[172] Travelling on horseback, probably. A similar superstition is mentioned as to the poplar, in c. 32 of this Book.
[173] Probably the Erica arborea of Linnæus; see B. xiii. c. 35. It has not, however, a leaf similar to that of rosemary, with the sole exception, Fée says, of the Erica cinerea of Linnæus.
[174] See B. xiii. c. 37.
[175] It has no such effect, in reality.
[176] See B. xvi. c. 69. The kind here alluded to is the Spanish broom, Fée thinks.
[177] In B. xix. c. 2. Vol. IV. p. 135.
[178] Iliad, B. ii. l. 135. See B. xix. c. 6, where Pliny states it as his opinion that in this passage Homer is speaking of flax.
[179] See B. xix. c. 7. Fée thinks that the plant under consideration in this Chapter is the Spanish broom, Genista juncea of Lamarck, the Spartium junceum of Linnæus, a different plant from the Spartum of B. xix. c. 7, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. He is of opinion also, that Homer in the passage referred to alludes, not to flax, but to the Genista juncea. See this question further discussed, in the additional Note at the end of B. [xxvii].
[180] Fée says that the blossoms and seed of the junciform genista and other kinds are of a purgative nature; indeed, one variety has been called the Genista purgans by Lamarck. None of them, however, are so potent in their effects as Pliny in the present passage would lead us to suppose.
[181] See B. xiii. c. 37, and Note 968; where it is stated that, in Fée’s opinion, several plants were united by the ancients under this one collective name—brooms for instance, heaths, and tamarisks. He thinks, however, that under the name “Myrica,” Pliny may possibly have intended to comprehend the larger heaths and the Tamarix Gallica of Linnæus. M. Fraäs, as Littré states, gives the Tamarix Africana as the probable synonym of the Myrica of Pliny.