Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FOREST TREES.

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BOOK XVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FOREST TREES.

CHAP. I.—COUNTRIES THAT HAVE NO TREES.

WE have given the precedence in this account to the fruit-trees and others which, by their delicious juices, first taught man to give a relish to his food and the various aliments requisite for his sustenance, whether it is that they spontaneously produce these delightful flavours, or whether we have imparted them by the methods of adoption and intermarriage,¹ thus bestowing a favour, as it were, upon the very beasts and birds. The next thing, then, would be to speak of the glandi- ferous trees, the trees which proffered the earliest nutriment to the appetite of man, and proved themselves his foster- mothers in his forlorn and savage state—did I not feel myself constrained on this occasion to make some mention of the surprise which I have felt on finding by actual experience what is the life of mortals when they inhabit a country that is without either tree or shrub.

(1.) I have already stated² that in the East many nations that dwell on the shores of the ocean are placed in this necessitous state; and I myself have personally witnessed the condition of the Chauci,³ both the Greater and the Lesser, situate in the regions of the far North. In those climates a vast tract of land, invaded twice each day and night by the overflowing waves of the ocean, opens a question that is eternally proposed to us by Nature, whether these regions are to be looked upon as belonging to the land, or whether as forming a portion of the sea?

Here a wretched race is found, inhabiting either the more elevated spots of land, or else eminences artificially constructed, and of a height to which they know by experience that the highest tides will never reach. Here they pitch their cabins; and when the waves cover the surrounding country far and wide, like so many mariners on board ship are they: when, again, the tide recedes, their condition is that of so many shipwrecked men, and around their cottages they pursue the fishes as they make their escape with the receding tide. It is not their lot, like the adjoining nations, to keep any flocks for sustenance by their milk, nor even to maintain a warfare with wild beasts, every shrub, even, being banished afar. With the sedge⁴ and the rushes of the marsh they make cords, and with these they weave the nets employed in the capture of the fish; they fashion the mud,⁵ too, with their hands, and drying it by the help of the winds more than of the sun, cook their food by its aid, and so warm their entrails, frozen as they are by the northern blasts; their only⁶ drink, too, is rainwater, which they collect in holes dug at the entrance of their abodes: and yet these nations, if this very day they were vanquished by the Roman people, would exclaim against being reduced⁷ to slavery! Be it so, then—Fortune is most kind to many, just when she means to punish them.⁸

CHAP. 2.—WONDERS CONNECTED WITH TREES IN THE NORTHERN REGIONS.

Another marvel, too, connected with the forests! They cover all the rest of Germany, and by their shade augment the cold. But the highest of them all are those not far distant from the Chauci already mentioned, and more particularly in the vicinity of the two lakes⁹ there. The very shores are lined with oaks,¹⁰ which manifest an extraordinary eagerness to attain their growth: undermined by the waves or uprooted by the blasts, with their entwining roots they carry vast forests along with them, and, thus balanced, stand upright as they float along, while they spread afar their huge branches like the rigging of so many ships. Many is the time that these trees have struck our fleets with alarm, when the waves have driven them, almost purposely it would seem, against their prows as they stood at anchor in the night; and the men, destitute of all remedy and resource, have had to engage in a naval combat with a forest of trees!

(2.) In the same northern regions, too, is the Hercynian¹¹ Forest, whose gigantic oaks,¹² uninjured by the lapse of ages, and contemporary with the creation of the world, by their near approach to immortality surpass all other marvels known. Not to speak of other matters that would surpass all belief, it is a well-known fact that their roots,¹³ as they meet together, up-heave vast hills; or, if the earth happens not to accumulate with them, rise aloft to the very branches even, and, as they contend for the mastery, form arcades, like so many portals thrown open, and large enough to admit of the passage of a squadron of horse.

(3.) All these trees, in general, belong to the glandiferous class,¹⁴ and have ever been held in the highest honour by the Roman people.

CHAP. 3. (4.)—THE ACORN OAK. THE CIVIC CROWN.

It is with the leaves of this class of trees that our civic crown is made, the most glorious reward that can be bestowed on military valour, and, for this long time past, the emblem of the imperial¹⁵ clemency; since the time, in fact, when, after the impiety of civil war, it was first deemed a meritorious action not to shed the blood of a fellow-citizen. Far inferior to this in rank are the mural¹⁶ crown, the vallar,¹⁷ and the golden¹⁸ one, superior though they may be in the value of the material: inferior, too, in merit, is the rostrate¹⁹ crown, though ennobled, in recent times more particularly, by two great names, those of M. Varro,²⁰ who was presented with it by Pompeius Magnus, for his great achievements in the Piratic War, and of M. Agrippa, on whom it was bestowed by Cæsar, at the end of the Sicilian War, which was also a war against pirates.

In former days the beaks²¹ of vessels, fastened in front of the tribunal, graced the Forum, and seemed, as it were, a crown placed upon the head of the Roman people itself. In later times, however, they began to be polluted and trodden under foot amid the seditious movements of the tribunes, the public interest was sacrificed to private advantage, each citizen sought solely his own advancement, and everything looked upon as holy was abandoned to profanation—still, from amid all this, the Rostra²² emerged once again, and passed from beneath the feet of the citizens to their heads. Augustus presented to Agrippa the rostrate crown, while he himself received the civic crown²³ at the hands of all mankind.

CHAP. 4.—THE ORIGIN OF THE PRESENTATION OF CROWNS.

In ancient times crowns²⁴ were presented to none but a divinity, hence it is that Homer²⁵ awards them only to the gods of heaven and to the entire army; but never to an individual, however great his achievements in battle may have been. It is said, too, that Father Liber was the first of all who placed a crown on his head, and that it was made of ivy.²⁶ In succeeding times, those engaged in sacrifices in honour of the gods began to wear them, the victims being decked with wreaths as well. More recently, again, they were employed in the sacred games;²⁷ and at the present day they are bestowed on such occasions, not upon the victor, indeed, but upon his country, which receives, it is proclaimed, this crown at his hands.²⁸ Hence arose the usage of conferring wreaths upon warriors when about to enjoy a triumph, for them to consecrate in the temples: after which it became the custom to present them at our games. It would be a lengthy matter, and, indeed, foreign to the purpose of this work, to enter upon a discussion who was the first Roman that received each kind of crown; in fact, they were acquainted with none but such as were given as the reward of military prowess. It is a well-known fact, however, that this people has more varieties of crowns than those of all other nations put together.

