[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].
[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.