been identified; but supposed by Bruce to have been a gum called
_sassa_, with which aloes are adulterated in Abyssinia, a thing that
Galen tells us was done with the carpathum of the ancients. The
sea-hare is the Aplysia depilans of Gmelin. It is not poisonous. See B.
ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.
[2301] A composite poison, probably, the ingredients of which are now
unknown.
[2302] See Chap. 21 of this Book.
[2303] See B. xx. c. 53.
[2304] See B. xi. c. 96.
[2305] On the contrary, cows’ biestings are highly thought of in some
parts of England; and a very delicate dish is made of them, baked.
[2306] “Onager.”
[2307] See B. viii. c. 16, and B. xvi. c. 9.
[2308] See B. viii. c. 15.
[2309] See B. xxv. c. 107, and B. xxvi. c. 75.
[2310] See B. xxiii. cc. 13, 14.
[2311] “Toxica”—properly, those poisons in which the barbarous nations
dipped their arrows.
[2312] See B. xxii. c. 21.
[2313] Or, sting-ray.
[2314] See B. xxix. c. 16.
[2315] This substance still maintains its reputation, as preservative
of the hair.
[2316] See B. xii. c. 37, and B. xxvi. c. 30.
[2317] See B. xxii. c. 30.
[2318] See B. xxv. c. 67.
[2319] If they are occasioned by irritation, Ajasson thinks that
Pliny’s remedy may be of some utility.
[2320] A cosmetic for “beautifying the eye-brows.”
[2321] “Collyria.”
[2322] This is the translation suggested by Dalechamps for “lumbulis.”
[2323] “Seers by night.”
[2324] “Sanie.”
[2325] See B. xiv. c. 4.
[2326] See B. xx. c. 75.
[2327] See B. xxvi. c. 31.
[2328] See B. xxi. c. 105.
[2329] See B. viii. c. 66.
[2330] See B. xi. c. 70. Ajasson remarks that this bone is only found
in animals that have undergone much fatigue, and that it results from
the consolidation of certain tendinous fibres which form the ligament
of the heart.
[2331] “Capitum visus” seems to be a more probable reading than
“capitum usus” given by Sillig. Be it what it may, the meaning of the
passage is doubtful.
[2332] See Ælian, Var. Hist. xiv. 18.
[2333] There surely must be a wrong reading here, or he cannot intend
this to be understood literally.
[2334] See B. xi. c. 96.
[2335] One of the mistresses of Louis XV. not only did this, but (in a
spirit of great charity and consideration, of course) gave the milk to
the poor after she had thus used it.
[2336] “Ad desideria mulierum.”
[2337] See c. 28 of this Book.
[2338] See Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ II. 92-3, _Bohn’s Ed._, where this
subject is treated at considerable length.
[2339] “Rutilandis capillis.”
[2340] “Eam mori tradunt.” The reading here is very doubtful.
[2341] “Subulo.”
[2342] Asses’ milk is still recommended for pulmonary phthisis.
[2343] See B. viii. c. 16.
[2344] This would appear to be a Greek word in reality.
[2345] “Tunica.”
[2346] See B. xx. c. 2.
[2347] See B. xxv. c. 67. Mares’ milk is _not_ a purgative; and goats’
milk, as Ajasson remarks, is somewhat astringent. Juice of Cyclamen, on
the other hand, or sow-bread, is highly purgative.
[2348] See B. xviii. c. 14.
[2349] In Chap. 57 of this Book.
[2350] “Protropum.” See B. xiv. cc. 9, 11.
[2351] A kind of black pudding. Dupinet, the old French translator,
says that in his time the people of the Alpine regions still called
this dish _sanchet_.
[2352] He uses “tænia” probably, as a general name for intestinal worms.
[2353] In c. 49 of this Book.
[2354] In c. 57 of this Book.
[2355] “Sapa.” Grape-juice boiled down to two-thirds: see B. xiv. c. 11.
[2356] In reality, these are biliary calculi, found in the gall-bladder
of the animal. They are called “bezoar” stones, from a Persian word
signifying “destructive to poison.”
[2357] See B. viii. c. 77.
[2358] In c. 49 of this Book.
[2359] Ajasson remarks that arsenic should be used with the greatest
care in such a case.
[2360] “Rubi.” He probably means the bramble-berry.
[2361] See B. xviii. c. 14.
[2362] “Onager.”
[2363] Arising, by sympathy, from sores in other parts of the body.
[2364] See B. xxvi. c. 31. Bears’ grease is of no use whatever for the
cure of gout.
[2365] See B. xix. c. 31, B. xxi. cc. 62, 104, and B. xxii. cc. 19, 20.
[2366] See B. xxi. c. 56.
[2367] This mode of cure, Ajasson says, is still employed in the East,
where the preparation is known by the name of _moza_.
[2368] “Potum vero ex aquâ sublime.” The true reading and the meaning
are equally doubtful.
[2369] Spoken of as “polea” in c. 57.
[2370] In B. viii. c. 50. Because the animal itself was supposed to be
free from fever.
[2371] Or “quotidian,” daily fever.
[2372] A rather singular episode in his narrative. It looks like a
gloss.
[2373] Under this name, as Ajasson remarks, the affections now called
“hysteria” are included.
[2374] “Veternum.”
[2375] Another instance of smoking, though not a very tempting one.
[2376] See B. xviii. c. 29.
[2377] “Rupicapra”.
[2378] “Subulo”.
[2379] From the Greek.
[2380] See B. xix. c. 27, B. xx. c. 15, and B. xxv. c. 64.
[2381] “Eruptionibus pituitæ.”
[2382] Where the sinew has been wounded and exposed, either vinegar or
honey, Ajasson remarks, would be a highly dangerous application.
[2383] “Reverentiores.”
[2384] “Trigario.”
[2385] See B. xii. c. 51.
[2386] See B. xxv. c. 101.
[2387] “Bad habit.” A sort of cancer, or malignant ulcer.
[2388] See B. xxiv. c. 35.
[2389] “Propolis.” See B. xi. c. 6.
[2390] In B. xi. c. 79.
[2391] See B. xxv. cc. 79, 84, 91.
[2392] See B. xiii. c. 49.
[2393] There is probably some truth in these statements as to the
utility of butter and honey for infants.
[2394] Ajasson explains this by saying that the hare being eaten by the
people of ancient Latium on festival days, with plenteous potations,
they erroneously supposed the narcotic effects of the wine to be
produced by the flesh of the hare.
[2395] The resemblance of “lepos,” “grace,” to “lepus,” “a hare.” See
Martial, B. v. Ep. 29.
[2396] Georg. iii. 280. He alludes to the “hippomanes.”
[2397] Hardouin is probably right in his suggestion that “Dalion” is
the correct reading here.
[2398] He has already stated, in c. 44, that a horse will become torpid
if it follows in the track of a wolf; for which statement, according to
Ajasson, there appears to be some foundation.
[2399] See B. xix. c. 15.
[2400] This is not unlikely; for it has no alarms to make it grow thin.
[2401] See B. viii. c. 41, as to a similar practice on the part of the
panther.
[2402] See end of B. ii.
[2403] See end of B. ii.
[2404] For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. For Fabianus Sabinus,
see end of B. xviii.
[2405] See end of B. ii.
[2406] See end of B. iii.
[2407] See end of B. iii.
[2408] Servius Sulpicius Lemonia Rufus, a contemporary and friend of
Cicero. He was Consul with M. Claudius Marcellus, B.C. 51, and died
B.C. 43, at the siege of Mutina. He left about 180 treatises on various
subjects; but beyond the fact that he is often quoted by the writers
whose works form part of the Digest, none of his writings (with the
exception of two letters to Cicero) have come down to us.
[2409] See end of B. xix.
[2410] See end of B. vii.
[2411] See end of B. vii.
[2412] See end of B. xii.
[2413] From the mention made of him in Chap. 23, he was probably a
physician. Nothing further is known of him.
[2414] Aurelius Opilius, the freedman of an Epicurean. He taught
philosophy, rhetoric, and grammar at Rome, but finally withdrew to
Smyrna. One of his works, mentioned by A. Gellius, was entitled “Musæ,”
and the name of another was “Pinax.”
[2415] From the mention made of his profound speculations in Chap. 9,
Fabricius has reckoned him among the medical writers of Rome. It has
also been suggested that he may have been the Granius Flaccus mentioned
by Censorinus as the author of the “Indigitamenta,” or Register of the
Pontiffs.
[2416] See end of B. ii.
[2417] Probably Apollonius Mus, or Myronides, a physician who
flourished in the first century B.C., who is mostly identified with
Apollonius Herophileius. His “Myrosis” here mentioned is probably the
work “On Unguents” mentioned by Athenæus, B. xv.
[2418] Nothing whatever is known of him. It has been suggested that the
name may have been “Melitus.” A contemporary of Socrates, an orator and
tragic writer, was so named.
[2419] Beyond the mention of him in c. 2 of this Book, nothing is known
relative to this medical writer: no great loss, perhaps, if we may
judge from the extract there given.
[2420] Though mentioned among the foreign writers, the name is
evidently Roman. Nothing relative to him is known.
[2421] See end of B. xii.
[2422] See end of B. iii.
[2423] Probably the writer mentioned at the end of B. viii.
[2424] See end of B. viii.
[2425] See end of B. xx.
[2426] See end of B. xx. The “Idiophya” was probably a work “On the
Peculiar Animals,” which passed as the composition of the mythic
Orpheus.
[2427] A Greek poet, said to have been born at Chersonesus, a town in
Egypt. Some of his Epigrams are still extant in the Anthology, and it
has been suggested that he flourished either in the time of Ptolemy
Soter, of Ptolemy Euergetes II., or of Ptolemy Philadelphus. His work
“On Peculiar Animals,” here mentioned, was probably written in verse.
[2428] See end of B. viii.
[2429] A female writer on medical subjects. In addition to her work
mentioned in Chap. 23 of this Book, Labbe speaks of a work of hers in
MS. “On Menstruation,” preserved in the Library at Florence.
[2430] The female who is mentioned in Chap. 23 of this Book as having
written on Abortion, or the Diseases peculiar to Females, was probably
a different person from either of the two famous courtesans of that
name. Nothing whatever is known of her.
[2431] The writer of certain amatory poems, much admired by the Emperor
Tiberius, generally supposed, from the grammatical form of the name, to
have been a female. Galen quotes a work “On Cosmetics,” as written by a
person of this name.
[2432] A native of Lemnos, who wrote on the Diseases of Women.
Nymphodorus, as quoted by Athenæus, states that she also wrote verses
on Sportive subjects.
[2433] See end of B. xx.
[2434] Beyond the mention made of him in c. 23, nothing further is
known relative to this writer. Theophrastus, in his work on Sudorifics,
speaks of a person of this name as having written on Perspiration.
[2435] See end of B. xii.
[2436] See end of B. xx.
