also in the spring.
[1498] Of our modern wines, Madeira and Bourdeaux improve by being
carried across sea. Burgundy, if any thing, deteriorates, by the
diminution of its bouquet.
[1499] After the grapes had been trodden and pressed, the husks were
taken out and their edges cut, and then again subjected to pressure:
the result was known as “tortivum,” or “circumcisivum,” a wine of very
inferior quality.
[1500] He alludes to the young shoots, which have an agreeable acidity,
owing to acetic and tartaric acids.
[1501] Acetic acid; the result, no doubt, of the faulty mode of
manufacture universally prevalent; their wines contained evidently but
little alcohol.
[1502] See B. xxiii. c. 24, and B. xxxvi. c. 48.
[1503] A process very likely, as Fée remarks, to turn the wines
speedily to vinegar.
[1504] Down to one-third. This practice of using boiled grape-juice as
a seasoning, is still followed in Spain in making some of the liqueurs;
but it is not generally recommended.
[1505] B. xvi. c. 21.
[1506] Asia Minor, namely.
[1507] B. xiii. c. 12.
[1508] B. xii. c. 37.
[1509] It produces but a very minute quantity of resin, which is no
longer an article of commerce.
[1510] See B. xiii. c. 11, and B. xvi. c. 21. Not the cedar of Lebanon,
probably, which only gives a very small quantity of resin, but one of
the junipers.
[1511] Fée suggests that this may have been the resin of the Arabian
terebinth.
[1512] See B. xxiv. c. 22.
[1513] Perhaps from the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.
[1514] This was made from the terebinth: but the modern resin of
Colophon is extracted from varieties of the coniferæ.
[1515] See B. xxiv. c. 22.
[1516] Earths are not soluble in oils.
[1517] As being a mark of extreme effeminacy.
[1518] The greater the quantity of alcohol, the more resin the wine
would be able to hold in solution.
[1519] See B. xvi. c. 22.
[1520] “Crapula” properly means head-ache, and what is not uncommonly
known as “seediness.” Resined wine was thought to be productive of
these effects, and hence obtained the name. This kind of wine was used
itself, as we see above, in seasoning the other kinds. Fée remarks,
that in reality resins have no such effect as imparting body to weak
wines.
[1521] The whole of this passage is hopelessly corrupt, and we can only
guess at the meaning.
[1522] We have already stated that “vappa” is properly vinegar, which
has been exposed to the air and has lost its flavour. In this fresh
chemical change, which he calls a second fermentation, the wine becomes
vinegar; and probably in the cases he mentions, for some peculiar
reason, its speedy transition to “vappa” could not be arrested.
[1523] Mixed with water, it was the “posca,” or common drink of the
Roman soldiers; and it was used extensively both by Greeks and Romans
in their cooking, and at meals.
[1524] In c. 24.
[1525] By the mixture of ashes, Fée says, the wines would lose their
colour, and have a detestable alkaline flavour.
[1526] A perfect absurdity, Fée remarks.
[1527] B. xvi. cc. 16-23.
[1528] Bitterness, driness, and a disagreeable smell.
[1529] Georg. ii. 498.
[1530] See B. iv. c. 12.
[1531] See B. xii. c. 36.
[1532] See B. xxi. c. 19.
[1533] Bees’ wax, Fée remarks, would not have this effect, but vinegar
vessels would.
[1534] De Re Rust. c. 23.
[1535] The second “squeezings.”
[1536] If the wine is turning to vinegar, subacetate of lead will be
formed.
[1537] They are tartrates, and have no affinity at all with nitre.
[1538] Casks, in fact, similar to those used in France at the present
day. In Spain they use earthen jars and the skins of animals.
[1539] Oblong earthen vessels, used as vats.
[1540] “Ventruosa.” He means “round.”
[1541] As oblong ones, probably.
[1542] While fermenting, and before racking off.
[1543] Flos vini, the Mycoderma vini of Desmazieres, a mould or
pellicule which forms on the surface, and afterwards falls and is held
in suspension.
[1544] Vessels of lead are never used for this purpose at the present
day; as that metal would oxidize too rapidly, and liquids would have
great difficulty in coming to a boil. A slow fire must have been used
by the ancients.
[1545] They were thought to give a bad flavour to the sapa or defrutum.
[1546] A mere puerility, as Fée remarks.
[1547] He does not state the reason, nor does it appear to be known. At
the present day warmed wine is sometimes given to a jaded horse, to put
him on his legs again.
[1548] Though practised by those who wished to drink largely, this was
considered to diminish the flavour of delicate wines.
[1549] See B. xxii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95; also c. 7 of the present
Book. Wine is no longer considered an antidote to cicuta or hemlock.
[1550] See B. xxxvi. c. 42.
[1551] This seems to be the meaning of “lectum;” but the passage is
obscure.
[1552] Tunicam.
[1553] He satirizes, probably, some kind of gymnastic exercises that
had been introduced to promote the speedy passage of the wine through
the body.
[1554] “In vino veritas.”
[1555] Fée remarks that this is one proof that the wine of the ancients
was essentially different in its nature from ours. In our day wine
gives anything but a “pallid” hue.
[1556] “Rapere vitam.”
[1557] See B. xxiii. c. 23.
[1558] Three gallons and three pints!! There must have been some
jugglery in this performance.
[1559] Probably towards those guilty of excesses in wine.
[1560] As Præfectus Urbis.
[1561] Love of drinking.
[1562] The mode of testing whether any “heeltaps” were left or not. It
was this custom, probably, that gave rise to the favourite game of the
cottabus.
[1563] Dr. Middleton, in his Life of Cicero, in his unlimited
partiality for the family, quotes this as an instance of courage and
high spirit.
[1564] According to Paterculus, he was fond of driving about in a
chariot, crowned with ivy, a golden goblet in his hand, and dressed
like Bacchus, by which title he ordered himself to be addressed.
[1565] He alludes to beer, or rather sweet wort, for hops were not
used till the latter part, probably, of the middle ages. Lupines were
sometimes used for flavouring beer.
[1566] Diodorus Siculus says that the Egyptian beer was nearly equal to
wine in strength and flavour.
[1567] See end of B. iii.
[1568] See end of B. vii.
[1569] See end of B. vii.
[1570] See end of B. iii.
[1571] See end of B. x.
[1572] See end of B. xi.
[1573] See end of B. ii.
[1574] Decimus Junius Silanus. He was commissioned by the senate, about
B.C. 146, to translate into Latin the twenty-eight books of Mago, the
Carthaginian, on Agriculture. See B. xviii. c. 5.
[1575] See end of B. x.
[1576] See end of B. vii.
[1577] See end of B. iii.
[1578] See end of B. iii.
[1579] Julius Græcinus. He was one of the most distinguished orators
of his time. Having refused to accuse M. Julius Silanus, he was put to
death A.D. 39. He wrote a work, in two books, on the culture of the
vine.
[1580] He was a contemporary of Celsus and Columella, the latter of
whom states that he wrote a work on a peculiar method of cultivating
the vine. See also B. xvii. c. 18.
[1581] See end of B. viii.
[1582] See end of B. vii.
[1583] See end of B. viii.
[1584] Nothing is known of him. He may possibly have written on
Husbandry, and seems to have spoken in dispraise of the son of Cicero.
See c. 28 of the present Book.
[1585] The famous Roman Comic poet, born B.C. 184. Twenty of his
comedies are still in existence.
[1586] For Alfius Flavius, see end of B. ix.; for Cneius Flavius, see
end of B. xii.
[1587] Or Dorsenus Fabius, an ancient Comic dramatist, censured by
Horace for the buffoonery of his characters, and the carelessness of
his productions. In the 15th Chapter of this Book, Pliny quotes a line
from his _Acharistio_.
[1588] Q. Mutius Scævola, consul B.C. 95, and assassinated by C.
Flavius Fimbria, having been proscribed by the Marian faction. He wrote
several works on the Roman law, and Cicero was in the number of his
disciples.
[1589] Sextus Ælius Pætus Catus, a celebrated jurisconsult, and consul
B.C. 198. He wrote a work on the Twelve Tables.
[1590] See end of B. iii.
[1591] Son of Corvinus Messala. He appears to have been a man of bad
repute: of his writings nothing seems to be known.
[1592] See end of B. ii.
[1593] A freedman of Pompey, by whose command he translated into Latin
the work of Mithridates on Poisons. After Pompey’s death, he maintained
himself by keeping a school at Rome.
[1594] For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. Fabianus Sabinus is
supposed to have been the same person.
[1595] See end of B. xii.
[1596] He is mentioned by the elder Seneca, but nothing whatever is
known of him.
[1597] See end of B. vii.
[1598] See end of B. iii.
[1599] See end of B. ii.
[1600] See end of B. ii.
[1601] See end of B. viii.
[1602] See end of B. viii.
[1603] See end of B. viii.
[1604] See end of B. iv.
[1605] See end of B. viii.
[1606] See end of B. viii.
[1607] See end of B. viii.
[1608] See end of B. viii.
[1609] See end of B. viii.
[1610] See end of B. viii.
[1611] See end of B. viii.
[1612] See end of B. viii.
[1613] See end of B. xiii.
[1614] See end of B. viii.
[1615] See end of B. vi.
[1616] See end of B. viii.
[1617] Supposed to have been a writer on Agriculture, but nothing
further is known of him.
[1618] See end of B. viii.
[1619] See end of B. viii.
[1620] See end of B. ii.
[1621] See end of B. x.
[1622] See end of B. viii.
[1623] See end of B. viii.
[1624] See end of B. viii.
[1625] See end of B. viii.
[1626] See end of B. xii.
[1627] See end of B. viii.
[1628] See end of B vii.
[1629] See end of B. ii.
[1630] See end of B. v.
[1631] Hist. Plant. iv. c.
[1632] The Olea Europæa of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 31.
[1633] This has not been observed to be the fact. It has been known to
grow in ancient Mesopotamia, more than one hundred leagues from the sea.
[1634] It is supposed that it is indigenous to Asia, whence it was
introduced into Africa and the South of Europe. There is little doubt
that long before the period mentioned by Pliny, it was grown in Africa
by the Carthaginians, and in the South of Gaul, at the colony of
Massilia.
[1635] This work of Hesiod is no longer in existence; but the assertion
is exaggerated, even if he alludes to the growth of the tree from seed.
Fée remarks that a man who has sown the olive at twenty, may gather
excellent fruit before he arrives at old age. It is more generally
propagated by slips or sets. If the trunk is destroyed by accident, the
roots will throw out fresh suckers.
[1636] This is the case. We may remark that the tree will grow in this
country, but the fruit never comes to maturity.
[1637] Georg. ii. 85, also ii. 420.
