AN ACCOUNT OF FLOWERS, AND THOSE USED FOR CHAPLETS MORE PARTICULARLY.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE NATURE OF FLOWERS AND GARLANDS.
Cato has recommended that flowers for making chaplets should also be
cultivated in the garden; varieties remarkable for a delicacy which
it is quite impossible to express, inasmuch as no individual can find
such facilities for describing them as Nature does for bestowing on
them their numerous tints—Nature, who here in especial shows herself
in a sportive mood, and takes a delight in the prolific display of her
varied productions. The other[1837] plants she has produced for our use
and our nutriment, and to them accordingly she has granted years and
even ages of duration: but as for the flowers and their perfumes, she
has given them birth for but a day—a mighty lesson to man, we see, to
teach him that that which in its career is the most beauteous and the
most attractive to the eye, is the very first to fade and die.
Even the limner’s art itself possesses no resources for reproducing
the colours of the flowers in all their varied tints and combinations,
whether we view them in groups alternately blending their hues, or
whether arranged in festoons, each variety by[1838] itself, now
assuming a circular form, now running obliquely, and now disposed
in a spiral pattern; or whether, as we see sometimes, one wreath is
interwoven within another.
CHAP. 2. (2.)—GARLANDS AND CHAPLETS.
The ancients used chaplets of diminutive size, called “struppi;”[1839]
from which comes our name for a chaplet, “strophiolum.” Indeed, it was
only by very slow degrees that this last word[1840] became generalized,
as the chaplets that were used at sacrifices, or were granted as the
reward of military valour, asserted their exclusive right to the name
of “corona.” As for garlands, when they came to be made of flowers,
they received the name of “serta,” from the verb “sero,”[1841] or else
from our word “series.”[1842] The use[1843] of flowers for garlands is
not so very ancient, among the Greeks even.
CHAP. 3.—WHO INVENTED THE ART OF MAKING GARLANDS: WHEN THEY FIRST
RECEIVED THE NAME OF “COROLLÆ,” AND FOR WHAT REASON.
For in early times it was the usage to crown the victors in the
sacred contests with branches of trees: and it was only at a later
period, that they began to vary their tints by the combination[1844]
of flowers, to heighten the effect in turn by their colour and their
smell—an invention due to the ingenuity of the painter Pausias, at
Sicyon,[1845] and the garland-maker Glycera, a female to whom he
was greatly attached, and whose handiwork was imitated by him in
colours. Challenging him to a trial of skill, she would repeatedly
vary her designs, and thus it was in reality a contest between art
and Nature; a fact which we find attested by pictures of that artist
even still in existence, more particularly the one known as the
“Stephaneplocos,”[1846] in which he has given a likeness of Glycera
herself. This invention, therefore, is only to be traced to later than
the Hundredth[1847] Olympiad.
Chaplets of flowers being now the fashion, it was not long before those
came into vogue which are known to us as Egyptian[1848] chaplets; and
then the winter chaplets, made for the time at which Earth refuses
her flowers, of thin laminæ of horn stained various colours. By slow
degrees, too, the name was introduced at Rome, these garlands being
known there at first as “corollæ,” a designation given them to express
the remarkable delicacy[1849] of their texture. In more recent times,
again, when the chaplets presented were made of thin plates[1850] of
copper, gilt or silvered, they assumed the name of “corollaria.”
CHAP. 4. (3.)—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO GIVE CHAPLETS WITH LEAVES OF SILVER
AND GOLD. LEMNISCI: WHO WAS THE FIRST TO EMBOSS THEM.
Crassus Dives[1851] was the first who gave chaplets with artificial
leaves of silver and gold, at the games celebrated by him. To embellish
these chaplets, and to confer additional honour on them, lemnisci were
added, in imitation of the Etruscan chaplets, which ought properly to
have none but lemnisci[1852] made of gold. For a long period these
lemnisci were destitute of ornament:[1853] P. Claudius Pulcher[1854]
was the first who taught us to emboss[1855] them, and added leaves of
tinsel to the laminæ[1856] of which the lemniscus was formed.
CHAP. 5.—THE GREAT HONOUR IN WHICH CHAPLETS WERE HELD BY THE ANCIENTS.
Chaplets, however, were always held in a high degree of estimation,
those even which were acquired at the public games. For it was the
usage of the citizens to go down in person to take part in the
contests of the Circus, and to send their slaves and horses thither
as well. Hence it is that we find it thus written in the laws of the
Twelve Tables: “If any person has gained a chaplet himself, or by
his money,[1857] let the same be given to him as the reward of his
prowess.” There is no doubt that by the words “gained by his money,”
the laws meant a chaplet which had been gained by his slaves or
horses. Well then, what was the honour acquired thereby? It was the
right secured by the victor, for himself and for his parents, after
death, to be crowned without fail, while the body was laid out in the
house,[1858] and on its being carried[1859] to the tomb.
On other occasions, chaplets were not indiscriminately worn, not even
those which had been won in the games.
CHAP. 6.—THE SEVERITY OF THE ANCIENTS IN REFERENCE TO CHAPLETS.
Indeed the rules upon this point were remarkably severe. L. Fulvius, a
banker,[1860] having been accused, at the time of the Second Punic War,
of looking down from the balcony[1861] of his house upon the Forum,
with a chaplet of roses upon his head, was imprisoned by order of the
Senate, and was not liberated before the war was brought to a close. P.
Munatius, having placed upon his head a chaplet of flowers taken from
the statue of Marsyas,[1862] was condemned by the Triumviri to be put
in chains. Upon his making appeal to the tribunes of the people, they
refused to intercede in his behalf—a very different state of things to
that at Athens, where the young men,[1863] in their drunken revelry,
were in the habit, before midday, of making their way into the very
schools of the philosophers even. Among ourselves, no such instance of
a similar licentiousness is to be found, unless, indeed, in the case of
the daughter[1864] of the late Emperor Augustus, who, in her nocturnal
debaucheries, placed a chaplet on the statue[1865] of Marsyas, conduct
deeply deplored in the letters of that god.[1866]
CHAP. 7.—A CITIZEN DECKED WITH FLOWERS BY THE ROMAN PEOPLE.
Scipio is the only person that ever received from the Roman people
the honour of being decked with flowers. This Scipio received the
surname of Serapio,[1867] from his remarkable resemblance to a certain
person of that name who dealt in pigs. He died in his tribuneship,
greatly beloved by the people, and in every way worthy of the family
of the Africani. The property he left was not sufficient to pay the
expenses of his burial; upon which the people made a subscription and
contracted[1868] for his funeral, flowers being scattered upon the body
from every possible quarter[1869] as it was borne along.
CHAP. 8.—PLAITED CHAPLETS. NEEDLE-WORK CHAPLETS. NARD-LEAF CHAPLETS.
SILKEN CHAPLETS.
In those days, too, chaplets were employed in honour of the gods,
the Lares, public as well as domestic, the sepulchres,[1870] and the
Manes. The highest place, however, in public estimation, was held by
the plaited chaplet; such as we find used by the Salii in their sacred
rites, and at the solemnization of their yearly[1871] banquets. In
later times, the rose chaplet has been adopted, and luxury arose at
last to such a pitch that a chaplet was held in no esteem at all if it
did not consist entirely of leaves sown together with the needle. More
recently, again, they have been imported from India, or from nations
beyond the countries of India.
But it is looked upon as the most refined of all, to present chaplets
made of nard leaves, or else of silk of many colours steeped in
unguents. Such is the pitch to which the luxuriousness of our women has
at last arrived!
CHAP. 9.—AUTHORS WHO HAVE WRITTEN ON FLOWERS. AN ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO
QUEEN CLEOPATRA AND CHAPLETS.