[2437] Beyond the mention made of him in c. 7 of this Book, nothing is
known of this writer. Hardouin suggests that he may have been identical
with the Micton mentioned at the end of B. xx.
[2438] He is spoken of as a native of Athens, in c. 10 of this Book.
Beyond this, nothing is known of him.
[2439] See end of B. vii.
[2440] See end of B. ii.
[2441] See end of B. iii.
[2442] Or more probably, Hicetidas. Nothing is known of this writer.
[2443] A native of Thasos. He is also mentioned by Galen.
[2444] See end of B. vii.
[2445] See end of B. vi.
[2446] Probably a physician, of whom Athenæus speaks as being a native
of Argos, and writer of a treatise on Fish.
[2447] Probably a different writer from the one of that name mentioned
at the end of B. vi.
[2448] Περὶ δυνάμεων.
[2449] See end of B. xxi.
[2450] See end of B. v.
[2451] He must surely have forgotten Celsus; unless, indeed, Pliny was
unacquainted with his treatise “De Medicinâ.”
[2452] Apollo and Æsculapius, Agenor, Hercules, Chiron, and others.
[2453] The husband of Leda, and the father of Castor, Timandra,
Clytæmnestra, and Philonoë. Hippolytus also was fabled to have been
raised from the dead by Æsculapius.
[2454] Hippocrates is generally supposed to have been born B.C. 460.
[2455] In order to destroy the medical books and prescriptions there.
The same story is told, with little variation, of Avicenna. Cnidos is
also mentioned as the scene of this act of philosophical incendiarism.
[2456] “Clinice”—Chamber-physic, so called because the physician
visited his patients ἐν κλίνῃ, “in bed.”
[2457] It is supposed by most commentators that Pliny commits a mistake
here, and that in reality he is alluding to Herodicus of Selymbria in
Thrace, who was the _tutor_, and not the disciple, of Hippocrates.
Prodicus of Selymbria does not appear to be known.
[2458] “Healing by ointments,” or, as we should call it at the present
day, “The Friction cure.”
[2459] “Mediastinis.”
[2460] Pythias, the daughter of Aristotle, was his stepmother, and
adopted him. His mother’s name was Cretoxena.
[2461] Or “Sect of Experimentalists.” They based their practice upon
experience derived from the observation of facts. The word “Empiric”
is used only in a bad sense at the present day. For an account of
Hippocrates, see end of B. vii.; of Chrysippus, see end of B. xx.; and
of Erasistratus, see end of B. xi.
[2462] See end of B. xi.
[2463] See end of B. xi.
[2464] See B. xi. c. 88. The Chinese, Ajasson remarks, apply the
musical scale to the pulsation; it being a belief of the Mandarins that
the body is a musical instrument, and that to be in health it must be
kept in tune.
[2465] In B. xxvi. cc. 7, 8.
[2466] See end of B. xi.
[2467] See B. xix. c. 38.
[2468] Rather more than £4400.
[2469] More than £265,000.
[2470] For which he was put to death A.D. 48.
[2471] A native of Tralles in Lydia, and the son of a weaver there.
Galen mentions him in terms of contempt and ridicule.
[2472] “Invasit.”
[2473] Ep. 53 and 83. His “adstipulatio” is of a very equivocal
character, however.
[2474] “Turbâ medicorum perii.” This is supposed to be borrowed from a
line of Menander—
Πολλῶν ἰατρῶν εἴσοδος μ’ ἀπώλεσεν.
[2475] “Flatu.”
[2476] Herodotus states this with reference to the Babylonians; Strabo,
the Bastitani, a people of Spain; and Eusebius, the more ancient
inhabitants of Spain.
[2477] See B. xx. c. 33.
[2478] See end of B. xii.
[2479] “Jus Quiritium.”
[2480] “Tabernam.” A surgery, in fact, the same as the “iatreion” of
the Greeks.
[2481] Or “carrefour”—“compitum.” The Acilian _Gens_ pretended to be
under the especial tutelage of the gods of medicine.
[2482] The “Wound-curer,” from “vulnus,” a wound.
[2483] “Executioner,” or “hangman.”
[2484] For his conquests in Spain.
[2485] “Illorum literas inspicere.”
[2486] On the principle that that which costs money _must_ be worth
having.
[2487] The Opici or Osci were an ancient tribe of Italy, settled in
Campania, Latium, and Samnium. From their uncivilized habits the
name was long used as a reproachful epithet, equivalent to our words
“bumpkin,” “clodhopper,” or “chawbacon.”
[2488] Marked by their supereminent absurdity, as Fée remarks.
[2489] Formed by the river Tiber. See the Quæst. Rom. of Plutarch, on
this subject.
[2490] We have adopted Sillig’s suggestion, and read “nec” for “et”
here. The meaning, however, is very doubtful.
[2491] “Augebo providentiam illorum.” The meaning of this passage also
is doubtful.
[2492] By adopting that language instead of the Latin; Sextius Niger,
for instance.
[2493] Diplomas seem to have been less cared for in those times than at
the present day even, when quackery has so free a range.
[2494] See B. iii. c. 26, and B. xxxiii. cc. 7, 8.
[2495] “Inquisitio per parietes.” The reading is doubtful, but he not
improbably alludes to the employment of spies.
[2496] Hardouin thinks that he alludes to Cornelius Balbus here, a
native of Gades. See B. v. c. 5, and B. vii. 44.
[2497] “Electis viris datur tabula.” He alludes to the three tablets
delivered to the Judices, one of which had inscribed on it “Acquitted,”
another “Not proven,” and a third “Guilty”—_Absolvatur_, _Non liquet_,
and _Condemno_.
[2498] “In this place he casteth in the Romans’ teeth, their
_Lecticarii_, _Anagnostæ_, and _Nomenclatores_.”—_Holland_.
Letter-bearers, readers, and prompters as to the names of the persons
addressed.
[2499] He alludes to the resources of medicine.
[2500] A physician at Rome, who was afterwards put to the torture for
this crime. Livia was the daughter of Drusus Nero, the brother of
Tiberius.
[2501] Messalina, mentioned in c. 5 of this Book.
[2502] Nothing could possibly be more remote from his republican
notions, than “reginæ” at Rome.
[2503] “Emovendam.” In order that a future job may be ensured.
[2504] In c. 5 of this Book.
[2505] “Vulnerum medico.”
[2506] “Ejus turbæ.”
[2507] See B. xxiv. c. 1.
[2508] The origin of our word “treacle.” See B. xx. c. 100, and Note 97.
[2509] Used as a round number, like our expression “ten thousand.”
[2510] See B. xxiii. c. 77, and B. xxv. c. 26.
[2511] “Minium.” This red lead had the name of “cinnabaris nativa,”
whence the error.
[2512] In B. xxxiii. c. 38.
[2513] As tending to effeminacy, or undermining the constitution.
[2514] See B. xxviii. c. 13.
[2515] “Lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis.” Georg. I. 184, IV. 243.
[2516] Il. xvii. 670, _et seq._
[2517] He certainly does not _always_ keep this object in view.
[2518] See B. x. c. 2, and B. xii. c. 42.
[2519] A form of fever, Littré remarks, that is known by the moderns as
“pseudo-continuous.”
[2520] See B. xvi. c. 19.
[2521] “Smectica” is suggested by Gesner, Hist. Anim., as a better
reading than “septica.”
[2522] “Œsypum” is often mentioned by Ovid as a favourite cosmetic with
the Roman ladies.
[2523] See B. xix. c. 1, B. xxiv. c. 58, and B. xxv. c. 21.
[2524] See B. xviii. c. 17.
[2525] See B. xx. c. 23.
[2526] Hermolaüs suggests “schista,” “divided,” and Dalechamps proposes
“synchyta,” “mixed.” The reading is very doubtful.
[2527] Or Sowbread. See B. xxv. c. 67.
[2528] See B. xviii. c. 17.
[2529] In B. x. c. 80.
[2530] See B. xxiv. c. 54.
[2531] This is the fact, and it is similarly used for mending china.
White of egg, mixed with whiskey or spirits of wine, will answer the
purpose equally well.
[2532] Ajasson remarks that there is some slight truth in this
assertion.
[2533] Pliny alludes here to the beads or rings of glass which were
used by the Druids as charms to impose on the credulity of their
devotees, under the name of _Glain naidr_, or “the Adder gem.” Mr.
Luyd (in Rowland’s Mona Antiqua, p. 342) says that the genuine _Ovum
anguinum_ can be no other than a shell of the kind called _echinus
marinus_, and that Dr. Borlase observes that, instead of the natural
_anguinum_, artificial rings of stone, glass, and sometimes baked clay,
were substituted as of equal validity. The belief in these charms very
recently existed in Cornwall and Wales, if indeed it does not at the
present day. The subject is very fully discussed in Brand’s _Popular
Antiquities_, Vol. III. p. 286, _et seq._, and p. 369, _et seq._,
_Bohn’s Edition_. These gems and beads are not uncommonly found in
tumuli of the early British period.
[2534] A similar belief in its origin was prevalent in Cornwall and
Wales, and whoever found it was supposed to ensure success in all his
undertakings.
[2535] “The snake’s egg”—_ovum_ being understood.
[2536] “The vulgar opinion in Cornwall and most parts of Wales is
that these are produced through all Cornwall by snakes joining their
heads together and hissing, which forms a kind of bubble like a ring
about the head of one of them, which the rest, by continual hissing,
blow on till it comes off at the tail, when it immediately hardens and
resembles a glass ring.”—_Gough’s Camden_, Vol II. p. 571, Ed. 1789.
[2537] The shell of a sea urchin most probably. See Note 81 above.
[2538] See Note 82 above.
[2539] A nation of Gaul. See B. iii. cc. 5, 21.
[2540] The wand held by heralds, and generally represented as being
carried by Mercury in his character of messenger of the gods.
[2541] And therefore not portentous of war.
[2542] See B. v. cc. 13, 20.
[2543] See B. xii. c. 43.
[2544] See B. x. c. 28. Generally supposed to be Syrian nard; though
some identify it with the _Comacum_ of Theophrastus.
[2545] See B. xxiii. cc. 45, 80.
[2546] In B. xxviii. c. 38.
[2547] See B. xxiv. c. 69.
[2548] See B. xii. c. 54.
[2549] See B. xii. c. 62.
[2550] No MS., it would appear, gives “corvis” here, the reading being
“capris,” “goats.” Ajasson, however, is most probably right in his
suggestion that “corvis” is the correct reading.
[2551] See B. x. c. 15.
[2552] In B. x. c. 26.
[2553] Or Youth, in the Eighth Region of the City.
[2554] See B. ii. c. 53.
[2555] An ancient divinity, who is supposed to have presided over
childbirth. See Plutarch, Quæst. Rom. 52.
[2556] In the _Saturio_ probably, quoted by Festus, and now lost. The
aborigines of Canada, and the people of China and Tartary, hold whelps’
flesh in esteem as a great delicacy.