[1638] Probably the Olea maximo fructu of Tournefort. It has its name
from the Greek ὄρχις the “testis,” a name by which it is still known in
some parts of Provence.
[1639] Or “shuttle” olive. Probably the modern pickoline, or long olive.
[1640] Probably the Olea media rotunda præcox of Tournefort. It is
slightly bitter.
[1641] This is so much the case, that though the olives of Spain and
Portugal are among the finest, their oils are of the very worst quality.
[1642] It does not appear that the method of preparing oil by the use
of boiling water was known to the ancients. Unripe olives produce an
excellent oil, but in very small quantities. Hence they are rarely used
for the purpose.
[1643] Called “virgin,” or “native” oil in France, and very highly
esteemed.
[1644] Sporta.
[1645] “Exilibus regulis.” A kind of wooden strainer, apparently
invented to supersede the wicker, or basket strainer.
[1646] It is more insipid the riper the fruit, and the less odorous.
[1647] By absorbing the oxygen of the air. It may be preserved two or
three years even, in vessels hermetically closed. The oil of France
keeps better than any other.
[1648] As well as the grape.
[1649] In consequence of the faulty mode of manufacture, the oil of
Italy is now inferior to that of France. The oil of Aix is particularly
esteemed.
[1650] In Campania. See B. xvii. c. 3. Horace and Martial speak in
praise of the Venafran olive. Hardouin suggests that Licinius Crassus
may have introduced the Licinian olive.
[1651] The heat of Africa is unfavourable to the olive.
[1652] The fæces, marc, or lees. This is a crude juice contained in the
cellular tissue of the fruit, known as _viridine_ or _chlorophylle_.
[1653] This is owing, Fée says, to a sort of fermentation, which alters
the tissue of the cells containing the oil, displaces the constituent
elements, and forms others, such as mucus, sugar, acetic acid,
ammoniac, &c. When ripe, the olive contains four oils; that of the
skin, the flesh, the stone, and the kernel.
[1654] In B. xii. c. 60.
[1655] See B. xviii. c. 74.
[1656] 16th of September.
[1657] De Causis, B. i. c. 23.
[1658] This cannot possibly _increase_ the oil, but it would render it
more fluid, and thereby facilitate its escape from the cells of the
berry.
[1659] But Cato, Re Rust. c. 144, adds the very significant words,
“injussu domini aut custodis.” “Without the leave of the owner or the
keeper.”
[1660] It is found that the olive, after an abundant season, will not
bear in the following year; probably the result of exhaustion.
[1661] More commonly spelt “pausia.”
[1662] “Regia.” It is impossible to identify these varieties.
[1663] 8th of February.
[1664] This assertion of Pliny is not generally true. The large olives
of Spain yield oil very plentifully.
[1665] Probably a member of the variety known to naturalists as the
Olea fructu majori, carne crassâ, of Tournefort, the royal olive or
“triparde” of the French. The name is thought to be from the Greek
φαῦλος, the fruit being considered valueless from its paucity of oil.
[1666] There are but few olive-trees in either Egypt or Decapolis at
the present day, and no attempts are made to extract oil from them.
[1667] “Carnis.” He gives this name to the solid part, or pericarp.
[1668] See B. iii. c. 9.
[1669] These methods are not now adopted for preserving the olive. The
fruit are first washed in an alkaline solution, and then placed in salt
and water. The colymbas was so called from κολυμβάω, “to swim,” in its
own oil, namely. Dioscorides descants on the medicinal properties of
the colymbades. B. i. c. 140.
[1670] There are several varieties known of this colour, and more
particularly the fruit of the Olea atro-rubens of Gouan.
[1671] The Spanish olive, Hardouin says. Fée thinks that the name
“superba,” “haughty,” is given figuratively, as meaning rough and
austere.
[1672] The olives of the present Merida, in Spain, are of a rough,
disagreeable flavour.
[1673] This seems to be the meaning of “pinguis;” but, as Fée observes,
salt would have no such effect as here stated, but would impart a
disagreeable flavour to the oil.
[1674] Fée regards this assertion as quite fabulous.
[1675] It will be stated in B. xxviii. c. 13, to what purposes this
abominable collection of filth was applied.
[1676] 15th of July. He alludes to the inspection of the Equites, which
originally belonged to the Censors, but afterwards to the Emperors.
On this occasion there was “recognitio,” or “review,” and then a
“transvectio,” or “procession” of the horsemen.
[1677] The ovation was a lesser triumph, at which the general entered
the city not in a chariot, but on foot. In later times, however, the
victor entered on horseback: and a wreath of myrtle, sometimes laurel,
was worn by him. For further particulars as to the ovation, see c. 38
of the present Book.
[1678] Or “oleaster.”
[1679] De Re Rust. c. 6.
[1680] A middling or even poor soil is chosen for the olive at the
present day.
[1681] Apparently meaning the “white wax” olive.
[1682] In warm countries, a site exposed to the north is chosen: in
colder ones, a site which faces the south.
[1683] See B. xvii. c. 37. This moss has not been identified with
precision; but the leaf of the olive is often attacked by an
_erysiphus_, known to naturalists as the Alphitomorpha communis; but it
is white, not of a red colour.
[1684] Fée queries how any one could possibly eat olives that had been
steeped in a solution of mastich. They must have been nauseous in the
extreme.
[1685] De Re Rust. c. 64.
[1686] “Fracibus.” The opinion of Pliny, that olives deteriorate by
being left in the store-room, is considered to be well founded; the
olives being apt to ferment, to the deterioration of the oil: at the
same time, he is wrong in supposing that the amount of oil diminishes
by keeping the berries.
[1687] “Cortinas.” If we may judge from the name, these vessels were
three-footed, like a tripod.
[1688] There are no good grounds for this recommendation, which is
based on the erroneous supposition that heat increases the oil in the
berry. The free circulation of the air also ought not to be restricted,
as nothing is gained by it. In general, the method of extracting the
oil is the same with the moderns as with the ancients, though these
last did not employ the aid of boiling water.
[1689] Labra.
[1690] A “making,” or “batch.”
[1691] Or “flower.”
[1692] It may be remarked, that in this Chapter Pliny totally confounds
fixed oils, volatile oils, and medicinal oils. Those in the list which
he here gives, and which are not otherwise noticed in the Notes, may be
considered to belong to this last class.
[1693] The oleaster furnishes but little oil, and it is seldom
extracted. The oil is thinner than ordinary olive oil, and has a
stronger odour.
[1694] The Daphne Cneorum and Daphne Cnidium of botanists. See B. xiii.
c. 35, also B. xxiv. c. 82. Fée doubts if an oil was ever made from the
chamelæa.
[1695] See B. xxiii. c. 41: the Ricinus communis of Linnæus, which
abounds in Egypt at the present day. Though it appears to have been
formerly sometimes used for the table, at the present day the oil is
only known as “castor” oil, a strong purgative. It is one of the fixed
oils. The Jews and Abyssinian Christians say that it was under this
tree that Jonah sat.
[1696] A “tick.”
[1697] This method, Fée says, is still pursued in America.
[1698] See B. xiii. c. 2. One of the fixed oils.
[1699] An essential oil may be extracted from either; it is of acrid
taste, green, and aromatic; but does not seem to have been known to the
ancients. The berries give by decoction a fixed oil, of green colour,
sweet, and odoriferous. The oils in general here spoken of by Pliny as
extracted from the laurel, are medicinal oils.
[1700] The Laurus latifolia of Bauhin.
[1701] The Myrtus latifolia Romana of Bauhin. It yields an essential
oil, and by its decoction might give a fixed oil, in small quantity,
but very odoriferous. As boiled with olive oil, he treats it as a
volatile oil.
[1702] See B. xxv. c. 100. This myrtle is the Ruscus aculeatus of
Linnæus.
[1703] See B. xiii. c. 29, and B xxiii. c. 45. A volatile oil might
be extracted from the citrus, if one of the thuyæ, as also from the
cypress.
[1704] See B. xxiii. c. 45. It is a fixed oil, still considerably used
in some parts of Europe.
[1705] From the Greek καρύα, a “walnut.”
[1706] “Pitch oil.” See B. xxiv. c. 11. This would be a volatile oil.
[1707] See B. xxiii. c. 45, also B. xiii. c. 35. Fée is of opinion,
that as no fixed oil can be extracted from the Daphne Cnidium or Daphne
Cneorum, Pliny must allude to a medicinal composition, like the oil of
wild myrtle, previously mentioned.
[1708] A fixed oil. See B. xii. c. 36. The seeds were used for making
it. See B. xxiii. c. 45.
[1709] See B. xii. c. 51, and B. xxiii. c. 45. The leaves of the
Lawsonia are very odoriferous.
[1710] The myrobalanus, or ben. See B. xii. c. 46, and B. xxiii. c. 46.
[1711] Neither the chesnut nor rice produce any kind of fixed oil.
[1712] See B. xvii. c. 13.
[1713] Or Fish-eaters. See B. xxxii. c. 38. This is one of the fixed
oils.
[1714] In reality, no fixed oil can be obtained from them.
[1715] Or wild vine. See B. xii. c. 61, and B. xiii. c. 2.
[1716] Not an oil, so much as a medicinal preparation. Dioscorides
mentions as component parts of it, omphacium, sweet rush, Celtic nard,
aspalathus, costus, and must. It received its name from γλεῦκος “must.”
[1717] The Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus. See B. xii. c 52, and B.
xiii. c. 2.
[1718] See B. xii. c. 48.
[1719] See B. xii. c. 54, and B. xiii. c. 2.
[1720] See B. xii. c. 29.
[1721] See B. xii. c. 57.
[1722] See B. xiii. c. 2, p. 163.
[1723] See B. xii. c. 41.
[1724] See B. xiii. c. 2.
[1725] Fée doubts the possibility of such a resemblance.
[1726] Hyoscyamus. A medicinal oil is still extracted from it. See B.
xxiii. c. 49.
[1727] This medicinal oil is no longer used. The Lupinus albus was
formerly held in greater esteem than it is now.
[1728] The Raphanus sativus of Linnæus. See B. xix. c. 26. This is one
of the fixed oils; varieties of it are rape oil, and colza oil, now so
extensively used.
[1729] From the Greek χόρτος, “grass.” This medicinal oil would be
totally without power or effect.
[1730] A fixed oil is still extracted in Egypt from the grain known as
sesamum.
[1731] See B. xxii. c. 15.
[1732] From κνίδη, a “nettle.” The nettle, or Urtica urens of Linnæus,
has no oleaginous principles in its seed.
[1733] Lily oil is still used as a medicinal composition: it is made
from the petals of the white lily, Lilium candidum of Linnæus.
