however, he omits to do.

[2892] He alludes, probably, to Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 22.

[2893] Odyssey xxiv. 225.

[2894] From “stercus,” “dung.” A fabulous personage, most probably.

[2895] De Re Rust. i. 38.

[2896] De Re Rust. ii. 15.

[2897] Mixed with other manures, it is employed at the present day in Normandy.

[2898] This manure is still extensively employed in Flanders, Switzerland, and the vicinity of Paris. In the north of England it is mixed with ashes, and laid on the fields. There was an old prejudice, that vegetation grown with it has a fetid odour, but it has for some time been looked upon as exploded.

[2899] Or urine. In the vicinity of Paris, a manure is employed called urate, of which urine forms the basis.

[2900] Fée seems to think that this passage means that the bad smell of urine is imparted to it by the wine that is drunk. It is difficult to say what could have been the noxious qualities imparted by wine to urine as a manure, and Pliny probably would have been somewhat at a loss to explain his meaning.

[2901] In lapse of time, if exposed to the air, it is reduced to the state of humus or mould.

[2902] Consisting of lime mixed with vegetable ashes.

[2903] De Re Rust. i. 38.

[2904] “Herbas.” This would appear to mean grass only here; though Fée seems to think that it means various kinds of herbs.

[2905] This method is sometimes adopted in England with buckwheat, trefoil, peas, and other leguminous plants; and in the south of France lupines are still extensively used in the same manner, after the usage of the ancient Romans here described. The French also employ, but more rarely, for the same purpose, the large turnip, vetches, peas, trefoil, Windsor beans, sanfoin, lucerne, &c.; but it is found a very expensive practice.

[2906] De Re Rust. 37.

[2907] “Frondam putidam.” Fée thinks that this expression is used in reference to the “ebulum,” dane-wort, wall-wort, or dwarf-elder, previously mentioned.

[2908] “Concidito.” Sillig adopts the reading “comburito,” “burn the shoots, and dig in, &c.” But in the original the word is “concidito.”

[2909] De Re Rust. 30.

[2910] This is still extensively practised in England and France, and other countries. The azote, even, that exhales from the bodies of the animals, is supposed to have a fertilizing influence, to say nothing of the dung, grease of the body, and urine.

[2911] De Re Rust. 37.

[2912] “Exsugunt,” “suck up,” or “drain,” is one reading in Cato; and it is not improbable that it is the correct one.

[2913] Georg. i. 77, 78:

“Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ,

Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.”

[2914] Fée is of opinion, that, with reference to this branch of agriculture, the ancients displayed more skill and intelligence than the moderns.

[2915] This absurdity is copied from Varro and Columella.

[2916] I. e. in the early part of spring. In modern times, the period for manuring varies, according to the usage of different localities, being practised in all the four seasons of the year, according to the crops, weather, and climate.

[2917] See B. xvi. c. [58].

[2918] The palm is grown in Africa from shoots thrown out from the axillæ of the leaves; and it is in this circumstance, Fée thinks, that the story told by Trogus must have originated. Some of the ferns throw out adventitious buds from the summit of the leaf, and the orange tree and some others occasionally have them at the base of the leaf.

[2919] Virgil says, Georgics ii. 14:

“Pars autem posito surgunt de semine; ut altæ

Castaneæ, nemorumque Jovi quæ maxime frondet.”

[2920] This method of reproduction is seldom or never employed; plants or cuttings only being used for the purpose.

[2921] Besides which, it is doubtful if they will reproduce the variety, the seed of which was originally sown.

[2922] In some cases, they are more particularly liable to disease—the apple, for instance.

[2923] Because the mode of cultivation adopted has little or no influence upon them. The palm, however, to bear good fruit, requires the careful attention of man. It is not capable of being grafted.

[2924] In B. xv. c. [39]. The laurel may be grown from cuttings or shoots, and from seed.

[2925] Known as the Laurus tinus, or Viburnum tinus of Linnæus.

[2926] This is not done at the present day, as it is found that the oil which they contain turns rancid, and prevents germination.

[2927] These methods of preparation are no longer employed.

[2928] It is for this reason, as already stated, that they should be sown at once.

[2929] See B. xv. c. [39]. He there calls it “sterilis,” “barren.”

[2930] See B. xv. c. [37]. The myrtle reproduces itself in its native countries with great facility, but in such case the flowers are only single. Where a double flower is required, it is grown from layers.

[2931] No better, Fée says, than the ordinary method of making a myrtle hedge.

[2932] The almond requires a dry, light earth, and a southern aspect.

[2933] These precautions are no longer observed at the present day.

[2934] This precaution, too, is no longer observed.

