[2138] By causing the aqueous particles that may remain in it, to evaporate.
[2139] Or “likenesses”—“similitudines.” Waxen profiles seem to have been the favourite likenesses with the Romans: See the Asinaria of Plautus, A. iv. sc. i. l. 19, in which one of these portraits is clearly alluded to. Also Ovid, Heroid. xiii. l. 152, and Remed. Amor. l. 723. The “imagines” also, or busts of their ancestors, which were kept in their “atria,” were made of wax.
[2140] To protect the paintings, probably, with which the walls were decorated.
[2141] In B. xi.
[2142] See B. xv. c. 28.
[2143] See B. xxiii. c. [17]. According to some authorities, it is supposed to be the Delphinium staphis agria of Linnæus; but Fée and Desfontaines identify it with the Tamus communis of Linnæus, Our Lady’s seal.
[2144] The Ruscus aculeatus of Linnæus. See B. xxiii. c. [83].
[2145] In B. xxii. c. 33, this plant is called “halimon.” Some authors identify it with the Atriplex halymus, and others, again, with the Crithmum maritimum of Linnæus. See also B. xxvi. c. 50.
[2146] Identified by some commentators with the Portulaca sativa or Portulaca oleracea of Linnæus.
[2147] “Pastinaca pratensis.” Fée and Desfontaines are undecided whether this is the Daucus carota of Linnæus, the common carrot, or the Pastinaca sativa, the cultivated parsnip.