[1734] From Selga, a town of Pisidia. See B. xxiii. c. 49.
[1735] See B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxiii. c. 49.
[1736] A volatile oil, mixed with a small proportion of empyreumatic
oil and carbon.
[1737] “Oil-honey.” Probably a terebinthine, or oleo-resin. See B.
xxiii. c. 50.
[1738] When rancid and oxygenized by age, it has an irritating quality,
and may be found useful for herpetic diseases.
[1739] It very probably will have this effect; but at the expense of
the colour of the ivory, which very soon will turn yellow.
[1740] It has quite lost its ancient repute: the only use it is now put
to is the manufacture of an inferior soap. See B. xxiii. c. 37.
[1741] De Re Rust. cc. 130, 169.
[1742] Dolia and cadi. Fée observes, that this, if done with the modern
vessels, would have a tendency to make the oil turn rancid.
[1743] On the contrary, Fée is inclined to think it would attract them,
from its mucilaginous properties.
[1744] Olive oil, however, has a tendency to generate verdigrease in
copper vessels.
[1745] This, as Fée remarks, is probably so absurd as not to be worth
discussing.
[1746] Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.
[1747] If she happens to have destroyed the buds, but not otherwise.
[1748] The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.
[1749] See B. xvi. c. 23. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an
agreeable flavour.
[1750] Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The
nuts are slightly resinous.
[1751] Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at
the present day to make this preparation.
[1752] The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.
[1753] From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a
corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called
“melicotones.”
[1754] Or “golden apple.” The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an
emblem of love.
[1755] Apparently meaning the “sparrow quince.” Dioscorides, Galen,
and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such
case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?
[1756] “Early ripener.”
[1757] Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the
pear is.
[1758] Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.
[1759] Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.
[1760] We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were
frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.
[1761] The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of
modern botanists.
[1762] “Mala.” The term “malum,” somewhat similar to “pome” with us,
was applied to a number of different fruits: the orange, the citron,
the pomegranate, the apricot, and others.
[1763] Or peach.
[1764] See B. xiii. c. 34.
[1765] Or “pound-weight” pears: the Pirus volema of Linnæus.
[1766] Or “hard-berry”—probably in reference to the firmness of the
flesh. It is generally thought to be the nectarine.
[1767] “Præcocia.” It is generally thought that in this name originates
the word “apricot,” the Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus. There is, however,
an early peach that ripens by the middle of July, though it is very
doubtful if it was known to Pliny.
[1768] “From above.”
[1769] Perhaps the Prunus ungarica of naturalists, the black damask
plum; or else the Prunus perdrigona, the perdrigon.
[1770] Probably the Prunus galatensis of naturalists.
[1771] “Hordearia:” the Prunus præcox of naturalists; probably our
harvest plum.
[1772] Or “ass”-plum. The Prunus acinaria of naturalists: the cherry
plum of the French.
[1773] Or “wax plum.” The Prunus cereola of naturalists: the mirabelle
of the French.
[1774] Possibly the Prunus enucleata of Lamarck: the myrobalan of the
French. Many varieties, however, are purple.
[1775] There are two opinions on this: that it is the Prunus Claudiana
of Lamarck, the “Reine Claude” of the French; or else that it is
identical with the apricot already mentioned, remarkable for the
sweetness of its smell.
[1776] Or nut-prune.
[1777] The Prunus insititia of Linnæus.
[1778] The result of this would only be a plum like that of the tree
from which the graft was cut.
[1779] The same as with reference to the graft on the apple.
[1780] This is probably quite fabulous.
[1781] B. xiii. c. 10.
[1782] The Prunus Damascena of the naturalists; our common damson, with
its numerous varieties.
[1783] Probably the Cordia myxa of Linnæus; the Sebestier of the
French. It has a viscous pulp, and is much used as a pectoral. It grows
only in Syria and Egypt; and hence Fée is inclined to reject what Pliny
says as to its naturalization at Rome, and the account he gives as to
its being engrafted on the sorb.
[1784] _I. e._ Asia Minor.
[1785] Hospitium.
[1786] See B. xiii. c. 17. The Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille.
[1787] It was this probably, and not the peach-tree, that would not
bear fruit in the isle of Rhodes.
[1788] Perseus.
[1789] Fée remarks that the wild plum, the Prunus silvestris or
insititia of Linnæus, was to be found in Italy before the days of Cato.
[1790] See B. xii. c. 7.
[1791] Of Media.
[1792] Its fruit will ripen in France, as far north as Tours. It is
the Zizyphus vulgaris of Lamarck. It resembles a small plum, and is
sometimes used as a sweetmeat. The confection sold as jujube paste is
not the dried jelly of this fruit, but merely gum arabic and sugar,
coloured.
[1793] A variety of the jujube, Fée is inclined to think. A nut-peach
has also been suggested.
[1794] A.U.C. 779.
[1795] Or perhaps embankment: “agger.”
[1796] A reddish colour. For the composition of this colour, see B.
xxxv. c. 24.
[1797] “Lanata;” perhaps rather the “downy” fruit; a variety of quince,
Fée thinks. Pliny probably had never seen this fruit, in his opinion,
and only speaks after Virgil, Ecl. ii. l. 51. “Ipse ego cana legam
tenera lanugine mala.”
[1798] See B. xii. c. 6. The Matian and the Cestian apple are thought
by Dalechamps to have been the French “court-pendu,” or “short stalk.”
[1799] The Scandian is thought to have been a winter pear.
[1800] Adrian Junius takes this to be the “kers-appel” of the Flemish.
[1801] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 143.
[1802] Dolia.
[1803] Hardouin says that this is the “Pomme d’api” of the French; it
is the “Court-pendu” with Adrian Junius.
[1804] The “Pomme de Saint Thomas,” according to Adrian Junius:
Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme de Granoi. See B. iii. c. 19,
and cc. 17 and 18 of the present Book.
[1805] “Græcula.” So called, perhaps, from Tarentum, situated in Magna
Græcia.
[1806] Twins. This variety is unknown.
[1807] Or “red” apple. The red calville of the French, according to
Hardouin; the Pomme suzine, according to Dalechamps.
[1808] The Girandotte of the French; the appel-heeren of the Dutch.
[1809] The “early ripener.” Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme
Saint Jean, the apple of St. John.
[1810] The Pomme rose, or rose apple, according to Dalechamps.
[1811] Or “erect teat.” The Pomme taponne of the French, according to
Dalechamps.
[1812] Or eunuch. The Passe pomme, or Pomme grillotte of the French.
[1813] Or “leaf apple.” Fée remarks that this occasionally happens, but
the apple does not form a distinct variety.
[1814] The Pomme pannete, according to Dalechamps: the Pomme gelée of
Provence.
[1815] Or “lung” apple. The Pomme folane, according to Dalechamps.
[1816] The Pirus malus of Linnæus, the wild apple, or estranguillon of
the French.
[1817] It is doubtful whether he does not allude here to a peculiar
variety.
[1818] Or “mealy” apples.
[1819] Or “proud” pear. The Petite muscadelle, according to Dalechamps.
Adrian Junius says that it is the water-peere of the Dutch.
[1820] From Crustumium in Italy; the Poire perle, or pearl pear,
according to Dalechamps: the Jacob’s peere of the Flemish.
[1821] The Poire sucrée, or “sugar-pear,” according to Hardouin; the
Bergamotte, according to Dalechamps.
[1822] “Potu.” He would appear to allude to the manufacture of perry.
[1823] The Syrian pear is commended by Martial; it has not been
identified, however.
[1824] The Poire musot, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says
that it is the Engelsche braet-peere of the Flemish.
[1825] The Pirus Pompeiana of Linnæus. Dalechamps identifies it with
the Bon chretien, and Adrian Junius with the Taffel-peere of the
Flemish.
[1826] The “breast-formed.”
[1827] The Pirus Favonia of Linnæus: the Grosse poire muscadelle of the
French.
[1828] The Poire prevost, according to Dalechamps.
[1829] The Poire foré, according to Dalechamps.
[1830] The Saint Thomas’s pear of the Flemish.
[1831] The Poire chat of the French, according to Dalechamps; the
Riet-peere of the Flemish.
[1832] “Like onyx.” The Cuisse-madame, according to Dalechamps.
[1833] The Calveau rosat, according to Dalechamps. Perhaps the Poire
d’ambre, or amber pear, of the French.
[1834] The Poire d’argent, or silver pear, according to Dalechamps.
[1835] Or “barley pear.” The Poire de Saint Jean, according to
Dalechamps; the musquette or muscadella, according to Adrian Junius.
[1836] Barley-harvest.
[1837] So called from its resemblance to the “ampulla,” a big-bellied
vessel with a small neck, identified with the Poire d’angoisse by
Dalechamps.
[1838] The Poire de jalousie, according to Dalechamps.
[1839] Or gourd-pear. This is the “isbout” according to Adrian Junius,
the Poire courge of Dalechamps, and the Poire de sarteau, or de campane
of others.
[1840] The Poire de Venus, according to Adrian Junius; the Poire
acciole, according to Dalechamps.
[1841] Coloured pear.
[1842] “Regium.” The Poire carmagnole, according to Dalechamps; the
Mispeel-peere of the Flemish, according to Adrian Junius.
[1843] The Poire sarteau, according to Dalechamps.
[1844] Georgics, ii. 87.
[1845] “A handful”—probably the pound or pounder pear: the Bergamotte,
according to Hardouin; the Bon chretien of summer, according to Adrian
Junius.
[1846] De Re Rust. c. 7.
[1847] Or “Seedling.”
[1848] The “early ripener.” Fée suggests that this may be a variety of
the Bon chretien.
[1849] Georgics, ii. 69. This statement of Virgil must be regarded
as fabulous; grafting being impracticable with trees not of the same
family, and not always successful even then.
[1850] This was probably some superstition taught by the augurs for the
purpose of enveloping their profession in additional mystery and awe.
[1851] Cadis.
[1852] He probably alludes here to cider and perry. See p. 300, and B.
xxiii. c. 62.
[1853] “Pulmentarii vicem;” properly “a substitute for pulmentarium,”
which was anything eaten with bread, such as meat, vegetables, &c.
He alludes to marmalade. The French raisine is a somewhat similar
preparation from pears and quinces boiled in new wine.
[1854] “Specularibus.” He alludes to windows of transparent stone,
lapis specularis, or mica; windows of glass being probably unknown
in his time. The ordinary windows were merely openings closed with
shutters. See B. xxxvi. c. 45.
[1855] He must allude to a kind of quince marmalade.
[1856] As Fée remarks, the fruit, if treated thus, would soon lose all
the properties for which it is valued.
[1857] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 59.
[1858] A faulty proceeding, however dry it may be.