Among the Greeks, the physicians Mnesitheus and Callimachus have
written separate treatises on the subject of chaplets, making mention
of such flowers as are injurious to the head.[1872] For, in fact,
the health is here concerned to some extent, as it is at the moments
of carousal and gaiety in particular that penetrating odours steal
insidiously upon the brain—witness an instance in the wicked cunning
displayed upon one occasion by Cleopatra.
At the time when preparations were making for the battle that was
eventually fought at Actium, Antonius held the queen in such extreme
distrust as to be in dread of her very attentions even, and would
not so much as touch his food, unless another person had tasted it
first. Upon this, the queen, it is said, wishing to amuse herself with
his fears, had the extremities of the flowers in a chaplet dipped
in poison, and then placed it upon her head.[1873] After a time, as
the hilarity increased apace, she challenged Antonius to swallow the
chaplets, mixed up with their drink. Who, under such circumstances
as these, could have apprehended treachery? Accordingly, the leaves
were stripped from off the chaplet, and thrown into the cup. Just as
Antonius was on the very point of drinking, she arrested his arm with
her hand.—“Behold, Marcus Antonius,” said she, “the woman against whom
you are so careful to take these new precautions of yours in employing
your tasters! And would then, if I could exist without you, either
means or opportunity of effecting my purpose be wanting to me?” Saying
this, she ordered a man to be brought from prison, and made him drink
off the potion; he did so, and fell dead[1874] upon the spot.
Besides the two authors above-mentioned, Theophrastus,[1875] among the
Greeks, has written on the subject of flowers. Some of our own writers
also have given the title of “Anthologica” to their works, but no one,
to my knowledge at least, has treated expressly[1876] of flowers. In
fact, we ourselves have no intention here of discussing the mode of
wearing chaplets, for that would be frivolous[1877] indeed; but shall
proceed to state such particulars in relation to flowers as shall
appear to us deserving of remark.
CHAP. 10. (4.)—THE ROSE: TWELVE VARIETIES OF IT.
The people of our country were acquainted with but very few garland
flowers among the garden plants, and those few hardly any but the
violet and the rose. The plant which bears the rose is, properly
speaking, more of a thorn than a shrub—indeed, we sometimes find it
growing on a bramble[1878] even; the flower having, even then, a
pleasant smell, though by no means penetrating. The flower in all roses
is originally enclosed in a bud,[1879] with a grained surface within,
which gradually swells, and assumes the form of a green pointed cone,
similar to our alabaster[1880] unguent boxes in shape. Gradually
acquiring a ruddy tint, this bud opens little by little, until at
last it comes into full blow, developing the calyx, and embracing the
yellow-pointed filaments which stand erect in the centre of it.
The employment of the rose in chaplets is, so to say, the least[1881]
use that is made of it. The flower is steeped in oil, a practice which
has prevailed from the times of the Trojan war, as Homer[1882] bears
witness; in addition to which, it now forms an ingredient in our
unguents, as mentioned on a previous occasion.[1883] It is employed
also by itself for certain medicinal purposes, and is used in plasters
and eye-salves[1884] for its penetrating qualities: it is used, also,
to perfume the delicacies of our banquets, and is never attended with
any noxious results.
The most esteemed kinds of rose among us are those of Præneste[1885]
and Campania.[1886] Some persons have added to these varieties the rose
of Miletus,[1887] the flower of which is an extremely brilliant red,
and has never more than a dozen petals. The next to it is the rose of
Trachyn,[1888] not so red as the last, and then that of Alabanda,[1889]
with whitish petals, but not so highly esteemed. The least esteemed
of all, however, is the thorn rose,[1890] the petals of which are
numerous, but extremely small. The essential points of difference
in the rose are the number[1891] of the petals, the comparative
number[1892] of thorns on the stem, the colour, and the smell. The
number of the petals, which is never less than five, goes on increasing
in amount, till we find one variety with as many as a hundred, and
thence known as the “centifolia:”[1893] in Italy, it is to be found in
Campania, and in Greece, in the vicinity of Philippi, though this last
is not the place of its natural[1894] growth. Mount Pangæeus,[1895] in
the same vicinity, produces a rose with numerous petals of diminutive
size: the people of those parts are in the habit of transplanting it, a
method which greatly tends to improve its growth. This kind, however,
is not remarkable for its smell, nor yet is the rose which has a
very large or very broad petal: indeed, we may state in a few words,
that the best proof of the perfume of the flower is the comparative
roughness of the calyx.[1896]
Cæpio, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, asserts
that the centifolia is never employed for chaplets, except at the
extreme[1897] points of union as it were, being remarkable neither for
its smell[1898] nor its beauty. There is another variety of rose,
too, called the “Grecian” rose by our people, and “lychnis”[1899] by
the Greeks: it grows nowhere except in humid soils, and has never
more than five petals: it does not exceed the violet in size, and is
destitute of smell. There is another kind, again, known to us as the
“Græcula”[1900] the petals of which are tightly rolled together, and
which never open except when pressed in the hand, it having always the
appearance, in fact, of being in bud: the petals of it are remarkably
large. Another kind, again, springs from a stem like that of the
mallow, the leaves being similar to those of the olive—the name given
to it is “macetum.”[1901] There is the rose of autumn, too, known to
us as the “coroniola,”[1902] which is of a middle size, between the
varieties just mentioned. All these kinds, however, are destitute of
smell, with the exception of the coroniola, and the one which grows
on the bramble:[1903] so extended is the scope for fictitious[1904]
productions!
And, indeed, the genuine rose, for the most part, is indebted for its
qualities to the nature of the soil. That of Cyrenæ[1905] is the most
odoriferous of all, and hence it is that the unguents of that place are
so remarkably fine: at Carthage, again, in Spain, there are early[1906]
roses throughout all the winter. The temperature, too, of the climate
is not without its influence: for in some years we find the roses much
less odoriferous than in others; in addition to which, their smell
is always more powerful when grown in dry soils[1907] than in humid
ones. The rose does not admit of being planted in either a rich or an
argillaceous soil, nor yet on irrigated land; being contented with a
thin, light earth, and more particularly attached to ground on which
old building rubbish has been laid.
The rose of Campania is early, that of Miletus late, but it is the rose
of Præneste that goes off the very latest of all. For the rose, the
ground is generally dug to a greater depth than it is for corn, but not
so deep as for the vine. It grows but very slowly[1908] from the seed,
which is found in the calyx beneath the petals of the flower, covered
with a sort of down; hence it is that the method of grafting is usually
the one preferred, or else propagation from the eyes of the root, as in
the reed.[1909] One kind is grafted, which bears a pale flower, with
thorny branches of a remarkable length; it belongs to the quinquefolia
variety, being one of the Greek roses.[1910] All roses are improved by
being pruned and cauterized; transplanting, too, makes them grow, like
the vine, all the better, and with the greatest rapidity. The slips are
cut some four fingers in length or more, and are planted immediately
after the setting of the Vergiliæ; then, while the west winds are
prevalent, they are transplanted at intervals of a foot, the earth
being frequently turned up about them.
Persons whose object it is to grow early roses, make a hole a foot in
width about the root, and pour warm water into it, at the period when
the buds are beginning to put forth.[1911]
CHAP. 11. (5.)—THE LILY: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.
The lily holds the next highest rank after the rose, and has a certain
affinity[1912] with it in respect of its unguent and the oil extracted
from it, which is known to us as “lirinon.”[1913] Blended, too, with
roses, the lily[1914] produces a remarkably fine effect; for it begins
to make its appearance, in fact, just as the rose is in the very middle
of its season. There is no flower that grows to a greater height than
the lily, sometimes, indeed, as much as three cubits; the head of it
being always drooping, as though the neck of the flower were unable
to support its weight. The whiteness of the lily is quite remarkable,
the petals being striated on the exterior; the flower is narrow at the
base, and gradually expanding in shape like a tapering[1915] cup with
the edges curving outwards, the fine pistils of the flower, and the
stamens with their antheræ of a saffron colour, standing erect in the
middle.[1916] Hence the perfume of the lily, as well as its colour, is
two-fold, there being one for the petals and another for the stamens.