CHAP. 5.—PERSONS PRESENTED WITH A CROWN OF LEAVES.

Romulus presented Hostus Hostilius²⁹ with a crown of leaves, for being the first to enter Fidense. This Hostus was the grandfather of King Tullus Hostilius. P. Decius the elder, the military tribune, was presented with a crown of leaves by the army which had been saved by his valour, under the command of Cornelius Cossus,³⁰ the consul, in the war with the Samnites. This crown was made at first of the leaves of the holm oak, but afterwards those of the æsculus³¹ were preferred, as being a tree sacred to Jupiter: this, however, was soon employed indifferently with the quercus, according as each might happen to present itself, the honourable distinction given to the acorn being the only thing observed. Rigorous laws were, however, enacted, to maintain the lofty glories of this wreath, by which it was placed upon an equality even with the supreme honours of the wreath that is given by Greece in presence of Jove³² himself, and to receive which the exulting city of the victor is wont to break³³ a passage through its very walls. These laws are to the effect that the life of a fellow-citizen must be preserved, and an enemy slain; that the spot where this takes place must have been held by the enemy that same day; that the person saved shall admit the fact, other witnesses being of no use at all; and that the person saved shall have been a Roman citizen.

To preserve an ally merely, even though it should be the life of a king that is so saved, confers no right to this high reward, nor is the honour at all increased, even if it is the Roman general that has been thus preserved, it being the intention of the framers of the law that it should be the status of the citizen that is everything. When a man has received this wreath, it is his privilege to wear it for the rest of his life. When he makes his appearance at the celebration of the games,³⁴ it is customary for the Senate even to rise from their seats, and he has the right of taking his seat next to the senators. Exemption, too, from all civic duties is conferred upon him as well as his father and his father's father. Siccius Dentatus, as we have already mentioned³⁵ on an appropriate occasion, received fourteen civic crowns, and Manlius Capitolinus³⁶ six,³⁷ one, among the rest, for having saved the life of his general, Servilius. Scipio Africanus declined to accept the civic crown for having saved the life of his father at the battle of Trebia. Times these, right worthy of our everlasting admiration, which accorded honour alone as the reward of exploits so mighty, and which, while other crowns were recommended by being made of gold, disdained to set a price upon the safety of a citizen, and loudly proclaimed thereby that it is unrighteous to save the life of a man for motives of lucre.

CHAP. 6. (5.)—THIRTEEN VARIETIES OF THE ACORN.

It is a well-known fact that acorns³⁸ at this very day constitute the wealth of many nations, and that, too, even amid these times of peace. Sometimes, also, when there is a scarcity of corn they are dried and ground, the meal being employed for making a kind of bread. Even to this very day, in the provinces of Spain,³⁹ we find the acorn introduced at table in the second course: it is thought to be sweeter when roasted in the ashes. By the law of the Twelve Tables, there is a provision made that it shall be lawful for a man to gather his acorns when they have fallen upon the land of another.

The varieties of the glandiferous trees are numerous, and they are found to differ in fruit, locality, sex, and taste; the acorn of the beech having one shape, that of the quercus another, and that, again, of the holm-oak another. The various species also, among themselves, offer a considerable number of varieties. In addition to this, some of these trees are of a wild nature, while the fruits of others are of a less acrid flavour, owing to a more careful cultivation. Then, too, there is a difference between the varieties which grow on the mountains and those of the plains; the males differ from the females, and there are considerable modifications in the flavour of their fruit. That of the beech⁴⁰ is the sweetest of all; so much so, that, according to Cornelius Alexander, the people of the city of Chios, when besieged, supported themselves wholly on mast. The different varieties cannot possibly be distinguished by their respective names, which vary according to their several localities. The quercus⁴¹ and the robur⁴² we see growing everywhere, but not so with the æsculus;⁴³ while a fourth kind, known as the cerrus,⁴⁴ is not so much as known throughout the greater part of Italy. We shall distinguish them, therefore, by their characteristic features, and when circumstances render it necessary, shall give their Greek names as well.

CHAP. 7. (6.)—THE BEECH.

The acorn of the beech⁴⁵ is similar in appearance to a kernel, enclosed in a shell of triangular shape. The leaf is thin and one of the very lightest, is similar in appearance to that of the poplar, and turns yellow with remarkable rapidity. From the middle of the leaf, and upon the upper side of it, there mostly shoots a little green berry, with a pointed top.⁴⁶ The beech is particularly agreeable to rats and mice; and hence it is, that where this tree abounds, those creatures are sure to be plentiful also. The leaves are also very fattening for dormice, and good for thrushes too. Almost all trees bear an average crop but once in two years; this is the case with the beech more particularly.

CHAP. 8.—THE OTHER ACORNS-WOOD FOR FUEL.

The other trees that bear acorns, properly so called, are the robur, the æsculus, the cerrus, the holm-oak,⁴⁷ and the corktree:⁴⁸ it is contained in a rivelled calyx, which embraces more or less of it, according to the several varieties. The leaves of these trees, those of the holm-oak excepted, are weighty, pulpy, long, and jagged at the edges, and they do not turn yellow before they fall, as with the beech: they are also longer or shorter, as the case may be.

There are two kinds⁴⁹ of holm-oak: one of them, which belongs to Italy, has a leaf not very unlike that of the olive; some of the Greeks give it the name of "milax,"⁵⁰ and in our provinces it is known as the aquifolia. The acorn of these two kinds is shorter and more slender than in the others: Homer⁵¹ calls it "acylos," and by that name distinguishes it from the ordinary acorn: it is generally said that the male tree of the holm-oak bears no fruit.