[1859] This fruit, Fée remarks, keeps but indifferently, and soon
becomes soft, vinous, and acid.
[1860] An absurd superstition.
[1861] A method not unlikely to spoil the grape, from the difficulty of
removing the coat thus given to it.
[1862] A very absurd notion, as Fée observes. To keep fruit in millet
is also condemned.
[1863] Which, of course, must deteriorate the flavour of the grape.
[1864] It is doubtful if they will increase in size, when once plucked.
[1865] The modern authorities recommend the precisely opposite plan.
[1866] As absurd as the use of the bulb of squill.
[1867] In a pit two feet deep, &c. See above.
[1868] Capsæ.
[1869] See B. xxi. c. 49.
[1870] De Re Rust. B. xii. c. 43.
[1871] These must make raisins of the sun.
[1872] These must have been perfectly dry, or else they would tend to
rot the grapes or raisins.
[1873] Columella, for instance, B. xii. c. 43.
[1874] The dust is in reality very liable to spoil the fruit, from the
tenacity with which it adheres. In all these methods, little attention
would seem to be paid to the retention of the flavour of the fruits.
[1875] A detestable practice, Fée says, as the oil makes an indelible
mark on the grape, and gives it an abominable flavour. It is the best
method to put the fruit in bags of paper or hair.
[1876] See B. xiii. c. 19.
[1877] There are about forty varieties now known.
[1878] B. xiii. c. 14, 15. These are the Ficus sycomorus of Linnæus.
[1879] In Troas; called the Alexandrian fig, from the city of
Alexandria there. Fée doubts if this was really a fig, and suggests
that it might be the fruit of a variety of Diospyros.
[1880] No fig-tree now known is destitute of this.
[1881] Fée treats this as an exaggeration.
[1882] From “mamilla,” a teat.
[1883] In Egypt. The Figue servantine, or cordeliere.
[1884] “Delicata.” The “bon-bouche.”
[1885] Fée suggests that this may have been the small early fig.
[1886] From Livia, the wife of Augustus.
[1887] From Pompeius Magnus.
[1888] Apparently meaning the “marsh” fig.
[1889] The Laconian reed, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 12.
[1890] The “white-wax” fig.
[1891] Fée queries whether it may not be the Grosse bourjasotte.
[1892] Or “people’s” fig. The small early white fig.
[1893] Or “swallow”-fig.
[1894] Or it may mean “white and black,” that being the colour of the
fig. Such a variety is still known.
[1895] A Spanish variety; those of the south of Spain are very highly
esteemed.
[1896] The modern “black” fig.
[1897] The sun of the former year.
[1898] In Mœsia—the present Servia and Bulgaria.
[1899] Another war is said to have originated in this fruit. Xerxes was
tempted by the fine figs of Athens to undertake the invasion of Greece.
[1900] “Tertium ante diem.” In dating from an event, the Romans
included both days in the computation; the one they dated _from_, and
the day _of_, the event.
[1901] In sending for the fig, and thinking of this method of speaking
to the feelings of his fellow-countrymen.
[1902] A place in the Forum, where public meetings were held, and
certain offences tried.
[1903] He alludes to the Puteal, or enclosed space in the Forum,
consecrated by Scribonius Libo, in consequence of the spot having been
struck by lightning.
[1904] On the banks of the Tiber, below the Palatine Mount. The whole
of this passage is in a most corrupt state, and it is difficult to
extract a meaning from it.
[1905] By slips from the old tree, as Tacitus seems to say—“in novos
fœtus revivisceret.”
[1906] At the foot of the Capitoline Hill.
[1907] Probably near where the Curtius Lacus had stood in the early
days of Rome. The story of Metius Curtius, who leaped into the yawning
gulph in the Forum, in order to save his country, is known to every
classical reader.
[1908] The Forum.
[1909] See B. xix. c. 6.
[1910] The Ficus Carica of Linnæus. It _does_ bear fruit, though small,
and disagreeable to the taste.
[1911] This insect is one of the Hymenoptera; the Cynips Psenes of
Linnæus and Fabricius. There is another insect of the same genus, but
not so well known.
[1912] Fée observes that the caprification accelerates the ripeness of
the fruit, but at the expense of the flavour. For the same purpose the
upper part of the fig is often pricked with a pointed quill.
[1913] “Infantiam pomi”—literally, “the infancy of the fruit.”
[1914] Fée denies the truth of this assertion.
[1915] Frumenta.
[1916] A mixture of the sugar of the fruit with the milky juice of the
tree, which is a species of caoutchouc.
[1917] Capsis.
[1918] See B. iii. c. 11. The Balearic Isles still produce great
quantities of excellent dried figs.
[1919] See B. iii. c. 17.
[1920] Orcæ.
[1921] Cadi.
[1922] Ground, perhaps, into a kind of flour.
[1923] Opsonii vicem. “Opsonium” was anything eaten with bread, such as
vegetables, meat, and fish, for instance.
[1924] De Re Rust. c. 56.
[1925] Because they would be sure, under any circumstances, to eat
plenty of them.
[1926] See B. xiii. c. 10.
[1927] These were so called from Caunus, a city of Caria, famous
for its dried figs. Pronounced “Cavneas,” it would sound to the
superstitious, “Cave ne eas,” “Take care that you go not.”
[1928] At Brundisium.
[1929] A.U.C. 801.
[1930] Alba Longa. See B. iii. c. 9.
[1931] The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists.
[1932] The Mespilus germanica of the botanists.
[1933] The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii
folio laciniato of C. Bauhin.
[1934] The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrato of C. Bauhin, the
Mespilus cotoneaster of J. Bauhin.
[1935] Its identity is matter of uncertainty; but it has been thought
to be the Cratægus oxyacantha of modern botanists.
[1936] By “amplissimus,” he must mean that it spreads out very much in
proportion to its height, as it is merely a shrub.
[1937] Fée thinks it a tree indigenous to the north.
[1938] The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists.
[1939] The sorb-pear.
[1940] Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus
domestica of Linnæus.
[1941] Fée is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of
Lamarck. Anguillara thinks that it is the Cratægus of Theophrastus,
considered by Sprengel to be identical with the Cratægus azarolus of
Linnæus. In ripening, the fruit of the sorb undergoes a sort of vinous
fermentation: hence a kind of cider made of it.
[1942] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 145.
[1943] The Juglans regia of Linnæus.
[1944] Tastes have probably altered since this was written.
[1945] These were rude and sometimes obscene songs sung at festivals,
and more particularly marriages. While these songs were being sung at
the door of the nuptial chamber, it was the custom for the husband to
scramble walnuts among the young people assembled there. The walnut is
the nut mentioned in Solomon’s Song, vi. 11.
[1946] Or, more probably, from the union of the two portions of the
inner shell.
[1947] “Tripudium sonivium;” implying that it was considered sacred to
marriage, from the use made of it by the friends of the bridegroom when
thrown violently against the nuptial chamber, with the view of drowning
the cries of the bride. A very absurd notion, to all appearance.
[1948] The “Persian” nut.
[1949] The “king’s” nut. The walnut-tree still abounds in Persia, and
is found wild on the slopes of the Himalaya.
[1950] Implying that it comes from the Greek κάρη, “the head.” Some
etymologists think that it is from the Celto-Scythian _carw_, a boat;
such being the shape of the two parts of the inner shell.
[1951] It is still a common notion, Fée says, that it is highly
injurious to sleep beneath a walnut-tree.
[1952] It is still used for this purpose.
[1953] Red hair was admired by the Romans. The Roman females used this
juice also for dyeing their hair when grey.
[1954] They are not _entirely_ separate.
[1955] The Corylus avellana maxima of Willdenow.
[1956] The filbert, the Corylus tubulosa of Willdenow.
[1957] Abellinum, in Campania. See B. iii. c. 9.
[1958] The down on the nut is more apparent when it is young; but it is
easily rubbed off. The outer coat is probably meant.
[1959] Hazel nuts are sometimes roasted in some parts of Europe, but
not with us.
[1960] The Amygdalus communis of Linnæus.
[1961] De Re Rust. c. 8. Some think that this was the bitter almond;
and the word “acriore,” used by Pliny, would almost seem to imply that
such is the case.
[1962] Apparently the “smooth” or “bald” nut. May not a variety
something like the hickory nut of America be meant?
[1963] Festus says that a kind of nut was so called, because the
Prænestines, when besieged by Hannibal at Casilinum, subsisted upon
them. See Livy, B. xxiii. Fée considers it only another name for the
common hazel nut.
[1964] De Re Rust. c. 145.
[1965] The soft-shelled almond, or princess almond of the French; the
Amygdalus communis fragilis of naturalists.
[1966] This last variety does not seem to have been identified: the
hard-shell almonds do not appear to be larger than the others.
[1967] Or “soft” almond, a variety only of the Amygdalus fragilis.
[1968] There is little doubt that Fée is right in his assertion, that
this great personage imposed on our author; as no trees of this family
are known to bear two crops.
[1969] B. xiii. c. 10.
[1970] In c. xxi. of this Book.
[1971] The tree is the Fagus castanea of Linnæus.
[1972] Cortex.
[1973] The common mode of eating it at the present day. The Italians
also take off the skin and dry the nut; thus keeping it from year to
year. When required for eating, it is softened by the steam of boiling
water.
[1974] Not improbably said in allusion to the fasts introduced by the
Jews, who had become very numerous in Rome.
[1975] It was said to have come from Castana, a city of Pontus, whence
its name “Castanea.” It is probably indigenous to Europe.
[1976] The Greek for “Jove’s acorn.”
[1977] Or “acorn chesnut.” The same variety, Fée says, that is found
in the vicinity of Perigueux, small, nearly round, and without any
particular flavour.
[1978] The Ganebelone chesnut of Perigueux, Fée says, answers to this
description.
[1979] On account of the prickles on the outer shell.
[1980] B. xvii. c. 26.
[1981] Fée says that the royal white chesnut of the vicinity of
Perigueux answers to this.
[1982] “Boiling” chesnuts.
[1983] He alludes to wild or horse chesnuts, probably.
[1984] See B. xiii. c. 16.
[1985] This skin is not eatable. It is fibrous and astringent.
[1986] In B. xvi. c. 6.
[1987] “Acinis.” The grape, ivy-berry, elder-berry, and others.
[1988] “Inter cutem succumque.”
[1989] Baccis. Some confusion is created by the non-existence of
English words to denote the difference between “acinus” and “bacca.”
The latter is properly the “berry;” the grape being the type of the
“acinus.”