The difference, however, between them is but very small, and when the
flower is employed for making lily unguents and oils, the petals are
never rejected.
There is a flower, not unlike the lily, produced by the plant known
to us as the “convolvulus.”[1917] It grows among shrubs, is totally
destitute of smell, and has not the yellow antheræ of the lily within:
only vying with it in its whiteness, it would almost appear to be the
rough sketch[1918] made by Nature when she was learning how to make
the lily. The white lily is propagated in all the various ways which
are employed for the cultivation of the rose,[1919] as also by means
of a certain tearlike gum[1920] which belongs to it, similarly to
hipposelinum[1921] in fact: indeed, there is no plant that is more
prolific than this, a single root often giving birth to as many as
fifty bulbs.[1922] There is, also, a red lily, known by the name
of “crinon”[1923] to the Greeks, though there are some authors who
call the flower of it “cynorrodon.”[1924] The most esteemed are
those of Antiochia and Laodicea in Syria, and next to them that of
Phaselis.[1925] To the fourth rank belongs the flower that grows in
Italy.
CHAP. 12.—THE NARCISSUS: THREE VARIETIES OF IT.
There is a purple[1926] lily, too, which sometimes has a double stem;
it differs only from the other lilies in having a more fleshy root and
a bulb of larger size, but undivided:[1927] the name given to it is
“narcissus.”[1928] A second variety of this lily has a white flower,
with a purple corolla. There is also this difference between the
ordinary lily and the narcissus, that in the latter the leaves spring
from the root of the plant. The finest are those which grow on the
mountains of Lycia. A third variety is similar to the others in every
respect, except that the corolla of the plant is green. They are all of
them late[1929] flowers: indeed, they only bloom after the setting of
Arcturus,[1930] and at the time of the autumnal equinox.
CHAP. 13.—HOW SEED IS STAINED TO PRODUCE TINTED FLOWERS.
There has been invented[1931] also a method of tinting the lily,
thanks to the taste of mankind for monstrous productions. The dried
stalks[1932] of the lily are tied together in the month of July, and
hung up in the smoke: then, in the following March, when the small
knots[1933] are beginning to disclose themselves, the stalks are left
to steep in the lees of black or Greek wine, in order that they may
contract its colour, and are then planted out in small trenches, some
semi-sextarii of wine-lees being poured around them. By this method
purple lilies are obtained, it being a very remarkable thing that we
should be able to dye a plant to such a degree as to make it produce a
coloured flower.
CHAP. 14. (6.)—HOW THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THE VIOLET ARE RESPECTIVELY
PRODUCED, GROWN, AND CULTIVATED. THE THREE DIFFERENT COLOURS OF THE
VIOLET. THE FIVE VARIETIES OF THE YELLOW VIOLET.
Next after the roses and the lilies, the violet is held in the highest
esteem: of this there are several varieties, the purple,[1934] the
yellow, and the white, all of them reproduced from plants, like the
cabbage. The purple violet, which springs up spontaneously in sunny
spots, with a thin, meagre soil, has larger petals than the others,
springing immediately from the root, which is of a fleshy substance.
This violet has a name, too, distinct from the other wild kinds, being
called “ion,”[1935] and from it the ianthine[1936] cloth takes its name.
Among the cultivated kinds, the yellow[1937] violet is held in
the greatest esteem. The Tusculan violet, and that known as the
“marine”[1938] violet, have petals somewhat broader than the others,
but not so odoriferous; the Calatian[1939] violet, too, which has a
smaller leaf, is entirely destitute of smell. This last is a present to
us from the autumn, the others from the spring.
CHAP. 15.—THE CALTHA. THE SCOPA REGIA.
Next to it comes the caltha, the flowers of which are of similar colour
and size;[1940] in the number of its petals, however, it surpasses the
marine violet, the petals of which are never more than five in number.
The marine violet is surpassed, too, by the other in smell; that of the
caltha being very powerful. The smell, too, is no less powerful in the
plant known as the “scopa regia;”[1941] but there it is the leaves of
the plant, and not the flowers, that are odoriferous.
CHAP. 16.—THE BACCHAR. THE COMBRETUM. ASARUM.
The bacchar,[1942] too, by some persons known as “field nard,” is
odoriferous in the root only. In former times, it was the practice to
make unguents of this root, as we learn from the poet Aristophanes, a
writer of the Ancient Comedy; from which circumstance some persons have
erroneously given the name of “exotic”[1943] to the plant. The smell of
it strongly resembles that of cinnamomum; and the plant grows in thin
soils, which are free from all humidity.
The name of “combretum”[1944] is given to a plant that bears a very
strong resemblance to it, the leaves of which taper to the fineness of
threads; in height, however, it is taller than the bacchar. These are
the only[1945] * * * * The error, however, ought to be corrected, on
the part of those who have bestowed upon the bacchar the name of “field
nard;” for that in reality is the surname given to another plant, known
to the Greeks as “asaron,” the description and features of which we
have already[1946] mentioned, when speaking of the different varieties
of nard. I find, too, that the name of “asaron” has been given to this
plant, from the circumstance of its never[1947] being employed in the
composition of chaplets.
CHAP. 17.—SAFFRON: IN WHAT PLACES IT GROWS BEST. WHAT FLOWERS WERE
KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THE TROJAN WAR.
The wild saffron[1948] is the best; indeed, in Italy it is of no use
whatever to attempt to propagate it, the produce of a whole bed of
saffron being boiled down to a single scruple; it is reproduced by
offsets from the bulb. The cultivated saffron is larger, finer, and
better looking than the other kinds, but has much less efficacy. This
plant is everywhere degenerating,[1949] and is far from prolific at
Cyrenæ even, a place where the flowers are always of the very finest
quality. The most esteemed saffron, however, is that of Cilicia, and
there of Mount Corycus in particular; next comes the saffron of Mount
Olympus, in Lycia, and then of Centuripa, in Sicily; some persons,
however, have given the second rank to the Phlegræan[1950] saffron.
There is nothing so much adulterated[1951] as saffron: the best proof
of its goodness is when it snaps under pressure by the fingers, as
though it were friable;[1952] for when it is moist, a state which it
owes to being adulterated, it is limp, and will not snap asunder.
Another way of testing it, again, is to apply it with the hand to
the face, upon which, if good, it will be found to be slightly
caustic to the face and eyes. There is a peculiar kind, too, of
cultivated saffron, which is in general extremely mild, being only of
middling[1953] quality; the name given to it is “dialeucon.”[1954] The
saffron of Cyrenaica, again, is faulty in the opposite extreme; for it
is darker than any other kind, and is apt to spoil very quickly. The
best saffron everywhere is that which is of the most unctuous quality,
and the filaments of which are the shortest; the worst being that which
emits a musty smell.
Mucianus informs us that in Lycia, at the end of seven or eight years,
the saffron is transplanted into a piece of ground which has been
prepared for the purpose, and that in this way it is prevented from
degenerating. It is never[1955] used for chaplets, being a plant with
an extremely narrow leaf, as fine almost as a hair; but it combines
remarkably well with wine, sweet wine in particular. Reduced to a
powder, it is used to perfume[1956] the theatres.
Saffron blossoms about the setting of the Vergiliæ, for a few
days[1957] only, the leaf expelling the flower. It is verdant[1958] at
the time of the winter solstice, and then it is that they gather it;
it is usually dried in the shade, and if in winter, all the better.
The root of this plant is fleshy, and more long-lived[1959] than that
of the other bulbous plants. It loves to be beaten and trodden[1960]
under foot, and in fact, the worse it is treated the better it thrives:
hence it is, that it grows so vigorously by the side of foot-paths and
fountains. (7.) Saffron was already held in high esteem in the time of
the Trojan War; at all events, Homer,[1961] we find, makes mention of
these three flowers, the lotus,[1962] the saffron, and the hyacinth.