The best acorn, and the very largest, is that which grows upon the quercus, and the next to it is the fruit of the aæscu- lus: that of the robur, again, is diminutive, and the fruit of the cerrus has a meagre, wretched look, being enclosed in a calyx covered with prickles, like the outer coat of the chesnut. With reference to the acorn of the quercus, that which grows upon the female tree⁵² is sweeter and more tender, while that of the male is more solid and compact. The acorn, however, of the latifolia⁵³ is the most esteemed, an oak so called from the remarkable broadness of its leaves. The acorns differ also among themselves in size, and the comparative fineness of the outer shell; as also in the circumstance that some have beneath the shell a rough coat of a rusty colour, while in others a white flesh immediately presents itself. Those, too, are more particularly esteemed, the two extremities of the nut of which, taken lengthwise, are as hard as a stone: and it is considered preferable that this peculiarity should present itself rather in the shell than in the flesh: in either case, however, it only exists in the fruit of the male tree. In some kinds, again, the acorn is oval, in others round; while in others it is of a more pointed form. The colour, too, varies considerably, according as it is blacker or whiter; this last being held in the highest esteem. The extremities of the acorn are bitter, but the flesh in the middle of it is sweet;⁵⁴ another difference, too, consists in the comparative length or shortness of the stalk.

As for the trees themselves, the one that bears the acorn of largest size is known as the "hemeris;"⁵⁵ a small tree with a thick bushy foliage all around it, and often hollowed at the place where the branch is joined to the trunk. The quercus has a stronger wood, and less susceptible of decay: this also is a very branchy tree, but is much taller than the last, while the trunk is considerably thicker. The ægilops,⁵⁶ however, is the highest of them all, and is much attached to wild, uncultivated spots. Next to this in height is the latifolia, but its wood is far from being so useful either for building purposes or for charcoal. When rough-hewn it is very apt to spoil, hence it is that it is generally used in an unhewn state. As charcoal, it is considered only economical in smelting copper; for the moment the workman ceases to blow, the fire dies out, and hence it requires to be repeatedly rekindled; while at the same time it gives out great quantities of sparks. The best charcoal is that obtained from the wood of young trees.⁵⁷ Square billets of wood, newly cut, are piled compactly together with clay, and built up in the form of a chimney; the pile is then set fire to, and incisions are made in the coat of clay as it gradually hardens, by the aid of long poles, for the purpose of letting the moisture of the wood evaporate.

The worst kind of all, however, both for timber and for making charcoal, is the oak known as the "haliphlœos,"⁵⁸ the bark of which is remarkably thick, and the trunk of considerable size, but mostly hollow and spongy: it is the only one of this species that rots while the tree is still alive. In addition to this, it is very frequently struck by lightning, although it is not so remarkably lofty in height: for this reason it is not considered lawful to employ its wood for the purposes of sacrifice. It is but rarely that it bears any acorns, and when it does they are bitter: no animal will touch them, with the sole exception of swine, and not even they, if they can get any other food. An additional reason also for its exclusion from all religious ceremonials, is the circumstance that the fire is very apt to go out in the middle of the sacrifice when the wood of it is used for fuel.

The acorn of the beech, when given to swine,⁵⁹ makes them brisk and lively, and renders the flesh tender for cooking, and light and easy of digestion; while, on the other hand, that of the holm oak has the effect of making them thin, pallid, meagre, and lumpish. The acorn of the quercus is of a broad shape, and is the heaviest as well as the sweetest of them all. According to Nigidius, the acorn of the cerrus occupies the next rank to this, and, indeed, there is no acorn that renders the flesh of swine more firm, though at the same time it is apt to impart a certain degree of hardness. The same author assures us also, that the acorn of the holm oak is a trying diet for swine, unless it is given in very small quan- tities at a time. He says, too, that this acorn is the last to fall, and that the flesh of swine, if fed upon the acorns of the æsculus, the robur, or the cork-tree, will be of a spongy nature.

CHAP. 9.—THE GALL-NUT.

All⁶⁰ the glandiferous trees produce the gall-nut as well: they only bear acorns, however, in alternate years. The gallnut of the hemeris⁶¹ is considered the choicest of all, and the best adapted for the preparation of leather: that of the latifolia closely resembles it, but is somewhat lighter, and not by any means so highly approved. This last tree produces the black gall-nut also—for there are two varieties of it—this last being deemed preferable for dyeing wool.

(7.) The gall-nut begins to grow just as the sun is leaving the sign of Gemini,⁶² and always bursts forth in its entirety in a single night.⁶³ The white variety grows, too, in a single day, but if the heat happens to overtake it, it shrinks immediately, and never arrives at its proper size, which is about that of a bean. The black gall-nut will remain green for a longer period, and sometimes attains the size of an apple⁶⁴ even. The best kind is that which comes from Commagene,⁶⁵ and the most inferior are those produced by the robur: it may easily be tested by means of certain holes in it which admit of the passage of the light.⁶⁶

CHAP. 10.—OTHER PRODUCTIONS ON THESE TREES BESIDES THE ACORN.

The robur, in addition to its fruit, has a great number of other productions: it bears⁶⁷ the two varieties of the gall-nut, and a production which closely resembles the mulberry,⁶⁸ except that it differs from it in being dry and hard: for the most part it bears a resemblance to a bull's head, and in the inside there is a fruit very similar to the stone of the olive. Little balls⁶⁹ also are found growing on the robur, not unlike nuts in appearance, and containing within them a kind of soft wool, which is used for burning in lamps; for it will keep burning without oil, which is the case also with the black gall-nut. It bears another kind, too, of little ball, covered with hair,⁷⁰ but used for no purpose: in spring, however, this contains a juice like honey. In the hollows formed by the union of the trunk and branches of this tree there are found also small round balls,⁷¹ which adhere bodily to the bark, and not by means of a stalk: at the point of junction they are white, but the rest of the body is spotted all over with black: inside they are of a scarlet colour, but on opening them they are found to be empty, and are of a bitter taste.