[2557] “Toxica.”
[2558] Of remedies classified according to the different maladies.
[2559] In B. xi. c. 76.
[2560] The ferret, most probably.
[2561] See c. 33 of this Book.
[2562] The common weasel.
[2563] Probably in his work entitled “Admiranda,” now lost. Holland
says “some take these for our cats.”
[2564] Guettard, a French commentator on Pliny, recommends bugs to be
taken internally for hysteria!
[2565] Perhaps the Cimex pratensis is meant here. Neither this nor the
Cimex juniperinus, the Cimex brassicæ, or the Lygæus hyoscami has the
offensive smell of the house bug.
[2566] An excellent method, Ajasson remarks, of adding to the tortures
of the patient.
[2567] This is the fact.
[2568] See B. viii. c. 33.
[2569] The Magi of the East, probably.
[2570] Some serpent of the boa species, probably. See B. viii. cc. 13,
14, 22, 41, and B. x. cc. 5, 92, 95, 96.
[2571] By leading them to confound truth with fiction.
[2572] See B. viii. c. 35.
[2573] This is _perhaps_ the meaning of “præcanere.” Sillig suggests
“recanere.”
[2574] Which was said to act as an antidote to the poison, applied to
the wound.
[2575] “Antidotes to serpents’ poison.”
[2576] “Pastilli.”
[2577] The god of Medicine.
[2578] A favourite reverie with the learned of the East. Dupont de
Nemours, Ajasson informs us, has left several Essays on this subject.
[2579] In Peloponnesus, the principal seat of his worship. A very full
account of his introduction, under the form of a huge serpent, into the
city of Rome, is given by Ovid, Met. B. xv. l. 544, _et seq._ This took
place B.C. 293.
[2580] Among the snakes that are tamed, Ajasson enumerates the Coluber
flagelliformis of Dandin, or American coach-whip snake; the Coluber
constructor of Linnæus, or Black snake; and the Coluber viridiflavus of
Lacepede. The Æsculapian serpent is still found in Italy.
[2581] Or “chersydri,” “amphibious.”
[2582] Or “starred lizard”—“stellio.” In reality it is not poisonous.
[2583] See B. x. c. 86. Some kind of starred lizard, or an eft or
newt perhaps, was thus called: but in most respects it appears to be
entirely a fabulous animal.
[2584] See B ii. c. 63.
[2585] He probably alludes to the Magi of Persia here, as most of the
stories about the salamander appear to bear the aspect of an Eastern
origin.
[2586] See B. xxii. c. 33.
[2587] “Cybium.” See B. ix. c. 18. Dioscorides says the plant _cnecos_,
described by Pliny in B. xxi. c. 107.
[2588] See B. xxv. c. 18, and B. xxvii. c. 77.
[2589] See B. xvi. c. 92, and B. xxvi. cc. 37, 66.
[2590] “Hereupon peradventure it is that in collices and cockbroths we
use to seeth pieces of gold, with an opinion to make them thereby more
restorative.”—_Holland_.
[2591] See B. xxv. c. 97.
[2592] The same is said of a frog’s tongue, in B. xxxii. c. 18.
[2593] That is no reason, as Ajasson remarks, why the egg should not be
found, it being easy to take it from the nest at night, when, the bird
being absent, no ill omen will arise from seeing it.
[2594] We still see bats nailed upon and over stable doors in various
parts of this country.
[2595] “Carduus.”
[2596] A sort of spider. See B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29.
[2597] In c. 16 of this Book.
[2598] “Lupus.” See B. xi. c. 28.
[2599] The Tarantula has been suggested, but that is a native of Italy.
[2600] “Atocium.”
[2601] “Plena liberis.”
[2602] From ῥάξ, a “grape.”
[2603] Or “starred” spider. Nicander describes all these varieties of
the Phalangium.
[2604] From μυρμὴξ, “an ant.”
[2605] The “four-jawed” spider.
[2606] In c. 16 of this Book.
[2607] See B. viii. c. 83.
[2608] See B. xix. c. 22. For further particulars as to the Stellio,
see B. xi. c. 31, and the Note.
[2609] This is probably an error; see the Note to B. xi. c. 31.
[2610] See B. x. cc. 18, 41, 44, and 50.
[2611] See B. viii. c. 43. Ajasson remarks that this is a mere fabulous
story, in reference to the venom of the ants.
[2612] In B. xxix. c. 23.
[2613] See B. xxvi. c. 2.
[2614] See B. xxiii. c. 14.
[2615] It has been ascertained by experiment that the vesicatory
principle resides in the wings more particularly. Ajasson remarks,
that it is possible that the ancients may not have known the genuine
Cantharides, the Canth. vesicatoria of modern medicine.
[2616] See B. xxiv. c. 74.
[2617] “Pityocampæ.” See B. xxiii. cc. 30, 40, and B. xxviii. c. 33.
[2618] See B. xxviii. cc. 21, 33, 42, and B. xxx. c. 10.
[2619] At the sale, under his supervision, of the property of Ptolemy,
king of Cyprus.
[2620] In B. xxi. c. 34.
[2621] This is still the vulgar notion; but in reality there is no
worm, but certain white pustules beneath the tongue, which break
spontaneously at the end of twelve days after birth. Puppies are still
“wormed,” as it is called, as a preventive of hydrophobia, it is said,
and of a propensity to gnaw objects which come in their way. The
“worming” consists in the breaking of these pustules.
[2622] “Rage” or “madness.”
[2623] “For the manner of a dog is to bee angrie with the stone that is
thrown at him, without regard to the partie that flung it, whereupon
grew the proverb in Greeke, κύων εἰς τὸν λίθον ἀγανακτοῦσα (‘A dog
venting his rage upon a stone.’)”—_Holland_.
[2624] See B. xx. cc. 6, 20. It is somewhat doubtful what the “seps”
really was; whether, in fact, it was a lizard at all. Littré suggests
the Tridactylus saurius.
[2625] Or Ferret, probably. See c. 16 of this Book.
[2626] In c. 16 of this Book.
[2627] From the circumstance that that country was covered with herbs
and plants of a medicinal nature.
[2628] So called from ἀλωπὴξ, “a fox,” an animal very subject to the
loss of its hair.
[2629] See B. xii. c. 51.
[2630] So swine’s dung was called “sucerda,” and cowdung “bucerda.”
[2631] Or Maagrus, the “fly catcher,” the name of a hero, invoked at
Aliphera, at the festivals of Athena, as the protector against flies.
It was also a surname of Hercules. See B. x. c. 40.
[2632] See B. viii. c. 53.
[2633] In c. 32 of this Book.
[2634] A recipe well understood in the restaurants of the French
provinces, Ajasson says, but it is doubtful whether with the object
named by our author.
[2635] He means slugs probably.
[2636] He does not appear to state this on hearsay only!
[2637] Cobwebs are still used for this purpose, as also the fur from
articles made of beaver. Ajasson mentions English taffeta.
[2638] See c. 13 of this Book.
[2639] See B. xxvi. c. 39.
[2640] A disease of the crystalline humours of the eye.
[2641] See B. x. c. 33.
[2642] “Stibium.” See B. xxxiii. c. 33.
[2643] “Exuta vere,” as suggested by Sillig, would appear a better
reading than “ex utero,” which can have no meaning here.
[2644] “Viper mixture.”
[2645] See c. 35 of this Book.
[2646] In B. xi. c. 62.
[2647] As Ajasson remarks, this would be very likely to gangrene the
wound.
[2648] See B. viii. c. 14. Not the Boa constrictor of modern Natural
History.
[2649] In B. x. c. 3.
[2650] See B. xxxiii. c. 25, and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38.
[2651] The tongues of peacocks and larks are recommended for epilepsy,
by Lampridius, in his Life of the Emperor Elagabalus. The statement in
the text is, of course, a fiction.
[2652] The reading here is doubtful.
[2653] A puerile reason, Ajasson remarks. It is much more probable that
the reason was, because this vein was the most easily discovered.
[2654] See B. xxviii. c. 47.
[2655] In B. xxviii. c. 47.
[2656] See B. x. c. 52.
[2657] The serpent so called.
[2658] An absurdity. The probability is, that the sight of the young
birds was only _supposed_ to be destroyed, the operation being
imperfectly performed.
[2659] See B. xxxvii. c. 56.
[2660] The mention of this number denotes the Eastern origin of this
remedy, Ajasson remarks.
[2661] See Note 6 above.
[2662] “Lacrymantibus sine fine oculis.”
[2663] Ajasson remarks, that Pliny has given here a much more exact
description of the varieties of the Spider, than in the Eleventh Book.
The learned Commentator gives an elaborate discussion, of eighteen
pages, on the varieties of the Spider as known to the ancients in
common with modern naturalists.
[2664] Green is universally the colour least fatiguing to the eye.
[2665] See B. xx. c. 23.
[2666] See B. vii. c. 27, and B. viii. c. 41. The formic acid which
ants contain may possibly possess some medicinal properties.
[2667] Ajasson suggests that this may be the Lacerta cœpium of
Dandin, of a reddish brown colour, with two blackish lines running
longitudinally along the back.
[2668] This insect in reality is a woodlouse, whereas the millepedes
previously described are evidently caterpillars. Woodlice are still
swallowed alive by schoolboys, and old women are to be found who
recommend them for consumption. Holland says that woodlice are good for
pains in the ears.
[2669] “Perniciosam.”
[2670] In the middle ages there were many superstitions with reference
to this insect, some of which have survived to the present day.
[2671] Ajasson seems to think that this passage means that the ant
_itself_ adopts this plan of catching the cricket. If so, he is
certainly in error, and his attack upon Pliny’s credulity is, in this
instance at least, misplaced.
[2672] See B. xi. c. 34, and B. xxv. c. 60.
[2673] “Inhabiting mills.”
[2674] See B. xix. c. 38, and B. xxv. c. 38.
[2675] Of this writer nothing is known.
[2676] See B. xxiv. c. 11.
[2677] See the end of this Book.
[2678] See end of B. ii.
[2679] See end of B. ii.
[2680] See end of B. iii.
[2681] See end of B. ii.
[2682] See end of B. vi.
[2683] See end of B. xii.
[2684] See end of B. vii.
[2685] See end of B. xiv.
[2686] See end of B. vii.
[2687] See end of B. xii.
[2688] See end of B. xxviii.
[2689] See end of B. viii.
[2690] See end of B. xviii.
[2691] See end of B. xix.
[2692] See end of B. ii.
[2693] See end of B. xx.