[2935] The citron is produced, at the present day, from either the pips, plants, or cuttings.

[2936] This passage is borrowed almost verbatim from Virgil, Georgics ii. 50, et seq.

[2937] “Perna.” This method of reproduction is still adopted, but it is not to be recommended, as the young tree, before it throws out a root, is liable to be overthrown by high winds. Virgil mentions it, Georg. ii. 23.

[2938] Palladius only says that the growth of the quince in such case is very slow.

[2939] This experiment has been tried for curiosity’s sake, and has succeeded; the roots become dry, lose their fibres, and then develop buds, from which branches issue; while the buds of the summit become changed into roots.

[2940] “Seminarii:” “nurseries,” as they are more commonly called.

[2941] The distance, in reality, ought to vary according to the nature and species of the trees, and the height they are to be allowed to attain.

[2942] De Re Rust. 48.

[2943] These precautions are not looked upon as necessary for the indigenous trees at the present day. For the first year, however, Fée says, the hurdles might be found very useful.

[2944] As the young cypress is very delicate, in the northern climates, Fée says, this mode of protecting it in the nursery might prove advantageous.

[2945] There is some exaggeration in this account of the extreme smallness of the seed of the cypress.

[2946] Wine and oil-presses, for instance.

[2947] B. xix. c. 48, and B. xx. c. 11. As Fée remarks, this is a fabulous assertion, which may still be based upon truth; as in gum-resin, for instance, we find occasionally the seeds of the parent tree accidentally enclosed in the tear-like drops.

[2948] In B. xvi. c. [47].

[2949] In c. [11] of this Book.

[2950] “Volgiolis.” This word is found nowhere else, and the reading is doubtful.

[2951] This is, at least, an exaggeration.

[2952] See B. xvi. c. [31], and c. [60].

[2953] It is propagated at the present day both from seed and suckers, but mostly from the latter, as the seed does not germinate for two years.

[2954] See B. xv. c. [14]. Probably a variety of the jujube; but if so, it could hardly be grafted on trees of so different a nature as those here mentioned.

[2955] This tree has not been identified. Dalechamps thinks that it is a species of gooseberry, probably the same as the Ribes grossularia of Linnæus. It has been also suggested that it may be the Spina cervina of the Italians, the Rhamnus catharticus of Linnæus, the purgative buckthorn.

[2956] Fée doubts if the plum can be grafted on the thorn.

[2957] First of March.

[2958] The thickness of the thumb. See the last [Chapter].

[2959] He alludes to the Atinian elm, of which he has already said the same in B. xvi. c. [29].

[2960] From being about nine feet in circumference.

[2961] A “little altar.”

[2962] 13th of February.

[2963] I. e. each at an angle with the other, in this form:—

***
**
***

It was probably so called from the circumstance that each triangle resembles V, or five.

[2964] This is the reason why a soil of only middling quality is generally selected for nurseries and seed-plots; otherwise it might be difficult to transplant the young trees to an improved soil.

[2965] The ordinary depth, at the present day, is about two feet; but when in an argillaceous soil, as Pliny says, the hole is made deeper. If the soil is black mould, the hole is not so deep, and of a square form, just as recommended by Pliny.

[2966] De Re Rust. 43.

[2967] This would be either useless, or positively injurious to the tree.

[2968] See B. xiv. c. [14]. It seems impossible to say with exactness how this passage came to be inserted in the context; but Sillig is probably right in suspecting that there is a considerable lacuna here. It is not improbable that Pliny may have enlarged upon the depth of the roots of trees, and the method of removing them in ancient times. Such being the case, he might think it not inappropriate to introduce the story of Papirius, who, when only intending to have a stump cut down that grew in the way, took the opportunity of frightening the prætor of Præneste, by the suddenness of the order to his lictor, and probably the peremptory tone in which it was given. This was all the more serious to the prætor, as Papirius had been rebuking him just before in the severest terms.

[2969] From the bundle of fasces, or rods.

[2970] This precept is borrowed from Virgil, Georg. ii. 348, et seq.

[2971] There is little doubt that they took the right view.

[2972] De Re Rust. 28.

[2973] This precaution is omitted by the modern nurserymen, though Fée is inclined to think it might be attended with considerable advantage, as the fibres of the side that has faced the south are not likely to be so firm as those of the northern side. This precaution, however, would be of more importance with exotic trees than indigenous ones. It is still practised to some extent with the layers of the vine.

[2974] Fée suggests that Pliny may have here misunderstood a passage in Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 8, with reference to the planting of the fig.

[2975] There would be no such result, Fée says.

[2976] This is a useless precaution; but at the same time, Pliny’s fears of its consequences are totally misplaced.