Sometimes, too, the robur bears a kind of pumice,⁷² as well as little balls, which are formed of the leaves rolled up; upon the veins of the leaves, too, there are watery pustules, of a whitish hue, and transparent while they are soft; in these a kind of gnat⁷³ is produced, and they come to maturity just in the same way that the ordinary gall-nut does.

CHAP. 11. (8.)—CACHRYS.

The robur bears cachrys,⁷⁴ too; such being the name given to a small round ball that is employed in medicine for its caustic properties. It grows on the fir likewise, the larch, the pitch-tree, the linden, the nut-tree, and the plane, and remains on the tree throughout the winter, after the leaves have fallen. It contains a kernel very similar to that of the pinenut, and increases in size during the winter. In spring the ball opens throughout, and it finally drops when the leaves are beginning to grow.

Such is the multiplicity of the products borne by the robur in addition to its acorns; and not only these, but mushrooms⁷⁵ as well, of better or worse quality, the most recent stimulants that have been discovered for the appetite; these last are found growing about its roots. Those of the quercus are the most highly esteemed, while those of the robur, the cypress, and the pine are injurious.⁷⁶ The robur produces mistletoe⁷⁷ also, and, if we may believe Hesiod,⁷⁸ honey as well: indeed, it is a well-known fact, that a honey⁷⁹-like dew falling from heaven, as we have already mentioned,⁸⁰ deposits itself upon the leaves of this tree in preference to those of any other. It is also well known that the wood of this tree, when burnt, produces a nitrous⁸¹ ash.

CHAP. 12.—THE KERMES BERRY.

The helm oak, however, by its scarlet berry⁸² alone challenges competition with all these manifold productions. This grain appears at first sight to be a roughness on the surface of the tree, as it were, a small kind of the aquifolia⁸³ variety of holm oak, known as the cusculium.⁸⁴ To the poor in Spain it furnishes⁸⁵ the means of paying one half of their tribute. We have already, when speaking⁸⁶ of the purple of the murex, mentioned the best methods adopted for using it. It is produced also in Galatia, Africa, Pisidia, and Cilicia: the most inferior kind is that of Sardinia.

CHAP. 13.—AGARIC.

It is in the Gallic provinces more particularly that the glandiferous trees produce agaric;⁸⁷ such being the name given to a white fungus which has a strong odour, and is very useful as an antidote. It grows upon the top of the tree, and gives out a brilliant light⁸⁸ at night: this, indeed, is the sign by which its presence is known, and by the aid of this light it may be gathered during the night. The ægilops is the only one among the glandiferous trees that bears a kind of dry cloth,⁸⁹ covered with a white mossy shag, and this, not only attached to the bark, but hanging down from the branches as well, a cubit even in length: this substance has a strong odour, as we have already⁹⁰ stated, when speaking of the perfumes.

The cork is but a very small tree, and its acorn is of the very worst⁹¹ quality, and rarely to be found as well: the bark⁹² is its only useful product, being remarkably thick, and if removed it will grow again. When straitened out, it has been known to form planks as much as ten feet square. This substance is employed more particularly attached as a buoy to the ropes⁹³ of ships' anchors and the drag-nets of fishermen. It is employed also for the bungs of casks and as a material for the winter shoes⁹⁴ of females; for which reason the Greeks not inappropriately call them⁹⁵ "the bark of a tree."

There are some writers who speak of it as the female of the holm oak; and in the countries where the holm does not grow, they substitute for it the wood of the cork-tree, more particularly in cartwrights' work, in the vicinity of Elis and Lacedæmon for instance. The cork-tree does not grow throughout the whole of Italy, and in no⁹⁶ part whatever of Gaul.

CHAP. 14. (9.)—TREES OF WHICH THE BARK IS USED.

The bark also of the beech, the lime, the fir, and the pitch-tree is extensively used by the peasantry. Panniers and baskets are made of it, as also the large flat hampers which are employed for the carriage of corn and grapes: roofs of cottages,⁹⁷ too, are made of this material. When a spy has been sent out he often leaves information for his general, written upon fresh bark, by cutting letters in the parts of it that are the most juicy. The bark of the beech is also employed for religious purposes in certain sacred rites.⁹⁸ This tree, however, when deprived of its bark, will not survive.

CHAP. 15. (10.)—SHINGLES.

The best shingles are those made of the wood of the robur; the next best being those furnished by the other glandiferous trees and the beech. Those most easily made are cut from the wood of the resinous trees, but they do not last,⁹⁹ with the exception of those made of pine. Cornelius Nepos informs us, that Rome was roofed solely with shingles down to the time of the war with Pyrrhus, a period of four hundred and seventy years. It is well known that it was remarkable for the fine forests in its vicinity. Even at the present day, the name of Jupiter Fagutalus points out in what locality there stood a grove of beeches;¹⁰⁰ the Querquetulan Gate shows where the quercus once stood, and the Viminal Hill is the spot where the "vimen"¹⁰¹ was sought in ancient times. In many other parts, too, there were groves to be found, and sometimes as many as two. Q. Hortensius, the Dictator, on the secession of the plebeians to the Janiculum, passed a law in the Æsculetum,¹⁰² that what the plebeians had enacted should be binding upon every Roman citizen.¹⁰³

CHAP. 16.—THE PINE.

In those days they regarded as exotics, because they did not exist in the vicinity¹⁰⁴ of the City, the pine and the fir, as well as all the other varieties that produce pitch; of which we shall now proceed to speak, in order that the method of seasoning wine, from the very first, may be fully known. Whereas there are several among the trees already mentioned in Asia or the East, that produce pitch, in Europe there are but six varieties of kindred trees that supply it. In this number there are the pine¹⁰⁵ and the pinaster,¹⁰⁶ which have long thin leaves like hair, and pointed at the end. The pine yields the least resin of them all: in the pine nut, indeed, of which we have previously spoken,¹⁰⁷ it is sometimes to be found, but hardly in sufficient quantities to warrant us in reckoning the pine among the resinous trees.

