BOOK XVII

.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CULTIVATED TREES.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—TREES WHICH HAVE BEEN SOLD AT ENORMOUS PRICES.

We have described the trees which grow spontaneously on land and in the sea,[2802] and it now remains for us to speak of those which owe their formation, properly speaking, rather than birth, to art and the inventive genius of man.[2803] Here, however, I cannot but express my surprise, that after the state of penury in which man lived, as already described,[2804] in primitive times, holding the trees of the forest in common with the wild beasts, and disputing with them the possession of the fruits that fell, and with the fowls of the air that of the fruits as they hung on the tree, luxury has now attached to them prices so enormous.

The most famous instance, in my opinion, of this excess, was that displayed by L. Crassus and Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Crassus was one of the most celebrated of the Roman orators; his house was remarkable for its magnificence, though in some measure surpassed even by that of Q. Catulus,[2805] also upon the Palatine Hill; the same Catulus, who, in conjunction with C. Marius, defeated the Cimbri. But by far the finest house of all that period, it was universally acknowledged, was that of C. Aquilius, a Roman of Equestrian rank, situate upon the Viminal Hill; a house, indeed, that conferred a greater degree of celebrity upon him than even his acquaintance with the civil law. This, however, did not prevent Crassus being reproached with the magnificence of his. Crassus and Domitius, members, both of them, of the most illustrious families, after holding the consulship,[2806] were appointed jointly to the censorship, in the year from the building of the City 662, a period of office that was fruitful in strife, the natural result of their dissimilarity of character. On one occasion, Cneius Domitius, naturally a man of hasty temper, and inflamed besides by a hatred that rivalry only tends to stimulate, gravely rebuked Crassus for living, and he a Censor too, in a style of such magnificence, and in a house for which, as he said, he himself would be ready to pay down ten millions of sesterces. Crassus, a man who united to singular presence of mind great readiness of wit, made answer that, deducting six trees only, he would accept the offer; upon which Domitius replied, that upon those terms he would not give so much as a single denarius for the purchase. “Well then, Domitius,” was the rejoinder of Crassus, “which of the two is it that sets a bad example, and deserves the reproof of the censorship; I, who live like a plain man in a house that has come to me by inheritance, or you, who estimate six trees at a value of ten millions of sesterces?”[2807] These trees were of the lotus[2808] kind, and by the exuberance of their branches afforded a most delightful shade. Cæcina Largus, one of the grandees of Rome, and the owner of the house, used often to point them out to me in my younger days; and, as I have already made mention[2809] of the remarkable longevity of trees, I would here add, that they were in existence down to the period when the Emperor Nero set fire to the City, one hundred and eighty years after the time of Crassus; being still green and with all the freshness of youth upon them, had not that prince thought fit to hasten the death of the very trees even.

Let no one, however, imagine that the house of Crassus was of no value in other respects, or that, from the rebuke of Domitius, there was nothing about it worthy of remark with the exception of these trees. There were to be seen erected in the atrium four columns of marble from Mount Hymettus,[2809] which in his ædileship he had ordered to be brought over for the decoration of the stage;[2810] and this at a time, too, when no public buildings even as yet possessed any pillars made of that material. Of such recent date is the luxury and opulence which we now enjoy, and so much greater was the value which in those days trees were supposed to confer upon a property! A pretty good proof of which, was the fact that Domitius even, with all his enmity, would not keep to the offer he had made, if the trees were not to be included in the bargain.

The trees have furnished surnames also to the ancients,[2811] such, for instance, as that of Fronditius to the warrior who swam across the Volturnus with a wreath of leaves on his head, and distinguished himself by his famous exploits in the war against Hannibal; and that of Stolo[2812] to the Licinian family, such being the name given by us to the useless suckers that shoot from trees; the best method of clearing away these shoots was discovered by the first Stolo, and hence his name. The ancient laws also took the trees under their protection; and by the Twelve Tables it was enacted, that he who should wrongfully cut down trees belonging to another person, should pay twenty-five asses for each. Is it possible then to imagine that they, who estimated the fruit-trees at so low a rate as this, could ever have supposed that so exorbitant a value would be put upon the lotus as that which I have just mentioned? And no less marvellous, too, are the changes that have taken place in the value of fruit; for at the present day we find the fruit alone of many of the trees in the suburbs valued at no less a sum than two thousand sesterces; the profits derived from a single tree thus being more than those of a whole estate in former times. It was from motives of gain that the grafting of trees and the propagation thereby of a spurious offspring was first devised, so that the growth of the fruits even might be a thing interdicted to the poor. We shall, therefore, now proceed to state in what way it is that such vast revenues are derived from these trees, and with that object shall set forth the true and most approved methods of cultivation; not taking any notice of the more common methods, or those which we find generally adopted, but considering only those points of doubt and uncertainty, in relation to which practical men are most apt to find themselves at a loss: while, at the same time, to affect any scrupulous exactness in cases where there is no necessity for it, will be no part of our purpose. In the first place, however, we will consider in a general point of view, those influences of soil as well as weather which are exercised upon all the trees in common.

CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE INFLUENCE OF WEATHER UPON THE TREES: WHAT IS THE PROPER SITUATION FOR THE VINE.

Trees are fond of a site more particularly that faces the north-east;[2813] the breezes rendering their foliage more thick and exuberant, and imparting additional solidity to the wood. This is a point, however, upon which most people are very greatly deceived; thus in vineyards, for instance, the props ought not to be placed in such a position as to shelter the stems from the wind in that quarter, it being only against the northern blasts that this precaution should be taken. Nay, even more than this—if the cold weather only comes on in due season, it contributes very materially to the strengthening of the trees, and promotes the process of germination; while, on the other hand, if at that period the southern[2814] breezes should caress them, they will grow weak and languid, and more particularly so, if the blossom is just coming on. If rainy weather, too, should happen to follow close upon blossoming, the total destruction of the fruit is the necessary result: indeed, if the weather should be only cloudy, or south winds happen to prevail, it is quite sufficient to ensure the loss of the fruit in the almond and the pear.[2815] Rains, if prevalent about the rising of the Vergiliæ,[2816] are most injurious to the vine and the olive,[2817] as it is at that season that germination[2818] is commencing with them; indeed, this is a most critical four days for the olive, being the period at which the south wind, as we have already[2819] stated, brings on its dark and lowering clouds. The cereals, too, ripen more unfavourably when south winds prevail, though at the same time it proceeds with greater rapidity. All cold, too, is injurious to vegetation, which comes with the northern winds, or out of the proper season. It is most advantageous to all plants for north-east winds[2820] to prevail throughout the winter.

In this season, too, showers are very necessary, and the reason is self-evident—the trees, being exhausted by the fruit they have borne, and weakened by the loss of their leaves, are, of course, famished and hungry; and it is the showers that constitute their aliment. Experience has led us to believe that there is nothing more detrimental than a warm winter; for it allows the trees, the moment they have parted with their fruits, to conceive again, or, in other words, to germinate, and then exhaust themselves by blossoming afresh. And what is even worse than this, should there be several years of such weather in succession, even the trees themselves will die; for there can be little doubt that the effort must of necessity be injurious, when they put forth their strength, and are at the same time deprived of their natural sustenance. The poet[2821] then, who has said that serene winters are to be desired, certainly did not express those wishes in favour of the trees. And no more does rain, if prevalent at the summer-solstice, conduce to the benefit[2822] of the vine: while, at the same time, to say that a dusty winter produces a luxuriant harvest, is certainly the mistake of a too fertile imagination. It is a thing greatly to be wished, too, both in behalf of the trees as well as the cereals, that the snows should lie for a considerable time upon the ground; the reason being that they check the escape of the spirit of the earth by evaporation, and tend to throw it back again upon the roots of the plants, adding greatly to their strength thereby; and not only this, but they afford a gradual supply of moisture as well, that is both pure and of remarkable lightness, from the fact that snow is only the foam of the waters of heaven. Hence it is that the moisture of snow does not drench and engulph everything all at once, but gradually trickles downwards, in proportion to the thirst of the plant, nurturing it as though from the breast, instead of producing an inundation. The earth, too, ferments under this influence, and becomes filled with her own emanations: not exhausted by the seeds in her bosom, swollen as they are with milk,[2823] she smiles in the warm and balmy hours, when the time comes for opening it. It is in this way, more particularly, that corn fattens apace, except, indeed, in those climates in which the atmosphere is always warm, Egypt for example; for there the continuance of the same temperature and the force of habit are productive of the same effects as the modifications of temperature in other countries.

At the same time it is equally necessary in every climate that there should be no noxious influence in existence. Thus, for instance, in the greater part of the world, that precocious germination which has been encouraged by the indulgent temperature of the weather, is sure to be nipped by the intense colds that ensue. Hence it is that late winters are so injurious, and such they prove to the trees of the forest even; indeed, these last are more particularly exposed to the ill effects of a late winter, oppressed as they are by the density of their foliage, and human agency being unable to succour them; for it would be quite impossible to cover[2824] the more tender forest trees with wisps of straw. Rains, then, are favourable to vegetation—first of all, during the winter season, and next, just previously to germination; the third period for them being that of the formation of the fruit, though not immediately, and only, in fact, when the produce of the tree shows itself strong and healthy.

Those trees which are the slowest in bringing their fruits to maturity, and require a more prolonged supply of nutriment, receive benefit also from late rains, such as the vine, the olive, and the pomegranate, for instance. These rains, however, are required at different seasons by the different trees, some of them coming to maturity at one period and some at another; hence it is that we see the very same rain productive of injury to some trees and beneficial to others, even when they are of the very same species, as in the pear for instance: for the winter pear stands in need of rain at one period, and the early pear at another, though at the same time they, all of them, require it in an equal degree. Winter precedes the period of germination, and it is this fact that makes the north-east wind more beneficial than the south, and renders the parts that lie in the interior preferable to those near the coast,—the former being generally the coldest,—mountainous districts better than level ones, and rain at night better than showers in the day. Vegetation, too, receives a greater degree of benefit from the water when the sun does not immediately soak it up.

Connected, too, with this subject is the question of the best situation for planting vines, and the trees which support them. Virgil[2825] condemns a western aspect, while there are some persons, again, who prefer it to an easterly one: I find, however, that most authors approve of the south, though I do not think that any abstract precepts[2826] can be given in relation to the point. The most careful attention on the part of the cultivator ought to be paid to the nature of the soil, the character of the locality, and the respective influences of climate. The method of giving to the vine a southern aspect, as practised in Africa and * * * * is injurious to the tree, as well as unhealthy for the cultivator, from the very circumstance that the country itself lies under a southern meridian: hence it is, that he who selects for his plants there a western or a northerly aspect, will combine on the most advantageous terms the benefits of soil with those of climate. When Virgil condemns a western aspect, there can be no doubt that he includes in his censure a northern aspect as well: and yet, in Cisalpine Italy, where most of the vineyards have an aspect to the north, it has been found by experience that there are none that are more prolific.

The winds are also a very important consideration. In the provinces of Gallia Narbonensis, and in Liguria and part of Etruria, it is considered a proof of great want of skill to plant the vine on a site that lies in the teeth of the wind Circius,[2827] while, on the other hand, it is a mark of prudence to catch its breezes in an oblique direction; it is this wind, in fact, that modifies the heat in those countries, though at the same time it is usually so violent, as to sweep away the roofs of the houses.

(3.) There are some persons who employ a method of making the question of weather dependent upon the nature of the soil; thus in the case of a vineyard, for instance, in a dry locality, they give it an eastern or a northern aspect; but where it is planted on a humid site, it is made to face the south. From the varieties of the vine also, they borrow various modifications in reference to site; taking care to plant the early vine in a cold locality, in order that the fruit may ripen before the frosts come on; while such fruit trees and vines as have an antipathy to dews are exposed to the east, that the sun may carry off their humidity at the earliest moment. On the other hand, such as manifest a partiality to dews are planted with a western or even a northern aspect, to give them an opportunity of enjoying them all the longer. Others, again, borrowing their notions pretty nearly from Nature, have recommended that vines and trees should be planted facing the north-east; indeed Democritus is of opinion, that by so doing the fruit will be all the more odoriferous.

(4.) We have already spoken, in the Second Book,[2828] of the points of the north-east and other winds, and shall have occasion in the succeeding one to make mention of several more of the heavenly phænomena. In the mean time, however, we may observe that it would appear to be a manifest proof of the salubrity of a north-east site, that the leaves are always the first to fall in the trees that have an aspect towards the south.[2829] A similar reason exists, too, in the maritime districts; in certain localities the sea breezes are detrimental, though in most they are nutritious. For some plants, again, it is pleasant to behold the sea at a distance, while at the same time they will gain nothing by approaching closer to its saline exhalations. The same, too, is the influence exercised by rivers and lakes; they will either scorch the vegetation by the fogs they emit, or else modify by their coolness the excess of heat. We have already mentioned[2830] the plants that thrive in the shade, and in the cold even; but in all these matters experience will be found the best of guides.

CHAP. 3.—WHAT SOILS ARE TO BE CONSIDERED THE BEST.

Next after the influences of the heavens, we have to treat of those of the earth, a task that is in no way more easy than the previous one. It is but rarely that the same soil is found suited to trees as well as corn: indeed, the black[2831] earth which prevails in Campania is not everywhere found suited to the vine, nor yet that which emits light exhalations, or the red[2832] soil that has been so highly praised by many. The cretaceous earth that is found in the territory of Alba Pompeia, and an argillaceous soil, are preferred to all others for the vine, although, too, they are remarkably rich, a quality that is generally looked upon as not suited to that plant. On the other hand, again, the white sand of the district of Ticinum, the black sand of many other places, and the red sand as well, even though mixed with a rich earth, will prove unproductive.

The very signs, also, from which we form our judgment are often very deceptive; a soil that is adorned with tall and graceful trees is not always a favourable one, except, of course, for those trees. What tree, in fact, is there that is taller than the fir? and yet what other plant could possibly exist in the same spot? Nor ought we always to look upon verdant pastures as so many proofs of richness of soil; for what is there that enjoys a greater renown than the pastures of Germany? and yet they consist of nothing but a very thin layer of turf, with sand immediately beneath. Nor yet is the soil which produces herbage[2833] of large growth always to be looked upon as humid; no, by Hercules! no more than a soil is to be looked upon as unctuous and rich, which adheres to the fingers—a thing that is proved in the case of the argillaceous earths.[2834] The earth when thrown back into the hole from which it has just been dug will never[2835] fill it, so that it is quite impossible by that method to form any opinion as to its density or thinness. It is the fact, too, that every[2836] soil, without exception, will cover iron with rust. Nor yet can we determine[2837] the heaviness or lightness of soils in relation to any fixed and ascertained weight: for what are we to understand as the standard weight of earth? A soil, too, that is formed from the alluvion[2838] of rivers is not always to be recommended, for there are some crops that decay all the sooner in a watery soil; indeed, those soils even of this description which are highly esteemed, are never found to be long good for any kind of vegetation but the willow.

Among other proofs of the goodness of soil, is the comparative thickness of the stem in corn. In Laborium, a famous champaign country of Campania, the stalk is of such remarkable thickness, that it may be used even to supply the place of wood:[2839] and yet this very soil, from the difficulty that is everywhere experienced in cultivating it, and the labour required in working it, may be almost said to give the husbandman more trouble by its good qualities than it could possibly have done by reason of any defects. The soil, too, that is generally known as charcoal earth, appears susceptible of being improved by being planted with a poor meagre vine: and tufa,[2840] which is naturally rough and friable, we find recommended by some authors. Virgil,[2841] too, does not condemn for the vine a soil which produces fern:[2842] while a salted earth[2843] is thought to be much better entrusted with the growth of vegetation than any other, from the fact of its being comparatively safe from noxious insects breeding there. Declivities, too, are far from unproductive, if a person only knows how to dig them properly; and it is not all[2844] champaign spots that are less accessible to the sun and wind than is necessary for their benefit. We have already[2845] alluded to the fact, that there are certain vines which find nutriment in hoar frosts and fogs.

In every subject there are certain deep and recondite secrets, which it is left to the intelligence of each to penetrate. Do we not, for instance, find it the fact, that soils which have long offered opportunities for a sound judgment being formed on their qualities have become totally altered? In the vicinity of Larissa, in Thessaly, a lake was drained;[2846] and the consequence was, that the district became much colder, and the olive-trees which had formerly borne fruit now ceased to bear. When a channel was cut for the Hebrus, near the town of Ænos, the place was sensible of its nearer approach, in finding its vines frost-bitten, a thing that had never happened before; in the vicinity, too, of Philippi, the country having been drained for cultivation, the nature of the climate became entirely altered. In the territory of Syracuse, a husbandman, who was a stranger to the place, cleared the soil of all the stones, and the consequence was, that he lost his crops from the accumulation of mud; so that at last he was obliged to carry the stones back again. In Syria again, the plough-share which they use is narrow, and the furrows are but very superficial, there being a rock beneath the soil that in summer scorches up the seeds.

Then, too, the effects of excessive cold and heat in various places are similar; thus, for instance, Thrace is fruitful in corn, by reason of the cold, while Africa and Egypt are so in consequence of the heat that prevails there. At Chalcia,[2847] an island belonging to the Rhodians, there is a certain place which is so remarkably fertile, that after reaping the barley that has been sown at the ordinary time, and gathering it in, they immediately sow a fresh crop, and reap it at the same time as the other corn. A gravelly soil is found best suited for the olive in the district of Venafrum,[2848] while one of extreme richness is required for it in Bætica. The wines of Pucinum[2849] are ripened upon a rock, and the vines of Cæcubum[2850] are moistened by the waters of the Pomptine[2851] marshes; so great are the differences that have been detected by human experience in the various soils. Cæsar Vopiscus, when pleading a cause before the Censors, said that the fields of Rosia[2852] are the very marrow[2853] of Italy, and that a stake, left in the ground there one day, would be found covered by the grass the next:[2854] the soil, however, is only esteemed there for the purposes of pasturage. Still, however, Nature has willed that we should not remain uninstructed, and has made full admission as to existing defects in soil, even in cases where she has failed to give us equal information as to its good qualities: we shall begin, therefore, by speaking of the defects that are found in various soils.

(5.) If it is the wish of a person to test whether a soil is bitter, or whether it is thin and meagre, the fact may be easily ascertained from the presence of black and undergrown herbs. If, again, the herbage shoots up dry and stunted, it shows that the soil is cold, and if sad and languid, that it is moist and slimy. The eye, too, is able to judge whether it is a red earth or whether it is argillaceous, both of them extremely difficult to work, and apt to load the harrow or ploughshare with enormous clods; though at the same time it should be borne in mind that the soil which entails the greatest amount of labour is not always productive of the smallest amount of profit. So, too, on the other hand, the eye can distinguish a soil that is mixed with ashes or with white sand, while earth that is sterile and dense may be easily detected by its peculiar hardness, at even a single stroke of the mattock.

Cato,[2855] briefly and in his peculiar manner, characterizes the defects that exist in the various soils. “Take care,” he says, “where the earth is rotten not to shake it either with carts or by driving cattle over it.” Now what are we to suppose that this term “rotten” means, as applied to a soil, about which he is so vastly apprehensive as to almost forbid our setting foot upon it? Let us only form a comparison by thinking what it is that constitutes rottenness in wood, and we shall find that the faults which are held by him in such aversion are the being arid, full of holes, rough, white, mouldy, worm-eaten, in fact, just like pumice-stone; and thus has Cato said more in a single word than we could have possibly found means to express in a description, however long. Indeed, if we could find means of expressing the various defects that exist in soils, we should find that there are some of them that are old, not with age (for age cannot[2856] be concerned in relation to the earth), but of their own nature, and are hence unfruitful and powerless for every purpose from the first. The same writer,[2857] too, considers that as the very best of soils, which, situate at the foot of a declivity, runs out into a champaign country, taking a southward direction; such, in fact, being the aspect of the whole of Italy:[2858] he says[2859] also, that the earth generally known as black[2860] earth is of a tender nature, and is consequently the most easily worked and the best for cereals. If we only appreciate with due care the signification of this word “tender,”[2861] we shall find that it expresses its intended meaning remarkably well, and that in this word is comprised every quality that is desirable for the purposes of cultivation. In a tender soil we shall find fertility combined with moderation, a softness and a pliancy easily adapted to cultivation, and an equal absence of humidity and of dryness. Earth of this nature will shine again after the plough-share has passed through it, just as Homer,[2862] that great fountain-head of all genius, has described it sculptured by the Divinity[2863] upon the arms [of Achilles], adding, too, a thing that is truly marvellous, that it was of a blackish hue, though gold was the material in which it was wrought. This, too, is that kind of earth, which, when newly turned up, attracts the ravenous birds that follow the plough-share, the ravens even going so far as to peck at the heels of the ploughman.

We may in this place appropriately make mention of an opinion that has been pronounced by an Italian writer also with reference to a matter of luxury. Cicero,[2864] that other luminary of literature, has made the following remark: “Those unguents which have a taste of earth[2865] are better,” says he, “than those which smack of saffron;” it seeming to him more to the purpose to express himself by the word “taste”[2866] than “smell.” And such is the fact, no doubt; that soil is the best which has the flavour of a perfume.[2867] If the question should be put to us, what is this odour of the earth that is held in such estimation, our answer is, that it is the same that is often to be recognized at the moment of sunset, without the necessity even of turning up the ground, at the spots where the extremities of the rainbow[2868] have been observed to meet the earth; as also when, after long-continued drought, the rain has soaked the ground. Then it is that the earth exhales this divine odour, that is so peculiarly its own, and to which, imparted to it by the sun, there is no perfume, however sweet, that can possibly be compared. It is this odour that the earth, when turned up, ought to emit, and which, when once found, can never deceive a person; and this will be found the best criterion for judging of the quality of the soil. Such, too, is the odour that is usually perceived on land newly cleared,[2869] when an ancient forest has been just cut down; its excellence is a thing that is universally admitted.

For the culture of the cereals, too, the same land is generally looked upon as the more improved the oftener it has been allowed to rest[2870] from cultivation, a thing that is not the case with vineyards; for which reason all the greater care is required in the selection of their site, if we would not have the opinions of those to appear well founded who entertain the notion that the soil of Italy is already worn out.[2871] In other kinds of soil the work of cultivation depends entirely upon the weather; as, for instance, in those which cannot be ploughed just after rain, because the natural exuberance of the earth renders it viscous and cloggy. On the other hand, in Byzacium, a district of Africa, and a champaign country of such singular fertility as to render grain one hundred and fifty fold,[2872] the soil is such, that in time of drought, not even bulls are able to plough it; while, on another occasion, just after a shower of rain, one poor ass, with an old woman to guide it, is quite sufficient,[2873] as ourselves we have witnessed, to do the ploughing. But as to amending one soil by the agency of another, as some persons recommend, by throwing rich earth over one that is poor and thin, or by laying a soaking light soil over one that is humid and unctuous, it is a labour of perfect madness.[2874] What can a man possibly hope for who cultivates such a soil as this?

CHAP. 4. (6.)—THE EIGHT KINDS OF EARTH BOASTED OF BY THE GAULS AND GREEKS.

There is another method, which has been invented both in Gaul and Britain, of enriching earth by the agency of itself, being * * * * and that kind known as marl.[2875] This soil is looked upon as containing a greater amount of fecundating principles, and acts as a fat in relation to the earth, just as we find glands existing in the body, which are formed by a condensation of the fatty particles into so many kernels. (7.) This mode of proceeding, too, has not been overlooked by the Greeks; indeed, what subject is there that they have not touched upon? They call by the name of leucargillon[2876] a white argillaceous earth which is used in the territory of Megara, but only where the soil is of a moist, cold nature.

It is only right that I should employ some degree of care and exactness in treating of this marl, which tends so greatly to enrich the soil of the Gallic provinces and the British islands. There were formerly but two varieties known, but more recently, with the progress of agricultural knowledge, several[2877] others have begun to be employed; there being, in fact, the white, the red, the columbine, the argillaceous, the tufaceous, and the sandy marls. It has also one of these two peculiarities, it is either rough or greasy to the touch; the proper mode of testing it being by the hand. Its uses, too, are of a twofold nature—it is employed for the production of the cereals only, or else for the enrichment of pasture land as well. The tufaceous[2878] kind is nutrimental to grain, and so is the white; if found in the vicinity of springs, it is fertile to an immeasurable extent; but if it is rough to the touch, when laid upon the land in too large a quantity, it is apt to burn up the soil. The next kind is the red marl, known as acaunumarga,[2879] consisting of stones mingled with a thin sandy earth. These stones are broken upon the land itself, and it is with considerable difficulty during the earlier years that the stalk of the corn is cut, in consequence of the presence of these stones; however, as it is remarkably light, it only costs for carriage one-half of the outlay required in using the other varieties. It is laid but very thinly on the surface, and it is generally thought that it is mixed with salt. Both of these varieties, when once laid on the land, will fertilize it for fifty[2880] years, whether for grain or for hay.

(8.) Of the marls that are found to be of an unctuous nature, the best is the white. There are several varieties of it: the most pungent and biting being the one already mentioned. Another kind, is the white chalk that is used for cleaning[2881] silver; it is taken from a considerable depth in the ground, the pits being sunk, in most instances, as much as one hundred feet. These pits are narrow at the mouth, but the shafts enlarge very considerably in the interior, as is the case in mines; it is in Britain more particularly that this chalk is employed. The good effects of it are found to last full eighty years; and there is no instance known of an agriculturist laying it twice on the same land during his life.[2882] A third variety of white marl is known as glisomarga;[2883] it consists of fullers’ chalk[2884] mixed with an unctuous earth, and is better for promoting the growth of hay than grain; so much so, in fact, that between harvest and the ensuing seed-time there is cut a most abundant crop of grass. While the corn is growing, however, it will allow no other plant to grow there. Its effects will last so long as thirty years; but if laid too thickly on the ground, it is apt to choke up the soil, just as if it had been covered with Signine[2885] cement. The Gauls give to the columbine marl in their language the name of eglecopala;[2886] it is taken up in solid blocks like stone, after which it is so loosened by the action of the sun and frost, as to split into laminæ of extreme thinness; this kind is equally beneficial for grass and grain. The sandy[2887] marl is employed if there is no other at hand, and on moist slimy soils, even when other kinds can be procured.

The Ubii are the only people that we know of, who, having an extremely fertile soil to cultivate, employ methods of enriching it; wherever the land may happen to be, they dig to a depth of three feet, and, taking up the earth, cover the soil with it in other places a foot in thickness; this method, however, to be beneficial, requires to be renewed at the end of every ten years. The Ædui and the Pictones have rendered their lands remarkably fertile by the aid of limestone, which is also found to be particularly beneficial to the olive and the vine.[2888] Every marl, however, requires to be laid on the land immediately after ploughing, in order that the soil may at once imbibe its properties; while at the same time, it requires a little manure as well, as it is apt, at first, to be of too acrid a nature, at least where it is not pasture land that it is laid upon; in addition to which, by its very freshness it may possibly injure the soil, whatever the nature of it may be; so much so, indeed, that the land is never fertile the first year after it has been employed. It is a matter of consideration also for what kind of soil the marl is required; if the soil is moist, a dry marl is best suited for it; and if dry, a rich unctuous marl. If, on the other hand, the land is of a medium quality, chalk or columbine[2889] marl is the best suited for it.

CHAP. 5. (9.)—THE EMPLOYMENT OF ASHES.

The agriculturists of the parts of Italy beyond the river Padus, are such admirers of ashes[2890] for this purpose, that they even prefer it as a manure to the dung of beasts of burden; indeed, they are in the habit of burning dung for this purpose, on account of its superior lightness. They do not, however, use them indiscriminately upon the same soil, nor do they employ ashes for promoting the growth of shrubs, nor, in fact, of some of the cereals, as we shall have occasion[2891] to mention hereafter. There are some persons who are of opinion also that dust[2892] imparts nutriment to grapes, and cover them with it while they are growing, taking care to throw it also upon the roots of the vines and other trees. It is well known that this is done in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and it is a fact even better ascertained that the grape ripens all the sooner for it; indeed, the dust there contributes more to its ripeness than the heat of the sun.

CHAP. 6.—MANURE.

There are various kinds of manure, the use of which is of very ancient date. In the times of Homer[2893] even, the aged king is represented as thus enriching the land by the labour of his own hands. Tradition reports that King Augeas was the first in Greece to make use of it, and that Hercules introduced the practice into Italy; which country has, however, immortalized the name of its king, Stercutus,[2894] the son of Faunus, as claiming the honour of this invention. M. Varro[2895] assigns the first rank for excellence to the dung of thrushes kept in aviaries, and lauds it as being not only good for land, but excellent food for oxen and swine as well; indeed, he goes so far as to assert that there is no food that they will grow fat upon more speedily. We really have some reason to augur well of the manners of the present day, if it is true that in the days of our ancestors there were aviaries of such vast extent as to be able to furnish manure for the fields.

Columella[2896] gives the second rank to pigeon manure,[2897] and the next to that of the poultry-yard; but he condemns that of the aquatic birds. Some authors, again, are agreed in regarding the residue of the human food[2898] as the very best of all manures; while others would only employ the superfluous portion of our drink,[2899] mixing with it the hair that is to be found in the curriers’ workshops. Some, however, are for employing this liquid by itself, though they would mix water with it once more, and in larger quantities even than when originally mixed with the wine at our repasts; there being a double share of noxious qualities to correct, not only those originally belonging to the wine,[2900] but those imparted to it by the human body as well. Such are the various methods by which we vie with each other in imparting nutriment to the earth even.

Next to the manures above mentioned, the dung of swine is highly esteemed, Columella being the only writer that condemns it. Some, again, speak highly of the dung of all quadrupeds that have been fed on cytisus, while there are others who prefer that of pigeons. Next to these is the dung of goats, and then of sheep; after which comes that of oxen, and, last of all, of the beasts of burden. Such were the distinctions that were established between the various manures among the ancients, such the precepts that they have left us, and these I have here set forth as being not the mere subtle inventions of genius, but because their utility has been proved in the course of a long series of years. In some of the provinces, too, which abound more particularly in cattle, by reason of their prolific soil, we have seen the manure passed through a sieve like so much flour, and perfectly devoid, through lapse of time,[2901] of all bad smell or repulsive look, being changed in its appearance to something rather agreeable than otherwise. In more recent times it has been found that the olive thrives more particularly in soil that has been manured with the ashes[2902] of the lime-kiln. To the ancient rules Varro[2903] has added, that corn land should be manured with horse-dung, that being the lightest manure of all, while meadow land, he says, thrives better with a manure of a more heavy nature, and supplied by beasts that have been fed upon barley; this last tending more particularly to the better growth of grass.[2904] Some persons, indeed, prefer the dung of the beasts of burden to that of oxen even, the manure of the sheep to that of the goat, and the manure of the ass to all others, the reason being that that animal masticates the most slowly of them all. Experience, however, has pronounced against these dicta of Varro and Columella; but it is universally agreed by all writers that there is nothing more beneficial than to turn[2905] up a crop of lupines, before they have podded, with either the plough or the fork, or else to cut them and bury them in heaps at the roots of trees and vines. It is thought, also, that in places where no cattle are kept, it is advantageous to manure the earth with stubble or even fern. “You can make manure,” Cato[2906] says, “of litter, or else of lupines, straw, beanstalks, or the leaves of the holm-oak and quercus. Pull up the wallwort from among the crops of corn, as also the hemlock that grows there, together with the thick grass and sedge that you find growing about the willow-plots; of all this, mixed with rotten leaves,[2907] you may make a litter for sheep and oxen. If a vine should happen to be but poor and meagre, prune[2908] the shoots of it, and plough them in round about it.” The same author says, also,[2909] “When you are going to sow corn in a field, fold your sheep[2910] there first.”

CHAP. 7.—CROPS WHICH TEND TO IMPROVE THE LAND: CROPS WHICH EXHAUST IT.

Cato[2911] says, also, that there are some crops which tend to nourish the earth: thus, for instance, corn land is manured by the lupine, the bean, and the vetch; while, on the other hand, the chick-pea exercises a contrary influence, both because it is pulled up by the roots and is of a salt nature; the same is the case, too, with barley, fenugreek, and fitches, all of which have a tendency to burn up[2912] corn land, as, in fact, do all those plants which are pulled up by the roots. Take care, too, not to plant stone-fruits on corn land. Virgil[2913] is of opinion, also, that corn land is scorched by flax, oats, and poppies.

CHAP. 8.—THE PROPER MODE OF USING MANURE.

It is recommended,[2914] also, that the dung-heap should be kept in the open air, in a spot deep sunk and well adapted to receive the moisture: it should be covered, too, with straw, that it may not dry up with the sun, care being taken to drive a stake of robur into the ground, to prevent serpents from breeding[2915] there. It is of the greatest consequence that the manure should be laid upon the land while[2916] the west winds prevail, and during a dry moon. Most persons, however, misunderstand this precept, and think this should be done when the west winds are just beginning to blow, and in the month of February only; it being really the fact that most crops require manuring in other months as well. At whatever period, however, it may be thought proper to manure the land, the greatest care should be taken that the wind is blowing due west at the time, and that the moon is on the wane, and quite dry. Such precautions as these will increase in a most surprising degree the fertilizing effects of manure.

CHAP. 9. (10.)—THE MODES IN WHICH TREES BEAR.

Having now treated at sufficient length of the requisite conditions of the weather and the soil, we shall proceed to speak of those trees which are the result of the care and inventive skill of man. Indeed, the varieties of them are hardly less numerous than of those which are produced by Nature,[2917] so abundantly have we testified our gratitude in return for her numerous bounties. For these trees, we find, are reared either from seed, or else by transplanting, by layers, by slips torn from the stock, by cuttings, by grafting, or by cutting into the trunk of the tree. But as to the story that the leaves of the palm are planted by the Babylonians, and so give birth[2918] to a tree, I am really surprised that Trogus should have ever believed it. Some of the trees are reproduced by several of the methods above enumerated, others, again, by all of them.

CHAP. 10.—PLANTS WHICH ARE PROPAGATED BY SEED.

It is Nature herself that has taught us most of these methods, and more

## particularly that of sowing seed, as it was very soon evident how the

seed on falling to the ground revived again in germination. Indeed, there are some trees that are capable of being propagated in no other way, the chesnut[2919] and the walnut, for instance; with the sole exception, of course, of such as are employed for coppice wood. By this method, too, as well as the others, some trees are propagated, though from a seed of a different nature, such, for instance, as the vine, the apple, and the pear;[2920] the seed being in all these cases in the shape of a pip, and not the fruit itself, as in that of the chesnut and the walnut. The medlar, too, can also be propagated by the agency of seed. All trees, however, that are grown by this method are very slow in coming to maturity,[2921] degenerate[2922] very rapidly, and must often be renewed by grafting: indeed, the chesnut even sometimes requires to be grafted.

CHAP. 11.—TREES WHICH NEVER DEGENERATE.

On the other hand, there are some trees which have the property of never degenerating, in whatever manner they are reproduced, the cypress, palm, and laurel,[2923] for instance: for we find that the laurel is capable of being propagated in several ways. We have already made mention[2924] of the various kinds of laurel; those known as the Augustan, the baccalis, and the tinus[2925] are all reproduced in a similar manner. The berries are gathered in the month of January, after they have been dried by the north-east winds which then prevail; they are then kept[2926] separate and exposed to the action of the air, being liable to ferment if left in a heap. After this, they are first seasoned with smoke, and then steeped in urine, preparatory to sowing.[2927] Some persons put them in baskets of osier, and tread them down with the feet in running water, until the outer skin is removed, as it is found that the moisture[2928] which they contain is detrimental to them, and prevents them from germinating. A trench is then dug, about a palm in depth, and somewhere about twenty of the berries are then put into it, being laid in a heap: this is usually done in the month of March. These kinds of laurel admit of being propagated from layers also; but the triumphal[2929] laurel can be reproduced from cuttings only.

All the varieties of the myrtle[2930] are produced in Campania from the berry only, but at Rome from layers. Democritus, however, says that the Tarentine myrtle may be re-produced another way.[2931] They take the largest berries and pound them lightly so as not to crush the pips: with the paste that is thus made a rope is covered, and put lengthwise in the ground; the result of which is that a hedge is formed as thick as a wall, with plenty of slips for transplanting. In the same way, too, they plant brambles to make a hedge, by first covering a rope of rushes with a paste made of bramble-berries. In case of necessity, it is possible at the end of three years to transplant the suckers of the laurel and the myrtle that have been thus re-produced.

With reference to the plants that are propagated from seed, Mago treats at considerable length of the nut-trees—he says that the almond[2932] should be sown in a soft argillaceous earth, upon a spot that looks towards the south—that it thrives also in a hard, warm soil, but that in a soil which is either unctuous or moist, it is sure to die, or else to bear no fruit. He recommends also for sowing those more

## particularly which are of a curved shape like a sickle, and the produce

of a young tree, and he says that they should be steeped for three days in diluted manure, or else the day before they are sown in honey and water.[2933] He says, also, that they should be put in the ground with the point downwards, and the sharp edge towards the north-east; and that they should be sown in threes and placed triangularly, at the distance of a palm from each other, care being taken to water them for ten days, until such time as they have germinated.

Walnuts when sown are placed lengthwise,[2934] lying upon the sides where the shells are joined; and pine nuts are mostly put, in sevens, into perforated pots, or else sown in the same way as the berries are in the laurels which are re-produced by seed. The citron[2935] is propagated from pips as well as layers, and the sorb from seed, by sucker, or by slip: the citron, however, requires a warm site, the sorb a cold and moist one.

CHAP. 12.—PROPAGATION BY SUCKERS.

Nature, too,[2936] has taught us the art of forming nurseries; when from the roots of many of the trees we see shooting up a dense forest of suckers, an offspring that is destined to be killed by the mother that has borne them. For by the shade of the tree these suckers are indiscriminately stifled, as we often see the case in the laurel, the pomegranate, the plane, the cherry, and the plum. There are some few trees, the elm and the palm for instance, in which the branches spare the suckers; however, they never make their appearance in any of the trees except those in which the roots, from their fondness for the sun and rain, keep close, as they range, to the surface of the ground. It is usual not to place all these suckers at once in the ground upon the spot which they are finally to occupy, but first to entrust them to the nursery, and to allow them to grow in seed-plots, after which they are finally transplanted. This transplanting softens down, in a most remarkable manner, those trees even which grow wild; whether it is that trees, like men, are naturally fond of novelty and change of scene, or that, on leaving the spots of their original growth, or to which they have been transplanted, they lay aside their bad qualities and become tame, like the wild animals, the moment they are separated from the parent stock.

CHAP. 13.—PROPAGATION BY SLIPS AND CUTTINGS.

Nature has also discovered another method, which is very similar to the last—for slips torn away from the tree will live. In adopting this plan, care should be taken to pull out the haunch[2937] of the slip where it adheres to the stock, and so remove with it a portion of the fibrous body of the parent tree. It is in this way that the pomegranate, the hazel, the apple, the sorb, the medlar, the ash, the fig, and more particularly the vine, are propagated. The quince, however, if planted in this way will degenerate,[2938] and it has been consequently found a better plan to cut slips and plant them: a method which was at first adopted for making hedges, with the elder, the quince, and the bramble, but came afterwards to be applied to cultivated trees, such as the poplar, the alder, and the willow, which last will grow if even the slip is planted upside down.[2939] In the case of cuttings, they are planted at once in the spot which it is intended they should occupy: but before we pass on to the other methods of propagation, it seems as well to mention the care that should be expended upon making seed-plots.[2940]

CHAP. 14.—SEED-PLOTS.

In laying out a seed-plot it is necessary that a soil of the very highest quality should be selected; for it is very often requisite that a nurse should be provided for the young plants, who is more ready to humour them than their parent soil. The ground should therefore be both dry and nutritious, well turned up with the mattock, replete with hospitality to the stranger plants, and as nearly as possible resembling the soil to which it is intended they should be transplanted. But, a thing that is of primary importance, the stones must be carefully gathered from off the ground, and it should be walled in, to ensure its protection from the depredations of poultry; the soil, too, should have as few chinks and crannies as possible, so that the sun may not be enabled to penetrate and burn up the roots. The young trees should be planted at distances[2941] of a foot and a-half, for if they happen to touch one another, in addition to other inconveniences, they are apt to breed worms; for which reason it is that they should be hoed as often as possible, and all weeds pulled up, the young plants themselves being carefully pruned, and so accustomed to the knife.

Cato[2942] recommends, too, that hurdles should be set up upon forks, the height of a man, for the purpose of intercepting the rays of the sun, and that they should be covered with straw to keep off the cold.[2943] He says that it is in this way that the seeds of the apple and the pear are reared, the pine-nut also, and the cypress,[2944] which is propagated from seed as well. In this last, the seed is remarkably[2945] small, so much so, in fact, as to be scarcely perceptible. It is a marvellous fact, and one which ought not to be overlooked, that a tree should be produced from sources so minute, while the grains of wheat and of barley are so very much larger, not to mention the bean. What proportion, too, is there between the apple and the pear tree, and the seeds from which they take their rise? It is from such beginnings, too, as these that springs the timber that is proof against the blows of the hatchet, presses[2946] that weights of enormous size even are unable to bend, masts that support the sails of ships, and battering-rams that are able to shake even towers and walls! Such is the might, such is the power that is displayed by Nature. But, a marvel that transcends all the rest, is the fact of a vegetable receiving its birth from a tear-like drop, as we shall have occasion to mention[2947] in the appropriate place.

To resume, however: the tiny balls which contain the seed are collected from the female cypress—for the male, as I have already[2948] stated, is barren. This is done in the months which I have previously[2949] mentioned, and they are then dried in the sun, upon which they soon burst, and the seed drops out, a substance of which the ants are remarkably fond; this fact, too, only serves to enhance the marvel, when we reflect that an insect so minute is able to destroy the first germ of a tree of such gigantic dimensions. The seed is sown in the month of April, the ground being first levelled with rollers, or else by means of rammers;[2950] after which the seed is thickly sown, and earth is spread upon it with a sieve, about a thumb deep. If laid beneath a considerable weight, the seed is unable to spring up, and is consequently thrown back again into the earth; for which reason it is often trodden only into the ground. It is then lightly watered after sunset every three days, that it may gradually imbibe the moisture until such time as it appears above ground. The young trees are transplanted at the end of a year, when about three-quarters of a foot in length, due care being taken to watch for a clear day with no wind, such being the best suited for the process of transplanting. It is a singular thing, but still it is a fact, that if, on the day of transplanting, and only that day, there is the slightest drop of rain or the least breeze stirring, it is attended with danger[2951] to the young trees; while for the future they are quite safe from peril, though at the same time they have a great aversion to all humidity.[2952] The jujube-tree[2953] is propagated from seed sown in the month of April. As to the tuber,[2954] it is the best plan to graft it upon the wild plum, the quince, and the calabrix,[2955] this last being the name that is given to a wild thorn. Every kind of thorn, too, will receive grafts remarkably well from the myxa plum,[2956] as well as from the sorb.

(11.) As to recommending transferring the young plants from the seed-plot to another spot before finally planting them out, I look upon it as advice that would only lead to so much unnecessary trouble, although it is most confidently urged that by this process the leaves are sure to be considerably larger than they otherwise would.

CHAP. 15.—THE MODE OF PROPAGATING THE ELM.

The elm seed is collected about the calends of March,[2957] before the tree is covered with leaves, but is just beginning to have a yellow tint. It is then left to dry two days in the shade, after which it is thickly sown in a broken soil, earth that has been riddled through a fine sieve being thrown upon it, to the same thickness as in the case of the cypress.[2958] If there should happen to be no rain, it is necessary to water the seed. From the nursery the young plants are carried at the end of a year to the elm-plots, where they are planted at intervals of a foot each way. It is better to plant elms in autumn that are to support the vine, as they are destitute[2959] of seed and are only propagated from plants. In the vicinity of the City, the young elms are transplanted into the vineyard at five years old, or, according to the plan adopted by some, when they are twenty feet in height. A furrow is first drawn for the purpose, the name given to which is “novenarius,”[2960] being three feet in depth, and the same in breadth or even more; into this the young tree is put, and the earth is moulded up around it to the height of three feet every way. These mounds are known by the name of “arula”[2961] in Campania. The intervals are arranged according to the nature of the spot; but where the country is level, it is requisite that the trees should be planted wider apart. Poplars and ashes, too, as they germinate with greater rapidity, ought to be planted out at an earlier period, or, in other words, immediately after the ides of February.[2962] In arranging trees and shrubs for the support of the vine, the form of the quincunx[2963] is the one that is generally adopted, and, indeed, is absolutely necessary: it not only facilitates the action of the wind, but presents also a very pleasing appearance, for whichever way you look at the plantation, the trees will always present themselves in a straight line. The same method is employed in propagating the poplar from seed as the elm, and the mode of transplanting it from the seed-plot is the same as that adopted in transplanting it from the forests.

CHAP. 16.—THE HOLES FOR TRANSPLANTING.

But it is more particularly necessary in transplanting, that the trees should always be removed to a soil that is similar, or else superior,[2964] to the one in which they grew before. If taken from warm or early ripening localities, they ought not to be removed to cold or backward sites, nor yet, on the other hand, from these last to the former. If the thing can possibly be done, the holes for transplanting should be dug sufficiently long before to admit of their being covered throughout with a thick coat of grass. Mago recommends that they should be dug a whole year beforehand, in order that they may absorb the heat of the sun and the moisture of the showers; or, if circumstances do not admit of this, that fires should be made in the middle of them some two months before transplanting, that being only done just after rain has fallen. He says, too, that in an argillaceous[2965] or a hard soil, the proper measurement is three cubits every way, and on declivitous spots one palm more, care being taken in every case to make the hole like the chimney of a furnace, narrower at the orifice than at the bottom. Where the earth is black, the depth should be two cubits and a palm, and the hole dug in a quadrangular form.

The Greek writers agree in pointing out much the same proportions, and are of opinion that the holes ought not to be more than two feet and a half in depth, or more than two feet wide: at the same time, too, they should never be less than a foot and a half in depth, even though the soil should be wet, and the vicinity of water preclude the possibility of the soil going any deeper. “If the soil is watery,” says Cato,[2966] “the hole should be three feet in width at the orifice, and one palm and a foot at the bottom, and the depth four feet. It should be paved, too, with stones,[2967] or, if they are not at hand, with stakes of green willow, or, if these cannot be procured, with a layer of twigs; the depth of the layer so made being a foot and a half.”

It appears to me that I ought here to add, after what has been said with reference to the nature of trees, that the holes should be sunk deeper for those which have a tendency to run near the surface of the earth, such as the ash and the olive, for instance. These trees, in fact, and others of a similar nature, should be planted at a depth of four feet, while for the others three feet will be quite sufficient. “Cut down that stump,” said Papirius Cursor, the general,[2968] when to the great terror of the prætor of Præneste, he had ordered the lictors to draw[2969] their axes. And, indeed, there is no harm in cutting away those portions [of the root] which have become exposed. Some persons recommend that a bed should be formed at the bottom, of potsherds or round pebbles,[2970] which both allow the moisture to pass and retain as much as is wanted; while at the same time they are of opinion that flat stones are of no use in such a case, and only prevent the root from penetrating[2971] the earth. To line the bottom with a layer of gravel would be to follow a middle course between the two opinions.

Some persons recommend that a tree should not be transplanted before it is two years old, nor yet after three, while others, again, are of opinion that if it is one year old it is quite sufficient; Cato[2972] thinks that it ought to be more than five fingers in thickness at the time. The same author, too, would not have omitted, if it had been of any importance, to recommend that a mark[2973] should be made on the bark for the purpose of pointing out the southern aspect of the tree; so that, when transplanted, it may occupy exactly the same position that it has previously done; from an apprehension that the north side of the tree, on finding itself opposite to a southern sun, might split, and the south side be nipped by the north-eastern blasts. Indeed, there are some persons who follow a directly opposite practice even in the vine and the fig,[2974] by placing the north side of the tree, when transplanted, towards the south, and vice versâ; being of opinion that by adopting this plan the foliage becomes all the thicker[2975] and the better able to protect the fruit, which is less liable to fall off in consequence, and that the tree is rendered all the better for climbing. Most people, however, take the greatest care to turn to the south that part of the tree from which the branches have been lopped at the top, little thinking that they expose it thereby to a chance of splitting[2976] from the excessive heat. For my own part, I should prefer that this part of the tree should face that point of the heavens which is occupied by the sun at the fifth[2977] or even the eighth hour of the day. People are also equally unaware that they ought not, through neglect, to let the roots be exposed to the air long enough to get dry; and that the ground should not be worked about the roots of trees while the wind is blowing from the north, or, indeed, from any point of the heavens that lies between north and south-east; or, at all events, that the roots should not be left to lie exposed to these winds; the result of such modes of proceeding being, that the trees die, the grower being all the while in total ignorance of the cause.

Cato[2978] disapproves, too, of all wind and rain whenever the work of transplanting is going on. When this is the case, it will be beneficial to let as much adhere to the roots as possible of the earth in which the tree has grown, and to cover them all round with clods[2979] of earth: it is for this reason that Cato[2980] recommends that the young trees should be conveyed in baskets, a very desirable method, no doubt. The same writer, too, approves of the earth that has been taken from the surface being laid at the bottom of the hole. Some persons say,[2981] that if a layer of stones is placed beneath the root of the pomegranate, the fruit will not split while upon the tree. In transplanting, it is the best plan to give the roots a bent position, but it is absolutely necessary that the tree should be placed in such a manner as to occupy exactly the centre of the hole. The fig-tree, if the slip when planted is stuck in a squill[2982]—such being the name of a species of bulb—is said to bear with remarkable rapidity, while the fruit is exempt from all attacks of the worm: the same precaution, too, in planting, will preserve the fruit of all other trees in a similar manner. Who is there, too, that can entertain a doubt that the very greatest care ought to be taken of the roots of the fig-tree when transplanted?—indeed, it ought to bear every mark of being taken, and not torn, from out of the earth. Upon this subject I omit various other practical precepts, such, for instance, as the necessity of moulding up the roots with a rammer, a thing that Cato[2983] looks upon as of primary importance; while, at the same time, he recommends that the wound made in the stock should be first covered with dung, and then bound with a layer of leaves.[2984]

CHAP. 17. (12.)—THE INTERVALS TO BE LEFT BETWEEN TREES.

The present seems to me to be the proper occasion for making some mention of the intervals[2985] that ought to be left between the trees. Some persons have recommended that pomegranates, myrtles, and laurels should be planted closer together than the other trees, leaving, however, a space of nine feet between them. Apple-trees, they say, should be planted a little wider apart, and pear-trees, almonds, and figs even still more so. The best rule, however, is to consult the length of the branches, and the nature of the spot, as well as the shade that is formed by the tree; for it is of great importance to take this last into consideration. The shadow thrown by the large trees even is but of small dimensions, when the branches are disposed around the body of the tree in a spherical form, as in the apple and the pear, for instance. In the cherry, on the other hand, and the laurel, the shadow projected is of enormous extent.

CHAP. 18.—THE NATURE OF THE SHADOW THROWN BY TREES.

The shadows of trees are possessed of certain properties. That of the walnut is baneful[2986] and injurious to man, in whom it is productive of head-ache, and it is equally noxious to everything that grows in its vicinity. The shadow, too, of the pine has the effect of killing[2987] the grass beneath it; but in both of these trees the foliage presents an effectual resistance to the winds, while, at the same time, the vine is destitute of such protection.[2988] The drops of water that fall from the pine, the quercus, and the holm-oak are extremely heavy, but from the cypress none fall; the shadow, too, thrown by this last tree is extremely small, its foliage being densely packed.[2989] The shadow of the fig, although widely spread, is but light, for which reason it is allowed to be planted among vines. The shadow of the elm is refreshing and even nutrimental to whatever it may happen to cover; though, in the opinion of Atticus, this tree is one of the most injurious of them all; and, indeed, I have no doubt that such may be the case when the branches are allowed to become too long; but at the same time I am of opinion that when they are kept short it can be productive of no possible harm. The plane also gives a very pleasant shade,[2990] though somewhat dense: but in this case we must look more to the luxuriant softness of the grass beneath it than the warmth of the sun; for there is no tree that forms a more verdant couch on which to recline.

The poplar[2991] gives no shade whatever, in consequence of the incessant quivering of its leaves: while that of the alder is very dense, but remarkably nutritive to plants. The vine affords sufficient shade for its wants, the leaf being always in motion, and from its repeated movement tempering the heat of the sun with the shadow that it affords; at the same time too it serves as an effectual protection against heavy rains. In nearly all trees the shade is thin, where the footstalks of the leaves are long.

This branch of knowledge is one by no means to be despised or deserving to be placed in the lowest rank, for in the case of every variety of plant the shade is found to act either as a kind nurse or a harsh step-mother. There is no doubt that the shadow of the walnut, the pine, the pitch-tree, and the fir is poisonous to everything it may chance to light upon.

CHAP. 19.—THE DROPPINGS OF WATER FROM THE LEAVES.

A very few words will suffice for the water that drops from the leaves of trees. In all those which are protected by a foliage so dense that the rain will not pass through, the drops are of a noxious nature.[2992] In our enquiries, therefore, into this subject it will be of the greatest consequence what will be the nature developed by each tree in the soil in which we are intending to plant it. Declivities, taken by themselves, require smaller[2993] intervals between the trees, and in localities that are exposed to the wind it is beneficial to plant them closer together. However, it is the olive that requires the largest intervals to be left, and on this point it is the opinion of Cato,[2994] with reference to Italy, that the very smallest interval ought to be twenty-five feet, and the largest thirty: this, however, varies according to the nature of the site. The olive is the largest[2995] of all the trees in Bætica: and in Africa—if, indeed, we may believe the authors who say so—there are many olive-trees that are known by the name of milliariæ,[2996] being so called from the weight of oil that they produce each year. Hence it is that Mago has prescribed an interval between these trees of no less than seventy-five feet every way, or of forty-five at the very lowest, when the soil happens to be meagre, hard, and exposed to the winds. There is no doubt, however, that Bætica reaps the most prolific harvests from between her olives.

It will be generally agreed that it is a most disgraceful piece of ignorance to lop away the branches more than is absolutely necessary in trees of vigorous growth, and so precipitate old age; as also, on the other hand, what is generally tantamount to an avowal of unskilfulness on the part of those who have planted them, to have to cut them down altogether. Nothing can reflect greater disgrace upon agriculturists than to have to undo what they have done, and it is therefore much the best to commit an error in leaving a superfluity of room.

CHAP. 20. (13.)—TREES WHICH GROW BUT SLOWLY: THOSE WHICH GROW WITH RAPIDITY.

Some trees are naturally slow in their growth; and those in particular which grow solely from seed[2997] and are long-lived. On the other hand, those that are short-lived grow with great rapidity, such as the fig, pomegranate, plum, apple, pear, myrtle, and willow, for instance; and yet these are the very first to display their productions, for they begin to bear at three years old, and make some show of it even before that period. The pear is the slowest in bearing of all the trees above enumerated. The cypirus,[2998] however, and the shrub known as the pseudo-cypirus[2999] are the earliest in coming to maturity, for they flower almost immediately, and then produce their seed. All trees will come to maturity more rapidly when the suckers are removed, and the nutrimental juices are thrown into the stock only.

CHAP. 21.—TREES PROPAGATED FROM LAYERS.

Nature, too, has taught us the art of reproduction from layers. The bramble, by reason of its thinness and the excessive length to which it grows, bends downwards, and throws the extremities of its branches into the earth; these immediately take root again, and would fill every place far and wide, were it not that the arts of cultivation put a check to it; so much so, indeed, that it would almost appear that men are born for nothing else but to take care of the earth. Hence it is, that a thing that is in itself most noxious and most baneful, has taught us the art of reproduction by layers and quicksets. The ivy, too, has a similar property.

Cato[3000] says, that in addition to the vine, the fig, as well as the olive, the pomegranate, every variety of the apple, the laurel, the plum, the myrtle, the filbert, the nut of Præneste, and the plane, are capable of being propagated by layers.

Layers[3001] are of two kinds; in the one, a branch, while still adhering to the tree, is pressed downwards into a hole that measures four feet every way: at the end of two years it is cut at the part where it curves, and is then transplanted at the expiration of three years more. If it is intended to carry the plant to any distance, it is the best plan to place the layer, directly it is taken up, either in an osier basket or any earthen vessel, for its better security when carried. The other[3002] mode of reproduction by layers is a more costly one, and is effected by summoning forth a root from the trunk of the tree even. For this purpose, earthen vessels or baskets are provided, and are then well packed with earth; through these the extremities of the branches are passed, and by this mode of encouragement a root is obtained growing amid the fruit itself, and at the very summit of the tree; for it is at the summit that this method is generally adopted. In this way has a bold and daring inventiveness produced a new tree aloft and far away from the ground. At the end of two years, in the manner already stated, the layer is cut asunder, and then planted in the ground, basket and all.

