Chapter 536

918The reading, “quam rem,” seems preferable to “quam ob rem,” adopted by Sillig.

919“Effascinationes.” The effects of the evil eye.

920“Hortorum.” “Pleasure-gardens.”

921“Otii magister.”

922For the purpose of teaching philosophy there.

923“Hortus.” The “kitchen-garden.”

924Ironically said.

925He alludes to the pheasant. See B. x. c. 67.

926He alludes to Colchis, the country of Medea, the scene of the exploits of Jason and the Argonauts, and the land of prodigies and fable.

927See B. x. cc. 38 and 67. He alludes to “meleagrides,” or Guinea-fowls.

928See B. x. c. 37. He alludes to the birds called “Memnonides.”

929See B. xvii. c. 1.

930See B. xiv. c. 28.

931He alludes to the finest and most delicate kinds of wheaten flour. See B. xviii. c.29.

932“Uno asse.”

933As “corruda,” or “wild asparagus.” The Brassica capitata alba of C. Bauhin, or white cabbage, sometimes attains a weight of ten or twelve pounds.

934This is an exaggeration, probably.

935He alludes to the artichoke, or Cinara cardunculus of the botanists, which bears some resemblance to the common thistle.

936Martial and Aulus Gellius speak of ice and snow drinks. The latter must have been very injurious to the stomach.

937See B. xxxi. c. 23.

938In this corrupt and otherwise unintelligible passage, we have adopted the proposed emendations of Sillig, who is of opinion that it bears reference to the abolition of the market-dues, or “portorium,” by Augustus Cæsar, and the substitution of a property tax of one twentieth of the land, a method of taxation which inflicted greater hardships than the former one, as it was assessed according to thesuperficies, not theproduceof the land. His proposed emendations of the text are as follows: “mox enim certe æquabiteos pecuniaquos pecunia separaverit. Itaque——ac minore fortunæ jure,quamcumhereditate daturpensio ea pauperum;hisin solo sponsor est,” &c.

939De Re Rust. cc. 156, 157. He speaks of it as being eaten either boiled or raw, but in the latter case with vinegar. Fée thinks that even then it would make a very acrid and indigestible diet.

940“Acetaria.” Salads.

941He alludes, no doubt, to the words of Virgil, in Georg. iv. l. 6.“In tenui labor, at tenuis non Gloria——”though in that instance the poet is speaking of bees.

941He alludes, no doubt, to the words of Virgil, in Georg. iv. l. 6.

“In tenui labor, at tenuis non Gloria——”

though in that instance the poet is speaking of bees.

942“Tollenonum haustu.” These would be used in the case of well-water; they are still to be seen occasionally in this country, and are very common on the continent. The wheel is also used for drawing well-water, and is frequently employed in Barbary and Spain.

943By the word “fructus” he no doubt means the edible parts solely, the leaf, stalk, or root, as the case may be.

944Fée is surprised to find elecampane figuring among the garden vegetables. It has a powerful odour, is bitter, and promotes expectoration. Though not used as a vegetable it is still used as a preserve, or sweetmeat, mixed with sugar. See further on it in c.29of this Book.

945See c.28of this Book.

946See c.27of this Book.

947Fée remarks that this juxtaposition of anise and mallows betokens the most complete ignorance of botany on the part of our author; there being few plants which differ more essentially. The field-mallow, or Malva silvestris of Linnæus, or perhaps several varieties of it, are here referred to. The anise will be further mentioned in c. 74 of this Book.

948Fée suggests that the plant here mentioned may have been an annual, probably the Lavatorea arborea of botanists, or some kindred species. In a few months it is known to attain a height of ten feet or more.

949In Fée’s opinion this tree cannot have belonged to the family of Malvaceæ; the Adansonia and some other exotics of the family, with which Pliny undoubtedly was not acquainted, being the only ones that attain these gigantic proportions.

950There is no resemblance between mallows and hemp, any more than there is between mallows and anise.

951“Carnosa.”

952Hardouin thinks that he alludes to the Conferva, or river sponge, again mentioned in B. xxvii. c. 45. Fée, however, dissents from that opinion.

953In B. xvi. cc. 11 and 13, and in cc. 12 and 14 of the present Book.

954In c. 11 of the present Book.

955The Cucumis sativus of Linnæus.

956“Lapis specularis.” See B. xxxvi. c. 45. Columella, De Re Rust. B. xi. c. 3, speaks of this mode of ripening cucumber, and the fondness of the Emperor Tiberius for them.

957Theophrastus and Columella say the same of the cucumber, and Palladius of the melon, but there is no ground, probably, for the belief. In very recent times, however, Fée says, it was the usage to steep the seeds of the melon in milk. This liquid, in common with any other, would have the effect of softening the exterior integuments, and thereby facilitating the germination, but no more.

