Chapter 453

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

582See B. xx. c. 82.

583Or privet.

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

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

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

587A liquid matter extracted from the beaver.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

596These localities are mentioned in B. v.

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

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

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

600This was a common notion with the Romans. Virgil, Georg. B. iii. l. 415, says:—“Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros.”Though considered to produce a pleasant perfume by the ancients, it is no longer held in estimation for that quality, and is only employed in some slight degree for medical purposes.

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

“Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

609The bud, probably, of the Juniperus Lycia.

610See B. vi. c. 31.

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

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

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

614See end of B. ii.

615See end of B. ii.

616See end of B. vii.

617Fabianus Papirius: see end of B. ii.

618See end of B. ii.

619See end of B. iii.

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

621See end of B. viii.

622See end of B. iii.

623See end of B. vii.

624See end of B. v.

625See end of B. ii.

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

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

628See end of B. ii.

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

630See end of B. ii.

631See end of B. iii.

632See end of B. ii.

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

634See end of B. vii.

635See end of B. vii.

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

637See end of B. vii.

638See end of B. vi.

639See end of B. ii.

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

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

642See end of B. vi.

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

644See end of B. iv.

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

646See end of B. iv.

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

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

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

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

651See end of B. viii.

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

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

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

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

656See end of B. ii.

657See end of B. viii.

658See end of B.xi.

659See end of B. iii.

660See end of B. v.

661See end of B.xi.

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

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

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

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

666Nothing whatever is known of this writer.

667Nothing is known relative to this writer.

668Nothing is known of him.

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

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

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

672See end of B. ii.

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

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

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

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

677“Scrinium.” See B. vii. c. 30.

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

679But of seeds or plants.

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

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

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

683Rhodinum.

684See B. v. c. 26.

685Crocinum; made from the Crocus sativus of naturalists.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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