[2694] There are four literary persons of this name mentioned by
Suidas, who appears to give but a confused account of them. He speaks
of an ancient poet of Athens of this name, who wrote a Cosmogony and
other works; a native of Priene, to whom some attributed the work on
“Incredible Stories,” by most persons assigned to Palæphatus of Athens;
an historian of Abydos, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, and a
friend of Aristotle; and a grammarian of Athens of uncertain date, to
whom the work on “Incredible Stories” is mostly assigned. But in the
former editions of Pliny, the reading “Philopator” is mostly adopted;
bearing reference, it has been suggested, to a Stoic philosopher and
physician of that name mentioned by Galen, “On the Symptoms of Mental
Diseases,” c. 8.
[2695] See end of B. ii.
[2696] See end of B. xxi.
[2697] See end of B. xiii.
[2698] See end of B. xi.
[2699] See end of B. xii.
[2700] There were two Greek physicians of this name, one of whom was
a native of Thasos, and wrote several medical works. The other was a
native of Cnidos, and, according to Suidas, a slave of the philosopher
Chrysippus. Galen, however, says that he was a pupil of the physician
of that name, and afterwards became physician to Antigonus Gonatas,
king of Macedonia, B.C. 283-239. Hardouin is of opinion that the two
physicians were one and the same person.
[2701] See end of B. xx.
[2702] Servilius Democrates, a Greek physician at Rome about the time
of the Christian era. He probably received his prænomen from being a
client of the Servilian family. Pliny speaks of him in B. xxiv. c. 28,
and B. xxv. c. 49. He wrote several works on medicine in Greek Iambic
verse, the titles and a few extracts from which are preserved by Galen.
[2703] Probably the same physician that is mentioned by Galen as
belonging to the sect of the Empirici. See c. 39 of this Book.
[2704] See end of B. xx.
[2705] A fabulous king of Assyria, or Egypt, to whom was attributed the
discovery of many remedies and medicaments. See B. xxx. c. 51, and B.
xxxvii. c. 52.
[2706] See end of B. viii.
[2707] Beyond the mention made of his absurd remedy in c. 38 of the
present Book, nothing seems to be known of this writer.
[2708] “Artes.” Medicine, religion, and the art of divination.
[2709] Ajasson remarks that, on the contrary, this is a subject of
great doubt.
[2710] “Mathematicas artes.”
[2711] The title of the ancient kings of Persia.
[2712] Or Bactriana, more properly.
[2713] Magic, no doubt, has been the subject of belief from the
earliest times, whatever may have been the age of Zoroaster, the
Zarathustra of the Zendavesta, and the Zerdusht of the Persians. In
the Zendavesta he is represented as living in the reign of Gushtasp,
generally identified with Darius Hystaspes. He probably lived at a
period anterior to that of the Median and Persian kings. Niebuhr
regards him as a purely mythical personage.
[2714] See end of B. ii.
[2715] See end of this Book.
[2716] An exaggeration, of Oriental origin, most probably.
[2717] These names have all, most probably, been transmitted to us in
a corrupted form. Ajasson gives some suggestions as to their probable
Eastern form and origin.
[2718] One among the many proofs, Ajasson says, that the Iliad and the
Odyssey belong to totally different periods.
[2719] In reference to the Tenth Book of the Odyssey.
[2720] See B. v. cc. 28, 29. Cicero mentions a college of Aruspices
established at this city.
[2721] The name “Thessala” was commonly used by the Romans to signify
an enchantress, sorceress, or witch. See the story of Apuleius, Books
i. and iii.
[2722] The countries of the East.
[2723] Purely medicinal remedies.
[2724] In contradistinction to lightnings elicited by the practice of
Magic.
[2725] A poetical figure, alluding to the “thunderbolts of war,” as
wielded probably by Achilles and other heroes of Thessaly.
[2726] See B. ii. c. 9.
[2727] Ajasson queries whether this is a proper name, or an epithet
merely.
[2728] Ajasson combats this assertion at considerable length, and with
good reason. It is quite inadmissible.
[2729] The mysteries of philosophy, as Ajasson remarks, were not
necessarily identical with the magic art.
[2730] In reality, Pythagoras was an exile from the tyranny of the
ruler of Samos, Plato from the court of Dionysius the Younger, and
Democritus from the ignorance of his fellow-countrymen of Abdera. There
is no doubt that Pythagoras and Democritus made considerable researches
into the art of magic as practised in the East.
[2731] Nothing is known of this writer.
[2732] Dardanus, the ancestor of the Trojans, if he is the person
here meant, is said to have introduced the worship of the gods into
Samothrace.
[2733] The works of Homer were transmitted in a similar manner.
[2734] Moses, no doubt, was represented by the Egyptian priesthood as a
magician, in reference more particularly to the miracles wrought by him
before Pharaoh. From them the Greeks would receive the notion.
[2735] In 2 Tim. iii. 8, we find the words, “Now as Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth.” Eusebius, in his
_Præparatio Evangelica_, B. ix., states that Jannes and Jambres, or
Mambres, were the names of Egyptian writers, who practised Magic, and
opposed Moses before Pharaoh. This contest was probably represented by
the Egyptian priesthood as merely a dispute between two antagonistic
schools of Magic.
[2736] Of this person nothing is known. The former editions mostly have
“Jotapea.” “Jotapata” was the name of a town in Syria, the birthplace
of Josephus.
[2737] He is mistaken here as to the nation to which Jannes belonged.
[2738] By some it has been supposed that this bears reference to
Christianity, as introduced into Cyprus by the Apostle Barnabas. Owing
to the miracles wrought in the infancy of the Church, the religion of
the Christians was very generally looked upon as a sort of Magic. The
point is very doubtful.
[2739] His itinerary, Ajasson remarks, would have been a great
curiosity.
[2740] B. xxviii. c. 4.
[2741] These sacrifices forming the most august rite of the Magic art,
as practised in Italy.
[2742] That this art was still practised in secret in the days of Pliny
himself, we learn from the testimony of Tacitus (Annals, II. 69), in
his account of the enquiries instituted on the death of Germanicus.
[2743] More particularly in the worship of their divinity Heu or Hesus,
the god of war.
[2744] This he did officially, but not effectually, and the Druids
survived as a class for many centuries both in Gaul and Britain.
[2745] He alludes to the British shores bordering on the Atlantic. See
B. xix. c. 2.
[2746] It is a curious fact that the round towers of Ireland bear a
strong resemblance to those, the ruins of which are still to be seen on
the plains of ancient Persia.
[2747] “Ut dedisse Persis videri possit.” This might possibly mean,
“That Persia might almost seem to have communicated it direct to
Britain”. Ajasson enumerates the following superstitions of ancient
Britain, as bearing probable marks of an Oriental origin: the worship
of the stars, lakes, forests, and rivers; the ceremonials used in
cutting the plants samiolus, selago, and mistletoe, and the virtues
attributed to the adder’s egg.
[2748] Ajasson seems inclined to suggest that this may possibly bear
reference to the Christian doctrines of redemption and the Sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper.
[2749] These kinds of divination, rather than magic, were called
hydromancy, sphæromancy, aëromancy, astromancy, lychnomancy,
lecanomancy, and axinomancy. See Rabelais, B. iii. c. 25, where a very
full account is given of the Magic Art, as practised by the ancients.
Coffee-grounds, glair of eggs, and rose-leaves, are still used in
France for purposes of divination by the superstitious.
[2750] Suetonius says that his body was full of foul spots.
[2751] It was probably a doctrine of Magic, that an adept must not be
deficient in any of his limbs.
[2752] After being conquered by the Roman general, Corbulo, he received
the crown of Armenia from Nero, A.D. 63.
[2753] All vegetable substances were divided, according to their
doctrine, into the pure and the impure, the rule being strictly
observed at their repasts.
[2754] See end of this Book.
[2755] See B. xxv. c. 80.
[2756] Like the assertions of the famous impostor of the close of the
last century, Count Cagliostro.
[2757] A mistake, of course; and one for which there is little excuse,
as its eyes are easily perceptible. It is not improbably, however, that
it was an impression with the ancients that its sight is impeded by the
horny covering of its eyes.
[2758] In B. xxix. c. 27.
[2759] See B. xii. c. 51.
[2760] It is doubtful what is meant by this male white “water-serpent.”
In B. xxxii. c. 26, he appears to include it among the fishes.
[2761] See B. xxv. c. 108.
[2762] It is a singular thing that we still hear of the maggots found
in filberts being used for the same purpose.
[2763] See B. xxix. c. 17.
[2764] Marcus Empiricus says, honey.
[2765] See B. xvi. c. 19.
[2766] Dalechamps thinks that these “Herculean” ants were so called
from their great size. Ajasson queries whether they may not be the
“grenadier ants” of Dupont de Nemours.
[2767] See B. xxii. c. 36. Belon takes it to be the Lixus paraplecticus.
[2768] In B. xxix. c. 30.
[2769] In B. xxii. c. 21.
[2770] “Stigmata.”
[2771] See B. iv. c. 23, B. viii. c. 59, and cc. 15 and 43 of the
present Book.
[2772] “Smegma.”
[2773] See B. xx. c. 2.
[2774] No very great obligation, apparently.
[2775] See B. x. c. 49.
[2776] “Riparia.”
[2777] The only birds’ nests that are _now_ taken internally are the
_soutton bourong_, or, edible birds’ nests, of the Chinese.
[2778] See B. xxix. c. 39.
[2779] Marcus Empiricus says that the heart must be enclosed in a
silver lupine and worn suspended from the neck, being efficacious for
scrofula both in males and females. The silver lupine was probably what
we should call a “locket.”
[2780] “The bull.” Dalechamps takes this to be the stag-beetle or
bull-fly; but that, as Ajasson remarks, has four horns, two antennæ,
and two large mandibules; in addition to which, from its size, it would
hardly be called the “earth-louse.” He concludes that a lamellicorn is
meant; but whether belonging to the Lucanidæ or the Scarabæidæ, it is
impossible to say.
[2781] “Pediculus terræ.”
[2782] In B. xxix. c. 33.
[2783] In B. xxix. c. 21.
[2784] He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their
utility in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same; Spielmann
prescribes them for arthrosis; Riviere considers them as a detergent
for ulcers, and a resolvent for tumours of the mamillæ; and Baglivi
maintains that they are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a
lithontriptic. They contain muriate of lime and of potash, which may
possibly, in some small degree, give them an aperitive virtue.
[2785] See Horace, Epode xii. l. 5.
[2786] Hence, perhaps, the practice of nursing lap-dogs.
[2787] See B. iii. c. 30, and Note 2, p. 267.
[2788] In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some.
Snail milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive
patients: it is doubtful with what effect.
[2789] Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43.
[2790] See B. v. c. 20.
[2791] See B. iii. c. 12.
[2792] Our periwinkles.
[2793] Dalechamps takes this to mean “without horns:” and Hardouin is
of opinion that it means “genuine” or “unmixed.” In either sense, the
word is derived from the Greek.
[2794] He has omitted to do so.
[2795] “Humida tussis.”
[2796] See c. 12 of this Book.
[2797] Our “cricket.” The troxallis was probably a kind of locust,
still known to naturalists by that name.