CHAP. 18.—THE NATURE OF ODOURS.
All the odoriferous[1963] substances, and consequently the plants,
differ from one another in their colour, smell, and juices. It is but
rarely[1964] that the taste of an odoriferous substance is not bitter;
while sweet substances, on the other hand, are but rarely odoriferous.
Thus it is, too, that wine is more odoriferous than must, and all the
wild plants more so than the cultivated ones.[1965] Some flowers have
a sweet smell at a distance, the edge of which is taken off when they
come nearer; such is the case with the violet, for instance. The rose,
when fresh gathered, has a more powerful smell at a distance, and
dried,[1966] when brought nearer. All plants have a more penetrating
odour, also, in spring[1967] and in the morning; as the hour of midday
approaches, the scent becomes gradually weakened.[1968] The flowers,
too, of young plants are less odoriferous than those of old ones; but
it is at mid-age[1969] that the odour is most penetrating in them all.
The rose and the crocus[1970] have a more powerful smell when gathered
in fine weather, and all plants are more powerfully scented in hot
climates than in cold ones. In Egypt, however, the flowers are far
from odoriferous, owing to the dews and exhalations with which the air
is charged, in consequence of the extended surface of the river. Some
plants have an agreeable, though at the same time extremely powerful
smell; some, again, while green, have no[1971] smell at all, owing to
the excess of moisture, the buceros for example, which is the same as
fenugreek.[1972] Not all flowers which have a penetrating odour are
destitute of juices, the violet, the rose, and the crocus, for example;
those, on the other hand, which have a penetrating odour, but are
destitute of juices, have all of them a very powerful smell, as we find
the case with the two varieties[1973] of the lily. The abrotonum[1974]
and the amaracus[1975] have a pungent smell. In some plants, it is the
flower only that is sweet, the other parts being inodorous, the violet
and the rose, for example.
Among the garden plants, the most odoriferous are the dry ones, such
as rue, mint, and parsley, as also those which grow on dry soils. Some
fruits become more odoriferous the older they are, the quince, for
example, which has also a stronger smell when gathered than while upon
the tree. Some plants, again, have no smell but when broken asunder,
or when bruised, and others only when they are stripped of their bark.
Certain vegetable substances, too, only give out a smell when subjected
to the action of fire, such as frankincense and myrrh, for example.
All flowers are more bitter to the taste when bruised than when left
untouched.[1976] Some plants preserve their smell a longer time when
dried, the melilote, for example; others, again, make the place itself
more odoriferous where they grow, the iris[1977] for instance, which
will even render the whole of a tree odoriferous, the roots of which
it may happen to have touched. The hesperis[1978] has a more powerful
odour at night, a property to which it owes its name.
Among the animals, we find none that are odoriferous, unless,
indeed, we are inclined to put faith in what has been said about the
panther.[1979]
CHAP. 19.—THE IRIS.
There is still another distinction, which ought not to be omitted,—the
fact, that many of the odoriferous plants never[1980] enter into the
composition of garlands, the iris[1981] and the saliunca, for example,
although, both of them, of a most exquisite odour. In the iris, it
is the root[1982] only that is held in esteem, it being extensively
employed in perfumery and medicine. The iris of the finest quality is
that found in Illyricum,[1983] and in that country, even, not in the
maritime parts of it, but in the forests on the banks of the river
Drilon[1984] and near Narona. The next best is that of Macedonia,[1985]
the plant being extremely elongated, white, and thin. The iris of
Africa[1986] occupies the third rank, being the largest of them all,
and of an extremely bitter taste.
The iris of Illyricum comprehends two varieties—one of which is the
raphanitis, so called from its resemblance to the radish,[1987] of
a somewhat red colour, and superior[1988] in quality to the other,
which is known as the “rhizotomus.” The best kind of iris is that
which produces sneezing[1989] when handled. The stem of this plant is
a cubit in length, and erect, the flower being of various colours,
like the rainbow, to which circumstance it is indebted for its name.
The iris, too, of Pisidia[1990] is far from being held in disesteem.
Persons[1991] who intend taking up the iris, drench the ground
about it some three months before with hydromel, as though a sort of
atonement offered to appease the earth; with the point of a sword, too,
they trace three circles round it, and the moment they gather it, they
lift it up towards the heavens.
The iris is a plant of a caustic nature, and when handled, it causes
blisters like burns to rise. It is a point particularly recommended,
that those who gather it should be in a state of chastity. The root,
not only when dried,[1992] but while still in the ground, is very
quickly attacked by worms. In former times, it was Leucas and Elis that
supplied us with the best oil[1993] of iris, for there it has long been
cultivated; at the present day, however, the best comes from Pamphylia,
though that of Cilicia and the northern climates is held in high esteem.
CHAP. 20.—THE SALIUNCA.
The saliunca[1994] has a rather short leaf, which does not admit of its
being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which it is held
together; being more of a herb than a flower, and so closely matted
and tangled that it would almost appear to have been pressed together
with the hand—in short, it is a turf[1995] of a peculiar nature. This
plant grows in Pannonia and the sunny regions of Noricum and the Alps,
as also the vicinity of the city of Eporedia;[1996] the smell being
so remarkably sweet that the crops of it have been of late quite as
profitable as the working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued
for the pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept.
CHAP. 21.—THE POLIUM, OR TEUTHRION.
It is the same, too, with the polium,[1997] a herb employed for a
similar purpose among the Greeks, and highly extolled by Musæus and
Hesiod, who assert that it is useful for every purpose, and more
particularly for the acquisition of fame and honour;[1998] indeed, it
is a truly marvellous production, if it is the fact, as they state,
that its leaves are white in the morning, a purple at midday, and
azure[1999] at sunset. There are two varieties of it, the field polium,
which is larger, and the wild,[2000] which is more diminutive. Some
persons give it the name of “teuthrion.”[2001] The leaves resemble the
white hairs of a human being; they take their rise immediately from the
root, and never exceed a palm in height.
CHAP. 22. (8.)—FABRICS WHICH RIVAL THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS.
We have now said enough on the subject of the odoriferous flowers;
in relation to which, luxury not only glories in having vanquished
Nature in the composition of unguents, but has even gone so far
as to challenge, in her fabrics, those flowers which are more
particularly recommended by the beauty of their tints. I remark that
the following are the three principal[2002] colours; the red, that of
the kermes[2003] for instance, which, beginning in the tints of the
rose, reflects, when viewed[2004] sideways and held up to the light,
the shades that are found in the Tyrian purple,[2005] and the colours
of the dibapha[2006] and Laconian cloths: the amethystine colour, which
is borrowed from the violet, and to which, bordering as it does on the
purple, we have given the name of “ianthinum”[2007]—it must, however,
be remembered, that we here give a general name to a colour which is
subdivided into numerous tints[2008]—and a third, properly known as
the “conchyliated” colour, but which comprehends a variety of shades,
such, for instance, as the tints of the heliotropium, and others of a
deeper colour, the hues of the mallow, inclining to a full purple, and
the colours of the late[2009] violet; this last being the most vivid,
in fact, of all the conchyliated tints. The rival colours being now set
side by side, Nature and luxury may enter the lists, to vie for the
mastery.
I find it stated that, in the most ancient times, yellow was held
in the highest esteem, but was reserved exclusively for the nuptial
veils[2010] of females; for which reason it is perhaps that we do not
find it included among the principal colours, those being used in
common by males and females: indeed, it is the circumstance of their
being used by both sexes in common that gives them their rank as
principal colours.
CHAP. 23.—THE AMARANTH.
There is no doubt that all the efforts of art are surpassed by
the amaranth,[2011] which is, to speak correctly, rather a purple
ear[2012] than a flower, and, at the same time, quite inodorous. It is
a marvellous feature in this plant, that it takes a delight in being
gathered; indeed, the more it is plucked, the better it grows. It comes
into flower in the month of August, and lasts throughout the autumn.