[2977] At 11 A.M., or 2 P.M.; I. e. between south and south-east, and south and south-west.

[2978] De Re Rust. 28.

[2979] Wet moss, or moist earth, is used for the purpose at the present day.

[2980] De Re Rust. 28. It is most desirable to transplant trees with a layer of the earth in which they have grown; but if carried out to any extent, it would be an expensive process.

[2981] “Tradunt.” This expression shows that Pliny does not give credit to the statement. Columella and Palladius speak of three stones being laid under the root, evidently as a kind of charm.

[2982] See B. xix. c. 30. A somewhat similar practice is also recommended in B. xv. c. [18]; but, of course, as Fée remarks, it can lead to no results.

[2983] De Re Rust. 28.

[2984] Fée remarks that this is a useful precaution, more particularly in the case of the coniferous trees, the fig, and others that are rich in juice; but if universally used, would be attended with great expense. The French use for the purpose a mixture of fresh earth and cow-dung, to which they give the name of “onguent Saint-Fiacre.” See p. [481].

[2985] This is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 7. The question, however, depends entirely upon the nature of the tree, the quality of the soil, and various other considerations, as Pliny himself admits.

[2986] See B. xv. c. [24]. This notion, Fée remarks, still prevails to a very considerable extent.

[2987] By depriving it of the light, and the heat of the sun; but, most probably, from no other reason.

[2988] “Quoniam et protecta vinearum ratione egent.” This passage is probably in a mutilated state.

[2989] “In se convoluta.”

[2990] The plane was much valued for its shade by convivial parties. Hence we find in Virgil, Georg. iv. 146—“Atque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbram.”

[2991] He clearly alludes to the quivering poplar, Populus tremula of Linnæus.

[2992] This is quite a fallacy. Even in the much more probable cases of the upas and mangineel, it is not the fact.

[2993] Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 8, says, that trees that grow on declivities have shorter branches than those of the same kind growing on plains.

[2994] De Re Rust. c. 16.

[2995] This assertion is doubtful; at the present day, in Andalusia, the palm, the poplar, and many other trees are much larger than the olive.

[2996] “Thousand pounders.” This, as Fée remarks, is clearly an exaggeration.

[2997] Virgil, Georg. ii. 57, makes the same remark.

[2998] This shrub has not been identified.

[2999] See B. xii. c. [26].

[3000] De Re Rust. c. 51.

[3001] The French call cultivation by layers “marcotte,” as applied to trees in general; and “provignage,” as applicable to the vine. The two methods described by Pliny are still extensively practised.

[3002] Taken from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 133.

[3003] The Juniperus sabina of Linnæus: see B. xxiv. c. 61. It produces seed, and there is only one variety that is barren; the plant being, in reality, diœceous.

[3004] The rosemary, in reality, is a hermaphroditic plant, and in all cases produces seed.

[3005] See B. xvi. c. [33].

[3006] This, Fée remarks, is in reality no more a case of grafting than the growing of a tree from seed accidentally deposited in the cleft of a rock.

[3007] Still used for the reproduction of fruit-trees and shrubs in the pleasure garden.

[3008] Georg. ii. 73.

[3009] This story is borrowed from Theophrastus, De Caus. B. ii. c. 19. Fée remarks, that it is very doubtful if an operation of so coarse a nature could be productive of such results; and he says, that, at all events, the two woods must have been species of the same genus, or else individuals of the same family. The mode of grafting here described is called by agriculturists in foreign countries, “Pliny’s graft.”

[3010] These statements as to the locality of the sap are erroneous.

[3011] The fig is the only fruit that is not improved by grafting; but then it is not similar to most fruit, being, as Fée says, nothing more than a fleshy floral receptacle.

[3012] This remark is founded on sound notions of vegetable physiology; but at the same time it is contradictory to what he states in the sequel as to grafting the pear on the plane, the apple on the cornel, &c.

[3013] Georg. ii. 78.

[3014] An unnecessary precaution. It is not the situation of the branches so much as the nature of the soil, traversed by the roots, corresponding to them, that would be likely to have an influence on the graft. There is little doubt that Pliny borrowed the present passage from Columella, De Re Rust. v. 11; and De Arbor. 20.

[3015] This is sound advice.

[3016] See B. xvi. c. [39], [40], and [41].

[3017] In reprehending this absurd notion, Fée bestows a passing censure on the superstitions of this nature, contained in the English Vox Stellarum, one of our almanacks; and in the French “Almanach des Bergers,” “Shepherds’ Almanack.”

[3018] This is borrowed by Palladius, in the operations of February, tit. 17, and October, tit. 12.