[1990] See B. xvi. c. 41. The mulberry is the Morus nigra of modern
naturalists. It is generally thought that this was the only variety
known to the ancients; but Fée queries, from the story of Pyramus and
Thisbe, which represents the mulberry as changing from white to blood
colour, that the white mulberry was not unknown to them; but through
some cause, now unknown, was gradually lost sight of.
[1991] This is still the case with the mulberry.
[1992] See B. xvi. c. 71, and B. xxiv. c. 73. He alludes to the
blackberry.
[1993] The common strawberry, the Fragaria vesca of Linnæus. See B.
xxi. c. 50. A native of the Alps and the forests of Gaul, it was
unknown to the Greeks.
[1994] The Arbutus unedo of Linnæus. It is one of the ericaceous
trees, and its fruit bears a considerable resemblance to the
strawberry—otherwise there is not the slightest affinity between
them. The taste of the arbute is poor indeed, compared to that of the
strawberry.
[1995] He suggests that it is so called from “unum edo,” “I eat but
one;” a rather fanciful etymology, it would seem.
[1996] This supposition is not warranted, from merely the fact of there
being two names.
[1997] See B. xvi. c. 52.
[1998] See B. xxiv. c. 35.
[1999] See B. xiii. c. 34.
[2000] “Baccis.” Berries, properly so called.
[2001] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.
[2002] Supposed by some to be the holly. See B. xxv. c. 72.
[2003] He alludes to a variety of the cratægus.
[2004] The Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. It is said to have
obtained its name from Cerasus, in Asia Minor, where Lucullus found it.
[2005] He must allude to what he has stated in B. xii. c. 3, for he has
nowhere said that the cherry will not grow in Egypt. It is said that
the cherry is not to be found in Egypt at the present day.
[2006] The griotte cherry of the French, the mazzard of the English.
[2007] A variety of the mazzard, Fée thinks.
[2008] Some take this for the Cerasus Juliana, the guignier of the
French, our white heart; others, again, for the merisier, our morello.
[2009] It is most generally thought that this is the Cerasus avium of
botanists, our morello, which is a very tender cherry.
[2010] Or “hard berry,” the Prunus bigarella of Linnæus, the red
bigaroon.
[2011] Fée queries whether it may not have received its name of
“Pliniana” in compliment to our author, or one of his family.
[2012] Hardouin thinks that this Portuguese cherry is the griotte, or
mazzard.
[2013] No such cherry is known at the present day.
[2014] Such a graft is impossible; the laurel-cherry must have had some
other origin.
[2015] Fée suggests that this may be the early dwarf cherry.
[2016] Or “ground-cherry;” a dwarf variety, if, indeed, it was a
cherry-tree at all, of which Fée expresses some doubt.
[2017] This explains, Fée says, why it will not grow in Egypt.
[2018] The Cornus mas of Linnæus. The fruit of the cornel has a tart
flavour, but is not eaten in modern Europe, except by school-boys.
[2019] That produces mastich. See B. xii. c. 36.
[2020] He alludes more especially, perhaps, to the use of cicuta or
hemlock by drunkards, who looked upon it as an antidote to the effects
of wine. See B. xiv. c. 7.
[2021] Fée remarks, that in this enumeration there is no method.
Linnæus enumerates eleven principal flavours in the vegetable
kingdom—dry or insipid, aqueous, viscous, salt, acrid, styptic, sweet,
fat, bitter, acid, and nauseous; these terms, however seem, some of
them, to be very indefinite.
[2022] It requires considerable discernment to appropriate nicely its
English synonym to these four varieties of tastes, “acer, acutus,
acerbus, and acidus,” more especially when we find that the “bitter”
and the “rough” are occupied already by the “amarus” and the “austerus.”
[2023] In allusion, probably, to the pungency of the aroma or bouquet.
[2024] Lenitate.
[2025] This seems to be the meaning of “succus.”
[2026] The “insipid.”
[2027] This is so much the case, that the most nauseous medicine may
be taken almost with impunity—so far as taste is concerned—by tightly
pressing the nostrils while taking it.
[2028] Fée remarks that this is true of fire, and of distilled or
perfectly pure water; but that physiologists are universally agreed
that the air has its own peculiar smell.
[2029] All fruits that are rich in sugar and amidine, Fée says, either
have, or acquire in time, a vinous flavour, by the development of a
certain quantity of alcohol.
[2030] In the fruit with a fixed oil, this principle succeeds, when
they are ripe, to the mucilaginous.
[2031] He must mean a thinner juice, though still sweet.
[2032] About the peduncle or stalk of the fig. The juice here, Fée
says, is a real sugar, of the same nature as that which circulates
throughout the whole fruit: the juice in the interior of which is
produced by another order of vessels.
[2033] The juice is only foamy when the vinous fermentation is
established. It has that appearance, however, when the fruit is bitten
with the teeth.
[2034] The “hard-berry,” or nectarine.
[2035] In the sense of aromatic, or penetrating.
[2036] He probably means those of a luscious or sirupy nature, without
any acidity whatever.
[2037] He seems to mean that the thick, luscious wines require longer
keeping, before they will gain any aroma at all. This would be done,
probably, at the expense of their sweetness.
[2038] Or he may mean, that a fine flavour and a fine smell cannot
co-exist.
[2039] The reading here should be “acutissimus,” probably, instead of
“acerrimus.” The odour exists in the rind of the citron and in the
outer coat of the quince; if these are removed, the fruit becomes
inodorous.
[2040] “Tenuis.” He may possibly mean “faint.”
[2041] The fruit of the ben, or myrobalanus, the Balanites Ægyptiaca.
See B. xiii. cc. 17 and 19.
[2042] Vitium.
[2043] Hard-berry or nectarine. See c. 11.
[2044] Lignum: literally, “wood.” “There is no wood, either within
or without.” He has one universal name for what we call shell, seed,
stones, pips, grains, &c.
[2045] The “spado,” or “eunuch” date. See B. xiii. c. 8.
[2046] See B. xiii. c. 17. The fruit of the ben is alluded to, but, as
Fée observes, Pliny is wrong in calling it an almond, as it is a pulpy
fruit.
[2047] The Nymphæa nelumbo of Linnæus.
[2048] Or shell, which, as Fée remarks, participates but very little in
the properties of the flesh.
[2049] Or “honey” apple; see c. 15 of this Book.
[2050] Or “Carian” fig. See c. 19 of this Book.
[2051] See B. xiii. c. 11.
[2052] See B. xiii. c. 42, and B. xx. cc. 9 and 23.
[2053] See B. xiii. c. 26, and B. xxiv. c. 66.
[2054] See B. xiii. c. 22. Fée remarks that it is singular how the
ancients could eat the branches of the fig-tree, the juice being
actually a poison.
[2055] See B. xiii. c. 44.
[2056] See c. 26 of this Book.
[2057] He is wrong: the same is the case with the berries of the
laurel, and, indeed, many other kinds of berries.
[2058] See c. 7 of this Book.
[2059] See B. xiv. c. 9.
[2060] See B. xii. c. 14.
[2061] A kind of sausage, seasoned with myrtle. See also B. xxvii c. 49.
[2062] He means the Acroceraunian chain in Epirus, mentioned in B. iii.
[2063] See B. iii. c. 9.
[2064] He was one of the companions of Ulysses, fabled by Homer and
Ovid to have been transformed by Circe into a swine.
[2065] Μυρσίνη was its Greek name.
[2066] See B. xxv. c. 59.
[2067] See B. xii. c. 2. Ovid, Fasti, B. iv. l. 15, _et seq._, says
that Venus concealed herself from the gaze of the Satyrs behind this
tree.
[2068] Either this story is untrue, or we have a right to suspect that
some underhand agency was employed for the purpose of imposing on the
superstitious credulity of the Roman people.
[2069] Or Social War. See B. ii c. 85.
[2070] Near the altar of Consus, close to the meta of the Circus.
[2071] De Re Rust. c. 8.
[2072] The so-called wild myrtle does not in reality belong to the
genus Myrtus.
[2073] See B. xxiii. c. 83; the Ruscus aculeatus of the family of the
Asparagea.
[2074] The common myrtle, Myrtus communis of the naturalists.
[2075] Or Roman myrtle, a variety of the Myrtus communis.
[2076] The “six row” myrtle. Fée thinks that it belongs to the Myrtus
angustifolia Bœtica of Bauhin.
[2077] De Re Rust. 125.
[2078] See B. xxiii. c. 81.
[2079] A new proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had peculiar
notions of their own, as to the flavour of wine; myrtle berries, he
says, would impart to wine a detestable aromatic flavour.
[2080] “Saccis:” the strainer being made of cloth. See B. xiv. c. 28.
[2081] They would be of no assistance whatever, and this statement is
entirely fictitious.
[2082] He may possibly mean hernia.
[2083] In addition to all those particulars, he might have stated that
the Lares, or household gods, were crowned with myrtle, and that it was
not allowed to enter the Temple of Bona Dea.
[2084] A.U.C. 251.
[2085] See the Notes to c. 35 of this Book.
[2086] Because the enemy would be less likely to envy us a bloodless
triumph.
[2087] He disdained the more humble myrtle crown, and intrigued
successfully with the Senate to allow him to wear a wreath of laurel.
[2088] The Senate refused him a triumph; and he accordingly celebrated
one on the Alban Mount, B.C. 231. Paulus Diaconus says that his reason
for wearing a myrtle crown was his victory over the Corsicans on the
Myrtle Plains, though where they were, or what victory is alluded to,
is not known.
[2089] The brother of Valerius Publicola.
[2090] We learn from two passages in Ovid that the laurel was suspended
over the gates of the emperors. This, as Fée remarks, was done for two
reasons: because it was looked upon as a protection against lightning,
and because it was considered an emblem of immortality.
[2091] De Re Rust. 133.
[2092] Or “laurel of Apollo:” it was into this tree that Daphne was
fabled to have been changed. See Ovid’s Met. B. i. l. 557, _et seq._
[2093] Cato, De Re Rust. c. 121, tells us that this cake was made of
fine wheat, must, anise, cummin, suet, cheese, and scraped laurel
sprigs. Laurel leaves were placed under it when baked. This mixture was
considered a light food, good for the stomach!
[2094] At the Pythian Games celebrated there.
[2095] Meaning that it curves at the edge, something like a pent-house.
[2096] Or tine tree, the Viburnum tinus of Linnæus, one of the
caprifolia. It is not reckoned as one of the laurels, though it has
many of the same characteristics.
[2097] Regia.
[2098] The barren laurel of the triumphs was the Laurus nobilis of
Linnæus, which has only male flowers.
[2099] The Laurus vulgaris folio undulato of the Parisian _Hortus_, Fée
says.
[2100] Not a laurel, nor yet a dicotyledon, Fée says, but one of the
Asparagea, probably the Ruscus hypoglossum of Linnæus, sometimes known,
however, as the Alexandrian laurel.