The finest of all is the amaranth of Alexandria, which is generally
gathered for keeping; for it is a really marvellous[2013] fact, that
when all the other flowers have gone out, the amaranth, upon being
dipped in water, comes to life again: it is used also for making
winter chaplets. The peculiar quality of the amaranth is sufficiently
indicated by its name, it having been so called from the circumstance
that it never fades.[2014]
CHAP. 24.—THE CYANOS: THE HOLOCHRYSOS.
The name,[2015] too, of the cyanos[2016] indicates its colour, and
so does that of the holochrysos.[2017] None of these flowers were in
use in the time of Alexander the Great, for the authors, we find, who
flourished at a period immediately after his decease, have made not the
slightest mention of them; from which circumstance it is very clear
that they only came into fashion at a later period. Still, however,
who can entertain any doubt that they were first introduced by the
Greeks, from the fact that Italy has only their Greek names by which to
designate them?
CHAP. 25.—THE PETILIUM: THE BELLIO.
But, by Hercules! it is Italy herself that has given its name to the
petilium,[2018] an autumnal flower, which springs up in the vicinity
of thorny brakes, and recommends itself solely by its colour, which is
that of the wild rose. The petals of it are small, and five in number;
and it is a remarkable circumstance in this plant, that the head of it
droops at first, and it is only after it becomes erect that the petals
make their appearance, forming a small corolla of various colours,
enclosing a yellow seed.
The bellio,[2019] too, is a yellow flower, formed of[2020] fifty-five
filaments circularly arranged, in the shape of a chaplet. These are,
both of them, meadow flowers, which are mostly of no use whatever, and
consequently without names: even the flowers just mentioned are known
sometimes by one name, and sometimes by another.
CHAP. 26.—THE CHRYSOCOME, OR CHRYSITIS.
The chrysocome,[2021] or chrysitis, has no Latin appellation: it is a
palm in height, the flowers forming clusters of a golden colour. The
root of it is black, and it has a taste both rough and sweet: it is
found growing in stony and umbrageous spots.
CHAP. 27. (9.)—SHRUBS, THE BLOSSOMS OF WHICH ARE USED FOR CHAPLETS.
Having thus passed in review nearly all the best-known colours, we must
now give our attention to the chaplets which are pleasing merely on
account of the variety of their materials. Of such chaplets there are
two kinds, one composed of flowers, the other of leaves. The flowers
so employed, I may say, are those of broom[2022]—the yellow blossom
gathered from it—the rhododendron,[2023] and the jujube,[2024] also
known as the tree of Cappadocia, which bears an odoriferous flower
similar to that of the olive. Among the brambles, too, we find the
cyclaminum growing, of which we shall have to speak more at length on
a future occasion:[2025] its flower, which reflects the hues of the
purple of Colossæ,[2026] is used as an ingredient in chaplets.
CHAP. 28.—SHRUBS, THE LEAVES OF WHICH ARE USED FOR CHAPLETS.
The leaves, also, of smilax and ivy are employed in chaplets; indeed,
the clusters of these plants are held in the very highest esteem for
this purpose: we have already[2027] spoken of them at sufficient length
when treating of the shrubs. There are also other kinds of shrubs,
which can only be indicated by their Greek names, little attention
having been paid by the framers of our language to this branch of
nomenclature. Most of them grow in foreign countries, it is true; but
still, it is our duty to make some mention of them, as it is of Nature
in general that we are speaking, and not of Italy in particular.
CHAP. 29.—THE MELOTHRON, SPIRÆA, AND ORIGANUM. THE CNEORUM OR CASSIA;
TWO VARIETIES OF IT. THE MELISSOPHYLLUM OR MELITTÆNA. THE MELILOTE,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CAMPANIAN GARLAND.
Thus it is, that we find employed for chaplets, the leaves of the
melothron,[2028] spiræa,[2029] origanum,[2030] cneorum,[2031] by
Hyginus called “cassia,” conyza or cunilago,[2032] melissophyllon
or apiastrum,[2033] and melilote, known to us by the name of
“Campanian[2034] garland,” the best kind of melilote[2035] in Italy
being that of Campania, in Greece that of Cape Sunium, and next to
that the produce of Chalcidice and Crete: but wherever this plant
grows it is only to be found in rugged and wild localities. The name
“sertula” or “garland,” which it bears, sufficiently proves that this
plant was formerly much used in the composition of chaplets. The smell,
as well as the flower, closely resembles that of saffron, though the
stem itself is white; the shorter and more fleshy the leaves, the more
highly it is esteemed.
CHAP. 30.—THREE VARIETIES OF TREFOIL: THE MYOPHONUM.
The leaves of trefoil also are employed for making chaplets. There
are three varieties: the first being called by the Greeks sometimes
“minyanthes,”[2036] and sometimes “asphaltion;” the leaves of it,
which the garland-makers employ, are larger than those of the other
kinds. The second variety, known as the “oxytriphyllon,”[2037] has
a pointed leaf; and the third has the smallest leaf of them all.
Among these plants there are some which have a tough, sinewy stem,
such as marathron,[2038] for instance, hippomarathron,[2039] and the
myophonum.[2040] The umbels, too, of fennel-giant and the purple
flowers[2041] of the ivy are employed for this purpose; as also another
kind of ivy very similar to the wild rose,[2042] the colour only of
which is attractive, the flower being quite inodorous. There are also
two[2043] varieties used of the cneorum, the black and the white, this
last being odoriferous: they are both of them provided with branches,
and they blossom after the autumnal equinox.[2044]
(10.) There are the same number of varieties, also, of origanum
employed in making chaplets, one of which is destitute of seed, the
other, which is also odoriferous, being known as the Cretan[2045]
origanum.
CHAP. 31.—TWO VARIETIES OF THYME. PLANTS PRODUCED FROM BLOSSOMS AND NOT
FROM SEED.
There are also as many varieties of thyme[2046] employed, the one
white, the other dark:[2047] it flowers about the summer solstice, when
the bees cull from it. From this plant a sort of augury is derived,
as to how the honey is likely to turn out: for the bee-keepers have
reason to look for a large crop when the thyme blossoms in considerable
abundance. Thyme receives great injury from showers of rain, and is
very apt to shed its blossom. The seed of thyme is so minute[2048] as
to be imperceptible, and yet that of origanum, which is also extremely
minute, does not escape the sight. But what matters it that Nature has
thus concealed it from our view? For we have reason to conclude that
it exists in the flower itself; which, when sown in the ground, gives
birth to the plant—what is there, in fact, that the industry of man has
left untried?
The honey of Attica is generally looked upon as the best in all the
world; for which reason it is that the thyme of that country has been
transplanted, being reproduced, as already stated, with the greatest
difficulty, from the blossom. But there is also another peculiarity
in the nature of the thyme of Attica, which has greatly tended to
frustrate these attempts—it will never live except in the vicinity
of breezes from the sea. In former times, it was the general belief
that this is the case with all kinds of thyme, and that this is the
reason why it does not grow in Arcadia:[2049] at a period when it was
universally supposed, too, that the olive never grows beyond three
hundred stadia[2050] from the sea. But, at the present day, we know
for certain that in the province of Gallia Narbonensis the Stony
Plains[2051] are quite overgrown with thyme; this being, in fact, the
only source of revenue to those parts, thousands of sheep[2052] being
brought thither from distant countries to browse upon the plant.
CHAP. 32.—CONYZA.
There are two varieties of conyza, also, employed in making chaplets,
the male[2053] plant and the female. The difference consists in the
leaves, those of the female plant being thinner, more tapering, and
narrower, and those of the male being of an imbricated shape, the plant
having a greater number of branches. The blossom, too, of the male
plant is more vivid than that of the female: in both kinds it is late
in making its appearance, not till after the rising of Arcturus.