[2798] “Protropum.” Wine of the first running.
[2799] “Carmen.” Holland says “the _aforesaid_ charm:” but this does
not appear from the context. From the account, however, given by Marcus
Empiricus, we learn that the charm, thus repeated twenty-seven times,
is the same as that already given.
[2800] Or “wolf.” See B. xi. c. 28.
[2801] See B. xxix. c. 28
[2802] Or woodlouse. See B. xxix. c. 39.
[2803] In B. xxix. c. 36.
[2804] See B. xxix. c. 36.
[2805] The iliac passion, or ileus volvulus.
[2806] In c. 16 of this Book.
[2807] A kind of bustard. See B. x. cc. 29, 50, and c. 45 of this Book.
[2808] See c. 14 of this Book, where a similar notion is mentioned.
[2809] There were three consuls of this name, L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D.
7; L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 29; and P. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 38. They
are mentioned also by Suetonius, Tacitus, Dion Cassius, Frontinus, and
Seneca.
[2810] See c. 14 of this Book.
[2811] See B. viii. c. 56.
[2812] This passage is omitted by Sillig as an evident interpolation
from the context a couple of lines below.
[2813] The belief in lithontriptics can hardly be said to exist at the
present day. Ajasson refers to the grant made by the British Parliament
of £5000 to Mrs. Stephens for her lithontriptic!!
[2814] In c. 16 of this Book.
[2815] See B. xxix. c. 39.
[2816] See B. xxxiv. c. 33.
[2817] It can hardly be said to add to his fame.
[2818] See B. xiv. c. 4.
[2819] In B. xxix. c. 36 and in c. 19 of this Book.
[2820] See B. xxxii. c. 35.
[2821] Ajasson remarks that this may probably be useful.
[2822] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13.
[2823] “Acetabuli mensurâ” seems a preferable reading to “aceto
mensurâ,” which makes no sense.
[2824] See B. xxi. c. 56.
[2825] See B. xviii. c. 17.
[2826] “Subluviem.” The same, probably, as the disease of the fingers
which he elsewhere calls “paronychia,” and perhaps identical with
whitlow.
[2827] See B. xxiii. c. 13.
[2828] A popular fallacy of Pliny’s time. See B. xi. c. 40.
[2829] Spectres and nightmare.
[2830] The serpent so called.
[2831] See B. viii. c. 35.
[2832] In c. 12 of this Book. Woodlice are meant.
[2833] See B. viii. c. 49.
[2834] A cozener, cheat, or rogue. Ajasson has a page of discussion on
the origin of this appellation.
[2835] In B. xxix. c. 16.
[2836] See B. xvi. c. 6.
[2837] Like our game poultry.
[2838] This word being also the Greek name for the jaundice.
[2839] See B. x. c. 50. The Witwall.
[2840] “Bastard-wasp.”
[2841] “Rostellum.” Holland renders it “The little prettie snout’s end
of a mouse.”
[2842] Of cowdung. It was supposed that there was no female scarabæus,
and that the male insect formed these balls for the reproduction of
its species. It figures very largely in the Egyptian mythology and
philosophy as the emblem of the creative and generative power. It has
been suggested that its Coptic name “_skalouks_” is a compound Sanscrit
word, signifying—“The ox-insect that collects dirt into a round mass.”
See B. xi, c. 34.
[2843] Probably the “lucanus” mentioned in B. xi. c. 34; supposed to be
the same as the stag-beetle.
[2844] The “fuller,” apparently. This name may possibly be derived,
however, from the Greek φυλλὸν, a “leaf.”
[2845] See B. xi. c. 38.
[2846] Some suppose that this was an insect that lived among dry wood,
and derive the name from the Greek φρυγανὸν. Queslon is of opinion that
it is the salamander.
[2847] The “wolf” spider. See c. 17 of this Book.
[2848] See B. xxxiv. c. 33.
[2849] Ajasson remarks that, in reality, this is not blood, but a kind
of viscous liquid.
[2850] “Digitus medicus”—“The physician’s finger,” properly. Why the
fourth finger, or that next to the little finger, was thus called, it
seems impossible to say.
[2851] See B. xii. c. 51.
[2852] See B. xxxiv. c. 34.
[2853] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13.
[2854] “Cosses.”
[2855] Dioscorides speaks of this honey as the produce of Sicily.
[2856] The “creeper.” It has not been identified.
[2857] Which are also called “herpetic” or “creeping.”
[2858] The serpent so called.
[2859] Antonius Castor, probably. See end of B. xx.
[2860] See c. 16 of this Book.
[2861] A chronic cancer.
[2862] “Ulula.”
[2863] In B. xxviii. c. 77.
[2864] “Fieri.”
[2865] See B. xviii. c. 17.
[2866] See B. xii. c. 51.
[2867] See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.
[2868] Varro calls them “albulæ,” and says that they were found at
Reate.
[2869] Of course she will be liable to do so, from fright.
[2870] The whole of this account appears to be in a very confused
state, and is probably corrupt. Sillig’s punctuation has not been
adopted.
[2871] Ajasson has wasted ten lines of indignation upon the question
where such a staff is to be found!
[2872] See c. 16 of this Book.
[2873] See B. xxxvi. c. 39.
[2874] An impossibility. See B. x. c. 15, for the stories about the
raven on which this notion was based.
[2875] See B. x. cc. 29, 50.
[2876] See B. xxxiv. cc. 22, 23.
[2877] See B. xxviii. c. 77.
[2878] “Scabiem vulvarum.”
[2879] Ajasson queries whether “denigrare” may not mean here “to render
pale.”
[2880] “Sorex.”
[2881] Supposed to be an inflammation of the membranes of the brain.
[2882] See c. 8 of this Book.
[2883] A remedy still used, Ajasson says, in the French provinces.
[2884] See B. viii. c. 14, and B. xxix. c. 38.
[2885] “Inter se conligatæ in coitu.”
[2886] See B. xxviii. c. 80.
[2887] See end of B. xxix.
[2888] He has hardly immortalized his name by it.
[2889] Possibly a kind of crane.
[2890] See B. viii. c. 75, and B. xxviii. c. 42.
[2891] It has not been identified.
[2892] Hardouin thinks that the worm called ἴξ by the Greeks is meant.
Ovid speaks in his Fasti, B. i. 11. 354-360, of the goat, as being very
fond of gnawing the vine.
[2893] See B. xi. c. 19.
[2894] See B. x. c. 20.
[2895] See B. viii. c. 72.
[2896] Some authorities say the ass, and others the Onager, or wild ass.
[2897] This story is generally regarded as an absurdity, and is
rejected by Arrian and Plutarch.
[2898] See end of B. ii.
[2899] See end of B. vi.
[2900] See end of B. vii.
[2901] See end of B. xii.
[2902] See end of B. xix.
[2903] See end of B. ii.
[2904] See end of B. ii.
[2905] An eminent philosopher, a native of Smyrna, and disciple of
Callimachus. He flourished about the middle of the third century B.C.,
and left numerous works, the principal of which was a Biography of
the Philosophers, Poets, and Historians, which seems to have been
highly esteemed. It is thought, too, that he wrote a work on Magic and
Astrology; but there are some doubts about the writer’s identity.
[2906] A native of Oasis in Egypt, who taught rhetoric at Rome in the
reigns of Tiberius and Claudius. Some curious particulars are given
respecting him in c. 6 of the present Book. His ostentation, vanity,
and insolent pretensions fully merited the title “Cymbalum mundi,”
which Tiberius bestowed on him. He was a man, however, of considerable
learning and great eloquence, and was distinguished for his hatred to
the Jews. Of his numerous works only some fragments remain.
[2907] See end of B. xx.
[2908] See end of B. ii.
[2909] See end of B. xxi.
[2910] See end of B. xiii.
[2911] See end of B. xxix.
[2912] See end of B. xi.
[2913] See end of B. xix.
[2914] See end of B. xii.
[2915] See end of B. xxix.
[2916] See end of B. xx.
[2917] See end of B. xxix.
[2918] See end of B. xx.
[2919] See end of B. viii.
[2920] See end of B. xxix.
[2921] See B. ii. c. 43. Ajasson remarks, that the electric fluid,
forming lightning, escapes from the clouds through causes _totally_
independent of water. Still, Pliny would appear to be right in one
sense; for if there were no water, there would be no clouds; and
without clouds the electric fluid would probably take some other form
than that of lightning.
[2922] He alludes to the mineral waters of Acqs or Dax on the Adour, in
the French department of the Ariège. They are still highly esteemed.
[2923] The principal of which are those of Aigues-Chaudes,
Aigues-Bonnes, Bagnères-Adores, Cambo, Bagnères, Barèges,
Saint-Sauveur, and Cauteret.
[2924] Ajasson remarks that animals in all cases refuse to drink
mineral waters.
[2925] He alludes to Neptune, Amphitrite, the Oceanides, Nereides,
Tritons, Crenides, Limnades, Potamides, and numerous other minor
divinities.
[2926] See B, iii. c. 9.
[2927] See B. iii. c. 7.
[2928] See B. iii. c. 5.
[2929] The mineral waters of Baiæ are still held in high esteem.
[2930] As to the identity of the “nitrum” of Pliny, see c. 46 of this
Book.
[2931] Posides, a eunuch who belonged to the Emperor Claudius,
according to Suetonius, c. 28.
[2932] There are still submarine volcanoes in the vicinity of Sicily,
but the spot here referred to is now unknown.
[2933] The Eaux Bonnes in the Basses Pyrénées are good for wounds.
After the battle of Pavia they received from the soldiers of Jean
d’Albret, king of Navarre, the name of _Eaux d’arquebusade_.
[2934] Only, Ajasson remarks, where the ophthalmia is caused by
inflammation of the conjunctive.
[2935] He also called it his Puteolan villa.
[2936] The “Quæstiones Academicæ.”
[2937] “Monumenta.” Ajasson queries what monuments they were, thus
raised by the “_parvenu_ of Arpinum.” He suggests that the erection may
have been a chapel, temple-library, or possibly funeral monument.
[2938] C. Antistius Vetus probably, a supporter of Julius Cæsar, Consul
Suffectus, B.C. 30.
[2939] “In parte primâ.”
[2940] There are three Epigrams probably by this author in the Greek
Anthology.
[2941] We are sensible that, in thus shortening the penultimate, we
shall incur the censure of solecizing, which Hardouin has cast upon the
poet Claudian for doing the same.
[2942] At the Torre de’ Bagni, Hardouin says, near the church of Santa
Maria a Caudara.
[2943] Saline and gaseous waters are good for this purpose. See B. iii.
c. 12.
[2944] It has still the same reputation, Hardouin says, and is situate
near the castle of Francolici.
[2945] See B. iii. c. 9.
[2946] Or “half-strength” waters, apparently. See B. iii. c. 9.
[2947] See B. iii. c. 9.
