Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  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. 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 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, and for other purposes without number, among which we may mention varnishing walls and armour, to protect them from the air. We have given the other particulars relative to bees and honey, when speaking 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.

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  CHAP. 50. (15.)

  PLANTS WHICH GROW SPONTANEOUSLY: THE USE MADE OF THEM BY VARIOUS NATIONS, THEIR NATURE, AND REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH THEM. THE STRAW- BERRY, 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, the tamnus, the butcher’s broom, the sea batis, and the garden batis, known by some persons as Gallic asparagus; in addition to which we may mention the meadow parsnip and the hop, which may be rather termed amusements for the botanist than articles of food.

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  CHAP. 51.

  THE COLOCASIA.

  But the plant of this nature that is the most famous in Egypt is the colocasia, known as the “cyamos” to some. It is gathered in the river Nilus, and the stalk of it, boiled, separates into fine filaments when chewed, like those of the spider’s web. The head, 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.” 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 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.

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  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 PAR- THENIUM OR LEUCANTHES, AMARACUS, PERDICIUM, OR MURALIS. THE TRYCHNUM OR STRYCHNUM, HALICACABUM, CALLIAS, DOR- YCNION, 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 of under the name of wild endive. 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 grows at a greater distance from the river; the fruit of it is round, 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, a plant which has a few leaves only, and those extremely diminutive, though the root is large in proportion. The arachidna, again, and the aracos have numerous branchy roots, but neither leaves nor any herbaceous parts, nor, indeed, anything that makes its appearance above ground.

  The other plants that are commonly eaten in Egypt are the chondrylla, the hypochœris, the caucalis, the anthriscum the scandix, the come, by some persons known as the tragopogon, with leaves very similar to those of saffron, the par- thenium, the trychnum, and the corchorus; with the aphace and acynopos, which make their appearance at the equinox. There is a plant also, called the epipetron, which never blossoms; while the aphace, on the other hand, as its flowers die, from time to time puts forth fresh ones, and remains in blossom throughout the winter and the spring, until the following summer.

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  CHAP. 53.

  FOUR VARIETIES OF THE CNECOS.

  The Egyptians have many other plants also, of little note; but they speak in the highest terms of the cnecos; a plant unknown to Italy, and which the Egyptians hold in esteem, not as an article of food, but for the oil it produces, and which is extracted from the seed. The principal varieties are the wild and the cultivated kinds; of the wild variety, again, the are two sorts, one of which is less prickly than the other, but with a similar stem, only more upright: hence it is that in former times females used it for distaffs, from which circumstance it has received the name of “atractylis” from some; the seed of it is white, large, and bitter. The other variety is more prickly, and has a more sinewy stem, which may be said almost to creep upon the ground; the seed is small. The cnecos belongs to the thorny plants: indeed, it will be as well to make some classification of them.

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  CHAP. 54.

  PLANTS OF A PRICKLY NATURE: THE ERYNGE, THE GLYCYRRIZA, THE TRIBULUS, THE ANONIS, THE PHEOS OR STŒBE, AND THE HIPPOPHAES.

  For some plants, in fact, are thorny, while others, again, are destitute of prickles: the species of thorny plants are very numerous. The asparagus and the scorpio are essentially thorny plants, having no leaves at all upon them. Some plants, again, that are prickly have leaves as well, such as the thistle, for instance, the erynge, the glycyrriza, and the nettle; all these plants being provided with leaves that prick or sting.

  Some plants have thorns at the base of their leaves, the tribulus and the anonis for instance; others, again, have thorns, not on the leaves but on the stem, the pheos for example, known as the stœbe to some. The hippophaës has thorns at the joints; the tribulus presents the peculiarity of bearing a fruit that is thorny.

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  CHAP. 55.

  FOUR VARIETIES OF THE NETTLE. THE LAMIUM AND THE SCORPIO.

  But of all these plants, it is the nettle that is the best known to us, the calyces of the blossoms of which produce a purple down: it frequently exceeds two cubits even in height. There are numerous varieties of this plant; the wild nettle, known also as the female nettle, does not inflict so bad a sting as the others. Among the several varieties of the wild nettle, the one known as the dog-nettle, stings the worst, the stem of it even possessing that property; the leaves of the nettle are indented at the edge. There is one kind also, which emits a smell, known as the Herculanean nettle. The seed of all the nettles is copious, and black. It is a singular fact that, though possessed of no spinous points, the down of the nettle is of a noxious nature, and that, though ever so lightly touched, it will immediately produce an itching sensation, and raise a blister on the flesh similar in appearance to a burn: the well-known remedy for it is olive oil.

