CHAP. 2. (1.)—PLANTS USED BY NATIONS FOR THE ADORNMENT OF THE PERSON.
I remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign nations which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ certain plants for the embellishment of the person. That, among some barbarous peoples, the females[2452] stain the face by means of various plants, there can be little doubt, and among the Daci and the Sarmatæ we find the men even marking[2453] their bodies. There is a plant in Gaul, similar to the plantago in appearance, and known there by the name of “glastum:”[2454] with it both matrons and girls[2455] among the people of Britain are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking part in the performance of certain sacred rites; rivalling hereby the swarthy hue of the Æthiopians, they go in a state of nature.