[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.