The herb savin[3003] is reproduced by layers, as also by slips; it is said, too, that lees of wine or pounded wall-bricks make it thrive wonderfully well. Rosemary[3004] also is reproduced in a similar manner, as also from cuttings of the branches; neither savin nor rosemary having any seed. The rhododendrum[3005] is propagated by layers and from seed.

CHAP. 22. (14.)—GRAFTING: THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF IT.

Nature has also taught us the art of grafting by means of seed. We see a seed swallowed whole by a famished bird; when softened by the natural heat of the crop, it is voided, with the fecundating juices of the dung, upon some soft couch formed by a tree; or else, as is often the case, is carried by the winds to some cleft in the bark of a tree. Hence[3006] it is that we see the cherry growing upon the willow, the plane upon the laurel, the laurel upon the cherry, and fruits of various tints and hues all springing from the same tree at once. It is said, too, that the jack-daw, from its concealment of the seeds of plants in holes which serve as its store-houses, gives rise to a similar result.

CHAP. 23.—INOCULATION OR BUDDING.

In this, too, the art of inoculating[3007] took its rise. By the aid of an instrument similar to a shoe-maker’s paring-knife an eye is opened in a tree by paring away the bark, and another bud is then enclosed in it, that has been previously removed with the same instrument from another tree. This was the ancient mode of inoculation with the fig and the apple. That again, described by Virgil,[3008] requires a slight fissure to be made in the knot of a bud which has burst through the bark, and in this is enclosed a bud taken from another tree. Thus far has Nature been our instructor in these matters.

CHAP. 24.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF GRAFTING.

A different mode of engrafting, however, has been taught us by chance, another great instructor, and one from whom, perhaps, we have learnt a still greater number of lessons. A careful husbandman,[3009] being desirous, for its better protection, to surround his cottage with a palisade, thrust the stakes into growing ivy, in order to prevent them from rotting. Seized by the tenacious grasp of the still living ivy, the stakes borrowed life from the life of another wood, and it was found that the stock of a tree acted in place of earth.

For this method of grafting the surface is made level with a saw, and the stock carefully smoothed with the pruning-knife. This done, there are two modes of proceeding, the first of which consists in grafting between the bark and the wood. The ancients were fearful at first of cutting into the wood, but afterwards they ventured to pierce it to the very middle, and inserted the graft in the pith, taking care to enclose but one, because the pith, they thought, was unable to receive more. An improved method has, however, in more recent times, allowed of as many as six grafts being inserted, it being considered desirable by additional numbers to make a provision for the contingency of some of them not surviving. With this view, an incision is carefully made in the middle of the stock, a thin wedge being inserted to prevent the sides from closing, until the graft, the end of which is first cut to a point, has been let into the fissure. In doing this many precautions are necessary, and more particularly every care should be taken that the stock is that of a tree suitable for the purpose, and that the graft is taken from one that is proper for grafting. The sap,[3010] too, is variously distributed in the several trees, and does not occupy the same place in all. In the vine and the fig[3011] the middle of the tree is the driest, and it is in the summit that the generative power resides; hence it is, that from the top the grafts are selected. In the olive, again, the sap lies in the middle of the tree, and the grafts are accordingly taken from thence: the upper part being comparatively dry. The graft takes most easily in a tree, the bark of which is of a similar[3012] nature to its own, and which, blossoming at the same time as itself, has an affinity with it in the development of the natural juices. On the other hand, the process of uniting is but slow where the dry is brought in contact with the moist, and the hard bark with the soft.

The other points to be observed are the following: the incision must not be made in a knot, as such an inhospitable rigidity will certainly repel the stranger plant; the incision should be made, too, in the part which is most compact, and it must not be much more than three fingers in length, not in a slanting direction, nor yet such as to pierce the tree from side to side. Virgil[3013] is of opinion, that the grafts should not be taken from the top, and it is universally agreed that it is best to select them from the shoulders of the tree which look towards the north-east;[3014] from a tree, too, that is a good bearer, and from a young shoot,[3015] unless, indeed, the graft is intended for an old tree, in which case it should be of a more robust growth. In addition to this, the graft ought to be in a state of impregnation, that is to say, swelling[3016] with buds, and giving every promise of bearing the same year; it ought, too, to be two years old, and not thinner than the little finger. The graft is inserted at the smaller end, when it is the object of the grower that it should not grow to any considerable length, but spread out on either side. But it is more

## particularly necessary that the buds upon the graft should be smooth

and regular, and there must be nothing upon it at all scabbed or shrivelled. Success may be fully reckoned on if the pith of the graft is brought in contact with the wood and bark of the stock; that being a much better plan than merely uniting them bark to bark. In pointing the graft, the pith ought not to be laid bare; still, however, it should be pared with a small knife, so that the point may assume the form of a fine wedge, not more than three fingers in length, a thing that may be very easily effected by first steeping it in water and then scraping it. The graft, however, must not be pointed while the wind is blowing, and care must be taken that the bark is not rubbed off from either graft or stock. The graft must be thrust into the stock up to the point where the bark begins; care, too, must be taken not to wrench off the bark during the process of insertion, nor must it be thrust back so as to form any folds or wrinkles. It is for this reason that a graft should not be used that is too full of sap, no, by Hercules! no more than one that is dry and parched; for by doing so, in the former case, from the excess of moisture, the bark becomes detached, and in the latter, from want of vitality, it yields no secretions, and consequently will not incorporate with the stock.

It is a point most religiously[3017] observed, to insert the graft during the moon’s increase, and to be careful to push it down with both hands; indeed, it is really the fact, that in this operation, the two hands, acting at the same moment, are of necessity productive of a more modified and better regulated effort. Grafts that have been inserted with a vigorous effort are later in bearing, but last all the longer; when inserted more tenderly, the contrary is the result. The incision in the stock should not be too open or too large; nor ought it to be too small, for in such case it would either force out the graft or else kill it by compression. But the most necessary precaution of all is to see that the graft is fairly inserted, and that it occupies exactly the middle of the fissure in the stock.

Some[3018] persons are in the habit of making the place for the fissure in the stock with the knife, keeping the edges of the incision together with bands of osier bound tightly round the stock; they then drive in the wedges, the bands keeping the stock from opening too wide. There are some trees that are grafted in the seed-plot and then transplanted the very same day. If the stock used for grafting is of very considerable thickness, it is the best plan to insert the graft between the bark and the wood; for which purpose a wedge made of bone is best, for fear lest when the bark is loosened the wood should be bruised. In the cherry, the bark is removed before the incision in the stock is made; this, too, is the only tree that is grafted after the winter solstice. When the bark is removed, this tree presents a sort of downy substance, which, if it happens to adhere to the graft, will very speedily destroy it. When once the graft is safely lodged by the aid of the wedge, it is of advantage to drive it home. It is an excellent plan, too, to graft as near the ground as possible, if the conformation of the trunk and knots will admit of it. The graft should not project from the stock more than six fingers in length.

Cato[3019] recommends a mixture of argil[3020] or powdered chalk, and cow-dung, to be stirred together till it is of a viscous consistency, and then inserted in the fissure and rubbed all round it. From his writings on the subject it is very evident that at that period it was the practice to engraft only between the wood and the bark, and in no other way; and that the graft was never inserted beyond a couple of fingers in depth.[3021] He recommends, too, that the pear and the apple should be grafted in spring, as also during fifty days at the time of the summer solstice, and during the time of vintage; but that the olive and the fig should be grafted in spring only, in a thirsting, or in other words, a dry moon: he says also, that it should be done in the afternoon, and not while a south wind is blowing. It is a singular thing, that, not content with protecting the graft in the manner already mentioned, and with sheltering it from showers and frosts by means of turfs and supple bands of split osiers, he recommends that it should be covered with bugloss[3022] as well—a kind of herb so called—which is to be tied over it and then covered up with straw. At the present day, however, it is thought sufficient to cover the bark with a mixture of mud and chaff, allowing the graft to protrude a couple of fingers in length.

Those who wait for spring to carry on these operations, will find themselves pressed for time; for the buds are then just bursting, except, indeed, in the case of the olive, the buds of which are remarkably long in developing themselves, the tree itself having extremely little sap beneath the bark; this, too, is apt, when in too large quantities, to injure the grafts. As to the pomegranate, too, the fig, and the rest of the trees that are of a dry nature, it is far from beneficial to them to put off the process of grafting till a late period. The pear may be grafted even when in blossom, so that with it the operation may be safely delayed to the month of May even. If grafts of fruit trees have to be carried to any distance, it is considered the best plan, with the view of preserving the juices, to insert them in a turnip; they may also be kept alive by placing them near a stream or a pond, between two hollow tiles covered up at each end with earth. (15.) The grafts of vines, however, are kept in dry holes, in which they are covered over with straw, and then with earth, care being taken to let the tops protrude.[3023]

CHAP. 25.—GRAFTING THE VINE.

Cato[3024] speaks of three[3025] methods of grafting the vine. The first consists in piercing the stock to the pith, and then inserting the grafts, sharpened at the end, in manner already mentioned, care being taken to bring the pith of the two in contact. The second is adopted in case the two vines are near one another, the sides of them both being cut in a slanting direction where they face each other; after which the pith of the two trees is united by tying them together. In employing the third method, the vine is pierced obliquely to the pith, and grafts are inserted a couple of feet in length; they are then tied down and covered over with prepared earth, care being taken to keep them in an upright position. In our time, however, this method has been greatly improved by making use of the Gallic auger,[3026] which pierces the tree without scorching it; it being the fact, that everything that burns the tree weakens its powers. Care, too, is taken to select a graft that is just beginning to germinate, and not to leave more than a couple of the buds protruding from the stock. The vine, too, should be carefully bound with withes of elm, incisions being made in it on either side, in order that the slimy juices may exude through them in preference, which are so particularly injurious to the vine. After this, when the graft has grown a couple of feet, the withe by which it is fastened should be cut, and the graft left to increase of its own natural vigour.

The proper time[3027] for grafting the vine has been fixed as from the autumnal equinox to the beginning of the budding season. The cultivated plants are generally grafted on the roots of wild ones, where these last are of a drier nature. But if a cultivated tree should be grafted on a wild one, it will very soon degenerate and become wild.[3028] The rest depends entirely on the weather. Dry weather is the best suited for grafting; an excellent remedy for any evil effects that may possibly be caused by the drought, being a few pots of earth placed near the stock and filled with ashes; through which a little water is slowly filtered. Light dews are extremely favourable to grafting by inoculation.

CHAP. 26. (16)—GRAFTING BY SCUTCHEONS.[3029]

Grafting by scutcheons would appear to owe its origin to that by inoculation; but it is suited more particularly to a thick bark, such as that of the fig-tree for instance. For this purpose, all the branches are cut off, in order that they may not divert the sap, after which the smoothest part is selected in the stock, and a scutcheon[3030] of the bark removed, due care being taken that the knife does not go below it. A similar piece of bark from another tree, with a protuberant bud upon it, is then inserted in its place, care being taken that the union is so exact that there is no room left for a cicatrix to form, and the juncture so perfect as to leave no access to either damp or air: still, however, it is always the best plan to protect the scutcheon by means of a plaster of clay and a band. Those who favour the modern fashions pretend that this method has been only discovered in recent times; but the fact is, that we find it employed by the ancient Greeks, and described by Cato,[3031] who recommends it for the olive and the fig; and he goes so far as to determine the very dimensions even, in accordance with his usual exactness. The scutcheon, he says, when taken off with the knife should be four[3032] fingers in length, and three in breadth. It is then fitted to the spot which it is to occupy, and anointed with the mixture of his which has been previously described.[3033] This method, too, he recommends for the apple.

Some persons have adopted another plan with the vine, which consists

## partly of that of grafting by scutcheon, and partly by fissure; they

first remove a square piece of bark from the stock, and then insert a slip in the place that is thus laid bare. I once saw at Thuliæ,[3034] near Tibur, a tree that had been grafted[3035] upon all these various ways, and loaded with fruit of every kind. Upon one branch there were nuts to be seen, upon another berries, upon another grapes, upon another pears, upon another figs, and upon others pomegranates, and several varieties of the apple; the tree, however, was but very short-lived. But, with all our experiments, we find it quite impossible to rival Nature; for there are some plants that can be reproduced in no other manner than spontaneously, and then only in wild and desert spots. The plane[3036] is generally considered the best adapted to receive every kind of graft, and next to it the robur; both of them, however, are very apt to spoil the flavour of the fruit. Some trees admit of grafting upon them in any fashion, the fig and the pomegranate for instance; the vine, however, cannot be grafted upon by scutcheon, nor, indeed, any other of the trees which has a bark that is thin, weak, or cracked. So, too, those trees which are dry, or which contain but little moisture, will not admit of grafting by inoculation. This last method is the most prolific of them all, and next to it that by scutcheon, but neither of them can be depended upon, and this last more

## particularly; for when the adherence of the bark is the only point

of union the scutcheon is liable to be immediately displaced by the slightest gust of wind. Grafting by insertion is the most reliable method, and the tree so produced will bear more fruit than one that is merely planted.

(17.) We must not here omit one very singular circumstance. Corellius, a member of the Equestrian order at Rome, and a native of Ateste, grafted a chesnut, in the territory of Neapolis, with a slip taken from the same tree, and from this was produced the chesnut which is so highly esteemed, and from him has derived its name. At a later period again, Etereius, his freedman, grafted the Corellian[3037] chesnut afresh. There is this difference between the two; the Corellian is more prolific, but the Etereian is of superior quality.

CHAP. 27.—PLANTS WHICH GROW FROM A BRANCH.

It is accident that has the credit of devising the other methods of reproduction, and has taught us how to break off a branch of a tree and plant it in the earth, from seeing stakes, when driven in the earth, take root, and grow. It is in this way that many of the trees are reproduced, and the fig more particularly; which may be propagated also by all the methods previously stated, with the exception, indeed, of that by cuttings. The best plan, however, is to take a pretty large branch, and, after sharpening it like a stake,[3038] to drive it to a considerable depth in the earth, taking care to leave only a small portion above ground, and then to cover it over with sand. The pomegranate, too, may be planted in a similar manner, the hole being first widened with a stake; the same, too, with the myrtle. For all trees of this nature a branch is required three feet in length, and not quite the thickness of the arm, care being taken to keep the bark on, and to sharpen the branch to a point at the lower end.

CHAP. 28.—TREES WHICH GROW FROM CUTTINGS; THE MODE OF PLANTING THEM.

The myrtle, too, may be propagated from cuttings, and the mulberry is grown no other way, the religious observances relative to lightning[3039] forbidding it to be grafted on the elm;[3040] hence it would appear that the present is a fitting opportunity for speaking of reproduction from cuttings. Care should be taken more particularly to select the slips from fruitful trees, and it should be seen that they are neither bent, scabbed, nor bifurcated. The cuttings, too, should be thick enough to fill the hand, and not less than a foot in length: the bark, too, should be uninjured, and the end which is cut and lies nearest the root should always be the one inserted in the earth. While the work of germination is going on, the slip should be kept well moulded up, until such time as it has fully taken root.

CHAP. 29. (18.)—THE CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE.

Cato[3041] has treated so well of the precautions that are necessary in cultivating the olive, that we cannot do better than employ his own words on the subject. “Let the slips of olive,” says he, “which you are about to plant in the hole, be three feet long, and be very careful in your treatment of them, so as not to injure the bark when you are smoothing or cutting them. Those that you are going to plant in the nursery, should be a foot in length; and you should plant them the following way: let the spot be turned up with the mattock, and the soil be well loosened. When you put the cutting in the ground, press it down with the foot only. If there is any difficulty in making it descend, drive it down with a mallet or the handle of the dibble, but be careful not to break the bark in doing so. Take care, too, not to make a hole first with the dibble, for the slip will have the better chance of surviving the other way. When the slip is three years old, due care must be taken to observe the direction in which each side of the bark is situate. If you are planting in holes or furrows, you must put in the cuttings by threes, but be careful to keep them separate. Above ground, however, they should not be more than four fingers distant from one another, and each of them must have a bud or eye above ground. In taking up the olive for transplanting, you must use the greatest caution, and see that there is as much earth left about the roots as possible. When you have covered the roots well up, tread down the earth with the foot, so that nothing may injure the plant.”

CHAP. 30.—TRANSPLANTING OPERATIONS AS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS SEASONS OF THE YEAR.

If the enquiry is made what is the proper season for planting the olive, my answer will be, “where the soil is dry, at seed-time; where it is rich, in spring.” The following is the advice given by Cato[3042] on the subject: “Begin pruning your olive-yard fifteen days before the vernal equinox; from that period for forty days will be a good time for doing so. In pruning, adopt the following rules: when the ground is extremely productive, remove all the dry branches or such as may have been broken by the wind; where it is not so prolific, you must cut away still more, then tie them well up, and remove all tangled branches, so as to lighten the roots. In autumn clear away the roots of the olive, and then manure them. The man who labours most assiduously and most earnestly will remove the very smallest fibres that are attached to the roots. If, however, he hoes negligently, the roots will soon appear again above ground, and become thicker than ever; the consequence of which will be, that the vigour of the tree will be expended in the roots.”

We have already stated, when speaking on the subject of oil,[3043] what are the different varieties of the olive, in what kind of soil it ought to be planted, and what is the proper aspect for the olive-yard. Mago recommends that the olive should be planted on declivities and in dry spots, in an argillaceous soil, and between autumn and the winter equinox. If, on the other hand, the soil is thick, humid, or somewhat damp even, it ought to be planted between harvest and the winter solstice; advice, however, it should be remembered, applicable to Africa more particularly. At the present day, it is mostly the custom in Italy to plant the olive in spring, but if it is thought desirable to do so in the autumn as well, there are only four days in the forty between the equinox and the setting of the Vergiliæ that are unfavourable for planting it.[3044] It is a practice peculiar to Africa, to engraft the olive on the wild olive only, a tree which is made to be everlasting, as it were; for when it becomes old the best of the suckers are carefully trained for adoption by grafting, and in this way in another tree it grows young again; an operation which may be repeated continuously as often as needed; so much so, indeed, that the same olive-yard will last for ages.[3045] The wild olive also is propagated both by insertion and inoculation.

It is not advisable to plant the olive in a site where the quercus has been lately rooted up; for the earth-worms, known as “raucæ,” which breed in the root of the quercus, are apt to get into that of the olive. It has been found, from practical experience, that it is not advisable to bury the cuttings in the ground nor yet to dry them before they are planted out. Experience has also taught us that it is the best plan to clean an old olive-yard every other year, between the vernal equinox and the rising of the Vergiliæ, and to lay moss about the roots; to dig holes also round the trees every year, just after the summer solstice, two cubits wide by a foot in depth, and to manure them every third year.

Mago, too, recommends that the almond should be planted between the setting of Arcturus[3046] and the winter solstice. All the varieties, however, of the pear, he says, should not be planted at the same time, as they do not all blossom together. Those with oblong or round fruit should be planted between the setting of the Vergiliæ and the winter solstice, and the other kinds in the middle of the winter, after the setting of the constellation of the Arrow,[3047] on a site that looks towards the east or north. The laurel should be planted between the setting of the Eagle and that of the Arrow; for we find that the proper time for planting is equally connected with the aspect of the heavenly bodies. For the most part it has been recommended that this should be done in spring and autumn; but there is another appropriate period also, though known to but few, about the rising of the Dog-star, namely; it is not, however, equally advantageous in all localities. Still, I ought not to omit making mention of it, as I am not setting forth the peculiar advantages of any one country in particular, but am enquiring into the operations of Nature taken as a whole.

In the region of Cyrenaica, the planting is generally done while the Etesian[3048] winds prevail, and the same is the case in Greece, and with the olive more particularly in Laconia. At this period, also, the vine is planted in the island of Cos; and in the rest of Greece they do not neglect to inoculate and graft, though they do not[3049] plant, their trees just then. The natural qualities, too, of the respective localities, exercise a very considerable influence in this respect; for in Egypt they plant in any month, as also in all other countries where summer rains do not prevail, India and Æthiopia, for instance. When trees are not planted in the spring they must be planted in autumn, as a matter of course.

There are three stated periods, then, for germination;[3050] spring, the rising of the Dog-star, and that of Arcturus. And, indeed, it is not the animated beings only that are ardent for the propagation of their species, for this desire is manifested in even a greater degree by the earth and all its vegetable productions; to employ this tendency at the proper moment is the most advantageous method of ensuring an abundant increase. These moments, too, are of peculiar importance in relation to the process of grafting, as it is then that the two productions manifest a mutual desire of uniting. Those who prefer the spring for grafting commence operations immediately after the vernal equinox, reckoning on the fact that then the buds are just coming out, a thing that greatly facilitates the union of the barks. On the other hand, those who prefer the autumn graft immediately after the rising of Arcturus, because then the graft at once takes root in some degree, and becomes seasoned for spring, so as not to exhaust its strength all at once in the process of germination. However, there are certain fixed periods of the year, in all cases, for certain trees; thus, the cherry, for instance, and the almond, are either planted or grafted about the winter solstice. For many trees the nature of the locality will be the best guide; thus, where the soil is cold and moist it is best to plant in spring, and where it is dry and hot, in autumn.

Taking Italy in general, the proper periods for these operations may be thus distributed:—The mulberry is planted at any time between the ides of February[3051] and the vernal equinox; the pear, in the autumn, but not beyond the fifteenth day before the winter solstice; the summer apples, the quince, the sorb, and the plum, between mid-winter and the ides of February; the Greek carob[3052] and the peach, at any time in autumn before the winter solstice; the various nuts, such as the walnut, pine, filbert, almond, and chesnut, between the calends of March[3053] and the ides of that month;[3054] the willow and the broom about the calends of March. The broom is grown from seed, and in a dry soil, the willow from plants, in a damp locality, as already stated on former occasions.[3055]

(19.) That I may omit nothing to my knowledge of the facts that I have anywhere been able to ascertain, I shall here add a new method of grafting, which has been discovered by Columella,[3056] as he asserts, by the aid of which trees even of a heterogeneous or dissociable nature may be made to unite; such, for instance, as the fig and the olive. In accordance with this plan, he recommends that a fig-tree should be planted near an olive, at a distance sufficiently near to admit of the fig being touched by a branch of the olive when extended to its full length; as supple and pliant a one as possible being selected for the purpose, and due care being taken all the time to render it seasoned by keeping it constantly on the stretch. After this, when the fig has gained sufficient vigour, a thing that generally happens at the end of three or five years at most, the top of it is cut off, the end of the olive branch being also cut to a point in the manner already stated.[3057] This point is then to be inserted in the trunk of the fig, and made secure with cords, lest, being bent, it should happen to rebound: in this way we find the method of propagating by layers combined with that of grafting. This union between the two parent trees is allowed to continue for three years, and then in the fourth the branch is cut away and left entirely upon the tree that has so adopted it. This method, however, is not at present universally known, at all events, so far as I have been able to ascertain.

CHAP. 31.—CLEANING AND BARING THE ROOTS, AND MOULDING THEM.

In addition to these particulars, the same considerations that I have already[3058] mentioned in reference to warm or cold, moist or dry soils, have also taught us the necessity of trenching around the roots. These trenches, however, in a moist, watery soil, should be neither wide nor deep; while the contrary is the case where the ground is hot and dry; it being the object, in the latter instance, to let them receive and retain as much water as possible. This rule is applicable to the culture of old trees as well; for in very hot places the roots are well moulded in summer, and carefully covered up, to prevent the heat of the sun from parching them. In other places, again, the ground is cleared away from the roots, in order to give free access to the air, while in winter they are carefully moulded to protect them from the frost. The contrary is the case, however, in hot climates, for there they bare the roots in winter for the purpose of ensuring a supply of moisture to the parched fibres.

In all places the rule is to make a circular trench three feet in width at the foot of the tree; this, however, it is not possible to do in meadows, where the roots, in their fondness for the sun and showers, range near the surface far and wide. Such, then, are the general observations that we have to make in reference to the planting and grafting of trees that we value for their fruits.

CHAP. 32. (20.)—WILLOW-BEDS.

It now remains to give an account of those trees which are planted for the sake of others—the vine[3059] more particularly—and the wood of which is cut from time to time. Holding the very first rank among these we find the willow, a tree that is always planted in a moist soil. The hole, however, should be two feet and a half in depth, and the slip a foot and a half only in length. Willow stakes are also used for the same purpose, and the stouter they are the better: the distance left between these last should be six feet. When they are three years old their growth is checked by cutting them down within a couple of feet from the ground, the object being to make them spread out, so that by the aid of their branches they may be cleared without the necessity of using a ladder; for the willow is the more productive the nearer its branches are to the ground. It is generally recommended to trench round the willow every year, in the month of April. Such is the mode of cultivation employed for the osier willow.[3060]

The stake willow[3061] is reproduced both from suckers and cuttings, in a trench of the same dimensions. Stakes may be cut from it at the end of about three years mostly. These stakes are also used to supply the place of the trees as they grow old, being fixed in the ground as layers, and cut away from the trunk at the end of a year. A single jugerum of osier willows will supply osiers[3062] sufficient for twenty-five jugera of vines. It is for a similar purpose that the white poplar[3063] is grown; the trenches being two feet deep and the cutting a foot and a half in length. It is left to dry for a couple of days before it is planted, and a space is left between the plants a foot and a palm in width, after which they are covered with earth to the depth of a couple of cubits.

CHAP. 33.—REED-BEDS.

The reed[3064] requires a soil still moister even than that employed for the willow. It is planted by placing the bulb of the root, that part which some people call the “eye,”[3065] in a trench three quarters of a foot in depth, at intervals of two feet and a half. A reed-bed will renew itself spontaneously after the old one has been rooted up, a circumstance which it has been found more beneficial to take advantage of than merely to thin them, as was formerly the practice; the roots being in the habit of creeping and becoming interlaced, a thing that ends eventually in the destruction of the bed. The proper time for planting reeds is before the eyes begin to swell, or, in other words, before the calends of March.[3066] The reed continues to increase until the winter solstice, but ceases to do so when it begins to grow hard, a sign that it is fit for cutting. It is generally thought, too, that the reed requires to be trenched round as often as the vine.

The reed also is planted in a horizontal position,[3067] and then covered with earth to a very great depth; by this method as many plants spring up as there are eyes. It is propagated, also, by planting out in trenches a foot in depth, care being taken to cover up two of the eyes, while a third knot is left just on a level with the ground; the head, too, is bent downwards, that it may not become charged with dew. The reed is usually cut when the moon is on the wane.[3068] When required for the vineyard, it is better dried for a year than used in a green state.

CHAP. 34.—OTHER PLANTS THAT ARE CUT FOR POLES AND STAKES.

The chesnut is found to produce better stays[3069] for the vine than any other tree, both from the facility with which they are worked, their extremely lasting qualities, and the circumstance that, when cut, the tree will bud again more speedily than the willow[3070] even. It requires a soil that is light without being gravelly, a moist, sandy one more particularly, or else a charcoal earth,[3071] or a fine tufa[3072] even; while at the same time a northern aspect, however cold and shady, and if upon a declivity even, greatly promotes its growth. It refuses to grow, however, in a gravelly soil, or in red earth, chalk, or, indeed, any kind of fertilizing ground. We have already stated,[3073] that it is reproduced from the nut, but it will only grow from those of the largest size, and then only when they are sown in heaps of five together. The ground above the nuts should be kept broken from the month of November to February, as it is at that period that the nuts lose their hold and fall of themselves from the tree, and then take root. There ought to be intervals of a foot in width left between them,[3074] and the hole in which they are planted should be nine inches every way. At the end of two years or more they are transplanted from this seed plot into another, where they are laid out at intervals of a couple of feet.

Layers are also employed for the reproduction of this tree, and there is none to which they are better[3075] adapted: the root of the plant is left exposed, and the layer is placed in the trench at full length, with the summit also protruding from the earth; the result being, that it shoots from the top as well as the root. When transplanted, however, it is very hard to be reconciled, as it stands in dread of all change. Hence it is, that it is nearly two years before it will begin to shoot upward; from which circumstance it is generally preferred to rear the slips in the nursery from the nut itself, to obtaining them from quicksets. The mode of cultivation does not differ from that employed with the plants already mentioned.[3076] It is trenched around, and carefully lopped for two successive years; after which it is able to take care of itself, the shade it gives sufficing to stifle all superfluous suckers: before the end of the sixth year it is fit for cutting.

A single jugerum of chesnuts will provide stays for twenty jugera of vineyard, and the branches that are taken from near the roots afford a supply of two-forked uprights; they will last, too, till after the next cutting of the tree.

The æsculus,[3077] too, is grown in a similar manner, the time for cutting being three years at the latest. Being less difficult, too, to propagate, it may be planted in any kind of earth, the acorn—and it is only with the æsculus that this is done—being sown in spring, in a hole nine inches in depth, with intervals between the plants of two feet in width. This tree is lightly hoed, four times a year. This kind of stay is the least likely to rot of them all; and the more the tree is cut, the more abundantly it shoots. In addition to the above, they also grow other trees for cutting that we have already mentioned—the ash for instance, the laurel, the peach, the hazel, and the apple; but then they are of slower growth, and the stays made from them, when fixed in the ground, are hardly able to withstand the action of the earth, and much less any moisture. The elder, on the other hand, which affords stakes of the very stoutest quality, is grown from cuttings, like the poplar. As to the cypress, we have already spoken of it at sufficient length.[3078]

CHAP. 35. (21.)—THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AND THE VARIOUS SHRUBS WHICH SUPPORT IT.

Having now described what we may call the armoury[3079] of the vine, it remains for us to treat with a particular degree of care of the nature of the vine itself.

The shoots of the vine, as also of certain other trees, the interior of which is naturally of a spongy quality, have certain knots or joints upon the stem that intercept the pith. The intervals between these joints in the branches are short, and more particularly so towards the extremities. The pith, in itself the vivifying spirit of the tree, is always taking an onward direction, so long as the knot, by being open in the centre, allows it a free passage. If, however, the knot should become solidified and deny it a passage, the pith is then thrown downward upon the knot that lies next below it, and making its escape, issues forth there in the shape of a bud, these buds always making their appearance on each side alternately, as already mentioned in the case of the reed and the giant-fennel;[3080] in other words, where one bud makes its appearance at the bottom of a knot to the right, the next one takes its place on the left, and so on alternately. In the vine this bud is known as the “gem,”[3081] as soon as the pith has formed there a small round knob; but before it has done this, the concavity that is left upon the surface is merely called the “eye:”[3082] when situate at the extremity of the shoot, it is known as the “germ.”[3083] It is in the same way, too, that the stock branches, suckers, grapes, leaves, and tendrils of the vine are developed: and it is a very surprising fact, that all that grows on the right[3084] side of the tree is stronger and stouter than on the left.

Hence it is, that when slips of this tree are planted, it is necessary to cut these knots in the middle, in order to prevent the pith from making its escape. In the same way, too, when planting the fig, suckers are taken, nine inches in length, and after the ground is opened they are planted with the part downwards that grew nearest to the tree, and with a couple of eyes protruding from the earth—in slips of trees, that

## part is properly called the eye which is to give birth to the future

bud. It is for this reason that, in the seed-plots even the slips that are thus planted sometimes bear the same year the fruit that they would have borne if they had remained upon the tree: this takes place when they have been planted in good seasons and are replete with fecundity, for then they bring to maturity the fruits the conception of which was commenced in another spot. Fig-trees that are thus planted may very easily be transplanted in the third year. As some compensation for the rapidity with which this tree becomes[3085] old, it has thus received the privilege of coming to maturity[3086] at a very early period.

The vine throws out a great number of shoots. In the first place, however, none of them are ever used for planting, except those which are useless, and would have been cut away as mere brushwood; while, on the other hand, every part is pruned off that has borne fruit the previous year. In former times, it was the custom to plant the slip with a head at the extremity, consisting of a piece of the hard wood on each side of it, the same, in fact, that is called a mallet shoot[3087] at the present day. In more recent times, however, the practice has been adopted of pulling it off merely with a heel attached to it, as in the fig;[3088] and there is no kind of slip that takes with greater certainty. A third method, again, has been added to the former ones, and a more simple one as well, that of taking the slip without any heel at all. These slips are known by the name of arrow-[3089]shoots, when they are twisted before planting; and the same, when they are neither cut short nor twisted, are called three-budded[3090] slips. The same sucker very often furnishes several slips of this kind. To plant a stock-shoot[3091] of the vine is unproductive, and, indeed, no shoots will bear unless they are taken from a part that has borne fruit already. A slip that has but few knots upon it, is looked upon as likely not to bear; while a great number of buds is considered an indication of fruitfulness. Some persons say that no suckers ought to be planted, but those which have already blossomed. It is far from advantageous[3092] to plant arrow-slips, for after being twisted, they are apt to break in transplanting. The slips when planted should be a foot in length,[3093] and not less, and they ought to have five or six knots upon them; with the dimensions above stated, they cannot, however, possibly have less than three buds. It is considered the most advantageous plan to plant them out the same day that they are cut; but if it is found necessary to plant them some time after, they should be kept in the way that we have already mentioned;[3094] particular care being taken not to let them protrude from the earth, lest they should become dried by the action of the sun, or nipped by the wind or frost. When they have been kept too long in a dry place, they must be put in water for several days, for the purpose of restoring their verdancy and freshness.

The spot selected, whether for nursery or vineyard, ought to be exposed to the sun, and of as great extent as possible; the soil being turned up to a depth of three feet with a two-pronged fork. The earth, on being thrown up with the mattock,[3095] swells naturally,[3096] and ridges are formed with it four feet in height, intersected by trenches a couple[3097] of feet in depth. The earth in the trenches is carefully cleansed and raked out,[3098] so that none of it may be left unbroken, care being taken also to keep it exactly level; if the ridges are unequal, it shows that the ground has been badly dug. At the same time the breadth should be measured of each ridge that lies between the trenches. The slips are planted either in holes or else in elongated furrows, and then covered with very fine earth; but where it is a light soil, the grower will lose his pains should he neglect to place a layer of richer mould beneath. Not less than a couple of slips should be planted together, keeping them exactly on a level with the adjoining earth, which should be pressed down and made compact with the dibble. In the seed-plot there should be intervals left between each two settings a foot and a half in breadth and half a foot in length: when thus planted, it is usual, at the end of two years, to cut the mallet-shoots at the knot nearest the ground, unless there is some good reason for sparing them. When this is done, they throw out eyes, and with these upon them at the end of three years the quicksets are transplanted.

There is another method, also, of planting[3099] the vine, which a luxurious refinement in these matters has introduced. Four mallet-shoots are tightly fastened together with a cord in the greenest part, and when thus arranged are passed through the shank-bone of an ox or else a tube of baked earth, after which they are planted in the ground, care being taken to leave a couple of buds protruding: in this way they become impregnated with moisture, and, immediately on being cut, throw out fresh wood. The tube is then broken, upon which the root, thus set at liberty, assumes fresh vigour, and the clusters[3100] ultimately bear upon them grapes belonging to the four kinds thus planted together.

In consequence of a more recent discovery, another method has been adopted. A mallet-shoot is split down the middle and the pith extracted, after which the two portions are fastened together, every care being taken not to injure the buds. The mallet-shoot is then planted in a mixture of earth and manure, and when it begins to throw out branches it is cut, the ground being repeatedly dug about it. Columella[3101] assures us that the grapes of this plant will have no stones, but it is a more surprising thing that the slip itself should survive when thus deprived of the pith.[3102] Still, however, I think I ought not to omit the fact that there are some slips that grow without the ordinary articulations of trees upon them; thus, for instance, five or six very small sprigs of box,[3103] if tied together and put in the ground, will take root. It was formerly made a point to take these sprigs from a box-tree that had not been lopped, as it was fancied that in the last case they would not live; experience, however, has since put an end to that notion.

The culture of the vineyard naturally follows the training of the nursery. There are five[3104] different kinds of vine: that with the branches running[3105] along the ground, the vine that stands without support,[3106] the vine that is propped and requires no cross-piece,[3107] the vine that is propped and requires a single cross-piece, and the vine that requires a trellis of four compartments.[3108] The mode of cultivation requisite for the propped vine may be understood as equally adapted to the one that stands by itself and requires no support, for this last method is only employed where there is a scarcity of wood for stays. The stay with the single cross-piece in a straight line is known by the name of “canterius.” It is the best of all for the wine, for then the tree throws no shadow, and the grape is ripened continuously by the sun, while, at the same time, it derives more advantage from the action of the wind, and disengages the dew with greater facility: the superfluous leaves and shoots, too, are more easily removed, and the breaking up of the earth and other operations about the tree are effected with greater facility. But, above all, by the adoption of this method, the tree sheds its blossoms more beneficially than under any other circumstances. This cross-piece is generally made of a stake, or a reed, or else of a rope of hair or hemp, as is usually the case in Spain and at Brundisium. When the trellis is employed, wine is produced in greater quantities; this method has its name of “compluviata” from the “compluvium” or square opening in the roofs of our houses; the trellis is divided into four compartments by as many cross-pieces. This mode of planting the vine will now be treated of, and it will be found equally applicable to every kind, with the only difference that under this last method the operation is somewhat more complicated.

The vine is planted three different ways; in a soil that has been turned up with the spade—the best of the three; in furrows, which is the next best; and in holes, the least advisable method of all: of the way in which ground is prepared by digging, we have made sufficient mention already. (22.) In preparing the furrows[3109] for the vine it will be quite sufficient if they are a spade in breadth; but if holes are employed for the purpose, they should be three feet every way. The depth required for every kind of vine is three feet; it should, therefore, be made a point not to transplant any vine that is less than three feet in length, allowing then two buds to be above the ground. It will be necessary, too, to soften the earth by working little furrows at the bottom of the hole, and mixing it up with manure. Where the ground is declivitous, it is requisite that the hole should be deeper, in addition to which it should be artificially elevated on the edge of the lower side. Holes of this nature, which are made a little longer, to receive two vines, are known as “alvei,” or beds. The root of the vine should occupy the middle of the hole, and when firmly fixed in the ground it should incline at the top due east; its first support it ought to receive from a reed.[3110] The vineyard should be bounded by a decuman[3111] path eighteen feet in width, sufficiently wide, in fact, to allow two carts to pass each other; others, again, should run at right angles to it, ten feet in width, and passing through the middle of each jugerum; or else, if the vineyard is of very considerable extent, cardinal[3112] paths may be formed instead of them, of the same breadth as the decuman path. At the end, too, of every five of the stays a path should be made to run, or, in other words, there should be one continuous cross-piece to every five stays; each space that is thus included from one end to the other forming a bed.[3113]

Where the soil is dense and hard it must be turned up only with the spade, and nothing but quicksets should be planted there; but where, on the other hand, it is thin and loose, mallet-shoots even may be set either in hole or furrow. Where the ground is declivitous it is a better plan to draw furrows across than to turn up all the soil with the spade, so that the falling away of the earth may be counteracted by the position of the cross-pieces.[3114] It will be best, too, where the weather is wet or the soil naturally dry, to plant the mallet-shoots in autumn, unless, indeed, there is anything in the nature of the locality to counteract it; for while a dry, hot soil makes it necessary to plant in autumn, in a moist, cold one it may be necessary to defer it until the end of spring even. In a parched soil, too, it would be quite in vain to plant quicksets, and it is far from advantageous to set mallet-shoots in a dry ground, except just after a fall of rain. On the other hand, in moist localities, a vine in leaf even may be transplanted and thrive very well, and that, too, even as late as the summer solstice, in Spain, for example. It is of very considerable advantage that there should be no wind stirring on the day of planting, and, though many persons are desirous that there should be a south wind blowing at the time, Cato[3115] is of quite a different way of thinking.

In a soil of medium quality, it is best to leave an interval of five[3116] feet between every two vines; where it is very fertile the distance should be five feet at least, and where it is poor and thin eight at the very most. The Umbri and the Marsi leave intervals between their vines of as much as twenty feet in length, for the purpose of ploughing between them; such a plot of ground as this they call by the name of “porculetum.” In a rainy, foggy locality, the plants ought to be set wider apart, but in dry spots nearer to one another. Careful observation has discovered various methods of economizing space; thus, for instance, when a vineyard is planted in shaded ground, a seed-plot is formed there as well; or, in other words, at the same time that the quickset is planted in the place which it is finally to occupy, the mallet-shoot intended for transplanting is set between the vines, as well as between the rows. By adopting this method, each jugerum will produce about sixteen thousand quicksets; and the result is, that two years’ fruit is gained thereby, a cutting planted being two years later in bearing than a quickset transplanted. Quicksets, when growing in a vineyard, are cut down at the end of a year, leaving only a single eye above ground; some manure is then placed upon the spot, and a stay driven in close to the plant. In the same manner it is again cut down at the end[3117] of the second year, and from this it acquires additional strength, and receives nutriment to enable it to endure the onerous task of reproduction. If this is neglected, in its over-haste to bear it will shoot up slim and meagre, like a bulrush, and from not being subjected to such a training, will grow to nothing but wood. In fact, there is no tree that grows with greater eagerness than the vine, and if its strength is not carefully husbanded for the bearing of fruit, it will be sure to grow to nothing but wood.

The best props for supporting the vine are those which we have already mentioned,[3118] or else stays made of the robur and the olive; if these cannot be procured, then props of juniper, cypress, laburnum, or elder,[3119] must be employed. If any other wood is used for the purpose, the stakes should be cut at the end each year: reeds tied together in bundles make excellent cross-rails for the vine, and will last as long as five years. Sometimes the shorter stock-branches of the vines are brought together and tied with vine-cuttings, like so many cords: by this method an arcade is formed, known to us by the name of “funetum.”

The vine, by the end of the third year, throws out strong and vigorous stock-branches with the greatest rapidity, and these in due time form the tree; after this, it begins to mount the cross-piece. Some persons are in the habit of “blinding” the vine at this period, by removing the eyes with the end of the pruning-knife turned upwards, their object being to increase the length of the branches—a most injurious practice, however; for it is far better to let the tree become habituated to grow of itself, and to prune away the tendrils every now and then when they have reached the cross-rail, so long as it may be deemed proper to add to its strength. There are some persons who forbid the vine to be touched for a whole year after it has been transplanted, and who say that the pruning-knife ought never to be used before it is five years old; and then at that period they are for cutting it down so completely as to leave three buds only. Others, again, cut down the vine within a year even after it has been transplanted, but then they take care to let the stem increase every year by three or four joints, bringing it on a level with the cross-piece by the fourth. These two methods, however, both of them, retard the fruit and render the tree stunted and knotty, as we see the case in all dwarf trees. The best plan is to make the parent stem as robust and vigorous as possible, and then the wood will be sure to be strong and hardy. It is far from safe, too, to take slips from a cicatrized stem; such a practice is erroneous, and only the result of ignorance. All cuttings of this nature are sure to be the offspring of acts of violence, and not in reality of the tree itself. The vine, while growing, should be possessed of all its natural strength; and we find that when left entirely to itself, it will throw out wood in every part; for there is no portion of it that Nature does not act upon. When the stem has grown sufficiently strong for the purpose, it should at once be trained to the cross-piece; if, however, it is but weak, it should be cut down so as to lie below the hospitable shelter of the cross-piece. Indeed, it is the strength of the stem, and not its age, that ought to decide the matter. It is not advisable[3120] to attempt to train a vine before the stem has attained the thickness of the thumb; but in the year after it has reached the frame, one or two stock-branches should be preserved, according to the strength developed by the parent tree. The same, too, must be done the succeeding year, if the weakness of the stem demands it; and in the next, two more should be added. Still, however, there should never be more than four branches allowed to grow; in one word, there must be no indulgence shown, and every exuberance in the tree must in all cases be most carefully repressed; for such is the nature of the vine, that it is more eager to bear than it is to live. It should be remembered, too, that all that is subtracted from the wood is so much added to the fruit. The vine, in fact, would much rather produce shoots and tendrils than fruit, because[3121] its fruit, after all, is but a transitory possession: hence it is that it luxuriates to its own undoing, and instead of really gaining ground, exhausts itself.

The nature, too, of the soil will afford some very useful suggestions. Where it is thin and hungry, even though the vine should display considerable vigour, it should be pruned down below the cross-piece and kept there, so that all the shoots may be put forth below it. The interval, however, between the top of the vine and the cross-piece ought to be but very small; so much so, indeed, as to leave it hopes, as it were, of reaching it, which, however, it must never be suffered to do; for it should never be allowed to recline thereon and spread and run on at its ease. This mode of culture ought, in fact, to be so nicely managed, that the vine should show an inclination rather to grow in body than to run to wood.

The main branch should have two or three buds left below the cross-piece that give promise of bearing wood, and it should be carefully trained along the rail, and drawn close to it in such a manner as to be supported by it, and not merely hang loosely from it. When this is done, it should be tightly fastened also with a binding three buds off, a method which will greatly contribute to check the too abundant growth of the wood, while stouter shoots will be thrown out below the ligature: it is absolutely forbidden, however, to tie the extremity of the main branch. When all this is done, Nature operates in the following way—the parts that are allowed to fall downward, or those which are held fast by the ligature, give out fruit, those at the bend of the branch more particularly. On the other hand, the portion that lies below the ligature throws out wood; by reason, I suppose, of the interception of the vital spirit and the marrow or pith, previously mentioned:[3122] the wood, too, that is grown under these circumstances will bear fruit in the following year. In this way there are two kinds of stock branches: the first of which, issuing from the solid stock, gives promise of wood only for this year, and is known as the leaf stock-branch;[3123] while that which grows beyond the mark made by the ligature is a fruit stock-branch.[3124] There are other kinds, again, that shoot from the stock-branches when they are a year old, and these are in all cases fruit stock-branches. There is left, also, beneath the cross-piece a shoot that is known as the reserve[3125] shoot, being always a young stock-branch, with not more than three buds upon it. This is intended to give out wood the next year, in case the vine by over-luxuriance should happen to exhaust itself. Close to it there is another bud left, no bigger than a wart; this is known as the “furunculus,”[3126] and is kept in readiness in case the reserve shoot should fail.

The vine, if enticed to bear fruit before the seventh year from its being planted as a slip, will pine[3127] away, become as slim as a bulrush, and die. It is thought equally undesirable, too, to let an old stock-branch range far and wide, and extend as far as the fourth stay from the stem; to such a branch the name of dragon[3128]-branch is given by some, and of juniculus by others; if these are allowed to spread, they will run to wood only, and make male vines, as they are called. When a vine has become quite hard, it is an extremely bad plan to use it for reproduction by layers. When the vine is five years old the stock-branches are twisted, but each is allowed to throw out some new wood; and so from one to another, care being taken to prune away the old wood. It is always the best plan, however, to leave a reserve shoot; but this should always be very near the main stem of the vine, not at a greater distance, in fact, than that already mentioned.[3129] If, too, the stock branches should throw out too luxuriantly, they must be twisted, the object being that the vine may put forth no more than four secondary branches, or even two only, if it happens to be a single cross-railed vine.

If the vine is to be trained to grow without any stay at all, still it will stand in need, at first, of some support or other, until it has learnt to support itself: in all other respects the mode of proceeding will be the same at first. When pruning, it will be necessary that the thumb-branches[3130] should be arranged in equal numbers on either side, in order that the fruit may not overload one side of the tree; and we may here remark by the way, that the fruit by its weight is apt to bear down the tree and counteract any tendency to increase in height. The vine, unsupported, when more than three feet in height, begins to bend, but the others do not, until they are five feet high at the least; care should be taken, however, never to let them exceed the height of a man of moderate stature. Growers are in the habit of surrounding the vines that creep along the ground with a low fence[3131] for them to lean upon; and round this fence they dig a trench by way of precaution, for fear lest the branches in their range should meet one another and so come into collision. The greater part of the world, in fact, gather grapes at their vintage, grown in this fashion, and lying upon the ground—at all events, it is so in Africa, Egypt, and Syria; throughout the whole of Asia, too, and in many parts of Europe as well, this method prevails. In such cases the vine ought to be kept down close to the ground, and the root should be nurtured at the same time and in just the same way as in the case of the vine that grows on the cross-piece. Care, too, should be taken to leave only the young thumb-shoots, together with three buds, where it is a prolific soil, two where it is poor and thin: it is better, too, that the shoots should be numerous than individually long. The influences of soil, of which we have made mention already, will make themselves felt all the more powerfully the nearer the grapes grow to the ground.

It is a very advantageous plan to separate[3132] the various species of vines and to set them in different compartments—for the mixture of different varieties is apt to deteriorate the flavour not only of the must, but the wine even as well. If, again, for some reason or other, the different kinds must be intermingled, it will be requisite to keep all those together which ripen at exactly the same period. The more fertile and the more level the soil, the higher the cross-pieces must be placed.[3133] High cross-pieces, too, are best suited to localities that are subject to heavy dews and fogs, but not to those that are exposed to high winds; on the other hand, where the soil is thin, parched, and arid, or exposed to the wind, the cross-pieces should be set lower. The cross-piece should be fastened to the stay with cords tied as tight as possible, while the bindings used for tying the vine should be thin. As to the various species of vines, and the soils and climates requisite for the growth of each, we have already treated[3134] of them, when enumerating the several varieties of the vine and the wines which they produce.

With reference to other points connected with the culture of the vine, there are very considerable doubts. Many persons recommend that the vineyard should be turned up with the spade after every dew that falls in the summer. Others, again, forbid this practice when the vine is in bud; for the clothes, they say, of the people coming and going to and fro are apt to catch the buds, and either knock or rub them off; it is for this reason, too, that they are so careful to keep all animals away from the vines, those with long wool in particular, as it is very apt to pull off the buds. Raking, too, they say, is very injurious to the vine while the grape is forming; and it will be quite sufficient, they assure us, if the ground is turned up three times in the year, after the vernal equinox—first, at the rising of the Vergiliæ,[3135] the second at the rising of the Dog-star, and the third time just as the grape is turning black. Some persons make it a rule that an old vineyard shall have one turning up between the time of vintage and the winter solstice, though others, again, are of opinion that it is quite sufficient to bare the roots and manure them. They turn up the ground again after the ides of April,[3136] but before the time for germination, or, in other words, the sixth of the ides of May;[3137] then again before the tree begins to blossom, after it has shed its blossom, and, last of all, when the grape is just on the turn. The most skilful growers say that if the ground is dug up oftener than necessary, the grapes will become so remarkably thin-skinned as to burst. When the ground is turned up, care should be taken to do it before the hot hours of the day; a clayey soil, too, should never be ploughed or dug. The dust that is raised in digging is beneficial[3138] to the vine, it is said, by protecting it from the heat of the sun and the injurious effects of fogs.

The spring clearing ought to be done, it is universally admitted, within ten days after the ides of May,[3139] and before the blossoming begins; in addition to which, it should always be done below the cross-piece. As to the second clearing, opinions differ very considerably. Some think it ought to be done when the blossoming is over, others, again, when the grapes are nearly at maturity. This point, however, may be decided by following the advice of Cato on the subject; for we must now pass on to a description of the proper mode of pruning the vine.

Immediately after[3140] the vintage, and while the weather is still warm, the work of pruning[3141] begins; this, however, ought never to be done, for certain physical reasons,[3142] before the rising of the Eagle, as we shall have occasion to explain in the following Book. Nor should it be done either when the west winds begin to prevail, for even then there is great doubt whether a fault may not be committed by being in too great haste to commence the work. If any return of wintry weather should chance to nip the vines, while still labouring under the wounds recently inflicted on them in pruning, there is little doubt that their buds will become quite benumbed with cold, the wounds will open again, and the eyes, moistened by the juices that distil from the tree, will become frost-bitten by the rigour of the weather. For who is there,[3142] in fact, that does not know that the buds are rendered brittle by frost? All this, however, depends upon accurate calculations in the management of large grounds, and the blame of precipitation cannot with any justice be laid upon Nature. The earlier the vine is pruned, in suitable weather, the greater is the quantity of wood, while the later the pruning, the more abundant is the fruit. Hence it is that it is most advisable to prune the poor meagre vines first, and to defer pruning the more thriving ones to the very last. In pruning, due care should always be taken to cut in a slanting direction, in order[3143] that the rain may run off with all the greater facility. The wounds, too, should look downwards towards the ground, and should be made as lightly as possible, the edge of the knife being well-sharpened for the purpose, so as to make a clean cut each time. Care should be taken, too, to cut always between two buds, and that the eyes are not injured in the operation. It is generally thought that wherever the vine is black, all those parts may be cut off, the healthy parts not being touched; as no useful shoots can be put forth by wood that is bad in itself. If a meagre vine has not good stock-shoots, the best plan is to cut it down to the ground, and then to train new ones. In clearing away the leaves, too, those leaves should not be removed which accompany the clusters, for by so doing the grapes are made to fall off, except where the vine happens to be young. Those leaves are regarded as useless which grow on the sides of the trunk and not from an eye; and so, too, are the bunches which shoot from the hard, strong wood, and are only to be removed by the aid of the knife.

Some persons are of opinion that it is a better plan to fix the stay midway between two vines; and, indeed, by the adoption of this method the roots are cleared with greater facility. It is best, however, where the vine needs but a single cross-rail, due care being taken that the rail is a strong one, and the locality not exposed to high winds. In the case of those vines which require trellissed cross-rails, the stay should be placed as near as possible to the burden it has to support; in order, however, that there may be no impediment thrown in the way of clearing the roots, it may be placed at the distance of one cubit from the stock, but not more. It is generally recommended to clear the roots before the pruning[3144] is commenced.

Cato[3145] gives the following general precepts in relation to the culture of the vine:—“Let the vine grow as high as possible, and fasten it firmly, but not too tight. You should treat it in the following manner. Clean the roots of the vine at seed-time, and after pruning it dig about it, and then begin to labour at the ground, by tracing with the plough continuous furrows every way. Plant the young vines in layers as early as possible, and then break up the ground about them. If the vine is old, take care and prune it as little as possible. In preference, bend the vine into the ground for layers, if necessary, and cut it at the end of two years. The proper time for cutting the young vine, is when it has gained sufficient strength. If the vineyard is bald of vines, then draw furrows between them, and plant quicksets there: but let no shadow be thrown on the furrows, and take care and dig them often. If the vineyard is old, sow ocinum[3146] there, in case the trees are meagre: but take care and sow there nothing that bears seed. Put manure, chaff, and grape-husks about the roots, or, indeed, anything of a similar nature that will give the tree additional strength. As soon as the vine begins to throw out leaves, set about clearing them. Fasten the young trees in more places than one, so that the stem may not break. As soon as it begins to run along the stay, fasten down the young branches lightly, and extend them, in order that they may gain the right position. When the grape begins to be mottled, then tie down the vine. The first season for grafting the vine is the spring, the other when the grape is in blossom; the last period is the best. If it is your wish to transplant an old vine, you will only be able to do so in case it is no thicker than the arm: first, however, you must prune it, taking care not to have more than two buds upon the stem. Then dig it well up by the roots, being careful to trace them, and using every possible precaution not to injure them. Place it in the hole or furrow exactly in the position in which it has stood before, then cover it with earth, which should be well trodden down. You must then prop it up, fasten it, and turn it in the same direction as before; after which, dig about it repeatedly.” The ocinum that Cato here recommends to be sown in the vineyards, is a fodder known by that name by the ancients; it thrives in the shade remarkably well, and received its name[3147] from the rapidity with which it grows.

(23.) We come now to speak of the method of growing vines upon trees,[3148] a mode that has been condemned[3149] in the strongest terms by the Saserna’s, both father and son, and up-held by Scrofa, these being our most ancient writers on agriculture next to Cato, and men of remarkable skill. Indeed, Scrofa himself will not admit that it is beneficial anywhere except in Italy. The experience of ages, however, has sufficiently proved that the wines of the highest quality are only grown upon vines attached to trees, and that even then the choicest wines are produced by the upper part of the tree, the produce of the lower part being more abundant; such being the beneficial results of elevating the vine. It is with a view to this that the trees employed for this purpose are selected. In the first rank of all stands the elm,[3150] with the exception of the Atinian variety, which is covered with too many leaves; and next comes the black poplar, which is valued for a similar reason, being not so densely covered with leaves. Most people, too, by no means hold the ash and the fig in disesteem, as also the olive, if it is not overshadowed with branches. We have treated at sufficient length already of the planting and culture of these several trees.