[3019] De Re Rust. 40.

[3020] This is the onguent Saint-Fiacre of the French, and is still used to protect the graft from all contact with the exterior air.

[3021] “Altitudinem,” as Dalechamps suggests, would appear to be a better reading than “latitudinem.”

[3022] See B. xxv. c. 40.

[3023] Borrowed from Columella, B. iv. c. 29. This method is still employed for young plants; in France it is called “salting” the plants.

[3024] De Re Rust. 41.

[3025] The first of these methods is now the only one at all employed with the vine; indeed, it is more generally reproduced by means of layers and suckers.

[3026] It is not accurately known what was the form or particular merit of this auger or wimble.

[3027] Fée remarks, that the period here named is very indefinite. May and the early part of June are the periods now selected for grafting the vine.

[3028] This is borrowed from Varro, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 40. In reality, it makes no difference whether the stock is that of a wild tree or of the cultivated species.

[3029] “Emplastrum.” Properly, the little strip of bark, which is fitted in with the eye, and which is plastered or soldered down.

[3030] “Scutula.” So called from its resemblance to a “little shield.”

[3031] De Re Rust. 42.

[3032] Cato says, three and a-half.

[3033] Chalk and cow-dung. See c. [24] of this Book.

[3034] Perhaps “Tuliæ;” which would mean, according to Festus, the “cascades” or “waterfalls” of Tibur, now Tivoli.

[3035] Fée says, that if we take the word “grafted” here in the strictest sense, Pliny must have seen as great a marvel as any of those mentioned in the “Arabian Nights;” in fact, utter impossibilities. He thinks it possible, however, that a kind of mock grafting may have been produced in the case, still employed in some parts of Italy, and known as the “greffe-Diane.” A trunk of an orange tree is split, and slips of numerous trees are then passed into it, which in time throw out their foliage and blossoms in various parts of the tree, or at the top; the consequence of which is, that the stock appears to bear several varieties of blossoms at the same moment. It is not improbable that Pliny was thus imposed upon.

[3036] The plane and the oak are no longer employed for the purpose.

[3037] See B. xv. c. [25].

[3038] See c. [29] of this Book.

[3039] See B. xv. c. [17].

[3040] The mulberry is incapable of being grafted on the elm.

[3041] De Re Rust. 45. The method of planting here described is still the one most generally approved of for the olive.

[3042] De Re Rust. 44. The rules here given are still very generally observed.

[3043] B. xv. c. [6].

[3044] See c. [2] of this Book, and B. xviii. c. 69.

[3045] The olive is an extremely long-lived tree; it has been known to live as long as nine or ten centuries. A fragment of the bark, with a little wood attached, if put in the ground, will throw out roots and spring up. Hence it is not to be wondered at, that the ancients looked upon it as immortal.

[3046] B. xviii. c. 74.

[3047] B. xviii. c. 74.

[3048] B. ii. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 68.

[3049] There is a contradiction here; a few lines above, he says that they do plant their trees in Greece at this period. He may possibly mean “sow.”

[3050] See B. xvi. c. [41]. The rules here laid down by Pliny are, as Fée remarks, much too rigorous, and must be modified according to extraneous circumstances.

[3051] 13th of February.

[3052] B. xv. c. [26].

[3053] 1st of March.

[3054] 15th of March.

[3055] B. xvi. cc. [30], [46], [67], and [78].

[3056] De Re Rust. B. v. c. 11. A very absurd and useless method, Fée remarks.

[3057] In c. [24] of this Book.

[3058] All the precepts given in this Chapter have been already given in cc. [3] and [4] of the present Book.

[3059] The maple, linden, elm, and arundo donax, are still employed, as well as the willow, for this purpose; the latter, however, but very rarely. The account of its cultivation here given is borrowed from Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 30.

[3060] The Salix viminalis of Linnæus, or white osier.

[3061] The Salix alba of Linnæus. These stakes, or props, are for the support of the vine.

[3062] For making baskets and bindings.

[3063] The Populus canescens of Willdenow.

[3064] The Arundo donax of Linnæus. This account is mostly from Columella, B. iv. c. 32.

[3065] B. xvi. c. [67].

[3066] First of March.

[3067] This method is condemned by Columella, De Arbor. 29, as the produce is poor, meagre, and weak. It is but little practised at the present day.

[3068] A mere superstition, of course.

[3069] “Pedamenta,” uprights, stays, stakes, or props.

[3070] This is not the fact, for the chesnut both grows and buds very slowly.

[3071] A black, hot kind of earth. See c. [3] of this Book.