CHAP. 17.—THE PINASTER.

The pinaster is nothing else but a wild pine: it rises to a surprising height, and throws out branches from the middle, just as the pine does from the top. This tree yields a more copious supply of resin than the pine: the mode in which this is done we shall set forth¹⁰⁸ on a future occasion. It grows also in flat countries. Many people think that this is the same tree that grows along the shores of Italy, and is known as the "tibulus;"¹⁰⁹ but this last is slender, and more com- pact than the pine; it is likewise free from knots, and hence is used in the construction of light gallies;¹¹⁰ they are both almost entirely destitute of resin.

CHAP. 18.—THE PITCH-TREE: THE FIR.

The pitch-tree¹¹¹ loves the mountain heights and cold localities. This is a funereal tree, and, as an emblem of death, is placed before the door of the deceased, and is left to grow in the vicinity of the funeral pile. Still, however, it is now some time since it was admitted into our gardens, in consequence of the facility with which it is clipped into various shapes. It gives out considerable quantities of resin,¹¹² which is intermingled with white granulations like pearls, and so similar in appearance to frankincense, that when mixed, it is impossible to distinguish them; hence the adulterations we find practised in the Seplasia.¹¹³ All this class of trees have a short bristly leaf, thick and hard, like that of the cypress. The branches of the pitch-tree are of moderate size, and extend from almost the very root of the tree, adhering to the sides like so many arms: the same is the case with the fir,¹¹⁴ the wood of which is held in great esteem for ship-building.

This tree grows upon the summits of lofty mountains, as though, in fact, it had an antipathy to the sea, and it does not at all differ from the pitch-tree in appearance: the wood is also very highly esteemed for the construction of rafters, and many other appliances of life. A flow of resin, which in the pitch-tree constitutes its great merit, is looked upon as a defect in the fir,¹¹⁵ though it will generally exude in some small quantity on exposure of the wood, to the action of the sun. On the other hand, the wood which in the fir-tree is remarkably fine, in the pitch-tree is only used for making shingles, vats, and a few other articles of joiners' work.

CHAP. 19.—THE LARCH: THE TORCH-TREE.

The fifth kind of resinous tree has the same localities, and is very similar in appearance; it is known as the larch.¹¹⁶ The wood of this tree is far more valuable, being unimpaired by time, and proof against all decay; it is of a reddish colour, and of an acrid smell. Resin¹¹⁷ flows from this wood in still greater quantities; it is of the colour of honey, more viscous than the other varieties, and never turns hard.

A sixth variety is the torch-tree,¹¹⁸ properly so called, which gives out more resin than any of the others, with the exception of the pitch-tree; but its resin is more liquid than that of this last. The wood, too, of this tree is more particularly employed for kindling fires and giving torch-light in religious ceremonials. Of this tree it is the male only that bears what is known to the Greeks by the name of "syce,"¹¹⁹ remarkable for its extremely powerful odour. When the larch¹²⁰ is changed into the torch-tree, it is a proof that it is in a diseased state.

The wood of all these trees, when set fire to, gives out immoderate volumes of sooty smoke,¹²¹ and sputters every now and then with a sudden crackling noise, while it sends out red-hot charcoal to a considerable distance—with the sole exception of that of the larch, which will neither burn¹²² nor char, nor, in fact, suffer any more from the action of fire than a stone. All these trees are evergreens, and are not easily¹²³ distinguished by the foliage, even by those who are best acquainted with them, so nearly related are they to one another. The pitch- tree, however, is not so high as the larch; which, again, is stouter, and has a smoother back, with a more velvety leaf, more unctuous to the touch, thicker, and more soft and flexible.¹²⁴ The pitch-tree, again, has a leaf more sparsely scattered and drier; it is thinner also, and of a colder nature, rougher all over in appearance, and covered with a resinous deposit: the wood of this tree is most like that of the fir. The larch, when the roots are once burnt, will not throw out fresh shoots, which the pitch-tree will do, as was found to be the case in the island of Lesbos, after the Pyrrhæan grove had been burnt there.

In the same species too, the variety of sex¹²⁵ is found to constitute a considerable difference: the male is the shorter tree; and has a harder wood; while the female is taller, and bears a leaf more unctuous to the feel, smooth and free from all rigidity. The wood of the male tree is hard and awry, and consequently not so well suited for carpenters' work; while that of the female is softer, as may be very easily perceived on the application of the axe, a test, in fact, which, in every variety, immediately shows us which trees are males; the axe in such case meeting with a greater resistance, falling with a louder noise, and being withdrawn from the wood with considerably greater difficulty: the wood of the male tree is more parched too, and the root is of a blacker hue. In the vicinity of Mount Ida, in Troas, the circumstance whether the tree grows in the mountain districts or on the sea-shore, makes another considerable difference. In Macedonia and Arcadia, and in the neighbourhood of Elis, the names of the several varieties have been totally altered, and it has not been agreed by authors which name ought to be given to each: we have, therefore, contented ourselves with employing the Roman denominations solely.

The fir is the largest of them all, the female being the taller of the two; the wood, too, is softer and more easily worked. This tree is of a rounder form than the others, and its leaves are closely packed and feathered, so as not to admit of the passage of rain; the appearance, too, of the tree is altogether more cheerful. From the branches of these different varieties, with the sole exception of the larch,¹²⁶ there hang numbers of scaly nuts of compact shape, like so many catkins. The nuts found upon the male fir have a kernel in the fore-part, which is not the case with those on the female tree. In the pitch-tree, again, these kernels, which are very small and black, occupy the whole of the catkin, which is smaller and more slender than in the other varieties; hence it is that the Greeks call this tree by the name of phthirophoron.¹²⁷ In this tree, too, the nuts on the male are more compressed, and less moist with resin.

CHAP. 20.—THE YEW.