The smell of the male conyza is more powerful than that of the female
plant: the latter, however, is of a more penetrating nature, for which
reason it is that the female plant is held in higher esteem for the
treatment of the bites of animals. The leaves of the female plant have
exactly the smell of honey; and the root of the male has received the
name of “libanotis” from some: we have already made mention[2054] of it
on a previous occasion.
CHAP. 33.—THE FLOWER OF JOVE. THE HEMEROCALLES. THE HELENIUM. THE
PHLOX. PLANTS IN WHICH THE BRANCHES AND ROOTS ARE ODORIFEROUS.
Of the following plants, too, it is only the leaves that are
employed for chaplets—the flower of Jove,[2055] the amaracus,
the hemerocalles,[2056] the abrotonum, the helenium,[2057]
sisymbrium,[2058] and wild thyme, all of them ligneous plants, growing
in a manner similar to the rose. The flower of Jove is pleasing only
for its colours, being quite inodorous; which is the case also with the
plant known by the Greek name of “phlox.”[2059] All the plants, too,
which we have just mentioned are odoriferous, both in the branches and
the leaves, with the sole exception of wild thyme.[2060] The helenium
is said to have had its origin in the tears of Helen, and hence it
is that the kind grown in the island of Helena[2061] is so highly
esteemed. It is a shrub which throws out its tiny branches along the
ground, some nine inches in length, with a leaf very similar to that of
wild thyme.
CHAP. 34.—THE ABROTONUM. THE ADONIUM: TWO VARIETIES OF IT. PLANTS WHICH
REPRODUCE THEMSELVES. THE LEUCANTHEMUM.
The flower of the abrotonum,[2062] which makes its appearance in
summer, has a powerful but agreeable smell; it is of a bright golden
colour. Left to range at large, it reproduces itself by layers from the
tops of the branches: but when it is propagated by the hand of man,
it is better to grow it from the seed than from the roots or slips,
though even from the seed it is not grown without considerable trouble.
The young plants are transplanted in summer, which is the case also
with the adonium.[2063] They are both of them plants of a very chilly
nature, though, at the same time, they are apt to receive injury if too
much exposed to the sun: when, however, they have gained sufficient
strength, they throw out branches like those of rue.
The leucanthemum[2064] has a similar smell to that of the abrotonum: it
is a foliated plant, with a white flower.
CHAP. 35. (11.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE AMARACUS.
Diocles, the physician, and the people of Sicily have given the name of
“amaracus” to the plant known in Egypt and Syria as sampsuchum.[2065]
It is reproduced two ways, from seed and from cuttings, being more
long-lived than the preceding plants, and possessed of a more agreeable
smell. The amaracus, like the abrotonum, has a great abundance of seed,
but while the abrotonum has a single root, which penetrates deep into
the ground, those of the other plant adhere but lightly to the surface
of the earth. Those of the other plants which love the shade, water,
and manure, are generally set at the beginning of autumn, and even, in
some localities, in spring.
CHAP. 36.—THE NYCTEGRETON, CHENOMYCHE, OR NYCTALOPS.
Democritus has regarded the nyctegreton[2066] as one of the most
singular of plants. According to that author, it is of a dark red
colour, has leaves like those of a thorn, and creeps upon the ground.
He says that it grows in Gedrosia[2067] more particularly, and that
it is taken up by the roots immediately after the vernal equinox,
and dried in the moonlight for thirty days; after which preparation
it emits light by night. He states also, that the Magi and the kings
of Parthia employ this plant in their ceremonies when they make a
vow to perform an undertaking; that another name given to it is
“chenomyche,”[2068] from the circumstance that, at the very sight of
it, geese will manifest the greatest alarm; and that by some persons,
again, it is known as the “nyctalops,”[2069] from the light which it
emits at a considerable distance by night.
CHAP. 37.—WHERE THE MELILOTE IS FOUND.
The melilote[2070] is found growing everywhere, though that of Attica
is held in the highest esteem. In all countries, however, it is
preferred when fresh gathered; that too, the colour of which is not
white, but approaches as nearly as possible to the colour of saffron.
In Italy, however, it is the white kind that is the most odoriferous.
CHAP. 38.—THE SUCCESSION IN WHICH FLOWERS BLOSSOM: THE SPRING FLOWERS.
THE VIOLET. THE CHAPLET ANEMONE. THE ŒNANTHE. THE MELANION. THE
HELICHRYSOS. THE GLADIOLUS. THE HYACINTH.
The first of the flowers that announce the approach of spring is the
white[2071] violet; indeed, in warm localities, it is seen peeping out
in the winter even. Next to it comes the violet known as the ion, and
the purple violet; then the flame-coloured flower, the name of which is
phlox,[2072] but only the wild one. The cyclaminum[2073] blossoms twice
a year, in spring and autumn, standing equally in awe as it does of
summer and of winter. The narcissus and the lily, in the parts beyond
sea, are a little later than the preceding plants: but in Italy, as
we have already[2074] stated, they are in blossom with the rose. In
Greece, too, the anemone[2075] blooms even later; it is the flower of
a wild bulb, and is altogether different from the one[2076] which we
shall have occasion to mention among the medicinal plants.
Next, after these, come the œnanthe,[2077] the melanion,[2078]
and, among the wild plants, the helichrysos;[2079] then, another
kind of anemone, known as the “limonia,”[2080] and after that the
gladiolus,[2081] accompanied by the hyacinth. Last of all, among the
spring flowers, is the rose, which, with the exception indeed of the
cultivated kinds, is also the first to fade. Among the others, the
flowers which last the longest, are the hyacinth, the white violet,
and the œnanthe; but to make this last keep any time in flower, it is
necessary to gather it repeatedly, to prevent it from running to seed.
The œnanthe grows in warm localities, and has exactly the smell of the
vine when in blossom, to which circumstance it is indebted for its name.
There are two fabulous stories attached to the hyacinth;[2082]
according to one of them, it bears the impress of the grief[2083] which
Apollo felt for the youth[2084] whom he had so tenderly loved; and we
learn from the other, that it derives its name from the blood[2085] of
Ajax, the veins being so arranged in the flower as to form the Greek
letters ΑΙ inscribed upon it.
The helichrysos has a flower resembling gold in appearance, a small
leaf, and a fine, slender, but hard, stem. According to the Magi, the
person who crowns himself with a chaplet composed of this flower, and
takes his unguents from a box of gold, of the kind generally known
as “apyron,”[2086] will be sure to secure esteem and glory among his
fellowmen. Such are the flowers of spring.
CHAP. 39.—THE SUMMER FLOWERS—THE LYCHNIS: THE TIPHYON. TWO VARIETIES
OF THE POTHOS. TWO VARIETIES OF THE ORSINUM. THE VINCAPERVINCA OR
CHAMÆDAPHNE—A PLANT WHICH IS AN EVER-GREEN.
The summer flowers come next, the lychnis[2087] the flower of Jove,
and another kind of lily,[2088] as also the tiphyon[2089] and the
amaracus, surnamed that of Phrygia. Put the most remarkable flower of
all is the pothos,[2090] of which there are two varieties, one with the
flower of the hyacinth,[2091] and another with a white flower, which is
generally found growing about graves, and is better able to stand bad
weather. The iris,[2092] also, blossoms in summer. All these flowers
pass away, however, and fade; upon which others assume their places
in autumn, a third kind of lily,[2093] for instance, saffron, and two
varieties of the orsinum[2094]—one of them inodorous and the other
scented—making their appearance, all of them, as soon as the first
autumnal showers fall.
The garland-makers employ the flowers of the thorn[2095] even for
making chaplets; the tender shoots, too, of the white thorn are
sometimes preserved as a choice morsel[2096] to tempt the palate.