[3072] In reality, the chesnut will not thrive in a tufaceous, or, indeed, in any kind of calcareous, soil.

[3073] In B. xv. c. [25].

[3074] The heaps of five in which they are sown.

[3075] The chesnut is grown with the greatest difficulty from layers and slips, and never from suckers. Pliny borrows this erroneous assertion from Columella, B. iv. c. 32. In mentioning the heaps of five nuts, Pliny seems to have had some superstitious observance in view, for Columella only says that they must be sown thickly, to prevent accident. The same is done at the present day, in order to make provision for the depredations of field-mice, rats, and mice, which are particularly fond of them.

[3076] The willow and the reed.

[3077] See B. xvi. cc. [5], [6], and [56].

[3078] In B. xvi. c. [60].

[3079] “Armamentis.” More properly, “rigging,” or “tackle.” He alludes to the trees from which the uprights or stays for the vine are cut, or which produce osiers for baskets and bindings required in the vintage.

[3080] See B. xiii. c. [42], and B. xvi. c. [65].

[3081] “Gemma.” A name now given by botanists to the buds in general.

[3082] “Oculus.” A bud undeveloped is still so called.

[3083] Germen.

[3084] This remark is not confirmed by experience.

[3085] On the contrary, the fig-tree has been known to live to a very great age.

[3086] See B. xvi. c. [51].

[3087] This method of planting the vine is still extensively used; especially the low kinds.

[3088] See c. [13] of this Book.

[3089] Sagittæ.

[3090] Trigemmes.

[3091] “Pampinarius.” This assertion has been found to be erroneous.

[3092] This practice has been condemned by modern cultivators.

[3093] From Columella, B. iii. c. 19.

[3094] In c. [24] of this Book.

[3095] “Marra.” Probably a mattock, with several prongs.

[3096] Occupies more space when thus loosened.

[3097] As compared with the original level of the ground.

[3098] Query, if this is the meaning of “extendi”?

[3099] This method is no longer used.

[3100] This, Fée remarks, is not the case: the tree might bear four kinds of grapes, but not four kinds on the same bunch.

[3101] De Arbor. c. 9. This is not the fact.

[3102] He was little aware, Fée says, that all ligneous plants have a radiating pith, distinct from the central one.

[3103] See B. xvi. c. [72].

[3104] Oliver de Serres distinguishes only three—the low, middling, and tall vines.

[3105] See B. xiv. c. [4].

[3106] See B. xiv. c. [4].

[3107] “Jugum.” The cross-piece running along the top of the stay at right angles; a rail or trail.

[3108] “Compluviatæ quadruplici.” Four cross-pieces running at right angles to the prop or stay. See B. xvi. c. [68].

[3109] When these trenches and furrows are employed by the moderns, they are made to run as much as possible from east to west. Most of the rules here mentioned by Pliny are still adopted in France.

[3110] Fée regards this precept as a puerility.

[3111] See B. xviii. c. 77.

[3112] See B. xviii. c. 77. Decuman roads or paths ran from east to west; cardinal roads were those at right angles to them.

[3113] “Pagina.” A set, compartment, or bed.

[3114] “Transtris.” “Ridges,” would appear to be the proper reading here; more especially as it agrees with what has been previously said in this Chapter in reference to declivitous ground.

[3115] De Re Rust. 40.

[3116] He differs somewhat in these measurements from Columella, B. iv. c. 11.

[3117] This is condemned by Columella, B. iv. c. 11; but is approved of by Virgil, Cato, and other authors.

[3118] In c. [34] of this Book.

[3119] Stays of elder would be utterly worthless, as they would soon rot, and break directly, upon the least strain.

[3120] This applies solely, Fée observes, to the vine trained on the trail or cross-piece.

[3121] This certainly appears to be a non sequitur, as applied to the vine.

[3122] In the present Chapter.

[3123] Pampinarium.

[3124] Fructuarium.

[3125] Custos.

[3126] The pilferer, “or little thief,” apparently.

[3127] This, Fée observes, is not in accordance with the fact.

[3128] “Draco.” Male vines appear to have been a kind that threw out no stock-branches, but ran to wood.

[3129] Than three buds, as already mentioned in the present Chapter.

[3130] “Pollices.” Branches, so called from the resemblance, being cut off above the first eye. See Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 24.

[3131] Small forks of hazel are still used for the purpose, in Berri and the Orleanais.

[3132] This plan is highly recommended by the modern growers.

[3133] This, as Fée remarks, is based upon sound reason.

[3134] In B. xiv. cc. [4] and [5].

[3135] B. xviii. c. 66.

[3136] 13th of April.

[3137] 10th of May.