Not to omit any one of them, the yew¹²⁸ is similar to these other trees in general appearance. It is of a colour, however, but slightly approaching to green, and of a slender form; of sombre and ominous aspect, and quite destitute of juice: it is the only one, too, among them all, that bears a berry. In the male tree the fruit is injurious; indeed, in Spain more particularly, the berries contain a deadly poison.¹²⁹ It is an ascertained fact that travellers' vessels,¹³⁰ made in Gaul of this wood, for the purpose of holding wine, have caused the death of those who used them. Sextius says, that in Greece this tree is known by the name of "smilax, "and that in Arcadia it is possessed of so active a poison, that those who sleep beneath it, or even take food¹³¹ there, are sure to meet their death from it. There are authors, also, who assert that the poisons which we call at the present day "toxica," and in which arrows are dipped, were formerly called taxica,¹³² from this tree. It has been discovered, also, that these poisonous qualities are quite neutralized by driving a copper nail into the wood of the tree.

CHAP. 21. (11.)—METHODS OF MAKING TAR—HOW CEDRIUM IS MADE.

In Europe, tar is extracted from the torch-tree¹³³ by the agency of fire; it is employed for coating ships and for many other useful purposes.¹³⁴ The wood of the tree is chopped¹³⁵ into small billets, and then put into a furnace, which is heated by fires lighted on every side. The first steam that exudes flows in the form of water into a reservoir made for its reception: in Syria this substance is known as "cedrium;"¹³⁶ and it possesses such remarkable strength, that in Egypt the bodies of the dead, after being steeped in it, are preserved from all corruption.¹³⁷

CHAP. 22.—METHODS BY WHICH THICK PITCH IS PREPARED.

The liquid that follows is of a thicker consistency, and constitutes pitch, properly so called. This liquid, thrown again into a brazen cauldron, and mixed with vinegar, becomes still¹³⁸ thicker, and when left to coagulate, receives the name of "Bruttian"¹³⁹ pitch. It is used, however, only for pitching the insides of dolia¹⁴⁰ and other vessels, it differing from the other kinds in being more viscous, of a redder colour, and more unctuous than is usually the case. All these varieties of pitch are prepared from the pitch-tree, by putting red-hot stones, with the resinous wood, in troughs made of strong oak; or if these troughs are not attainable, by piling up billets of the wood in the method employed for the manufacture of charcoal.¹⁴¹ It is this pitch that is used for seasoning wine, being first pounded and reduced to a fine powder: it is of a blacker colour, too, than the other sort. The same resin, if boiled gently with water, and then strained off, becomes viscous, and assumes a red colour; it is then known as "distilled"¹⁴² pitch:" for making this, the refuse portions of the resin and the bark of the tree are generally selected.

Another method is adopted for the manufacture of that used as crapula.¹⁴³ Raw flower of resin is taken, direct from the tree, with a plentiful sprinkling of small, thin chips of the wood. These are then pounded¹⁴⁴ down and passed through a sieve, after which they are steeped in water, which is heated till it comes to a boil. The unctuous portion that is extracted from this is the best resin: it is but rarely to be met with, and then only in a few places in Italy, in the vicinity of the Alps: it is in considerable request for medicinal purposes. For this, they generally boil a congius of white resin to two congii of rain-water:¹⁴⁵ some persons, however, think it better¹⁴⁶ to boil it without water for one whole day by a slow fire, taking care to use a vessel of white copper.¹⁴⁷ Some, again, are in the habit of boiling the resin of the terebinth¹⁴⁸ in a flat pan¹⁴⁹ placed upon hot ashes, and prefer it to any other kind. The resin of the mastich¹⁵⁰ is held in the next degree of estimation.¹⁵¹

CHAP. 23. (12.)—HOW THE RESIN CALLED ZOPISSA IS PREPARED.

We must not omit, too, that the Greeks call by the name of zopissa¹⁵² the pitch mixed with wax which has been scraped from off the bottoms of sea-going ships;¹⁵³ for there is nothing, in fact, that has been left untried by mankind. This composition is found much more efficient for all those purposes in which pitch and resin are employed, in consequence of the superior hardness which has been imparted to it by the sea-salt.

The pitch-tree is opened¹⁵⁴ on the side that faces the sun, not by means of an incision, but of a wound made by the removal of the bark: this opening being generally two feet in width and one cubit from the ground, at the very least. The body of the tree, too, is not spared in this instance, as in others, for even the very chips from off it are considered as having their use; those, however, from the lower part of the tree are looked upon as the best, the wood of the higher parts giving the resin a bitter¹⁵⁵ taste. In a short time all the resinous juices of the entire tree come to a point of confluence in the wound so inflicted: the same process is adopted also with the torch-tree. When the liquid ceases to flow, the tree is opened in a similar manner in some other part, and then, again, elsewhere: after which the whole tree is cut down, and the pith¹⁵⁶ of it is used for burning.¹⁵⁷

So, too, in Syria they take the bark from off the terebinth; and, indeed, in those parts they do not spare even the root or branches, although in general the resin obtained from those parts is held in disesteem. In Macedonia they subject the whole of the male larch to the action of fire, but of the female¹⁵⁸ only the roots. Theopompus has stated in his writings that in the territory of the Apolloniates there is found a kind of mineral pitch,¹⁵⁹ not inferior to that of Macedonia. The best pitch¹⁶⁰ everywhere is that obtained from trees planted on sunny spots with a north-east aspect; while that which is produced from more shaded localities has a disagreeable look and a repulsive odour. Pitch, too, that is produced amid the cold of winter is of inferior quality, being in smaller quantity, too, and comparatively colourless. Some persons are of opinion that in mountainous localities this liquid is produced in the greatest abundance, and that it is of superior colour and of a sweeter taste and has a finer smell so long as it remains in a state of resin; but that when, on the other hand, it is subjected to boiling, it yields a smaller quantity of pitch, because so much of it goes¹⁶¹ off in a serous shape. They say that the resinous trees, too, that grow on mountains are thinner than those that are found on plains, but that they are apt, both of them, to be unproductive in clear, dry weather.