958Still known as the “green” or “gherkin” cucumber, and much used, when young, for pickling.

959Probably in the sense of a very dark green, forblackcucumbers are a thing unheard of.

960He is evidently speaking of the pompion, or pumpkin, the Cucurbita pepo of Linnæus: quite distinct from the cucumber.

961Cucumbers are not difficult of digestion to the extent that Pliny would have us to believe.

962As Fée says, it is a loss of time to combat such absurd prejudices as these.

963This is conformable with modern experience.

964Fée says that this is the melon, the Cucumis melo of Linnæus.

965B. xi. c. 3. Columella professes to borrow it from the people of Mendes in Egypt.

966Theophrastus enumerates these varieties, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4.

967Theophrastus only says that the Laconian cucumber thrives better with watering than the others.

968It is impossible to identify this plant, as no ancient writer has given any description of it: it has been suggested, however, that it may have been the Plantago Psyllium, or else the Inula pulicaria of Linnæus. Of course there is no truth in the story here told of the effects of its juice upon the cucumber.

969This depth would probably have the effect of retarding, or else utterly impeding, the growth of the plant.

970See c.44of this Book. The Parilia was a festival celebrated on the nineteenth of April, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome.

971First of March.

972Seventh of March.

973See B. xviii. c.56.

974The “camerarium,” and the “plebeium.” The former, Fée thinks, is the Cucurbita longior of Dodonæus and J. Bauhin, the long gourd, and other varieties probably of the calabash gourd, the Cucurbita leucantha of Duchesne. The latter is probably the Cucurbita pepo and its varieties. Fée thinks that the name “cucurbita,” as employed by Pliny, extends not only to the gourd, but the citrul or small pumpkin as well.

975As Fée says, he must be speaking of the fruit here, and not the plant, which attains a far greater length than nine feet.

976The young shoots of the gourd, Fée says, would afford an insipid food, with but little nutriment.

977The varieties thus employed, Fée says, must have been the Cucurbita lagenaria of Linnæus, and the Cucurbita latior of Dodonæus.

978This is not the fact. The seed produces fruit similar to that from which it was taken, and no more.

979The trumpet gourd, the Cucurbita longior of Dodonæeus, is still employed, Fée says, by gardeners for this purpose.

980See B. xx. c.2.

981In B. xviii. c. 34.

982Though borrowed from Theophrastus and the Greek school, this distinction is absurd and unfounded.

983It is not the fact that the seed of the round kind, after repeated sowings, will produce long roots. Pliny, however, has probably miscopied Theophrastus, who says, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4, that this transformation takes place when the seed is sown very thick. This assertion, however, is no more founded on truth than that of Pliny.

984Also from Theophrastus, B. vii. c. 4, though that author is speaking of radishes,ῥαφανίδες, and not turnips.

985Properlyradish.

986Properlyradish.

987Radish.

988Properlyradish.

989See B. xx. c.49. Fée queries whether this radish may not be the Raphanus raphanistrum of botanists. See B. xviii. c.34.

990See B. xviii. c.35.

991“Nostratibus.” Poinsinet would render this, “Those of my native country,”i. e.the parts beyond the Padus. As Pliny resided at Rome during the latter part of his life, there can be little doubt but that he alludes to the vicinity of Rome.

992See B. xviii. c.34.

993This property extends to most of the Cruciferæ.

994“Cibus illiberalis.”

995The variety Oleifera of the Raphanus sativus is still cultivated extensively in Egypt and Nubia for the extraction of the oil. The variety Oleifera of the Brassica napus is also greatly cultivated in Egypt. Fée suggests that Pliny may possibly confound these two plants under the one name of “raphanus.” It is worthy of remark, too, that the Colza oil, so much used in France and Belgium for burning in lamps, is expressed from the seed of the Brassica oleracea, a species of cabbage.

996The Raphanus sativus of Linnæus. This passage, however, down to “crisped leaf,” properly applies to the cabbage, and not the radish, Pliny having copied the Greek, and taken the wordῥάφανος, properly “cabbage,” to mean “radish;” which in the later Greek writers it sometimes does, though not in this instance.

997Mount Algidus was near Tusculum, fifteen miles from Rome. Its coldness contributed greatly to the goodness of its radishes.

998Or “wild.” Fée suggests that this is the Raphanus rusticanus of Lobellius, the Cochlearia Armoracia of Linnæus, the wild radish, or horse-radish.

999Or “white.” From the extreme whiteness of the roots.

1000Probably meaning, “radish of Armorica.”

1001Fée suggests that he is here speaking of the beet-root, in reality a native of the north of Europe.

1002Thirteenth of February.

1003The festival of Vulcan, beginning on the twenty-third of August, and lasting eight days.