[3138] A mere puerility—the dust, in fact, being injurious to the grape, by obstructing the natural action of heat and humidity.

[3139] 15th of May. This clearing of the leaves, though still practised, Fée says, is by no means beneficial; the only result is, that the grapes become of a higher colour, but in no degree riper than they otherwise would have been.

[3140] The proper period for pruning varies in reality according to the climate.

[3141] See B. xviii. c. 59.

[3142] See Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 29.

[3143] The real reason, as Fée remarks, is the comparative facility of cutting aslant rather than horizontally; indeed, if the latter were attempted, injury to the wood would be the certain result.

[3144] The pruning should come first, in every case, Fée says.

[3145] De Re Rust. c. 33. The advice given by him, though good, is not applicable to all vineyards.

[3146] A sort of clover, probably. See B. xviii. c. 42, and a few lines below.

[3147] From the Greek ὠκέως, “quickly”—Varro says.

[3148] See c. [15] of this Book.

[3149] It is still practised in Dauphiné and the department of the Basses Alpes. It is very prevalent, also, in the South of Italy.

[3150] All these trees are still employed for the purpose in Italy.

[3151] B. xvi. c. [68].

[3152] Palmæ.

[3153] From Columella, B. v. c. 7.

[3154] This method is no longer employed.

[3155] Rasilis.

[3156] Columella, B. v. c. 6.

[3157] Columella, B. v. c. 6.

[3158] Capreolis.

[3159] As being too dense and shady.

[3160] From the Greek, meaning the “vine-band.” It was, probably, a kind of rush.

[3161] Fée thinks that he may mean the Festuca fluitans more particularly, by the name ulva.

[3162] It is no longer used, and Fée doubts its utility.

[3163] Hardouin suggests “Tarracina.”

[3164] In c. [16] of this Book.

[3165] To drain the upper part of the tree.

[3166] Pergulas. See B. xiv. c. [3].

[3167] See B. xviii. c. 56. These, of course, are mere superstitions.

[3168] Animalium.

[3169] In B. xiii. c. [6].

[3170] In B. xiii. c. [47].

[3171] This is the opinion of Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16.

[3172] In c. [2] of this Book.

[3173] “Vermiculatio.” Fée understands this to apply to the attacks of insects in general, the Dermestes typographus more particularly.

[3174] Or, in other words, the evil influences of the heavenly bodies: this, of course, is not believed in at the present day.

[3175] Necrosis, in particular portions of the plant.

[3176] See B. xvi. c. [19]. He alludes to an exuberant secretion of resin, in which case the tree becomes charged with it like a torch.

[3177] He alludes to the epidemic and contagious maladies by which trees are attacked. The causes of these attacks are often unknown, but they may probably proceed, in many instances, from springs of hot water, or gaseous emanations secreted in the earth.

[3178] The woodpecker more particularly. See B. x. c. 20.

[3179] It is not known, with certainty, what these worms or caterpillars were. The larva of the capricorn beetle, or of the stag-beetle, has been suggested. Geoffroi thinks that it may have been the larva of the palm-weevil. This taste for caterpillars, probably, no longer prevails in any part of Europe.

[3180] This passage, which is quite conformable to truth, is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16, and B. iii. c. 12.

[3181] See B. xvi. c. [80].

[3182] The effects produced upon young shoots by frost, are still so called.

[3183] Probably from the black colour which it turns.

[3184] In this case it would be very similar to what we call sun-stroke.

[3185] “Clavum,” a nail. He appears to allude to a gall that appears on the bark of the olive, the eruption forming the shape of a nail, and, in some instances, a “patella,” or platter. The Coccus adonideum is an insect that is very destructive to the olive.

[3186] De Re Rust. 6.

[3187] A sort of Erineum, Fée suggests. See B. xv. c. [6].

[3188] “Impetigo.” “Tetter,” or “ringworm,” literally.

[3189] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16.

[3190] Σφακελισμὸς and κράδος.

[3191] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16. Fée is at a loss to know what is meant by these viscous dews, and is unable to identify the disease here mentioned as “scabies.” It is not improbable that it was caused by an insect.

[3192] See cc. [35] and [45] of this Book.

[3193] See B. xviii. c. 69.

[3194] In c. [35]. See also c. [45] of this Book.

[3195] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16. If the terminal bud of the palm is taken off, it will mostly die.

[3196] “Decidunt.” The French use a similar word—couler. In this case the pollen, being washed off by the showers, has not the opportunity of fecundating the ovary of the flower.

[3197] The insect Ichneumon or Pupivora, probably, which breeds in the larvæ or else in the body of the caterpillar. The passage is from Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 16.