[2101] Or “eunuch” laurel; a variety, probably, of the Laurus nobilis.
[2102] The “ground laurel:” according to Sprengel, this is the Ruscus
racemosus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 81.
[2103] From Alexandria in Troas: the Ruscus hypophyllum of Linnæus, it
is supposed.
[2104] “The tongue below.” This, Fée justly says, would appear to be a
more appropriate name for the taxa, mentioned above.
[2105] From the berry being attached to the leaf.
[2106] “The thrower out from below,” perhaps.
[2107] Sprengel thinks that it is the Clematis vitalba of Linnæus.
Fuchsius identities it with the Daphne laureola of Linnæus; and Fée
thinks it may be either that or the Daphne mezereum of Linnæus.
[2108] “Crown of Alexander.”
[2109] Curiously enough, it is generally considered now more suggestive
of war than of peace.
[2110] The despatches were wrapped in laurel leaves.
[2111] Optimus Maximus.
[2112] L. Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin. Pliny alludes to the
message sent to Delphi, for the purpose of consulting the oracle on a
serpent being seen in the royal palace.
[2113] He alludes to the circumstance of the priestess being asked who
should reign at Rome after Tarquin; upon which she answered, “He who
first kisses his mother;” on which Brutus, the supposed idiot, stumbled
to the ground, and kissed the earth, the mother of all.
[2114] A mere absurdity; the same has been said of the beech, and with
equal veracity.
[2115] He makes a distinction between “altar” and “ara” here. The
former was the altar of the superior Divinities, the latter of the
superior and inferior as well.
[2116] The crackling of the laurel is caused by efforts of the
essential oil to escape from the parenchyma or cellular tissue of the
leaf, which it breaks with considerable violence when burning.
[2117] Nervorum. See B. xxiii. c. 80.
[2118] Suetonius, c. 66, confirms this. Fée says that the same
superstition still exists in some parts of France. See B. ii. c. 56.
[2119] “The Poultry.”
[2120] See c. 39 of this Book.
[2121] See B. xxxi. c. 3. As Poinsinet remarks, this is not strictly
true; the name “Vinucius” most probably came from “vinea,” a vineyard.
Numerous names were derived also from seeds and vegetables; Piso,
Cicero, and Lactuca, for instance, among a host of others. “Scipio,”
too, means a “walking-stick.”
[2122] The “laurel-grove.”
[2123] See B. xvii. c. 11.
[2124] See end of B. viii.
[2125] See end of B. ii.
[2126] See end of B. vii.
[2127] See end of B. iii.
[2128] See end of B. vii.
[2129] See end of B. iii.
[2130] See end of B. x.
[2131] See end of B. xi.
[2132] See end of B. ii.
[2133] See end of B. xiv.
[2134] See end of B. x.
[2135] See end of B. vii.
[2136] See end of B. iii.
[2137] See end of B. iii.
[2138] See end of B. xiv.
[2139] See end of B. xiv.
[2140] See end of B. viii.
[2141] See end of B. vii.
[2142] See end of B. xiv.
[2143] See end of B. xiv.
[2144] See end of B. ii.
[2145] See end of B. xiv.
[2146] See end of B. xiv.
[2147] See end of B. xii.
[2148] See end of B. xiv.
[2149] See end of B. xiv.
[2150] See end of B. xiv.
[2151] See end of B. iii.
[2152] See end of B. xii.
[2153] See end of B. xiv.
[2154] See end of B. ii.
[2155] See end of B. ii.
[2156] See end of B. viii.
[2157] See end of B. viii.
[2158] See end of B. viii.
[2159] See end of B. iv.
[2160] See end of B. viii.
[2161] See end of B. viii.
[2162] See end of B. viii.
[2163] See end of B. viii.
[2164] See end of B. viii.
[2165] See end of B. viii.
[2166] See end of B. viii.
[2167] See end of B. viii.
[2168] See end of B. viii.
[2169] See end of B. vi.
[2170] See end of B. viii.
[2171] See end of B. xiv.
[2172] He is mentioned also by Varro and Columella, as a writer upon
agriculture; but all further particulars of him are unknown.
[2173] See end of B. viii.
[2174] See end of B. ii.
[2175] See end of B. x.
[2176] See end of B. viii.
[2177] See end of B. viii.
[2178] See end of B. viii.
[2179] See end of B. viii.
[2180] See end of B. xii.
[2181] See end of B. viii.
[2182] See end of B. viii.
[2183] See end of B. vii.
[2184] See end of B. xi.
[2185] Beyond what Pliny here says, nothing is known of him.
[2186] See end of B. xi.
[2187] A physician who lived probably at the end of the first century
B.C. He was a disciple of Erasistratus, and founded a medical school
at Smyrna. He is quoted by Athenæus, and in B. xxvii. c. 14, Pliny
calls him “a physician of no small authority.” He seems to have been a
voluminous writer; but none of his works have survived.
[2188] See end of B. xi.
[2189] See end of B. ii.
[2190] See end of B. v.
[2191] The methods of grafting and inoculation.
[2192] B. xiii. c. 50. They dwelt between the Ems and the Elbe.
[2193] See B. iv. c. 29.
[2194] “Ulvâ.” This appears to be a general name for all kinds of
aquatic fresh-water plants; as “alga” is that of the various sea-weeds.
[2195] He alludes to turf for firing; the Humus turfa of the
naturalists.
[2196] Of course this applies only to those who dwelt near the
sea-shore, and not those more inland.
[2197] Guichardin remarks, that Pliny does not here bear in mind the
sweets of liberty.
[2198] So Laberius says, “Fortuna multis parcere in pœnam solet;”
“Fortune is the saving of many, when she means to punish them.”
[2199] He alludes to the vicinity of the Zuyder Zee. See B. iv. c. 29.
The spots where these forests once stood are now cultivated plains,
covered with villages and other works of the industry of man.
[2200] “Quercus.” We shall see, in the course of this Book, that its
identity has not been satisfactorily established.
[2201] See B. iv. c. 28, and the Note, Vol. i. p. 348. The village of
Hercingen, near Waldsee, is supposed to retain the ancient name.
[2202] “Robora.” It will be seen in this Book that the robur has not
been identified, any more than the quercus.
[2203] Fée treats this story as utterly fabulous. The branches of the
Ficus Indica grow downwards, and so form arcades certainly; but such is
not the case with any European tree.
[2204] Not only oaks, but a variety of other trees, were included under
this name by the ancients; the “glans” embracing not only the acorn,
but the mast of the beech, and the hard fruits of other trees
[2205] He alludes to the crown of oak-leaves, which was suspended on
the gates before the palace of the emperors. A civic crown had been
voted by the senate to Julius Cæsar, on the ground of having saved his
country.
[2206] Given to the first man who scaled the wall of a besieged place.
It was made of gold, and decorated with turrets.
[2207] Given to the first soldier who surmounted the vallum or
entrenchments. It was made of gold, and ornamented with “valli,” or
palisades.
[2208] One of the varieties of the triumphal crown was the “corona
aurea,” or “golden crown.”
[2209] Made of gold, and decorated with the “rostra,” or “beaks” of
ships.
[2210] See B. vii. c. 31.
[2211] The orator’s stage in the Forum was decorated with the “rostra,”
or “beaks” of the ships of the Antiates; hence it received the name of
“Rostrum.” The locality of the Rostra was changed by Julius Cæsar.
[2212] Alluding to the prostitution of the Rostra by the tribunes and
others for the purposes of sedition, and the presentation by Augustus
of the rostrate crown to Agrippa.
[2213] Which was suspended, as already mentioned, at the gate of his
palace.
[2214] Athenæus and Fabius Pictor say that Janus was the first wearer
of a crown; Pherecydes says it was Saturn, Diodorus Siculus Jupiter,
and Leo Ægyptiacus Isis, who wore one of wheat.
[2215] Il. xiii, 736.
[2216] See cc. 34 and 35 of the present Book.
[2217] The Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemæan games.
[2218] See B. vii. c. 27.
[2219] He is called Tullus Hostilius by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the
same as his grandson.
[2220] A.U.C. 411. The leaves of the holm-oak were employed by Romulus
on the occasion above-mentioned.
[2221] These varieties of the oak will be considered in the next
chapter.
[2222] At the Olympic games celebrated in honour of Jupiter. At Olympia
there was a statue of that god, one of the master-pieces of Phidias.
[2223] Implying thereby, that the city that could produce a man who
could so distinguish himself, stood in no need of walls.
[2224] In the Circus.
[2225] In B. vii. c. 29.
[2226] B. vii. c. 29.
[2227] Livy says eight. He saved the life of Servilius, the Master of
the Horse.
[2228] “Glandes.” Under this name, for which we do not appear to have
any English equivalent, were included, as already mentioned, not only
the acorn of the oak, but the nut or mast of the beech, and probably
most of the hard or kernel fruits. In the present instance Pliny
probably alludes only to the fruit of the oak and the beech. Acorns are
but little used as an article of food in these days. Roasted, they have
been proposed as a substitute for coffee.
[2229] The acorn of the Quercus ballota of Linnæus is probably
meant, which is still much used in the province of Salamanca, and
forms an agreeable article of food. This acorn, Fée says, contains a
considerable proportion of saccharine matter, and is better roasted in
the ashes than boiled in water. It is not, however, used as a dessert,
as in the time of the Romans. These acorns are sold at market in
Andalusia in the month of October.
[2230] So far as it goes, the kernel of the mast or beech-nut is not
unpalatable; but in the English beech it is very diminutive.
[2231] The word “quercus” is frequently used as a general name for the
oak; but throughout the present Book it is most employed as meaning a
distinct variety of the oak, one of the larger kinds, Fée says, and
answering to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck, the Quercus robur of
Linnæus, and the Rouvre of the French.
[2232] This also has been much employed as a general name for the
oak; but here, and in other parts of this Book, it is applied to one
variety. Fée thinks that it answers to the Quercus sessiliflora of
Smith, sometimes also called “rouvre” by the French.
[2233] The Quercus æsculus of Linnæus. It is not improbable that this
oak is a different tree from the “Æsculus” of Horace and Virgil, which
was perhaps either a walnut, or a variety of the beech.
[2234] It has been suggested that this is the same with the Quercus
cerrus of Linnæus, and the Quercus crinita of Lamarck, the gland of
which is placed in a prickly cupule. It is rarely found in France, but
is often to be met with in Piedmont and the Apennines.
[2235] The Fagus silvatica of Lamarck. Its Latin name, “fagus,” is
supposed to have been derived from the Greek φάγω, “to eat.” An oil is
extracted from the acorns or nuts, that is much used in some parts of
France.