They must not be touched with the knife before the end of three years; and then the branches are preserved, on each side in its turn, the pruning being done in alternate years. In the sixth year the vine is united to the tree. In Italy beyond the Padus, in addition to the trees already mentioned, they plant for their vines the cornel, the opulus, the linden, the maple, the ash, the yoke-elm, and the quercus; while in Venetia they grow willows for the purpose, on account of the humidity[3151] of the soil. The top of the elm is lopped away, and the branches of the middle are regularly arranged in stages; no tree in general being allowed to exceed twenty feet in height. The stories begin to spread out in the tree at eight feet from the ground, in the hilly districts and upon dry soils, and at twelve in champaign and moist localities. The hands[3152] of the trunk ought to have a southern aspect, and the branches that project from them should be stiff and rigid like so many fingers; at the same time due care should be taken to lop off the thin beardlike twigs, in order to check the growth of all shade. The interval best suited for the trees, if it is the grower’s intention to keep the soil turned up with the plough, is forty feet back and front, and twenty at the side; if it is not to be turned up, then twenty feet[3153] every way will do. A single tree is often made to support as many as ten vines, and the grower is greatly censured who attaches less than three. It is worse than useless to attach the vine before the tree has gained its full strength, as in such case its rapidity of growth would only tend to kill the tree. It is necessary to plant the vine in a trench three feet in depth, leaving an interval of one foot between it and the tree. In this case there is no necessity for using mallet shoots, or for going to any expense in spading or digging; for this method of training on trees has this advantage in particular, that it is beneficial even to the vine that corn should be sown in the same soil; in addition to which, from its height, it is quite able to protect itself, and does not call for the necessity, as in the case of an ordinary vineyard, of enclosing it with walls and hedges or ditches, made at a considerable expense, to protect it from injury by animals.

In the method of training upon trees, reproduction from quicksets or from layers is the only mode employed of all those that have been previously described; the growing by layers being effected two different ways, as already mentioned. The plan, however, of growing from layers in baskets set upon the stages[3154] of the tree is the most approved one, as it ensures an efficient protection from the ravages of cattle; while, according to another method, a vine or else a stock-branch is bent into the ground near the tree it has previously occupied, or else the nearest one that may be at liberty. It is recommended that all parts of the parent tree that appear above ground should then be scraped, so that it may not throw out wood; while at the same time there are never less than four buds on the part that is put into the ground for the purpose of taking root; there are also two buds left above ground at the head. The vine intended for training on a tree is planted in a furrow four feet long, three broad, and two and a half in depth. At the end of a year the layer is cut to the pith, to enable it to strengthen gradually at the root; after which, the end of the branch is pruned down to within two buds from the ground. At the end of two years the layer is completely separated from the stock, and buried deeper in the ground, that it may not shoot at the place where it has been cut. As to the quicksets, they ought to be removed directly after the vintage.

In more recent times, a plan has been discovered of planting a dragon branch near the tree—that being the name given to an old stock-branch that has become hard and tough in the course of years. For this purpose, it is cut as long as possible, and the bark is taken off from three-fourths of its length, that being the portion which is to be buried in the ground; hence it is, too, that it is called a “barked”[3155] plant. It is then laid at full length in the furrow, the remaining part protruding from the ground and reclining against the tree. This method is the most speedy one that can be adopted for growing the vine. If the vine is meagre or the soil impoverished, it is usual to keep it cut down as near to the ground as possible, until such time as the root is strengthened. Care, too, should be taken not to plant it covered with dew,[3156] nor yet while the wind is blowing from the north. The vine itself ought to look towards the north-east, but the young stock-shoots should have a southern aspect.

There should not be too great haste[3157] in pruning a young vine, but a beginning should be made by giving the wood and foliage a circular form, care being taken not to prune it until it has become quite strong; it should be remembered, too, that the vine, when trained upon a tree, is generally a year later in bearing fruit than when grown on the cross-piece. There are some persons, again, who altogether forbid that a vine should be pruned until such time as it equals the tree in height. At the first pruning it may be cut to within six feet from the ground, below which a shoot must be left, and encouraged to run out by bending the young wood. Upon this shoot, when pruned, there should not be more than three buds left. The branches that take their rise from these buds should be trained in the following year upon the lowermost stages of the tree, and so in each successive year taught to climb to the higher ones. Care, too, should always be taken to leave one hard, woody branch at each stage, as well as one breeding shoot, at liberty to mount as high as it pleases. In addition to these precautions, in all pruning, those shoots should be cut off which have borne fruit the last year, and after the tendrils[3158] have been cut away on every side fresh branches should be trained to run along the stages. In Italy the pruning is so managed that the shoots and tendrils of the vines are arranged so as to cover the branches of the tree, while the shoots of the vine in their turn are surrounded with clusters of grapes. In Gallia, on the other hand, the vine is trained to pass from tree to tree. On the Æmilian Way, again, the vine is seen embracing the trunks of the Atinian elms that line the road, while at the same time it carefully avoids their foliage.[3159]

It is a mark of ignorance in some persons to suspend the vine with a cord beneath the branches of the tree, to the great risk of stifling it; for it ought to be merely kept up with a withe of osier, and not tightly laced. Indeed, in those places where the willow abounds, the withes that it affords are preferred, on account of their superior suppleness, while the Sicilians employ for the purpose a grass, which they call “ampelodesmos:”[3160] throughout the whole of Greece, rushes, cyperus, and sedge[3161] are similarly employed. When at any time the vine has been liberated from its bonds, it should be allowed to range uncontrolled for some days, and to spread abroad at pleasure, as well as to recline upon the ground which it has been looking down upon the whole year through. For in the same manner that beasts of burden when released from the yoke, and dogs when they have returned from the chase, love to roll themselves on the ground, just so does the vine delight to stretch its loins. The tree itself, too, seems to rejoice, and, thus relieved from the continuous weight which has burdened it, to have all the appearance of now enjoying a free respiration. Indeed, there is no object in all the economy of Nature that does not desire certain alternations for the enjoyment of rest, witness the succession of night and day, for instance. It is for this reason that it is forbidden to prune the vine directly the vintage is over, and while it is still exhausted by the process of reproduction.

Directly the vine has been pruned, it ought to be fastened again to the tree, but in another place; for there is no doubt that it feels very acutely the indentations that are made in it by the holdfasts. In the Gallic method of cultivation they train out two branches at either side, if the trees are forty feet apart, and four if only twenty; where they meet, these branches are fastened together and made to grow in unison; if, too, they are anywhere deficient in number or strength, care is taken to fortify them by the aid of small rods. In a case, however, where the branches are not sufficiently long to meet, they are artificially prolonged by means of a hook, and so united to the tree that desires their company. The branches thus trained to unite they used to prune at the end of the second year. But where the vine is aged, it is a better plan to give them a longer time to reach the adjoining tree, in case they should not have gained the requisite thickness; besides which, it is always good to encourage the growth of the hard wood in the dragon branches.

There is yet another method,[3162] which occupies a middle place between this mode of propagation and that by layers. It consists of laying the entire vine in the earth, and then splitting the stock asunder by means of wedges; the fibrous portions are then trained out in as many furrows, care being taken to support each of the slender plants by fastening it to a stake, and not to cut away the branches that shoot from the sides. The growers of Novara, not content with the multitude of shoots that run from tree to tree, nor yet with an abundance of branches, encourage the stock-branches to entwine around forks planted in the ground for the purpose; a method, however, which, in addition to the internal defects arising from the soil, imparts a harshness to the wine.

There is another fault, too, that is committed by the people of Varracina,[3163] near Rome—they only prune their vines every other year; not, indeed, because it is advantageous to the tree, but from a fear lest, from the low prices fetched by their wines, the expense might exceed the profits. At Carseoli they adopt a middle course, by pruning away only the rotten parts of the vine, as well as those which are beginning to wither, and leaving the rest to bear fruit, after thus clearing away all superfluous incumbrances. The only nutriment they give it is this exemption from frequent pruning; but unless the soil should happen to be a very rich one, the vine, under such a method of cultivation, will very soon degenerate to a wild state.

The vine that is thus trained requires the ground to be ploughed very deep, though such is not the case for the sowing there of grain. It is not customary to cut away the leaves in this case, which, of course, is so much labour spared. The trees themselves require pruning at the same period as the vine, and are thinned by clearing away all useless branches, and such parts as would only absorb the nutriment. We have already[3164] stated that the parts that are lopped should never look north or south: and it will be better still, if they have not a western aspect. The wounds thus made are very susceptible for a considerable time, and heal with the greatest difficulty, if exposed to excesses of cold or heat. The vine when trained on a tree enjoys advantages that are not possessed by the others; for the latter have certain fixed aspects, while in the former, it is easy to cover up the wounds made in pruning, or to turn them whichever way you please. When trees are pruned at the top, cup-like cavities should be formed[3165] there, to prevent the water from lodging.

CHAP. 36.—HOW GRAPES ARE PROTECTED FROM THE RAVAGES OF INSECTS.

Stays, too, should be given to the vine for it to take hold of and climb upwards, if they are taller than it. (24.) Espaliers[3166] for vines of a high quality should be cut, it is said, at the Quinquatria,[3167] and when it is intended to keep the grapes, while the moon is on the wane. We are assured, moreover, that those which are cut at the change of the moon, are exempt from the attacks of all insects.[3168] According to another system, it is said that vines should be pruned by night at full moon, and while it is in Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Taurus: and that, in general, they ought to be planted either when the moon is at full or on the increase. In Italy, ten workmen will suffice for one hundred jugera of vineyard.

CHAP. 37.—THE DISEASES OF TREES.

Having now treated sufficiently at length of the planting and cultivation of trees—(for we have already said enough of the palm[3169] and the cytisus,[3170] when speaking of the exotic trees)—we shall proceed, in order that nothing may be omitted, to describe other details relative to their nature, which are of considerable importance, when taken in connection with all that precedes. Trees, we find, are attacked by maladies; and, indeed, what created thing is there that is exempt from these evils? Still however, the affections of the forest trees, it is said, are not attended[3171] with danger to them, and the only damage they receive is from hail-storms while they are budding and blossoming; with the exception, indeed, of being nipped either by heat or cold blasts in unseasonable weather; for frost, when it comes at the proper times, as we have already stated,[3172] is serviceable to them. “Well but,” it will be said, “is not the vine sometimes killed with cold?” No doubt it is, and this it is through which we detect inherent faults in the soils, for it is only in a cold soil that the vine will die. Just in the same way, too, in winter we approve of cold, so long as it is the cold of the weather, and not of the ground. It is not the weakest trees, too, that are endangered in winter by frost, but the larger ones. When they are thus attacked, it is the summit that dries away the first, from the circumstance that the sap becomes frozen before it is able to arrive there.

Some diseases of trees are common to them all, while others, again, are peculiar to individual kinds. Worms[3173] are common to them all, and so, too, is sideration,[3174] with pains in the limbs,[3175] which are productive of debility in the various parts. Thus do we apply the names of the maladies that prevail among mankind to those with which the plants are afflicted. In the same way, too, we speak of their bodies being mutilated, the eyes of the buds being burnt up, with many other expressions of a similar nature. It is in accordance with the same phraseology that we say that trees are afflicted with hunger or indigestion, both of which result from the comparative amount of sap that they contain; while some, again, are troubled with obesity, as in the case of all the resinous trees, which, when suffering from excessive fatness, are changed into a torch-tree.[3176] When the roots, too, begin to wax fat, trees, like animals, are apt to perish from excess of fatness. Sometimes, too, a pestilence[3177] will prevail in certain classes of trees, just as among men, we see maladies attack, at one time the slave class, and at another the common people, in cities or in the country, as the case may be.

Trees are more or less attacked by worms; but still, nearly all are subject to them in some degree, and this the birds[3178] are able to detect by the hollow sound produced on tapping at the bark. These worms even have now begun to be looked upon as delicacies[3179] by epicures, and the large ones found in the robur are held in high esteem; they are known to us by the name of “cossis;” and are even fed with meal, in order to fatten them! But it is the pear, the apple, and the fig[3180] that are most subject to their attacks, the trees that are bitter and odoriferous enjoying a comparative exemption from them. Of those which infest the fig, some breed in the tree itself, while others, again, are produced by the worm known as the cerastes; they all, however, equally assume the form of the cerastes,[3181] and emit a small shrill noise. The service-tree is infested, too, with a red hairy worm, which kills it; and the medlar, when old, is subject to a similar malady.

The disease known as sideration entirely depends upon the heavens; and hence we may class under this head, the ill effects produced by hail-storms, carbunculation,[3182] and the damage caused by hoar-frosts. When the approach of spring tempts the still tender shoots to make their appearance, and they venture to burst forth, the malady attacks them, and scorches up the eyes of the buds, filled as they are with their milky juices: this is what upon flowers they call “charcoal”[3183] blight. The consequences of hoar-frost to plants are even more dangerous still, for when it has once settled, it remains there in a frozen form, and there is never any wind to remove it, seeing that it never prevails except in weather that is perfectly calm and serene. Sideration, however, properly so called, is a certain heat and dryness that prevails at the rising of the[3184] Dog-star, and owing to which grafts and young trees pine away and die, the fig and the vine more particularly. The olive, also, besides the worm, to which it is equally subject with the fig, is attacked by the measles,[3185] or as some think fit to call it, the fungus or platter; it is a sort of blast produced by the heat of the sun. Cato[3186] says that the red moss[3187] is also deleterious to the olive. An excessive fertility, too, is very often injurious to the vine and the olive. Scab is a malady common to all trees. Eruptions,[3188] too, and the attacks of a kind of snail that grows on the bark, are diseases peculiar to the fig, but not in all countries; for there are some maladies that are prevalent in certain localities only.

In the same way that man is subject to diseases of the sinews, so are the trees as well, and, like him, in two different ways. Either[3189] the virulence of the disease manifests itself in the feet, or, what is the same thing, the roots of the tree, or else in the joints of the fingers, or, in other words, the extremities of the branches that are most distant from the trunk. The parts that are thus affected become dry and shrivel up: the Greeks have appropriate names[3190] by which to distinguish each of these affections. In either case the first symptoms are that the tree is suffering from pain, and the parts affected become emaciated and brittle; then follows rapid consumption and ultimately death; the juices being no longer able to enter the diseased parts, or, at all events, not circulating in them. The fig is more particularly liable to this disease: but the wild fig is exempt from all that we have hitherto mentioned. Scab[3191] is produced by viscous dews which fall after the rising of the Vergiliæ; but if they happen to fall copiously, they drench the tree, without making the bark rough. When the fig is thus attacked, the fruit falls off while green; and so, too, if there is too much rain. The fig suffers also from a superfluity of moisture in the roots.

In addition to worms and sideration, the vine is subject to a peculiar disease of its own, which attacks it in the joints, and is produced from one of the three following causes:—either the destruction of the buds by stormy weather, or else the fact, as remarked by Theophrastus, that the tree, when pruned, has been cut with the incisions upwards,[3192] or has been injured from want of skill in the cultivator. All the injury that is inflicted in these various ways is felt by the tree in the joints more particularly. It must be considered also as a species of sideration, when the cold dews make the blossoms fall off, and when the grapes harden[3193] before they have attained their proper size. Vines also become sickly when they are perished with cold, and the eyes are frost-bitten just after they have been pruned. Heat, too, out of season, is productive of similar results: for everything is regulated according to a fixed order and certain determinate movements. Some maladies, too, originate in errors committed by the vine-dresser; when they are tied too tight, for instance, as already mentioned,[3194] or when in trenching round them the digger has struck them an unlucky blow, or when in ploughing about them the roots have been strained through carelessness, or the bark has been stripped from off the trunk: sometimes, too, contusions are produced by the use of too blunt a pruning-knife. Through all the causes thus enumerated the tree is rendered more sensitive to either cold or heat, as every injurious influence from without is apt to concentrate in the wounds thus made. The apple, however, is the most delicate of them all, and more particularly the one that bears the sweetest fruit. In some trees weakness induced by disease is productive of barrenness, and does not kill the tree; as in the pine[3195] for instance, or the palm, when the top of the tree has been removed; for in such case the tree becomes barren, but does not die. Sometimes, too, the fruit itself is sickly, independently of the tree; for example, when there is a deficiency of rain, or of warmth, or of wind, at the periods at which they usually prevail, or when, on the other hand, they have prevailed in excess; for in such cases the fruit will either drop off or else deteriorate. But the worst thing of all that can befall the vine or the olive, is to be pelted with heavy showers just when the tree is shedding its blossom, for then the fruit is sure to fall off[3196] as well.

Rain, too, is productive of the caterpillar, a noxious insect that eats away the leaves, and, some of them, the blossoms as well; and this in the olive even, as we find the case at Miletus; giving to the half-eaten tree a most loathsome appearance. This pest is produced by the prevalence of a damp, languid heat; and if the sun should happen to shine after this with a more intense heat and burn them up, this pest only gives place to another[3197] just as bad, the aspect only of the evil being changed.

There is still one other affection that is peculiar to the olive and the vine, known as the “cobweb,”[3198] the fruit being enveloped in a web, as it were, and so stifled. There are certain winds, too, that are particularly blighting to the olive and the vine, as also to other fruits as well: and then besides, the fruits themselves, independently of the tree, are very much worm-eaten in some years, the apple, pear, medlar, and pomegranate for instance. In the olive the presence of the worm may be productive of a twofold result: if it grows beneath the skin, it will destroy the fruit, but if it is in the stone, it will only gnaw it away, making the fruit all the larger. The prevalence of showers after the rising of Arcturus[3199] prevents them from breeding; but if the rains are accompanied with wind from the south, they will make their appearance in the ripe fruit even, which are then very apt to fall. This happens more particularly in moist, watery localities; and even if they do not fall, the olives that are so affected are good for nothing. There is a kind of fly also that is very troublesome to some fruit, acorns and figs for instance: it would appear that they breed from the juices[3200] secreted beneath the bark, which at this period are sweet. These trees, too, are generally in a diseased state when this happens.

There are certain temporary and local influences which cause instantaneous death to trees, but which cannot properly be termed diseases; such, for example, as consumption, blast, or the noxious effects of some winds that are peculiar to certain localities; of this last nature are the Atabulus[3201] that prevails in Apulia, and the Olympias[3202] of Eubœa. This wind, if it happens to blow about the winter solstice, nips the tree with cold, and shrivels it up to such a degree that no warmth of the sun can ever revive it. Trees that are planted in valleys, and are situate near the banks of rivers, are especially liable to these accidents, the vine more particularly, the olive, and the fig. When this has been the case, it may instantly be detected the moment the period for germination arrives, though, in the olive, somewhat later. With all of these trees, if the leaves fall off, it is a sign that they will recover; but if such is not the case, just when you would suppose that they have escaped uninjured, they die. Sometimes, however, the leaves will become green again, after being dry and shrivelled. Other trees, again, in the northern regions, Pontus and Phrygia, for example, suffer greatly from cold or frost, in case they should continue for forty days after the winter solstice. In these countries, too, as well as in other parts, if a sharp frost or copious rains should happen to come on immediately after fructification, the fruit is killed in a very few days even.

Injuries inflicted by the hand of man are productive also of bad effects. Thus, for instance, pitch, oil, and grease,[3203] if applied to trees, and young ones more particularly, are highly detrimental. They may be killed, also, by removing a circular piece of the bark from around them, with the exception, indeed, of the cork-tree,[3204] which is rather benefitted than otherwise by the operation; for the bark as it gradually thickens tends to stifle and suffocate the tree: the andrachle,[3205] too, receives no injury from it, if care is taken not to cut the body of the tree. In addition to this, the cherry, the lime, and the vine shed their bark;[3206] not that portion of it, indeed, which is essential to life, and grows next the trunk, but the part that is thrown off, in proportion as the other grows beneath. In some trees the bark is naturally full of fissures, the plane for instance: in the linden it will all but grow again when removed. Hence, in those trees the bark of which admits of cicatrization, a mixture of clay and dung[3207] is employed by way of remedy; and sometimes with success, in case excessive cold or heat does not immediately supervene. In some trees, again, by the adoption of these methods death is only retarded, the robur and the quercus,[3208] for example. The season of the year has also its peculiar influences; thus, if the bark is removed from the fir and the pine, while the sun is passing through Taurus or Gemini, the period of their germination, they will instantly die, while in winter they are able to withstand the injurious effects of it much longer: the same is the case, too, with the holm-oak, the robur, and the quercus. In the trees above mentioned, if it is only a narrow circular strip of bark that is removed, no injurious effects will be perceptible; but in the case of the weaker trees, as well as those which grow in a thin soil, the same operation, if performed even on one side only, will be sure to kill them. The removal of the top,[3209] in the pitch-tree, the cedar, and the cypress is productive of a similar result; for if it is either cut off or destroyed by fire, the tree will not survive: the same is the case, too, if they are bitten by the teeth of animals.

Varro[3210] informs us, too, as we have already stated,[3211] that the olive, if only licked by a she-goat, will be barren.[3212] When thus injured, some trees will die, while in others the fruit becomes deteriorated, the almond,[3213] for instance, the fruit of which changes from sweet to bitter. In other cases, again, the tree is improved[3214] even—such, for instance, as the pear known in Chios as the Phocian pear. We have already mentioned[3215] certain trees, also, that are all the better for having the tops removed. Most trees perish when the trunk is split; but we must except the vine, the apple, the fig, and the pomegranate. Others, again, will die if only a wound is inflicted: the fig, however, as well as all the resinous trees, is proof against such injury. It is far from surprising that, when the roots of a tree are cut, death should be the result; most of them perish, however, when, not all the roots, but only the larger ones, and those which are more essential to life, have been severed.

Trees, too, will kill one another[3216] by their shade, or the density of their foliage, as also by the withdrawal of nourishment. Ivy,[3217] by clinging to a tree, will strangle[3218] it. The mistletoe, too, is far from beneficial, and the cytisus is killed by the plant to which the Greeks have given the name of halimon.[3219] It is the nature of some plants not to kill, but to injure, by the odour they emit, or by the admixture of their juices; such is the influence exercised by the radish and the laurel upon the vine.[3220] For the vine may reasonably be looked upon as possessed of the sense of smell, and affected by odours in a singular degree; hence, when it is near a noxious exhalation, it will turn away and withdraw from it. It was from his observation of this fact that Androcydes borrowed the radish[3221] as his antidote for drunkenness, recommending it to be eaten on such occasions. The vine, too, abhors all coleworts and garden herbs, and the hazel[3222] as well; indeed it will become weak and ailing if they are not removed to a distance from it. Nitre, alum, warm sea-water, and the shells of beans[3223] and fitches act as poisons on the vine.

CHAP. 38. (25.)—PRODIGIES CONNECTED WITH TREES.

Among the maladies which affect the various trees, we may find room for portentous prodigies also. For we find some trees that have never had a leaf upon them; a vine and a pomegranate bearing[3224] fruit adhering to the trunk, and not upon the shoots or branches; a vine, too, that bore grapes but had no leaves; and olives that have lost their leaves while the fruit remained upon the tree. There are some marvels also connected with trees that are owing to accident; an olive that was completely burnt, has been known to revive, and in Bœotia, some fig-trees that had been quite eaten away by locusts budded afresh.[3225] Trees, too, sometimes change their colour, and turn from black to white; this, however, must not always be looked upon as portentous, and more particularly in the case of those which are grown from seed; the white poplar, too, often becomes black. Some persons are of opinion also that the service-tree, if transplanted to a warmer locality, will become barren. But it is a prodigy, no doubt, when sweet fruits become sour, or sour fruits sweet; and when the wild fig becomes changed into the cultivated one, or vice versâ. It is sadly portentous,[3226] too, when the tree becomes deteriorated by the change, the cultivated olive changing into the wild, and the white grape or fig becoming black: such was the case, also, when upon the arrival of Xerxes there, a plane-tree at Laodicea was transformed into an olive. In such narratives as these, the book written in Greek by Aristander abounds, not to enter any further on so extended a subject; and we have in Latin the Commentaries of C. Epidius, in which we find it stated that trees have even been known to speak. In the territory of Cumæ, a tree, and a very ominous presage it was, sank into the earth shortly before the civil wars of Pompeius Magnus began, leaving only a few of the branches protruding from the ground. The Sibylline Books were accordingly consulted, and it was found that a war of extermination was impending, which would be attended with greater carnage the nearer it should approach the city of Rome.

Another kind of prodigy, too, is the springing up of a tree in some extraordinary and unusual place, the head of a statue, for instance, or an altar, or upon another tree even.[3227] A fig-tree shot forth from a laurel at Cyzicus, just before the siege of that city; and so in like manner, at Tralles, a palm issued from the pedestal of the statue of the Dictator Cæsar, at the period of his civil wars. So, too, at Rome, in the Capitol there, in the time of the wars against Perseus, a palm-tree grew from the head of the statue of Jupiter, a presage of impending victory and triumphs. This palm, however, having been destroyed by a tempest, a fig-tree sprang up in the very same place, at the period of the lustration made by the censors M. Messala and C. Cassius,[3228] a time at which, according to Piso, an author of high authority, all sense of shame had been utterly banished. Above all the prodigies, however, that have ever been heard of, we ought to place the one that was seen in our own time, at the period of the fall of the Emperor Nero, in the territory of Marrucinum; a plantation of olives, belonging to Vectius Marcellus, one of the principal members of the Equestrian order, bodily crossed the public highway, while the fields that lay on the opposite side of the road passed over to supply the place which had been thus vacated by the olive-yard.[3229]

CHAP. 39. (26.)—TREATMENT OF THE DISEASES OF TREES.

Having set forth the various maladies by which trees are attacked, it seems only proper to mention the most appropriate remedies as well. Some of these remedies may be applied to all kinds of trees in common, while others, again, are peculiar to some only. The methods that are common to them all, are, baring the roots, or moulding them up, thus admitting the air or keeping it away, as the case may be; giving them water, or depriving them of it, refreshing them with the nutritious juices of manure, and lightening them of their burdens by pruning. The operation, too, of bleeding,[3230] as it were, is performed upon them by withdrawing their juices, and the bark is scraped all round[3231] to improve them. In the vine, the stock branches are sometimes lengthened out, and at other times repressed; the buds too are smoothed, and in a measure polished up, in case the cold weather has made them rough and scaly. These remedies are better suited to some kinds of trees and less so to others: thus the cypress, for instance, has a dislike to water, and manifests an aversion to manure, spading round it, pruning, and, indeed, remedial operations of every kind; nay, what is more, it is killed by irrigation, while, on the other hand, the vine and the pomegranate receive their principal nutriment from it. In the fig, again, the tree is nourished by watering, while the very same thing will make the fruit pine and die: the almond, too, if the ground is spaded about it, will lose its blossom. In the same way, too, there must be no digging about the roots of trees when newly grafted, or indeed until such time as they are sufficiently strong to bear. Many trees require that all superfluous burdens should be pruned away from them, just as we ourselves cut the nails and hair. Old trees are often cut down to the ground, and then shoot up again from one of the suckers; this, however, is not the case with all of them, but only those, the nature of which, as we have already stated,[3232] will admit of it.

CHAP. 40.—METHODS OF IRRIGATION.

Watering is good for trees during the heats of summer, but injurious in winter; the effects of it are of a varied nature in autumn, and depend upon the peculiar nature of the soil. Thus, in Spain for instance, the vintager gathers the grapes while the ground beneath is under water; on the other hand, in most parts of the world, it is absolutely necessary to carry off the autumn rains by draining. It is about the rising of the Dog-star that irrigation is so particularly beneficial; but even then it ought not to be in excess, as the roots are apt to become inebriated, and to receive injury therefrom. Care should be taken, too, to proportion it to the age of the tree, young trees being not so thirsty as older ones; those too which require the most water, are the ones that have been the most used to it. On the other hand, plants which grow in a dry soil, require no more moisture than is absolutely necessary to their existence.

CHAP. 41.—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH IRRIGATION.

In the Fabian district, which belongs to the territory of Sulmo[3233] in Italy, where they are in the habit, also, of irrigating the fields, the natural harshness of the wines makes it necessary to water the vineyards; it is a very singular thing, too, that the water there kills all the weeds, while at the same time it nourishes the corn, thus acting in place of the weeding-hook. In the same district, too, at the winter solstice, and more particularly when the snow is on the ground or frosts prevail, they irrigate the land, a process which they call “warming” the soil. This peculiarity, however, exists in the water of one river[3234] only, the cold of which in summer is almost insupportable.

CHAP. 42. (27.)—INCISIONS MADE IN TREES.

The proper remedies for charcoal-blight and mildew[3235] will be pointed out in the succeeding Book.[3236] In the meantime, however, we may here observe that among the remedies may be placed that by scarification.[3237] When the bark becomes meagre and impoverished by disease, it is apt to shrink, and so compress the vital parts of the tree to an excessive degree: upon which, by means of a sharp pruning knife held with both hands, incisions are made perpendicularly down the tree, and a sort of looseness, as it were, imparted to the skin. It is a proof that the method has been adopted with success, when the fissures so made remain open and become filled with wood of the trunk growing between the lips.

CHAP. 43.—OTHER REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF TREES.

The medical treatment of trees in a great degree resembles that of man, seeing that in certain cases the bones of them both are perforated even.[3238] The bitter almond will become sweet, if, after spading round the trunk and cleaning it, the lowermost part of it is pierced all round, so that the humours may have a passage for escape and ensure being removed. In the elm, too, the superfluous juices are drawn off, by piercing the tree above ground to the pith when it is old, or when it is found to suffer from an excess of nutriment. So, too, when the bark of the fig is turgid and swollen, the confined juices are discharged by means of light incisions made in a slanting direction; by the adoption of which method the fruit is prevented from falling off. When fruit-trees bud but bear no fruit, a fissure is made in the root, and a stone inserted; the result of which is, that they become productive.[3239] The same is done also with the almond, a wedge of robur being employed for the purpose. For the pear and the service tree a wedge of torch-wood is used, and then covered over with ashes and earth. It is even found of use, too, to make circular incisions around the roots of the vine and fig, when the vegetation is too luxuriant, and then to throw ashes over the roots. A late crop of figs is ensured, if the first fruit is taken off when green and little larger than a bean; for it is immediately succeeded by fresh, which ripens at a later period than usual. If the tops of each branch are removed from the fig, just as it is beginning to put forth leaves, its strength and productiveness are greatly increased. As to caprification, the effect of that is to ripen the fruit.

CHAP. 44.—CAPRIFICATION, AND PARTICULARS CONNECTED WITH THE FIG.

It is beyond all doubt that in caprification the green fruit gives birth to a kind of gnat;[3240] for when they have taken flight, there are no seeds to be found within the fruit: from this it would appear that the seeds have been transformed into these gnats. Indeed, these insects are so eager to take their flight, that they mostly leave behind them either a leg or a part of a wing on their departure. There is another species of gnat,[3241] too, that grows in the fig, which in its indolence and malignity strongly resembles the drone of the bee-hive, and shows itself a deadly enemy to the one that is of real utility; it is called centrina, and in killing the others it meets its own death.

Moths, too, attack the seeds of the fig: the best plan of getting rid of them, is to bury a slip of mastich,[3242] turned upside down, in the same trench. The fig, too, is rendered extremely productive[3243] by soaking red earth in amurca, and laying it, with some manure, upon the roots of the tree, just as it is beginning to throw out leaves. Among the wild figs, the black ones, and those which grow in rocky places, are the most esteemed, from the fact of the fruit containing the most seed. Caprification takes place most advantageously just after rain.

CHAP. 45.—ERRORS THAT MAY BE COMMITTED IN PRUNING.

But, before everything, especial care should be taken that intended remedies are not productive of ill results; as these may arise from either remedial measures being applied in excess or at unseasonable times. Clearing away the branches is of the greatest benefit to trees, but to slaughter[3244] them this way every year, is productive of the very worst results. The vine is the only tree that requires lopping every year, the myrtle, the pomegranate, and olive every other; the reason being that these trees shoot with great rapidity. The other trees are lopped less frequently, and none of them in autumn; the trunk even is never scraped,[3245] except in spring. In pruning a tree, all that is removed beyond what is absolutely necessary, is so much withdrawn from its vitality.

CHAP. 46.—THE PROPER MODE OF MANURING TREES.

The same precautions, too, are to be regarded in manuring. Though manure is grateful to the tree, still it is necessary to be careful not to apply it while the sun is hot, or while it is too new, or more stimulating than is absolutely necessary. The dung of swine will burn[3246] up the vine, if used at shorter intervals than those of five years; unless, indeed, it is mixed with water. The same is the case, too, with the refuse of the currier’s workshop, unless it is well diluted with water: manure will scorch also, if laid on land too plentifully. It is generally considered the proper proportion, to use three modii to every ten feet square; this, however, the nature of the soil must decide.

CHAP. 47.—MEDICAMENTS FOR TREES.

Wounds and incisions of trees are treated also with pigeon dung and swine manure. If pomegranates are acid, the roots of the tree are cleared, and swine’s dung is applied to them: the result is, that in the first year the fruit will have a vinous flavour, but in the succeeding one it will be sweet. Some persons are of opinion that the pomegranate should be watered four times a year with a mixture of human urine and water, at the rate of an amphora to each tree; or else that the extremities of the branches should be sprinkled with silphium[3247] steeped in wine. The stalk of the pomegranate should be twisted, if it is found to split while on the tree. The fig, too, should be drenched with the amurca of olives, and other trees when they are ailing, with lees of wine; or else lupines may be sown about the roots. The water, too, of a decoction of lupines is beneficial to the fruit, if poured upon the roots of the tree. When it thunders at the time of the Vulcanalia,[3248] the figs fall off; the only remedy for which is to have the area beneath ready covered with barley-straw. Lime applied to the roots of the tree makes cherries come sooner to maturity, and ripen more rapidly. The best plan, too, with the cherry, as with all other kinds, is to thin the fruit, so that that which is left behind may grow all the larger.

(28.) There are some trees, again, which thrive all the better for being maltreated,[3249] or else are stimulated by pungent substances; the palm and the mastich for instance, which derive nutriment from salt water.[3250] Ashes have the same virtues as salt, only in a more modified degree; for which reason it is, that fig-trees are sprinkled with them; as also with rue,[3251] to keep away worms, and to prevent the roots from rotting. What is still more even, it is recommended to throw salt[3252] water on the roots of vines, if they are too full of humours; and if the fruit falls off, to sprinkle them with ashes and vinegar, or with sandarach if the grapes are rotting.[3253] If, again, a vine is not productive, it should be sprinkled and rubbed with strong vinegar and ashes; and if the grapes, instead of ripening, dry and shrivel up, the vine should be lopped near the roots,[3254] and the wound and fibres drenched with strong vinegar and stale urine; after which, the roots should be covered up with mud annealed with these liquids, and the ground spaded repeatedly.

As to the olive, if it gives promise of but little fruit, the roots should be bared, and left exposed to the winter cold,[3255] a mode of treatment for which it is all the better.

All these operations depend each year upon the state of the weather, and require to be sometimes retarded, and at other times precipitated. The very element of fire even has its own utility, in the case of the reed for instance; which, after the reed-bed has been burnt, will spring up all the thicker and more pliable.[3256]

Cato,[3257] too, gives receipts for certain medicaments, specifying the proportions as well; for the roots of the large trees he prescribes an amphora, and for those of the smaller ones, an urna, of amurca of olives, mixed with water in equal proportions, recommending the roots to be cleared, and the mixture to be gradually poured upon them. In addition to this, in the case of the olive and the fig, he recommends that a layer of straw should be first placed around them. In the fig, too, more particularly, he says that in spring the roots should be well moulded up; the result of which is, that the fruit will not fall off while green, and the tree will be all the more productive, and not affected with roughness of the bark. In the same way, too,[3258] to prevent the vine-fretter[3259] from attacking the tree, he recommends that two congii of amurca of olives should be boiled down to the consistency of honey, after which it must be boiled again with one-third part of bitumen, and one-fourth of sulphur; and this should be done, he says, in the open air, for fear of its igniting if prepared in-doors; with this mixture, the vine is to be anointed at the ends of the branches and at the axils; after which, no more fretters will be seen. Some persons are content to make a fumigation with this mixture while the wind is blowing towards the vine, for three days in succession.

Many persons, again, attribute no less utility and nutritious virtue to urine than Cato does to amurca; only they add to it an equal proportion of water, it being injurious if employed by itself. Some give the name of “volucre”[3260] to an insect which eats away the young grapes: to prevent this, they rub the pruning-knife, every time it is sharpened, upon a beaver-skin, and then prune the tree with it: it is recommended also, that after the pruning, the knife should be well rubbed with the blood of a bear.[3261] Ants, too, are a great pest to trees; they are kept away, however, by smearing the trunk with red earth and tar: if a fish, too, is hung up in the vicinity of the tree, these insects will collect in that one spot. Another method, again, is to pound lupines in oil,[3262] and anoint the roots with the mixture. Many people kill both ants as well as moles[3263] with amurca, and preserve apples from caterpillars as well as from rotting, by touching the top of the tree with the gall of a green lizard.

Another method, too, of preventing caterpillars, is to make a woman,[3264] with her monthly courses on her, go round each tree, barefooted and ungirt. Again, for the purpose of preventing animals from doing mischief by browsing upon the leaves, they should be sprinkled with cow-dung each time after rain, the showers having the effect of washing away the virtues of this application.

The industry of man has really made some very wonderful discoveries, and, indeed, has gone so far as to lead many persons to believe, that hail-storms may be averted by means of a certain charm, the words of which I really could not venture seriously to transcribe; although we find that Cato[3265] has given those which are employed as a charm for sprained limbs, employing splints of reed in conjunction with it. The same author,[3266] too, has allowed of consecrated trees and groves being cut down, after a sacrifice has first been offered: the form of prayer, and the rest of the proceedings, will be found fully set forth in the same work of his.

SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, eight hundred and eighty.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Cornelius Nepos,[3267] Cato[3268] the Censor, M. Varro,[3269] Celsus,[3270] Virgil,[3271] Hyginus,[3272] Saserna[3273] father and son, Scrofa,[3274] Calpurnius Bassus,[3275] Trogus,[3276] Æmilius Macer,[3277] Græcinus,[3278] Columella,[3279] Atticus Julius,[3280] Fabianus,[3281] Mamilius Sura,[3282] Dossenus Mundus,[3283] C. Epidius,[3284] L. Piso.[3285]

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Hesiod,[3286] Theophrastus,[3287] Aristotle,[3288] Democritus,[3289] Theopompus,[3290] King Hiero,[3291] King Attalus[3292] Philometor, King Archelaus,[3293] Archytas,[3294] Xenophon,[3295] Amphilochus[3296] of Athens, Anaxipolis[3297] of Thasos, Apollodorus[3298] of Lemnos, Aristophanes[3299] of Miletus, Antigonus[3300] of Cymæ, Agathocles[3301] of Chios, Apollonius[3302] of Pergamus, Bacchius[3303] of Miletus, Bion[3304] of Soli, Chæreas[3305] of Athens, Chæristus[3306] of Athens, Diodorus[3307] of Priene, Dion[3308] of Colophon, Epigenes[3309] of Rhodes, Euagon[3310] of Thasos, Euphronius[3311] of Athens, Androtion[3312] who wrote on Agriculture, Æschrion[3313] who wrote on Agriculture, Lysimachus[3314] who wrote on Agriculture, Dionysius[3315] who translated Mago, Diophanes[3316] who made an Epitome of Dionysius, Aristander[3317] who wrote on Portents.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In B. xii. c. 32—it is supposed by some that it is the Roman Libra that is meant, under the name of “Mina,” as containing eighty-four Denarii. If so, it must be the old Roman Libra, as it is more generally thought that the Libra of Pliny’s time contained ninety-six Denarii, of sixty grains, within a fraction.

[2] One thousand Paces made a Roman “Mille Passuum,” or Mile, 1618 yards English.

[3] “Immensæ subtilitatis.” As Cuvier remarks, the ancients have committed more errors in reference to the insects, than to any other portion of the animal world. The discovery of the microscope has served more than anything to correct these erroneous notions.

[4] “Insecta,” “articulated.”

[5] The trunk of the gnat, Cuvier says, contains five silken and pointed threads, which together have the effect of a sting.

[6] The Teredo navalis of Linnæus, not an insect, but one of the mollusks. This is the same creature that is mentioned in B. xvi. c. 80; but that spoken of in B. viii. c. 74, must have been a land insect.

[7] They respire by orifices in the sides of the body, known to naturalists as _stigmata_. The whole body, Cuvier says, forms, in a measure, a system of lungs.

[8] Cuvier remarks that the various noises made by insects are in reality not the voice, as they are not produced by air passing through a larynx.

[9] B. ix. c. 6.

[10] Cuvier remarks, that they have a nourishing fluid, which is of a white colour, and acts in place of blood.

[11] The dye of sæpia, Cuvier remarks, is not blood, nor does it act as such, being an excrementitious liquid. It has in addition a bluish, transparent, blood. The same also with the juices of the purple.

[12] “Nervos.” Cuvier says that all insects have a brain, a sort of spinal marrow, and nerves.

[13] “Tutius.”

[14] Insects have no fat, Cuvier says, except when in the chrysalis state; but they have a fibrous flesh of a whitish colour. They have also viscera, trachea, nerves, and a most complicated organization.

[15] “Melligo.” For further information on this subject consult Bevan on the Honey Bee.

[16] Or “conusis,” “gummy matter.”

[17] Pitch-wax.

[18] A kind of bee-glue; the origin of the name does not seem to be known. Reaumur says that they are all different varieties of bee-glue.

[19] See B. xxii. c. 50.

[20] Different combinations of the pollen of flowers, on which bees feed.

[21] It is formed from the honey that the bee has digested.

[22] Sorrel, or monk’s rhubarb.

[23] A kind of broom.

[24] Spanish broom, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. Ropes were made of it. See B. xix. c. 7.

[25] Or, the “wild man.”

[26] Huber has discovered that there are two kinds of bees of neutral sex, or, as he calls them, unprolific females, the workers, which go out, and the nurses, which are smaller, and stay in the hive to tend the larvæ.

[27] From the honey found in the corollæ of flowers. This, after being prepared in the first stomach of the bee, is deposited in the cell which is formed for its reception.

[28] Cuvier says that the three kinds of cells are absolutely necessary, and that they do not depend on the greater or less abundance. The _king_ of the ancients is what we know as the _queen_ bee, which is impregnated by the drones or males.

[29] This is the fact, but not so their _imperfect_ state.

[30] They do not work, but merely impregnate the queen; after which they are driven from the hive, and perish of cold and starvation.

[31] It appears, as Cuvier says, that the ancients had _some_ notion that the swarm was multiplied by the aid of the drones.

[32] Cuvier says that the cell for the future queen is different from the others, and much larger. The bees also supply the queen larva much more abundantly with food, and of more delicate quality.

[33] Cuvier says that this coincidence with the number of the legs is quite accidental, as it is with the mouth that the animal constructs the cell.

[34] The basis of it is really derived from the calix or corolla of flowers.

[35] See B. iv. c. 24.

[36] In the last Chapter.

[37] Or “Flower-honey.”

[38] Season-honey.

[39] “Vinegar” is the ordinary meaning.

[40] Sillig remarks that the whole of this passage is corrupt.

[41] Hence, perhaps, its name of “acetum.”

[42] The people of Italy.

[43] The 10th of the calends of September, or 23rd August.

[44] Or “heath-honey.” In the north of England the hives are purposely taken to the moors.

[45] “Erice,” “heather,” seems to be a preferable reading to “myrice,” “tamarisk,” which is adopted by Sillig.

[46] 12th September.

[47] “Tetralicem” seems preferable to “tamaricem.”

[48] 13th November.

[49] “Unsmoked” honey.

[50] It takes place while they are on the wing.

[51] The only prolific _female_, in reality.

[52] Some unprolific females and some males, in reality.

[53] Cuvier thinks that either hornets, or else the drones, must be alluded to. Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 197, _et seq._, is one of those who think that bees are produced from flowers.

[54] _I. e._ from flowers.

[55] They arrange the eggs in the cells, but they cannot be said to _sit_.

[56] This is not the fact. The queen bee commences as a larva, and that the larva of a working bee, Cuvier says, which, placed in a larger cell, and nurtured in a different manner, developes its sex and becomes the queen of the new swarm.

[57] They are then in the chrysalis state.

[58] “Clavus.”

[59] It is the first hatched _queen_ that puts the others to death.

[60] In consequence, really, of their pregnancy.

[61] The greater size of the abdomen makes the wings _look_ shorter.

[62] The queen has a sting, like the working bees, but uses it less frequently.

[63] A place in Germany, where Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, gained a victory over the Germans: the locality is unknown.

[64] “Fur.” A variety, probably, of the drone.

[65] So Virgil says—

——“Hæc certamina tanta Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent.”—_Georg._ iv. 87.

[66] If it is left in the wound, the insect dies, being torn asunder.

[67] Of course this is fabulous, as the drones are males.

[68] Though belonging to the same class, they are not of degenerate kinds.

[69] The “mule-gnat.”

[70] See Virgil, Georg. B. iv. l. 27.

[71] The reading seems doubtful, and the meaning is probably unknown.

[72] “Injury of the young.”

[73] There are two kinds of hive-moth—the Phalæna tinea mellanella of Linnæus, and the Phalæna tortrix cereana. It deposits its larva in holes which it makes in the wax.

[74] In consequence of closing the stigmata, and so impeding their respiration. The same result, no doubt, is produced by the honey when smeared over their bodies.

[75] B. xxi. c. 42.

[76] Cuvier says that a hive has been known to last more than thirty years: but it is doubtful if bees ever live so long as ten, or, except the queen, little more than one.

[77] Though Virgil tells the same story, in B. iv. of the Georgics, in relation to the shepherd Aristæus, all this is entirely fabulous.

[78] Georg. B. iv. l. 284, _et seq._

[79] Under roofs, and sometimes in the ground: hornets build in the hollows of trees.

[80] Called “Sphæx” by Linnæus.

[81] The true version is, that after killing the insect they bury it with their eggs as food for their future young.

[82] Cuvier says that it is the males, and not the females, that have no sting.

[83] What modern naturalists call the “Hymenoptera.”

[84] Some kind of wasp, or, as Cuvier says, probably the mason bee.

[85] Called “bombyx” also; though, as Cuvier remarks, of a kind altogether different from the preceding one.

[86] The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of _Coæ vestes_. These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk.

[87] This account is derived from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 19.

[88] “Lanificia.”

[89] Early in the reign of Tiberius, as we learn from Tacitus, the senate enacted “ne vestis Serica viros fædaret”—“That men should not defile themselves by wearing garments of silk,” Ann. B. ii. c. 33.

[90] The Aranea lupus of Linnæus.

[91] As Cuvier observes, he has here guessed at the truth.

[92] They copulate in a manner dissimilar to that of any other insects—the male fecundates the female by the aid of feelers, which he introduces into the vulva of the female situate beneath the anterior part of the abdomen.

[93] Cuvier remarks, that the scorpion is viviparous; but the young are white when born, and wrapped up in an oval mass, for which reason they may easily be taken for maggots or grubs.

[94] This must be understood of the scorpion of Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The sting of that of the south of Europe is not generally dangerous.

[95] Cuvier seems to regard this as fanciful: he says that the instances of _seven_ joints are but rarely to be met with.

[96] There are no winged scorpions. Cuvier thinks that he may possibly allude to the panorpis, or scorpion-fly, the abdomen of which terminates in a forceps, which resembles the tail of the scorpion.

[97] Probably the panorpis.

[98] See B. xxix. c. 29.

[99] The starred or spotted lizard.

[100] The stellio of the Romans is the “ascalabos” or “ascalabotes” of the Greeks, the lizard into which Ascalabus was changed by Ceres: see Ovid, Met. B. v. l. 450, _et seq._ Pliny also mentions this in B. xxix. c. 4, though he speaks of some difference in their appearance. It is a species of gecko, the tarentola of Italy, the tarente of Provence, and the geckotta, probably, of Lacepède. The gecko, Cuvier says, is not venomous; but it causes small blisters to rise on the skin when it walks over it, the result, probably, of the extreme sharpness of its nails.

[101] See c. 28 of this Book, and B. viii. c. 95; B. xxx. c. 27.

[102] A general name for the grasshopper. Cuvier remarks, that Pliny is less clear on this subject than Aristotle, the author from whom he has borrowed.

[103] “Correptis” seems a preferable reading to “conrupti,” that adopted by Sillig.

[104] The female has this, and employs it for piercing dead branches in which to deposit its eggs.

[105] The “mother of the grasshopper.”

[106] The trunk of the grasshopper, Cuvier says, is situate so low down, that it seems to be attached to the breast. With it the insect extracts the juices of leaves and stalks.

[107] Or “twig-grasshopper.”

[108] Or “corn-grasshopper.”

[109] Or “oat-grasshopper.”

[110] The river Cæcina. See B. iii. c. 15. This river is by Strabo, B. vi. c. 260, called the Alex. Ælian has the story that the Locrian grasshoppers become silent in the territory of Rhegium, and those of Rhegium in the territory of Locri, thereby implying that they each have a note in its own respective country.

[111] Cuvier says that the observations in this Chapter, derived from Aristotle, are remarkable for their exactness, and show that that philosopher had studied insects with the greatest attention.

[112] Or sheath; the Coleoptera of the naturalists.

[113] The flying stag-beetle, the Lucanus cervus of Linnæus.

[114] The dung-beetle, the Scarabæus pilularius of Linnæus.

[115] Various kinds of crickets.

[116] Cuvier says that it is on the two sides of the abdomen that the male carries its light, while the whole posterior part of the female is shining.

[117] In the glow-worm of France, the Lampyris noctiluca of Linnæus, the female is without wings, while the male gives but little light. In that of Italy, the Lampyris Italica, both sexes are winged.

[118] “Blattæ.” See B. xxix. c. 39, where three kinds are specified.

[119] This beetle appears to be unknown. Cuvier suggests that the Scarabæus nasicornis of Linnæus, which haunts dead bark, or the Scarabæus auratus may be the insect referred to.

[120] “Fatal to the beetle.”

[121] Cuvier remarks that this assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, is incorrect. The wings of many of the Coleoptera are articulated in the middle, and so double, one part on the other, to enter the sheath.

[122] Cuvier remarks, that the panorpis has a tail very like that of the scorpion; and that the ephemera, the ichneumons and others, have tails also. Aristotle, in the corresponding place, only says that the insects do not use the tail to direct their flight.

[123] These are merely the feelers of the jaws.

[124] Not instead of, but in addition to, the tongue, by the aid of which they suck.

[125] Evidently meaning the trunk.

[126] See B. xxix. c. 39.

[127] It is not true that the young locusts are destitute of feet.

[128] 7th May.

[129] 18th July.

[130] 11th May.

[131] Cuvier treats this story as purely imaginary.

[132] Cuvier says that some have been known nearly a foot long, but not more.

[133] He alludes to the ravages committed by the swarms of the migratory locust, Grillus migratorius of Linnæus.

[134] Julius Obsequens speaks of a pestilence there, created by the dead bodies of the locusts, which caused the death of 8000 persons.

[135] See also B. vi. c. 35.

[136] What are commonly called ants’ eggs, are in reality their larvæ and nymphæ. Enveloped in a sort of tunic, these last, Cuvier says, are like grains of corn, and from this probably has arisen the story that they lay up grains against the winter, a period through which in reality they do not eat.

[137] They stow away bits of meat and detached portions of fruit, to nourish their larvæ with their juices.

[138] It is in reality their larvæ that they thus bring out to dry. The working ants, or neutrals, are the ones on which these labours devolve: the males and females are winged, the working ants are without wings.

[139] “Ad recognitionem mutuam.”

[140] Some modern writers express an opinion that when they meet, they converse and encourage one another by the medium of touch and smell.

[141] See B. v. c. 31.

[142] M. de Veltheim thinks that by this is really meant the Canis corsac, the small fox of India, but that by some mistake it was represented by travellers as an ant. It is not improbable, Cuvier says, that some quadruped, in making holes in the ground, may have occasionally thrown up some grains of the precious metal. The story is derived from the narratives of Clearchus and Megasthenes. Another interpretation of this story has also been suggested. We find from some remarks of Mr. Wilson, in the _Transactions of the Asiatic Society_, on the Mahabharata, a Sanscrit poem, that various tribes on the mountains Meru and Mandara (supposed to lie between Hindostan and Tibet) used to sell grains of gold, which they called _paippilaka_, or “ant-gold,” which, they said, was thrown up by ants, in Sanscrit called _pippilaka_. In travelling westward, this story, in itself, no doubt, untrue, may very probably have been magnified to its present dimensions.

[143] Cuvier observes, that this is a very correct account of the cabbage or radish butterfly, the Papilio brassicæ or Papilio raphani of Linnæus.

[144] Cossi. See B. xvii. c. 37.

[145] Tæniæ.

[146] He alludes to the Morbus pediculosus.

[147] Aristotle says, in the corresponding passage, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 26, that the animals which are affected by lice, are more

## particularly exposed to them when they change the water in which they

wash.

[148] Or “leapers.”

[149] He alludes to dog-ticks and ox-ticks, the Acarus ricinus of Linnæus, and the Acarus reduvius of Schrank.

[150] In c. 32 he has said the same of the grasshopper; in relation to its drink.

[151] A variety of the Cynips of Linnæus, which in vast numbers will sometimes adhere to the ears of dogs.

[152] These are really the larvæ of night-moths. His account here is purely imaginary.

[153] He speaks of the Cynips psenes of Linnæus, which breeds on the blossom of the fig-tree, and aids in its fecundation. See B. xv. c. 21.

[154] He alludes to various coleopterous insects, which are not included among the Cantharides of the modern naturalists. They are first an egg, then a larva, then a nympha, and then the insect fully developed.

[155] See B. xxix. c. 30.

[156] The redness sometimes observed on the snow of the Alps and the Pyrenees, is supposed by De Lamarck to be produced by animalculæ: other naturalists, however, suppose it to arise from vegetable or mineral causes.

[157] Cuvier thinks that he alludes to a variety of the ephemera or the phryganea of Linnæus, the case-wing flies, many of which are

## particularly short-lived. These are by no means peculiar to the river

Bog or Hypanis.

[158] “Living for a day.”

[159] They only _appear_ to be so, from the peculiar streaks on the eyes. Linnæus has hence called one variety, the Tabanus cæcutiens.

[160] Or with pounded chalk or whitening. Ælian adds, “if they are placed in the sun,” which appears necessary for the full success of the experiment. Life appears to be suspended in such cases for a period of surprising length.

[161] Probably the golden pheasant, as already mentioned.

[162] Some kind of heron or crane, Cuvier thinks.

[163] The Alauda cristata of Linnæus, so called from “galera,” a pointed cap like a helmet.

[164] The fifth legion.

[165] The hoopoe, B. x. c. 44.

[166] Savigny and Cuvier take this to be the Ardea virgo of Linnæus, a native of Numidia.

[167] The suddenness of their appearance, no doubt, was fabulous; but we have well-authenticated cases in recent times of substances growing on the human head, to all appearance resembling horns, and arising from a disordered secretion of the hair. Witness the case of Mary Davies, a so-called horn from whose head is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The story of Genucius Cippus, the Roman prætor, is told by Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 565, _et seq._

[168] A spitter, or second year stag, according to Cuvier.

[169] “Broad-horned.” The Cervus dama of Linnæus.

[170] “Dama.” The Antelope redunca of Linnæus, Cuvier thinks.

[171] No doubt a kind of antelope.

[172] “Lyras” seems preferable to “liras.”

[173] There are several varieties of oxen, in which the horns adhere to the skin, and not to the cranium.

[174] B. viii. cc. 29-31.

[175] The Coluber cerastes of Linnæus. See B. viii. c. 35.

[176] The drinking-horns of our Saxon ancestors are well known to the antiquarian.

[177] The “urna” was half an “amphora,” or nearly three gallons.

[178] See B. xxxv. c. 41.

[179] The rhinoceros. See B. viii. c. 39.

[180] He surely must except the Phrygian oxen with the moveable horns, which he has previously mentioned.

[181] Or “long-haired.” See B. iii. c. 7.

[182] See B. iv. c. 31.

[183] See B. iv. c. 22.

[184] See B. v. c. 29.

[185] Φαλακροκόραξ. See B. x. c. 68.

[186] He borrows this from Aristotle.

[187] B. viii. c. 54, and B. x. c. 58. The skull of the bear is not thinner or weaker than that of other animals of its own size; but the skull of the parrot, in proportion to those of other birds, is remarkably hard.

[188] See B. vii. c. 1.

[189] Cuvier says that these are the larvæ of the œstrus, which are deposited on the lips of quadrupeds, and so make their way to various cavities.

[190] B. ix. c. 40.

[191] Or razor-sheath. See B. x. c. 88.

[192] Aristotle was of this opinion, but Galen maintained that the mole _can_ see. Its eye is extremely small, and hard on the surface.

[193] Or “white” heron. As Cuvier remarks, this is probably a mere augur’s fable.

[194] It is almost needless to remark, that both snails, as well as locusts and grasshoppers, _have_ eyes.

[195] Lumbricus.

[196] B. vii. c. 2.

[197] “Cæsii.”

[198] The same has been said also of Cardan, the elder Scaliger, Theodore Beza, the French physician Mairan, and the republican Camille Desmoulins.

[199] Caligula.

[200] Hardouin with justice doubts the soundness of this alleged reason.

[201] He alludes, probably, to some method of curing cataract; perhaps somewhat similar to that mentioned by him in B. xx. c. 20.

[202] This was done by the nearest relatives. This usage still prevails in this country, the eyelids being pressed down with pieces of gold or silver.