[3198] Caused probably by a maggot or moth passing from one grape or olive to another, and spinning its web in vast quantities. See Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 17.

[3199] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[3200] On the contrary, this sweet juice is secreted by the insect itself, an aphis or vine-fretter.

[3201] The north-west wind. See Horace, Sat. B. i. s. v. l. 71.

[3202] See B. ii. c. 46.

[3203] He probably means if applied to the bark of young trees.

[3204] The cork-tree forms no exception to the rule—if a complete ring of the bark that lies under the epidermis is removed, the death of the tree is the inevitable result. See B. xvi. c. [13].

[3205] Probably the Arbutus integrifolia. See B. xiii. c. [40].

[3206] This in reality is not the bark, but merely the epidermis, which is capable of reproduction in many trees.

[3207] See c. [16] of this Book.

[3208] This method, however, is often found efficacious in preserving the life of the oak, as well as many other trees, by excluding the action of the air and water.

[3209] It prevents them from increasing in height, but does not cause their death.

[3210] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.

[3211] In B. viii. c. 76, and B. xv. c. [8].

[3212] This statement is fabulous. Goats are apt to injure trees by biting the buds and young shoots. Fabulous as it is, however, Fée remarks that it still obtains credit among the peasantry in France.

[3213] This fabulous story is taken from Theophrastus, De Causis, B. v. c. 25.

[3214] Also from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. cc. 19-20, and De Causis, B. v. c. 22. It is just possible that on some of the branches being torn off by an animal, the tree may have grown with increased vigour.

[3215] In B. xiii. c. [9], and in c. [30] of this Book.

[3216] See B. xvi. c. [47].

[3217] It must be remembered that ivy is not a parasite, and that it has no suckers to absorb the nutriment of another tree.

[3218] See B. xvi. c. [62].

[3219] C. Bauhin gives this name to several species of Atriplex. Lacuna was of opinion that the Halimon of Dioscorides was the same as the Viburnum.

[3220] A superstitious belief only, as Fée remarks.

[3221] See B. xix. c. 26.

[3222] Virgil shared this belief: see Georg. ii. l. 299.

[3223] This may be true in some measure as to nitre, alum, and warm sea-water; but not so as to the shells of beans and pigeon-pease, which would make an excellent manure for it.

[3224] This, as Fée remarks, is not by any means impossible, nor, indeed, are any other of the cases mentioned in this paragraph, owing to some accidental circumstance.

[3225] See B. xxix. c. 29.

[3226] These stories can, of course, be only regarded as fabulous.

[3227] This may easily be accounted for, by the seed accidentally lodging in a crevice of the tree.

[3228] A.U.C. 600.

[3229] An exaggerated account merely of a land-slip.

[3230] See c. [43] of this Book.

[3231] See c. [45] of this Book.

[3232] In B. xvi. cc. [53], [56], [66], [67], and [90].

[3233] This was the native place of Ovid, who alludes to its cold streams, Tristia, B. iv. El. x. ll. 3, 4:—

“Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis,

Millia qui novies distat ab urbe decem.”

Irrigation of the vine is still practised in the east, in Italy, and in Spain; but it does not tend to improve the quality of the wine.

[3234] The Sagrus, now the Sangro.

[3235] “Uredo rubigo” and “uredo caries.”

[3236] Cc. [45] and 70.

[3237] Still practised upon the cherry-tree.

[3238] He alludes to the medical operation for the removal of carious bones, described by Celsus, B. viii. c. 3.

[3239] This is still done by some persons; but it can be productive of no beneficial result.

[3240] See B. xv. c. [21]: the Cynips psenes of Linn. It penetrates the fig at the base, and deposits an egg in each seed, which is ultimately eaten by the larva; hence the supposed transformation.

[3241] A kind of wasp, probably.

[3242] A puerility borrowed from Columella, B. v. c. 10.

[3243] From Columella, B. v. c. 10.

[3244] Trucidatio.

[3245] For the removal of moss and lichens, which obstruct evaporation, and collect moisture to an inconvenient degree, besides harbouring insects.

[3246] Agriculturists, Fée says, are not agreed upon this question.

[3247] Or laser. See B. xix. c. 15.

[3248] See B. xviii. c. 35.

[3249] Pœnâ emendantur.

[3250] It is very doubtful whether this is not likely to prove very injurious to them. This passage is from Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 23.

[3251] Without any efficacy, beyond a doubt.

[3252] The action of salt upon vegetation is, at the best, very uncertain.

[3253] These recipes are worthless, and almost impracticable.

[3254] This method is still adopted, but with none of the accessories here mentioned by Pliny.

[3255] A dangerous practice, Fée remarks, and certainly not to be adopted.