1004A natural production, the carbonate of sodium of the chemists, known from time immemorial by the name of “natron.” See B. xxx. c. 46; from which passage it would appear that it was generally employed for watering the leguminous plants.

1005Dioscorides recommends these puerilities with the cabbage, and not the radish; though Celsus gives similar instructions with reference to the radish.

1006It was a general belief with the ancients that the phthiriasis, or morbus pediculosus, has its seat in the heart. It was supposed also that the juice of the radish was able, by reason of its supposed subtlety, to penetrate the coats of that organ.

1007This is said by other ancient authors, in reference to thecabbageand the vine. See B. xxiv. c. i.

1008There is some doubt as to the identity of this plant, but Fée, after examining the question, comes to the conclusion that it is the Daucus Carota, or else Mauritanicus of Linnæus, the common carrot, or that of Mauritania. Sprengel takes it to be either this last or the Daucus guttatus, a plant commonly found in Greece.

1009The Pastinaca sativa of Linnæus, or common parsnip.

1010The marsh-mallow, probably, the Althæa officinalis of Linnæus.

1011The carrot. The Daucus Carota of Linnæus.

1012In B. xxv. c. 64.

1013“Siser.” The Sium sisarum of Linnæus. See also B. xx. c.17. It is said to have been originally a native of China.

1014It is supposed that this is the same with Gelb, near Neuss, in Germany, mentioned by Tacitus, Hist. B. iv. cc. 26, 32.

1015The Inula Helenium of Linnæus. Its English name is derived from Inula campana, that under which it is so highly recommended in the precepts of the School of Health at Salerno. See also B. xx. c.19. At the present day it is universally rejected as an article of food in any shape.

1016The School of Salerno says that it may be preserved by being pickled in brine, or else in the juice of rue, which, as Fée remarks, would produce neither more nor less than a veritable poison. The modern Pharmacopœias give the receipt of a conserve of elecampane, which, however, is no longer used.

1017“Defrutum.” Must, boiled down to one half.

1018The daughter of Augustus Cæsar.

1019The same account nearly is given in Columella, De Re Rust. B. xi. c. 3.

1020Under this general name were included, probably, garlic, scallions, chives, and some kinds of onions; but it is quite impossible to identify the ancient “bulbus” more closely than this.

1021It has been suggested that this was probably the onion, the Allium cepa of Linnæus.

1022The Scilla maritima of Linnæus, the sea-squill.

1023See B. xx. c.39. He might have added that it renders vinegar both an emetic, and a violent purgative.

1024The leaves are in all cases green, and no other colour; but in one kind the squamæ, or bracted leaves, are white, and in another, red.

1025Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 11, gives it this name. As none of the sea-squills can be eaten with impunity, Fée is inclined to doubt if this really was a squill.

1026They still abound in those places. The Spanish coasts on the Mediterranean, Fée says, as well as the vicinity of Gibraltar, are covered with them.

1027In c. 39.

1028Fée thinks that this may be the Muscaria botryoïdes of Miller,Dict. No. I.See also B. xx. c.41.

1029A variety, probably, of the common onion, the Allium cepa of Linnæus.

1030Some variety of the genus Allium, Fée thinks.

1031Fée queries whether this may not be some cyperaceous plant with a bulbous root.

1032A white bulb, if we may judge from the name. The whole of this passage is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 11.

1033This has not been identified. The old reading was “ægilops,” a name now given to a kind of grass.

1034The Iris sisyrinchium of Linnæus.

1035The Arum colocasia of Linnæus, held in great esteem by the ancient Egyptians as a vegetable. The root is not a bulb, but tubercular, and the leaf bears no resemblance to that of the Lapathum, dock or sorrel. It was sometimes known by the name of “lotus.”

1036In Gaul. See B. iv. c. 31.

1037This passage, and indeed nearly the whole of the Chapter, is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. i. c. 9.

1038Fée thinks that by the expressionμονόῤῥιζα, Theophrastus means a root that strikes vertically, instead of spreading.

1039Gramen. See B. xviii. c.67, and B. xxiv. c. 118.

1040Atriplex. See B. xx. c.83.

1041See B. xx. c.93.

1042Poinsinet suggests that this may mean the “mole-plant,”ἀσπάλαξbeing the Greek for “mole.”

1043“Perdicium.” See B. xxii. cc.19,20.

1044“Crocus.” See B. xxi. c.17,et seq.

1045This is not the fact. All these assertions are from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 3.

1046Fée thinks that the ocimum of Pliny is not the basil of the moderns, the Ocimum basilicum of the naturalists. The account, however, here given would very well apply to basil.

1047The Heliotropium Europæum of botany. See B. xxii. c.19.

1048These assertions, Fée says, are not consistent with modern experience.

1049See c.45of this Book.

1050“Gethyum.” The Allium schœnoprasum, probably, of botany, the ciboul or scallion.

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