[2948] See B. ii. cc. 62, 106, and B. iii. c. 17.
[2949] Alluded to, probably, by Ovid, Met. xv. 319, _et seq._
[2950] The present Bagni di Tivoli. They have other sanitary properties
as well, a fact known to Strabo. Martial and Vitruvius also mention
them.
[2951] See B. iii. c. 17. Called Cotiscoliæ by Strabo. They were of a
salt and aluminous nature.
[2952] See B. iv. c. 2.
[2953] Pausanias calls it the “Elaphus.”
[2954] Isidorus, in his “Origines,” calls it the “Lechnus.”
[2955] In Thessaly, probably, according to Stephanus Byzantinus.
[2956] Ἄλφος; from which the lake probably derived its name. It has
been suggested that the source of the river Anigrus in Elis is meant.
Its waters had an offensive smell, and its fish were not eatable; and
near it were caverns sacred to the Nymphs Anigrides, where persons
with cutaneous diseases were cured. The water of these caverns is
impregnated with sulphur.
[2957] Possibly the M. Titius who was proscribed by the Triumvirs, B.C.
43, and escaped to Sex. Pompeius in Sicily.
[2958] See B. v. c. 22.
[2959] “Cassius Parmensis.” See the end of this Book.
[2960] According to some authorities, he alludes to the still famous
waters of Spa; but it is more probable that he alludes to the spring
still in existence at the adjacent town of Tongres, which was evidently
well known to the Romans, and is still called the “Fountain of Pliny.”
[2961] The springs on the present Monte Posilippo.
[2962] This work is lost. Chifflet suggests that “Varro” should be
read. See, however, B. vii. c. 2, B. xxix. c. 16 and c. 28 of this
Book. It was a common-place book, probably, of curious facts.
[2963] See B. ii. c. 106, where a growing rock in the marsh of Reate is
mentioned.
[2964] In Thessaly. A mere fable, no doubt.
[2965] Ovid, Met. xv. 315, _et seq._, tells very nearly the same
fabulous story about the rivers Crathis and Sybaris.
[2966] This marvellous story appears to have been derived from the
works of Aristotle.
[2967] Near the town of Lebadea, now Livadhia.
[2968] One called “Mnemosyne” or Memory, and the other “Lethe,” or
Forgetfulness.
[2969] From the Greek νοῦς “spirit,” “mind,” or “intelligence.”
Ajasson thinks it possible that its water may have assuaged vertigo,
or accelerated the circulation of the blood, and that thence its
reputation.
[2970] A fable invented by the priests, Ajasson thinks.
[2971] See Ovid, Met. xv. 322. It seems to be uncertain whether it was
at this lake or the adjoining spring of Lusi above-mentioned, that the
daughters of Prœtus were purified by Melampus. See the “Eliaca” of
Pausanias.
[2972] In B. ii. c. 106.
[2973] See B. ii. c. 106. As Ajasson remarks, Mucianus should have had
the sense to see that it was only a juggle of the priests of Bacchus.
He compares it to the miracle of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples.
The contrivance of the priests of Bel was not very dissimilar; but in
their case, _they themselves_ were the real recipients of what the god
was supposed to devour.
[2974] He no doubt alludes to “petroleum,” rock-oil, or Barbadoes tar.
[2975] So called from the Greek λιπαρὸς, “unctuous.”
[2976] A new reading given by Sillig in place of “India,” the former
one. Tasitia is the name of a district mentioned by Ptolemy, iv. 7,
15, as being in Æthiopia. He alludes to a burning spring, probably, of
naphtha or of petroleum. The burning springs of Bakou in the East are
well known. Genoa is lighted with naphtha from the village of Amiano,
in Parma.
[2977] In Macedonia.
[2978] “Lacum insanum.”
[2979] Juba has been deceived, Ajasson remarks, by the tales of
travellers, there being no serpents of this length in Africa, except
boas. He thinks that large congers, and other similar fishes, may be
the animals really alluded to.
[2980] From κλαίειν, “to weep,” and γελᾷν, “to laugh.”
[2981] His credulity, we have seen already, was pretty extensive.
[2982] In Thessaly.
[2983] At the town called “Aquæ Mattiacæ,” the modern Wiesbaden.
[2984] In B. ii. c. 106.
[2985] Sotion, professing to quote from Ctesias, says that it rejected
everything placed on its waters, and hurled it back upon dry land.
[2986] Whence, as it was said, its name, ἄορνος, “Without birds.”
Strabo ridicules this story.
[2987] M. Douville says that in the interior of Africa there is a
lake called Kalonga Kouffoua, or the Dead Lake, the surface of which
is covered with bitumen and naphtha, which contains no fish, has
oleaginous waters, and presents all the phænomena of the Dead Sea.
[2988] In Lycia.
[2989] Hardouin is of opinion that a river also was so called. See B.
v. c. 43. Of the divinity of this name, nothing further is known.
[2990] A story evidently connected with a kind of ordeal.
[2991] See B. iv. c. 34. Intermittent springs are not uncommon. See B.
ii. c. 106.
[2992] See B. xix. c. 11.
[2993] According to Elias of Thisbe this river was the Goza; but
Holstenius says that it was the Eleutherus, or one of its tributaries.
Josephus says that it flowed on the Sabbath day, and was dry the other
six.
[2994] Ajasson thinks that he means, grey. He remarks also, that it is
a matter of doubt whether there are any fishes that are poisonous.
[2995] The Danube.
[2996] In B. ii. c. 106, see also B. xxx. c. 53.
[2997] See B. iii. c. 14, and B. xviii. c. 21.
[2998] In B. iv. c. 15.
[2999] He alludes, according to Dalechamps, to the Eurotas, a
tributary, and not the source, of the Peneus. See B. iv. c. 8.
[3000] “Siliquà.”
[3001] A town of Mysia, south of Adramyttium.
[3002] As Ajasson remarks, numerous instances are known of this at the
present day. Pliny, however, does not distinguish the _incrusting_
springs from the _petrifying_ springs.
[3003] In Thessaly, according to Hecatæus.
[3004] “Lateres.” He means unburnt bricks, probably.
[3005] He alludes to stalactites and stalagmites.
[3006] Both on the roof and on the floor.
[3007] In Caria, opposite Rhodes.
[3008] Rain-water really is the lightest, but the reason here given is
frivolous, for it does not ascend as water, but as vapour.
[3009] See B. ii. c. 38. Before venturing on this argument, he should
have been certain as to the circumstances under which aërolites are
generated, a question which still remains hidden in mystery.
[3010] Ajasson remarks that this is only the case in the water of heavy
falls of rain after long drought.
[3011] “Calefiat.”
[3012] Snow-water is pernicious in a very high degree, being the
fruitful source of goitre and cretinism.
[3013] See B. xvii. c. 44, and B. xviii. c. 68.
[3014] This is somewhat similar to what is said of the putrefaction and
purification of Thames water, on a voyage.
[3015] “Inutilis alvo duritia faucibusque.” The passage is probably
corrupt.
[3016] See B. vi. c. 27.
[3017] Or “mud”—“limus.” All rivers of necessity have it, in a greater
or less degree.
[3018] On the contrary, the more the mud and slime, the more numerous
the eels.
[3019] “Tænias.”
[3020] Waters, probably, impregnated with mineral alkali. As to the
“nitrum” of Pliny, see c. 46 of this Book.
[3021] “Salmacidas.”
[3022] “Cænum.”
[3023] Also, Ajasson says, to observe whether soap will melt in it. If
it will not, it is indicative of the presence of selenite.
[3024] As drinking water.
[3025] As Plautus says of women, Mostell, A. i. S. 3—“They smell best,
when they smell of nothing at all.”
[3026] See B. xv. c. 32.
[3027] In purity and tastelessness. As Ajasson observes, Pliny could
hardly appreciate the correctness of this remark, composed as water is
of two gases, oxygen and hydrogen.
[3028] Pausanias and Athenæus mention also the well of Mothone in
Peloponnesus, the water of which exhaled the odour of the perfumes of
Cyzicus. Such water, however, must of necessity be impure.
[3029] More probably Astarte, Fée thinks, Juno being unknown in
Mesopotamia.
[3030] “Statera.” Ajasson remarks that it does not require an
instrument _very_ nicely adjusted to indicate the difference in weight
between pure and very impure water. Synesius, Ep. xv., gives an account
of the “hydroscopium” used by the ancients for ascertaining the weight
of water. Beckmann enters into a lengthy examination of it, as also an
enquiry into the question whether the ancients, and among them Pliny,
were acquainted with the hydrometer. See his _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp.
163-169. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3031] “Ne manus pendeant.” These words, which Hardouin pronounces to
be full of obscurity, have caused considerable discussion. The passage
appears to be imperfect, but it is not improbable that he alludes to
the use of the balance or scales for ascertaining the comparative
wholesomeness of water.
[3032] “Corripiat.”
[3033] The thread of his reasoning is not _very_ perceptible; but he
seems to mean that the more air there is in a body the colder it is.
If the air is inhaled by a person when eating peppermint, he will be
sensible of a cold feeling in the mouth.
[3034] Galen believes this method to have been known to Hippocrates,
and Aristotle was undoubtedly acquainted with it. See Beckmann’s _Hist.
Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 143-4. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3035] This is not at all the opinion at the present day.
[3036] “Magis refrigerari.” The experiments made by Mariotte, Perrault,
the Academy del Cimento, Mariana, and others, showed no perceptible
difference in the time of freezing, between boiled and unboiled water;
but the former produced ice harder and clearer, the latter ice more
full of blisters. In later times, Dr. Black, of Edinburgh, has from his
experiments asserted the contrary. “Boiled water,” he says, “becomes
ice sooner than unboiled, if the latter be left at perfect rest.”
Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 145. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3037] “Subtilissimo invento.”
[3038] Or perhaps, as we say, “to the touch, and vice versâ.” The
original is “Alternante hoc bono.”
[3039] A considerable number of its arches are yet standing, and it
still in part supplies Rome with water.
[3040] At Sublaqueum, now Subiaco.
[3041] “Primus auspicatus est.” In obedience to the “auspices,”
probably.
[3042] In A.U.C. 720. See B. xxxvi. c. 24.
[3043] “Aqua Virgo.” This aqueduct, erected A.U.C. 735, still exists,
and bears the name of “Aqua Vergine.”
[3044] Another story was, that it had this name from the circumstance
that the spring was first pointed out by a girl to some soldiers in
search of water.
[3045] In c. 23 of this Book.
[3046] This was only temporarily, in all probability.
[3047] There seems, as he says below, to be no general rule as to this
point.
[3048] So called from the snow on their summit.
[3049] In B. xxvi. c. 16.
[3050] “Salix erratica.”
[3051] Surely _not_ the reed, as he has mentioned it above as one
of the indications to be depended upon. In one MS. it appears to be
omitted, and with justice, probably.