[203] Or “squint-eyed.”

[204] Or “cock-eyed.”

[205] B. viii. c. 45.

[206] B. viii, c. 51.

[207] See B. xxv. c. 50.

[208] Or crustaceous covering.

[209] Kohl is still used in the east for the same purpose.

[210] Aristotle says so, Hist. Anim. B. iii. c. 10.

[211] “The eyebrows.”

[212] This is not the fact.

[213] With their nails when mourning for the dead.

[214] Hence the word “nasutus,” a sneering, captious, or sarcastic man.

[215] “Flat-nosed,” and “snub-nosed.”

[216] A Roman family—the reading of this word seems doubtful.

[217] In reality, the under one only.

[218] He is incorrect in speaking of dogs as having serrated teeth.

[219] In the dugong also, babiroussa, muntjac, and others.

[220] The morse and the dugong are instances to the contrary.

[221] The females of the elephant, morse, dugong, chevrotin, and muntjac have them, and they are equally as useful as with the male, only, perhaps, not so strong.

[222] This is incorrect, unless he merely means ranged in one continuous line; and even then he is in error.

[223] See B. ix. c. 29. This is called the parrot-fish, from the resemblance of its upper and lower jaws to the beak of a parrot.

[224] They present this appearance from being worn away at the surface.

[225] Rondelet would read “gula,” the throat. This, though repudiated by Hardouin, is approved of by Cuvier, who justly looks upon the ordinary reading as an absurdity. Many fish, he says, and more especially the osseous ones, have teeth in the pharynx.

[226] There is always one fang, at least, ready to supply the place of the one in front, if lost by any accident.

[227] Like the jugglers of the East at the present day. But it is very doubtful whether the poison fang is in _all_ instances previously extracted from the serpents which they handle.

[228] But the camel, as well as the lama, has an incisive bone, provided with an incisive tooth on each side, and has canine and molar teeth as well.

[229] If by this term he means teeth separated from each other, the assertion is incorrect, as in these animals we find the molars separated from the lower incisives by a very considerable space.

[230] Cuvier says, as far as the sea-urchin is concerned, very simply, and merely by looking at it, as its five teeth are very apparent.

[231] The incisors are in number, and very nearly in appearance, like those of man. The canines are different in shape, though similar in number. What he says about the elephant, is peculiar to that of India.

[232] See B. ix. c. 88.

[233] Very few other animals are born with teeth, in their natural state. Apes, dogs, and cats are not born with teeth.

[234] From the fourth to the eighth month in reality, during which the four central incisors appear.

[235] The only ones that do not change are those which have three molars on each side of the jaw.

[236] This is erroneous: they change the incisors and molars as well.

[237] See B. xxviii. c. 78.

[238] By us known as the “wisdom” teeth.

[239] This is not the fact: they have usually the same number, but there are exceptions on both sides. The same is also the case with sheep, goats, and swine.

[240] This is not very uncommon.

[241] Not at all an uncommon occurrence.

[242] Of the second set.

[243] It is only in the horse and the ass that these indications can be relied upon.

[244] Columellares.

[245] This has no such effect.

[246] The contrary is the case: it will be more prolific.

[247] Swine change them just the same as other animals.

[248] By certain appearances in the incisors, the age of a horse up to its twenty-fourth year, or even beyond, may be judged of: the other signs cannot be so positively relied upon.

[249] B. viii. c. 15.

[250] “Sævissima dentibus,” seems to be a preferable reading to “sævissime dentiunt.”

[251] Only two-forked in reality.

[252] It is _not_ covered with hair.

[253] It is _not_ bifurcate.

[254] These are horny, conical papillæ, the summits of which point backwards.

[255] See B. ix. c. 60.

[256] “Criers.”

[257] One of the titles of the goddess Fortuna.

[258] “Uva,” or “grape.”

[259] More generally “epiglottis.” It is found in some few reptiles. This passage is omitted by Sillig.

[260] Gullet, or pharynx.

[261] Stomachum.

[262] All these animals, on the contrary, have seven vertebræ.

[263] This is not the fact. The spinal marrow, even, may be wounded, without death being the immediate result.

[264] Snow-water, we know, is apt to produce goitre.

[265] “Stomachus.” More properly, the œsophagus, or ventricle.

[266] Lacunæ modo.

[267] Or turtle. It has a tongue, and though it has no teeth, the jaws are edged with a horny substance like the bills of birds.

[268] “Crenis” is read for “renis:” otherwise the passage is unintelligible: it is still most probably in a corrupt state.

[269] Among all the mammiferæ and the birds, the heart has four cavities, two on each side.

[270] Mens.

[271] This is a mistake. The heart is subject to disease, equally with other parts of the body.

[272] In spite of what Schenkius says in confirmation of Pliny, this is very doubtful. Of course it must increase from childhood, but the increase surely does not continue till the fiftieth year.

[273] See an account of him in the Messeniaca of Pausanias.

[274] In this part of the story may have originated that of the escape of Sindbad the Sailor, when buried in the vault with the body of his wife.—See the “Arabian Nights.”

[275] “Rex Sacrorum.” This was a priest elected from the patricians, on whom the priestly duties devolved, which had been originally performed by the kings of Rome. He ranked above the Pontifex Maximus, but was possessed of little or no political influence.

[276] No doubt there was trickery in this.

[277] By supernatural agency.

[278] This was P. Vitellius, who served under Germanicus in Germany. He was one of the accusers of Cn. Piso, who was charged with having poisoned Germanicus.

[279] The cardiac disease, as alleged.

[280] B. ix. c. 6.

[281] But see B. viii. c. 51, and B. xxviii. c. 29.

[282] Plutarch says that it was the “caput,” or “head” of the liver that was wanting. M. Marcellus was slain while reconnoitring the Carthaginian camp by night.

[283] Caligula.

[284] 1st of January.

[285] By his niece and wife, Agrippina, the mother of Nero.

[286] See B. iv. c. 11. Tharne does not seem to be known. Of course, this story about the hares is fabulous.

[287] There must be some corrupt reading here; for, as Sillig remarks, who ever heard of a siege which lasted a hundred years?

[288] Or diaphragm; from “præ,” “before,” and “cor,” the “heart.”

[289] With Sardonic laughter, as Hardouin remarks.

[290] Or small guts.

[291] Or front intestines.

[292] The coot, probably.

[293] He alludes to the papillæ of the mucous gland.

[294] The colic.

[295] “Lupus cervarius.” Probably the lynx.

[296] The belly of the elephant presents five transversal folds.

[297] See B. xxviii. c. 77. This substance, known by the name of egagropile, consists of the hair which the animal has swallowed when licking itself. It assumes a round form, in consequence of the action of the intestines.

[298] Perhaps the godwit, or stone-plover, the Scolopax ægocephala of Linnæus.

[299] See also B. xxvi. c. 83.

[300] This may be done with safety in dogs or other animals.

[301] See B. v. c. 32.

[302] See p. 68.

[303] This is not the case. Birds have kidneys, but of an irregular form.

[304] This is a mistake. It _does_ cicatrize.

[305] Or bag.

[306] “The (principal) place.”

[307] Ajasson renders this passage: “The effects are fatal when this organ, becoming displaced, absorbs the air.” The text is probably corrupt.

[308] Varro, De Re Rust. B. ii. c. 4, says that he saw an instance of this in Arcadia.

[309] This is not the case.

[310] There is no similarity whatever between the spinal marrow and that which is found in the other bones.

[311] The hare and the partridge, for instance.

[312] There is considerable doubt what the ancients exactly meant by the “nervi;” and whether, in fact, they had any definite idea of “nerves,” in our acceptation of the word. Pliny here expresses the opinions entertained by Aristotle. “Tendons,” or “sinews,” would almost appear to be the proper translation of the word.

[313] See B. xxviii. c. 41.

[314] In allusion, probably, to hæmorrhoids, or piles.

[315] See B. vii. c. 12.

[316] Bears, dormice, serpents, &c.

[317] The polypus and the chameleon.

[318] See B. viii. cc. 51, 52.

[319] Walking-sticks are still made of it.

[320] As already mentioned, this is not the fact.

[321] See B. ix. c. 43.

[322] It is not improbable that, under this name, some kind of large vampire bat was meant; but, as Pliny says, it is impossible to arrive at any certain knowledge on the subject. The best account given of the strix is that in Ovid’s Fasti, B. vi. The name was given opprobriously to supposed witches, the “foul and midnight hags” of Shakspeare.

[323] This assertion is borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vii. c. 14.

[324] Or biestings.

[325] See B. xxviii. c. 12. Poppæa Sabina, first the mistress, then the wife, of the Emperor Nero.

[326] “Spuma.” He calls it so, because it floats on the surface. See B. xxviii. c. 35. The “acor,” or acrid liquid, which he speaks of, is, no doubt, butter-milk.

[327] Or whey.

[328] Nismes, in France. Hardouin speaks of goats’-milk cheeses made in its neighbourhood, and known as _fromages de Baux_.

[329] Probably the modern Losere and Gevaudan. See B. iv. c. 19.

[330] For the Docleatæ, see B. iii. c. 26.

[331] For the Centrones, see B. iii. c. 24. He perhaps refers to the modern _fromage de Passi_.

[332] The modern Marquisat de Cive, which still produces excellent cheese.

[333] See B. xiv. c. 8.

[334] And more especially at Salona in Bithynia.

[335] “Etiam ubi non videtur major.” This is probably corrupt.

[336] He wrote a poem, in which the principal Latin dramatists are enumerated, in the order of merit. A. Gellius, B. xv. c. 24, has preserved a portion of it.

[337] Germanicus.

[338] This seems to be the meaning of “imbricatus.”

[339] Though wounds in the knee are highly dangerous, death does not _necessarily_ ensue.

[340] Of another person, who had thus forfeited his bail. It was the custom to touch the ear of the attesting witness.

[341] The goddess of retribution. See B. xxviii. c. 5, where he makes further mention of her statue in the Capitol.

[342] The frog is, in some measure, an exception.

[343] Or “flat-foot,” “splay-foot,” “large-foot,” and “club-footed.”

[344] Words meaning “knock-kneed,” “bow-legged,” and “wry-legged.”

[345] The rhinoceros.

[346] Or wryneck.

[347] See B. x. c. 5.

[348] Supposed to be the Hirundo apus of Linnæus. Of the “oce” nothing is known; indeed, the reading is very doubtful.

[349] B. ix. c. 44.

[350] He evidently means insects of the centipede class. See B. xxix. c. 39.

[351] B. x. c. 83.

[352] Such as circumcision among the Jews.

[353] See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[354] Probably the buzzard; from this story also called the “triorchis.”

[355] Hist. Anim. B. iv. c. 9.

[356] See B. ix. c. 52.

[357] “Aper.”

[358] B. ix. c. 7.

[359] See c. 65 of the present Book.

[360] Not the dumb son mentioned by Herodotus, who saved his father’s life at the taking of Sardes.

[361] Like the whispering gallery of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

[362] “Non aliter quam oculis.” On this, few will be found to agree with Pliny.

[363] And not to “conceal” them, according to the opinion of some modern politicians.

[364] But they are borrowed from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 9.

[365] See B. xii. c. 7.

[366] B. vii. c. 2.

[367] See B. xxix. c. 23.

[368] See c. 21 of the present Book.

[369] B. ix. c. 33.

[370] Or Fish-eaters.

[371] Or bulimia.

[372] See end of B. ii.

[373] See end of B. ii.

[374] C. Tremellius Scrofa, a friend of M. Varro, and one of the early writers on agriculture.

[375] See end of B. x.

[376] See end of B. vii.

[377] See end of B. ix.

[378] See end of B. vii.

[379] See end of B. viii.

[380] See end of B. ii.

[381] See end of B. ii.

[382] See end of B. x.

[383] See end of B. iii.

[384] Nothing seems to be known of this writer.

[385] See end of B. vii.

[386] See end of B. vii.

[387] See end of B. ii.

[388] See end of B. ii.

[389] See end of B. vi.

[390] See end of B. x.

[391] C. Oppius, one of the most intimate friends of Julius Cæsar, for whom, with Balbus, he acted in Spain. Of his numerous biographical and historical works, none have survived to our time.

[392] See end of B. ii.

[393] See end of B. ii.

[394] Probably Neoptolemus of Paros, who wrote a book of Epigrams, a treatise on Languages, and other works.

[395] Of Soli, an observer of the habits of bees. His portrait is said still to exist, on a cornelian, attentively observing a swarm of bees. He wrote upon bees, honey, and the art of mixing wines.

[396] Probably a different writer from the one mentioned at the end of B. viii.; nothing seems to be known of him.

[397] See end of B. viii.

[398] See end of B. viii.

[399] See end of B. x.

[400] A philosopher of Agrigentum, and disciple of Pythagoras. He is said to have perished in the crater of Mount Etna. He wrote numerous works, of which only some fragments exist.

[401] See end of B. iv.

[402] Apparently the same as the King Philometor, mentioned below. See end of B. viii.

[403] Of this writer nothing seems to be known.

[404] See end of B. vii.

[405] Of Chalcedon, one of the most famous physicians of antiquity. He was physician to Phalaris, the tyrant of Sicily, and is said to have dissected criminals alive. He was the first that paid particular attention to the nervous system.

[406] A native of Iulis, in Cos, or else Ceos, grandson of Aristotle, and disciple of Theophrastus. He acquired great reputation as a physician, at the court of Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, where he discovered the supposed disease of Prince Antiochus, who had fallen in love with his step-mother, Stratonice. Of his numerous medical works, only the titles and a few fragments exist.

[407] See end of B. vii.

[408] A physician of Laodicæa, founder of the school of the Methodici. He was a pupil of Asclepiades, and died about B.C. 43. Of his medical works only a few fragments survive.

[409] See end of B. ii.

[410] See end of B. viii.

[411] See end of B. viii.

[412] See end of B. viii.

[413] See end of B. iii.

[414] See end of B. vii.

[415] See King Attalus, above.

[416] “Animâ.” The notion that plants are possessed of a soul or spirit, is derived from the Greek philosophers, who attributed to them intellect also, and sense.

[417] Vitruvius mentions the people of Gaul, Hispania, Lusitania, and Aquitania, as living in his day in dwellings covered with oak shingles, or with straw.

[418] See B. vi. c. 20, and B. xi. c. 26.

[419] Desfontaines remarks, that we may still trace vestiges of this custom in the fine trees that grow near church porches, and in church-yards. Of course, his remark will apply to France more

## particularly.

[420] It is doubtful whether the æsculus of the Romans was the same as the bay-oak, the holm-oak, or the beech. See B. xvi. c. 4.

[421] See further on this subject in Phædrus’s Fables, B. iii. f. 17.

[422] Reckoning the promulsis, antecæna, or gustatio, not as a course, but only a prelude, the bellaria, or dessert, at the Roman banquets, formed the second course, or mensa. It consisted of fruits uncooked, sweetmeats, and pastry.

[423] He alludes to the pursuit of the elephant, for the purpose of obtaining ivory, which was extensively used in his day, in making the statues of the divinities.

[424] A sarcastic antithesis. And yet Dalechamps would read “hominum” instead of “numinum”!

[425] Præmissa. The exact meaning of this word does not appear. Though all the MSS. agree in it, it is probably a corrupt reading. Plutarch, in his Life of Camillus, says that the wine of Italy was first introduced in Gaul by Aruns, the Etruscan.

[426] The Platanus orientalis of Linnæus. It received its name from the Greek πλάτος, “breadth,” by reason of its wide-spreading branches.

[427] For further mention of this island, now Tremiti, see B. iii. c. 30.

[428] He alludes, probably, to the “vectigal solarium,” a sort of ground-rent which the tributary nations paid to the Roman treasury. Virgil and Homer speak of the shade of the plane-tree, as a pleasant resort for festive parties.

[429] It is not improbable that Pliny, in copying from Theophrastus, has here committed an error. That author, B. ix. c. 7, says: ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ἀδρίᾳ πλάτανον οὔ φασιν εἶναι, πλὴν περὶ τὸ Διομήδους ἱερόν· σπανίαν δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πάσῃ. “They say that in Adria there are no plane-trees, except about the temple of Diomedes: and that they are extremely rare in Italy.” Pliny, probably, when his secretary was reading to him, mistook the word σπανίαν, “rare,” for Ἱσπανίᾳ “in Spain.”

[430] It has been remarked that, in reality, this process would only tend to impede its growth. Macrobius tells us, that Hortensius was guilty of this singular folly.

[431] Situate near the sea-shore. It was here that Plato taught. See B. xxxi. c. 3.

[432] Caligula.

[433] It is supposed that he here alludes sarcastically to the extreme corpulence of Caligula.

[434] M. Fée, the learned editor of the botanical books in Ajasson’s translation, remarks, that this cannot have been the Platanus of the botanists, and that there is no tree of Europe, which does not lose its leaves, that at all resembles it.

[435] The tendency, namely, to lose their leaves.

[436] Grandson of Asinius Pollio. Tacitus tells us, that he was one of those whom Piso requested to undertake his defence, when charged with having poisoned Germanicus; but he declined the office.

[437] Or “ground plane-trees.” It is by no means uncommon to see dwarf varieties of the larger trees, which are thus reduced to the dimensions of mere shrubs.

[438] C. Matius Calvena, the friend of Julius and Augustus Cæsar, as also of Cicero. He is supposed to have translated the Iliad into Latin verse, and to have written a work on cookery.

[439] See B. xxiii. c. 55. Fée remarks, that the ancients confounded the citron with the orange-tree.

[440] Fée remarks, that this is not the case. The arbute is described in B. xv. c. 28.

[441] In the time of Plutarch, it had begun to be somewhat more used. It makes one of the very finest preserves.

[442] At the present day, it is cultivated all over India, in China, South America, and the southern parts of Europe. Fée says, that they grow even in the open air in the gardens of Malmaison.

[443] B. xi. c. 115. Virgil says the same, Georg. B. ii. ll. 134, 135. Theophrastus seems to say, that it was the outer rind that was so used.

[444] See B. vi. c. 20.

[445] See B. vii. c. 2. The tree to which he alludes is unknown.

[446] Georg. B. ii. ll. 116, 117.

[447] B. iii. c. 97. There is little doubt that, under the general name of “ebony,” the wood of many kinds of trees was, and is still, imported into the western world, so that both Herodotus and Virgil may have been correct in representing ebony as the product of both India and Æthiopia.

[448] Herodotus says two hundred.

[449] In Italy, whither he had retired from the hostile attacks of his fellow-citizens. It is supposed by Le Vayer and others, that Pliny is wrong in his assertion, that Herodotus wrote to this effect while at Thurii; though Dr. Schmitz is inclined to be of opinion that he is right in his statement.

[450] B. iii. c. 115.

[451] B. vi. c. 35.

[452] Fée remarks, that the words of Pliny do not afford us any means of judging precisely what tree it was that he understood by the name of ebony. He borrows his account mainly from Theophrastus.

[453] It is not known to what tree he alludes.

[454] This account of the Ficus Indica, or religiosa, known to us as the banian-tree, is borrowed entirely from Theophrastus. Fée remarks, however, that he is wrong in some of his statements, for that the leaves are not crescent-shaped, but oblong and pointed, and that the fruit has not a pleasant flavour, and is only eaten by the birds.

[455] See B. vi. c. 23.

[456] Sprengel and Bauhin are of opinion that the banana is the tree meant here; Dodonæus thinks that it is the pomegranate. Thevet says that the pala is the paquovera of India, the fruit of which is called pacona. The account is borrowed from Theophrastus.

[457] The Gymnosophists, or Brahmins.

[458] Called Syndraci in B. vi. c. 25.

[459] It is not improbable that the Tamarindus Indica of Linnæus is the tree here alluded to: though M. Fée combats that opinion.

[460] See Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 5.

[461] Dalechamps and Desfontaines are of opinion, that the pistachio, or Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus, is here alluded to; but Fée considers that there are no indications to lead to such a conclusion.

[462] It is not improbable that he may here allude to the cotton-tree, of which further mention is made in c. xxi. of the present Book.

[463] Fée is of opinion that Cynorrhodon here means, not the dog-rose, but the gall which is formed on the tree by the sting of the Cynips bedeguar.

[464] Fée expresses himself at a loss to conjecture what trees are here meant by Pliny.

[465] Fée remarks, that there are many inaccuracies in the account here given by Pliny of the pepper-tree, and that it does not bear any resemblance to the juniper-tree. The grains, he says, grow in clusters, and not in a husk or pod; and he remarks, that the long pepper and the black pepper, of which the white is only a variety divested of the outer coat, are distinct species. He also observes, that the real long pepper, the Piper longum of Linnæus, was not known to the ancients.

[466] Fée remarks, that this is not a correct description of ginger, the Amomum zingiber of Linnæus. Dioscorides was one of those who thought that ginger was the root of the pepper-tree.

[467] It is very doubtful what tree is here alluded to by Pliny, though certain that it is not one of the pepper-trees. Sprengel takes it to be the Daphne Thymelæa.

[468] It has been suggested that under this name the clove is meant, though Fée and Desfontaines express a contrary opinion. Sprengel thinks that it is the Vitex trifolia of Linnæus, and Bauhin suggests the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus. Fée thinks it may have possibly been the Myrtus caryophyllata of Ceylon, the fruit of which corresponds to the description here given by Pliny.

[469] See c. 52 of the present Book.

[470] Or “Lycium.” It is impossible to say with exactness what the medical liquid called “Lycion” was. Catechu, an extract from the tan of the acacia, has been suggested; though the fruit of that tree does not answer the present description.

[471] Fée suggests that this may possibly be the Lycium Europæum of Linnæus, a shrub not uncommonly found in the south of Europe.

[472] The Rhamnus Lycioides of Linnæus, known to us as buckthorn. The berries of many varieties of the Rhamnus are violent purgatives.

[473] What he means under this head is not known. Fée speaks of a tree which the Brahmins call macre, and which the Portuguese called arvore de las camaras, arvore sancto, arvore de sancto Thome, but of which they have given no further particulars. Acosta, Clusius, and Bauhin have also professed to give accounts of it, but they do not lead to its identification. De Jussieu thinks that either the Soulamea, the Rex amaroris of Rumphius, or else the Polycardia of Commerson is meant. It seems by no means impossible that mace, the covering of the nutmeg, is the substance alluded to, an opinion that is supported by Gerard and Desfontaines.

[474] “Saccharon.” Fée suggests that Pliny alludes to a peculiar kind of crystallized sugar, that is found in the bamboo cane, though, at the same time, he thinks it not improbable that he may have heard of the genuine sugar-cane; as Strabo, B. xv., speaks of a honey found in India, prepared without the aid of bees, and Lucan has the line—

“Quique bibunt tenerâ dulces ab arundine succos,”

evidently referring to a sugar in the form of a syrup, and not of crystal, like that of the Bambos arundinacea. It is by no means improbable, that Pliny, or rather Dioscorides, from whom he copies, confuses the two kinds of sugar; as it is well known that the Saccharum officinarum, or sugar-cane, has been cultivated from a very early period in Arabia Felix.

[475] It is unknown what plant is here alluded to by Pliny, but Sprengel suggests that it is the Acacia latronum.

[476] From the description, this would appear to be a sort of poisonous horse-radish.

[477] There is a tree in India, as we are informed by Fée, which is known as the Excæcaria Agallochum, the juice of which is remarkably acrid. Sailors, on striking it with a hatchet, and causing the juice to spirt into their eyes, have been in danger of losing their sight. It is possible that this may be the tree here alluded to by Pliny.

[478] He borrows the account of this marvellous shrub from Theophrastus. No such plant is likely to have ever existed; though small, and even large, snakes may occasionally take refuge among shrubs and hollow trees.

[479] There is little doubt that the Hedysarum Alhagi of Linnæus is here meant, from which a kind of honey or manna flows, known as “Eastern” manna, or tereniabin. It is not so high as the fig-tree, and is found in Khorasan, Syria, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. The manna distils principally in the morning.

[480] Fée remarks, that it is singular that a resinous gum, such as bdellium, should have been used in commerce for now two thousand years, and yet its origin remain unknown. Kæmpfer and Rumphus are of opinion, that the tree which produces it is the one known to naturalists as the Borassus flabelliformis of Linnæus, or the Lontarus of others. It is imported into Europe from Arabia and India, and is often found mixed with gum Arabic.

[481] Περατικὸν; from περατὰ γῆς, “the remotest parts of the earth,” from which it was brought.

[482] The modern name of this tree is unknown.

[483] B. vi. c. 28.

[484] It is supposed that the Rhizophora Mangle of Linnæus is the tree that is here described. It grows on all the coasts of India, from Siam to the entrance of the Persian Gulf. It takes root on spots which have been inundated by the sea, and its boughs bend downwards, and taking root in the earth, advance gradually towards the sea. The leaf and fruit have the characteristics of those of the arbute and almond as here mentioned.

[485] B. vi. c. 32.

[486] Fée suggests that some kind of mangrove is probably alluded to, of the kind known as avicennia, or bruguiera.

[487] See B. vi. c. 20.

[488] “Cotonei.” To this resemblance of its fruit to the quince, the cotton-tree, which is here alluded to, not improbably owes its modern name.

[489] The cotton-tree, or Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus. It is worthy of remark, that Pliny copies here almost literally from Theophrastus. According to Philostratus, the byssus, or fine tissues worn by the Egyptian priests, were made of cotton.

[490] The Malthiola incana.

[491] Fée suggests that this may be a Magnolia; but, as he remarks, most plants open and shut at certain hours; consequently, this cannot be regarded as any peculiar characteristic, sufficient to lead with certainty to its identification.

[492] Theophrastus, from whom our author is copying, says that this is the case only with the fig-tree there.

[493] According to most commentators, this is the Costus Arabicus of Linnæus. Dioscorides mentions three varieties of costus: the Arabian, which is of the best quality, and is white and odoriferous; the Indian, which is black and smooth; and the Syrian, which is of the colour of wax, dusky, and strong smelling. Fée, however, doubts whether the modern costus is the same thing as that of the ancients; for, as he says, although it has a sweet odour, it does not deserve the appellation of a “precious aromatic,” which we find constantly given to it by the ancients.

[494] See B. vi. c. 23.

[495] It is probable that the nard of the ancients, from which they extracted the famous nard-oil, was not the same plant which we know as the Indian nard, or Andropogon nardus of Linnæus. Indeed, it has been pretty conclusively established by Sir William Jones, in his “Asiatic Researches,” that the Valeriana Jatamansi is the plant from which they obtained the oil. Among the Hindoos, it is known as djatâmansi, and by the Arabs under the name of sombul, or “spike,” from the fact of the base being surrounded with ears or spikes, whence, probably, the Roman appellation. This species of valerian grows in the more distant and mountainous parts of India, Bootan and Nepaul, for instance.

[496] From the Greek, ὄζαινα, “a putrid sore.” Fée suggests that this may have been the Nardus hadrosphærum of the moderns.

[497] Fée supposes that this is not lavender, as some have thought, but the Allium victorialis of modern naturalists, which is still mixed with the nard from the Andropogon. He doubts the possibility of its having been adulterated with substances of such a different nature as those mentioned here by Pliny.

[498] Fée is of opinion, that the Greek writers, from whom Pliny copied this passage, intended to speak of the ears of nard, or spikenard.

[499] According to Dioscorides, this appellation only means such nard as is cultivated in certain mountains of India which look toward Syria, and which, according to that author, was the best nard of all. Dalechamps and Hardouin, however, ridicule this explanation of the term.

[500] Generally supposed to be the Valeriana Celtica of modern naturalists. See B. xxi. c. 79.

[501] Probably the Valeriana Italica of modern naturalists.

[502] See B. xix. c. 48.

[503] Known in this country as fox-glove, our Lady’s gloves, sage of Jerusalem, or clown’s spikenard. See B. xxi. c. 16.

[504] Not always, but very seldom, Brotier says. Clusius has established, from observation, that this plant is only a variety of the Valeriana Celtica.

[505] Fée remarks, that the name “baccara,” in Greek, properly belonged to this plant, but that it was transferred by the Romans to the field nard, with which the Asarum had become confounded. It is the same as the Asarum Europæum of modern naturalists; but it does not, as Pliny asserts, flower twice in the year.

[506] It is by no means settled among naturalists, what plant the Amomum of the ancients was; indeed, there has been the greatest divergence of opinion. Tragus takes it to be a kind of bindweed: Matthioli, the Piper Æthiopicum of Linnæus: Cordus and Scaliger, the rose of Jericho, the Anastatica hierocuntica of Linnæus. Gesner thinks it to have been the garden pepper, the Solanum bacciferum of Tournefort: Cæsalpinus the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus: Plukenet and Sprengel the Cissus vitiginea, while Fée and Paulet look upon it as not improbably identical with the Amomum racemosum of Linnæus. The name is probably derived from the Arabic hahmâma, the Arabians having first introduced it to the notice of the Greeks.

[507] Supposed to have been only the Amomum, in an unripe state, as Pliny himself suggests.

[508] Still known in pharmacy as “cardamum.” It is not, however, as Pliny says, found in Arabia, but in India; from which it probably reached the Greeks and Romans by way of the Red Sea. There are three kinds known in modern commerce, the large, the middle size, and the small. M. Bonastre, “Journal de Pharmacie,” May, 1828, is of opinion, that the word cardamomum signifies “amomum in pods,” the Egyptian kardh meaning “pod,” or “husk.” It is, however, more generally supposed, that the Greek word, καρδία, “heart,” enters into its composition.

[509] “Verus” seems a preferable reading here to “vero,” which has been adopted by Sillig.

[510] See c. 42 of the present Book.

[511] Virgil, Georg. B. ii. l. 139, mentions Panchaia, in Arabia, as being more especially the country of frankincense. That region corresponds with the modern Yemen. It is, however, a well-ascertained fact, that it grows in India as well, and it is supposed that the greater part of it used by the ancients was in reality imported from that country. The Indian incense is the product of a tree belonging to the terebinth class, named by Roxburgh, who first discovered it, Boswellia thurifera. It is more especially found in the mountainous parts of India. On the other hand, it has been asserted that the Arabian incense was the product of a coniferous tree, either the Juniperus Lycia, the Juniperus Phœnicea, or the Juniperus thurifera of Linnæus. But, as Fée justly remarks, it would appear more reasonable to look among the terebinths of Arabia for the incense tree, if one of that class produces it in India, and more especially because the coniferous trees produce only resins, while the terebinths produce gum resins, to which class of vegetable products frankincense evidently belonged. In commerce, the gum resin, Olibanum, the produce of the Boswellia serrata, and imported from the Levant, bears the name of frankincense.

[512] See B. vi. c. 32. Their name is still preserved in the modern Hadramaut, to the east of Aden.

[513] See B. vi. cc. 31 and 32. He was the son of Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus, by whom he was adopted.

[514] This seems the most probable among these various surmises and conjectures.

[515] These words are said by some to be derived from the Greek, καρφὸς, “a hollow stalk,” on account of its lightness, and δᾳδίον, “a torch,” on account of its resinous and inflammable qualities. It is, however, much more probable that they were derived from the Arabic, and not from the Celto-Scythic, as Poinsinet conjectures.

[516] Fée is probably right in his conjecture, that it was so called solely in consequence of its superior strength.

[517] Meaning “drop” incense.

[518] “Undivided” incense.

[519] From their being the size of an ὄροβος, or “chick-pea.”

[520] There is some doubt as to the correctness of this reading. The “manna” here mentioned is quite a different substance to the manna of modern commerce, obtained from the Fraxinus ornus of naturalists.

[521] He was a kinsman of Olympias, the mother of Alexander, and a man of very austere habits. Plutarch says, that on this occasion Alexander sent to Leonidas 600 talents’ weight of incense and myrrh.

[522] See B. vi. c. 32.

[523] Probably the same as the deity, Assabinus, mentioned by Pliny in c. 42 of the present Book. Theophrastus mentions him as identical with the sun, others, again, with Jupiter. Theophrastus says that the god received not a tenth part, but a third.

[524] As to this place and the Gebanitæ, see B. vi. c. 32.

[525] There must surely be some mistake in these numbers.

[526] The Mediterranean.

[527] In c. 19 of the present Book.

[528] It is supposed to be the product of an amyris, but is not now esteemed as a perfume; but is used in medicine as a tonic. Forskhal has attributed to the Amyris kataf, or kafal, the production of myrrh. According to Ehrenberg, a very similar tree, though constituting a different species, the Balsamodendrum myrrha, also produces this substance. It is imported into Europe from both Abyssinia and Arabia. It was much used by the ancients, to flavour their wines.

[529] See B. vi. c. 32.

[530] Theophrastus says the terebinth.

[531] From the Greek στάζω, “to drop.” Fée observes, that the moderns know nothing positive as to the mode of extracting myrrh from the tree. See the account given by Ovid, Met. B. x. l. 500 _et seq._ of the transformation of Myrrha into this tree,—“The warm drops fall from the tree. The tears, even, have their own honour; and the myrrh that distils from the bark bears the name of its mistress, and in no age will remain unknown.”

[532] Fée remarks, that at the present day we are acquainted only with one kind of myrrh; the fragments which bear an impression like those of nails being not a distinct kind, but a simple variety in appearance only. He thinks, also, that Pliny may very possibly be describing several distinct resinous products, under the one name of myrrh. An account of these various districts will be found in B. vi. c. 32.

[533] Hardouin suggests that it may be so called from the island of Dia, mentioned by Strabo, B. xvi.

[534] “Collatitia.” The reading, however, is very doubtful.

[535] What this was is now unknown. Fée suggests that it may have been bdellium, which is found in considerable quantities in the myrrh that is imported at the present day.

[536] This is most probably the meaning of Pliny’s expression—“Ergo transit in mastichen;” though Hardouin reads it as meaning that myrrh sometimes degenerates to mastich: and Fée, understanding the passage in the same sense, remarks that the statement is purely fabulous. Mastich, he says, is the produce of the Pistacia lentiscus of Linnæus, which abounds in Greece and the other parts of southern Europe. The greater part of the mastich of commerce comes from the island of Chio. It is impossible to conjecture to what plant Pliny here alludes, with the head of a thistle.

[537] This kind, Fée says, is quite unknown to the moderns.

[538] This substance is still gathered from the Cistus creticus of Linnæus, which is supposed to be the same as the plant leda, mentioned by Pliny. It is also most probably the same as the Cisthon, mentioned by Pliny in B. xxiv. c. 48. It is very commonly found in Spain. The substance is gathered from off the leaves, not by the aid of goats, but with whips furnished with several thongs, with which the shrubs are beaten. There are two sorts of ladanum known in commerce; the one friable, and mixed with earthy substances, and known as “ladanum in tortis;” the other black, and soft to the fingers, the only adventitious substances in which are a little sand and a few hairs.

[539] See B. vi. c. 32.

[540] For some further account of this substance, see B. xxix. c. 10. Filthy as it was, the œsypum, or sweat and grease of sheep, was used by the Roman ladies as one of their most choice cosmetics. Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” more than once inveighs against the use of it.

[541] From the Greek ἔναιμον, “styptic,” or “blood-stopping.” It is at the present day called gum “de lecce” in Italy. Fée says that it is not often procured from the olive-trees of France, though it is found very commonly on those of Naples and Calabria. It has no active powers, he says, as a medicine.

[542] Hardouin suggests that they may be the pelagiæ, mentioned again in B. xiii. c. 51.

[543] See B. vi. c. 31.

[544] Although the savin shrub, the Juniperus Sabina of Linnæus, bears this name in Greek, it is evident, as Fée says, that Pliny does not allude to it, but to a coniferous tree, as it is that family which produces a resinous wood with a balsamic odour when ignited. Bauhin and others would make the tree meant to be the Thuya occidentalis of Linnæus; but, as Fée observes, that tree is in reality a native originally of Canada, while the Thuya orientalis is a native of Japan. He suggests, however, that the Thuya articulata of Mount Atlas may have possibly been the citrus of Pliny.

[545] See end of B. v.

[546] All these are mentioned in B. vi. c. 31.

[547] It is not known what wood is meant under this name. Aloe, and some other woods, when ignited are slightly narcotic.

[548] See B. v. c. 21.

[549] See B. vi. c. 30.

[550] See c. 55 of the present Book.

[551] Because its perfumes were held in such high esteem, for burning on the piles of the dead. This, of course, was done primarily to avoid the offensive smell.

[552] The bark of the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum of the modern naturalists, the cinnamon-tree of Ceylon.

[553] B. iii.

[554] See B. vi. c. 34.

[555] See B. vi. c. 26.

[556] As Fée observes, this description does not at all resemble that of the cinnamon-tree of Ceylon, as known to us. M. Bonastre is of opinion that the nutmeg-tree was known to the ancients under this name; but, as Fée observes, the nutmeg could never have been taken for a bark, and cinnamon is described as such in the ancient writers. He inclines to think that their cinnamon was really the bark of a species of amyris.

[557] See c. 33 of the present Book, and the Note.

[558] Or “wood of cinnamon.”

[559] “Interrasili.” Gold partly embossed, and partly left plain, was thus called.

[560] The Empress Livia.

[561] There has been considerable doubt what plant it was that produced the cassia of the ancients. Fée, after diligently enquiring into the subject, inclines to think that it was the Laurus cassia of Linnæus, the same tree that produces the cassia of the present day.

[562] There is little doubt that all this is fabulous.

[563] Or, “smelling like balsam.”

[564] “Looking like laurel.”

[565] “Equal to cinnamon.” Fée thinks that it is a variety of the Laurus cassia.

[566] He probably alludes to the Daphne Cnidium of Linnæus, which, as Fée remarks, is altogether different from the Laurus cassia, or genuine cassia.

[567] A gum resin of some unknown species, but not improbably, Fée thinks, the produce of some of the Amyrides. Sprengel thinks that it was produced from the Gardenia gummifera.

[568] Aloe-wood.

[569] According to Poinsinet, these Arabic words derive their origin from the Slavonic; the first signifying a “cordial drug,” or “alexipharmic,” and the other a drug “which divides itself into tablets.” It is impossible to divine what drugs are meant by these names.

[570] Signifying the “unguent acorn,” or “nut.” There is little doubt that the behen or ben nut of the Arabians is meant, of which there are several sorts. It is used by the Hindoos for calico printing and pharmacy, and was formerly employed in Europe in the arts, and for medical purposes. It is no longer used as a perfume. The “oil of ben” used in commerce is extracted from the fruit of the Moringa oleifera of naturalists. It is inodorous; for which reason, Fée is of opinion that the name signifies “the oily nut,” and quotes Dioscorides, who says, B. iv., that an oil is extracted from this balanus, which is used as an ingredient in unguents, in place of other oils. Fée also says that at the present day it is used by perfumers, to fix or arrest the evanescent odours of such flowers as the jasmine and the lily.

[571] This Æthiopian variety is quite unknown, and is, as Fée remarks, most probably of a different species from the genuine myrobalanus.

[572] See B. vi. c. 32.

[573] “Curing thirst.” Dioscorides, B. i. c. 148, says that it was so called from, being full of juice, which quenched thirst like water.

[574] “Palm-nut.” Fée thinks it not improbable that one of the date-palms is meant, if we may judge from the name. He suggests that possibly the Elais or avoira of Guinea, the Elais Guineensis, which is found as far as Upper Egypt, and which produces a fine oil known as palm-oil, is meant, or possibly the Douma Thebaica, a palm-tree frequently met with in Egypt. On fermentation, a vinous drink is extracted from the last, which is capable of producing intoxication.

[575] Fée remarks, that this must not be confounded with the Calamus aromaticus of the moderns, of which Pliny speaks in B. xxv. c. 100, with sufficient accuracy to enable us to identify it with the Acorus calamus of Linnæus. It is not ascertained by naturalists what plant is meant by Pliny in the present instance, though Fée is of opinion that a gramineous plant of the genus Andropogon is meant. M. Guibourt has suggested that the Indian Gentiana chirayta is the plant. From what Pliny says in B. xiii. c. 21, it appears that this calamus grew in Syria, which is also the native country of the Andropogon schœnanthus.

[576] See B. xxiv. c. 14. The gum resin ammoniacum is still imported into Europe from Africa and the East, in the form of drops or cakes. It is a mildly stimulating expectorant, and is said to be the produce of the Dorema ammoniacum. There are still two sorts in commerce: the first in large masses of a yellow, dirty colour, mingled with heterogeneous substances, and of a plastic consistency. This is the phyrama of Pliny, or mixed ammoniac. The other is in tears, of irregular form and a whitish colour, brittle and vitreous when broken. This is the thrauston, or “friable” ammoniac of Pliny. Jackson says, that the plant which produces it is common in Morocco, and is called feskouk, resembling a large stalk of fennel. The ammoniac of Morocco is not, however, imported into this country, being too much impregnated with sand, in consequence of not being gathered till it falls to the ground.

[577] Solinus tells us, that the tree itself is called Metops.

[578] It is clear that, under this name, certain lichens of a hairy or filamentary nature are meant. They adhere, Dioscorides tells us, to the cedar, the white poplar, and the oak. The white ones belong, probably, to the Usnea florida of Linnæus, the red ones to the Usnea barbata, and the black ones to the Alectoria jubata, an almost inodorous lichen.

[579] Probably the Roccella tinctoria of Linnæus, a lichen most commonly found upon rocks.

[580] The henné, the Lawsonia inermis of the modern naturalists, a shrub found in Egypt, Syria, and Barbary. From this tree the henna is made with which the women of the East stain the skin of their hands and feet.

[581] The jujube-tree. See B. xv. c. 14.

[582] See B. xx. c. 82.

[583] Or privet.

[584] But in B. xxiv. c. 68, he says that this plant grows in the island of Rhodes.

[585] According to Fée, this is the same as the Lignum Rhodianum, or wood of Rhodes, of commerce, sometimes also called, but incorrectly, wood of roses. It is, probably, the same as the Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus.

[586] Or “red sceptre,” probably so called from the flowers clustering along the whole length of the branches.

[587] A liquid matter extracted from the beaver.

[588] Generally regarded as identical with the Teucrium Marum of Linnæus, a sweet-smelling shrub found in the south of Europe and the East, by us commonly known as “herb mastich,” somewhat similar to marjoram. Fée says that the marum of Egypt is a kind of sage, the Salvia Æthiopis of Linnæus.

[589] Balsam (or balm of Mecca, as it is sometimes called) is the produce of two trees, probably varieties of one another, of the terebinth family, belonging to the genus Amyris. So far from being a native solely of Judæa, Bruce assures us that its original country was that which produces myrrh, in the vicinity of Babelmandel, and that the inhabitants use the wood solely for fuel. In Judæa it appears to have been cultivated solely in gardens; and it was this tree which produced the famous balm of Gilead of Scripture. The balsam trees known to us do not at all correspond with Pliny’s description, as they do not resemble either the vine or myrtle, nor are their leaves at all like those of rue.

[590] “Malleolis.” So called when the new shoot of the tree springing from a branch of the former year, is cut off for the sake of planting, with a bit of the old wood on each side of it, in the form of a mallet.

[591] “Easily cut.” This and the other kinds, the names of which mean “rough barked,” and “good length,” are probably only varieties of the same tree, in different states.

[592] This is said, probably, in allusion to the smell, and not the taste. Fée remarks, that Pliny speaks with a considerable degree of exaggeration, as its odour is very inferior to that of several balsams which contain benzoic acid. The balsam obtained by incision, as mentioned by Pliny, is not brought to Europe, but only that obtained by the process of decoction; which is known as “balm of Mecca,” or of Judæa. It is difficult to believe, according to Fée, that it was adulterated with the substances here mentioned by Pliny; oil of roses having been always a very precious commodity, wax being likely to change its nature entirely, and gums not being of a nature to combine with it. Its asserted effects upon milk he states to be entirely fabulous; the statement is derived from Dioscorides.

[593] The concha, or “shell,” was a Greek and Roman liquid measure, of which there were two sizes. The smaller was half a cyathus, .0412 of an English pint; the larger was about three times the size of the former, and was known also as the oxybaphum.

[594] Or “wood of balsam.” It is still known in European commerce by its ancient name. The fruit is called Carpobalsamum.

[595] See B. xxvi. cc. 53, 54.

[596] These localities are mentioned in B. v.

[597] The Storax officinalis of Linnæus, a tree found in the south of Europe and the Levant. The variety found in France, and known as the Aliboufier, produces no storax, or at least a very small proportion. The storax of commerce appears in three states—grain storax, with which Pliny does not appear to have been acquainted; amygdalite, which is perhaps the sort which he speaks of as adulterated with bitter almonds; and lump storax, of reddish brown colour, which is frequently mixed with wood dust, or worm dust, as mentioned by Pliny, and is but little esteemed. The tree is also called Liquidambar styraciflua.

[598] A shrub of the family of Ombelliferæ, belonging to the genus bubon. It is a native of Asia Minor and Syria.

[599] See B. xix. c. 52, and B. xx. c. 75.

[600] This was a common notion with the Romans. Virgil, Georg. B. iii. l. 415, says:—

“Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros.”

Though considered to produce a pleasant perfume by the ancients, it is no longer held in estimation for that quality, and is only employed in some slight degree for medical purposes.

[601] The produce of the Pastinaca opopanax of Linnæus, or the Panax Copticum of Bauhin, an umbelliferous plant which abounds in the East, and is not uncommon in the south of France. The gum called Opopanax was formerly used, and its supposed virtues are indicated by its name, which signifies “the juice which is the universal remedy.”

[602] The umbelliferous plant known as the Heracleum spondylium of Linnæus. It is commonly found in France, where it is called Berce-branc-ursine. It received its name from the resemblance of its smell to that of the sphondyle, a fetid kind of wood-beetle.

[603] Some suppose this tree to be the Laurus cassia of Linnæus, or wild cinnamon; others take it for the betel, the Piper betel of Linnæus. Clusius thinks that the name is derived from the Indian Tamalpatra, the name given from time immemorial to the leaf of a tree known by the Arabs as the Cadegi-indi, possibly the same as the Katou-carua of the Malabars.

[604] From the Greek ὀμφάκιον, being made of unripe grapes. As Fée remarks, that made from the olive is correctly described as a kind of oil, but that made from the grape must have been a rob, or pure verjuice. These two liquids must have had totally different qualities, and resembled each other in nothing but the name. That extracted from the olive is mentioned again in B. xxiii. c. 4, in reference to its medicinal properties.

[605] These grapes are described in B. xiv. c. 4 and c. 11.

[606] “Reliquum corpus.” It is not clear what is the meaning of this. The passage is either in a corrupt state, or defective.

[607] A singular metal, one would think, for keeping verjuice in.

[608] From the Greek βρύον, “moss.” He speaks again of these grapes of the white poplar in B. xxiv. c. 34; also in c. 51 of the present Book. Hardouin thinks that he is speaking of moss. Fée is of opinion, that the blossoms or buds of the tree are meant, which have a fragrant smell. This is the more probable, as we find Pliny here speaking of the œnanthe, or vine-flower, by which Fée supposes that he means the blossom of the Vitis vinifera of Linnæus, which exhales a delightful perfume.

[609] The bud, probably, of the Juniperus Lycia.

[610] See B. vi. c. 31.

[611] Said to have been a surname given by some nations to the god Bacchus.

[612] It is generally supposed by the commentators, that Pliny makes a mistake here, and that the elate or spathe was not a tree, but the envelope or capsule, containing the flowers and fruit of a tree, which is supposed by some to have been really the Phœnix dactylifera, or date-palm. There can be little doubt that he is mistaken in his mention of the abies or fir-tree here. See B. xxiii. c. 53.

[613] Bauhin thinks that this juice or oil was extracted from the nutmeg, the Myristica moschata of Thunberg, and Bonastre is of the same opinion. But, as Fée observes, the nutmeg is a native of India, and Pliny speaks of the Comacum as coming from Syria. Some authors, he adds, who are of this opinion, think also that the other cinnamomum mentioned by Pliny was no other than the nutmeg, which they take to be the same as the chrysobalanos, or “golden nut,” of Galen.

[614] See end of B. ii.

[615] See end of B. ii.

[616] See end of B. vii.

[617] Fabianus Papirius: see end of B. ii.

[618] See end of B. ii.

[619] See end of B. iii.

[620] The son of a freedman; some further particulars are given of him by Pliny in B. xxxiii. c. 1. By his talents and eloquence, he attained considerable distinction at Rome. He was made a senator by Appius Claudius, and was curule ædile B.C. 303. He published a collection of legal rules, entitled the “Jus Flavianum.”

[621] See end of B. viii.

[622] See end of B. iii.

[623] See end of B. vii.

[624] See end of B. v.

[625] See end of B. ii.

[626] Probably the same as the Niger mentioned by Dioscorides as a writer on Materia Medica. He is also mentioned by Epiphanius and Galen; but Dioscorides charges him with numerous blunders in his accounts of vegetable productions.

[627] A compiler of Roman history, who wrote at the beginning of the second century before Christ. He wrote Annals of Rome from the earliest to his own times: only a few fragments of his work have survived.

[628] See end of B. ii.

[629] C. Sempronius Tuditanus, consul of Rome, B.C. 129. He wrote a book of historical Commentaries. He was maternal grandfather of the orator Hortensius.

[630] See end of B. ii.

[631] See end of B. iii.

[632] See end of B. ii.

[633] A native of Olynthus. His mother, Hero, was a cousin of the philosopher Aristotle, under whose tutelage he was educated. It is generally supposed that he was put to death by order of Alexander the Great, but in what manner is a matter of uncertainty. He wrote a History of Greece, and numerous other learned works. Some MSS. are still extant, professing to be his writings; but they are generally looked upon as spurious.

[634] See end of B. vii.

[635] See end of B. vii.

[636] A native of Lampsacus, and disciple of Diogenes the Cynic. He accompanied Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expedition. He wrote a history of the reigns of Philip and Alexander, and a history of Greece, in twelve books. Only a few fragments of his works are left.

[637] See end of B. vii.

[638] See end of B. vi.

[639] See end of B. ii.

[640] There was a native of Mendæ, in Sicily, of this name, who wrote a history of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse. It was, probably, a different person of this name who wrote a work on the East; if such is the case, Pliny most probably quotes from the work of the latter.

[641] Nothing seems to be known of this writer; but it is suggested that he may have accompanied Nearchus and Onesicritus in the East.

[642] See end of B. vi.

[643] Nothing is known of him; but Hardouin suggests that he may have accompanied Alexander the Great in his Eastern expedition.

[644] See end of B. iv.

[645] An officer at the court of Alexander the Great, who wrote a collection of anecdotes respecting the private life and reign of that emperor, some fragments of which are preserved by Athenæus.

[646] See end of B. iv.

[647] He is supposed to have been the same with the person of that name who wrote a history of Alexander the Great; but nothing further is known of him.

[648] A physician of Neapolis, who is supposed to have lived in the early part of the first century after Christ.

[649] A writer on medicine, of whom all further particulars have perished.

[650] Possibly Ephippus of Olynthus, a Greek historian of the reign of Alexander the Great.

[651] See end of B. viii.

[652] An ancient Greek historian, mentioned also by Strabo; but no further particulars are known of him.

[653] The founder of the dynasty of the Egyptian Ptolemies, which ended in Cleopatra, B.C. 38: he wrote a narrative of the wars of Alexander, which is frequently quoted by the later writers, and served as the groundwork for Arrian’s history.

[654] A native of Pella, who wrote a history of Macedonia down to the wars of Alexander the Great. There was another writer of the same name, a native of Philippi, who also wrote a treatise, either geographical or historical, relative to Macedonia.

[655] A native of Amphipolis, though some make him to have been an Ephesian. The age in which he lived is not exactly known. He attacked the writings of Homer with such uncalled-for asperity, that his name has been proverbial for a snarling, captious critic. He is said to have met with a violent death. His literary productions were numerous, but none of them have come down to us.

[656] See end of B. ii.

[657] See end of B. viii.

[658] See end of B. xi.

[659] See end of B. iii.

[660] See end of B. v.

[661] See end of B. xi.

[662] A physician of Heraclea, near Ephesus. He wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates.

[663] Nothing is known of him; but it has been suggested that he may have been the author of a few fragments on veterinary surgery which still exist.

[664] There were many physicians and surgeons of this name, but probably Dionysius of Samos is meant, or else Sallustius Dionysius, quoted by Pliny, B. xxxii. c. 26.

[665] Also called Democedes, a physician of Crotona, who practised at Ægina. He was afterwards physician to Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, and King Darius, whose foot he cured. His work on medicine has perished.

[666] Nothing whatever is known of this writer.

[667] Nothing is known relative to this writer.

[668] Nothing is known of him.

[669] Or Iölaus, a native of Bithynia, who wrote a work on Materia Medica. He was probably a contemporary of Heraclides of Tarentum, in the third century B.C.

[670] A physician of Tarentum, who belonged to the Empiric sect. He wrote several medical works, and is highly commended by Galen. Only a few fragments of his writings remain.

[671] An historical and geographical writer, frequently quoted by Pliny. From the mention made of him in B. xxxvii. c. 2, it would appear that he flourished during the time of Pliny, or very shortly before.

[672] See end of B. ii.

[673] Fée remarks, that most of the unguents and perfumes of which Pliny here speaks would find but little favour at the present day.

[674] This does not appear to be exactly the case, for in the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, l. 186, we find “rose-scented” oil mentioned, indeed, Pliny himself alludes to it a little further on.

[675] “Nidorem.” This term was used in reference to the smell of burnt or roasted animal substances. It is not improbable that he alludes to the stench arising from the burnt sacrifices.

[676] The “Thuya articulata.” See c. 29 of the present Book.

[677] “Scrinium.” See B. vii. c. 30.

[678] The use of perfumes more probably originated in India, than among the Persians.

[679] But of seeds or plants.

[680] The perfumes of Delos themselves had nothing in particular to recommend them; but as it was the centre of the worship of Apollo, it is not improbable that exquisite perfumes formed a large proportion of the offerings brought thither from all parts of the world.

[681] In Egypt. See B. v. c. 11. The unguents of Mendes are again mentioned in the present Chapter.

[682] Or flower-de-luce. This perfume was called Irinum. The Iris Florentina of the botanists, Fée says, has the smell of the violet. For the composition of this perfume, see Dioscorides, B. i. c. 67.

[683] Rhodinum.

[684] See B. v. c. 26.

[685] Crocinum; made from the Crocus sativus of naturalists.

[686] See B. xii. c. 62. It was made from the flowers of the vine, mixed with omphacium.

[687] Amaracinum. The amaracus is supposed to have been the Origanum majoranoides of the moderns. Dioscorides, B. i. c. 59, says that the best was made at Cyzicus.

[688] Melinum. See B. xxiii. c. 54.

[689] Cyprinum. See B. xii. c. 51. The cyprus was the modern Lawsonia inermis.

[690] Made from the oil of bitter almonds. See B. xv. c. 7.

[691] Or “all Athenian.” We find in Athenæus, B. xv. c. 15, the composition of this unguent.

[692] From what is said by Apollonius in the passage of Athenæus last quoted, it has been thought that this was the same as the unguent called nardinum. It is very doubtful, however.

[693] Narcissinum. See B. xxi. c. 75. Dioscorides gives the composition of this unguent, B. i. c. 54.

[694] Among the stymmata, Dioscorides ranges the sweet-rush, the sweet-scented calamus and xylo-balsamum; and among the hedysmata amomum, nard, myrrh, balsam, costus, and marjoram. The latter constituted the _base_ of unguents, the former were only added occasionally.

[695] Cinnabar is never used to colour cosmetics at the present day, from its tendency to excoriate the skin. See B. xxiii. c. 39.

[696] This is still used for colouring cosmetics at the present day. See B. xxii. c. 23.

[697] Fée remarks, that salt can be of no use; but by falling to the bottom without dissolving, would rather tend to spoil the unguent.

[698] See B. xii. c. 60. The name “bryon” seems also to have been extended to the buds of various trees of the Conifera class and of the white poplar. It is probably to the buds of the last tree that Pliny here alludes.

[699] Oil of ben. See B. xii. c. 48.

[700] Or metopium. See Note [690] above.

[701] Made from olives. See B. xii. c. 60.

[702] See B. xii. c. 29.

[703] The modern Andropogon schœnanthus. See B. xii. c. 48.

[704] See B. xii. c. 48.

[705] Carpobalsamum. See. B. xii. c. 54.

[706] See B. xii. c. 56.

[707] Fluid resin of coniferous trees of Europe.

[708] See B. xv. c. 35.

[709] Cupressus semper-virens. He does not say what part of the tree was employed.

[710] See B. xii. c. 36.

[711] See c. 34 of the present Book.

[712] The alkanet and cinnabar were only used for colouring.

[713] “Sampsuchinum.” It is generally supposed that the sampsuchum, and the amaracus were the same, the sweet marjoram, or Origanum marjorana of Linnæus. Fée, however, is of a contrary opinion. See B. xxi. c. 35. In Dioscorides, B. i. c. 59, there is a difference made between sampsuchinum and amaracinum, though but a very slight one.