[2236] He speaks probably of one of the galls which are found attached
to the leaves of the forest trees.
[2237] “Ilex.” Fée thinks that the varieties known as the Prinos and
the Ballota were often confounded by the ancients with the “ilex” or
“holm-oak.” This tree, he says, bears no resemblance to the ordinary
oak, except in the blossoms and the fruit. It is the Ilex of Linnæus,
the “yeuse,” or “green oak,” of the French.
[2238] The Quercus suber of Linnæus; it is found more particularly in
the department of the Landes in France.
[2239] As Fée remarks, Pliny is clearly in error here; one kind being
the veritable ilex or holm oak, the other, the aquifolium or holly,
quite a different tree.
[2240] The smilax or milax was a real holm oak, but the aquifolia was
the holly.
[2241] Od. xi. 242. Fée remarks that the berry of the holly has no
resemblance to the acorn whatever, and he says that this statement of
Pliny almost leads him to think that the second variety here mentioned
by him was not in reality the holly, but a variety of the quercus.
[2242] Fée observes that, properly speaking, there is no sex in the
oak, the individuals being neither male nor female. The Flora Danica
however, as he observes, gives the name of “Quercus fœmina” to the
Quercus racemosa of Lamarck.
[2243] Or “broad-leaved” oak; one of the varieties of the Quercus
sessiliflora of Smith—_Flor. Brit._
[2244] This statement is contrary to general experience in modern
times, the flavour of the acorn being uniformly acrid and bitter
throughout. It is not impossible, however, that the flavour may have
been more palatable in ancient times.
[2245] A variety of the common oak, the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck;
Sprengel takes it to be the Quercus ballota of Desfontaines.
[2246] The Quercus ægilops of Linnæus. It is a native of Piedmont, some
parts of Italy, and the island of Crete.
[2247] Pliny’s account of making charcoal is derived from Theophrastus,
B. iii. c. 10. Fée remarks that it differs little from the method
adopted in France at the present day.
[2248] The Quercus Hispanica, probably, of Lamarck, of which Fée thinks
the Quercus pseudo-suber of Desfontaines is a variety; it is found in
Greece and on the shores of the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar. The
Greek name signifies the “sea cork-tree.”
[2249] The statement here given as to the effect of beech-mast on
swine, is destitute, Fée remarks, of all foundation. If fed upon it,
their flesh will naturally be of a soft, spongy nature.
[2250] This assertion is perhaps too general; gall-nuts are produced in
very small quantities by the holm-oak.
[2251] A variety of the Quercus racemosa, which produces the green
gall-nut of Aleppo, considered in modern, as in ancient, times the
choicest in quality.
[2252] Theophrastus says the end of June.
[2253] Its growth, in reality, is not so rapid as this.
[2254] Such a thing is never seen at the present day.
[2255] In Syria, we have mentioned the galls of Aleppo in Note [2251].
[2256] This is the case when the inside has been eaten away by the
insect that breeds there; of course, in such case it is hollow, light,
and worthless.
[2257] The ancients were not aware that the gall was produced from the
eggs of the cynips, deposited upon the leaf or bark of the tree. Tan
and gallic acid are its principal component parts.
[2258] A substance quite unknown now; but it is very doubtful if Pliny
is rightly informed here.
[2259] A fungous gall, produced by the Cynips fungosa. It is not used
for any domestic purpose at the present day.
[2260] This kind of gall is now unknown. Fée questions the assertion
about its juice.
[2261] The Cynips quercus baccarum of Linnæus, one of the common galls.
[2262] The root cynips, the Cynips radicum of Fourcroi, produces these
galls, which lie near the root, and have the appearance of ligneous
nodosities. It is harder than wood, and contains cells, in which the
larva of the insect lies coiled up.
[2263] This is a proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had observed
the existence of the cynips; though, at the same time, it is equally
evident that they did not know the important part it acts in the
formation of the gall.
[2264] This word, as employed by Theophrastus, means a catkin, the
Julus amentum of the botanists; but it is doubtful if Pliny attaches
this meaning to the word, as the lime or linden-tree has no catkin, but
an inflorescence of a different character. It is not improbable that,
under this name, he alludes to some excrescence.
[2265] These were the “boletus” and the “suillus” the last of which
seem only to have been recently introduced at table in the time of
Pliny. See B. xxii. c. 47.
[2266] He alludes clearly to fungi of radically different qualities,
as the nature of the trees beneath which they grow cannot possibly
influence them, any further than by the various proportions of shade
they afford. The soil, however, exercises great influence on the
quality of the fungus; growing upon a hill, it may be innoxious, while
in a wet soil it may be productive of death.
[2267] See cc. 93, 94, and 95, of this Book.
[2268] Works and Days, l. 230.
[2269] Pliny seems to have here taken in a literal sense, what has been
said figuratively by Virgil, Ecl. iv. l. 26:
“Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella;”
and by Ovid, in relation to the Golden Age, Met. i. 113:
“Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.”
Fée remarks, that we find on the leaf of the lime-tree a thin, sugary
deposit, left by insects, and that a species of manna exudes from the
Coniferæ, as also the bark of the beech. This, however, is never the
case with the oak.
[2270] B. xi. c. 12.
[2271] By this word, Fée observes, we must not understand the word
“nitre,” in the modern sense, but the sub-carbonate of potash;
while the ashes of trees growing on the shores of the sea produce a
sub-carbonate of soda.
[2272] “Coccus.” This is not a gall, but the distended body of an
insect, the kermes, which grows on a peculiar oak, the “Quercus
coccifera,” found in the south of Europe.
[2273] We have previously mentioned, that he seems to have confounded
the holly with the holm oak.
[2274] Poinsinet, rather absurdly, as it would appear, finds in this
word the origin of our word “cochineal.”
[2275] The kermes berry is but little used in Spain, or, indeed,
anywhere else, since the discovery of the cochineal of America.
[2276] B. ix. c. 65.
[2277] Not the white agaric, Fée says, of modern pharmacy; but, as
no kind of agaric is found in the oak, it does not seem possible to
identify it. See B. xxv. c. 57.
[2278] It is evident that no fungus would give out phosphoric light;
but it may have resulted from old wood in a state of decomposition.
[2279] It is pretty clear that one of the lichens of the genus _usnea_
is here referred to. Amadue, or German tinder, seems somewhat similar.
[2280] B. xii. c. 50.
[2281] On the contrary, Fée says, the acorn of the Quercus suber is of
a sweet and agreeable flavour, and is much sought as a food for pigs.
The hams of Bayonne are said to owe their high reputation to the acorns
of the cork-tree.
[2282] The word “cork” is clearly derived from the Latin “cortex,”
“bark.” See Beckmann’s History of Inventions, V. i. p. 320, _et seq._,
_Bohn’s Edition_, for a very interesting account of this tree.
[2283] This passage, the meaning of which is so obvious, is discussed
at some length by Beckmann, Vol. i. pp. 321, 322.
[2284] It is still employed for making soles which are impervious to
the wet.
[2285] It is doubtful whether this name was given to the shoes, or the
females who wore them, and we have therefore preserved the doubt, in
the ambiguous “them.” Beckmann also discusses this passage, p. 321. He
informs us, p. 322, that the Roman ladies who wished to appear taller
than they really were, were in the habit of putting plenty of cork
under their soles.
[2286] At the present day, it grows in the greatest abundance in
France, the Landes more particularly.
[2287] This is still the case in some of the poorer provinces of Spain.
[2288] As Fée remarks, Mars is no longer the Divinity in honour of whom
characters are traced on the bark of trees.
[2289] On the contrary. Fée says, the resinous woods are the most proof
of all against the action of the air.
[2290] Festus says that the Fagutal, a shrine of Jupiter, was so called
from a beech tree (fagus) that stood there, and was sacred to that god.
[2291] Or osier.
[2292] Or “plantation of the æsculus.”
[2293] A.U.C. 367.
[2294] Fée regards this as an extremely doubtful assertion.
[2295] The Pinus pinea of Linnæus, the cultivated pine.
[2296] The Pinus silvestris of Linnæus, the wild pine; the Pinus
maritima of Lamarck is a variety of it.
[2297] B. xv. c. 9.
[2298] In c. 23 of this Book.
[2299] A variety of the Pinus silvestris of Linnæus.
[2300] “Liburnicæ.” See B. ix. cc. 5 and 48.
[2301] The Abies excelsa of Decandolle—the _Pesse_ or _Faux sapin_
(false fir) of the French. This tree, however, has not the pectinated,
or comb-like leaf, mentioned by Pliny in c. 38.
[2302] It is still known in commerce as “false incense;” and is often
sold as incense for the rites of the Roman church: while sometimes it
is purposely employed, as being cheaper.
[2303] A great street in Capua, which consisted entirely of the shops
of sellers of unguents and perfumes.
[2304] It has the same pyramidal form as the pitch-tree. It is still
much used in ship-building, both for its resinous and durable qualities
and the lightness of the wood.
[2305] The presence of resin is _not_ looked upon as any defect in
the fir at the present day. It produces what is known in commerce as
“Strasbourg turpentine.”
[2306] The Abies larix of Linnæus, and the Larix Europæa, it is
thought, of Decandolles.
[2307] It is the Venice turpentine of commerce. Each tree will furnish
seven or eight pounds each year for half a century.
[2308] It is doubtful if the tæda, or torch-tree, has been identified.
Some take it to be the Pinus mugho of Miller, the torch-pine of the
French; others, again, suggest that it is the same as the Pinus cembro
of the botanists.
[2309] So called from its resemblance to a fig. Fée says that there is
little doubt that this pretended fruit was merely a resinous secretion,
which hardens and assumes the form of a fig.
[2310] He somewhat mistranslates a passage of Theophrastus here, who,
without transforming the larch into another tree, says that it is a
sign of disease in the larch, when its secretions are augmented to such
a degree that it seems to turn itself into resin.
[2311] The lamp-black of commerce is made from the soot of the pine.
[2312] This statement, though supported by that of Vitruvius, B. ii. c.
9, is quite erroneous. The wood of the larch gives out more heat than
that of the fir, and produces more live coal in proportion.
[2313] This, Fée remarks, is the fact.
[2314] This description is inexact, and we should have some difficulty
in recognizing here the larch as known to us.
[2315] Pliny is in error here, there being no distinction of sex in
the coniferous trees. All that he relates relative to the differences
between the male and female pine is consequently false. He has,
however, in this instance, only perpetuated an erroneous opinion of
Theophrastus.
[2316] This is an erroneous statement. The larch has its cone, as well
as the rest. It is possible, however, that its small size may have
caused it to be overlooked by Pliny.