Such is the succession of the summer flowers in the parts beyond sea:
in Italy, the violet is succeeded by the rose, the lily comes on while
the rose is still in flower, the cyanus[2097] succeeds the rose, and
the amaranth the cyanus. As to the vincapervinca,[2098] it is an
evergreen, the branches from which run out like so many strings, the
leaves surrounding the stem at each of the knots: though more generally
used for the purposes of ornamental gardening, it is sometimes employed
in chaplets when there is a deficiency of other flowers. From the
Greeks this plant has received the name of “chamædaphne.”
CHAP. 40.—THE DURATION OF LIFE IN THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FLOWERS.
At the very utmost, the white[2099] violet never lasts longer than
three years: should it exceed that period, it is sure to degenerate.
The rose-tree will last so long as five years without being pruned or
cauterized,[2100] methods by which it is made to grow young again.
We have already stated[2101] that the nature of the soil is of the
very greatest importance; for in Egypt, we find, all these plants are
perfectly inodorous, and it is only the myrtle that has any particular
smell. In some countries, too, the germination of all the plants
precedes that in other parts of the world by so long a period as two
months even. The rose-beds should be well spaded immediately after
the west winds begin to prevail, and, a second time, at the summer
solstice: every care, however, should be paid, between these two
periods, to keeping the ground well raked and cleaned.
CHAP. 41. (12.)—PLANTS WHICH SHOULD BE SOWN AMONG FLOWERS FOR BEES. THE
CERINTHA.
Bees and beehives, too, are a subject extremely well suited to a
description of gardens and garland plants, while, at the same time,
where they are successfully managed, they are a source, without
any great outlay, of very considerable profit. For bees, then, the
following plants should be grown—thyme, apiastrum, the rose, the
various violets, the lily, the cytisus, the bean, the fitch, cunila,
the poppy, conyza,[2102] cassia, the melilote, melissophyllum,[2103]
and the cerintha.[2104] This last is a plant with a white leaf, bent
inwards, the stem of it being a cubit in height, with a flower at
the top presenting a concavity full of a juice like honey. Bees are
remarkably fond of the flowers of these plants, as also the blossoms
of mustard, a thing that is somewhat surprising, seeing that it is a
well-known fact that they will not so much as touch the blossoms of
the olive: for which reason, it will be as well to keep that tree at a
distance from them.[2105]
There are other trees, again, which should be planted as near the hives
as possible, as they attract the swarm when it first wings its flight,
and so prevent the bees from wandering to any considerable distance.
CHAP. 42.—THE MALADIES OF BEES, AND THE REMEDIES FOR THEM.
The greatest care, too, should be taken to keep the cornel[2106] at
a distance from the hives; for if the bees once taste the blossoms
of it, they will speedily die of flux and looseness. The best remedy
in such case is to give them sorb apples beaten up with honey, or
else human urine or that of oxen, or pomegranate seeds moistened with
Aminean[2107] wine. It is a very good plan, too, to plant broom about
the hives, the bees being extremely fond of the blossoms.
CHAP. 43.—THE FOOD OF BEES.
In relation to the food of bees, I have ascertained a very singular
fact, and one that well deserves to be mentioned. There is a village,
called Hostilia, on the banks of the river Padus: the inhabitants of
it, when food[2108] fails the bees in their vicinity, place the hives
in boats and convey them some five miles up the river in the night. In
the morning the bees go forth to feed, and then return to the boats;
their locality being changed from day to day, until at last, as the
boats sink deeper and deeper in the water, it is ascertained that
the hives are full, upon which they are taken home, and the honey is
withdrawn.
(13.) In Spain, too, for the same purpose, they have the hives carried
from place to place on the backs of mules.
CHAP. 44.—POISONED HONEY, AND THE REMEDIES TO BE EMPLOYED BY THOSE WHO
HAVE EATEN OF IT.
Indeed, the food of bees is of the very greatest importance, as
it is owing to this that we meet with poisonous[2109] honey even.
At Heraclia[2110] in Pontus, the honey is extremely pernicious in
certain years, though it is the same bees that make it at other times.
Authors, however, have not informed us from what flowers this honey is
extracted; we shall, therefore, take this opportunity of stating what
we have ascertained upon the subject.
There is a certain plant which, from the circumstance that it proves
fatal to beasts of burden, and to goats in particular, has obtained
the name of “ægolethron,”[2111] and the blossoms of which, steeped
in the rains of a wet spring, contract most noxious properties. Hence
it is that it is not every year that these dangerous results are
experienced. The following are the signs of the honey being[2112]
poisonous: it never thickens, the colour is redder than usual, and it
emits a peculiar smell which immediately produces sneezing; while,
at the same time, it is more weighty than a similar quantity of good
honey. Persons, when they have eaten of it, throw themselves on the
ground to cool the body, which is bathed with a profuse perspiration.
There are numerous remedies, of which we shall have occasion to speak
in a more appropriate place;[2113] but as it will be as well to mention
some of them on the present occasion, by way of being provided for such
insidious accidents, I will here state that old honied wine is good,
mixed with the finest honey and rue; salt meats, also, taken repeatedly
in small quantities, and as often brought up again.
It is a well-known fact that dogs, after tasting the excretions of
persons suffering from these attacks, have been attacked with similar
symptoms, and have experienced the same kind of pains.
Still, however, it is equally well ascertained, that honied wine
prepared from this honey, when old, is altogether innoxious; and that
there is nothing better than this honey, mixed with costus,[2114]
for softening the skin of females, or, combined with aloes, for the
treatment of bruises.
CHAP. 45.—MADDENING HONEY.
In the country of the Sanni, in the same part of Pontus, there is
another kind of honey, which, from the madness it produces, has
received the name of “mænomenon.”[2115] This evil effect is generally
attributed to the flowers of the rhododendron,[2116] with which the
woods there abound; and that people, though it pays a tribute to
the Romans in wax, derives no profit whatever from its honey, in
consequence of these dangerous properties. In Persis, too, and in
Gætulia, a district of Mauritania Cæsariensis, bordering on the
country of the Massæsyli, there are poisonous honeycombs found; and
some, too, only partly so,[2117] one of the most insidious things that
possibly could happen, were it not that the livid colour of the honey
gives timely notice of its noxious qualities. What can we suppose to
have possibly been the intention of Nature in thus laying these traps
in our way, giving us honey that is poisonous in some years and good
in others, poisonous in some parts of the combs and not in others, and
that, too, the produce in all cases of the self-same bees? It was not
enough, forsooth, to have produced a substance in which poison might
be administered without the slightest difficulty, but must she herself
administer it as well in the honey, to fall in the way of so many
animated beings? What, in fact, can have been her motive, except to
render mankind a little more cautious and somewhat less greedy?
And has she not provided the very bees, too, with pointed weapons,
and those weapons poisoned to boot? So it is, and I shall, therefore,
without delay, set forth the remedies to counteract the effects of
their stings. It will be found a very excellent plan to foment the part
stung with the juice of mallows[2118] or of ivy leaves, or else for the
person who has been stung to take these juices in drink. It is a very
astonishing thing, however, that the insects which thus carry these
poisons in their mouths and secrete them, should never die themselves
in consequence; unless it is that Nature, that mistress of all things,
has given to bees the same immunity from the effects of poison which
she has granted against the attacks of serpents to the Psylli[2119] and
the Marsi among men.
CHAP. 46. (14.)—HONEY THAT FLIES WILL NOT TOUCH.
Another marvellous fact, again, connected with honey in Crete. Upon
Mount Carina in that island, which is nine miles in circuit, there
is not a fly to be found, and the honey that is made there no fly
will touch.[2120] It is by this circumstance that honey said to have
come from that district is usually tested, it being highly prized for
medicinal preparations.
CHAP. 47.—BEEHIVES, AND THE ATTENTION WHICH SHOULD BE PAID TO THEM.