[714] The bark of the Cassia lignea of the pharmacopœa, the Laurus cassia of botany. See B. xii. c. 43.

[715] See B. xii. c. 26. The Andropogon nardus of Linnæus.

[716] See B. xii. c. 41.

[717] See B. xxiii. c. 54, also B. xv. c. 10. The Malum struthium, or “sparrow quince,” was an oblong variety of the fruit.

[718] Sesamum orientale of Linnæus. See B. xviii. c. 22, and B. xxii. c. 54.

[719] Balm of Gilead. See B. xii. c. 54.

[720] Southernwood. The Artemisia abrotonum of Linnæus.

[721] Or lily unguent, made of the lily of Susa, which had probably a more powerful smell than that of Europe. Dioscorides gives its composition, B. i. c. 63.

[722] The Crocus sativus of Linnæus.

[723] Cyprinum. It has been previously mentioned in this Chapter.

[724] See B. xii. c. 52.

[725] The gum resin of the Pastinaca opopanax of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 57.

[726] Or unguent of fenugreek, from the Greek τῆλις, meaning that plant, the Trigonella fœnum Græcum of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 120.

[727] See B. ii. c. 26, and B. xxi. c. 68-70.

[728] The Trifolium melilotus of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 30.

[729] See B. xii. c. 53.

[730] He would imply that it was so called from the Greek μεγὰς, “great;” but it was more generally said that it received its name from its inventor, Megalus.

[731] See B. xii. c. 5.

[732] Fée does not appear to credit this statement. By the use of the word “ventiletur,” “fanned” may be possibly implied.

[733] See B. xii. c. 59.

[734] The Agnus castus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 38. The leaves are quite inodorous, though the fruit of this plant is slightly aromatic.

[735] “Externa.” The reading is doubtful, and it is difficult to say what is the exact meaning of the word.

[736] Cinnamomino.

[737] Nardinum.

[738] Or leaf unguent, so called from being made of leaves of nard. See B. xii. c. 27.

[739] See B. xii. c. 25.

[740] See B. xii. c. 28.

[741] See B. xii. c. 26, 27, where the list is given.

[742] See B. xii. c. 35.

[743] Susinum. See p. 163.

[744] Summa auctoritas rei.

[745] See B. xii. c. 46.

[746] See B. xii. c. 53.

[747] See B. xii. c. 55.

[748] See B. xii. c. 37.

[749] See B. xii. c. 48.

[750] See B. xii. c. 48.

[751] See B. xii. c. 45.

[752] Fée suggests that this may be the Nymphæa cœrulea of Savigny, a plant that is common in the Nile, and the flowers of which exhale a sweet odour.

[753] The diapasmata were dry, odoriferous powders, similar to those used at the present day in sachets and scent-bags.

[754] “Fæcem unguenti.”

[755] This word is still used in pharmacy to denote the husks or residuary matter left after the extraction of the juice.

[756] See B. xxxvi. c. 12. See also Mark xiv. 7, and John xii. 3. Leaden boxes were also used for a similar purpose.

[757] Odores.

[758] “Heres.” The person was so called who succeeded to the property, whether real or personal, of an intestate.

[759] See B. xvii. c. 3, where he quotes this passage from Cicero at length. It appears to be from De Orat. B. iii. c. 69. Both Cicero and Pliny profess to find a smell that arises from the earth itself, through the agency of the sun. But, as Fée remarks, pure earth is perfectly inodorous. He suggests, however, that this odour attributed by the ancients to the earth, may in reality have proceeded from the fibrous roots of thyme and other plants. If such is not the real solution, it seems impossible to suggest any other.

[760] By giving preference to the more simple odours.

[761] “Crassitudo.”

[762] Or “thick” unguent.

[763] We learn from Athenæus, and a passage in the Aulularia of Plautus, that this was done long before Nero’s time, among the Greeks.

[764] Who succeeded Galba. He was one of Nero’s favourite companions in his debaucheries.

[765] Caligula.

[766] Solium.

[767] After victories, for instance, or when marching orders were given.

[768] This is said in bitter irony.

[769] Sub casside.

[770] Asia Minor more particularly.

[771] Exotica.

[772] The organs of taste and of smell.

[773] We have this fact alluded to in the works of Plautus, Juvenal, Martial, and Ælian. The Greeks were particularly fond of mixing myrrh with their wine. Nard wine is also mentioned by Plautus. Miles Gl. iii. 2, 11.

[774] Or Lucius Plautius Plancus. He was proscribed by the triumvirs, with the sanction of his brother. In consequence of his use of perfumes, the place of his concealment “got wind;” and in order to save his slaves, who were being tortured to death because they would not betray him, he voluntarily surrendered himself.

[775] Attaching to the triumvirate.

[776] Capua, its capital, was the great seat of the unguent and perfume manufacture in Italy.

[777] The Phœnix dactylifera of Linnæus. See also B. xii. c. 62, where he seems also to allude to this tree.

[778] At the present day this is not the fact. The village of La Bordighiera, situate on an eminence of the Apennines, grows great quantities of dates, of good quality. At Hieres, Nice, San Remo, and Genoa, they are also grown.

[779] This, too, is not the fact. The dates of Valencia, Seville, and other provinces of Spain, are sweet, and of excellent quality.

[780] Pliny is wrong again in this statement. The date of Barbary, Tunis, Algiers, and Bildulgerid, the “land of dates,” is superior in every respect to that of the East.

[781] The Æthiopians, as we learn from Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8.

[782] Or in a wild state.

[783] “Tectorii vicem.” They were probably planted in rows, close to the wall.

[784] This mode of ascending the date-palm is still practised in the East.

[785] See B. xvi. c. 37.

[786] “Umbracula.” The fibres of the leaves were probably platted or woven, and the “umbracula” made in much the same manner as the straw and fibre hats of the present day.

[787] Most of this is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 9.

[788] Fée remarks, that this account is quite erroneous.

[789] This he copies also from Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8.

[790] Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 8, mentions this as a kind of date peculiar to Cyprus.

[791] This is said solely in relation to the date of Cyprus.

[792] Or “dwellers in tents;” similar to the modern Bedouins.

[793] Fée remarks, that in these words we find the first germs of the sexual system that has been established by the modern botanists. He thinks that it is clearly shown by this account, that Pliny was acquainted with the fecundation of plants by the agency of the pollen.

[794] In allusion to the pollen, possibly. See the last Note.

[795] “Lanugine.” It is possible that in the use of this word, also, he may allude to the pollen. Under the term “pulvis,” “dust,” he probably alludes in exaggerated terms to the same theory.

[796] The same methods of propagating the palm are still followed in the East, and in the countries near the tropics.

[797] In c. 7 of the present Book. See also B. xvii. c. 3.

[798] Fée mentions one near Elvas in Spain, which shot up into seven distinct trees, as it were, from a single trunk. The Douma Thebaica, he says, of Syria and Egypt, a peculiar kind of palm, is also bifurcated. The fruit of it, he thinks, are very probably the Phænico-balanus of B. xii. c. 47.

[799] “Spado.” Represented by the Greek εὔνουχος and ἔνορχος.

[800] “Cæduæ.” Though this is the fact as to some palm-trees, the greater part perish after being cut; the vital bud occupying the summit, and the trunk not being susceptible of any increase.

[801] Cerebrum.

[802] The Chamæreps humilis of the modern botanists. It is found, among other countries, in Spain, Morocco, and Arabia.

[803] Vitilia.

[804] “Vivaces.” Perhaps it may mean that the wood retains the fire for a long time, when it burns.

[805] Fée suggests that Pliny may possibly have confounded the fruit of other palms with the date.

[806] This seems to have been a general name, as Pliny says, meaning an eunuch; but it is evident that it was also used as a proper name, as in the case of the eunuch who slew Artaxerxes, Ochus, B.C. 338, by poison, and of another eunuch who belonged to Darius, but afterwards fell into the hands of Alexander, of whom he became an especial favourite. The name is sometimes written “Bagoüs,” and sometimes “Bagoas.”

[807] Dominantis in aula.

[808] From the Greek σύαγρος, “a wild boar,” as Pliny afterwards states; they being so called from their peculiar wild taste.

[809] See B. vi. c. 39.

[810] Said to have been so called from the Greek κάρη, “the head,” and ὑωδία, “stupidity,” owing to the heady nature of the wine extracted from the fruit.

[811] See B. vi. c. 32, and B. xiv. c. 19.

[812] The Jericho of Scripture.

[813] Athenæus, B. xiv. c. 22, tells us that these dates were thus called from Nicolaus of Damascus, a Peripatetic philosopher, who, when visiting Rome with Herod the Great, made Augustus a present of the finest fruit of the palm-tree that could be procured. This fruit retained its name of “Nicolaän,” down to the middle ages.

[814] Pliny would imply that they are so called from the Greek ἀδέλφια, “a sister,” as being of sister quality to the caryotæ; but it is much more probable, as Fée remarks, that they got this name from being attached in pairs to the same pedicle or stalk.

[815] Pliny certainly seems to imply that they are so called from the Greek πατέω, “to tread under foot,” and Hardouin is of that opinion. Fée, however, thinks the name is from the Hebrew or Syriac “patach,” “to expand,” or “open,” or else from the Hebrew “pathah,” the name of the first vowel, from some fancied resemblance in the form.

[816] From the Greek χυδαῖος, “vulgar,” or “common,” it is supposed. The Jews probably called them so, as being common, or offered by the Gentiles to their idols and divinities. Pliny evidently considers that in the name given to them no compliment was intended to the deities of the heathen mythology.

[817] From its extreme driness, and its shrivelled appearance.

[818] From Theophrastus, B. i. c. 16.

[819] Κύκως in the Greek. It is supposed by Sprengel to be the same as the Cycas circinnalis of Linnæus; but, as Fée remarks, that is only found in India.

[820] From the Greek, meaning “sweetmeats,” or “dessert fruit:” he probably means that in Syria and some parts of Phœnicia they were thus called.

[821] This story, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 5, is doubted by Fée, who says that in the green state they are so hard and nauseous, that it is next to impossible to eat sufficient to be materially incommoded by them.

[822] The Pistacia vera of Linnæus. It was introduced into Rome in the reign of Tiberius. The kernel is of no use whatever in a medical point of view, and what Pliny says about its curing the bite of serpents is perfectly fabulous.

[823] See B. xv. c. 19. The “carica” was properly the “Carian” fig. “Ficus carica” is, however, the name given to the common fig by the modern botanists.

[824] The parent of our Damascenes, or damsons. See B. xv. c. 13.

[825] Supposed to be the Corda myxa of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. 15.

[826] The Juniperus communis of Linnæus.

[827] The Juniperus Lycia, and the Juniperus Phœnicia, probably, of Linnæus. It has been supposed by some, that it is these trees that produce the frankincense of Africa; but, as Fée observes, the subject is enveloped in considerable obscurity.

[828] The “sharp-leaved” cedar. The Juniperus oxycedrus of Linnæus.

[829] The “Pinus cedrus” of Linnæus. The name “cedrus” was given by the ancients not only to the cedar of Lebanon, but to many others of the Coniferæ as well, and more particularly to several varieties of the juniper.

[830] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[831] Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[832] These varieties, Fée says, are not observed by modern naturalists.

[833] Garidel has remarked, that the trunk of this tree produces coriaceous vesicles, filled with a clear and odoriferous terebinthine, in which pucerons, or aphides, are to be seen floating.

[834] “Rhus.” The Rhus coriaria of Linnæus. Pliny is wrong in distinguishing this tree into sexes, as all the flowers are hermaphroditical, and therefore fruitful.

[835] It is still used by curriers in preparing leather.

[836] See B. xxiv. c. 79. The fruit, which has a pleasant acidity, was used for culinary purposes by the ancients, as it is by the Turks at the present day.

[837] The Ficus sycamorus of Linnæus. It receives its name from being a fig-tree that bears a considerable resemblance to the “morus,” or mulberry-tree.

[838] This is not the case.

[839] This appears to be doubtful, although, as Fée says, the fruit ripens but very slowly.

[840] This, Fée says, is a fallacy.

[841] “Aliam omnem.” This reading seems to be very doubtful.

[842] This wood was very extensively used in Egypt for making the outer cases, or coffins, in which the mummies were enclosed.

[843] This account is borrowed almost entirely from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 2. A variety of the sycamore is probably meant. It is still found in the Isle of Crete.

[844] He seems to mean that the buds do not shoot forth into leaves; the reading, however, varies in the editions, and is extremely doubtful.

[845] Grossus.

[846] The Ceratonia siliqua of Linnæus. It is of the same size as the sycamore, but resembles it in no other respect. It is still common in the localities mentioned by Pliny, and in the south of Spain.

[847] Theophrastus in the number, Hist. Plant. i. 23, and iv. 2. It bears no resemblance to the fig-tree, and the fruit is totally different from the fig. Pliny, too, is wrong in saying that it does not grow in Egypt; the fact being that it is found there in great abundance.

[848] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[849] Fée identifies it with the Egyptian almond, mentioned by Pliny in B. xv. c. 28; the Myrobalanus chebulus of Wesling, the Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille, and the Xymenia Ægyptiaca of Linnæus. Schreber and Sprengel take it to be the Cordia Sebestana of Linnæus; but that is a tree peculiar to the Antilles. The fruit is in shape like a date, enclosing a large stone with five sides, and covered with a little viscous flesh, of somewhat bitter, though not disagreeable flavour. It is found in the vicinity of Sennaar, and near the Red Sea. The Arabs call it the “date of the Desert.”

[850] See B. xviii. c. 68.

[851] See B. xv. c. 34.

[852] Or ben. See B. xii. cc. 46, 47.

[853] Many have taken this to be the cocoa-nut tree; but, as Fée remarks, that is a tree of India, and this of Egypt. There is little doubt that it is the _doum_ of the Arabs, the Cucifera Thebaica of Delille. The timber of the trunk is much used in Egypt, and of the leaves carpets, bags, and panniers are made. In fact, the description of it and its fruit is almost identical with that here given by Pliny.

[854] The seed or stone of the doum is still used in Egypt for making the beads of chaplets: it admits of a very high polish.

[855] Materies crispioris elegantiæ.

[856] See B. xxiv. c. 67. This is, no doubt, the Acacia Nilotica of Linnæus, which produces the gum Arabic of modern commerce.

[857] This is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 3. Fée suggests that it may have been a kind of myrobalanus. Sprengel identifies it with the Cordia sebestana of the botanists.

[858] “Fuit.” From the use of this word he seems uncertain as to its existence in his time; the account is copied from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 3. Fée suggests that he may here allude to the Baobab, the Adansonia digitata, which grows in Senegal and Sennaar to an enormous size. Prosper Alpinus speaks of it as existing in Egypt. The Arabs call it El-omarah, and the fruit El-kongles.

[859] The Mimosa polyacanthe, probably. Fée says that the mimosæ, respectively known as casta, pudibunda, viva, and sensitiva, with many of the inga, and other leguminous trees, are irritable in the highest degree. The tree here spoken of he considers to be one of the acacias. The passage in Theophrastus speaks of the leaf as shrinking, and not falling, and then as simply reviving.

[860] The Acacia Nilotica of Linnæus, from which we derive the gum Arabic of commerce; and of which a considerable portion is still derived from Egypt.

[861] These gums are chemically different from gum Arabic, and they are used for different purposes in the arts.

[862] The vine does not produce a gum; but when the sap ascends, a juice is secreted, which sometimes becomes solid on the evaporation of the aqueous particles. This substance contains acetate of potassa, which, by the decomposition of that salt, becomes a carbonate of the same base.

[863] This is not a gum, but a resinous product of a peculiar nature. It is known to the moderns by the name of “olivine.”

[864] The sap of the elm leaves a saline deposit on the bark, principally formed of carbonate of potassa. Fée is at a loss to know whether Pliny here alludes to this or to the manna which is incidentally formed by certain insects on some trees and reeds. But, as he justly says, would Pliny say of the latter that it is “ad nihil utile”—“good for nothing”?

[865] A resinous product, no doubt. The frankincense of Africa has been attributed by some to the Juniperus Lycia and Phœnicia.

[866] The Penæa Sarcocolla of Linnæus. The gum resin of this tree is still brought from Abyssinia, but it is not used in medicine. This account is from Dioscorides, B. iii. c. 99. The name is from the Greek σὰρξ, “flesh,” and κόλλα, “glue.”

[867] See B. xxiv. c. 78.

[868] Three denarii per pound.

[869] It is hardly necessary to state that this is not the fact. This plant is the Cyperus papyrus of Linnæus, the “berd” of the modern Egyptians.

[870] Il. B. vi. l. 168. See B. xxxiii. c. 4, where the tablets which are here called “pugillares,” are styled “codicilli” by Pliny.

[871] His argument is, that paper made from the papyrus could not be known in the time of Homer, as that plant only grew in certain districts which had been rescued from the sea since the time of the poet.

[872] Od. B. iv. l. 355.

[873] See B. ii. c. 87.

[874] There is little doubt that parchment was really known many years before the time of Eumenes II., king of Pontus. It is most probable that this king introduced extensive improvements in the manufacture of parchment, for Herodotus mentions writing on skins as common in his time; and in B. v. c. 58, he states that the Ionians had been accustomed to give the name of skins, διφθέραι, to books.

[875] Brachiali radicis obliquæ crassitudine.

[876] This was a pole represented as being carried by Bacchus and his Bacchanalian train. It was mostly terminated by the fir cone, that tree being dedicated to Bacchus, in consequence of the use of its cones and turpentine in making wine. Sometimes it is surmounted by vine or fig leaves, with grapes or berries arranged in form of a cone.

[877] This is not the fact: it has seed in it, though not very easily perceptible. The description here given is otherwise very correct.

[878] Among the ancients the term papyrus was used as a general appellation for all the different plants of the genus Cyperus, which was used for making mats, boats, baskets, and numerous other articles: but one species only was employed for making paper, the Cyperus papyrus, or Byblos. Fée states that the papyrus is no longer to be found in the Delta, where it formerly abounded.

[879] See B. xii. c. 48.

[880] Sometimes translated _hemp_. A description will be given of it in B. xix. c. 7.

[881] “Intexere.” This would almost appear to mean that they embroidered or interwove the characters. The Persians still write on a stuff made of white silk, gummed and duly prepared for the purpose.

[882] Or “holy” paper. The priests would not allow it to be sold, lest it might be used for profane writing; but after it was once written upon, it was easily procurable. The Romans were in the habit of purchasing it largely in the latter state, and then washing off the writing, and using it as paper of the finest quality. Hence it received the name of “Augustus,” as representing in Latin its Greek name “hieraticus,” or “sacred.” In length of time it became the common impression, as here mentioned, that this name was given to it in honour of Augustus Cæsar.

[883] Near the amphitheatre, probably, of Alexandria.

[884] He alludes to Q. Remmius Fannius Palæmon, a famous grammarian of Rome, though originally a slave. Being manumitted, he opened a school at Rome, which was resorted to by great numbers of pupils, notwithstanding his notoriously bad character. He appears to have established, also, a manufactory for paper at Rome. Suetonius, in his treatise on Illustrious Grammarians, gives a long account of him. He is supposed to have been the preceptor of Quintilian.

[885] Fanniana.

[886] In Lower Egypt.

[887] Ex vilioribus ramentis.

[888] Of Alexandria, probably.

[889] “Shop-paper,” or “paper of commerce.”

[890] Otherwise, probably, the rope would not long hold together.

[891] Fée remarks, that this is by no means the fact. With M. Poiret, he questions the accuracy of Pliny’s account of preparing the papyrus, and is of opinion that it refers more probably to the treatment of some other vegetable substance from which paper was made.

[892] Primo supinâ tabulæ schedâ.

[893] “Scapus.” This was, properly, the cylinder on which the paper was rolled.

[894] Augustan.

[895] Or “long glued” paper: the breadth probably consisted of that of two or more sheets glued or pasted at the edges, the seam running down the roll.

[896] Scheda. One of the leaves of the papyrus, of which the roll of twenty, joined side by side, was formed.

[897] This passage is difficult to be understood, and various attempts have been made to explain it. It is not unlikely that his meaning is that the breadth being doubled, the tearing of one leaf or half breadth entailed of necessity the spoiling of another, making the corresponding half breadth.

[898] He perhaps means a portion of an elephant’s tusk.

[899] Meaning a damp, musty smell.

[900] See B. vii. c. 18, and B. xiv. c. 6. Also the Life of Pliny, in the Introduction to Vol. i. p. vii.

[901] This story, no doubt, deserves to be rejected as totally fabulous, even though we have Hemina’s word for it.

[902] See B. xvi. c. 70.

[903] B. xii. c. 7, and B. xiii. c. 31. It was thought that the leaves and juices of the cedar and the citrus preserved books and linen from the attacks of noxious insects.

[904] And because, as Livy says, their doctrines were inimical to the then existing religion.

[905] Val. Maximus says that there were some books written in Latin, on the pontifical rights, and others in Greek on philosophical subjects.

[906] Humanæ Antiquitates.

[907] See B. xxxiv. c. 11.

[908] See B. xxxiii. c. 5.

[909] He implies that it could not have been written upon paper, as the papyrus and the districts which produced it were not in existence in the time of Homer. No doubt this so-called letter, if shown at all, was a forgery, a “pia fraus.” See c. 21 of the present Book.

[910] Il. B. vi. l. 168.

[911] “Codicillos,” as meaning characters written on a surface of wood. πίναξ, as Homer calls it.

[912] It was probably then that the supply of it first began to fail; in the sixth century it was still used, but by the twelfth it had wholly fallen into disuse.

[913] The cotton-tree, Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus.

[914] See B. xii. c. 21, 22.

[915] In c. 9 of the present Book.

[916] See B. vi. c. 36, 37.

[917] Desfontaines observed in the vicinity of Atlas, several trees peculiar to that district. Among others of this nature, he names the Pistacia Atlantica, and the Thuya articulata.

[918] See B. v. c. 1.

[919] Generally supposed to be the Thuya articulata of Desfontaines, the Cedrus Atlantica of other botanists.

[920] This rage for fine tables made of the citrus is alluded to, among others, by Martial and Petronius Arbiter. See also Lucan, A. ix. B. 426, _et seq._

[921] It is a rather curious fact that it is in Cicero’s works that we find the earliest mention made of citrus tables, 2nd Oration ag. Verres, s. 4:—“You deprived Q. Lutatius Diodorus of Lilybæum of a citrus table of remarkable age and beauty.”

[922] Somewhere about £9000.

[923] This is considered nothing remarkable at the present day, such is the skill displayed by our cabinet-makers.

[924] Called “Nomiana.”

[925] Tuber.

[926] The European Cyprus, the Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[927] These veins were nothing in reality but the lines of the layers or strata lignea, running perpendicularly in the trunk, and the number of which denotes the age of the tree.

[928] “Tigrinæ.”

[929] “Pantherinæ.” The former tables were probably made of small pieces from the trunk, the latter from the sections of the tubers or knots.

[930] “Crispis.”

[931] Or “parsley-seed” tables. It has also been suggested that the word comes from “apis,” a bee; the wood presenting the appearance of being covered with swarms of bees.

[932] “Mulsum.” This mixture will be found frequently mentioned in the next Book.

[933] Lignum.

[934] Fée remarks that this is incorrect, and that this statement betrays an entire ignorance of the vegetable physiology.

[935] Θύον, “wood of sacrifice.”

[936] Od. B. v. l. 60. Pliny makes a mistake in saying “Circe;” it should be “Calypso.”

[937] Θύον.

[938] Crispius.

[939] He alludes to the citron, the Citrus Medica of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 7.

[940] The Rhamnus lotus of Linnæus; the Zizyphus lotus of Desfontaines.

[941] The Celtis australis of Linnæus. Fée remarks that Pliny is in error in giving the name of Celtis to the lotus of Africa.

[942] The Lotophagi. See B. v. c. 7.

[943] A kind of grain diet. See B. xviii. c. 29, and B. xxii. c. 61.

[944] The Melilotus officinalis of Linnæus.

[945] The Nymphæa Nelumbo of Linnæus, or Egyptian bean.

[946] He speaks of the indentations on the surface of the poppy-head.

[947] See B. xxii. c. 28.

[948] Fée remarks that there is nothing singular about it, the sun more or less exercising a similar influence on all plants.

[949] The same as the Nymphæa Nelumbo of the Nile, according to Fée.

[950] Probably the Rhamnus paliurus of Linnæus; the Spina Christi of other botanists.

[951] The pomegranate, the Punica granatum of botanists.

[952] Or “grained apple.”

[953] From the Greek ἀπύρηνον, “without kernel.” This Fée would not translate literally, but as meaning that by cultivation the grains had been reduced to a very diminutive size. See B. xxiii. c. 57.

[954] This variety appears to be extinct. Fée doubts if it ever existed.

[955] See B. xxiii. c. 57.

[956] See B. xxiii. c. 60.

[957] “Puniceus,” namely, a kind of purple.

[958] See B. xxvii. c. 52. Sprengel thinks that this is the Neottia spiralis of Schwartz; but Fée is of opinion that it has not hitherto been identified.

[959] Probably the Erica arborea of Linnæus, or “heath” in its several varieties.

[960] Granum Cnidium. The shrub is the Daphne Cnidium of Linnæus.

[961] The “thyme-olive.”

[962] The “ground olive,” or “small olive.” Dioscorides makes a distinction between these two last; and Sprengel has followed it, naming the last Daphne Cnidium, and the first Daphne Cneorum.

[963] See B. xxvii. c. 115.

[964] He says elsewhere that it is like the juniper, which, however, is not the case. Guettard thinks that the tragion is the Androsæmon fetidum, the Hyperium hircinum of the modern botanists. Sprengel also adopts the same opinion. Fée is inclined to think that it was a variety of the Pistacia lentiscus.

[965] Goat’s thorn. The Astragalus Creticus of Linnæus.

[966] He speaks of gum tragacanth.

[967] See B. xxvii. c. 116. Sprengel identifies it with the Salsola tragus of Linnæus.

[968] Probably the Tamarix Gallica of Linnæus. Fée says, in relation to the myrica, that it would seem that the ancients united in one collective name, several plants which resembled each other, not in their botanical characteristics, but in outward appearance. To this, he says, is owing the fact that Dioscorides calls the myrica a tree, Favorinus a herb; Dioscorides says that it is fruitful, Nicander and Pliny call it barren; Virgil calls it small, and Theophrastus says that it is large.

[969] Fée thinks that it is the Tamarix orientalis of Delille.

[970] “Infelix,” meaning “sterile.” He seems to say this more

## particularly in reference to the brya, which Egypt produces. As to this

use of the word “infelix,” see B. xvi. c. 46.

[971] Sprengel and Fée identify this with the Ostrya vulgaris of Willdenow, the Carpinus ostrya of Linnæus.

[972] Or the “luckily named.” It grew on Mount Ordymnus in Lesbos. See Theophrastus, B. ii. c. 31.

[973] The Evonymus Europæus, or else the Evonymus latifolius of botanists, is probably intended to be indicated; but it is a mistake to say that it is poisonous to animals. On the contrary, Fée says that sheep will fatten on its leaves very speedily.

[974] “Statim pestem denuntians.” Pliny appears to be in error here. In copying from Theophrastus, he seems to have found the word φόνος used, really in reference to a blood-red juice which distils from the plant; but as the same word also means slaughter, or death, he seems to have thought that it really bears reference to the noxious qualities of the plant.

[975] Fée censures the use of the word “siliqua,” as inappropriate, although the seed does resemble that of sesamum, the Sesamum orientale of Linnæus.

[976] Or eonis. Fée suggests that in this story, which probably belongs to the region of Fable, some kind of oak may possibly be alluded to.

[977] In the former editions, “adrachne”—the Arbutus integrifolia, Fée says, and not the Arbutus andrachne of Linnæus, as Sprengel thinks.

[978] “Porcillaca.” The Portulaca oleracea of Linnæus.

[979] The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, a sort of sumach.

[980] This is not the fact; the seeds when ripe are merely lost to view in the large tufts of down which grow on the stems.

[981] Generally supposed to be the same as the alaternus, mentioned in B. xvi. c. 45. Some writers identify it with the Phyllirea angustifolia of Linnæus.

[982] Probably the Ferula communis of Linnæus, the herb or shrub known as “fennel giant.”

[983] The Ferula glauca of Linnæus.

[984] The Ferula nodiflora of Linnæus.

[985] It is still used for that purpose in the south of Europe. The Roman schoolmasters, as we learn from Juvenal, Martial, and others, employed it for the chastisement of their scholars. Pliny is in error in reckoning it among the trees, it really having no pretensions to be considered such. It is said to have received its name from “ferio,” to “beat.”

[986] Sprengel thinks that this is the Thapsia asclepium of the moderns; but Fée takes it to be the Thapsia villosa of Linnæus.

[987] It was valued, Dioscorides says, for its cathartic properties.

[988] Either the Thapsia garganica of Willdenow, or the Thapsia villosa, found in Africa and the south of Europe, though, as Pliny says, the thapsia of Europe is mild in its effects compared with that of Africa. It is common on the coast of Barbary.

[989] Pastillos.

[990] Nocturnis grassationibus.

[991] It is still used in Barbary for the cure of tetter and ringworm.

[992] The story was, that Prometheus, when he stole the heavenly fire from Jupiter, concealed it in a stalk of narthex.

[993] The “caper-tree,” the Capparis spinosa of Linnæus. Fée suggests that Pliny may possibly allude, in some of the features which he describes, to kinds less known; such, for instance, as the Capparis inermis of Forskhal, found in Arabia; the Capparis ovata of Desfontaines, found in Barbary; the Capparis Sinaica, found on Mount Sinai, and remarkable for the size of its fruit; and the Capparis Ægyptiaca of Lamarck, commonly found in Egypt.

[994] The stalk and seed were salted or pickled. The buds or unexpanded flowers of this shrub are admired as a pickle or sauce of delicate flavour.

[995] Fée remarks that this is not the truth, all the kinds possessing the same qualities. There may, however, have been some difference in the mode of salting or pickling them, and possibly productive of noxious effects.

[996] Probably from its thorns, that being the name of the sweet-briar, or dog-rose.

[997] “Serpent grapes.”

[998] Sprengel and Fée take this to be the Cyperus fastigiatus of Linnæus, which Forskhal found in the river Nile.

[999] Spina regia. Some writers have considered this to be the same with the Centaurea solstitialis of Linnæus. Sprengel takes it to be the Cassyta filiformis of Linnæus, a parasitical plant of India. We must conclude, however, with Fée, that both the thorn and the parasite have not hitherto been identified.

[1000] The Makron Teichos. See B. iv. c. 11.

[1001] From the various statements of ancient authors, Fée has come to the conclusion that this name was given to two totally different productions. The cytisus which the poets speak of as grateful to bees and goats, and sheep, he takes to be the Medicago arborea of Linnæus, known to us as Medic trefoil, or lucerne; while the other, a tree with a black wood, he considers identical with the Cytisus laburnum of Linnæus, the laburnum, or false ebony tree.

[1002] A kind of vetch or tare. See B. xviii.

[1003] “Frutex.” When speaking of it as a shrub, he seems to be confounding the tree with the plant.

[1004] Evidently in allusion to the tree.

[1005] He alludes to various kinds of fucus or sea-weed, which grows to a much larger size in the Eastern seas.

[1006] The Mediterranean.

[1007] Whence the word “fucus” of the naturalists.

[1008] Fée suggests that this may be the Laminaria saccharina of Linnæus, being one of the “ulvæ” often thrown up on the coasts of Europe.

[1009] The “green” plant.

[1010] The “girdle” plant.

[1011] The Fucus barbatus, probably, of Linnæus, or else the Fucus eroïdes.

[1012] They are in reality more long-lived than this.

[1013] Fée suggests that it is the Roccella tinctoria of Linnæus.

[1014] The Zostera marina of Linnæus, according to Fée.

[1015] The Ulva lactuca of the moderns, a very common sea-weed.

[1016] The Fucus ericoïdes, Fée suggests, not unlike a fir in appearance.

[1017] Quercus. According to Gmellin, this is the Fucus vesiculosus of Linnæus. Its leaves are indented, somewhat similarly to those of the oak.

[1018] Polybius, as quoted by Athenæus, says that in the Lusitanian Sea there are oaks that bear acorns, on which the thunnies feed and grow fat.

[1019] On the contrary, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 7, that the sea-vine grows _near_ the sea, from which Fée is disposed to consider it a phanerogamous plant. If, on the other hand, it is really a fucus, he thinks that the Fucus uvarius may be meant, the vesicles of which resemble a grape in shape.

[1020] He speaks of a madrepore, Fée thinks, the identity of which it is difficult to determine. Professor Pallas speaks of an Alcyonidium ficus, which lives in the Mediterranean and in the ocean, and which resembles a fig, and has no leaves, but its exterior is not red.

[1021] Fée queries whether this may not be the Gorgonia palma of Linnæus, which has received its name from its resemblance to a small palm-tree.

[1022] These three, Fée thinks, are madrepores or zoophytes, which it would be vain to attempt to identify.

[1023] That is, they dry up to the consistency of pumice.

[1024] “Sitiens.” Delille considers this as identical with his Acacia seyal, a thorny tree, often to be seen in the deserts of Africa.

[1025] Probably zoophytes now unknown.

[1026] Fée suggests that he may allude to the Madrepora fungites of Linnæus, the Fungus lapideus of Bauhin. These are found in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean; but, of course, the story of their appearance during rain is fabulous.

[1027] Sharks; see B. ix. c. 70.

[1028] The companions of Onesicritus and Nearchus.

[1029] Fée hazards a conjecture that this may be the Gorgonia scirpea of Pallas, found in the Indian Seas.

[1030] One of the Gorgoniæ, Fée thinks; but its characteristics are not sufficiently stated to enable us to identify it.

[1031] A fable worthy of Sinbad the Sailor!

[1032] “Isidis crinem.” Fée says that this is evidently black coral, the Gorgonia antipathes of Linnæus.

[1033] “The eyelid of the Graces.” Fée is almost tempted to think that he means red coral.

[1034] Amatoriis.

[1035] Spatalia. Armlets or bracelets.

[1036] By this apparently fabulous story, one would be almost inclined to think that he is speaking of a zoophyte.

[1037] See end of B. ii.

[1038] See end of B. ii.

[1039] See end of B vii.

[1040] Papirius Fabianus. See end of B. ii.

[1041] See end of B. ii.

[1042] See end of B. iii.

[1043] Fabius Pictor. See end of B. x.

[1044] See end of B. viii.

[1045] See end of B. iii.

[1046] Trogus Pompeius. See end of B. vii.

[1047] See end of B. v.

[1048] See end of B. ii.

[1049] See end of B. xii.

[1050] See end of B. xii.

[1051] See end of B. ii.

[1052] See end of B. xii.

[1053] See end of B. ii.

[1054] See end of B. iii.

[1055] See end of B. ii.

[1056] See end of B. xii.

[1057] See end of B. vii.

[1058] See end of B. vi.

[1059] See end of B. xii.

[1060] See end of B. vii.

[1061] See end of B. vi.

[1062] See end of B. ii.

[1063] See end of B. xii.

[1064] See end of B. xii.

[1065] See end of B. vi.

[1066] See end of B. iv.

[1067] See end of B. iv.

[1068] See end of B. xii.

[1069] See end of B. iv.

[1070] See end of B. viii.

[1071] See end of B. xii.

[1072] See end of B. xii.

[1073] See end of B. xii.

[1074] See end of B. viii.

[1075] Nothing certain is known of him; but he appears to be the geographer, a native of Lampsacus, mentioned by Strabo in B. xiii.

[1076] See end of B. xii.

[1077] See end of B. xii.

[1078] See end of B. xii.

[1079] See end of B. ii.

[1080] See end of B. viii.

[1081] See end of B. iii.

[1082] A writer on Agriculture, or domestic economy; but nothing further is known of him.

[1083] See end of B. v.

[1084] Perhaps the same writer that is mentioned at the end of B. xi.

[1085] For two physicians of this name, see end of B. xii.

[1086] One of his prescriptions is preserved in the works of Galen. Nothing else is known of him.

[1087] See end of B. xii.

[1088] See end of B. xii.

[1089] See end of B. xii.

[1090] See end of B. xii.

[1091] See end of B. xii.

[1092] See end of B. xii.

[1093] See end of B. xii.

[1094] See end of B. xii.

[1095] See end of B. xii.

[1096] This must be understood with considerable modification—many of the tropical trees and plants have been naturalized, and those of America more particularly, in Europe.

[1097] He is probably wrong in looking upon the vine as indigenous to Italy. It was known in very early times in Egypt and Greece, and it is now generally considered that it is indigenous throughout the tract that stretches to the south, from the mountains of Mazandiran on the Caspian to the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Sea, and eastward through Khorassan and Cabul to the base of the Himalayas.

[1098] The art of printing, Fée remarks, utterly precludes the recurrence of such a fact as this.

[1099] In allusion to his poem, the “Works and Days,” the prototype of Virgil’s Georgics.

[1100] He alludes to the legacy-hunters with which Rome abounded in his time. They are spoken of by Seneca, Tacitus, and Juvenal, in terms of severe reprobation.

[1101] This seems to be the meaning of “captatio;” much like what we call “toadying,” or “toad-eating.”

[1102] The “liberales artes,” were those, the pursuit of which was not considered derogatory to the dignity of a free man.

[1103] Vita ipsa desiit.

[1104] Humilitas.

[1105] In the Georgics.

[1106] Theophrastus reckons it among the trees; Columella, B. ii., considers it to occupy a middle position between a tree and a shrub. Horace, B. i. Ode 18, calls it a tree, “arbor.”

[1107] Or “layers,” “propagines.”

[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.

[1118] “Durus acinus,” or, according to some readings, “duracinus.”

[1119] From the Greek βουμαστὸς, a cow’s teat, mentioned by Virgil, Georg. ii. 102.

[1120] Or finger-grape.

[1121] From the Greek λεπτορᾶγες, “small-berried.”

[1122] Pensili concamaratæ nodo.

[1123] We have no corresponding word for the Latin “dolium.” It was an oblong earthen vessel, used for much the same purpose as our vats; new wine was generally placed in it. In times later than that of Pliny the dolia were made of wood.

[1124] Hardouin speaks of these grapes as still growing in his time in the Valtelline, and remarkable for their excellence.

[1125] “A patientia.” Because they have _suffered_ from the action of the heat.

[1126] From the thinness of the skin.

[1127] See c. 24, also B. xxiii. c. 24.

[1128] See B. iii. c. 5, and B. xxxiii. c. 24.

[1129] He died in the year B.C. 19.

[1130] A vine sapling was the chief mark of the centurion’s authority.

[1131] The reading “elatas,” has been adopted. If “lentas” is retained, it may mean, “promotion, slow though it be,” for the word “aquila” was often used to denote the rank of the “primipilus,” who had the charge of the eagle of the legion.

[1132] Because it was the privilege solely of those soldiers who were Roman citizens to be beaten with the vine sapling.

[1133] He alludes to the “vinea” used in besieging towns; the first notion of which was derived from the leafy roof afforded by the vines when creeping on the trellis over-head. It was a moveable machine, affording a roof under which the besiegers protected themselves against darts, stones, fire, and other missiles. Raw hides or wet cloths constituted the uppermost layer.

[1134] See B. xxiii. c. 19.

[1135] Many years ago, there were in the gardens of the Luxembourg one thousand four hundred varieties of the French grape, and even then there were many not to be found there; while, at the same time, it was considered that the French kinds did not form more than one-twentieth part of the species known in Europe.

[1136] This vine was said to be of Grecian origin, and to have been conveyed by a Thessalian tribe to Italy, where it was grown at Aminea, a village in the Falernian district of Campania. It is supposed to have been the same as the _gros plant_ of the French. The varieties mentioned by Pliny seem not to have been recognized by the moderns.

[1137] Fée does not give credit to this statement.

[1138] In allusion to the cotton-tree, or else the mulberry leaves covered with the cocoons of the silkworm. See B. vi. c. 20, and B. xii. c. 21. Virgil, in the Georgics, has the well-known line:

“Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres.”

[1139] See B. iii. c. 9, There are many vines, the wood of which is red, but this species has not been identified.

[1140] From “apis,” a “bee.” He alludes, it is thought, to the muscatel grape, said to have had its name from “musca,” a “fly;” an insect which is greatly attracted by its sweetness.

[1141] Græcula.

[1142] Fée is inclined to think that he alludes to the vine of Corinth, the dried fruit of which are the currants of commerce.

[1143] From the Greek εὐγένεια.

[1144] How Taormina, in Sicily, where, Fée says, it is still to be found. The grapes are red, similar to those of Mascoli near Etna, and much esteemed.

[1145] Picata. See p. 221.

[1146] _I. e._, pale straw colour.

[1147] It has been supposed that this vine received its name from “fæx;” the wine depositing an unusually large quantity of lees.

[1148] It is doubtful whether this vine had its name from being grown in the district now called Bourges, or that of Bourdeaux. Dalechamps identifies it with the _plant d’Orleans_.

[1149] The origin of its name is unknown. The text is evidently defective.

[1150] By this name it would be understood that they were of an intermediate colour between rose and white, a not uncommon colour in the grape. Pliny, however, says otherwise, and he is supported by Columella.

[1151] C. Bauhin took this to mean one of the garden currant trees, the Ribes uva crispa of Linnæus, called by Bauhin Grossularia simplici acino, or else Spinosa agrestis. But, as Fée observes, the ancients were not so ignorant as to confound a vine with a currant-bush.

[1152] Like the Portuguese grapes of the present day.

[1153] Crisped and indented.

[1154] This variety, according to Christian de la Vega, was cultivated abundantly in Grenada. The word _cocolab_, according to some, meant cock’s comb. It is mentioned as a Spanish word by Columella.

[1155] Dalechamps says, that a similar wine was made at Montpellier, and that it was called “piquardant.”

[1156] See B. xxiii. cc. 20, 21.

[1157] Probably from “albus,” “white.” Poinsinet thinks that it may have been so called from the Celtic word _alb_, or _alp_, a mountain, and that it grew on elevated spots. This, however, is probably fanciful.

[1158] Called by the Greeks ἀμέθυστον, from its comparatively harmless qualities.

[1159] Or “sober” vine.

[1160] Hardouin says that in his time it was still cultivated about Macerata, in the Roman States. Fée thinks that it may be one of the climbing vines, supported by forks, cultivated in the central provinces of France. See also B. xxiii. c. 19, as to the effects produced by its wine.

[1161] Poinsinet gives a Celto-Scythian origin to this word, and says that it means “injured by fogs.” This appears to be supported in some measure by what is stated below.

[1162] See B. xvii. c. 37.

[1163] Or “thorny” vine. Fée queries why it should be thus called.

[1164] This humid, marshy locality was noted for the badness of its grapes, and consequently of its wine.

[1165] Hardouin thinks that this is the “Marze mina” of the Venetians: whence, perhaps, its ancient name.

[1166] “Testis.” See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[1167] From Murgentum, in Sicily. See B. iii. c. 14.

[1168] From Pompeii, afterwards destroyed. See B. iii c. 9.

[1169] Hardouin, as Fée thinks, without good reason, identifies this with the “Arelaca” of Columella.

[1170] Georgics, ii. 99.

[1171] This seems to be the meaning of “ultro solum lætius facit.” These two lines have been introduced by Sillig, from one of the MSS., for the first time.

[1172] Hardouin thinks that it is so called from Tuder, a town of Etruria. See B. iii. c. 19.

[1173] Sillig suggests that the reading here is corrupt, and that Pliny means to say that the vine called Florentia is particularly excellent, and merely to state that the talpona, &c., are peculiar to Arretium: for, as he says, speaking directly afterwards in disparagement of them, it is not likely he would pronounce them “opima,” of “first-rate quality.”

[1174] From “talpa,” a “mole,” in consequence of its black colour.

[1175] “Album.”

[1176] Probably so called from the Etesian winds, which improved its growth.

[1177] Perhaps meaning “double-seeded.” We may here remark, that the wines of Tuscany, though held in little esteem in ancient times, are highly esteemed at the present day.

[1178] The leaves of most varieties turn red just before the fall.

[1179] And Baccius thinks that this is the kind from which the raisins of the sun, common in Italy, and more particularly in the Valley of Bevagna, the Mevania of Pliny, are made.

[1180] Perhaps from “pumilio,” a dwarf.

[1181] The “royal” vine, according to Poinsinet, who would derive it from the Sclavonic “ban.”

[1182] Previously mentioned, p. 228.

[1183] The residence of Horace, now Tivoli.

[1184] Baccius says that the wine of this grape was thin like water, and that the vine was trained on lofty trees, a mode of cultivation still followed in the vicinity of Rome. Laurentum was situate within a short distance of it, near Ostia.

[1185] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1186] So called from the smoky or intermediate colour of its grapes. Fée suggests that this may be the slow-ripening grape of France, called the “verjus,” or “rognon de coq.”

[1187] Possibly meaning the “mouthful.”

[1188] Perhaps so called from Prusa in Bithynia, a district which bore excellent grapes.

[1189] Or the “turning” grape. A fabulous story no doubt, originating in the name, probably. Fée suggests that it may have originated in the not uncommon practice of letting the bunches hang after they were ripe, and then twisting them, which was thought to increase the juice.

[1190] In the modern Marches of Ancona.

[1191] Georgics, ii. 91, _et seq._

Sunt Thasiæ vites, sunt et Mareotides albæ: * * * * * Et passo Psithia utilior, tenuisque Lageos, Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam, Purpuræ, Preciæque——

[1192] A muscatel, Fée thinks.

[1193] Or “hard-berried.” Fée thinks that the maroquin, or Morocco grape, called the “pied de poule” (or fowl’s foot), at Montpellier, may be the duracinus.

[1194] Or “upright vine.” In Anjou and Herault the vines are of similar character.

[1195] The “finger-like” vine.

[1196] The “pigeon” vine.

[1197] Though very fruitful, it does not bear in large clusters (racemi), but only in small bunches (uvæ).

[1198] The “three-foot” vine.

[1199] Perhaps meaning the “rush” grape, from its shrivelled appearance.

[1200] See c. 3 of this Book.

[1201] The ordinary number of pips or stones is five. It is seldom that we find but one. Virgil mentions this grape, Georg. ii. 95.

[1202] “Chium.” This reading is doubtful. Fée says that between Narni and Terni, eight leagues from Spoleto, a small grape is found, without stones. It is called “uva passa,” or “passerina.” So, too, the Sultana raisin of commerce.

[1203] “Grown for the table.”

[1204] Or “hard-berry.”

[1205] Mentioned by Virgil, Georg. ii. 101.

[1206] Or pitch-grape.

[1207] Perhaps the “noirant,” or “teinturier” of the French.

[1208] Or “garland-clustered” vine.

[1209] Fée says that this is sometimes accidentally the case, but is not the characteristic of any variety now known.

[1210] Or “market-grapes.”

[1211] The “ash-coloured.”

[1212] The “russet-coloured.”

[1213] Probably so called from its grey colour, like that of the ass.

[1214] Or “fox” vine. This variety is unknown.

[1215] So called from Alexandria, in Troas, not in Egypt. Phalacra was in the vicinity of Mount Ida.

[1216] As the leaves of the vine are universally divided, it has been considered by many of the commentators that this is not in reality a vine, but the Arbutus uva ursi of Linnæus. The fruit, however, of that ericaceous plant is remarkably acrid, and not sweet, as Pliny states. Fée rejects this solution.

[1217] Aubenas, in the Vivarais, according to Hardouin; Alps, according to Brotier. We must reject this assertion as fabulous.

[1218] In B.C. 194, for his successes in Spain.

[1219] Mode of culture, locality, climate, and other extraneous circumstances, work, no doubt, an entire change in the nature of the vine.

[1220] Probably the first of the five that he has mentioned in c. 4.

[1221] He has only mentioned one sort in c. 4.

[1222] See c. 4.

[1223] See c. 4.

[1224] We have no corresponding word for this beverage in the English language—a thin, poor liquor, made by pouring water on the husks and stalks after being fully pressed, allowing them to soak, pressing them again, and then fermenting the liquor. It was also called “vinum operarium,” or “labourer’s wine.” As stated in the present instance, grapes were sometimes stored in it for keeping.

[1225] A variety of the Aminean, as stated below.

[1226] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1227] The elder Africanus. He retired in voluntary exile to his country-seat at Liternum, where he died.

[1228] Mercis.

[1229] The suggestion of Sillig has been adopted, for the ordinary reading is evidently corrupt, and absurd as well—“not in the very worst part of a favourite locality”—just the converse of the whole tenor of the story.

[1230] The philosopher, and tutor of Nero.

[1231] Said to have been so called from Maron, a king of Thrace, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Thracian Ismarus. See B. iv. c. 18. Homer mentions this wine in the Odyssey, B. ix. c. 197, _et seq._ It was red, honey-sweet, fragrant. The place is still called Marogna, in Roumelia, a country the wines of which are still much esteemed.

[1232] See B. vii. c. 57.

[1233] Thus making “mulsum.”

[1234] B. ix. c. 208.

[1235] Indomitus.

[1236] By “black” wines he means those that had the same colour as our port.

[1237] Il. xi. 638. Od. x. 234.

[1238] Cybele. A wine called “Pramnian” was also grown in the island of Icaria, in Lesbos, and in the territory of Ephesus. The scholiast on Nicander says that the grape of the psythia was used in making it. Dioscorides says that it was a “protropum,” first-class wine, made of the juice that voluntarily flowed from the grapes, in consequence of their own pressure.

[1239] B.C. 121.

[1240] “Cooking,” literally, or “boiling.”

[1241] The wines of Burgundy, in particular, become bitter when extremely old.

[1242] See B. vii. c. 18.

[1243] Caligula.

[1244] By some remarkable and peculiar quality, such as in the Opimian wine.

[1245] “Testa,” meaning the amphora.

[1246] See c. 3 of the present Book, where these “picata,” or “pitched-wines,” have been further described.

[1247] On the contrary, Fée says, the coldest wines are those that contain the least alcohol, whereas those of Vienne (in modern Dauphiné) contain more than the majority of wines.

[1248] He implies that wine is an antidote to the poisonous effects of hemlock. This is not the case, but it is said by some that vinegar is. It is the plant hemlock (cicuta) that is meant, and not the fatal draught that was drunk by Socrates and Philopœmen. See further in B. xxiii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95.

[1249] Clitus and Callisthenes.

[1250] Lacus.

[1251] The testa or amphora, made of earth.

[1252] As the wife of Augustus is meant, this reading appears preferable to “Julia.”

[1253] Dion Cassius says “eighty-sixth.”

[1254] See B. iii. c. 22, and B. xvii. c. 3. Pucinum was in Istria, and the district is said still to produce good wine; according to Dalechamps, the place is called Pizzino d’Istria.

[1255] The hills of Setia, looking down on the Pomptine Marshes: now Sezza, the wine of which is of no repute.

[1256] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1257] See B. iii. c. 9. Between Fundi and Setia; a locality now of no repute for its wines. In B. xxiii. c. 19, Pliny says, that the Cæcuban vine was extinct: but in B. xvii. c. 3, he says that in the Pomptine Marshes it was to be found.

[1258] This was the case, it has been remarked, with Madeira some years ago.

[1259] This is the most celebrated of all the ancient wines, as being more especially the theme of the poets.

[1260] See B. xi. c. 97. The wines of the Falernian district are no longer held in any esteem; indeed, all the Campanian wines are sour, and of a disagreeable flavour.

[1261] It appears to have been exceedingly rich in alcohol.

[1262] But in B. xxiii. c. 20, he assigns the first rank to the Albanum; possibly, however, as a medicinal wine. The wines of Latium are no longer held in esteem.

[1263] See B. xxiii. c. 21.

[1264] From Surrentum, the promontory forming the southern horn of the Bay of Naples. Ovid and Martial speak in praise of these wines; they were destitute of richness and very dry, in consequence of which they required twenty-five years to ripen.

[1265] Or “dead vinegar.” “Vappa” was vinegar exposed to the air, and so destitute of its properties, and quite insipid.

[1266] Excellent wines are still produced in the vicinity of this place. Massicum was one of the perfumed wines. Gaurus itself produced the “Gauranum,” in small quantity, but of high quality, full-bodied and thick.

[1267] For the Calenian Hills, see B. iii. c. 9; see also B. xxiii. c. 12, for some further account of the wines of Stata. The wines of that district are now held in no esteem.

[1268] From Fundi. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1269] Now Castel del Volturno: although covered with vineyards, its wines are of no account. This wine always tasted as if mixed with some foreign substance.

[1270] Now Piperno. It was a thin and pleasant wine.

[1271] Now Segni, in the States of the Church.

[1272] Written to the Senate, also to Cicero. We learn from Suetonius that they were partly written in cipher.

[1273] Messina, at the present day, exports wines of very good quality, and which attain a great age.

[1274] It was sound, light, and not without body.

[1275] “Lagenæ.” The same spot, now Taormina in Sicily, between Catania and Messina, still produces excellent wines.

[1276] See B. iii. c. 18. Fée says that this is thought to have been the wine of Syrol, of last century, grown near Ancona.

[1277] “Palma.” Notwithstanding this suggestion, it is more generally supposed that they had their name from the place called Palma, near Marano, on the Adriatic. Its wines are still considered of agreeable flavour.

[1278] The wines of modern Cezena enjoy no repute, owing, probably, to the mode of making them.

[1279] Probably so called because it was brought into fashion by Mæcenas.

[1280] See Georg. ii. 95. The wines of the Tyrol, the ancient Rhætia, are still considered as of excellent quality.

[1281] Of Adria, or the Adriatic Sea.

[1282] See B. iii. c. 20. These wines are of little repute.

[1283] In Latium. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1284] From Graviscæ. See B. iii. c. 8.

[1285] See B. ii. c. 96, B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxxvi. c. 49.

[1286] The wines of Genoa are of middling quality only, and but little known.

[1287] Or “juicy” wine.

[1288] Now Beziers, in the south of France. The wines of this part are considered excellent at the present day. That of Frontignan grows in its vicinity. Fée is inclined to think, from Pliny’s remarks here, that the ancients and the moderns differed entirely in their notions as to what constitutes good or bad wine.

[1289] He means, beyond modern Provence, and Languedoc: districts famous for their excellent wines, more particularly the latter.

[1290] Fée deems all this quite incredible. Our English experience, however, tells us that it is by no means so; much of the wine that is drunk in this country is indebted for flavour as well as colour to anything but the grape.

[1291] The wines of modern Otranto are ordinarily of good quality.

[1292] Baccius reads “Seberiniana,” but is probably wrong. If he is not, it might allude to the place now known as San Severino, and which produces excellent wine. Fée thinks that these wines were grown in the territory of Salerno, which still enjoys celebrity for its muscatel wines.

[1293] See B. iii. c. 10. The wines of modern Cosenza still enjoy a high reputation.

[1294] M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, the writer and partisan of Augustus. See end of B. ix.

[1295] A place supposed to have been situated near Thurii.

[1296] See B. iii. c. 15.

[1297] Said by Galen to be very wholesome, as well as pleasant. The wines of the vicinity of Naples are still held in high esteem.

[1298] Galen says that it was very similar to the Falernian.

[1299] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1300] The Trifoline territory was in the vicinity of Cumæ. It is possible that the wine may have had its name from taking three years to come to maturity; or possibly it was owing to some peculiarity in the vine.

[1301] They have been already mentioned in c. 4. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1302] Twelve o’clock in the day.

[1303] See B. iii. c. 4.

[1304] In Catalonia, which still produces abundance of wine, but in general of inferior repute.

[1305] The wines of Tarragona are still considered good.

[1306] A place in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, destroyed by Sertorius.

[1307] They still enjoy a high repute. The fame of their Malvoisie has extended all over the world.

[1308] He means to illustrate the capricious tastes that existed as to the merits of wines.

[1309] In c. 6 of this Book.

[1310] The Chian held the first rank, the Thasian the second.

[1311] From Arvisium, or Ariusium, a hilly district in the centre of the island. The wine of Chios still retains its ancient celebrity.

[1312] It was remarkable for its sweetness, and aromatics were sometimes mixed with it. Homer calls it harmless. Lesbos still produces choice wines.

[1313] Near Smyrna. Probably similar to the Pramnian wine, mentioned in c. 6.

[1314] See B. v. c. 30. This wine is mentioned again in the next page; it is generally thought, that he is wrong in making the Tmolites and the Mesogites distinct wines, for they are supposed to have been identical.

[1315] If drunk by itself, and not as a flavouring for other wines.

[1316] Bacchus had a temple there.

[1317] The wines of Cyprus are the most choice of all the Grecian wines at the present day.

[1318] In Lycia.

[1319] In Syria. Wine is no longer made there, but the grapes are excellent, and are dried for raisins.

[1320] Now Beyrout. It does not seem that wine is made there now. The Mahometan religion may have tended to the extinction of many of these wines.

