[282] Dioscorides says, B. i. c. 119, “the branches of the rhamnus, it is said, placed at the doors and windows, will avert the spells of sorcerers.” It is not improbable that Pliny, in copying from some other author, has mistaken the one for the other.
[283] An exaggeration, no doubt. The Cissampelos Pareira of Lamarck, an Indian plant, abounds in mucilage to such an extent, that an infusion of it in water becomes speedily coagulated.
[284] One would be induced to think that this story is derived from some vague account of the properties of the Boomerang. Although supposed by many to have been the invention of the natives of Australasia, representations of it are found on the sculptures of Nineveh. It is not improbable that Pythagoras may have heard of it from the Magi during his travels in the East. See Bonomi’s Nineveh, p. 136.
[285] “Recubitu” seems preferable to “cubitu.”
[286] This is very doubtful, Fée says.
[287] See B. xvi, c. 71.
[288] See B. xvi. c. 71.
[289] Blackberries are still used in the country, Fée says, as an astringent medicine, and all here stated that is based upon that property is rational enough. The same cannot, however, be said of the greater part of the other statements in this Chapter.
[290] See B. xx. cc. 23, 81, and B. xxiii. cc. 12, 18.
[291] See B. xx. c. 81, B. xxii. c. 13, and B. xxiii. c. 23.