[2317] Or “louse-bearing.” As Fée says, it is difficult to see the
analogy.
[2318] The Taxus baccata of Linnæus. The account here given is in
general very correct.
[2319] It is supposed that Pliny derives this notion as to the yew
berry from Julius Cæsar, who says that “Cativulcus killed himself with
the yew, a tree which grows in great abundance in Gaul and Germany.”
It is, however, now known that the berry is quite innocuous; but the
leaves and shoots are destructive of animal life.
[2320] “Viatoria;” probably not unlike our travelling flasks and
pocket-pistols. This statement made by Pliny is not at all improbable.
[2321] This statement does not deserve a serious contradiction.
[2322] It is not improbable, however, that τόξον, an “arrow,” is of
older date than “taxus,” as signifying the name of the yew.
[2323] Numerous varieties of the coniferæ supply us with tar, and Pliny
is in error in deriving it solely from the torch-tree, the Pinus mugho
of Linnæus.
[2324] See B. xxiv. c. 23.
[2325] It is still obtained in a similar way.
[2326] Fée remarks, that Pliny is in error here; this red, watery
fluid formed in the extraction of tars, being quite a different thing
from “cedrium,” the _alkitran_ or _kitran_ of the Arabs; which is not
improbably made from a cedar, or perhaps the Juniperus Phœnicea, called
“Cedrus” by the two Bauhins and Tournefort. He says that it is not
likely that the Egyptians would use this red substance for the purpose
of preserving the dead, charged as it is with empyreumatic oil, and
destitute of all properties peculiar to resins.
[2327] See B. xxi. c. 3, and B. xxiv. c. 23.
[2328] This is impracticable; neither vinegar, wine, nor water, will
mingle with pitch. These resins, however, if stirred up briskly in hot
water, become of a paler colour, and acquire an additional suppleness.
[2329] Perhaps so called from Calabria, a country where the pine
abounded, and part of which was called Bruttium.
[2330] Or wine-vats.
[2331] See c. 8 of the present Book.
[2332] Stillaticia.
[2333] See B. xiv. c. 25.
[2334] This operation removes from the pitch a great portion of its
essential oil, and disengages it of any extraneous bodies that may have
been mixed with it.
[2335] Fée remarks that there is no necessity for this selection,
though no doubt rain-water is superior to spring or cistern water, for
some purposes, from its holding no terreous salts in solution.
[2336] This would colour the resin more strongly, Fée says, and give it
a greater degree of friability.
[2337] See B. xxxiv. c. 20.
[2338] See B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xxiv. c. 22.
[2339] “Sartago.” Generally understood to be the same as our
frying-pan. Fée remarks that this method would most inevitably cause
the mass infusion to ignite; and should such not be the case, a
coloured resin would be the result, coloured with a large quantity
of carbon, and destitute of all the essential oil that the resin
originally contained.
[2340] See B. xiv. c. 20.
[2341] The terebinthine of the mastich, Fée says, is an oleo-resin, or
in other words, composed of an essential oil and a resin.
[2342] Apparently meaning “boiled pitch.”
[2343] See B. xxiv. c. 26.
[2344] This account has been borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant.
B ix. c. ii. The modern method of extracting the resin of the pine is
very similar.
[2345] There is no foundation whatever for this statement.
[2346] The pith of the pine cannot be separated from the wood, and,
indeed, is not easily distinguished from it. Fée says that in some
of these trees masses of resin are found in the cavities which run
longitudinally with the fibres, and queries whether this may not be the
“marrow” or “pith” of the tree mentioned by Pliny.
[2347] As a torch or candle, probably.
[2348] This division of the larch into sexes, as previously mentioned,
is only fanciful, and has no foundation in fact. The result of this
operation, Fée says, would be only a sort of tar.
[2349] See B. xxxv. c. 51. He alludes to the bitumen known as asphalt,
bitumen of Judæa, mineral pitch, mountain pitch, malthe, pissalphate.
[2350] These particulars, borrowed from Theophrastus, are in general
correct.
[2351] This is not the fact; the essential oil in which the resin so
greatly abounds, becomes volatile with remarkable facility.
[2352] Most probably one of the varieties of the pine; but the mode in
which Pliny expresses himself renders it impossible to identify it with
any precision.
[2353] B. xv. c. 9.
[2354] The name borne also by the torch-tree.
[2355] See c. 76 of this Book.
[2356] He does not speak in this place of the “ornus” or “mountain
ash;” nor, as Fée observes, does he mention the use of the bark of the
ash as a febrifuge, or of its leaves as a purgative. This ash is the
Fraxinus excelsior of Decandolles.
[2357] Il. xxiv. 277.
[2358] Pliny makes a mistake here, in copying from Theophrastus, who
says that it is the yew that bears so strong a resemblance to the cedar.
[2359] Or “bull’s-ash.” This variety does not seem to have been
identified.
[2360] This statement results from his misinterpretation of the
language of Theophrastus, who is really speaking of the yew, which
Pliny mistakes for the ash.
[2361] Miller asserts that, if given to cows, this leaf will impart
a bad flavour to the milk; a statement which; Fée says, is quite
incorrect.
[2362] A merely fanciful notion, without apparently the slightest
foundation: the same, too, may be said of the alleged antipathy of the
serpent to the beech-tree, which is neither venomous nor odoriferous.
[2363] This story of Pliny has been corroborated by M. de Verone, and
as strongly contradicted by Camerarius and Charras: with M. Fée, then,
we must leave it to the reader to judge which is the most likely to
be speaking the truth. It is not improbable that Pliny may have been
imposed upon, as his credulity would not at all times preclude him from
being duped.
[2364] There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the
flowers are hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties: the male
of Pliny being the Tilia microphylla of Decandolles, and a variety
of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus; and the female being the Tilia
platyphyllos, another variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus.
[2365] Not at all singular, Fée says, the fruit being dry and insipid.
[2366] In France these cords are still made, and are used for
well-ropes, wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are
made of the outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia.
[2367] See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. l. 337, speaks of the
revellers at drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra.
[2368] “Teredo.” If he means under this name to include the tinea as
well, the assertion is far too general, as this wood is eaten away
by insects, though more slowly than the majority of the non-resinous
woods. It is sometimes perforated quite through by the larvæ of the
byrrhus, our death-watch.
[2369] This is incorrect. It attains a very considerable height, and
sometimes an enormous size. The trunk is known to grow to as much as
forty or fifty feet in circumference.
[2370] The maple is much less in size than what the lime or linden
really is.
[2371] See B. xiii. c. 29.
[2372] Fée says there are but five varieties of the maple known in
France. He doubts whether the common maple, the Acer campestre of
Linnæus, was known to the ancients.
[2373] Fée identifies it with the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, the
Acer montanum candidum of C. Bauhin. This tree is not uncommon in Italy.
[2374] “Acer pavonaceum:” “peacock maple.” He gives a similar account
of the spots on the wood of the citrus, B. xiii. c. 19.
[2375] Or “thick-veined” maple.
[2376] Supposed by Fée to be the Acer Monspessulanus of Linnæus, also
the Acer trilobum of Linnæus.
[2377] A variety of the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, according to
Fée.
[2378] The Carpinus betulus of Linnæus; the horn-beam or yoke-elm.
[2379] “Silicios.” This word appears to be explained by the
accompanying word “laminas;” but it is very doubtful what is the
correct reading.
[2380] The Alnus glutinosa of Decandolles. In c. 38, Pliny says, very
incorrectly, that the alder has a remarkably thick leaf; and in c. 45,
with equal incorrectness, that it bears neither seed nor fruit.
[2381] Fée observes, that it is incorrect to say that the male tree
blossoms before the female, if such is Pliny’s meaning here.
[2382] From the Greek, meaning “a tree with clusters.” It is the
Staphylea pinnata of Linnæus, the wild or false pistachio of the French.
[2383] “Siliqua.” This term, Fée says, is very inappropriate to the
fruit of this tree, which is contained in a membranous capsule. The
kernel is oily, and has the taste of the almond more than the nut.
[2384] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus.
[2385] It is still extensively used for a similar purpose.
[2386] There are only two species now known: that previously mentioned,
and the Buxus Balearica of Lamarck. The first is divided into the four
varieties, arborescens, angustifolia, suffruticosa, and myrtifolia.
[2387] The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus; very common in the south of
France, and on the banks of the Loire.
[2388] It is doubtful if this is a box at all. The wild olive,
mentioned in B. xv. c. 7, has the same name; all the varieties of the
box emit a disagreeable smell.
[2389] A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus
suffruticosa of Lamarck.
[2390] The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind.
[2391] In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29.
[2392] The arborescent variety.
[2393] This is doubted by Fée, but it is by no means impossible.
In Pennsylvania the bees collect a poisonous honey from the Kalmia
latifolia.
[2394] A very good charcoal might be made from it, but the wood is too
valuable for such a purpose. It burns with a bright, clear flame, and
throws out a considerable heat.
[2395] Although (in common, too, with other trees) it is used as a
support for the vine, that does not any the more make it of the same
nature as the fruit-trees.
[2396] The Ulmus effusa of Willdenow; the Ulmus montana of Smith:
_Flor. Brit._
[2397] The Ulmus campestris of Linnæus; the Ulmus marita of other
botanists.
[2398] The ordinary elm, Fée thinks.
[2399] A variety of the Ulmus campestris, probably.
[2400] This name is still preserved by botanists. Pliny is incorrect in
saying that the large elm produces no seed, the only difference being
that the seed is smaller than in the other kinds. Columella, B. v.
c. 6, contradicts the statement here made by Pliny, but says that it
_appears_ to be sterile, in comparison with the others.
[2401] The Pinus maritima of Linnæus, which produces the greater part
of the resins used in France, is found, however, in great abundance in
the flat country of the Landes.
[2402] On the contrary, the yoke-elm, or horn-beam, grows almost
exclusively on the plains; and the same with the cornel and the poplar.
[2403] The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, the fustic. See B. xiii. c. 41.
This, however, imparts a yellow colour, while Pliny speaks of a purple.
It has been asserted, however, that the roots of it produce a fine red.
There is no tree in Europe that produces a purple for dyeing.
[2404] The maple, the ash, and the service-tree, are as often found in
the plains as on the hills.
[2405] See c. 43, and B. xxiv. c. 43. The Cornus sanguinea of Linnæus,
the blood-red cornel; the branches of which are red in the winter, and
the fruit filled with a blood-red juice. This is probably the same
shrub as the male cornel, mentioned further on by Pliny.
[2406] The Genista tinctoria of Linnæus, or “dyers’” broom.
[2407] Or “service-tree,” the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus. It thrives
just as well in a warm locality as a cold one.