[1321] At the village of Sour, on the site of ancient Tyre, the grape is only cultivated for raisins.

[1322] See also c. 22: probably introduced from Thasos.

[1323] The “smoky” grape.

[1324] The “pitchy” grape.

[1325] A strong wine, Hardouin thinks, from whence its name—“strong enough to subdue a horse.”

[1326] From the small island of Mystus, near Cephallenia.

[1327] So called from the vine the name of which was “canthareus.”

[1328] Made, as already stated, from the juice that flowed spontaneously from the grapes. See also p. 250.

[1329] Or the “burnt up” country, a volcanic district of Mysia, which still retains its ancient fame for its wine. Virgil alludes to this wine in Georg. iv. l. 380:—

—Cape Mæonii carchesia Bacchi.

[1330] Perhaps from Petra in Arabia: though Fée suggests Petra in the Balearic Islands.

[1331] See B. iv. c. 22. In the island of Myconos in the Archipelago an excellent wine is still grown.

[1332] From Mount Mesogis, which divides the tributaries of the Caÿster from those of the Meander. It is generally considered the same as the Tmolites.

[1333] Must or grape-juice boiled down to one half.

[1334] See B. v. c. 29.

[1335] “Mulsum,” or honied wine, was of two kinds; honey mixed with wine, and honey mixed with must or grape-juice.

[1336] From its Greek name, it would seem to mean “of first quality.”

[1337] So called from a place in Eubœa, the modern Negropont. See. B. iv. c. 20. Negropont produces good wines at the present day.

[1338] The locality is unknown.

[1339] From Leucadia, or Leucate; see B. iv. c. 2; the vine was very abundant there.

[1340] From Ambracia. See B. iv. c. 2.

[1341] From the island of Peparethus. See B. iv. c. 23, where he says that from its abundance of vines it was called εὐοινὸς, or “Evenus.”

[1342] B. xxiii. c. 1, and c. 26.

[1343] “Cadis.”

[1344] Fée remarks that this method is still adopted in making several of the liqueurs.

[1345] White wine of Cos. Fée thinks that Pliny means to say that the sea water turns the must of a white or pale straw colour, and is of opinion that he has been wrongly informed.

[1346] “Sea-water” wine.

[1347] “Sea-seasoned” wine.

[1348] Fée says, that if the vessels were closed hermetically this would have little or no appreciable effect; if not, it would tend to spoil the wine.

[1349] Athenæus says that the Rhodian wine will not mix so well with sea-water as the Coan. Fée remarks that if Cato’s plan were followed, the wine would become vinegar long before the end of the four years.

[1350] Sillig thinks that the proper reading is “in six” only.

[1351] The sweet wines, in modern times, have the most bouquet or aroma.

[1352] “Albus,” pale straw-colour.

[1353] “Fulvus,” amber-colour.

[1354] Bright and glowing, like Tent and Burgundy.

[1355] “Niger,” the colour of our port.

[1356] Supposed to be a species of Pramnian wine, mentioned in c. 6. This was used, as also the Aminean, for making omphacium, as mentioned in B. xii. c. 60. See also c. 18 of this Book.

[1357] “Black psythian.”

[1358] Mentioned by Galen among the sweet wines.

[1359] See B. iii. c. 14. Now Solana in Sicily, which produces excellent wine.

[1360] Honied wine.

[1361] This was evidently a kind of grape sirop, or grape jelly. “Rob” is perhaps, as Hardouin suggests, a not inappropriate name for it.

[1362] When cold, they would have nearly the same consistency.

[1363] The raisin wine of Crete was the most prized of all as a class.

[1364] Mentioned in c. 4. Probably a muscatel grape.

[1365] See c. 4 of this Book.

[1366] Or “vat.” The common reading was “oleo,” which would imply that they were plunged into boiling oil. Columella favours the latter reading, B. xii. c. 16.

[1367] The reading is probably defective here.

[1368] Passum secundarium.

[1369] Or “always sweet.”

[1370] “Always must.”

[1371] Fervere, “boil,” or “effervesce.”

[1372] “Sweet” drink. Fée seems to think that this sweet wine must have been something similar to champagne. Hardouin says that it corresponds to the vin doux de Limoux, or blanquette de Limoux, and the vin Muscat d’Azile.

[1373] See c. 3 of this Book.

[1374] “Poured,” or “strained through.”

[1375] “Honey wine.” A disagreeable medicament, Fée thinks, rather than a wine.

[1376] Somewhat similar to the vin de premiere goutte of the French. It would seem to have been more of a liqueur than a wine. Tokay is made in a somewhat similar manner.

[1377] Or “second” press wines.

[1378] De Re Rust. c. 153.

[1379] Vinum operarium.

[1380] This method is still adopted, Fée says, in making “piquette,” or “small wine,” throughout most of the countries of Europe.

[1381] Or “wine-lee drink.” It would make an acid beverage, of disagreeable taste.

[1382] “Nobilia.” In c. 29 he speaks of 195 kinds, and, reckoning all the varieties, double that number.

[1383] Fée observes that the varieties of the modern wines are quite innumerable. He remarks also that Pliny does not speak of the Asiatic wines mentioned by Athenæus, which were kept in large bottles, hung in the chimney corner; where the liquid, by evaporation, acquired the consistency of salt. The wines of other countries evidently were little known to Pliny.

[1384] “Circa pericula arbusti.” This is probably the meaning of this very elliptical passage. See p. 218.

[1385] Called Metellus, by Valerius Maximus, B. vi. c. 3.

[1386] See B. xvii. c. 11.

[1387] Over the Celtiberi.

[1388] The younger Pliny, B. ii. Ep. 2, censures this stingy practice. See also Martial, B. iii. Epig. 60.

[1389] That this, however, was not uncommonly done, we may judge from the remark made by the governor of the feast, John ii. 10, to the bridegroom.

[1390] Called “myrrhina.” Fée remarks that the flavour of myrrh is acrid and bitter, its odour strong and disagreeable, and says that it is difficult to conceive how the ancients could drink wine with this substance in solution.

[1391] As the “Persa” has come down to us, we find no mention of myrrh in the passage alluded to.

[1392] See B. xii. c. 49. This is mentioned in the Persa, A. i. sc. 3, l. 7.

[1393] Aromatic or perfumed wines.

[1394] Murrhinam.

[1395] The Cheat or Impostor: a play of Plautus. See A. ii. sc. 4, l. 51, _et seq._

[1396] Must boiled down to half its original quantity.

[1397] Apothecas. The “apothecæ” were rooms at the top of the house, in which the wines were placed for the purpose of seasoning. Sometimes a current of smoke was directed through them. They were quite distinct from the “cella vinaria,” or “wine-cellar.” The Opimian wine is mentioned in c. 4.

[1398] This writer is unknown.

[1399] Or amphora.

[1400] Vessels containing a congius, or the eighth of an amphora, nearly six pints English.

[1401] As to this malady, see B. xi. c. 71.

[1402] B.C. 46.

[1403] B. xii. c. 61.

[1404] Or “labrusca.” “Œnanthinum” means “made of vine flowers.” The wild vine is not a distinct species from the cultivated vine: it is only a variety of it, known in botany as the Vitis silvestris labrusca of Tournefort. Fée thinks that as the must could only be used in autumn, when the wild vine was not flowering, the flowers of it must have been dried.

[1405] “Solstitiales.” Because they withstand the heat of the solstice. Marcellus Empiricus calls them “caniculati,” because they bear the heat of the Dog-star.

[1406] Fée remarks that this assertion is quite erroneous.

[1407] From the Greek, meaning “without strength.” The mixture, Fée remarks, would appear to be neither potable nor wholesome.

[1408] See B. xviii. c. 24. A kind of beer might be made with it, Fée says; but this mixture must have been very unpalatable.

[1409] See B. xiii. c. 32.

[1410] A vinous drink may be made in the manner here stated; but the palm-wine of the peoples of Asia and Africa is only made of the fermented sap of the tree. See B. xiii. c. 9.

[1411] He says “caryotæ,” and not chydææ, in B. xiii. c. 4. The modius was something more than our peck.

[1412] From the Greek σύκη, a “fig.” This wine was made, Fée thinks, from the produce of some variety of the sycamore. See B. xiii. c. 14.

[1413] “Prime palm” apparently.

[1414] Tortivum, probably: the second squeezing.

[1415] See B. xiii. c. 15.

[1416] See B. xiii. c. 14.

[1417] See B. xiii. c. 16.

[1418] From ῥόα, a “pomegranate.”

[1419] Dioscorides calls it “strobilites.” Fée says that they could be of no service in producing a vinous drink.

[1420] See B. xv. c. 37.

[1421] Or “myrtle wine.”

[1422] Myrtle will not make a wine, but simply a medicament, in which wine is the menstruum.

[1423] Artemisia abrotonum of Linnæus.

[1424] Ruta graveolens of Linnæus.

[1425] Nepeta cataria of Linnæus.

[1426] Thymus serpyllum of Linnæus.

[1427] Marrubium vulgare of Linnæus.

[1428] Grape-juice boiled down to one-third.

[1429] Brassica napus of Linnæus.

[1430] Scilla marina of Linnæus.

[1431] Nardus Gallicus, or Valeriana Celtica of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 26.

[1432] Nardus silvestris or baccaris.

[1433] Aromatic wines.

[1434] In c. 15 of this Book.

[1435] Valeriana Celtica.

[1436] Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus.

[1437] Andropogon schœnanthus of Linnæus.

[1438] Costus Indicus of Linnæus.

[1439] Andropogon nardus of Linnæus.

[1440] See B. xiii. c. 2.

[1441] See B. xii. c. 43.

[1442] Crocus sativus of Linnæus.

[1443] Asarum Europæum of Linnæus.

[1444] See B. xii. c. 59.

[1445] Condita.

[1446] Piperata.

[1447] Inula helenium of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 91.

[1448] Medicago sativa of Linnæus.

[1449] Symphytum officinale of Linnæus, being all different varieties.

[1450] “Absinthites” made of the Artemisia Pontica of Linnæus. A medicinal wine is still prepared with wormwood; and “apsinthe,” a liqueur much esteemed in France, is made from it.

[1451] Hyssopites.

[1452] Hyssopites officinalis of Linnæus.

[1453] Helleborites.

[1454] Scammonites.

[1455] Fée says that this is not the fact; and queries whether the vulgar notion still entertained on this subject, may not be traced up to our author. It is a not uncommon belief that roses smell all the sweeter if onions are planted near them.

[1456] Lavendula stœchas of Linnæus. See B. xxvii. c. 107.

[1457] Gentiana lutea of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 34. Gentian wine is still made.

[1458] Thymus tragoriganum of Linnæus. See B. xx. c. 68.

[1459] Origanum dictamnus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 63.

[1460] Asarum Europæum of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 27.

[1461] Query, if not carrot? See B. xxv. c. 64.

[1462] A variety of salvia or sage: it will be mentioned again, further on.

[1463] Laserpitium hirsutum of Linnæus. See B. xxv. cc. 11, 12, and 13.

[1464] Acorus calamus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 100.

[1465] See B. xxi. c. 32.

[1466] See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1467] Atrapora mandragora of Linnæus. This wine would act as a narcotic poison, it would appear.

[1468] Andropogon schœnanthus of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 72.

[1469] The origin and meaning of these names are unknown.

[1470] See B. xii. c. 11. Juniperus Lycia, and Juniperus Phœnicea of Linnæus.

[1471] Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[1472] Laurus nobilis of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. 39.

[1473] Juniperus communis of Linnæus.

[1474] See B. xiii. c. 12. The Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1475] See B. xii. c. 36. The Pistacia lentiscus of Linnæus.

[1476] “Chamelæa.” The Granium Cnidium, Daphne Cnidium, and Daphne cneorum of Linnæus. See B. xiii. c. 35. Venomous plants, which, taken internally, would be productive of dangerous results.

[1477] Chamæpitrys. The Teucrium chamæpitrys of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 20.

[1478] Chamædrys. The Teucrium chamædrys of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 80. Dioscorides mentions most of these so-called wines.

[1479] Mead, or metheglin. See B. xxii. c. 51.

[1480] There is no ground, Fée says, for this recommendation.

[1481] Stoves are now used for this purpose.

[1482] “Hydromēlum,” on the other hand, made of water and apples, was the same as our modern cider.

[1483] See B. xxiii. c. 9.

[1484] “Subfervefactis.” “Just come on the boil.”

[1485] The oxymel of modern times contains no salt, and is only used as a medicament.

[1486] As drinks, no doubt; and with good reason, as to most of them.

[1487] Coactus.

[1488] Our medicinal wines will mostly keep longer than this, owing probably to the difference in the mode of making the real wines that form their basis.

[1489] There is little doubt that this is fabulous: wine taken in excess, we know, is productive of loss of the senses, frenzy in the shape of delirium tremens.

[1490] This is not unlikely; for, as Fée remarks, the red wines, containing a large proportion of alcohol, act upon the brain and promote sleep, while the white wines, charged with carbonic gas, are productive of wakefulness.

[1491] Or healing vine. See B. xxiii. c. 11.

[1492] “Libanios.” Probably incense was put in this wine, to produce the flavour.

[1493] From ἀ, “not,” and σπένδειν, “to make libation.”

[1494] See c. 9 of this Book. It was introduced, probably, from Thasos.

[1495] From ἐκβάλλω, “to eject.”

[1496] Apothecis.

[1497] He alludes to the working of wines in periods of extreme heat; also in the spring.

[1498] Of our modern wines, Madeira and Bourdeaux improve by being carried across sea. Burgundy, if any thing, deteriorates, by the diminution of its bouquet.

[1499] After the grapes had been trodden and pressed, the husks were taken out and their edges cut, and then again subjected to pressure: the result was known as “tortivum,” or “circumcisivum,” a wine of very inferior quality.

[1500] He alludes to the young shoots, which have an agreeable acidity, owing to acetic and tartaric acids.

[1501] Acetic acid; the result, no doubt, of the faulty mode of manufacture universally prevalent; their wines contained evidently but little alcohol.

[1502] See B. xxiii. c. 24, and B. xxxvi. c. 48.

[1503] A process very likely, as Fée remarks, to turn the wines speedily to vinegar.

[1504] Down to one-third. This practice of using boiled grape-juice as a seasoning, is still followed in Spain in making some of the liqueurs; but it is not generally recommended.

[1505] B. xvi. c. 21.

[1506] Asia Minor, namely.

[1507] B. xiii. c. 12.

[1508] B. xii. c. 37.

[1509] It produces but a very minute quantity of resin, which is no longer an article of commerce.

[1510] See B. xiii. c. 11, and B. xvi. c. 21. Not the cedar of Lebanon, probably, which only gives a very small quantity of resin, but one of the junipers.

[1511] Fée suggests that this may have been the resin of the Arabian terebinth.

[1512] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1513] Perhaps from the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1514] This was made from the terebinth: but the modern resin of Colophon is extracted from varieties of the coniferæ.

[1515] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1516] Earths are not soluble in oils.

[1517] As being a mark of extreme effeminacy.

[1518] The greater the quantity of alcohol, the more resin the wine would be able to hold in solution.

[1519] See B. xvi. c. 22.

[1520] “Crapula” properly means head-ache, and what is not uncommonly known as “seediness.” Resined wine was thought to be productive of these effects, and hence obtained the name. This kind of wine was used itself, as we see above, in seasoning the other kinds. Fée remarks, that in reality resins have no such effect as imparting body to weak wines.

[1521] The whole of this passage is hopelessly corrupt, and we can only guess at the meaning.

[1522] We have already stated that “vappa” is properly vinegar, which has been exposed to the air and has lost its flavour. In this fresh chemical change, which he calls a second fermentation, the wine becomes vinegar; and probably in the cases he mentions, for some peculiar reason, its speedy transition to “vappa” could not be arrested.

[1523] Mixed with water, it was the “posca,” or common drink of the Roman soldiers; and it was used extensively both by Greeks and Romans in their cooking, and at meals.

[1524] In c. 24.

[1525] By the mixture of ashes, Fée says, the wines would lose their colour, and have a detestable alkaline flavour.

[1526] A perfect absurdity, Fée remarks.

[1527] B. xvi. cc. 16-23.

[1528] Bitterness, driness, and a disagreeable smell.

[1529] Georg. ii. 498.

[1530] See B. iv. c. 12.

[1531] See B. xii. c. 36.

[1532] See B. xxi. c. 19.

[1533] Bees’ wax, Fée remarks, would not have this effect, but vinegar vessels would.

[1534] De Re Rust. c. 23.

[1535] The second “squeezings.”

[1536] If the wine is turning to vinegar, subacetate of lead will be formed.

[1537] They are tartrates, and have no affinity at all with nitre.

[1538] Casks, in fact, similar to those used in France at the present day. In Spain they use earthen jars and the skins of animals.

[1539] Oblong earthen vessels, used as vats.

[1540] “Ventruosa.” He means “round.”

[1541] As oblong ones, probably.

[1542] While fermenting, and before racking off.

[1543] Flos vini, the Mycoderma vini of Desmazieres, a mould or pellicule which forms on the surface, and afterwards falls and is held in suspension.

[1544] Vessels of lead are never used for this purpose at the present day; as that metal would oxidize too rapidly, and liquids would have great difficulty in coming to a boil. A slow fire must have been used by the ancients.

[1545] They were thought to give a bad flavour to the sapa or defrutum.

[1546] A mere puerility, as Fée remarks.

[1547] He does not state the reason, nor does it appear to be known. At the present day warmed wine is sometimes given to a jaded horse, to put him on his legs again.

[1548] Though practised by those who wished to drink largely, this was considered to diminish the flavour of delicate wines.

[1549] See B. xxii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95; also c. 7 of the present Book. Wine is no longer considered an antidote to cicuta or hemlock.

[1550] See B. xxxvi. c. 42.

[1551] This seems to be the meaning of “lectum;” but the passage is obscure.

[1552] Tunicam.

[1553] He satirizes, probably, some kind of gymnastic exercises that had been introduced to promote the speedy passage of the wine through the body.

[1554] “In vino veritas.”

[1555] Fée remarks that this is one proof that the wine of the ancients was essentially different in its nature from ours. In our day wine gives anything but a “pallid” hue.

[1556] “Rapere vitam.”

[1557] See B. xxiii. c. 23.

[1558] Three gallons and three pints!! There must have been some jugglery in this performance.

[1559] Probably towards those guilty of excesses in wine.

[1560] As Præfectus Urbis.

[1561] Love of drinking.

[1562] The mode of testing whether any “heeltaps” were left or not. It was this custom, probably, that gave rise to the favourite game of the cottabus.

[1563] Dr. Middleton, in his Life of Cicero, in his unlimited

## partiality for the family, quotes this as an instance of courage and

high spirit.

[1564] According to Paterculus, he was fond of driving about in a chariot, crowned with ivy, a golden goblet in his hand, and dressed like Bacchus, by which title he ordered himself to be addressed.

[1565] He alludes to beer, or rather sweet wort, for hops were not used till the latter part, probably, of the middle ages. Lupines were sometimes used for flavouring beer.

[1566] Diodorus Siculus says that the Egyptian beer was nearly equal to wine in strength and flavour.

[1567] See end of B. iii.

[1568] See end of B. vii.

[1569] See end of B. vii.

[1570] See end of B. iii.

[1571] See end of B. x.

[1572] See end of B. xi.

[1573] See end of B. ii.

[1574] Decimus Junius Silanus. He was commissioned by the senate, about B.C. 146, to translate into Latin the twenty-eight books of Mago, the Carthaginian, on Agriculture. See B. xviii. c. 5.

[1575] See end of B. x.

[1576] See end of B. vii.

[1577] See end of B. iii.

[1578] See end of B. iii.

[1579] Julius Græcinus. He was one of the most distinguished orators of his time. Having refused to accuse M. Julius Silanus, he was put to death A.D. 39. He wrote a work, in two books, on the culture of the vine.

[1580] He was a contemporary of Celsus and Columella, the latter of whom states that he wrote a work on a peculiar method of cultivating the vine. See also B. xvii. c. 18.

[1581] See end of B. viii.

[1582] See end of B. vii.

[1583] See end of B. viii.

[1584] Nothing is known of him. He may possibly have written on Husbandry, and seems to have spoken in dispraise of the son of Cicero. See c. 28 of the present Book.

[1585] The famous Roman Comic poet, born B.C. 184. Twenty of his comedies are still in existence.

[1586] For Alfius Flavius, see end of B. ix.; for Cneius Flavius, see end of B. xii.

[1587] Or Dorsenus Fabius, an ancient Comic dramatist, censured by Horace for the buffoonery of his characters, and the carelessness of his productions. In the 15th Chapter of this Book, Pliny quotes a line from his _Acharistio_.

[1588] Q. Mutius Scævola, consul B.C. 95, and assassinated by C. Flavius Fimbria, having been proscribed by the Marian faction. He wrote several works on the Roman law, and Cicero was in the number of his disciples.

[1589] Sextus Ælius Pætus Catus, a celebrated jurisconsult, and consul B.C. 198. He wrote a work on the Twelve Tables.

[1590] See end of B. iii.

[1591] Son of Corvinus Messala. He appears to have been a man of bad repute: of his writings nothing seems to be known.

[1592] See end of B. ii.

[1593] A freedman of Pompey, by whose command he translated into Latin the work of Mithridates on Poisons. After Pompey’s death, he maintained himself by keeping a school at Rome.

[1594] For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. Fabianus Sabinus is supposed to have been the same person.

[1595] See end of B. xii.

[1596] He is mentioned by the elder Seneca, but nothing whatever is known of him.

[1597] See end of B. vii.

[1598] See end of B. iii.

[1599] See end of B. ii.

[1600] See end of B. ii.

[1601] See end of B. viii.

[1602] See end of B. viii.

[1603] See end of B. viii.

[1604] See end of B. iv.

[1605] See end of B. viii.

[1606] See end of B. viii.

[1607] See end of B. viii.

[1608] See end of B. viii.

[1609] See end of B. viii.

[1610] See end of B. viii.

[1611] See end of B. viii.

[1612] See end of B. viii.

[1613] See end of B. xiii.

[1614] See end of B. viii.

[1615] See end of B. vi.

[1616] See end of B. viii.

[1617] Supposed to have been a writer on Agriculture, but nothing further is known of him.

[1618] See end of B. viii.

[1619] See end of B. viii.

[1620] See end of B. ii.

[1621] See end of B. x.

[1622] See end of B. viii.

[1623] See end of B. viii.

[1624] See end of B. viii.

[1625] See end of B. viii.

[1626] See end of B. xii.

[1627] See end of B. viii.

[1628] See end of B vii.

[1629] See end of B. ii.

[1630] See end of B. v.

[1631] Hist. Plant. iv. c.

[1632] The Olea Europæa of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1633] This has not been observed to be the fact. It has been known to grow in ancient Mesopotamia, more than one hundred leagues from the sea.

[1634] It is supposed that it is indigenous to Asia, whence it was introduced into Africa and the South of Europe. There is little doubt that long before the period mentioned by Pliny, it was grown in Africa by the Carthaginians, and in the South of Gaul, at the colony of Massilia.

[1635] This work of Hesiod is no longer in existence; but the assertion is exaggerated, even if he alludes to the growth of the tree from seed. Fée remarks that a man who has sown the olive at twenty, may gather excellent fruit before he arrives at old age. It is more generally propagated by slips or sets. If the trunk is destroyed by accident, the roots will throw out fresh suckers.

[1636] This is the case. We may remark that the tree will grow in this country, but the fruit never comes to maturity.

[1637] Georg. ii. 85, also ii. 420.

[1638] Probably the Olea maximo fructu of Tournefort. It has its name from the Greek ὄρχις the “testis,” a name by which it is still known in some parts of Provence.

[1639] Or “shuttle” olive. Probably the modern pickoline, or long olive.

[1640] Probably the Olea media rotunda præcox of Tournefort. It is slightly bitter.

[1641] This is so much the case, that though the olives of Spain and Portugal are among the finest, their oils are of the very worst quality.

[1642] It does not appear that the method of preparing oil by the use of boiling water was known to the ancients. Unripe olives produce an excellent oil, but in very small quantities. Hence they are rarely used for the purpose.

[1643] Called “virgin,” or “native” oil in France, and very highly esteemed.

[1644] Sporta.

[1645] “Exilibus regulis.” A kind of wooden strainer, apparently invented to supersede the wicker, or basket strainer.

[1646] It is more insipid the riper the fruit, and the less odorous.

[1647] By absorbing the oxygen of the air. It may be preserved two or three years even, in vessels hermetically closed. The oil of France keeps better than any other.

[1648] As well as the grape.

[1649] In consequence of the faulty mode of manufacture, the oil of Italy is now inferior to that of France. The oil of Aix is particularly esteemed.

[1650] In Campania. See B. xvii. c. 3. Horace and Martial speak in praise of the Venafran olive. Hardouin suggests that Licinius Crassus may have introduced the Licinian olive.

[1651] The heat of Africa is unfavourable to the olive.

[1652] The fæces, marc, or lees. This is a crude juice contained in the cellular tissue of the fruit, known as _viridine_ or _chlorophylle_.

[1653] This is owing, Fée says, to a sort of fermentation, which alters the tissue of the cells containing the oil, displaces the constituent elements, and forms others, such as mucus, sugar, acetic acid, ammoniac, &c. When ripe, the olive contains four oils; that of the skin, the flesh, the stone, and the kernel.

[1654] In B. xii. c. 60.

[1655] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[1656] 16th of September.

[1657] De Causis, B. i. c. 23.

[1658] This cannot possibly _increase_ the oil, but it would render it more fluid, and thereby facilitate its escape from the cells of the berry.

[1659] But Cato, Re Rust. c. 144, adds the very significant words, “injussu domini aut custodis.” “Without the leave of the owner or the keeper.”

[1660] It is found that the olive, after an abundant season, will not bear in the following year; probably the result of exhaustion.

[1661] More commonly spelt “pausia.”

[1662] “Regia.” It is impossible to identify these varieties.

[1663] 8th of February.

[1664] This assertion of Pliny is not generally true. The large olives of Spain yield oil very plentifully.

[1665] Probably a member of the variety known to naturalists as the Olea fructu majori, carne crassâ, of Tournefort, the royal olive or “triparde” of the French. The name is thought to be from the Greek φαῦλος, the fruit being considered valueless from its paucity of oil.

[1666] There are but few olive-trees in either Egypt or Decapolis at the present day, and no attempts are made to extract oil from them.

[1667] “Carnis.” He gives this name to the solid part, or pericarp.

[1668] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1669] These methods are not now adopted for preserving the olive. The fruit are first washed in an alkaline solution, and then placed in salt and water. The colymbas was so called from κολυμβάω, “to swim,” in its own oil, namely. Dioscorides descants on the medicinal properties of the colymbades. B. i. c. 140.

[1670] There are several varieties known of this colour, and more

## particularly the fruit of the Olea atro-rubens of Gouan.

[1671] The Spanish olive, Hardouin says. Fée thinks that the name “superba,” “haughty,” is given figuratively, as meaning rough and austere.

[1672] The olives of the present Merida, in Spain, are of a rough, disagreeable flavour.

[1673] This seems to be the meaning of “pinguis;” but, as Fée observes, salt would have no such effect as here stated, but would impart a disagreeable flavour to the oil.

[1674] Fée regards this assertion as quite fabulous.

[1675] It will be stated in B. xxviii. c. 13, to what purposes this abominable collection of filth was applied.

[1676] 15th of July. He alludes to the inspection of the Equites, which originally belonged to the Censors, but afterwards to the Emperors. On this occasion there was “recognitio,” or “review,” and then a “transvectio,” or “procession” of the horsemen.

[1677] The ovation was a lesser triumph, at which the general entered the city not in a chariot, but on foot. In later times, however, the victor entered on horseback: and a wreath of myrtle, sometimes laurel, was worn by him. For further particulars as to the ovation, see c. 38 of the present Book.

[1678] Or “oleaster.”

[1679] De Re Rust. c. 6.

[1680] A middling or even poor soil is chosen for the olive at the present day.

[1681] Apparently meaning the “white wax” olive.

[1682] In warm countries, a site exposed to the north is chosen: in colder ones, a site which faces the south.

[1683] See B. xvii. c. 37. This moss has not been identified with precision; but the leaf of the olive is often attacked by an _erysiphus_, known to naturalists as the Alphitomorpha communis; but it is white, not of a red colour.

[1684] Fée queries how any one could possibly eat olives that had been steeped in a solution of mastich. They must have been nauseous in the extreme.

[1685] De Re Rust. c. 64.

[1686] “Fracibus.” The opinion of Pliny, that olives deteriorate by being left in the store-room, is considered to be well founded; the olives being apt to ferment, to the deterioration of the oil: at the same time, he is wrong in supposing that the amount of oil diminishes by keeping the berries.

[1687] “Cortinas.” If we may judge from the name, these vessels were three-footed, like a tripod.

[1688] There are no good grounds for this recommendation, which is based on the erroneous supposition that heat increases the oil in the berry. The free circulation of the air also ought not to be restricted, as nothing is gained by it. In general, the method of extracting the oil is the same with the moderns as with the ancients, though these last did not employ the aid of boiling water.

[1689] Labra.

[1690] A “making,” or “batch.”

[1691] Or “flower.”

[1692] It may be remarked, that in this Chapter Pliny totally confounds fixed oils, volatile oils, and medicinal oils. Those in the list which he here gives, and which are not otherwise noticed in the Notes, may be considered to belong to this last class.

[1693] The oleaster furnishes but little oil, and it is seldom extracted. The oil is thinner than ordinary olive oil, and has a stronger odour.

[1694] The Daphne Cneorum and Daphne Cnidium of botanists. See B. xiii. c. 35, also B. xxiv. c. 82. Fée doubts if an oil was ever made from the chamelæa.

[1695] See B. xxiii. c. 41: the Ricinus communis of Linnæus, which abounds in Egypt at the present day. Though it appears to have been formerly sometimes used for the table, at the present day the oil is only known as “castor” oil, a strong purgative. It is one of the fixed oils. The Jews and Abyssinian Christians say that it was under this tree that Jonah sat.

[1696] A “tick.”

[1697] This method, Fée says, is still pursued in America.

[1698] See B. xiii. c. 2. One of the fixed oils.

[1699] An essential oil may be extracted from either; it is of acrid taste, green, and aromatic; but does not seem to have been known to the ancients. The berries give by decoction a fixed oil, of green colour, sweet, and odoriferous. The oils in general here spoken of by Pliny as extracted from the laurel, are medicinal oils.

[1700] The Laurus latifolia of Bauhin.

[1701] The Myrtus latifolia Romana of Bauhin. It yields an essential oil, and by its decoction might give a fixed oil, in small quantity, but very odoriferous. As boiled with olive oil, he treats it as a volatile oil.

[1702] See B. xxv. c. 100. This myrtle is the Ruscus aculeatus of Linnæus.

[1703] See B. xiii. c. 29, and B xxiii. c. 45. A volatile oil might be extracted from the citrus, if one of the thuyæ, as also from the cypress.

[1704] See B. xxiii. c. 45. It is a fixed oil, still considerably used in some parts of Europe.

[1705] From the Greek καρύα, a “walnut.”

[1706] “Pitch oil.” See B. xxiv. c. 11. This would be a volatile oil.

[1707] See B. xxiii. c. 45, also B. xiii. c. 35. Fée is of opinion, that as no fixed oil can be extracted from the Daphne Cnidium or Daphne Cneorum, Pliny must allude to a medicinal composition, like the oil of wild myrtle, previously mentioned.

[1708] A fixed oil. See B. xii. c. 36. The seeds were used for making it. See B. xxiii. c. 45.

[1709] See B. xii. c. 51, and B. xxiii. c. 45. The leaves of the Lawsonia are very odoriferous.

[1710] The myrobalanus, or ben. See B. xii. c. 46, and B. xxiii. c. 46.

[1711] Neither the chesnut nor rice produce any kind of fixed oil.

[1712] See B. xvii. c. 13.

[1713] Or Fish-eaters. See B. xxxii. c. 38. This is one of the fixed oils.

[1714] In reality, no fixed oil can be obtained from them.

[1715] Or wild vine. See B. xii. c. 61, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1716] Not an oil, so much as a medicinal preparation. Dioscorides mentions as component parts of it, omphacium, sweet rush, Celtic nard, aspalathus, costus, and must. It received its name from γλεῦκος “must.”

[1717] The Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus. See B. xii. c 52, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1718] See B. xii. c. 48.

[1719] See B. xii. c. 54, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1720] See B. xii. c. 29.

[1721] See B. xii. c. 57.

[1722] See B. xiii. c. 2, p. 163.

[1723] See B. xii. c. 41.

[1724] See B. xiii. c. 2.

[1725] Fée doubts the possibility of such a resemblance.

[1726] Hyoscyamus. A medicinal oil is still extracted from it. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1727] This medicinal oil is no longer used. The Lupinus albus was formerly held in greater esteem than it is now.

[1728] The Raphanus sativus of Linnæus. See B. xix. c. 26. This is one of the fixed oils; varieties of it are rape oil, and colza oil, now so extensively used.

[1729] From the Greek χόρτος, “grass.” This medicinal oil would be totally without power or effect.

[1730] A fixed oil is still extracted in Egypt from the grain known as sesamum.

[1731] See B. xxii. c. 15.

[1732] From κνίδη, a “nettle.” The nettle, or Urtica urens of Linnæus, has no oleaginous principles in its seed.

[1733] Lily oil is still used as a medicinal composition: it is made from the petals of the white lily, Lilium candidum of Linnæus.

[1734] From Selga, a town of Pisidia. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1735] See B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1736] A volatile oil, mixed with a small proportion of empyreumatic oil and carbon.

[1737] “Oil-honey.” Probably a terebinthine, or oleo-resin. See B. xxiii. c. 50.

[1738] When rancid and oxygenized by age, it has an irritating quality, and may be found useful for herpetic diseases.

[1739] It very probably will have this effect; but at the expense of the colour of the ivory, which very soon will turn yellow.

[1740] It has quite lost its ancient repute: the only use it is now put to is the manufacture of an inferior soap. See B. xxiii. c. 37.

[1741] De Re Rust. cc. 130, 169.

[1742] Dolia and cadi. Fée observes, that this, if done with the modern vessels, would have a tendency to make the oil turn rancid.

[1743] On the contrary, Fée is inclined to think it would attract them, from its mucilaginous properties.

[1744] Olive oil, however, has a tendency to generate verdigrease in copper vessels.

[1745] This, as Fée remarks, is probably so absurd as not to be worth discussing.

[1746] Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.

[1747] If she happens to have destroyed the buds, but not otherwise.

[1748] The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.

[1749] See B. xvi. c. 23. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an agreeable flavour.

[1750] Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The nuts are slightly resinous.

[1751] Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at the present day to make this preparation.

[1752] The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.

[1753] From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called “melicotones.”

[1754] Or “golden apple.” The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an emblem of love.

[1755] Apparently meaning the “sparrow quince.” Dioscorides, Galen, and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?

[1756] “Early ripener.”

[1757] Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the pear is.

[1758] Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.

[1759] Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.

[1760] We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.

[1761] The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of modern botanists.

[1762] “Mala.” The term “malum,” somewhat similar to “pome” with us, was applied to a number of different fruits: the orange, the citron, the pomegranate, the apricot, and others.

[1763] Or peach.

[1764] See B. xiii. c. 34.

[1765] Or “pound-weight” pears: the Pirus volema of Linnæus.

[1766] Or “hard-berry”—probably in reference to the firmness of the flesh. It is generally thought to be the nectarine.

[1767] “Præcocia.” It is generally thought that in this name originates the word “apricot,” the Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus. There is, however, an early peach that ripens by the middle of July, though it is very doubtful if it was known to Pliny.

[1768] “From above.”

[1769] Perhaps the Prunus ungarica of naturalists, the black damask plum; or else the Prunus perdrigona, the perdrigon.

[1770] Probably the Prunus galatensis of naturalists.

[1771] “Hordearia:” the Prunus præcox of naturalists; probably our harvest plum.

[1772] Or “ass”-plum. The Prunus acinaria of naturalists: the cherry plum of the French.

[1773] Or “wax plum.” The Prunus cereola of naturalists: the mirabelle of the French.

[1774] Possibly the Prunus enucleata of Lamarck: the myrobalan of the French. Many varieties, however, are purple.

[1775] There are two opinions on this: that it is the Prunus Claudiana of Lamarck, the “Reine Claude” of the French; or else that it is identical with the apricot already mentioned, remarkable for the sweetness of its smell.

[1776] Or nut-prune.

[1777] The Prunus insititia of Linnæus.

[1778] The result of this would only be a plum like that of the tree from which the graft was cut.

[1779] The same as with reference to the graft on the apple.

[1780] This is probably quite fabulous.

[1781] B. xiii. c. 10.

[1782] The Prunus Damascena of the naturalists; our common damson, with its numerous varieties.

[1783] Probably the Cordia myxa of Linnæus; the Sebestier of the French. It has a viscous pulp, and is much used as a pectoral. It grows only in Syria and Egypt; and hence Fée is inclined to reject what Pliny says as to its naturalization at Rome, and the account he gives as to its being engrafted on the sorb.

[1784] _I. e._ Asia Minor.

[1785] Hospitium.

[1786] See B. xiii. c. 17. The Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille.

[1787] It was this probably, and not the peach-tree, that would not bear fruit in the isle of Rhodes.

[1788] Perseus.

[1789] Fée remarks that the wild plum, the Prunus silvestris or insititia of Linnæus, was to be found in Italy before the days of Cato.

[1790] See B. xii. c. 7.

[1791] Of Media.

[1792] Its fruit will ripen in France, as far north as Tours. It is the Zizyphus vulgaris of Lamarck. It resembles a small plum, and is sometimes used as a sweetmeat. The confection sold as jujube paste is not the dried jelly of this fruit, but merely gum arabic and sugar, coloured.

[1793] A variety of the jujube, Fée is inclined to think. A nut-peach has also been suggested.

[1794] A.U.C. 779.

[1795] Or perhaps embankment: “agger.”

[1796] A reddish colour. For the composition of this colour, see B. xxxv. c. 24.

[1797] “Lanata;” perhaps rather the “downy” fruit; a variety of quince, Fée thinks. Pliny probably had never seen this fruit, in his opinion, and only speaks after Virgil, Ecl. ii. l. 51. “Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala.”

[1798] See B. xii. c. 6. The Matian and the Cestian apple are thought by Dalechamps to have been the French “court-pendu,” or “short stalk.”

[1799] The Scandian is thought to have been a winter pear.

[1800] Adrian Junius takes this to be the “kers-appel” of the Flemish.

[1801] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 143.

[1802] Dolia.

[1803] Hardouin says that this is the “Pomme d’api” of the French; it is the “Court-pendu” with Adrian Junius.

[1804] The “Pomme de Saint Thomas,” according to Adrian Junius: Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme de Granoi. See B. iii. c. 19, and cc. 17 and 18 of the present Book.

[1805] “Græcula.” So called, perhaps, from Tarentum, situated in Magna Græcia.

[1806] Twins. This variety is unknown.

[1807] Or “red” apple. The red calville of the French, according to Hardouin; the Pomme suzine, according to Dalechamps.

[1808] The Girandotte of the French; the appel-heeren of the Dutch.

[1809] The “early ripener.” Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme Saint Jean, the apple of St. John.

[1810] The Pomme rose, or rose apple, according to Dalechamps.

[1811] Or “erect teat.” The Pomme taponne of the French, according to Dalechamps.

[1812] Or eunuch. The Passe pomme, or Pomme grillotte of the French.

[1813] Or “leaf apple.” Fée remarks that this occasionally happens, but the apple does not form a distinct variety.

[1814] The Pomme pannete, according to Dalechamps: the Pomme gelée of Provence.

[1815] Or “lung” apple. The Pomme folane, according to Dalechamps.

[1816] The Pirus malus of Linnæus, the wild apple, or estranguillon of the French.

[1817] It is doubtful whether he does not allude here to a peculiar variety.

[1818] Or “mealy” apples.

[1819] Or “proud” pear. The Petite muscadelle, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the water-peere of the Dutch.

[1820] From Crustumium in Italy; the Poire perle, or pearl pear, according to Dalechamps: the Jacob’s peere of the Flemish.

[1821] The Poire sucrée, or “sugar-pear,” according to Hardouin; the Bergamotte, according to Dalechamps.

[1822] “Potu.” He would appear to allude to the manufacture of perry.

[1823] The Syrian pear is commended by Martial; it has not been identified, however.

[1824] The Poire musot, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the Engelsche braet-peere of the Flemish.

[1825] The Pirus Pompeiana of Linnæus. Dalechamps identifies it with the Bon chretien, and Adrian Junius with the Taffel-peere of the Flemish.

[1826] The “breast-formed.”

[1827] The Pirus Favonia of Linnæus: the Grosse poire muscadelle of the French.

[1828] The Poire prevost, according to Dalechamps.

[1829] The Poire foré, according to Dalechamps.

[1830] The Saint Thomas’s pear of the Flemish.

[1831] The Poire chat of the French, according to Dalechamps; the Riet-peere of the Flemish.

[1832] “Like onyx.” The Cuisse-madame, according to Dalechamps.

[1833] The Calveau rosat, according to Dalechamps. Perhaps the Poire d’ambre, or amber pear, of the French.

[1834] The Poire d’argent, or silver pear, according to Dalechamps.

[1835] Or “barley pear.” The Poire de Saint Jean, according to Dalechamps; the musquette or muscadella, according to Adrian Junius.

[1836] Barley-harvest.

[1837] So called from its resemblance to the “ampulla,” a big-bellied vessel with a small neck, identified with the Poire d’angoisse by Dalechamps.

[1838] The Poire de jalousie, according to Dalechamps.

[1839] Or gourd-pear. This is the “isbout” according to Adrian Junius, the Poire courge of Dalechamps, and the Poire de sarteau, or de campane of others.

[1840] The Poire de Venus, according to Adrian Junius; the Poire acciole, according to Dalechamps.

[1841] Coloured pear.

[1842] “Regium.” The Poire carmagnole, according to Dalechamps; the Mispeel-peere of the Flemish, according to Adrian Junius.

[1843] The Poire sarteau, according to Dalechamps.

[1844] Georgics, ii. 87.

[1845] “A handful”—probably the pound or pounder pear: the Bergamotte, according to Hardouin; the Bon chretien of summer, according to Adrian Junius.

[1846] De Re Rust. c. 7.

[1847] Or “Seedling.”

[1848] The “early ripener.” Fée suggests that this may be a variety of the Bon chretien.

[1849] Georgics, ii. 69. This statement of Virgil must be regarded as fabulous; grafting being impracticable with trees not of the same family, and not always successful even then.

[1850] This was probably some superstition taught by the augurs for the purpose of enveloping their profession in additional mystery and awe.

[1851] Cadis.

[1852] He probably alludes here to cider and perry. See p. 300, and B. xxiii. c. 62.

[1853] “Pulmentarii vicem;” properly “a substitute for pulmentarium,” which was anything eaten with bread, such as meat, vegetables, &c. He alludes to marmalade. The French raisine is a somewhat similar preparation from pears and quinces boiled in new wine.

[1854] “Specularibus.” He alludes to windows of transparent stone, lapis specularis, or mica; windows of glass being probably unknown in his time. The ordinary windows were merely openings closed with shutters. See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[1855] He must allude to a kind of quince marmalade.

[1856] As Fée remarks, the fruit, if treated thus, would soon lose all the properties for which it is valued.

[1857] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 59.

[1858] A faulty proceeding, however dry it may be.

[1859] This fruit, Fée remarks, keeps but indifferently, and soon becomes soft, vinous, and acid.

[1860] An absurd superstition.

[1861] A method not unlikely to spoil the grape, from the difficulty of removing the coat thus given to it.

[1862] A very absurd notion, as Fée observes. To keep fruit in millet is also condemned.

[1863] Which, of course, must deteriorate the flavour of the grape.

[1864] It is doubtful if they will increase in size, when once plucked.

[1865] The modern authorities recommend the precisely opposite plan.

[1866] As absurd as the use of the bulb of squill.

[1867] In a pit two feet deep, &c. See above.

[1868] Capsæ.

[1869] See B. xxi. c. 49.

[1870] De Re Rust. B. xii. c. 43.

[1871] These must make raisins of the sun.

[1872] These must have been perfectly dry, or else they would tend to rot the grapes or raisins.

[1873] Columella, for instance, B. xii. c. 43.

[1874] The dust is in reality very liable to spoil the fruit, from the tenacity with which it adheres. In all these methods, little attention would seem to be paid to the retention of the flavour of the fruits.

[1875] A detestable practice, Fée says, as the oil makes an indelible mark on the grape, and gives it an abominable flavour. It is the best method to put the fruit in bags of paper or hair.

[1876] See B. xiii. c. 19.

[1877] There are about forty varieties now known.

[1878] B. xiii. c. 14, 15. These are the Ficus sycomorus of Linnæus.

[1879] In Troas; called the Alexandrian fig, from the city of Alexandria there. Fée doubts if this was really a fig, and suggests that it might be the fruit of a variety of Diospyros.

[1880] No fig-tree now known is destitute of this.

[1881] Fée treats this as an exaggeration.

[1882] From “mamilla,” a teat.

[1883] In Egypt. The Figue servantine, or cordeliere.

[1884] “Delicata.” The “bon-bouche.”

[1885] Fée suggests that this may have been the small early fig.

[1886] From Livia, the wife of Augustus.

[1887] From Pompeius Magnus.

[1888] Apparently meaning the “marsh” fig.

[1889] The Laconian reed, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 12.

[1890] The “white-wax” fig.

[1891] Fée queries whether it may not be the Grosse bourjasotte.

[1892] Or “people’s” fig. The small early white fig.

[1893] Or “swallow”-fig.

[1894] Or it may mean “white and black,” that being the colour of the fig. Such a variety is still known.

[1895] A Spanish variety; those of the south of Spain are very highly esteemed.

[1896] The modern “black” fig.

[1897] The sun of the former year.

[1898] In Mœsia—the present Servia and Bulgaria.

[1899] Another war is said to have originated in this fruit. Xerxes was tempted by the fine figs of Athens to undertake the invasion of Greece.

[1900] “Tertium ante diem.” In dating from an event, the Romans included both days in the computation; the one they dated _from_, and the day _of_, the event.

[1901] In sending for the fig, and thinking of this method of speaking to the feelings of his fellow-countrymen.

[1902] A place in the Forum, where public meetings were held, and certain offences tried.

[1903] He alludes to the Puteal, or enclosed space in the Forum, consecrated by Scribonius Libo, in consequence of the spot having been struck by lightning.

[1904] On the banks of the Tiber, below the Palatine Mount. The whole of this passage is in a most corrupt state, and it is difficult to extract a meaning from it.

[1905] By slips from the old tree, as Tacitus seems to say—“in novos fœtus revivisceret.”

[1906] At the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

[1907] Probably near where the Curtius Lacus had stood in the early days of Rome. The story of Metius Curtius, who leaped into the yawning gulph in the Forum, in order to save his country, is known to every classical reader.

[1908] The Forum.

[1909] See B. xix. c. 6.

[1910] The Ficus Carica of Linnæus. It _does_ bear fruit, though small, and disagreeable to the taste.

[1911] This insect is one of the Hymenoptera; the Cynips Psenes of Linnæus and Fabricius. There is another insect of the same genus, but not so well known.

[1912] Fée observes that the caprification accelerates the ripeness of the fruit, but at the expense of the flavour. For the same purpose the upper part of the fig is often pricked with a pointed quill.

[1913] “Infantiam pomi”—literally, “the infancy of the fruit.”

[1914] Fée denies the truth of this assertion.

[1915] Frumenta.

[1916] A mixture of the sugar of the fruit with the milky juice of the tree, which is a species of caoutchouc.

[1917] Capsis.

[1918] See B. iii. c. 11. The Balearic Isles still produce great quantities of excellent dried figs.

[1919] See B. iii. c. 17.

[1920] Orcæ.

[1921] Cadi.

[1922] Ground, perhaps, into a kind of flour.

[1923] Opsonii vicem. “Opsonium” was anything eaten with bread, such as vegetables, meat, and fish, for instance.

[1924] De Re Rust. c. 56.

[1925] Because they would be sure, under any circumstances, to eat plenty of them.

[1926] See B. xiii. c. 10.

[1927] These were so called from Caunus, a city of Caria, famous for its dried figs. Pronounced “Cavneas,” it would sound to the superstitious, “Cave ne eas,” “Take care that you go not.”

[1928] At Brundisium.

[1929] A.U.C. 801.

[1930] Alba Longa. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1931] The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists.

[1932] The Mespilus germanica of the botanists.

[1933] The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii folio laciniato of C. Bauhin.

[1934] The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrato of C. Bauhin, the Mespilus cotoneaster of J. Bauhin.

[1935] Its identity is matter of uncertainty; but it has been thought to be the Cratægus oxyacantha of modern botanists.

[1936] By “amplissimus,” he must mean that it spreads out very much in proportion to its height, as it is merely a shrub.

[1937] Fée thinks it a tree indigenous to the north.

[1938] The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists.

[1939] The sorb-pear.

[1940] Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus.

[1941] Fée is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of Lamarck. Anguillara thinks that it is the Cratægus of Theophrastus, considered by Sprengel to be identical with the Cratægus azarolus of Linnæus. In ripening, the fruit of the sorb undergoes a sort of vinous fermentation: hence a kind of cider made of it.

[1942] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 145.

[1943] The Juglans regia of Linnæus.

[1944] Tastes have probably altered since this was written.

[1945] These were rude and sometimes obscene songs sung at festivals, and more particularly marriages. While these songs were being sung at the door of the nuptial chamber, it was the custom for the husband to scramble walnuts among the young people assembled there. The walnut is the nut mentioned in Solomon’s Song, vi. 11.

[1946] Or, more probably, from the union of the two portions of the inner shell.

[1947] “Tripudium sonivium;” implying that it was considered sacred to marriage, from the use made of it by the friends of the bridegroom when thrown violently against the nuptial chamber, with the view of drowning the cries of the bride. A very absurd notion, to all appearance.

[1948] The “Persian” nut.

[1949] The “king’s” nut. The walnut-tree still abounds in Persia, and is found wild on the slopes of the Himalaya.

[1950] Implying that it comes from the Greek κάρη, “the head.” Some etymologists think that it is from the Celto-Scythian _carw_, a boat; such being the shape of the two parts of the inner shell.

[1951] It is still a common notion, Fée says, that it is highly injurious to sleep beneath a walnut-tree.

[1952] It is still used for this purpose.

[1953] Red hair was admired by the Romans. The Roman females used this juice also for dyeing their hair when grey.

[1954] They are not _entirely_ separate.

[1955] The Corylus avellana maxima of Willdenow.

[1956] The filbert, the Corylus tubulosa of Willdenow.

[1957] Abellinum, in Campania. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1958] The down on the nut is more apparent when it is young; but it is easily rubbed off. The outer coat is probably meant.

[1959] Hazel nuts are sometimes roasted in some parts of Europe, but not with us.

[1960] The Amygdalus communis of Linnæus.

[1961] De Re Rust. c. 8. Some think that this was the bitter almond; and the word “acriore,” used by Pliny, would almost seem to imply that such is the case.

[1962] Apparently the “smooth” or “bald” nut. May not a variety something like the hickory nut of America be meant?

[1963] Festus says that a kind of nut was so called, because the Prænestines, when besieged by Hannibal at Casilinum, subsisted upon them. See Livy, B. xxiii. Fée considers it only another name for the common hazel nut.

[1964] De Re Rust. c. 145.

[1965] The soft-shelled almond, or princess almond of the French; the Amygdalus communis fragilis of naturalists.

[1966] This last variety does not seem to have been identified: the hard-shell almonds do not appear to be larger than the others.

[1967] Or “soft” almond, a variety only of the Amygdalus fragilis.

[1968] There is little doubt that Fée is right in his assertion, that this great personage imposed on our author; as no trees of this family are known to bear two crops.

[1969] B. xiii. c. 10.

[1970] In c. xxi. of this Book.

[1971] The tree is the Fagus castanea of Linnæus.

[1972] Cortex.

[1973] The common mode of eating it at the present day. The Italians also take off the skin and dry the nut; thus keeping it from year to year. When required for eating, it is softened by the steam of boiling water.

[1974] Not improbably said in allusion to the fasts introduced by the Jews, who had become very numerous in Rome.

[1975] It was said to have come from Castana, a city of Pontus, whence its name “Castanea.” It is probably indigenous to Europe.

[1976] The Greek for “Jove’s acorn.”

[1977] Or “acorn chesnut.” The same variety, Fée says, that is found in the vicinity of Perigueux, small, nearly round, and without any

## particular flavour.

[1978] The Ganebelone chesnut of Perigueux, Fée says, answers to this description.

[1979] On account of the prickles on the outer shell.

[1980] B. xvii. c. 26.

[1981] Fée says that the royal white chesnut of the vicinity of Perigueux answers to this.

[1982] “Boiling” chesnuts.

[1983] He alludes to wild or horse chesnuts, probably.

[1984] See B. xiii. c. 16.

[1985] This skin is not eatable. It is fibrous and astringent.

[1986] In B. xvi. c. 6.

[1987] “Acinis.” The grape, ivy-berry, elder-berry, and others.

[1988] “Inter cutem succumque.”

[1989] Baccis. Some confusion is created by the non-existence of English words to denote the difference between “acinus” and “bacca.” The latter is properly the “berry;” the grape being the type of the “acinus.”

[1990] See B. xvi. c. 41. The mulberry is the Morus nigra of modern naturalists. It is generally thought that this was the only variety known to the ancients; but Fée queries, from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which represents the mulberry as changing from white to blood colour, that the white mulberry was not unknown to them; but through some cause, now unknown, was gradually lost sight of.

[1991] This is still the case with the mulberry.

[1992] See B. xvi. c. 71, and B. xxiv. c. 73. He alludes to the blackberry.

[1993] The common strawberry, the Fragaria vesca of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 50. A native of the Alps and the forests of Gaul, it was unknown to the Greeks.

[1994] The Arbutus unedo of Linnæus. It is one of the ericaceous trees, and its fruit bears a considerable resemblance to the strawberry—otherwise there is not the slightest affinity between them. The taste of the arbute is poor indeed, compared to that of the strawberry.

[1995] He suggests that it is so called from “unum edo,” “I eat but one;” a rather fanciful etymology, it would seem.

[1996] This supposition is not warranted, from merely the fact of there being two names.

[1997] See B. xvi. c. 52.

[1998] See B. xxiv. c. 35.

[1999] See B. xiii. c. 34.

[2000] “Baccis.” Berries, properly so called.

[2001] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.

[2002] Supposed by some to be the holly. See B. xxv. c. 72.

[2003] He alludes to a variety of the cratægus.

[2004] The Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. It is said to have obtained its name from Cerasus, in Asia Minor, where Lucullus found it.

[2005] He must allude to what he has stated in B. xii. c. 3, for he has nowhere said that the cherry will not grow in Egypt. It is said that the cherry is not to be found in Egypt at the present day.

[2006] The griotte cherry of the French, the mazzard of the English.

[2007] A variety of the mazzard, Fée thinks.

[2008] Some take this for the Cerasus Juliana, the guignier of the French, our white heart; others, again, for the merisier, our morello.

[2009] It is most generally thought that this is the Cerasus avium of botanists, our morello, which is a very tender cherry.

[2010] Or “hard berry,” the Prunus bigarella of Linnæus, the red bigaroon.

[2011] Fée queries whether it may not have received its name of “Pliniana” in compliment to our author, or one of his family.

[2012] Hardouin thinks that this Portuguese cherry is the griotte, or mazzard.

[2013] No such cherry is known at the present day.

[2014] Such a graft is impossible; the laurel-cherry must have had some other origin.

[2015] Fée suggests that this may be the early dwarf cherry.

[2016] Or “ground-cherry;” a dwarf variety, if, indeed, it was a cherry-tree at all, of which Fée expresses some doubt.

[2017] This explains, Fée says, why it will not grow in Egypt.

[2018] The Cornus mas of Linnæus. The fruit of the cornel has a tart flavour, but is not eaten in modern Europe, except by school-boys.

[2019] That produces mastich. See B. xii. c. 36.

[2020] He alludes more especially, perhaps, to the use of cicuta or hemlock by drunkards, who looked upon it as an antidote to the effects of wine. See B. xiv. c. 7.

[2021] Fée remarks, that in this enumeration there is no method. Linnæus enumerates eleven principal flavours in the vegetable kingdom—dry or insipid, aqueous, viscous, salt, acrid, styptic, sweet, fat, bitter, acid, and nauseous; these terms, however seem, some of them, to be very indefinite.

[2022] It requires considerable discernment to appropriate nicely its English synonym to these four varieties of tastes, “acer, acutus, acerbus, and acidus,” more especially when we find that the “bitter” and the “rough” are occupied already by the “amarus” and the “austerus.”

