[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.