[3052] “Coria.”
[3053] “Sabulum.”
[3054] “Sabulum masculum.” Coarse, reddish sand, Dalechamps says.
[3055] “Arena.”
[3056] See B. xvii. c. 3.
[3057] An inconvenience neutralized in a considerable degree by Davy’s
invention of the safety-lamp.
[3058] “Arenatum.” Properly a mortar, which consisted of one part lime
and two parts sand.
[3059] “Riget.”
[3060] See B. iv. c. 11. At Bisley, in Surrey, there is a spring,
Aubrey says, that is cold in summer and warm in winter.
[3061] See B. xviii. c. 7.
[3062] The sandy soil being dried in hot weather into masses of mud or
clay, which become loosened when rain falls.
[3063] See B. ii. c. 106.
[3064] Ajasson remarks, that just the converse of this has been proved
by modern experience to be the case.
[3065] The son of Antipater, then acting for Alexander during his
absence in the East.
[3066] See B. ii. c. 84.
[3067] In Cilicia.
[3068] Whether he means the district of Thessaly so called, or one of
the two cities of that name in Lydia, does not appear to be known.
[3069] Its locality is unknown, but it was probably near the sea-shore.
[3070] In Elis in Peloponnesus.
[3071] His credulity is influenced by the popular story that the river
Alpheus in Peloponnesus, in its love for the Fountain Nymph Arethusa,
penetrated beneath the bed of the sea, and reappeared in Sicily. See B.
iii. c. 14.
[3072] See c. 20.
[3073] The modern Dnieper.
[3074] The Boug.
[3075] See B. xviii. c. 3, and the Introduction to Vol. III.
[3076] In jets, he means.
[3077] “Si quinariæ erunt.”
[3078] “Denaria.”
[3079] “Quinaria.”
[3080] The name given to these reservoirs was “castellum” or
“dividiculum:” in French the name is “_regard_.” Vitruvius describes
them, B. vii. c. 7.
[3081] Pliny appears to have forgotten the warm springs of the
Scamander, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, B. xxii. l. 147, _et seq._
[3082] Or rather, as Ajasson says, for cutaneous diseases.
[3083] See B. iii. c. 17.
[3084] In conformity with Sillig’s suggestion, we reject “atque” as an
interpolation.
[3085] “Mulceri.”
[3086] In spite of what Pliny says, in some cases the use of a mineral
bath is recommended for a long period of time together. At Leuk or
Læch, for instance, in the Valais, the patients, Ajasson says, remain
in the bath as much as eight hours together.
[3087] To promote expectoration, Dalechamps says; or rather vomiting,
according to Holland.
[3088] This substance, Ajasson says, is still used in medicine; that of
the waters of Silvanez, for example, in the department of Aveyron, is
highly celebrated for the cure of inveterate ulcers and sciatica. The
mud baths, too, of Saint Amand, enjoy an European reputation.
[3089] See B. ii c. 106.
[3090] In B. xxiv. c. 19, and B. xxviii. c. 14.
[3091] An elder brother of the philosopher Seneca. His original name
was M. Annæus Noratus; but upon being adopted by the rhetorician Junius
Gallio, he changed his name into L. Junius Annæus—or Annæanus—Gallio.
He destroyed himself, A.D. 65.
[3092] He was “Consul subrogatus” only.
[3093] “Malagmatis.”
[3094] It acts in most cases as an emetic, and is highly dangerous if
taken in considerable quantities.
[3095] It is still considered useful, Ajasson says, for the treatment
of lymphatic diseases.
[3096] “Virus.”
[3097] Or “spitter.” See B. xxviii. c. 18.
[3098] “Mammas sororiantes.” A malady, according to Dalechamps, in
which the mamillæ are so distended with milk that they kiss, like
sisters—“sorores.”
[3099] The ancients being unable to analyze sea-water, could only
imitate it very clumsily.
[3100] “Sea-water honey.”
[3101] See B. xiv. c. 20, and B. xxii. c. 51. He is speaking, probably,
of fermented hydromel, a sort of mead.
[3102] The joints being rendered more supple thereby.
[3103] He probably means sea-water, alluding to certain kinds of
sea-weed. Dioscorides speaks of it, in B. iv. c. 99, as being good for
gout. It is, in reality, of some small utility in such cases.
[3104] He most probably means sea-water.
[3105] The Greeks used sand-baths for the purpose of promoting the
perspiration; the names given to them were παρόπτησις and φοίνιγμος.
[3106] “Sal fit.” This expression is not correct, there being no such
thing as _made_ salt. It is only collected from a state of suspension
or dissolution. Pliny, however, includes under the name “sal” many
substances, which in reality are _not_ salt. His “hammoniacum,” for
instance, if identical with hydrochlorate of ammonia, can with justice
be said to be _made_, being formed artificially from other substances.
[3107] “Coacto humore vel siccato.” These two terms in reality imply
the same process, by the medium of evaporation; the former perfect, the
latter imperfect.
[3108] The evaporation not being sufficiently strong to dry up the
deeper parts.
[3109] There is in reality nothing wonderful in this, considering that
most lakes are constantly fed with the streams of rivers, which carry
mineral salts along with them, and that the work of evaporation is
always going on.
[3110] “Glæbas.”
[3111] Because it is necessarily purer than that found upon the sand.
[3112] The description is not sufficiently clear to enable us to
identify these lakes with certainty. Ajasson thinks that one of them
may be the Lake of Badakandir in the Khanat of Bokhara; and the other
the lake that lies between Ankhio and Akeha, in the west of the
territory of Balkh, and near the Usbek Tartars.
[3113] “Sale exæstuant.”
[3114] In consequence of the intense heat.
[3115] All these regions, Ajasson remarks, are covered with salt. An
immense desert of salt extends to the north-east of Irak-Adjemi, and
to the north of Kerman, between Tabaristan, western Khoracan, and
Khohistan.
[3116] Identified by Ajasson with the Herat and the Djihoun. He thinks
that it is of some of the small affluents of this last that Pliny
speaks.
[3117] “Lapis specularis.”
[3118] A “crumb” properly, in the Latin language.
[3119] See B. vi. c. 32.
[3120] More commonly known as Jupiter Hammon.
[3121] See B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxiv. c. 28, for an account of gum
resin ammoniac, a produce of the same locality. The substance here
spoken of is considered by Beckmann to be nothing but common salt in
an impure state. See his _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 398-9, where this
passage is discussed at considerable length. Ajasson, on the other
hand, considers it to be Hydrochlorate of ammonia, the Sal ammoniac of
commerce. According to some accounts, it was originally made in the
vicinity of the Temple of Jupiter Hammon, by burning camels’ dung.
[3122] Called ἄμμος, in Greek.
[3123] See B. xxxv. c. 52.
[3124] Sal ammoniac crystallizes in octahedrons.
[3125] “Intra specus suos.” On this passage, Beckmann says, “From what
is said by Pliny it may with certainty be concluded that this salt was
dug up from pits or mines in Africa.—Many kinds of rock-salt, taken
from the mines of Wieliczka, experience the same change in the air; so
that blocks which a labourer can easily carry in the mine, can scarcely
be lifted by him after being for some time exposed to the air. The
cause here is undoubtedly the same as that which makes many kinds of
artificial salt to become moist and to acquire more weight.”—Vol. II.
p. 399, _Bohn’s Ed._
[3126] According to modern notions, his reason is anything but
_evident_.
[3127] In Celtiberia. He alludes to the mountain of salt at Cardona,
near Montserrat in Catalonia.
[3128] Speaking generally, this is true; but soils which contain it in
small quantities are fruitful.
[3129] A similar method is still employed, Ajasson says, at the
salt-mines near Innspruck in the Tyrol.
[3130] Native bitumen; always to be found in greater or less
quantities, in saliferous earths.
[3131] The process of artificial evaporation.
[3132] This would produce an impure alkaline salt. According to
Townson, this practice still prevails in Transylvania and Moldavia.
[3133] “The water, evaporating, would leave the salt behind, but mixed
with charcoal, ashes, earth, and alkaline salts; consequently it must
have been moist, or at any rate nauseous, if not refined by a new
solution.”—Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 493. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3134] Not improbably a people of India so called, and mentioned in B.
vi. c. 20.
[3135] See B. ix. c. 42.
[3136] “In laterculis.” Hardouin considers this to mean small earthen
vessels or pipes.
[3137] In c. 39 of this Book.
[3138] “Melanthium.” See B. xx. c. 17.
[3139] “Flos salis.” Further mentioned in c. 42.
[3140] See B. iv. c. 17.
[3141] St. Augustin mentions this marvellous kind of salt. De Civit.
Dei, B. xxi. cc. 5, 7.
[3142] As well as Centuripa.
[3143] “Opsonium.”
[3144] “Pulmentarii.”
[3145] See c. 43 of this Book.
[3146] This is consistent with modern experience.
[3147] “Sales.”
[3148] Literally, “salt money”—“argentum” being understood. The
term was originally applied to the pay of the generals and military
tribunes. Hence our word “salary.”
[3149] Beginning at the Colline Gate.
[3150] “In congiario.”
[3151] Most probably “He cannot earn salt to his bread,” or something
similar, like our saying, “He cannot earn salt to his porridge.” The
two Greek proverbs given by Dalechamps do not appear to the purpose.
[3152] “Mola salsa.”
[3153] “Favillam.”
[3154] “Schroder thinks that in what Pliny says of _Flos Salis_,
he can find the martial sal-ammoniac flowers of our chemists, [the
double chloride of ammonium and iron], or the so-called _flores sales
ammoniaci martiales_.—It is certain that what Dioscorides and Pliny
call _flos salis_, has never yet been defined. The most ingenious
conjecture was that of Cordus, who thought that it might be Sperma
ceti; but though I should prefer this opinion to that of Schroder,
I must confess that, on the grounds adduced by Matthiali and Conrad
Gesner, it has too much against it to be admitted as truth.”—Beckmann,
_Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 193. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3155] Salt collected from the foam on the sea-shore.
[3156] A sort of bitumen, probably.
[3157] Medicines for relieving weariness. See B. xxiii. c. 45, and B.
xxix. c. 13.
[3158] “Smegmatis.”
[3159] It was, probably, of an intermediate nature, between caviar and
anchovy sauce.
[3160] See B. xxxii, c. 53. It does not appear to have been identified.
[3161] As to the identity of the Scomber, see B. ix. c. 19.
[3162] See B. xix. c. 7.
[3163] “Garum sociorum.”
[3164] The present Straits of Gibraltar.
[3165] In Gallia Narbonensis.
[3166] Sillig reads “Delmatia” here.
[3167] See B. ix. c. 74. The fry of larger fish, Cuvier says.
[3168] Ajasson considers this to be an absurd derivation; and thinks
it much more probable, that the name is from ἀ privative, and φύω “to
beget;” it being a not uncommon notion that these small fish were
produced spontaneously from mud and slime.