  The stinging property of the nettle does not b
elong to the plant at the earliest period of its growth, but only developes itself under the influence of the sun. The plant first begins to grow in the spring, at which period it is by no means a disagreeable food; indeed, it has become quite a religious observance to employ it as such, under the impression that it is a preventive from diseases the whole year through. The root, too, of the wild nettle, has the effect of rendering all meat more tender that is boiled with it. The kind that is innoxious and destitute of all stinging properties, is known as the “la- mium.” Of the scorpio we shall have occasion to speak when treating of the medicinal plants.

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  CHAP. 56. (16).

  THE CARDUUS, THE ACORNA, THE PHONOS, THE LEUCACANTHOS, THE CHALCEOS, THE CNECOS, THE POLYACAN- THOS, THE ONOPYXOS, THE HELXINE, THE SCOLYMOS, THE CHA- MÆLEON, THE TETRALIX, AND ACANTHICE MASTICHE.

  The carduus has leaves and a stem covered with a prickly down; the same is the case, too, with the acorna, the leucacanthos, the chalceos, the cnecos, the polyacanthos, the onopyxos, the helxine, and the scolymos; the chamæleon, however, has no prickles upon the leaves. There is, however, this difference among these plants, that some of them have numerous stems and branches, such as the carduus, for instance; while others, again, have a single stem and no branches, the cnecos, for example. Some, again, such as the erynge, are prickly at the head only; and some blossom in the summer, the tetralix and the helxine, for instance. The scolymos blossoms late, and remains a considerable period in flower: the acorna being distinguished only for its red colour and its unctuous juice. The atractylis would be similar in every respect to the last, were it not that it is somewhat whiter, and produces a juice the colour of blood, a circumstance to which it owes the name of “phonos,” given to it by some. The smell of this plant is powerful, and the seed only ripens at a late period, and never before autumn, although the same may be said of all the prickly plants, in fact. All of them are capable, however, of being reproduced from either seed or root.

  The scolymos, which belongs to the thistle genus, differs from the rest of them in the circumstance that the root of it is boiled and eaten. It is a singular fact that this genus of plants bears blossoms, buds, and fruit the whole of the summer through, without any interruption: when the leaf is dried, the prickles lose their pungency. The helxine is a plant but rarely seen, and in some countries only. It throws out leaves at the root, from the middle of which there is a protuberance in the shape of an apple, covered with leaves of its own: the head of it contains a thick juice, of a sweet flavour, the name given to which is “acanthice mastiche.”

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  CHAP. 57.

  THE CACTOS; THE PIERNIX, PAPPUS, AND ASCALIAS.

  The cactos, too, is a plant that grows only in Sicily, having peculiar characteristics of its own: the root throws out stalks which creep along the ground, the leaves being broad and thorny. The name given to these stalks is “cactos,” and they are not disliked as an article of food, even when old. The plant, however, has one stem which grows upright, and is known by the name of “pternix;” it has the same sweet flavour as the other parts, though it will not keep. The seed of it is covered with a kind of down, known as “pappus:” when this is removed, as well as the rind of the fruit, it is tender, and like the pith of the palm: the name given to it is “ascalias.”

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  CHAP. 58.

  THE TRIBULUS: THE ANONIS.

  The tribulus grows nowhere except in marshy places though held in abomination elsewhere, it is employed on the banks of the Nilus and Strymon as an article of food. It always bends towards the water, and has a leaf like that of the elm, with a long stalk. In other parts of the world there are two varieties of this plant; the one with leaves like those of the chicheling vetch, the other with leaves protected by prickles. This last variety blossoms also at a later period than the other, and is mostly found in the hedge-rows about farm-houses. The seed of it is black, rounder than that of the other, and enclosed in pods: that of the other variety bears a resemblance to sand.

  Among the prickly plants there is also another kind, known as the “anonis:” indeed, it has thorns upon the branches, to which leaves are attached similar to those of rue, the stem being entirely covered also with leaves, in form resembling a garland. It comes up in land that has been newly ploughed, being highly prejudicial to the corn, and long-lived in the extreme.

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  CHAP. 59.

  PLANTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR STEMS: THE CORONOPUS, THE ANCHUSA, THE ANTHEMIS, THE PHYLLANTHES, THE CREPIS, AND THE LOTUS.

  Some, again, among the prickly plants have a stem which creeps along the ground, that, for instance, known as the “coronopus.” On the other hand, the anchusa, the root of which is employed for dyeing wood and wax, has an upright stem; which is the case also with some of the plants that are prickly in a less degree, the anthemis, for example, the phyl- lanthes, the anemone, and the aphace: the crepis, again, and the lotus, have a foliated stem.