[2023] In allusion, probably, to the pungency of the aroma or bouquet.

[2024] Lenitate.

[2025] This seems to be the meaning of “succus.”

[2026] The “insipid.”

[2027] This is so much the case, that the most nauseous medicine may be taken almost with impunity—so far as taste is concerned—by tightly pressing the nostrils while taking it.

[2028] Fée remarks that this is true of fire, and of distilled or perfectly pure water; but that physiologists are universally agreed that the air has its own peculiar smell.

[2029] All fruits that are rich in sugar and amidine, Fée says, either have, or acquire in time, a vinous flavour, by the development of a certain quantity of alcohol.

[2030] In the fruit with a fixed oil, this principle succeeds, when they are ripe, to the mucilaginous.

[2031] He must mean a thinner juice, though still sweet.

[2032] About the peduncle or stalk of the fig. The juice here, Fée says, is a real sugar, of the same nature as that which circulates throughout the whole fruit: the juice in the interior of which is produced by another order of vessels.

[2033] The juice is only foamy when the vinous fermentation is established. It has that appearance, however, when the fruit is bitten with the teeth.

[2034] The “hard-berry,” or nectarine.

[2035] In the sense of aromatic, or penetrating.

[2036] He probably means those of a luscious or sirupy nature, without any acidity whatever.

[2037] He seems to mean that the thick, luscious wines require longer keeping, before they will gain any aroma at all. This would be done, probably, at the expense of their sweetness.

[2038] Or he may mean, that a fine flavour and a fine smell cannot co-exist.

[2039] The reading here should be “acutissimus,” probably, instead of “acerrimus.” The odour exists in the rind of the citron and in the outer coat of the quince; if these are removed, the fruit becomes inodorous.

[2040] “Tenuis.” He may possibly mean “faint.”

[2041] The fruit of the ben, or myrobalanus, the Balanites Ægyptiaca. See B. xiii. cc. 17 and 19.

[2042] Vitium.

[2043] Hard-berry or nectarine. See c. 11.

[2044] Lignum: literally, “wood.” “There is no wood, either within or without.” He has one universal name for what we call shell, seed, stones, pips, grains, &c.

[2045] The “spado,” or “eunuch” date. See B. xiii. c. 8.

[2046] See B. xiii. c. 17. The fruit of the ben is alluded to, but, as Fée observes, Pliny is wrong in calling it an almond, as it is a pulpy fruit.

[2047] The Nymphæa nelumbo of Linnæus.

[2048] Or shell, which, as Fée remarks, participates but very little in the properties of the flesh.

[2049] Or “honey” apple; see c. 15 of this Book.

[2050] Or “Carian” fig. See c. 19 of this Book.

[2051] See B. xiii. c. 11.

[2052] See B. xiii. c. 42, and B. xx. cc. 9 and 23.

[2053] See B. xiii. c. 26, and B. xxiv. c. 66.

[2054] See B. xiii. c. 22. Fée remarks that it is singular how the ancients could eat the branches of the fig-tree, the juice being actually a poison.

[2055] See B. xiii. c. 44.

[2056] See c. 26 of this Book.

[2057] He is wrong: the same is the case with the berries of the laurel, and, indeed, many other kinds of berries.

[2058] See c. 7 of this Book.

[2059] See B. xiv. c. 9.

[2060] See B. xii. c. 14.

[2061] A kind of sausage, seasoned with myrtle. See also B. xxvii c. 49.

[2062] He means the Acroceraunian chain in Epirus, mentioned in B. iii.

[2063] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2064] He was one of the companions of Ulysses, fabled by Homer and Ovid to have been transformed by Circe into a swine.

[2065] Μυρσίνη was its Greek name.

[2066] See B. xxv. c. 59.

[2067] See B. xii. c. 2. Ovid, Fasti, B. iv. l. 15, _et seq._, says that Venus concealed herself from the gaze of the Satyrs behind this tree.

[2068] Either this story is untrue, or we have a right to suspect that some underhand agency was employed for the purpose of imposing on the superstitious credulity of the Roman people.

[2069] Or Social War. See B. ii c. 85.

[2070] Near the altar of Consus, close to the meta of the Circus.

[2071] De Re Rust. c. 8.

[2072] The so-called wild myrtle does not in reality belong to the genus Myrtus.

[2073] See B. xxiii. c. 83; the Ruscus aculeatus of the family of the Asparagea.

[2074] The common myrtle, Myrtus communis of the naturalists.

[2075] Or Roman myrtle, a variety of the Myrtus communis.

[2076] The “six row” myrtle. Fée thinks that it belongs to the Myrtus angustifolia Bœtica of Bauhin.

[2077] De Re Rust. 125.

[2078] See B. xxiii. c. 81.

[2079] A new proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had peculiar notions of their own, as to the flavour of wine; myrtle berries, he says, would impart to wine a detestable aromatic flavour.

[2080] “Saccis:” the strainer being made of cloth. See B. xiv. c. 28.

[2081] They would be of no assistance whatever, and this statement is entirely fictitious.

[2082] He may possibly mean hernia.

[2083] In addition to all those particulars, he might have stated that the Lares, or household gods, were crowned with myrtle, and that it was not allowed to enter the Temple of Bona Dea.

[2084] A.U.C. 251.

[2085] See the Notes to c. 35 of this Book.

[2086] Because the enemy would be less likely to envy us a bloodless triumph.

[2087] He disdained the more humble myrtle crown, and intrigued successfully with the Senate to allow him to wear a wreath of laurel.

[2088] The Senate refused him a triumph; and he accordingly celebrated one on the Alban Mount, B.C. 231. Paulus Diaconus says that his reason for wearing a myrtle crown was his victory over the Corsicans on the Myrtle Plains, though where they were, or what victory is alluded to, is not known.

[2089] The brother of Valerius Publicola.

[2090] We learn from two passages in Ovid that the laurel was suspended over the gates of the emperors. This, as Fée remarks, was done for two reasons: because it was looked upon as a protection against lightning, and because it was considered an emblem of immortality.

[2091] De Re Rust. 133.

[2092] Or “laurel of Apollo:” it was into this tree that Daphne was fabled to have been changed. See Ovid’s Met. B. i. l. 557, _et seq._

[2093] Cato, De Re Rust. c. 121, tells us that this cake was made of fine wheat, must, anise, cummin, suet, cheese, and scraped laurel sprigs. Laurel leaves were placed under it when baked. This mixture was considered a light food, good for the stomach!

[2094] At the Pythian Games celebrated there.

[2095] Meaning that it curves at the edge, something like a pent-house.

[2096] Or tine tree, the Viburnum tinus of Linnæus, one of the caprifolia. It is not reckoned as one of the laurels, though it has many of the same characteristics.

[2097] Regia.

[2098] The barren laurel of the triumphs was the Laurus nobilis of Linnæus, which has only male flowers.

[2099] The Laurus vulgaris folio undulato of the Parisian _Hortus_, Fée says.

[2100] Not a laurel, nor yet a dicotyledon, Fée says, but one of the Asparagea, probably the Ruscus hypoglossum of Linnæus, sometimes known, however, as the Alexandrian laurel.

[2101] Or “eunuch” laurel; a variety, probably, of the Laurus nobilis.

[2102] The “ground laurel:” according to Sprengel, this is the Ruscus racemosus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 81.

[2103] From Alexandria in Troas: the Ruscus hypophyllum of Linnæus, it is supposed.

[2104] “The tongue below.” This, Fée justly says, would appear to be a more appropriate name for the taxa, mentioned above.

[2105] From the berry being attached to the leaf.

[2106] “The thrower out from below,” perhaps.

[2107] Sprengel thinks that it is the Clematis vitalba of Linnæus. Fuchsius identities it with the Daphne laureola of Linnæus; and Fée thinks it may be either that or the Daphne mezereum of Linnæus.

[2108] “Crown of Alexander.”

[2109] Curiously enough, it is generally considered now more suggestive of war than of peace.

[2110] The despatches were wrapped in laurel leaves.

[2111] Optimus Maximus.

[2112] L. Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin. Pliny alludes to the message sent to Delphi, for the purpose of consulting the oracle on a serpent being seen in the royal palace.

[2113] He alludes to the circumstance of the priestess being asked who should reign at Rome after Tarquin; upon which she answered, “He who first kisses his mother;” on which Brutus, the supposed idiot, stumbled to the ground, and kissed the earth, the mother of all.

[2114] A mere absurdity; the same has been said of the beech, and with equal veracity.

[2115] He makes a distinction between “altar” and “ara” here. The former was the altar of the superior Divinities, the latter of the superior and inferior as well.

[2116] The crackling of the laurel is caused by efforts of the essential oil to escape from the parenchyma or cellular tissue of the leaf, which it breaks with considerable violence when burning.

[2117] Nervorum. See B. xxiii. c. 80.

[2118] Suetonius, c. 66, confirms this. Fée says that the same superstition still exists in some parts of France. See B. ii. c. 56.

[2119] “The Poultry.”

[2120] See c. 39 of this Book.

[2121] See B. xxxi. c. 3. As Poinsinet remarks, this is not strictly true; the name “Vinucius” most probably came from “vinea,” a vineyard. Numerous names were derived also from seeds and vegetables; Piso, Cicero, and Lactuca, for instance, among a host of others. “Scipio,” too, means a “walking-stick.”

[2122] The “laurel-grove.”

[2123] See B. xvii. c. 11.

[2124] See end of B. viii.

[2125] See end of B. ii.

[2126] See end of B. vii.

[2127] See end of B. iii.

[2128] See end of B. vii.

[2129] See end of B. iii.

[2130] See end of B. x.

[2131] See end of B. xi.

[2132] See end of B. ii.

[2133] See end of B. xiv.

[2134] See end of B. x.

[2135] See end of B. vii.

[2136] See end of B. iii.

[2137] See end of B. iii.

[2138] See end of B. xiv.

[2139] See end of B. xiv.

[2140] See end of B. viii.

[2141] See end of B. vii.

[2142] See end of B. xiv.

[2143] See end of B. xiv.

[2144] See end of B. ii.

[2145] See end of B. xiv.

[2146] See end of B. xiv.

[2147] See end of B. xii.

[2148] See end of B. xiv.

[2149] See end of B. xiv.

[2150] See end of B. xiv.

[2151] See end of B. iii.

[2152] See end of B. xii.

[2153] See end of B. xiv.

[2154] See end of B. ii.

[2155] See end of B. ii.

[2156] See end of B. viii.

[2157] See end of B. viii.

[2158] See end of B. viii.

[2159] See end of B. iv.

[2160] See end of B. viii.

[2161] See end of B. viii.

[2162] See end of B. viii.

[2163] See end of B. viii.

[2164] See end of B. viii.

[2165] See end of B. viii.

[2166] See end of B. viii.

[2167] See end of B. viii.

[2168] See end of B. viii.

[2169] See end of B. vi.

[2170] See end of B. viii.

[2171] See end of B. xiv.

[2172] He is mentioned also by Varro and Columella, as a writer upon agriculture; but all further particulars of him are unknown.

[2173] See end of B. viii.

[2174] See end of B. ii.

[2175] See end of B. x.

[2176] See end of B. viii.

[2177] See end of B. viii.

[2178] See end of B. viii.

[2179] See end of B. viii.

[2180] See end of B. xii.

[2181] See end of B. viii.

[2182] See end of B. viii.

[2183] See end of B. vii.

[2184] See end of B. xi.

[2185] Beyond what Pliny here says, nothing is known of him.

[2186] See end of B. xi.

[2187] A physician who lived probably at the end of the first century B.C. He was a disciple of Erasistratus, and founded a medical school at Smyrna. He is quoted by Athenæus, and in B. xxvii. c. 14, Pliny calls him “a physician of no small authority.” He seems to have been a voluminous writer; but none of his works have survived.

[2188] See end of B. xi.

[2189] See end of B. ii.

[2190] See end of B. v.

[2191] The methods of grafting and inoculation.

[2192] B. xiii. c. 50. They dwelt between the Ems and the Elbe.

[2193] See B. iv. c. 29.

[2194] “Ulvâ.” This appears to be a general name for all kinds of aquatic fresh-water plants; as “alga” is that of the various sea-weeds.

[2195] He alludes to turf for firing; the Humus turfa of the naturalists.

[2196] Of course this applies only to those who dwelt near the sea-shore, and not those more inland.

[2197] Guichardin remarks, that Pliny does not here bear in mind the sweets of liberty.

[2198] So Laberius says, “Fortuna multis parcere in pœnam solet;” “Fortune is the saving of many, when she means to punish them.”

[2199] He alludes to the vicinity of the Zuyder Zee. See B. iv. c. 29. The spots where these forests once stood are now cultivated plains, covered with villages and other works of the industry of man.

[2200] “Quercus.” We shall see, in the course of this Book, that its identity has not been satisfactorily established.

[2201] See B. iv. c. 28, and the Note, Vol. i. p. 348. The village of Hercingen, near Waldsee, is supposed to retain the ancient name.

[2202] “Robora.” It will be seen in this Book that the robur has not been identified, any more than the quercus.

[2203] Fée treats this story as utterly fabulous. The branches of the Ficus Indica grow downwards, and so form arcades certainly; but such is not the case with any European tree.

[2204] Not only oaks, but a variety of other trees, were included under this name by the ancients; the “glans” embracing not only the acorn, but the mast of the beech, and the hard fruits of other trees

[2205] He alludes to the crown of oak-leaves, which was suspended on the gates before the palace of the emperors. A civic crown had been voted by the senate to Julius Cæsar, on the ground of having saved his country.

[2206] Given to the first man who scaled the wall of a besieged place. It was made of gold, and decorated with turrets.

[2207] Given to the first soldier who surmounted the vallum or entrenchments. It was made of gold, and ornamented with “valli,” or palisades.

[2208] One of the varieties of the triumphal crown was the “corona aurea,” or “golden crown.”

[2209] Made of gold, and decorated with the “rostra,” or “beaks” of ships.

[2210] See B. vii. c. 31.

[2211] The orator’s stage in the Forum was decorated with the “rostra,” or “beaks” of the ships of the Antiates; hence it received the name of “Rostrum.” The locality of the Rostra was changed by Julius Cæsar.

[2212] Alluding to the prostitution of the Rostra by the tribunes and others for the purposes of sedition, and the presentation by Augustus of the rostrate crown to Agrippa.

[2213] Which was suspended, as already mentioned, at the gate of his palace.

[2214] Athenæus and Fabius Pictor say that Janus was the first wearer of a crown; Pherecydes says it was Saturn, Diodorus Siculus Jupiter, and Leo Ægyptiacus Isis, who wore one of wheat.

[2215] Il. xiii, 736.

[2216] See cc. 34 and 35 of the present Book.

[2217] The Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemæan games.

[2218] See B. vii. c. 27.

[2219] He is called Tullus Hostilius by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the same as his grandson.

[2220] A.U.C. 411. The leaves of the holm-oak were employed by Romulus on the occasion above-mentioned.

[2221] These varieties of the oak will be considered in the next chapter.

[2222] At the Olympic games celebrated in honour of Jupiter. At Olympia there was a statue of that god, one of the master-pieces of Phidias.

[2223] Implying thereby, that the city that could produce a man who could so distinguish himself, stood in no need of walls.

[2224] In the Circus.

[2225] In B. vii. c. 29.

[2226] B. vii. c. 29.

[2227] Livy says eight. He saved the life of Servilius, the Master of the Horse.

[2228] “Glandes.” Under this name, for which we do not appear to have any English equivalent, were included, as already mentioned, not only the acorn of the oak, but the nut or mast of the beech, and probably most of the hard or kernel fruits. In the present instance Pliny probably alludes only to the fruit of the oak and the beech. Acorns are but little used as an article of food in these days. Roasted, they have been proposed as a substitute for coffee.

[2229] The acorn of the Quercus ballota of Linnæus is probably meant, which is still much used in the province of Salamanca, and forms an agreeable article of food. This acorn, Fée says, contains a considerable proportion of saccharine matter, and is better roasted in the ashes than boiled in water. It is not, however, used as a dessert, as in the time of the Romans. These acorns are sold at market in Andalusia in the month of October.

[2230] So far as it goes, the kernel of the mast or beech-nut is not unpalatable; but in the English beech it is very diminutive.

[2231] The word “quercus” is frequently used as a general name for the oak; but throughout the present Book it is most employed as meaning a distinct variety of the oak, one of the larger kinds, Fée says, and answering to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck, the Quercus robur of Linnæus, and the Rouvre of the French.

[2232] This also has been much employed as a general name for the oak; but here, and in other parts of this Book, it is applied to one variety. Fée thinks that it answers to the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith, sometimes also called “rouvre” by the French.

[2233] The Quercus æsculus of Linnæus. It is not improbable that this oak is a different tree from the “Æsculus” of Horace and Virgil, which was perhaps either a walnut, or a variety of the beech.

[2234] It has been suggested that this is the same with the Quercus cerrus of Linnæus, and the Quercus crinita of Lamarck, the gland of which is placed in a prickly cupule. It is rarely found in France, but is often to be met with in Piedmont and the Apennines.

[2235] The Fagus silvatica of Lamarck. Its Latin name, “fagus,” is supposed to have been derived from the Greek φάγω, “to eat.” An oil is extracted from the acorns or nuts, that is much used in some parts of France.

[2236] He speaks probably of one of the galls which are found attached to the leaves of the forest trees.

[2237] “Ilex.” Fée thinks that the varieties known as the Prinos and the Ballota were often confounded by the ancients with the “ilex” or “holm-oak.” This tree, he says, bears no resemblance to the ordinary oak, except in the blossoms and the fruit. It is the Ilex of Linnæus, the “yeuse,” or “green oak,” of the French.

[2238] The Quercus suber of Linnæus; it is found more particularly in the department of the Landes in France.

[2239] As Fée remarks, Pliny is clearly in error here; one kind being the veritable ilex or holm oak, the other, the aquifolium or holly, quite a different tree.

[2240] The smilax or milax was a real holm oak, but the aquifolia was the holly.

[2241] Od. xi. 242. Fée remarks that the berry of the holly has no resemblance to the acorn whatever, and he says that this statement of Pliny almost leads him to think that the second variety here mentioned by him was not in reality the holly, but a variety of the quercus.

[2242] Fée observes that, properly speaking, there is no sex in the oak, the individuals being neither male nor female. The Flora Danica however, as he observes, gives the name of “Quercus fœmina” to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck.

[2243] Or “broad-leaved” oak; one of the varieties of the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith—_Flor. Brit._

[2244] This statement is contrary to general experience in modern times, the flavour of the acorn being uniformly acrid and bitter throughout. It is not impossible, however, that the flavour may have been more palatable in ancient times.

[2245] A variety of the common oak, the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck; Sprengel takes it to be the Quercus ballota of Desfontaines.

[2246] The Quercus ægilops of Linnæus. It is a native of Piedmont, some parts of Italy, and the island of Crete.

[2247] Pliny’s account of making charcoal is derived from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 10. Fée remarks that it differs little from the method adopted in France at the present day.

[2248] The Quercus Hispanica, probably, of Lamarck, of which Fée thinks the Quercus pseudo-suber of Desfontaines is a variety; it is found in Greece and on the shores of the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar. The Greek name signifies the “sea cork-tree.”

[2249] The statement here given as to the effect of beech-mast on swine, is destitute, Fée remarks, of all foundation. If fed upon it, their flesh will naturally be of a soft, spongy nature.

[2250] This assertion is perhaps too general; gall-nuts are produced in very small quantities by the holm-oak.

[2251] A variety of the Quercus racemosa, which produces the green gall-nut of Aleppo, considered in modern, as in ancient, times the choicest in quality.

[2252] Theophrastus says the end of June.

[2253] Its growth, in reality, is not so rapid as this.

[2254] Such a thing is never seen at the present day.

[2255] In Syria, we have mentioned the galls of Aleppo in Note [2251].

[2256] This is the case when the inside has been eaten away by the insect that breeds there; of course, in such case it is hollow, light, and worthless.

[2257] The ancients were not aware that the gall was produced from the eggs of the cynips, deposited upon the leaf or bark of the tree. Tan and gallic acid are its principal component parts.

[2258] A substance quite unknown now; but it is very doubtful if Pliny is rightly informed here.

[2259] A fungous gall, produced by the Cynips fungosa. It is not used for any domestic purpose at the present day.

[2260] This kind of gall is now unknown. Fée questions the assertion about its juice.

[2261] The Cynips quercus baccarum of Linnæus, one of the common galls.

[2262] The root cynips, the Cynips radicum of Fourcroi, produces these galls, which lie near the root, and have the appearance of ligneous nodosities. It is harder than wood, and contains cells, in which the larva of the insect lies coiled up.

[2263] This is a proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had observed the existence of the cynips; though, at the same time, it is equally evident that they did not know the important part it acts in the formation of the gall.

[2264] This word, as employed by Theophrastus, means a catkin, the Julus amentum of the botanists; but it is doubtful if Pliny attaches this meaning to the word, as the lime or linden-tree has no catkin, but an inflorescence of a different character. It is not improbable that, under this name, he alludes to some excrescence.

[2265] These were the “boletus” and the “suillus” the last of which seem only to have been recently introduced at table in the time of Pliny. See B. xxii. c. 47.

[2266] He alludes clearly to fungi of radically different qualities, as the nature of the trees beneath which they grow cannot possibly influence them, any further than by the various proportions of shade they afford. The soil, however, exercises great influence on the quality of the fungus; growing upon a hill, it may be innoxious, while in a wet soil it may be productive of death.

[2267] See cc. 93, 94, and 95, of this Book.

[2268] Works and Days, l. 230.

[2269] Pliny seems to have here taken in a literal sense, what has been said figuratively by Virgil, Ecl. iv. l. 26:

“Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella;”

and by Ovid, in relation to the Golden Age, Met. i. 113:

“Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.”

Fée remarks, that we find on the leaf of the lime-tree a thin, sugary deposit, left by insects, and that a species of manna exudes from the Coniferæ, as also the bark of the beech. This, however, is never the case with the oak.

[2270] B. xi. c. 12.

[2271] By this word, Fée observes, we must not understand the word “nitre,” in the modern sense, but the sub-carbonate of potash; while the ashes of trees growing on the shores of the sea produce a sub-carbonate of soda.

[2272] “Coccus.” This is not a gall, but the distended body of an insect, the kermes, which grows on a peculiar oak, the “Quercus coccifera,” found in the south of Europe.

[2273] We have previously mentioned, that he seems to have confounded the holly with the holm oak.

[2274] Poinsinet, rather absurdly, as it would appear, finds in this word the origin of our word “cochineal.”

[2275] The kermes berry is but little used in Spain, or, indeed, anywhere else, since the discovery of the cochineal of America.

[2276] B. ix. c. 65.

[2277] Not the white agaric, Fée says, of modern pharmacy; but, as no kind of agaric is found in the oak, it does not seem possible to identify it. See B. xxv. c. 57.

[2278] It is evident that no fungus would give out phosphoric light; but it may have resulted from old wood in a state of decomposition.

[2279] It is pretty clear that one of the lichens of the genus _usnea_ is here referred to. Amadue, or German tinder, seems somewhat similar.

[2280] B. xii. c. 50.

[2281] On the contrary, Fée says, the acorn of the Quercus suber is of a sweet and agreeable flavour, and is much sought as a food for pigs. The hams of Bayonne are said to owe their high reputation to the acorns of the cork-tree.

[2282] The word “cork” is clearly derived from the Latin “cortex,” “bark.” See Beckmann’s History of Inventions, V. i. p. 320, _et seq._, _Bohn’s Edition_, for a very interesting account of this tree.

[2283] This passage, the meaning of which is so obvious, is discussed at some length by Beckmann, Vol. i. pp. 321, 322.

[2284] It is still employed for making soles which are impervious to the wet.

[2285] It is doubtful whether this name was given to the shoes, or the females who wore them, and we have therefore preserved the doubt, in the ambiguous “them.” Beckmann also discusses this passage, p. 321. He informs us, p. 322, that the Roman ladies who wished to appear taller than they really were, were in the habit of putting plenty of cork under their soles.

[2286] At the present day, it grows in the greatest abundance in France, the Landes more particularly.

[2287] This is still the case in some of the poorer provinces of Spain.

[2288] As Fée remarks, Mars is no longer the Divinity in honour of whom characters are traced on the bark of trees.

[2289] On the contrary. Fée says, the resinous woods are the most proof of all against the action of the air.

[2290] Festus says that the Fagutal, a shrine of Jupiter, was so called from a beech tree (fagus) that stood there, and was sacred to that god.

[2291] Or osier.

[2292] Or “plantation of the æsculus.”

[2293] A.U.C. 367.

[2294] Fée regards this as an extremely doubtful assertion.

[2295] The Pinus pinea of Linnæus, the cultivated pine.

[2296] The Pinus silvestris of Linnæus, the wild pine; the Pinus maritima of Lamarck is a variety of it.

[2297] B. xv. c. 9.

[2298] In c. 23 of this Book.

[2299] A variety of the Pinus silvestris of Linnæus.

[2300] “Liburnicæ.” See B. ix. cc. 5 and 48.

[2301] The Abies excelsa of Decandolle—the _Pesse_ or _Faux sapin_ (false fir) of the French. This tree, however, has not the pectinated, or comb-like leaf, mentioned by Pliny in c. 38.

[2302] It is still known in commerce as “false incense;” and is often sold as incense for the rites of the Roman church: while sometimes it is purposely employed, as being cheaper.

[2303] A great street in Capua, which consisted entirely of the shops of sellers of unguents and perfumes.

[2304] It has the same pyramidal form as the pitch-tree. It is still much used in ship-building, both for its resinous and durable qualities and the lightness of the wood.

[2305] The presence of resin is _not_ looked upon as any defect in the fir at the present day. It produces what is known in commerce as “Strasbourg turpentine.”

[2306] The Abies larix of Linnæus, and the Larix Europæa, it is thought, of Decandolles.

[2307] It is the Venice turpentine of commerce. Each tree will furnish seven or eight pounds each year for half a century.

[2308] It is doubtful if the tæda, or torch-tree, has been identified. Some take it to be the Pinus mugho of Miller, the torch-pine of the French; others, again, suggest that it is the same as the Pinus cembro of the botanists.

[2309] So called from its resemblance to a fig. Fée says that there is little doubt that this pretended fruit was merely a resinous secretion, which hardens and assumes the form of a fig.

[2310] He somewhat mistranslates a passage of Theophrastus here, who, without transforming the larch into another tree, says that it is a sign of disease in the larch, when its secretions are augmented to such a degree that it seems to turn itself into resin.

[2311] The lamp-black of commerce is made from the soot of the pine.

[2312] This statement, though supported by that of Vitruvius, B. ii. c. 9, is quite erroneous. The wood of the larch gives out more heat than that of the fir, and produces more live coal in proportion.

[2313] This, Fée remarks, is the fact.

[2314] This description is inexact, and we should have some difficulty in recognizing here the larch as known to us.

[2315] Pliny is in error here, there being no distinction of sex in the coniferous trees. All that he relates relative to the differences between the male and female pine is consequently false. He has, however, in this instance, only perpetuated an erroneous opinion of Theophrastus.

[2316] This is an erroneous statement. The larch has its cone, as well as the rest. It is possible, however, that its small size may have caused it to be overlooked by Pliny.

[2317] Or “louse-bearing.” As Fée says, it is difficult to see the analogy.

[2318] The Taxus baccata of Linnæus. The account here given is in general very correct.

[2319] It is supposed that Pliny derives this notion as to the yew berry from Julius Cæsar, who says that “Cativulcus killed himself with the yew, a tree which grows in great abundance in Gaul and Germany.” It is, however, now known that the berry is quite innocuous; but the leaves and shoots are destructive of animal life.

[2320] “Viatoria;” probably not unlike our travelling flasks and pocket-pistols. This statement made by Pliny is not at all improbable.

[2321] This statement does not deserve a serious contradiction.

[2322] It is not improbable, however, that τόξον, an “arrow,” is of older date than “taxus,” as signifying the name of the yew.

[2323] Numerous varieties of the coniferæ supply us with tar, and Pliny is in error in deriving it solely from the torch-tree, the Pinus mugho of Linnæus.

[2324] See B. xxiv. c. 23.

[2325] It is still obtained in a similar way.

[2326] Fée remarks, that Pliny is in error here; this red, watery fluid formed in the extraction of tars, being quite a different thing from “cedrium,” the _alkitran_ or _kitran_ of the Arabs; which is not improbably made from a cedar, or perhaps the Juniperus Phœnicea, called “Cedrus” by the two Bauhins and Tournefort. He says that it is not likely that the Egyptians would use this red substance for the purpose of preserving the dead, charged as it is with empyreumatic oil, and destitute of all properties peculiar to resins.

[2327] See B. xxi. c. 3, and B. xxiv. c. 23.

[2328] This is impracticable; neither vinegar, wine, nor water, will mingle with pitch. These resins, however, if stirred up briskly in hot water, become of a paler colour, and acquire an additional suppleness.

[2329] Perhaps so called from Calabria, a country where the pine abounded, and part of which was called Bruttium.

[2330] Or wine-vats.

[2331] See c. 8 of the present Book.

[2332] Stillaticia.

[2333] See B. xiv. c. 25.

[2334] This operation removes from the pitch a great portion of its essential oil, and disengages it of any extraneous bodies that may have been mixed with it.

[2335] Fée remarks that there is no necessity for this selection, though no doubt rain-water is superior to spring or cistern water, for some purposes, from its holding no terreous salts in solution.

[2336] This would colour the resin more strongly, Fée says, and give it a greater degree of friability.

[2337] See B. xxxiv. c. 20.

[2338] See B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xxiv. c. 22.

[2339] “Sartago.” Generally understood to be the same as our frying-pan. Fée remarks that this method would most inevitably cause the mass infusion to ignite; and should such not be the case, a coloured resin would be the result, coloured with a large quantity of carbon, and destitute of all the essential oil that the resin originally contained.

[2340] See B. xiv. c. 20.

[2341] The terebinthine of the mastich, Fée says, is an oleo-resin, or in other words, composed of an essential oil and a resin.

[2342] Apparently meaning “boiled pitch.”

[2343] See B. xxiv. c. 26.

[2344] This account has been borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B ix. c. ii. The modern method of extracting the resin of the pine is very similar.

[2345] There is no foundation whatever for this statement.

[2346] The pith of the pine cannot be separated from the wood, and, indeed, is not easily distinguished from it. Fée says that in some of these trees masses of resin are found in the cavities which run longitudinally with the fibres, and queries whether this may not be the “marrow” or “pith” of the tree mentioned by Pliny.

[2347] As a torch or candle, probably.

[2348] This division of the larch into sexes, as previously mentioned, is only fanciful, and has no foundation in fact. The result of this operation, Fée says, would be only a sort of tar.

[2349] See B. xxxv. c. 51. He alludes to the bitumen known as asphalt, bitumen of Judæa, mineral pitch, mountain pitch, malthe, pissalphate.

[2350] These particulars, borrowed from Theophrastus, are in general correct.

[2351] This is not the fact; the essential oil in which the resin so greatly abounds, becomes volatile with remarkable facility.

[2352] Most probably one of the varieties of the pine; but the mode in which Pliny expresses himself renders it impossible to identify it with any precision.

[2353] B. xv. c. 9.

[2354] The name borne also by the torch-tree.

[2355] See c. 76 of this Book.

[2356] He does not speak in this place of the “ornus” or “mountain ash;” nor, as Fée observes, does he mention the use of the bark of the ash as a febrifuge, or of its leaves as a purgative. This ash is the Fraxinus excelsior of Decandolles.

[2357] Il. xxiv. 277.

[2358] Pliny makes a mistake here, in copying from Theophrastus, who says that it is the yew that bears so strong a resemblance to the cedar.

[2359] Or “bull’s-ash.” This variety does not seem to have been identified.

[2360] This statement results from his misinterpretation of the language of Theophrastus, who is really speaking of the yew, which Pliny mistakes for the ash.

[2361] Miller asserts that, if given to cows, this leaf will impart a bad flavour to the milk; a statement which; Fée says, is quite incorrect.

[2362] A merely fanciful notion, without apparently the slightest foundation: the same, too, may be said of the alleged antipathy of the serpent to the beech-tree, which is neither venomous nor odoriferous.

[2363] This story of Pliny has been corroborated by M. de Verone, and as strongly contradicted by Camerarius and Charras: with M. Fée, then, we must leave it to the reader to judge which is the most likely to be speaking the truth. It is not improbable that Pliny may have been imposed upon, as his credulity would not at all times preclude him from being duped.

[2364] There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the flowers are hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties: the male of Pliny being the Tilia microphylla of Decandolles, and a variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus; and the female being the Tilia platyphyllos, another variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus.

[2365] Not at all singular, Fée says, the fruit being dry and insipid.

[2366] In France these cords are still made, and are used for well-ropes, wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are made of the outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia.

[2367] See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. l. 337, speaks of the revellers at drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra.

[2368] “Teredo.” If he means under this name to include the tinea as well, the assertion is far too general, as this wood is eaten away by insects, though more slowly than the majority of the non-resinous woods. It is sometimes perforated quite through by the larvæ of the byrrhus, our death-watch.

[2369] This is incorrect. It attains a very considerable height, and sometimes an enormous size. The trunk is known to grow to as much as forty or fifty feet in circumference.

[2370] The maple is much less in size than what the lime or linden really is.

[2371] See B. xiii. c. 29.

[2372] Fée says there are but five varieties of the maple known in France. He doubts whether the common maple, the Acer campestre of Linnæus, was known to the ancients.

[2373] Fée identifies it with the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, the Acer montanum candidum of C. Bauhin. This tree is not uncommon in Italy.

[2374] “Acer pavonaceum:” “peacock maple.” He gives a similar account of the spots on the wood of the citrus, B. xiii. c. 19.

[2375] Or “thick-veined” maple.

[2376] Supposed by Fée to be the Acer Monspessulanus of Linnæus, also the Acer trilobum of Linnæus.

[2377] A variety of the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, according to Fée.

[2378] The Carpinus betulus of Linnæus; the horn-beam or yoke-elm.

[2379] “Silicios.” This word appears to be explained by the accompanying word “laminas;” but it is very doubtful what is the correct reading.

[2380] The Alnus glutinosa of Decandolles. In c. 38, Pliny says, very incorrectly, that the alder has a remarkably thick leaf; and in c. 45, with equal incorrectness, that it bears neither seed nor fruit.

[2381] Fée observes, that it is incorrect to say that the male tree blossoms before the female, if such is Pliny’s meaning here.

[2382] From the Greek, meaning “a tree with clusters.” It is the Staphylea pinnata of Linnæus, the wild or false pistachio of the French.

[2383] “Siliqua.” This term, Fée says, is very inappropriate to the fruit of this tree, which is contained in a membranous capsule. The kernel is oily, and has the taste of the almond more than the nut.

[2384] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2385] It is still extensively used for a similar purpose.

[2386] There are only two species now known: that previously mentioned, and the Buxus Balearica of Lamarck. The first is divided into the four varieties, arborescens, angustifolia, suffruticosa, and myrtifolia.

[2387] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus; very common in the south of France, and on the banks of the Loire.

[2388] It is doubtful if this is a box at all. The wild olive, mentioned in B. xv. c. 7, has the same name; all the varieties of the box emit a disagreeable smell.

[2389] A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus suffruticosa of Lamarck.

[2390] The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind.

[2391] In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29.

[2392] The arborescent variety.

[2393] This is doubted by Fée, but it is by no means impossible. In Pennsylvania the bees collect a poisonous honey from the Kalmia latifolia.

[2394] A very good charcoal might be made from it, but the wood is too valuable for such a purpose. It burns with a bright, clear flame, and throws out a considerable heat.

[2395] Although (in common, too, with other trees) it is used as a support for the vine, that does not any the more make it of the same nature as the fruit-trees.

[2396] The Ulmus effusa of Willdenow; the Ulmus montana of Smith: _Flor. Brit._

[2397] The Ulmus campestris of Linnæus; the Ulmus marita of other botanists.

[2398] The ordinary elm, Fée thinks.

[2399] A variety of the Ulmus campestris, probably.

[2400] This name is still preserved by botanists. Pliny is incorrect in saying that the large elm produces no seed, the only difference being that the seed is smaller than in the other kinds. Columella, B. v. c. 6, contradicts the statement here made by Pliny, but says that it _appears_ to be sterile, in comparison with the others.

[2401] The Pinus maritima of Linnæus, which produces the greater part of the resins used in France, is found, however, in great abundance in the flat country of the Landes.

[2402] On the contrary, the yoke-elm, or horn-beam, grows almost exclusively on the plains; and the same with the cornel and the poplar.

[2403] The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, the fustic. See B. xiii. c. 41. This, however, imparts a yellow colour, while Pliny speaks of a purple. It has been asserted, however, that the roots of it produce a fine red. There is no tree in Europe that produces a purple for dyeing.

[2404] The maple, the ash, and the service-tree, are as often found in the plains as on the hills.

[2405] See c. 43, and B. xxiv. c. 43. The Cornus sanguinea of Linnæus, the blood-red cornel; the branches of which are red in the winter, and the fruit filled with a blood-red juice. This is probably the same shrub as the male cornel, mentioned further on by Pliny.

[2406] The Genista tinctoria of Linnæus, or “dyers’” broom.

[2407] Or “service-tree,” the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus. It thrives just as well in a warm locality as a cold one.

[2408] The Betula alba of Linnæus. It was an object of terror not only in the hands of the Roman lictor, but in those of the pedagogue also, and is still to some extent. Hence it was formerly nicknamed “Arbor sapientiæ,” the “tree of wisdom.”

[2409] This is no longer done in France, but it is in Russia, where they extract from it an empyreumatic oil, which is used in preparing Russia leather, and which imparts to it its agreeable smell.

[2410] Boys, both of whose parents were surviving, used to carry before the bride a torch of white thorn. This thorn was, not improbably, the “Cratægus oxyacantha” of Linnæus, which bears a white flower. See B. xxiv. c. 66.

[2411] The Cytisus laburnum of Linnæus, also known as “false ebony,” still a native of the Alps.

[2412] But blackish in the centre; whence its name of false ebony.

[2413] Meaning the clusters of the flowers.

[2414] The Anthyllis barba Jovis of modern botanists. The leaves have upon them a silvery down, whence the name “argyrophylla,” given to it by Mænch.

[2415] But in c. 30, he says that the poplar grows on hilly or mountainous declivities.

[2416] This tree has not been satisfactorily identified; but Fée is of opinion that it is probably a variety of the willow, the Salix vitellina of Linnæus. Sprengel thinks that it is the Salix capræa.

[2417] The Ligustrum vulgare of Linnæus. It has black fruit and a white flower, and is rendered famous by the lines of Virgil—Ecl. ii. 17:

“O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori; Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.”

It is evidently this juxtaposition that has prompted Pliny to mention the vaccinium in the succeeding passage. In B. xii. c. 51, and B. xxiv. c. 45, Pliny seems inclined to confound this shrub with the Cyprus, the Lawsonia inermis of Linnæus, the Henna of the east, a totally different plant.

[2418] Wooden tallies used by public officers in keeping their accounts. They were employed till the middle ages.

[2419] The Primus mahaleb, Desfontaines says; but Fée identifies it with the black heath-berry, or whortle-berry, still called “vaciet” in France. It does not, however, grow, as Pliny says, in watery places, but in woods and on shrubby hills.

[2420] See B. xxi. c. 97.

[2421] These observations, Fée says, are borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iii. c. 4, and are founded on truth.

[2422] “Silvestres,” and “urbaniores.”

[2423] Urbanæ.

[2424] The Nerion oleander of Linnæus; the laurel-rose, or rose of St. Anthony of the French; it has some distant resemblance to the olive-tree, but its leaf is that of the laurel, and its flower very similar to that of the rose.

[2425] See B. xxiv. c. 61.

[2426] “Nerion” is the Greek name.

[2427] It has certain dangerous properties, which cause the herbivorous animals to avoid touching it. It acts strongly on the muscular system, and, as Fée remarks, used as an antidote to the stings of serpents, it is not improbable that its effect would be the worst of the two.

[2428] See B. xiii. c. 37. The tamarisk of the moderns is not an evergreen, which has caused writers to doubt if it is identical with the tamariscus of the ancients, and to be disposed to look for it among the larger ericæ or heaths. The leaves of the larch fall every year; those of the other evergreens mostly every two or three years.

[2429] See B. xiii. c. 40.

[2430] See B. xiii. c. 40. This assertion of Pliny is erroneous, as these trees are in reality evergreens, though all trees of that class are liable to lose their leaves through certain maladies.

[2431] “Quercus.” The ilex or holm-oak is an evergreen.

[2432] Pliny is in error here. Varro, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 7, has made mention of this tree.

[2433] The hot climates possess a greater number of evergreens than the temperate regions, but not of the same species or genus. The vine invariably loses its leaves each year.

[2434] This last assertion, Fée says, is far from true, in relation to the coniferous trees.

[2435] See B. xv. c. 7.

[2436] The Populus alba of Linnæus.

[2437] The Populus nigra of Linnæus.

[2438] The Populus tremula of Linnæus. This statement as to the leaves of the poplar is verified by modern experience.

[2439] This does not appear to be exactly correct as to the ivy. The leaves on the young suckers or the old and sterile branches are divided into three or five regular lobes, while those which grow on the branches destined to bear the blossoms are ovals or lanceolated ovals in shape.

[2440] It is not from the leaves, but from the fruit of the tree that this down falls; the seeds being enveloped with a cottony substance. This passage is hopelessly corrupt.

[2441] See B. xviii. c. 68, where he enlarges still further on this asserted peculiarity; he borrows his statement from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. i. c. 16.

[2442] These statements are quite conformable with the fact.

[2443] This statement is quite true, so far as the fact that the leaves have not the same position in the day-time as during the night: the changes of position vary greatly, however, in the different kinds. It is generally thought that an organic irritability is the cause of this phenomenon.

[2444] This seems to be the meaning of “In aliis gentium lana est.” He alludes, probably, to cotton or silk: see B. vi. c. 20. Thunberg tells us that at Roodesand, near the Cape of Good Hope, there grows so thick a down on the Buplevrum giganteum of Lamarck, that it is employed to imitate a sort of white velvet, and is used for bonnets, gloves, stockings, &c.

[2445] B. xiii. c. 7.

[2446] “Genere ilicum.” It is not improbable that he here refers to the variety of the holm-oak which he has previously called “aquifolia,” apparently confounding it with the holly. See c. 8 of this Book.

[2447] See B. xiii. c. 37.

[2448] This must be understood of the young leaf of the alder, which has a sort of thick gummy varnish on it.

[2449] B. xiii. c. 7.

[2450] B. xv. c. 15. Pliny is not correct here; the leaf of the pear is oval or lanceolated, while that of the apple is oval and somewhat angular, though not exactly “mucronata,” or sharply pointed.

[2451] Not exactly “divided,” but strongly lobed.

[2452] If this is the case, the pitch-tree can hardly be identical with the false fir, the Abies excelsa of Decandolles. See c. 18 of this Book, and the Note.

[2453] This passage would be apt to mislead, did we not know that the leaves of the coniferous trees here mentioned are not prickly, in the same sense as those of the holly, which are armed with very formidable weapons.

[2454] More particularly in the Populus tremula, the “quivering” poplar.

[2455] Crepitantia.

[2456] See B. xv. c. 15. Not a species, but an accidental monstrosity.

[2457] See B. xv. c. 37, where he speaks of the Hexastich myrtle.

[2458] The leaves of the elm and the tree supposed to be identical with the cytisus of the ancients have no characteristics in common. See B. xiii. c. 47, and the Notes.

[2459] De Re Rust. cc. 5, 30, 45.

[2460] Very inappropriate food for cattle, it would appear: the fig leaf being charged with a corrosive milky juice; the leaf of the holm oak, hard and leathery; and that of the ivy, bitter and nauseous in the highest degree.

[2461] Eighth of February.

[2462] See B. viii. c. 67.

[2463] Catlitio.

[2464] He alludes to the period of the rising of the sap; an entirely distinct process from germination.

[2465] This statement, as also that relative to the holm oak, and other trees previously mentioned, is quite incorrect. The blossoms of the fig-tree are very much concealed, however, from view in the involucre of the clinanthium.

[2466] This is not the fact, though the blossom of the juniper is of humble character, and not easily seen. Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 6, only says that it is a matter of doubt, what Pliny so positively affirms.

[2467] This is the fact; the male tree is sterile, but it fecundates the female.

[2468] These remarks, borrowed from Theophrastus, are generally consistent with our experience.

[2469] Fée remarks that Pliny here copies from Theophrastus, a writer of Greece, without making allowance for the difference of localities. Theophrastus, however, gives the laurel an earlier period for budding than Pliny does.

[2470] The Rhamnus paliurus of Linnæus.

[2471] This is entirely fanciful: though it is the case that in some trees, the ligneous ones, namely, there are two germinations in the year, one at the beginning of spring, which acts more particularly on the branches, and the other at the end of summer, which acts more upon the parts nearer the roots.

[2472] See B. xviii. c. 57.

[2473] There is no such thing as a third budding.

[2474] As already stated, there are never more than two germinations.

[2475] This rupture of the epidermis, caused by the formation beneath of new ligneous and conical layers, takes place not solely, as Pliny and Theophrastus state, at the time of germination, but slowly and continuously.

[2476] On the contrary, they are irregular both in their commencement and their duration.

[2477] This is not the case; each bud is independent of the one that has preceded it. A sucker, however, newly developed may give birth to buds not at the extremity, but throughout the whole length of it.

[2478] See B. xviii. c. 67. What Pliny says here is in general true, though its germination does not take place with such rapidity as he states.

[2479] A mere fable, of course.

[2480] In the last Chapter.

[2481] In Paris, Fée says, the almond does not blossom till March. If the tree should blossom too soon, it is often at the expense of the fruit.

[2482] Probably the apricot. See B. xv. c. 12.

[2483] See B. xv. c. 11.

[2484] See B. xxiv. c. 8.

[2485] This, of course, is not the fact. As to the succeeding statements, they are borrowed mostly from Theophrastus, and are in general correct.

[2486] The rising of the sap.

[2487] The Pleiades. See B. xviii. cc. 59, 60.

[2488] It was supposed in astrology that the stars exercised an effect equally upon animal and vegetable life.

[2489] 25th of July.

[2490] See B. xviii. c. 68.

[2491] The Cornus mas of botanists; probably the Frutex sanguineus mentioned in c. 30. See also B. xv. c. 31.

[2492] Probably the Lonicera Alpigena of Linnæus; the fruit of which resembles a cherry, but is of a sour flavour, and produces vomiting.

[2493] The wood is so durable, that a tree of this kind in the forest of Montmorency is said to be a thousand years old.

[2494] See B. xviii. cc. 59, 60.

[2495] See c. 6 of this Book.

[2496] See B. xii. c. 7.

[2497] This supposed marvel merely arises from the fact that the fruit has a strong ligneous stalk, which almost precludes the possibility of its dropping off. This is the case, too, not only with the pine, but with numerous other trees as well.

[2498] “Dried” nuts.

[2499] See B. xxiv. c. 41.

[2500] But in B. xxiv. c. 32, he speaks of the fruit of the black poplar as an antidote for epilepsy. In fact, he is quite in error in denying a seed to any of these trees.

[2501] See c. 29 of this Book.

[2502] The Rhamnus alaternus of Linnæus, the Phylica elatior of C. Bauhin. In reality, it bears a small black berry, of purgative qualities.

[2503] “Infelices,” “unhappy” rather.

[2504] Daughter of Sithon, king of Thrace, who hanged herself on account of the supposed inconstancy of her lover, Demophöon. See Ovid, Heroid. 2.

[2505] This must not be taken to the letter; indeed, Fée thinks that the proper meaning is:—“Young trees do not produce fruit till they have arrived at a certain state of maturity.” Trees mostly continue on the increase till they die.

[2506] See B. xvii. c. 2. The assertion here made has not been confirmed by experience.

[2507] “Frugiperda:” in the Greek, ὠλεσίκαρπον. See Homer. Od. x. l. 510. It has been suggested, Pliny says, that the willow seed had this epithet from its effect in causing abortion; but he does not seem to share the opinion.

[2508] This cannot be a willow, Fée remarks; indeed, Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 5, speaks of a black poplar as growing there.

[2509] See B. xv. c. 13. It is not impossible that Pliny may have mistaken here the Persea, or Balanites Ægyptiaca, for the Persica, or peach. See p. 296.

[2510] Fée remarks, that this expression is remarkable as giving a just notion of the relative functions of the male and female in plants. He says that one might almost be tempted to believe that they suspected something of the nature and functions of the pistils and stamens.

[2511] This statement, which is drawn from Theophrastus, is rather fanciful than rigorously true.

[2512] B. xiii. c. 7.

[2513] Or “forerunner.” The Spaniards call a similar fig “brevas,” the “ready ripener.”

[2514] See B. xv. c. 19.

[2515] See B. xv. c. 21.

[2516] This does not happen in the northern climates; though sometimes it is the case that a fruit-tree blossoms again towards the end of summer, and if the autumn is fine and prolonged, these late fruits will ripen. Such a phenomenon, however, is of very rare occurrence.

[2517] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[2518] “Insanæ.” There are some varieties of the vine which blossom more than once, and bear green grapes and fully ripe ones at the same moment.

[2519] De Re Rust. c. 7.

[2520] The suggested reading, “apud matrem magnam,” seems preferable to “apud mare,” and receives support from what is said relative to Smyrna in B. xiv. c. 6.

[2521] See B. v. c. 3.

[2522] B. xviii. c. 51.

[2523] B. xv. c. 19.

[2524] This is not the fact: the fruits of all trees have their proper time for ripening.

[2525] He speaks here in too general terms; the pear, for instance, is not more fruitful when old than when young.

[2526] He speaks of the process of caprification. See B. xv. c. 21.

[2527] So our proverb, “Soon ripe, soon rotten;” applicable to mankind as well as trees. See B. xxiii. c. 23.

[2528] See B. xv. c. 27. The mulberry tree will live for several centuries.

[2529] This stimulates the sap, and adds to its activity: but the tree grows old all the sooner, being the more speedily exhausted.

[2530] In cc. 9-14 of the present Book.

[2531] This passage is quite unintelligible; and it is with good reason that Fée questions whether Pliny really understood the author that he copied from.

[2532] Fée remarks, that Pliny does not seem to know that the catkin is an assemblage of flowers, and that without it the tree would be totally barren.

[2533] Pliny blunders sadly here, in copying from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 16. He mixes up a description of the box and the cratægus, or holm-oak, making the latter to be a seed of the former: and he then attributes a mistletoe to the box, which Theophrastus speaks of as growing on the cratægus.

[2534] See c. 93, where he enlarges on the varieties of the mistletoe.

[2535] See B. xxiv. c. 71.

[2536] He means the garden or border-box, mentioned in c. 28 of this Book.

[2537] See B. xiii. c. 17: the African lotus, probably; the Zizyphus lotus of Desfontaines.

[2538] This statement is entirely incorrect. If a tree loses the terminal bud, it will grow no higher; but it will not die if the extremities of the branches are cut. Such, in fact, is much more likely to happen when they are all cut off, from the extreme loss of juices which must naturally ensue at the several cicatrices united.

[2539] The Celtis australis of Linnæus. Pliny is in error in calling this tree the “Grecian bean.” In B. xiii. c. 22, he erroneously calls the African lotus by the name of “celtis,” which only belongs to the lotus of Italy; that of Africa being altogether different.

[2540] The bark, which is astringent, is still used in preparing skins, and a black colouring matter extracted from the root is employed in dyeing wool.

[2541] Quite an accidental resemblance, if, indeed, it ever existed.

[2542] “Oculus”—the bud on the trunk.

[2543] This must be either a mistake or an exaggeration; the cherry never being a very large tree.

[2544] It is evident that he is speaking of the epidermis only, and not the cortical layers and the liber.

[2545] The roots of trees being ligneous, “carnosæ,” Fée remarks, is an inappropriate term.

[2546] Georg. ii. 291.

[2547] “Lagenas.” Fée takes this to mean here vessels to hold liquids, and remarks that the workers in wicker cannot attain this degree of perfection at the present day.

[2548] Pliny is in error in rejecting this notion.

[2549] See B. xii. c. 5, and B. xiii. c. 29. What Pliny states of the fir, or Abies pectinata, Theophrastus relates of the πεύκη, or Abies excelsa of Decandolles. There is little doubt that in either case the statement is incorrect.

[2550] On the contrary, the roots of trees increase in size till the period of their death.

[2551] By preventing the action of the air from drying the roots, and so killing the tree.

[2552] A grove, probably, consecrated to the Muses.

[2553] These stories must be regarded as either fables or impostures; though it is very possible for a tree to survive after the epidermis has been removed with the adze.

[2554] See B. xvii. c. 9.

[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.

[2561] See B. xii. c. 26.

[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.

[2564] See B. xii. c. 30.

[2565] Under the name of Cedrus, no doubt, several of the junipers have been included. See B. xiii. c. 11.

[2566] Fée is inclined to doubt this statement. The myrtle has been known to stand the winters of Lower Brittany.

[2567] Owing, no doubt, as Fée says, solely to bad methods of cultivation. The same, too, with the grafted peach and the Greek nut or almond.

[2568] The Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus, the Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle.

[2569] De Re Rust. cc. 48, 151.

[2570] “Morosa;” meaning that it reaches maturity but very slowly.

[2571] Tristis tentantum sensu torquebit amaror.—Virg. Georg. ii. 247.

[2572] This statement is exaggerated.

[2573] It is still to be seen very frequently in the cemeteries of Greece and Constantinople.

[2574] The cypress is in reality monœcious, the structure of the same plant being both male and female.

[2575] This was formerly done with the cypress, in England, to a considerable extent. Such absurdities are now but rare.

[2576] The Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle: and a variety of the Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2577] The Cupressus horizontalis of Miller; the variety B of the C. sempervirens of Linnæus.

[2578] The present name given to this tree in the island of Crete, is the “daughter’s dowry.”

[2579] De Re Rust. c. 151.

[2580] B. iii. c. 12.

[2581] This, Fée says, is the case with none of the coniferous trees.

[2582] Of course this spontaneous creation of the cypress is fabulous; and, indeed, the whole account, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is greatly exaggerated.

[2583] B. xix. c. 15.

[2584] This story, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is evidently fabulous.

[2585] Meaning Asia Minor.

[2586] Hist. Plant. B. iii c. 10.

[2587] See B. vi. c. 23.

[2588] Bacchus, after the alleged conquest by him of India, was said to have returned crowned with ivy, and seated in a car drawn by tigers.

[2589] It is a mistake to suppose that the ivy exhausts the juices of trees. Its tendrils fasten upon the cortical fissures; and, if the tree is but small, its development is apt to be retarded thereby. It is beneficial, rather than destructive, to walls.

[2590] This plant is really monœcious or androgynous.

[2591] The Rosa Eglanteria.

[2592] The Hedera helix of Linnæus, or, possibly, a variety of it with variegated leaves.

[2593] The Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin, the common ivy.

[2594] The Hedera major sterilis of C. Bauhin.

[2595] The first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera helix of Linnæus.

[2596] A wreath of ivy was the usual prize in the poetic contests.

[2597] See B. v. c. 16, and B. vi. c. 23.

[2598] The “red berry” and the “golden fruit.”

[2599] The berries are yellow in the first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera poetica of C. Bauhin.

[2600] This is the case sometimes with the black ivy, the Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin. Only isolated cases, however, are to be met with.

[2601] There is an ivy of this kind, the Hedera humi repens of botanists; but most of the commentators are of opinion that it is the ground ivy, the Glechoma hederacea of Linnæus, that is spoken of. Sprengel takes it to be the Anthirrinum Azarina, from which opinion, however, Fée dissents.

[2602] The Smilax aspera of Linnæus; the sarsaparilla plant.

[2603] Fée is inclined to question this; but the breadth of the tablets may have been very small in this instance.

[2604] Of course this is fabulous: though it is not impossible that the writing on the tablets may sometimes have caused “a noise in the world,” and that hence the poets may have given rise to this story.

[2605] Pliny borrows this fabulous story from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 3.

[2606] The reeds cannot be appropriately ranked among the shrubs.

[2607] For musical purposes, namely.

[2608] B. v. c. 20.

[2609] “Calamus.” The so-called reed of the East, used for making darts and arrows, does not belong to the genus Arundo, but to those of the Bambos and Nastus.

[2610] Few readers of history will fail to recollect the report made to King Henry V. by Davy Gam, before the battle of Agincourt:—“The enemy are so numerous,” said the messenger, “that their arrows will darken the sun.” “We must e’en be content to fight in the dark then,” was the warrior’s reply.

[2611] See B. vii. c. 2. This is probably an exaggeration. He alludes to the Bambos arundinacea of Lamarck, the Arundo arbor of C. Bauhin.