Some trees, too, afford a flow of resinous juice the year after the incision is made, some, again, in the second year, and others in the third. The wound so made is filled with resin, but not with bark, or by the cicatrization of the outer coat; for the bark in this tree never unites. Among these varieties some authors have made the sappium¹⁶² to constitute a peculiar kind, because it is produced from the seed of a kindred variety, as we have already stated when speaking of the nuts¹⁶³ of trees; and they have given the name of tæda¹⁶⁴ to the lower parts of the tree; although in reality this tree is nothing else but a pitch-tree, which by careful cultivation has lost some small portion of its wild character. The name "sappinus" is also given to the timber of these trees when cut, as we shall have occasion to mention¹⁶⁵ hereafter.

CHAP. 24. (13.)—TREES THE WOOD OF WHICH IS HIGHLY VALUED. FOUR VARIETIES OF THE ASH.

It is for the sake of their timber that Nature has created the other trees, and more particularly the ash,¹⁶⁶ which yields it in greater abundance. This is a tall, tapering tree, with a feather-like leaf: it has been greatly ennobled by the encomiums of Homer, and the fact that it formed the spear of Achilles:¹⁶⁷ the wood of it is employed for numerous purposes. The ash which grows upon Mount Ida, in Troas, is so extremely like the cedar,¹⁶⁸ that, when the bark is removed, it will deceive a purchaser.

The Greeks have distinguished two varieties of this tree, the one long and without knots, the other short, with a harder wood, of a darker colour, and a leaf like that of the laurel. In Macedonia they give the name of "bumelia"¹⁶⁹ to an ash of remarkably large size, with a wood of extreme flexibility. Some authors have divided this tree into several varieties, ac- cording to the localities which it inhabits, and say that the ash of the plains has a spotted wood, while that of the mountain ash is more compact. Some Greek writers have stated hat the leaf of the ash is poisonous¹⁷⁰ to beasts of burden, but harmless to all the animals that ruminate¹⁷¹ The leaves of his tree in Italy, however, are not injurious to beasts of burden even; so far from it, in fact, that nothing has been found to act as so good a specific for the bites of serpents¹⁷² as to drink the juice extracted from the leaves, and to apply them to the wounds. So great, too, are the virtues of this tree, that no serpent will ever lie in the shadow thrown by it, either in the morning or the evening, be it ever so long; indeed, they will always keep at the greatest possible distance from it. We state the fact from ocular demonstration,¹⁷³ that if a serpent and a lighted fire are placed within a circle formed of the leaves of the ash, the reptile will rather throw itself into the fire than encounter the leaves of the tree. By a wonderful provision of Nature, the ash has been made to blossom before the serpents leave their holes, and the fall of its leaf does not take place till after they have retired for the winter.

CHAP. 25. (14.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE LINDEN-TREE.

In the linden-tree the male¹⁷⁴ and the female are totally different. In the male the wood is hard and knotty, of a redder hue, and with a stronger smell; the bark, too, is thicker, and, when taken off, has no flexibility. The male bears neither seed nor blossom as the female does, the trunk of which is thicker, and the wood white and of excellent quality. It is a singular¹⁷⁵ thing, but no animal will touch the fruit of this tree, although the juice of the leaves and the bark is sweet. Between the bark and the wood there are a number of thin coats, formed by the union of numerous fine membranes; of these they make those bands¹⁷⁶ which are known to us as "tiliæ." The finer membranes are called "philyræ," and are rendered famous by the honourable mention that the ancients have made of them as ribbons for wreaths¹⁷⁷ and garlands. The wood of this tree is proof against the attacks of worms:¹⁷⁸ it is of moderate height¹⁷⁹ only, but of very considerable utility.

CHAP. 26. (15.)—TEN VARIETIES OF THE MAPLE.

The maple, which is pretty nearly of the same¹⁸⁰ size as the lime, is inferior to the citrus¹⁸¹ only for the beauty of its wood when employed for cabinet work, and the exquisite finish it admits of. There are numerous varieties¹⁸² of this tree; the light maple, remarkable for the extreme whiteness of its wood, is known as the "Gallic"¹⁸³ maple in Italy beyond the Padus, being a native of the countries beyond the Alps. Another kind is covered with wavy spots running in all directions. In consequence of its superior beauty it has received its name,¹⁸⁴ from its strong resemblance to the marks which are seen in the tail of the peacock; the finest kinds are those which grow in Istria and Rhætia. An inferior sort of maple is known as "crassivenium."¹⁸⁵

The Greeks distinguish the varieties according to their respective localities. The maple of the plains,¹⁸⁶ they say, is white, and not wavy; they give it the name of "glinon." On the other hand, the mountain maple,¹⁸⁷ they say, is of a more variegated appearance, and harder, the wood of the male tree being more particularly so, and the best adapted for spe- cimens of elegant workmanship. A third kind, again, according to the Greeks, is the zygia,¹⁸⁸ with a red wood, which is easily split, and a pale, rough bark. Other authors, however, prefer to make of this last a peculiar species, and give it in Latin the name of "carpinus."

CHAP. 27. (16.)—BERUSCUM: MOLLUSCUM; THE STAPHYLODENDRON.

But the most beautiful feature of all in the maple is what is known as bruscum, and, even more particularly so, the molluscum. These are both of them tuberosities of this tree, the bruscum presenting veins more violently contorted, while those of the molluscum are disposed in a more simple and uniform manner: indeed, if this last were of sufficiently large size to admit of tables being made of it, there is no doubt that it would be preferred to the wood of the citrus even. At the present day, however, we find it but little used except for the leaves of tablets, or as a veneer for couches.¹⁸⁹ Tuberosities are also found on the alder,¹⁹⁰ but as much inferior to those already mentioned, as the alder itself is to the maple. In the maple the male tree¹⁹¹ is the first to blossom. The trees that frequent dry spots are preferred to those that grow in watery localities, which is the case also with the ash.

There is found in the countries beyond the Alps a tree, the wood of which is very similar to that of the white maple, and which is known as the staphylodendron.¹⁹² This tree bears a pod¹⁹³ in which there is found a kernel, which has the flavour of the hazel-nut.