The hives ought to have an aspect due east,[2121] but never looking
towards the north-east or the west. The best hives are those made of
bark, the next best those of fennel-giant, and the next of osier: many
persons, too, have them made of mirror-stone,[2122] for the purpose of
watching[2123] the bees at work within. It is the best plan to anoint
the hives all over with cow-dung. The lid of the hive should be made
to slide from behind, so as to admit of being shut to within, in case
the hive should prove too large or their labours unproductive; for, if
this is not done, the bees are apt to become discouraged and abandon
their work. The slide may then be gradually withdrawn, the increase
of space being imperceptible to the bees as the work progresses. In
winter, too, the hives should be covered with straw, and subjected
to repeated fumigations, with burnt cow-dung more particularly. As
this is of kindred[2124] origin with the bees, the smoke produced
by it is particularly beneficial in killing all such insects as may
happen to breed there, such as spiders, for instance, moths,[2125]
and wood-worms;[2126] while, at the same time, it stimulates the bees
themselves to increased activity. In fact, there is little difficulty
in getting rid of the spiders, but to destroy the moths, which are a
much greater plague, a night must be chosen in spring, just when the
mallow is ripening, there being no moon, but a clear sky: flambeaux
are then lighted before the hives, upon which the moths precipitate
themselves in swarms into the flame.
CHAP. 48.—THAT BEES ARE SENSIBLE OF HUNGER.
If it is found that the bees are in want of aliment, it will be a good
plan to place at the entrance of the hive raisins or dried figs beaten
up,[2127] as also carded wool soaked in raisin wine, boiled[2128] must,
or hydromel, and sometimes even the raw[2129] flesh of poultry. In
certain summers, too, when long-continued drought has deprived them of
the nutriment which they usually derive from flowers, similar food must
be provided for them.
When the honey is taken, the outlets of the hive should be well rubbed
with melissophyllum or broom,[2130] beaten up, or else the middle of it
should be encircled with bands of white vine, to prevent the bees from
taking to flight. It is recommended, too, that the honey-pots and combs
should be washed with water: this water, boiled, it is said, will make
an extremely wholesome vinegar.[2131]
CHAP. 49.—THE METHOD OF PREPARING WAX. THE BEST KINDS OF WAX. PUNIC WAX.
Wax is made[2132] from the honeycombs after the honey has been
extracted. For this purpose, they are first cleaned with water, and
then dried three days in the shade: on the fourth day they are melted
on the fire in a new earthen vessel, with sufficient water to cover
them, after which the liquor is strained off in a wicker basket.[2133]
The wax is then boiled again with the same water and in the same pot,
and poured into vessels of cold water, the interior of which has been
well rubbed with honey. The best wax is that known as Punic[2134] wax,
the next best being that of a remarkably yellow colour, with the smell
of honey. This last comes from Pontus, and, to my surprise, it is in
no way affected by the poisonous honey which it has contained.[2135]
The next in quality is the Cretan wax, which contains the largest
proportion of propolis,[2136] a substance of which we have previously
made mention when treating of bees. Next to these varieties comes the
Corsican wax, which, being the produce of the box-tree, is generally
thought to be possessed of certain medicinal properties.
The Punic wax is prepared in the following manner: yellow wax is first
blanched in the open air, after which it is boiled in water from the
open sea, with the addition of some nitre.[2137] The flower of the wax,
or, in other words, the whitest part of it, is then skimmed off with
spoons, and poured into a vessel containing a little cold water. After
this, it is again boiled in sea-water by itself, which done, the vessel
is left to cool. When this operation has been three times repeated, the
wax is left in the open air upon a mat of rushes, to dry in the light
of the sun and moon; for while the latter adds to its whiteness, the
sun helps to dry[2138] it. In order, however, that it may not melt,
it is the practice to cover it with a linen cloth: if, when it has
been thus refined, it is boiled once more, the result is a wax of the
greatest possible whiteness.
Punic wax is considered the best for all medicinal preparations. Wax
is made black by the addition of ashes of papyrus, and a red colour is
given to it by the admixture of alkanet; indeed, by the employment of
various pigments, it is made to assume various tints, in which state it
is used for making models,[2139] and for other purposes without number,
among which we may mention varnishing walls[2140] and armour, to
protect them from the air. We have given the other particulars relative
to bees and honey, when speaking[2141] of the nature of those insects.
We have now stated pretty nearly all that we have to say on the subject
of the pleasure garden.
CHAP. 50. (15.)—PLANTS WHICH GROW SPONTANEOUSLY: THE USE MADE OF THEM
BY VARIOUS NATIONS, THEIR NATURE, AND REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH
THEM. THE STRAWBERRY, THE TAMNUS, AND THE BUTCHER’S BROOM. THE BATIS,
TWO VARIETIES OF IT. THE MEADOW PARSNIP. THE HOP.
We now come to the plants which grow spontaneously, and which are
employed as an aliment by most nations, the people of Egypt in
particular, where they abound in such vast quantities, that, extremely
prolific as that country is in corn, it is perhaps the only one that
could subsist without it: so abundant are its resources in the various
kinds of food to be obtained from plants.
In Italy, however, we are acquainted with but very few of them; those
few being the strawberry,[2142] the tamnus,[2143] the butcher’s
broom,[2144] the sea[2145] batis, and the garden batis,[2146] known by
some persons as Gallic asparagus; in addition to which we may mention
the meadow parsnip[2147] and the hop,[2148] which may be rather termed
amusements for the botanist than articles of food.
CHAP. 51.—THE COLOCASIA.
But the plant of this nature that is the most famous in Egypt is the
colocasia,[2149] known as the “cyamos”[2150] to some. It is gathered
in the river Nilus, and the stalk of it, boiled, separates[2151]
into fine filaments when chewed, like those of the spider’s web. The
head,[2152] protruding from among the leaves, is very remarkable; and
the leaves, which are extremely large, even when compared with those
of trees, are very similar to those of the plant found in our rivers,
and known by the name of “personata.”[2153] So much do the people of
that country take advantage of the bounteousness displayed by their
river, that they are in the habit of plaiting[2154] the leaves of the
colocasia with such skill as to make vessels of various shapes, which
they are extremely fond of using for drinking vessels. At the present
day, however, this plant is cultivated in Italy.[2155]
CHAP. 52.—THE CICHORIUM. THE ANTHALIUM OR ANTICELLIUM, OR ANTHYLLUM.
THE ŒTUM. THE ARACHIDNA. THE ARACOS. THE CANDRYALA. THE HYPOCHŒRIS. THE
CAUCALIS. THE ANTHRISCUM. THE SCANDIX. THE TRAGOPOGON. THE PARTHENIUM
OR LEUCANTHES, AMARACUS, PERDICIUM, OR MURALIS. THE TRYCHNUM OR
STRYCHNUM, HALICACABUM, CALLIAS, DORYCNION, MANICON, PERITTON, NEURAS,
MORIO, OR MOLY. THE CORCHORUS. THE APHACE. THE ACYNOPOS. THE EPIPETRON.
PLANTS WHICH NEVER FLOWER. PLANTS WHICH ARE ALWAYS IN FLOWER.
In Egypt, next to the colocasia, it is the cichorium that is held in
the highest esteem, a plant which we have already spoken[2156] of
under the name of wild endive.[2157] It springs up after the rising of
the Vergiliæ, and the various portions of it blossom in succession:
the root is supple, and hence is used for making withes even. The
anthalium[2158] grows at a greater distance[2159] from the river;
the fruit of it is round,[2160] and about the size of a medlar, but
without either kernel or rind; the leaves of the plant are similar
to those of the cyperus. The people there eat the fruit of it cooked
upon the fire, as also of the œtum,[2161] a plant which has a few
leaves only, and those extremely diminutive, though the root is large
in proportion.[2162] The arachidna,[2163] again, and the aracos have
numerous branchy roots, but neither leaves nor any herbaceous parts,
nor, indeed, anything that makes its appearance above ground.