[2612] The Arundo donax of Linnæus.

[2613] Or the pipe-reed.

[2614] The tibia, or pipe, was played lengthwise, like the flageolet or clarionet.

[2615] A variety of the Arundo donax. The Orchomenian reed is of the same class. The fistula was played sideways; and seems to have been a name given both to the Syrinx or the Pandæan pipes, and the flute, properly so called.

[2616] In the last Chapter. The Arundo donax, probably, so far as European warfare was concerned.

[2617] A variety of the Arundo donax of Linnæus.

[2618] This is not the fact.

[2619] The Arundo versicolor of Miller.

[2620] Constantinus and Schneider, upon Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 11, suspect the correctness of this word.

[2621] See B. xx. c. 88, and B. xxxii. c. 52.

[2622] The Arundo phragmites of Linnæus. The Plotias, no doubt, was only a variety of it.

[2623] “Arundo tibialis.” The story about the time taken by it to grow, and the increase of the waters, is, of course, fabulous.

[2624] The “yoke reed,” or “reed for a double flute.”

[2625] Perhaps so called from the silkiness of its flossy pinicules.

[2626] This seems to be the meaning of “ad inclusos cantus.”

[2627] B. xviii. c. 74.

[2628] Lingulis.

[2629] The words “dextræ” and “sinistræ,” denote the treble and the bass flutes; it is thought by some, because the former were held with the right hand, and the latter with the left. Two treble or bass flutes were occasionally played on at the same time.

[2630] See B. xiii. c. 32.

[2631] These were of the variety Zeugites, previously mentioned.

[2632] Fée suggests, that what he mentions here may not have been a reed at all, but one of the cyperaceous plants, the papyrus, perhaps.

[2633] De Re Rust. c. 6. It was the donax that was thus employed; as it is in France at the present day.

[2634] Oculis. See B. xvii. c. 33.

[2635] See B. xix. c. 42.

[2636] The white willow, Salix Alba of Linnæus.

[2637] The Salix vitellina more particularly is used in France for this purpose.

[2638] The Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2639] The Salix amygdalina of Linnæus.

[2640] De Re Rust. c. 6. Fée remarks that the notions of modern agriculturists are very different on this point.

[2641] The Salix purpurea of Linnæus: the Salix vulgaris rubens of C. Bauhin.

[2642] This belongs, probably, to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2643] Fée queries whether this may not be the Salix incana of Schrank and Hoffmann, the bark of which is a brown green.

[2644] Belonging to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

[2645] Belonging to the Salix purpurea of Linnæus.

[2646] Field-mouse or squirrel colour. See B. viii. c. 82. The same, probably, as the Salix vitellina of Linnæus.

[2647] A variety, Fée thinks, of the Salix rubens.

[2648] The Scirpus lacustris of Linnæus.

[2649] And not in front of them.

[2650] Mapalia.

[2651] Egypt, namely.

[2652] The bramble is sometimes found on the banks of watery spots and in marshy localities, but more frequently in mountainous and arid spots.

[2653] Known to us as blackberries. This tree is the Rubus fruticosus of Linnæus; the same as the Rubus tomentosus, and the Rubus corylifolius of other modern botanists.

[2654] The Rosa canina of Linnæus: the dog-rose or Eglantine.

[2655] The Rubus Idæus of botanists; the ordinary raspberry.

[2656] See B. xxiv. c. 75.

[2657] See B. xxiv. c. 35.

[2658] They are still used for dyeing, but not for staining the hair.

[2659] Only as a purgative, probably.

[2660] Though the acid it contains would curdle milk, still its natural acridity would disqualify it from being used for making cheese.

[2661] The white sap or inner bark; the aubier of the French. Fée remarks, that its supposed analogy with fat is incorrect.

[2662] He means the outer ligneous layers of the wood. They differ only in their relative hardness.

[2663] “Pulpæ.” The ligneous fibres which form the tissue of the bark.

[2664] “Venæ.” By this term he probably means the nutritive vessels and the ligneous fibres united. It was anciently the general belief that the fibres acted their part in the nutriment of the tree.

[2665] “Graphium.” Properly a stylus or iron pen.

[2666] “Glandia.” This analogy, Fée remarks, does not hold good.

[2667] See B. xiii. c. 29, and c. 27 of this Book.

[2668] And at an angle with the grain or fibre of the wood.

[2669] And at right angles. In the Dicotyledons, the disposition of the fibres is longitudinal and transversal.

[2670] Guttum.

[2671] For the simple reason, because the part near the root is of greater diameter.

[2672] Soft ligneous layers.

[2673] In c. 72 of this Book.

[2674] Hard wood—such as we know generally as “heart;” “heart of oak” for instance.

[2675] Probably that of the ligneous layers near the pith or sap.

[2676] “Limo:” the alburnum previously mentioned.

[2677] This practice was formerly forbidden by the forest laws of France.

[2678] In B. xviii.

[2679] Pliny borrows this superstition from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 1.

[2680] This was the name of mimic sea-fights, exhibited at Rome in the Circus or amphitheatres, or else in lakes dug expressly for the purpose. Hardouin says, there were five Naumachiæ at Rome, in the 14th region of the City.

[2681] This practice is no longer followed.

[2682] De Re Rust. c. 31; also cc. 17 and 37.

[2683] This practice is observed in modern times.

[2684] C. 37.

[2685] Pliny, no doubt, observes an analogy between the hair of the human head, and trees as forming the hair of the earth. The superstition here mentioned, Fée says, was, till very recently, observed in France to a considerable extent.

[2686] De Re Rust. 1, 37.

[2687] Terebinthine or turpentine.

[2688] “Ad fabrorum intestina opera medulla sectilis.” This passage is probably corrupt.

[2689] In c. 74.

[2690] With reference to the fir, namely.

[2691] B. iii. c. 5.

[2692] B. iv. c. 3.

[2693] An additional proof, perhaps, that the cedar of the ancients is only one of the junipers, and that, as Fée says, they were not acquainted with the real cedar.

[2694] B. iii. c. 4.

[2695] “Spiras.” It seems to have been the opinion of the ancients that the internal knots of the wood are formed spirally. Such is not the fact, as they consist of independent layers.

[2696] Centra.

[2697] He takes this account from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 3.

[2698] The greatest height, Fée says, of any tree known, is that of the palm, known as ceroxylon; it sometimes attains a height of 250 feet. Adanson speaks of the baobab as being 90 feet in circumference.

[2699] In c. 74.

[2700] See B. xix. c. 6.

[2701] A spot enclosed in the Campus Martius, for the resort of the people during the Comitia, and when giving their votes.

[2702] “Diribitorium.” This was the place, probably, where the diribitores distributed to the citizens the tabellæ, with which they voted in the Comitia, or else, as Wunder thinks, divided the votes,

## acting as “tellers,” in the modern phrase.

[2703] Caligula.

[2704] B. xxxvi. c. 14.

[2705] See B. xxxvi. c. 14. This was a mortar made of volcanic ashes, which hardened under water. It is now known as Pozzuolane.

[2706] The Pinus cedrus of Linnæus.

[2707] The canoes were formed probably of the fir.

[2708] The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

[2709] See B. xiii. c. 27.

[2710] This, Fée says, is not the case, if the Syrian terebinth is the same as the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[2711] This is not the case; a nail has a firm hold in all resinous woods.

[2712] This is evidently a puerile absurdity: but it is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 4.

[2713] The savages of North America, and, indeed, of all parts of the globe, seem to have been acquainted with this method of kindling fire from the very earliest times.

[2714] See B. xxiv. c. 49. The Viticella, belonging to the genus clematis.

[2715] This unfounded notion is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 4.

[2716] In the modern botanical sense of the word, the male trees do not bear at all.

[2717] Asia Minor, namely. See B. xxxv. c. 21.

[2718] The junctures where the pieces of wood are united by glue. This is to be observed very easily in the greater part of the oaken statuary that is so plentiful in the churches of Belgium.

[2719] Cypress is perhaps the most lasting of all woods.

[2720] One of the earliest appellations, probably, of Jupiter among the Romans. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. iii. l. 445, _et seq._

[2721] This is correct. Their resin defends them from the

## action of the air, from damp, and the attacks of noxious insects.

[2722] A variety of the oak. See c. 6 of this Book.

[2723] As mentioned at the end of c. 74.

[2724] See B. xi. c. 2.

[2725] See B. xvii. c. 37.

[2726] In c. 74.

[2727] There is nothing very surprising in this, as most woods are preserved better when completely immersed in water, than when exposed to the variations of the atmosphere.

[2728] He borrows this fable from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 5.

[2729] This process, Fée says, would be attended with no success.

[2730] It is not quite clear whether he intends this observation to apply to the poplar and the palm, or to the last only. It is true, however, in neither case, and is contrary, as Fée observes, to all physical laws.

[2731] The resistance that woods offer when placed vertically is in the same ratio as that presented by them when employed horizontally. This paragraph is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 4, and B. v. cc. 6, 7, 8.

[2732] Ferula.

[2733] In c. 77.

[2734] See c. 24.

[2735] Fée thinks, from the context, that the meaning is, that the vine was employed in the construction of chariots; it depends entirely on the punctuation adopted.

[2736] This could only have happened in the first year that they were so employed.

[2737] De Re Rust. c. 31.

[2738] It is singular, Fée says, to find the wood of the palm, and that of the poplar, which are destitute of veins, enumerated among those employed for veneering.

[2739] In c. 27.

[2740] According to Adanson, the baobab will live for more than six thousand years.

[2741] The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

[2742] In consequence of the disputes between the patricians and plebeians.

[2743] Thus deriving Lucina from “lucus,” a grove.

[2744] Capillos.

[2745] An area before the temple of Vulcan.

[2746] “Stationes municipiorum.” A sort of exchange, near the Forum, where the citizens met to discuss the topics of the day.

[2747] See B. iv. c. 18. Of course, this story must be regarded as fabulous.

[2748] Quercus.

[2749] These are fables founded upon the known longevity of trees, which, as Fée remarks, Pliny relates with a truly “infantine simplicity.”

[2750] See B. v. c. 43.

[2751] See B. v. c. 29.

[2752] The palm is by no means a long-lived tree.

[2753] The pomegranate, on the contrary, has been known to live many centuries.

[2754] He has elsewhere said that the vine is extremely long-lived.

[2755] In the last Chapter he has spoken of a laurel having existed for many centuries.

[2756] To its great detriment, probably.

[2757] Fée says that no holm-oak is ever known to attain this size.

[2758] See c. 62.

[2759] Sprengel says that this is the parasitic plant, which he calls Cassyta filiformis. Fée says that this opinion, though perhaps not to be absolutely rejected, must be accepted with reserve.

[2760] It does not seem to have been identified.

[2761] See B. xviii. c. 33.

[2762] Serpyllum. See B. xx. c. 90.

[2763] A mistletoe, apparently, growing upon the wild olive. Fée says that no such viscus appears to be known.

[2764] See B. xxvii. c. 66. The Calcitrapa stellata of Lamarck. Fée remarks that Pliny has committed a great error, in making it a parasite of the Spina fullonia. Dioscorides only says that the two plants grow in the same spots.

[2765] The Viscum Europæum of modern naturalists.

[2766] The Viscum album of Linnæus; but Sprengel takes it to be the Loranthus Europæus.

[2767] Fée questions whether this may not be the Loranthus Europæus.

[2768] The Viscum album of Linnæus; the oak mistletoe or real mistletoe.

[2769] This is not the fact: it grows upon a vast multitude of other trees.

[2770] It is no longer used for this purpose.

[2771] The mistletoe never in any case loses its leaves, upon whatever tree it may grow.

[2772] This is, of course, untrue; but the seeds, after being voided by birds, are more likely to adhere to the bark of trees, and so find a nidus for germination.

[2773] The exact opposite is the case, the female being the fruitful plant.

[2774] The method used in Italy for making bird-lime is very similar at the present day.

[2775] Magos.

[2776] Decandolle was of opinion, that the mistletoe of the Druids was not a viscum, but the Loranthus Europæus, which is much more commonly found on oaks.

[2777] Δρῦς, an “oak.” It is much more probable that it was of Celtic origin.

[2778] Omnia sanantem.

[2779] “Sagum.” Properly, a “military cloak.”

[2780] It was, in comparatively recent times, supposed to be efficacious for epilepsy.

[2781] See end of B. ii.

[2782] Author of a History or Annals of Rome. Nothing further is known of him.

[2783] See end of B. vi.

[2784] See end of B. ii.

[2785] See end of B. iii.

[2786] See end of B. vii.

[2787] See end of B. iii.

[2788] See end of B. ii.

[2789] See end of B. ii.

[2790] See end of B. vii.

[2791] He is wholly unknown; but is conjectured to have lived in the reign of Caligula or Tiberius.

[2792] See end of B. vii.

[2793] See end of B. xii.

[2794] He is unknown; but Solinus speaks of him as a valuable writer.

[2795] M. Vitruvius Pollio, an eminent architect, employed by Augustus. His valuable work on architecture is still extant.

[2796] See end of B. xiv.

[2797] See end of B. iii.

[2798] See end of B. vii.

[2799] See end of B. iii.

[2800] See end of B. ii.

[2801] See end of B. ii.

[2802] He alludes to the various shrubs and trees, mentioned as growing in the sea, B. xiii. c. 48; but which there is little doubt, in reality belong to the class of fuci.

[2803] “Fiunt verius quam nascuntur;” a distinction perpetuated in the adage, “Poeta nascitur, non fit.”

[2804] He probably alludes to his remark in B. xvi. c. 1.

[2805] Q. Luctatius Catulus, the colleague of Marius. Being afterwards condemned to die by Marius, he suffocated himself with the fumes of charcoal.

[2806] A.U.C. 659.

[2807] Valerius Maximus, B. ix. c. 1, relates this story somewhat differently.

[2808] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.

[2809] See B. xxxvi. cc. 3 and 24.

[2810] When, in his capacity of ædile, he gave theatrical representations for the benefit of the public.

[2811] As Fée remarks, this usage has been reversed in modern times, and plants often receive their botanical names from men.

[2812] See B. xviii. c. 4.

[2813] Or north north-east, as Fée says. He adds that this aspect in reality is not favourable to vegetation. Pliny commits the error of copying _exactly_ from Theophrastus, and thereby giving advice to Roman agriculturists, which was properly suited to the climate of Greece only.

[2814] This is borrowed from Theophrastus; but, as Fée remarks, if suitable to the climate of Greece, it is not so to that of Italy or France, where vegetation is much more promoted by a south wind.

[2815] This assertion, Fée says, is erroneous. See B. xvi. c. 46.

[2816] B. xviii. c. 66.

[2817] See c. 30 of this Book. These notions as to critical periods to plants connected with the constellations, Fée says, are now almost dispelled; though they still prevail in France, to some extent.

[2818] “Coitus.” See B. xvi. cc. 39 and 42.

[2819] See B. xvi. c. 46.

[2820] From Theophrastus, De Causis, B. ii. c. 1.

[2821] He alludes to the words of Virgil, Georg. i. 100:—

“Humida solstitia, atque hiemes orate serenas, Agricolæ; hiberno lætissima pulvere farra.”

Fée remarks, that the cultivators of the modern times are more of the opinion of the poet than the naturalist.

[2822] Because rains would cause the young fruit to fall off. He here attacks the first portion of the precepts of Virgil; but only, it appears, in reference to the vine.

[2823] “Lactescentibus.” Fée remarks on the appropriateness of this expression, as the act of germination, he says, in the cereals and all the seeds in which the perisperm is feculent, changes the fecula into an emulsive liquid, in which state the seed may be said, with Pliny, to be “lactescent.”

[2824] Which appears to have been extensively done with the young garden trees.

[2825] Georg. ii. 398.

[2826] Taken altogether, a southern aspect is preferable to all others.

[2827] See B. ii. c. 46.

[2828] Cc. 46 and 47.

[2829] He seems to lose sight of the fact that they _bud_ before those that look to the north.

[2830] B. xvi. cc. 30, 31.

[2831] A rich black mould, probably.

[2832] A ferruginous argilla.

[2833] It must of necessity denote a soil rich in humus, though not, of course, adapted for all kinds of cultivation.

[2834] He alludes to the difficulty with which argilla, from its tenacity, is employed in cultivation.

[2835] Columella says the contrary, and so does Virgil, Georg. ii. 226, speaking of this fact as a method of ascertaining the respective qualities of the earth.

[2836] Virgil, Georg. ii. 220, says the contrary.

[2837] In allusion to what Virgil says, Georg. ii. 254:—

“Quæ gravis est, ipso tacitam se pondere prodit, Quæque levis——”

Fée remarks, however, that it is easy enough to analyse the earth, and ascertain the proportions of humus, and of the siliceous, cretaceous, or argillaceous earths; the relative proportions of which render it strong or light, as the case may be.

[2838] As Fée says, these earths vary according to the nature of the soils that are brought down by the streams; in general, however, they are extremely prolific.

[2839] Fée says that Pliny is here guilty of some degree of exaggeration. See B. iii. c. 9, p. 195 of Vol. 1: also B. xviii. c. 29.

[2840] “Tophus;” formed of volcanic scoriæ. Fée remarks, that it is somewhat similar in nature to marl, and that though unproductive by itself, it is beneficial when mixed with vegetable earth. Tufa and marl appear to have been often confounded by the ancient writers.

[2841] Georg. ii. 189.

[2842] The Pteris aquilina of the modern botanists.

[2843] Marine salt, or sub-hydrochlorate of soda, Fée thinks, is here alluded to. It is still used with varied success in some parts of the west of France.

[2844] Hardouin says, that he here alludes to the proverbial saying among the ancients, “Perflare altissima ventos”—“The winds blow only on the most elevated ground.”

[2845] In B. xiv. cc. 4 and 12.

[2846] “Emisso.” Fée would appear to think that the lake suddenly _made its appearance_, after an earthquake, and from the context he would appear to be right. These accounts are all of them borrowed from Theophrastus.

[2847] See B. v. c. 36.

[2848] See B. xv. c. 2.

[2849] See B. xiv. c. 8.

[2850] See B. xiv. c. 8.

[2851] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2852] See B. iii. c. 17.

[2853] Sumen. Properly, “udder.” A cow’s udder was considered one of the choicest of delicacies by the Romans.

[2854] This is, of course, an exaggeration. The stake must have been driven in very deep to disappear so speedily.

[2855] De Re Rust. 5.

[2856] This he says in reference to his belief, with Epicurus, in the eternity of matter.

[2857] De Re Rust. 1.

[2858] See B. iii. c. 6.

[2859] De Re Rust. 151.

[2860] “Pulla.” The “vegetable” earth of modern botanists.

[2861] “Teneram.”

[2862] Iliad, xviii. 541 and 548.

[2863] Vulcan.

[2864] De Oratore, sec. 39.

[2865] See B. xiii. c. 4.

[2866] “Sapiunt,” rather than “redolent.”

[2867] This supposed flavour of the earth is, in reality, attributable to the extraneous vegetable matter which it contains.

[2868] See B. xii. c. 52, as to this notion.

[2869] The reason being, that in such cases the soil is saturated with thyme, origanum, mint, and other odoriferous herbs.

[2870] This opinion is contrary to that expressed by Columella, B. ii. c. 1; but the justice of it is universally recognized. Upon this theory, too, is based the modern practice of alternating the crops in successive years, the necessity of providing for heavy rents, not allowing the land to enjoy absolute rest.

[2871] This has not come to pass even yet, nearly two thousand years since the days of Pliny.

[2872] See B. v. c. 3, and B. xviii. c. 21.

[2873] Fée taxes our author here with exaggeration. For Byzacium, see B. v. c. 3, and B. xviii. c. 21.

[2874] Nevertheless, as Fée remarks, the method is often practised with great success. Pliny is at issue here with Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 25.

[2875] A natural mixture of argilla and calcareous stones, or subcarbonate of chalk. Fée remarks, that the ancients were not acquainted with the proper method of applying it. Marl only exercises its fertilizing influence after being reduced to dust by the action of the atmosphere, by absorbing the oxygen of the air, and giving to vegetation the carbonic acid that is necessary for their nourishment.

[2876] “White argilla.” This, Fée thinks, is the calcareous marl, three varieties of which are known, the compact, the schistoid, and the friable.

[2877] At the present day there are only two varieties of marl recognized, the argillaceous and the calcareous; it is to the latter, Fée thinks, that the varieties here mentioned as anciently recognized, belonged.

[2878] The Marga terrea of Linnæus. It abounds in various parts of Europe.

[2879] From the Greek, meaning “not bitter marl.”

[2880] Marl does not begin to fertilize till several years after it has been laid down; hence, it is generally recommended to marl the land a little at a time, and often. If the ground is fully marled, it requires to be marled afresh in about eight or ten years, and not fifty, as Pliny says.

[2881] “Argentaria.” Used, probably, in the same way as whitening in modern times. See B. xxxv. c. 58.

[2882] An exaggeration, no doubt.

[2883] Probably meaning “smooth marl;” a variety, Fée thinks, of argillaceous marl, and, perhaps, the potter’s argillaceous marl, or potter’s argil. He suggests, also that it may have possibly been the Marga fullonum saponacea lamellosa of Valerius; in other words, fullers’ earth.

[2884] Creta fullonia.

[2885] See B. xxxv. c. 46.

[2886] This would rather seem to be a name borrowed from the Greek, αἰγλήεις, “shining,” and πελιὸς, “white.” Notwithstanding the resemblance, however, it is just possible that it may have been derived from the Gallic. Fée queries whether this is the schistoid calcareous marl, or the schistoid argillaceous marl, the laminæ of which divide with great facility, and the varieties of which display many colours.

[2887] A variety of the terreous marl.

[2888] It has the effect of augmenting their fruitfulness, and ameliorating the quality of the fruit. Lime is still considered an excellent improver for strong, humid soils.

[2889] From this passage, Fée thinks that the Columbine marl must have been of the white, slightly sparkling kind.

[2890] Though ashes fertilize the ground, more particularly when of an argillaceous nature, they are not so extensively used now as in ancient times. Pliny alludes here more particularly to wood and dunghill ashes.

[2891] This, however, he omits to do.

[2892] He alludes, probably, to Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 22.

[2893] Odyssey xxiv. 225.

[2894] From “stercus,” “dung.” A fabulous personage, most probably.

[2895] De Re Rust. i. 38.

[2896] De Re Rust. ii. 15.

[2897] Mixed with other manures, it is employed at the present day in Normandy.

[2898] This manure is still extensively employed in Flanders, Switzerland, and the vicinity of Paris. In the north of England it is mixed with ashes, and laid on the fields. There was an old prejudice, that vegetation grown with it has a fetid odour, but it has for some time been looked upon as exploded.

[2899] Or urine. In the vicinity of Paris, a manure is employed called urate, of which urine forms the basis.

[2900] Fée seems to think that this passage means that the bad smell of urine is imparted to it by the wine that is drunk. It is difficult to say what could have been the noxious qualities imparted by wine to urine as a manure, and Pliny probably would have been somewhat at a loss to explain his meaning.

[2901] In lapse of time, if exposed to the air, it is reduced to the state of humus or mould.

[2902] Consisting of lime mixed with vegetable ashes.

[2903] De Re Rust. i. 38.

[2904] “Herbas.” This would appear to mean grass only here; though Fée seems to think that it means various kinds of herbs.

[2905] This method is sometimes adopted in England with buckwheat, trefoil, peas, and other leguminous plants; and in the south of France lupines are still extensively used in the same manner, after the usage of the ancient Romans here described. The French also employ, but more rarely, for the same purpose, the large turnip, vetches, peas, trefoil, Windsor beans, sanfoin, lucerne, &c.; but it is found a very expensive practice.

[2906] De Re Rust. 37.

[2907] “Frondam putidam.” Fée thinks that this expression is used in reference to the “ebulum,” dane-wort, wall-wort, or dwarf-elder, previously mentioned.

[2908] “Concidito.” Sillig adopts the reading “comburito,” “burn the shoots, and dig in, &c.” But in the original the word is “concidito.”

[2909] De Re Rust. 30.

[2910] This is still extensively practised in England and France, and other countries. The azote, even, that exhales from the bodies of the animals, is supposed to have a fertilizing influence, to say nothing of the dung, grease of the body, and urine.

[2911] De Re Rust. 37.

[2912] “Exsugunt,” “suck up,” or “drain,” is one reading in Cato; and it is not improbable that it is the correct one.

[2913] Georg. i. 77, 78:

“Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ, Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.”

[2914] Fée is of opinion, that, with reference to this branch of agriculture, the ancients displayed more skill and intelligence than the moderns.

[2915] This absurdity is copied from Varro and Columella.

[2916] _I. e._ in the early part of spring. In modern times, the period for manuring varies, according to the usage of different localities, being practised in all the four seasons of the year, according to the crops, weather, and climate.

[2917] See B. xvi. c. 58.

[2918] The palm is grown in Africa from shoots thrown out from the axillæ of the leaves; and it is in this circumstance, Fée thinks, that the story told by Trogus must have originated. Some of the ferns throw out adventitious buds from the summit of the leaf, and the orange tree and some others occasionally have them at the base of the leaf.

[2919] Virgil says, Georgics ii. 14:

“Pars autem posito surgunt de semine; ut altæ Castaneæ, nemorumque Jovi quæ maxime frondet.”

[2920] This method of reproduction is seldom or never employed; plants or cuttings only being used for the purpose.

[2921] Besides which, it is doubtful if they will reproduce the variety, the seed of which was originally sown.

[2922] In some cases, they are more particularly liable to disease—the apple, for instance.

[2923] Because the mode of cultivation adopted has little or no influence upon them. The palm, however, to bear good fruit, requires the careful attention of man. It is not capable of being grafted.

[2924] In B. xv. c. 39. The laurel may be grown from cuttings or shoots, and from seed.

[2925] Known as the Laurus tinus, or Viburnum tinus of Linnæus.

[2926] This is not done at the present day, as it is found that the oil which they contain turns rancid, and prevents germination.

[2927] These methods of preparation are no longer employed.

[2928] It is for this reason, as already stated, that they should be sown at once.

[2929] See B. xv. c. 39. He there calls it “sterilis,” “barren.”

[2930] See B. xv. c. 37. The myrtle reproduces itself in its native countries with great facility, but in such case the flowers are only single. Where a double flower is required, it is grown from layers.

[2931] No better, Fée says, than the ordinary method of making a myrtle hedge.

[2932] The almond requires a dry, light earth, and a southern aspect.

[2933] These precautions are no longer observed at the present day.

[2934] This precaution, too, is no longer observed.

[2935] The citron is produced, at the present day, from either the pips, plants, or cuttings.

[2936] This passage is borrowed almost verbatim from Virgil, Georgics ii. 50, _et seq._

[2937] “Perna.” This method of reproduction is still adopted, but it is not to be recommended, as the young tree, before it throws out a root, is liable to be overthrown by high winds. Virgil mentions it, Georg. ii. 23.

[2938] Palladius only says that the growth of the quince in such case is very slow.

[2939] This experiment has been tried for curiosity’s sake, and has succeeded; the roots become dry, lose their fibres, and then develop buds, from which branches issue; while the buds of the summit become changed into roots.

[2940] “Seminarii:” “nurseries,” as they are more commonly called.

[2941] The distance, in reality, ought to vary according to the nature and species of the trees, and the height they are to be allowed to attain.

[2942] De Re Rust. 48.

[2943] These precautions are not looked upon as necessary for the indigenous trees at the present day. For the first year, however, Fée says, the hurdles might be found very useful.

[2944] As the young cypress is very delicate, in the northern climates, Fée says, this mode of protecting it in the nursery might prove advantageous.

[2945] There is some exaggeration in this account of the extreme smallness of the seed of the cypress.

[2946] Wine and oil-presses, for instance.

[2947] B. xix. c. 48, and B. xx. c. 11. As Fée remarks, this is a fabulous assertion, which may still be based upon truth; as in gum-resin, for instance, we find occasionally the seeds of the parent tree accidentally enclosed in the tear-like drops.

[2948] In B. xvi. c. 47.

[2949] In c. 11 of this Book.

[2950] “Volgiolis.” This word is found nowhere else, and the reading is doubtful.

[2951] This is, at least, an exaggeration.

[2952] See B. xvi. c. 31, and c. 60.

[2953] It is propagated at the present day both from seed and suckers, but mostly from the latter, as the seed does not germinate for two years.

[2954] See B. xv. c. 14. Probably a variety of the jujube; but if so, it could hardly be grafted on trees of so different a nature as those here mentioned.

[2955] This tree has not been identified. Dalechamps thinks that it is a species of gooseberry, probably the same as the Ribes grossularia of Linnæus. It has been also suggested that it may be the Spina cervina of the Italians, the Rhamnus catharticus of Linnæus, the purgative buckthorn.

[2956] Fée doubts if the plum can be grafted on the thorn.

[2957] First of March.

[2958] The thickness of the thumb. See the last Chapter.

[2959] He alludes to the Atinian elm, of which he has already said the same in B. xvi. c. 29.

[2960] From being about nine feet in circumference.

[2961] A “little altar.”

[2962] 13th of February.

[2963] _I. e._ each at an angle with the other, in this form:—

* * * * * * * *

It was probably so called from the circumstance that each triangle resembles V, or five.

[2964] This is the reason why a soil of only middling quality is generally selected for nurseries and seed-plots; otherwise it might be difficult to transplant the young trees to an improved soil.

[2965] The ordinary depth, at the present day, is about two feet; but when in an argillaceous soil, as Pliny says, the hole is made deeper. If the soil is black mould, the hole is not so deep, and of a square form, just as recommended by Pliny.

[2966] De Re Rust. 43.

[2967] This would be either useless, or positively injurious to the tree.

[2968] See B. xiv. c. 14. It seems impossible to say with exactness how this passage came to be inserted in the context; but Sillig is probably right in suspecting that there is a considerable lacuna here. It is not improbable that Pliny may have enlarged upon the depth of the roots of trees, and the method of removing them in ancient times. Such being the case, he might think it not inappropriate to introduce the story of Papirius, who, when only intending to have a stump cut down that grew in the way, took the opportunity of frightening the prætor of Præneste, by the suddenness of the order to his lictor, and probably the peremptory tone in which it was given. This was all the more serious to the prætor, as Papirius had been rebuking him just before in the severest terms.

[2969] From the bundle of fasces, or rods.

[2970] This precept is borrowed from Virgil, Georg. ii. 348, et seq.

[2971] There is little doubt that they took the right view.

[2972] De Re Rust. 28.

[2973] This precaution is omitted by the modern nurserymen, though Fée is inclined to think it might be attended with considerable advantage, as the fibres of the side that has faced the south are not likely to be so firm as those of the northern side. This precaution, however, would be of more importance with exotic trees than indigenous ones. It is still practised to some extent with the layers of the vine.

[2974] Fée suggests that Pliny may have here misunderstood a passage in Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 8, with reference to the planting of the fig.

[2975] There would be no such result, Fée says.

[2976] This is a useless precaution; but at the same time, Pliny’s fears of its consequences are totally misplaced.

[2977] At 11 A.M., or 2 P.M.; _i. e._ between south and south-east, and south and south-west.

[2978] De Re Rust. 28.

[2979] Wet moss, or moist earth, is used for the purpose at the present day.

[2980] De Re Rust. 28. It is most desirable to transplant trees with a layer of the earth in which they have grown; but if carried out to any extent, it would be an expensive process.

[2981] “Tradunt.” This expression shows that Pliny does not give credit to the statement. Columella and Palladius speak of _three_ stones being laid under the root, evidently as a kind of charm.

[2982] See B. xix. c. 30. A somewhat similar practice is also recommended in B. xv. c. 18; but, of course, as Fée remarks, it can lead to no results.

[2983] De Re Rust. 28.

[2984] Fée remarks that this is a useful precaution, more particularly in the case of the coniferous trees, the fig, and others that are rich in juice; but if universally used, would be attended with great expense. The French use for the purpose a mixture of fresh earth and cow-dung, to which they give the name of “onguent Saint-Fiacre.” See p. 481.

[2985] This is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 7. The question, however, depends entirely upon the nature of the tree, the quality of the soil, and various other considerations, as Pliny himself admits.

[2986] See B. xv. c. 24. This notion, Fée remarks, still prevails to a very considerable extent.

[2987] By depriving it of the light, and the heat of the sun; but, most probably, from no other reason.

[2988] “Quoniam et protecta vinearum ratione egent.” This passage is probably in a mutilated state.

[2989] “In se convoluta.”

[2990] The plane was much valued for its shade by convivial parties. Hence we find in Virgil, Georg. iv. 146—“Atque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbram.”

[2991] He clearly alludes to the quivering poplar, Populus tremula of Linnæus.

[2992] This is quite a fallacy. Even in the much more probable cases of the upas and mangineel, it is not the fact.

[2993] Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 8, says, that trees that grow on declivities have shorter branches than those of the same kind growing on plains.

[2994] De Re Rust. c. 16.

[2995] This assertion is doubtful; at the present day, in Andalusia, the palm, the poplar, and many other trees are much larger than the olive.

[2996] “Thousand pounders.” This, as Fée remarks, is clearly an exaggeration.

[2997] Virgil, Georg. ii. 57, makes the same remark.

[2998] This shrub has not been identified.

[2999] See B. xii. c. 26.

[3000] De Re Rust. c. 51.

[3001] The French call cultivation by layers “marcotte,” as applied to trees in general; and “provignage,” as applicable to the vine. The two methods described by Pliny are still extensively practised.

[3002] Taken from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 133.

[3003] The Juniperus sabina of Linnæus: see B. xxiv. c. 61. It produces seed, and there is only one variety that is barren; the plant being, in reality, diœceous.

[3004] The rosemary, in reality, is a hermaphroditic plant, and in all cases produces seed.

[3005] See B. xvi. c. 33.

[3006] This, Fée remarks, is in reality no more a case of grafting than the growing of a tree from seed accidentally deposited in the cleft of a rock.

[3007] Still used for the reproduction of fruit-trees and shrubs in the pleasure garden.

[3008] Georg. ii. 73.

[3009] This story is borrowed from Theophrastus, De Caus. B. ii. c. 19. Fée remarks, that it is very doubtful if an operation of so coarse a nature could be productive of such results; and he says, that, at all events, the two woods must have been species of the same genus, or else individuals of the same family. The mode of grafting here described is called by agriculturists in foreign countries, “Pliny’s graft.”

[3010] These statements as to the locality of the sap are erroneous.

[3011] The fig is the only fruit that is not improved by grafting; but then it is not similar to most fruit, being, as Fée says, nothing more than a fleshy floral receptacle.

[3012] This remark is founded on sound notions of vegetable physiology; but at the same time it is contradictory to what he states in the sequel as to grafting the pear on the plane, the apple on the cornel, &c.

[3013] Georg. ii. 78.

[3014] An unnecessary precaution. It is not the situation of the branches so much as the nature of the soil, traversed by the roots, corresponding to them, that would be likely to have an influence on the graft. There is little doubt that Pliny borrowed the present passage from Columella, De Re Rust. v. 11; and De Arbor. 20.

[3015] This is sound advice.

[3016] See B. xvi. c. 39, 40, and 41.

[3017] In reprehending this absurd notion, Fée bestows a passing censure on the superstitions of this nature, contained in the English Vox Stellarum, one of our almanacks; and in the French “Almanach des Bergers,” “Shepherds’ Almanack.”

[3018] This is borrowed by Palladius, in the operations of February, tit. 17, and October, tit. 12.

[3019] De Re Rust. 40.

[3020] This is the onguent Saint-Fiacre of the French, and is still used to protect the graft from all contact with the exterior air.

[3021] “Altitudinem,” as Dalechamps suggests, would appear to be a better reading than “latitudinem.”

[3022] See B. xxv. c. 40.

[3023] Borrowed from Columella, B. iv. c. 29. This method is still employed for young plants; in France it is called “salting” the plants.

[3024] De Re Rust. 41.

[3025] The first of these methods is now the only one at all employed with the vine; indeed, it is more generally reproduced by means of layers and suckers.

[3026] It is not accurately known what was the form or particular merit of this auger or wimble.

[3027] Fée remarks, that the period here named is very indefinite. May and the early part of June are the periods now selected for grafting the vine.

[3028] This is borrowed from Varro, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 40. In reality, it makes no difference whether the stock is that of a wild tree or of the cultivated species.

[3029] “Emplastrum.” Properly, the little strip of bark, which is fitted in with the eye, and which is _plastered_ or soldered down.

[3030] “Scutula.” So called from its resemblance to a “little shield.”

[3031] De Re Rust. 42.

[3032] Cato says, three and a-half.

[3033] Chalk and cow-dung. See c. 24 of this Book.

[3034] Perhaps “Tuliæ;” which would mean, according to Festus, the “cascades” or “waterfalls” of Tibur, now Tivoli.

[3035] Fée says, that if we take the word “grafted” here in the strictest sense, Pliny must have seen as great a marvel as any of those mentioned in the “Arabian Nights;” in fact, utter impossibilities. He thinks it possible, however, that a kind of mock grafting may have been produced in the case, still employed in some parts of Italy, and known as the “greffe-Diane.” A trunk of an orange tree is split, and slips of numerous trees are then passed into it, which in time throw out their foliage and blossoms in various parts of the tree, or at the top; the consequence of which is, that the stock appears to bear several varieties of blossoms at the same moment. It is not improbable that Pliny was thus imposed upon.

[3036] The plane and the oak are no longer employed for the purpose.

[3037] See B. xv. c. 25.

[3038] See c. 29 of this Book.

[3039] See B. xv. c. 17.

[3040] The mulberry is incapable of being grafted on the elm.

[3041] De Re Rust. 45. The method of planting here described is still the one most generally approved of for the olive.

[3042] De Re Rust. 44. The rules here given are still very generally observed.

[3043] B. xv. c. 6.

[3044] See c. 2 of this Book, and B. xviii. c. 69.

[3045] The olive is an extremely long-lived tree; it has been known to live as long as nine or ten centuries. A fragment of the bark, with a little wood attached, if put in the ground, will throw out roots and spring up. Hence it is not to be wondered at, that the ancients looked upon it as immortal.

[3046] B. xviii. c. 74.

[3047] B. xviii. c. 74.

[3048] B. ii. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 68.

[3049] There is a contradiction here; a few lines above, he says that they _do_ plant their trees in Greece at this period. He may possibly mean “sow.”

[3050] See B. xvi. c. 41. The rules here laid down by Pliny are, as Fée remarks, much too rigorous, and must be modified according to extraneous circumstances.

[3051] 13th of February.

[3052] B. xv. c. 26.

[3053] 1st of March.

[3054] 15th of March.

[3055] B. xvi. cc. 30, 46, 67, and 78.

[3056] De Re Rust. B. v. c. 11. A very absurd and useless method, Fée remarks.

[3057] In c. 24 of this Book.

[3058] All the precepts given in this Chapter have been already given in cc. 3 and 4 of the present Book.

[3059] The maple, linden, elm, and arundo donax, are still employed, as well as the willow, for this purpose; the latter, however, but very rarely. The account of its cultivation here given is borrowed from Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 30.

[3060] The Salix viminalis of Linnæus, or white osier.

[3061] The Salix alba of Linnæus. These stakes, or props, are for the support of the vine.

[3062] For making baskets and bindings.

[3063] The Populus canescens of Willdenow.

[3064] The Arundo donax of Linnæus. This account is mostly from Columella, B. iv. c. 32.

[3065] B. xvi. c. 67.

[3066] First of March.

[3067] This method is condemned by Columella, De Arbor. 29, as the produce is poor, meagre, and weak. It is but little practised at the present day.

[3068] A mere superstition, of course.

[3069] “Pedamenta,” uprights, stays, stakes, or props.

[3070] This is not the fact, for the chesnut both grows and buds very slowly.

[3071] A black, hot kind of earth. See c. 3 of this Book.

[3072] In reality, the chesnut will not thrive in a tufaceous, or, indeed, in any kind of calcareous, soil.

[3073] In B. xv. c. 25.

[3074] The heaps of five in which they are sown.

[3075] The chesnut is grown with the _greatest difficulty_ from layers and slips, and never from suckers. Pliny borrows this erroneous assertion from Columella, B. iv. c. 32. In mentioning the heaps of five nuts, Pliny seems to have had some superstitious observance in view, for Columella only says that they must be sown thickly, to prevent accident. The same is done at the present day, in order to make provision for the depredations of field-mice, rats, and mice, which are

## particularly fond of them.

[3076] The willow and the reed.

[3077] See B. xvi. cc. 5, 6, and 56.

[3078] In B. xvi. c. 60.

[3079] “Armamentis.” More properly, “rigging,” or “tackle.” He alludes to the trees from which the uprights or stays for the vine are cut, or which produce osiers for baskets and bindings required in the vintage.

[3080] See B. xiii. c. 42, and B. xvi. c. 65.

[3081] “Gemma.” A name now given by botanists to the buds in general.

[3082] “Oculus.” A bud undeveloped is still so called.

[3083] Germen.

[3084] This remark is not confirmed by experience.

[3085] On the contrary, the fig-tree has been known to live to a very great age.

[3086] See B. xvi. c. 51.

[3087] This method of planting the vine is still extensively used; especially the low kinds.

[3088] See c. 13 of this Book.

[3089] Sagittæ.

[3090] Trigemmes.

[3091] “Pampinarius.” This assertion has been found to be erroneous.

[3092] This practice has been condemned by modern cultivators.

[3093] From Columella, B. iii. c. 19.

[3094] In c. 24 of this Book.

[3095] “Marra.” Probably a mattock, with several prongs.

[3096] Occupies more space when thus loosened.

[3097] As compared with the original level of the ground.

[3098] Query, if this is the meaning of “extendi”?

[3099] This method is no longer used.

[3100] This, Fée remarks, is not the case: the tree might bear four kinds of grapes, but not four kinds on the same bunch.

[3101] De Arbor. c. 9. This is not the fact.

[3102] He was little aware, Fée says, that all ligneous plants have a radiating pith, distinct from the central one.

[3103] See B. xvi. c. 72.

[3104] Oliver de Serres distinguishes only three—the low, middling, and tall vines.

[3105] See B. xiv. c. 4.

[3106] See B. xiv. c. 4.

[3107] “Jugum.” The cross-piece running along the top of the stay at right angles; a rail or trail.

[3108] “Compluviatæ quadruplici.” Four cross-pieces running at right angles to the prop or stay. See B. xvi. c. 68.

[3109] When these trenches and furrows are employed by the moderns, they are made to run as much as possible from east to west. Most of the rules here mentioned by Pliny are still adopted in France.

[3110] Fée regards this precept as a puerility.

[3111] See B. xviii. c. 77.

[3112] See B. xviii. c. 77. Decuman roads or paths ran from east to west; cardinal roads were those at right angles to them.

[3113] “Pagina.” A set, compartment, or bed.

[3114] “Transtris.” “Ridges,” would appear to be the proper reading here; more especially as it agrees with what has been previously said in this Chapter in reference to declivitous ground.

[3115] De Re Rust. 40.

[3116] He differs somewhat in these measurements from Columella, B. iv. c. 11.

[3117] This is condemned by Columella, B. iv. c. 11; but is approved of by Virgil, Cato, and other authors.

[3118] In c. 34 of this Book.

[3119] Stays of elder would be utterly worthless, as they would soon rot, and break directly, upon the least strain.

[3120] This applies solely, Fée observes, to the vine trained on the trail or cross-piece.

[3121] This certainly appears to be a _non sequitur_, as applied to the vine.

[3122] In the present Chapter.

[3123] Pampinarium.

[3124] Fructuarium.

[3125] Custos.

[3126] The pilferer, “or little thief,” apparently.

[3127] This, Fée observes, is not in accordance with the fact.

[3128] “Draco.” Male vines appear to have been a kind that threw out no stock-branches, but ran to wood.

[3129] Than three buds, as already mentioned in the present Chapter.

[3130] “Pollices.” Branches, so called from the resemblance, being cut off above the first eye. See Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 24.

[3131] Small forks of hazel are still used for the purpose, in Berri and the Orleanais.

[3132] This plan is highly recommended by the modern growers.

[3133] This, as Fée remarks, is based upon sound reason.

[3134] In B. xiv. cc. 4 and 5.

[3135] B. xviii. c. 66.

[3136] 13th of April.

[3137] 10th of May.

[3138] A mere puerility—the dust, in fact, being injurious to the grape, by obstructing the natural action of heat and humidity.

[3139] 15th of May. This clearing of the leaves, though still practised, Fée says, is by no means beneficial; the only result is, that the grapes become of a higher colour, but in no degree riper than they otherwise would have been.

[3140] The proper period for pruning varies in reality according to the climate.

[3141] See B. xviii. c. 59.

[3142] See Columella, De Re Rust. B. iv. c. 29.

[3143] The real reason, as Fée remarks, is the comparative facility of cutting aslant rather than horizontally; indeed, if the latter were attempted, injury to the wood would be the certain result.

[3144] The pruning should come first, in every case, Fée says.

[3145] De Re Rust. c. 33. The advice given by him, though good, is not applicable to all vineyards.

[3146] A sort of clover, probably. See B. xviii. c. 42, and a few lines below.

[3147] From the Greek ὠκέως, “quickly”—Varro says.

[3148] See c. 15 of this Book.

[3149] It is still practised in Dauphiné and the department of the Basses Alpes. It is very prevalent, also, in the South of Italy.

[3150] All these trees are still employed for the purpose in Italy.

[3151] B. xvi. c. 68.

[3152] Palmæ.

[3153] From Columella, B. v. c. 7.

[3154] This method is no longer employed.

[3155] Rasilis.

[3156] Columella, B. v. c. 6.

[3157] Columella, B. v. c. 6.

[3158] Capreolis.

[3159] As being too dense and shady.

[3160] From the Greek, meaning the “vine-band.” It was, probably, a kind of rush.

[3161] Fée thinks that he may mean the Festuca fluitans more

## particularly, by the name _ulva_.

[3162] It is no longer used, and Fée doubts its utility.

[3163] Hardouin suggests “Tarracina.”

[3164] In c. 16 of this Book.

[3165] To drain the upper part of the tree.

[3166] Pergulas. See B. xiv. c. 3.

[3167] See B. xviii. c. 56. These, of course, are mere superstitions.

[3168] Animalium.

[3169] In B. xiii. c. 6.

[3170] In B. xiii. c. 47.

[3171] This is the opinion of Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16.

[3172] In c. 2 of this Book.

[3173] “Vermiculatio.” Fée understands this to apply to the attacks of insects in general, the Dermestes typographus more particularly.

[3174] Or, in other words, the evil influences of the heavenly bodies: this, of course, is not believed in at the present day.

[3175] Necrosis, in particular portions of the plant.

[3176] See B. xvi. c. 19. He alludes to an exuberant secretion of resin, in which case the tree becomes charged with it like a torch.

[3177] He alludes to the epidemic and contagious maladies by which trees are attacked. The causes of these attacks are often unknown, but they may probably proceed, in many instances, from springs of hot water, or gaseous emanations secreted in the earth.

[3178] The woodpecker more particularly. See B. x. c. 20.

[3179] It is not known, with certainty, what these worms or caterpillars were. The larva of the capricorn beetle, or of the stag-beetle, has been suggested. Geoffroi thinks that it may have been the larva of the palm-weevil. This taste for caterpillars, probably, no longer prevails in any part of Europe.

[3180] This passage, which is quite conformable to truth, is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16, and B. iii. c. 12.

[3181] See B. xvi. c. 80.

[3182] The effects produced upon young shoots by frost, are still so called.

[3183] Probably from the black colour which it turns.

[3184] In this case it would be very similar to what we call sun-stroke.

[3185] “Clavum,” a nail. He appears to allude to a gall that appears on the bark of the olive, the eruption forming the shape of a nail, and, in some instances, a “patella,” or platter. The Coccus adonideum is an insect that is very destructive to the olive.

[3186] De Re Rust. 6.

[3187] A sort of Erineum, Fée suggests. See B. xv. c. 6.

[3188] “Impetigo.” “Tetter,” or “ringworm,” literally.

[3189] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16.

[3190] Σφακελισμὸς and κράδος.

[3191] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16. Fée is at a loss to know what is meant by these viscous dews, and is unable to identify the disease here mentioned as “scabies.” It is not improbable that it was caused by an insect.

[3192] See cc. 35 and 45 of this Book.

[3193] See B. xviii. c. 69.

[3194] In c. 35. See also c. 45 of this Book.

[3195] From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 16. If the terminal bud of the palm is taken off, it will mostly die.

[3196] “Decidunt.” The French use a similar word—_couler_. In this case the pollen, being washed off by the showers, has not the opportunity of fecundating the ovary of the flower.

[3197] The insect Ichneumon or Pupivora, probably, which breeds in the larvæ or else in the body of the caterpillar. The passage is from Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 16.

[3198] Caused probably by a maggot or moth passing from one grape or olive to another, and spinning its web in vast quantities. See Theophrastus, B. iv. c. 17.

[3199] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[3200] On the contrary, this sweet juice is secreted by the insect itself, an aphis or vine-fretter.

[3201] The north-west wind. See Horace, Sat. B. i. s. v. l. 71.

[3202] See B. ii. c. 46.

[3203] He probably means if applied _to the bark_ of young trees.

[3204] The cork-tree forms no exception to the rule—if a complete ring of the bark that lies under the epidermis is removed, the death of the tree is the inevitable result. See B. xvi. c. 13.

[3205] Probably the Arbutus integrifolia. See B. xiii. c. 40.

[3206] This in reality is not the bark, but merely the epidermis, which is capable of reproduction in many trees.

[3207] See c. 16 of this Book.

[3208] This method, however, is often found efficacious in preserving the life of the oak, as well as many other trees, by excluding the

## action of the air and water.

[3209] It prevents them from increasing in height, but does not cause their death.

[3210] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.

[3211] In B. viii. c. 76, and B. xv. c. 8.

[3212] This statement is fabulous. Goats are apt to injure trees by biting the buds and young shoots. Fabulous as it is, however, Fée remarks that it still obtains credit among the peasantry in France.

[3213] This fabulous story is taken from Theophrastus, De Causis, B. v. c. 25.

[3214] Also from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. cc. 19-20, and De Causis, B. v. c. 22. It is just possible that on some of the branches being torn off by an animal, the tree may have grown with increased vigour.

[3215] In B. xiii. c. 9, and in c. 30 of this Book.

[3216] See B. xvi. c. 47.

[3217] It must be remembered that ivy is not a parasite, and that it has no suckers to absorb the nutriment of another tree.

[3218] See B. xvi. c. 62.

[3219] C. Bauhin gives this name to several species of Atriplex. Lacuna was of opinion that the Halimon of Dioscorides was the same as the Viburnum.

[3220] A superstitious belief only, as Fée remarks.

[3221] See B. xix. c. 26.

[3222] Virgil shared this belief: see Georg. ii. l. 299.

[3223] This may be true in some measure as to nitre, alum, and warm sea-water; but not so as to the shells of beans and pigeon-pease, which would make an excellent manure for it.

[3224] This, as Fée remarks, is not by any means impossible, nor, indeed, are any other of the cases mentioned in this paragraph, owing to some accidental circumstance.

[3225] See B. xxix. c. 29.

[3226] These stories can, of course, be only regarded as fabulous.

[3227] This may easily be accounted for, by the seed accidentally lodging in a crevice of the tree.

[3228] A. U. C. 600.

[3229] An exaggerated account merely of a land-slip.

[3230] See c. 43 of this Book.

[3231] See c. 45 of this Book.

[3232] In B. xvi. cc. 53, 56, 66, 67, and 90.

[3233] This was the native place of Ovid, who alludes to its cold streams, Tristia, B. iv. El. x. ll. 3, 4:—

“Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis, Millia qui novies distat ab urbe decem.”

Irrigation of the vine is still practised in the east, in Italy, and in Spain; but it does not tend to improve the quality of the wine.

[3234] The Sagrus, now the Sangro.

[3235] “Uredo rubigo” and “uredo caries.”

[3236] Cc. 45 and 70.

[3237] Still practised upon the cherry-tree.

[3238] He alludes to the medical operation for the removal of carious bones, described by Celsus, B. viii. c. 3.

[3239] This is still done by some persons; but it can be productive of no beneficial result.

[3240] See B. xv. c. 21: the Cynips psenes of Linn. It penetrates the fig at the base, and deposits an egg in each seed, which is ultimately eaten by the larva; hence the supposed transformation.

[3241] A kind of wasp, probably.

[3242] A puerility borrowed from Columella, B. v. c. 10.

[3243] From Columella, B. v. c. 10.

[3244] Trucidatio.

[3245] For the removal of moss and lichens, which obstruct evaporation, and collect moisture to an inconvenient degree, besides harbouring insects.

[3246] Agriculturists, Fée says, are not agreed upon this question.

[3247] Or laser. See B. xix. c. 15.

[3248] See B. xviii. c. 35.

[3249] Pœnâ emendantur.

[3250] It is very doubtful whether this is not likely to prove very injurious to them. This passage is from Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 23.

[3251] Without any efficacy, beyond a doubt.

[3252] The action of salt upon vegetation is, at the best, very uncertain.

[3253] These recipes are worthless, and almost impracticable.

[3254] This method is still adopted, but with none of the accessories here mentioned by Pliny.

[3255] A dangerous practice, Fée remarks, and certainly not to be adopted.

[3256] Mitior.

[3257] De Re Rust. 93.

[3258] At the present day, fumigations are preferred to any such mixtures as those here described. Caterpillars are killed by the fumes of sulphur, bitumen, or damp straw.

[3259] “Convolvulus.” He alludes to the vine Pyralis, one of the Lepidoptera, the caterpillar of which rolls itself up in the leaves of the tree, after eating away the foot-stalk.

[3260] The “fly,” or “winged” insect. The grey weevil, Fée thinks, that eats the buds and the young grapes.

[3261] An absurd superstition.

[3262] This may possibly be efficacious, but the other precepts here given are full of absurdity.

[3263] It might possibly drive them to a distance, but would do no more.

[3264] An absurd notion, very similar to some connected with the same subject, which have prevailed even in recent times.

[3265] De Re Rust. 160. The words of this charm over the split reed while held near the injured limb, were as follow:—“Sanitas fracto—motas danata daries dardaries astataries”—mere gibberish.

[3266] De Re Rust. 139. This prayer was offered to the deity of the sacred grove, after a pig had been first offered—“If thou art a god, or if thou art a goddess, to whom this grove is sacred, may it be allowed me, through the expiation made by this pig, and for the purpose of restraining the overgrowth of this grove, &c.” It must be remembered that it was considered a most heinous offence to cut down or lop a consecrated grove. See Ovid, Met. B. viii. c. 743.

[3267] See end of B. ii.

[3268] See end of B. iii.

[3269] See end of B. ii.

[3270] See end of B. vii.

[3271] See end of B. vii.

[3272] See end of B. iii.

[3273] See end of B. x.

[3274] See end of B. xi.

[3275] See end of B. xvi.

[3276] See end of B. vii.

[3277] See end of B. ix.

[3278] See end of B. xiv.

[3279] See end of B. viii.

[3280] See end of B. xiv.

[3281] Fabianus Papirius; see end of B. ii.

[3282] See end of B. x.

[3283] See end of B. xiv.

[3284] A Roman rhetorician, preceptor of Antony and Augustus. He is said to have claimed descent from Epidius, a deity worshipped on the banks of the Sarnus.

[3285] See end of B. ii.

[3286] See end of B. vii.

[3287] See end of B. iii.

[3288] See end of B. ii.

[3289] See end of B. ii.

[3290] See end of B. ii.

[3291] See end of B. viii.

[3292] See end of B. viii.

[3293] See end of B. viii.

[3294] See end of B. viii.

[3295] For Xenophon of Athens, see end of B. iv. For Xenophon of Lampsacus, see end of B. iii.

[3296] See end of B. viii.

[3297] See end of B. viii.

[3298] See end of B. viii.

[3299] See end of B. viii.

[3300] See end of B. viii.

[3301] See end of B. viii.

[3302] See end of B. viii.

[3303] See end of B. viii.

[3304] See end of B. vi.

[3305] See end of B. viii.

[3306] See end of B. xiv.

[3307] See end of B. viii.

[3308] See end of B. viii.

[3309] See end of B. ii.

[3310] See end of B. x.

[3311] See end of B. viii.

[3312] See end of B. viii.

[3313] See end of B. viii.

[3314] See end of B. viii.

[3315] See end of B. xii.

[3316] See end of B. viii.

[3317] See end of B. viii.

END OF VOL. III.

J. BILLING, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, WOKING, SURREY.

Transcriber’s notes:

The spelling, hyphenation, punctuation and accentuation are as the original, except for apparent typographical errors which have been silently corrected.

‘ BOOK XII .’ heading is ‘ BOOK X .’ in the original and has been corrected.

‘ BOOK XIV ’ and ‘ BOOK XV ’ are both titled ‘THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT-TREES.’ ‘ BOOK XIV ’ describes the grape vine and ‘