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  CHAP. 60.

  PLANTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR LEAVES. PLANTS WHICH NEVER LOSE THEIR LEAVES: PLANTS WHICH BLOSSOM A LITTLE AT A TIME: THE HELIOTROPIUM AND THE ADIANTUM, THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WHICH WILL BE MENTIONED IN THE FOLLOWING BOOK.

  The leaves of plants, as well as those of trees, differ from one another in the length of the footstalk, and in the breadth or narrowness of the leaf, and the angles and indentations perceptible on its edge. Other differences are also constituted in respect of their smell and blossom. The blossom remains on longer in some of those plants which flower only a little at a time, such as the ocimum, the heliotropium, the aphace, and the onochilis, for example.

  (17.) Many of these plants, the same as certain among the trees, never lose their leaves, the heliotropium, the adiantum and the polium, for instance.

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  CHAP. 61.

  THE VARIOUS KINDS OF EARED PLANTS: THE STAN- YOPS; THE ALOPECUROS; THE STELEPHUROS, ORTYX, OR PLAN- TAGO; THE THRYALLIS.

  The eared plants form another variety: among them we find the cynops, the alopecuros, the stelephuros, also known to some persons as the ortyx, and to others as the plantago, of which last we shall have occasion to speak more at length among the medicinal plants, and the thryallis. The alopecuros, among these, has a soft ear and a thick down, not unlike a fox’s tail in fact, to which resemblance it owes its name. The plant most like it is the stelephuros, were it not that it blossoms only a little at a time. In the cichorium and similar plants, the leaves are near the ground, the buds springing from the root just after the rising of the Vergiliæ.

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  CHAP. 62

  THE PERDICIUM. THE ORNITHOGALE.

  It is not in Egypt only that the perdicium is eaten; it owes its name to the partridge, which bird is extremely fond of digging it up. The roots of it are thick and very numerous: and so, too, with the ornithogale, which has a tender white stalk, and a root half a foot in thickness, bulbous, soft, and provided with three or four other offsets attached to it. It is generally used boiled in pottage.

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  CHAP. 63.

  PLANTS WHICH ONLY MAKE THEIR APPEARANCE AT THE END OF A YEAR. PLANTS WHICH BEGIN TO BLOSSOM AT THE TOP. PLANTS WHICH BEGIN TO BLOSSOM AT THE LOWER PART.

  It is a remarkable thing that the herb lotus and the ægilops never make their appearance above ground till the end of a year after the seed has been sown. The anthemis, too, offers the singular peculiarity that it begins to blossom at the top, while in all the other plants which flower gradually, it is at the lower part that the blossom first makes its appearance.

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  CHAP. 64.

  THE LAPPA, A PLANT WHICH PRODUCES WITHIN ITSELF. THE OPUNTIA, WHICH THROWS OUT A ROOT FROM THE LEAF.

  In the lappa, too, which clings so tenaciously, there is this r
emarkable peculiarity, that within it there grows a flower, which does not make its appearance, but remains concealed and there produces the seed, like those among the animals which produce within themselves. In the vicinity of Opus there grows a plant which is very pleasant eating to man, and the leaf of which, a most singular thing, gives birth to a root by means of which it reproduces itself.

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  CHAP. 65.

  THE IASIONE. THE CHONDRYLLA. THE PICRIS, WHICH REMAINS IN FLOWER THE WHOLE YEAR THROUGH.

  The iasione has a single leaf only, but that so folded and involved, as to have all the appearance of being several in number. The chondrylla is bitter, and the juice of the root is of an acrid taste. The aphace, too, is bitter, and so is the plant called “picris,” which also remains in flower the whole year through: it is to this bitterness that it is indebted for its name.

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  CHAP. 66.

  PLANTS IN WHICH THE BLOSSOM MAKES ITS APPEAR- ANCE BEFORE THE STEM. PLANTS IN WHICH THE STEM APPEARS BEFORE THE BLOSSOM. PLANTS WHICH BLOSSOM THREE TIMES IN THE YEAR.

  The peculiarities also of the squill and saffron deserve remark; for while all other plants put forth their leaves first, and then a round stem, these show the stem before the leaf makes its appearance: in the saffron, however, the blossom is protruded by the stem, but in the squill it is the stem that first makes its appearance, and then the flower emerges from it. This plant blossoms three times in the year, indicating thereby, as previously stated, the three seasons for ploughing.