[3256] Mitior.

[3257] De Re Rust. 93.

[3258] At the present day, fumigations are preferred to any such mixtures as those here described. Caterpillars are killed by the fumes of sulphur, bitumen, or damp straw.

[3259] “Convolvulus.” He alludes to the vine Pyralis, one of the Lepidoptera, the caterpillar of which rolls itself up in the leaves of the tree, after eating away the foot-stalk.

[3260] The “fly,” or “winged” insect. The grey weevil, Fée thinks, that eats the buds and the young grapes.

[3261] An absurd superstition.

[3262] This may possibly be efficacious, but the other precepts here given are full of absurdity.

[3263] It might possibly drive them to a distance, but would do no more.

[3264] An absurd notion, very similar to some connected with the same subject, which have prevailed even in recent times.

[3265] De Re Rust. 160. The words of this charm over the split reed while held near the injured limb, were as follow:—“Sanitas fracto—motas danata daries dardaries astataries”—mere gibberish.

[3266] De Re Rust. 139. This prayer was offered to the deity of the sacred grove, after a pig had been first offered—“If thou art a god, or if thou art a goddess, to whom this grove is sacred, may it be allowed me, through the expiation made by this pig, and for the purpose of restraining the overgrowth of this grove, &c.” It must be remembered that it was considered a most heinous offence to cut down or lop a consecrated grove. See Ovid, Met. B. viii. c. 743.

[3267] See end of B. ii.

[3268] See end of B. iii.

[3269] See end of B. ii.

[3270] See end of B. vii.

[3271] See end of B. vii.

[3272] See end of B. iii.

[3273] See end of B. x.

[3274] See end of B. [xi].

[3275] See end of B. [xvi].

[3276] See end of B. vii.

[3277] See end of B. ix.

[3278] See end of B. [xiv].

[3279] See end of B. viii.

[3280] See end of B. [xiv].

[3281] Fabianus Papirius; see end of B. ii.

[3282] See end of B. x.

[3283] See end of B. [xiv].

[3284] A Roman rhetorician, preceptor of Antony and Augustus. He is said to have claimed descent from Epidius, a deity worshipped on the banks of the Sarnus.

[3285] See end of B. ii.

[3286] See end of B. vii.

[3287] See end of B. iii.

[3288] See end of B. ii.

[3289] See end of B. ii.

[3290] See end of B. ii.

[3291] See end of B. viii.

[3292] See end of B. viii.

[3293] See end of B. viii.

[3294] See end of B. viii.

[3295] For Xenophon of Athens, see end of B. iv. For Xenophon of Lampsacus, see end of B. iii.

[3296] See end of B. viii.

[3297] See end of B. viii.

[3298] See end of B. viii.

[3299] See end of B. viii.

[3300] See end of B. viii.

[3301] See end of B. viii.

[3302] See end of B. viii.

[3303] See end of B. viii.

[3304] See end of B. vi.

[3305] See end of B. viii.

[3306] See end of B. [xiv].

[3307] See end of B. viii.

[3308] See end of B. viii.

[3309] See end of B. ii.

[3310] See end of B. x.

[3311] See end of B. viii.

[3312] See end of B. viii.

[3313] See end of B. viii.

[3314] See end of B. viii.

[3315] See end of B. [xii].

[3316] See end of B. viii.

[3317] See end of B. viii.

END OF VOL. III.

J. BILLING, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, WOKING, SURREY.

---

Transcriber’s Notes:

The spelling, hyphenation, punctuation and accentuation are as the original, except for apparent typographical errors which have been silently corrected.

‘BOOK XII.’ heading is ‘BOOK X.’ in the original and has been corrected.

‘BOOK XIV’ and ‘BOOK XV’ are both titled ‘THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT-TREES.’ ‘BOOK XIV’ describes the grape vine and ‘BOOK XV’ describes the olive and various other trees.

Footnote 1718 ‘See B. xii. c. 95.’ in the original is incorrect and has been changed by the transcriber to read ‘See B. xii. c. 48.’

Footnote 3192 ‘See cc. 35 and 50 of this Book.’ in the original is incorrect and has been changed by the transcriber to read ‘See cc. 35 and 45 of this Book.’

Footnote 3236 Refers to chapter 70 of book XVII which does not exist.

In ‘GREEK AND ROMAN MONEY’ the following changes have been made:—

Obolus, G	11⁄2 .5 pence. Silver.
now reads:—
Obolus, G	11⁄2 pence + .5 farthings. Silver.
Quadrans. R	53,125 farthing. Copper.
now reads:—
Quadrans. R	.53125 farthings. Copper.