[3169] The present Frejus, in the south of France.
[3170] “Wolf.” Not the fish of that name, Hardouin says, mentioned in
B. ix. c. 28.
[3171] The festivals of Ceres. The devotees, though obliged to abstain
from meat, were allowed the use of this _garum_, it would appear.
[3172] Gesner proposes to read “_non_ carêntibus,” “_with_
scales”—fishes _without_ scales being forbidden to the Jews by the
Levitical Law. See Lev. c xi. ver. 10. It is, most probably, Pliny’s
own mistake.
[3173] See B. xxvii. c. 2.
[3174] At the end of c. 42.
[3175] He alludes to its decrepitation in flame.
[3176] Pharnaces caused the body of his father Mithridates to be
deposited in brine, in order to transmit it to Pompey.
[3177] He uses the word “pterygia” here, as applied to the whole of
the body—“totius corporis”—in its two distinct senses, a hangnail or
excrescence on the fingers, and a web or film on the eyes.
[3178] In c. 23, he has said much the same of cold water.
[3179] “Sale et sole.”
[3180] This passage would come more naturally _after_ the succeeding
one.
[3181] See B. xxiii. c. 13.
[3182] “Ita ut batuerentur ante.” From the corresponding passage in
Dioscorides, where the expression Βαπτόμενοι εἰς ὄξος is used, it would
appear that the proper word here is “baptizarentur;” or possibly, a
lost Græco-Latin word, “bapterentur.” Littré suggests “hebetarentur,”
“the part being first numbed” by the aid of a bandage.
[3183] “Spuma salis.” Collected from the foam on the sea-shore.
[3184] See Note 36, above, p. 507.
[3185] Beckmann, who devotes several pages to a consideration of
the “nitrum” of the ancients, considers it not to be our “nitre” or
“saltpetre,” but a general name for impure alkaline salts. See his
_Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 490-503, _Bohn’s Ed._ Ajasson, without
hesitation, pronounces it to be nitrate of potash, neither more or less
than our saltpetre, and quotes a statement from Andreossy, that it is
still to be found in great quantities at Mount Ptou-Ampihosem, near the
city of Pihosem, called Nitria by St. Jerome.
[3186] “Salt bursting from the earth.”
[3187] “Wild.”
[3188] See c. 40 of this Book. He is evidently speaking of a
_vegetable_ alkali here. See Beckmann, Vol. II. pp. 492-3, _Bohn’s Ed._
[3189] Beckmann thinks that these kinds of water were in reality only
impure and not potable, from their nauseous taste, and that hence
they were considered as nitrous. Nitrous water, he remarks, or water
containing saltpetre, in all probability, does not exist. Vol. II. pp.
498-9. _Bohn’s Edition._
[3190] Or in other words, crystallization. Beckmann remarks that, in
reference to alkaline water, this is undoubtedly true. Vol. II. p. 499.
[3191] From the adjacent town of Chalastra, on the Thermæan Gulf. The
site is probably occupied by the modern Kulakia.
[3192] Carbonate of soda is found in the mineral waters of Seltzer and
Carlsbad, and in the volcanic springs of Iceland, the Geysers more
particularly.
[3193] Ajasson remarks, that from this we may conclude that the
fabrication of nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, was in its infancy.
It is by no means improbable that the _artificial_ nitrum, _here_
mentioned by Pliny, really was artificial saltpetre, more or less
impure; the _native_ nitrum, on the other hand, being, as Beckmann
suggests, a general term for impure alkaline mineral salts, in common
with native saltpetre. Pliny’s account, however, is confused in the
highest degree, and in some passages far from intelligible.
[3194] Of a bituminous nature, probably. See c. 42 of this Book.
[3195] See B. v. c. 40. An alkaline water, Beckmann thinks. See Vol.
II, pp. 96-7. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3196] He may possibly mean bleaching the material before dyeing.
[3197] See B. xxxvi. c. 65. This certainly goes far towards proving
that under the name “nitrum,” alkaline salts were included.
[3198] “Faciunt ex his vasa, necnon frequenter liquatum cum sulphure,
coquentes in carbonibus.” This passage Beckmann pronounces to be one of
the _darkest_ parts in the history of _nitrum_. See Vol. II. p. 502.
He is of opinion that not improbably the result here obtained would
be, liver of sulphur, which when it cools is hard, but soon becomes
moist when exposed to the air. Dalechamps, it would appear, explains
the whole of this passage as applicable to glazing; but in such case,
as Beckmann observes, the nitrum could serve only as a flux. Michaelis
suggests that the vessels here mentioned, were cut, not for real use,
but merely for ornament, in the same manner as they are still made,
occasionally, from rock-salt.
[3199] The mention of nitrum, sulphur, and charcoal, probably the three
ingredients of gunpowder, in such close proximity, is somewhat curious.
[3200] “Quæ” seems a preferable reading to “quos.”
[3201] “Spuma nitri.” An accidental property, Beckmann says, of the
same salt that has been previously called “Chalastricum,” “Halmyrax,”
“Aphronitrum,” and “Agrion.” In his opinion, “the ancients were
acquainted with no other than _native_ nitrum, which they called
_artificial_, only when it required a little more trouble and art to
obtain it.”—_Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 502. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3202] “Froth of nitre.” Ajasson identifies this with hydro-carbonate
of soda.
[3203] Supposed by Hardouin to be derived from the Greek κόλικας,
“round cakes;” owing to the peculiar form of the pieces of rock by
which the aphronitrum was produced. The reading, however, is very
doubtful. Sillig, from Photius, suggests that it should be “scolecas.”
[3204] One proof, Beckmann thinks, that Soda is meant. See Vol. II. p.
491.
[3205] “Whether Pliny means that the vessels were not burnt, but only
baked in the sun, or that before they were filled, they were completely
dried in the sun, has been determined by no commentator. To me the
latter is probable.”—Beckmann, _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 491.
[3206] Beckmann thinks that this mode of adulteration, with lime, is
an additional proof that the “nitrum” of our author was only soda. See
Vol. II. p. 492.
[3207] That, namely, of the lime. Quick-lime, certainly, would have a
pungent taste, in comparison with that of soda, but not in comparison
with that of saltpetre.
[3208] Another proof, Beckmann thinks, that it was native soda,
impregnated with common salt. Vol. II. p. 492.
[3209] This would hardly apply to soda.
[3210] Probably to promote its rising, as Beckmann observes, Vol. II.
p. 496; a circumstance which goes a great way towards proving that
“Soda” was included, at least, under the name of “nitrum.” Carbonate of
soda is extensively used for this purpose at the present day.
[3211] And to correct the acridity of the radishes, possibly. A
somewhat analogous fact is mentioned by Drury, in his “Journal in
Madagascar.” He says that the sourest tamarinds, “mixed with wood
ashes, become sweet and eatable.” See p. 316.—We are not unaware that
many look upon this work and its statements as a work of fiction.
[3212] See B. xix. c. 26.
[3213] Carbonate of soda is added to pickles and boiling vegetables for
this purpose.
[3214] Vegetable ashes, and tobacco-ashes in particular, have the same
effect.
[3215] See B. xxxv. c. 57.
[3216] Viewed by the ancients as a poison, when taken warm; but
erroneously, as we have more than once remarked.
[3217] See B. xix. c. 15.
[3218] Nitre balls are still given to the patient to suck, in cases of
sore throat.
[3219] See B. xii. c. 51.
[3220] Beckmann considers that this statement throws some light on the
obscure passage, commented on in Note 3198, p. 514. See _Hist. Inv._
Vol. II. p. 503. _Bohn’s Ed._
[3221] In B. ix. c. 69.
[3222] No such distinction, of course, _really_ exists; sponge being in
reality a fibrous tissue formed by minute animals.
[3223] “Goats,” literally.
[3224] See B. ix. c. 69. He probably alludes to the semifluid thin coat
of animal jelly which covers the sponge in its recent state, and is
susceptible of a slight contraction on being touched.
[3225] A fanciful notion, certainly.
[3226] Hot water renders them greasy, so to say; an inconvenience which
may be remedied by steeping them in an alkaline solution, or in urine.
[3227] “Penicilli.”
[3228] See B. ix. c. 69.
[3229] See B. v. c. 28.
[3230] An absurdity, of course.
[3231] See end of B. ii.
[3232] Called C. Cassius Severus Parmensis, according to some
authorities. He was one of the murderers of Cæsar, and perished, the
last of them by a violent end, about B.C. 30. He is supposed to have
written tragedies, epigrams, and other works. See Horace, Epist. B. i.
Ep. 4, l. 3.
[3233] See end of B. vii.
[3234] See end of B. ii.
[3235] Cælius Antipater. See end of B. ii.
[3236] See end of B. vii.
[3237] See end of B. vii.
[3238] See end of B. xviii.
[3239] See end of B. iv.
[3240] This personage is entirely unknown. It may possibly be a
corruption for Soranus, a poet of that name (Q. Valerius Soranus) who
flourished about 100 B.C. See also B. xxxii. c. 23.
[3241] See end of B. iv.
[3242] See end of B. ii.
[3243] Beyond the mention made of him in c. 9 of this Book, nothing
whatever is known of him.
[3244] See end of B. iii.
[3245] See end of B. ii., and end of B. vi.
[3246] See end of B. ii.
[3247] See end of B. xii.
[3248] See end of B. v.
[3249] See end of B. xii.
[3250] See end of B. xxx.
[3251] See end of B. ii.
[3252] He is also mentioned in B. xxxii. c. 16, but beyond that,
nothing whatever appears to be known of him. He must not be confounded
with Pelops of Smyrna, one of Galen’s preceptors, who flourished in the
second century after Christ.
[3253] See end of B. xxviii.
[3254] See end of B. ii.
[3255] See end of B. ii.
[3256] See end of B. viii.
[3257] A celebrated Comic poet, a disciple of Theophrastus, and the
inventor of the New Comedy at Athens. Only a few fragments of his works
survive.
[3258] See end of B. viii.
[3259] A physician, of whom, beyond the mention made of him in B.
xxxii. c. 26, no further particulars appear to be known.
[3260] See end of B. xx.
[3261] A Greek writer on plants, and a follower of Asclepiades of
Bithynia. He is supposed to have flourished in the latter half of the
first century B.C. His medical formulæ are several times quoted by
Galen. See c. 31 of the succeeding Book.
[3262] See end of B. vii.
[3263] See end of B. xxi.
END OF VOL. V.
J. BILLING, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER (FROM WOKING),
GUILDFORD, SURREY.
Transcriber’s Notes:—
In footnote [24] “See Introduction to Vol. III.” probably refers to the
glossary of “GREEK AND ROMAN MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES MENTIONED BY
PLINY.” which follows the Contents section of Volume III.
The footnotes for each of the six volumes have been renumbered, the
references to notes in other volumes have been changed accordingly.