CHAP. 28.—THREE VARIETIES OF THE BOX-TREE.

One of the most highly esteemed of all the woods is the box,¹⁹⁴ but it is seldom veined, and then only the wood of the root. In other respects, it is a wood, so to say, of quiet and unpretending appearance, but highly esteemed for a certain degree of hardness and its pallid hue: the tree, too, is very extensively employed in ornamental gardening.¹⁹⁵ There are three¹⁹⁶ varieties of it: the Gallic¹⁹⁷ box, which is trained to shoot upwards in a pyramidal form, and attains a very considerable height; the oleaster,¹⁹⁸ which is condemned as being utterly worthless, and emits a disagreeable odour; and a third, known as the "Italian" box,¹⁹⁹ a wild variety, in my opinion, which has been improved by cultivation. This last spreads more than the others, and forms a thick hedge: it is an evergreen, and is easily clipped.

The box-tree abounds on the Pyrenean²⁰⁰ range, the mountains of Cytorus, and the country about Berecynthus.²⁰¹ The trunk grows to the largest size in the island of Corsica,²⁰² and its blossom is by no means despicable; it is this that causes the honey there to be bitter.²⁰³ The seed of the box is held in aversion by all animals. That which grows upon Mount Olympus in Macedonia is not more slender than the other kinds, but the tree is of a more stunted growth. It loves spots exposed to the cold winds and the sun: in fire, too, it manifests all the hardness of iron; it gives out no flame, and is of no use whatever for the manufacture of charcoal.²⁰⁴

CHAP. 29. (17.)—FOUR VARIETIES OF THE ELM.

Midway between the preceding ones and the fruit-trees stands the elm, partaking of the nature of the former in its wood, and being akin to the latter in the friendship which it manifests for the vine.²⁰⁵ The Greeks distinguish two varieties of this tree: the mountain²⁰⁶ elm, which is the larger of the two, and that of the plains, which is more shrubby. Italy gives the name of "Atinia"²⁰⁷ to the more lofty kinds, and gives the preference to those which are of a dry nature and will not grow in damp localities. Another variety is the Gallic elm,²⁰⁸ and a third, the Italian,²⁰⁹ with leaves lying closer together, and springing in greater numbers from a single stalk. A fourth kind is the wild elm. The Atinia does not produce any samara,²¹⁰ that being the name given to the seed of the elm. All the elms will grow from slips or cuttings, and all of them, with the exception of the Atinia, may be propagated from seed.

CHAP. 30. (18.)—THE, NATURES OF THE VARIOUS TREES ACCORDING TO THEIR LOCALITIES: THE MOUNTAIN TREES, AND THE TREES OF THE PLAIN.

Having now made mention of the more remarkable trees, it remains for me to state some general facts connected with them all. The cedar, the larch, the torch-tree, and the other resinous trees prefer mountainous localities:²¹¹ the same is the case also with the aquifolia, the box, the holm-oak, the juniper, the terebinth, the poplar, the wild mountain-ash, and the yoke-elm.²¹² On the Apennines there is also found a shrub known as the "cotinus,"²¹³ famous for imparting to cloth a purple colour like that of the murex. The fir, the robur, the chesnut, the lime, the holm-oak, and the cornel will grow equally well on mountain or in valley; while the maple,²¹⁴ the ash, the service, the linden, and the cherry, more particularly prefer a watery spot on the slope of a hilly declivity. It is not often that we see the plum, the pomegranate, the olive, the walnut, the mulberry, or the elder, growing on an elevated site: the cornel, too, the hazel, the quercus, the wild ash, the maple, the ash, the beech, and the yoke-elm, descend to the plains; while the elm, the apple, the pear, the laurel, the myrtle, the blood-red²¹⁵ shrub, the holm-oak, and the brooms²¹⁶ that are employed in dyeing cloths, all of them aspire to a more elevated locality.

The sorb,²¹⁷ and even still more the birch²¹⁸ are fond of a cold site; this last is a native of Gaul, of singular whiteness and slender shape, and rendered terrible as forming the fasces of the magistracy. From its flexibility it is employed also in making circlets and the ribs of panniers. In Gaul,²¹⁹ too, they extract a bitumen from it by boiling. To a cold site, also, belongs the thorn, which affords the most auspicious torches²²⁰ of all for the nuptial ceremony; from the circumstance, as Massurius assures us, that the shepherds, on the occasion of the rape of the Sabine women, made their torches of the wood of this tree: at the present day, however, the woods of the yoke-elm and the hazel are more generally employed for this purpose.

CHAP. 31.—TREES WHICH GROW ON A DRY SOIL: THOSE WHICH ARE FOUND IN WET LOCALITIES: THOSE WHICH ARE FOUND IN BOTH INDIFFERENTLY.

The cypress, the walnut, the chesnut, and the laburnum,²²¹ are averse to water. This last tree is also a native of the Alps, and far from generally known: the wood is hard and white,²²² and the flowers, which are a cubit²²³ in length, no bee will ever touch. The shrub, too, known as Jupiter's beard,²²⁴ manifests an equal dislike to water: it is often clipped, and is employed in ornamental gardening, being of a round, bushy form, with a silvery leaf. The willow, the alder, the poplar,²²⁵ the siler,²²⁶ and the privet,²²⁷ so extensively employed for making tallies,²²⁸ will only grow in damp, watery places; which is the case also with the vaccinium,²²⁹ grown in Italy for drugging our slaves,²³⁰ and in Gaul for the purpose of dyeing the garments of slaves a purple colour. All those trees²³¹ which are common to the mountains and the plains, grow to a larger size, and are of more comely appearance when grown on the plains, while those found on the mountains have a better wood and more finely veined, with the exception of the apple and the pear.

CHAP. 32. (19.)—DIVISION OF TREES INTO VARIOUS SPECIES.

In addition to these particulars, some of the trees lose their leaves, while others, again, are evergreens. Before, however, we treat of this distinction, it will be necessary first to touch upon another. There are some trees that are altogether of a wild nature, while there are others, again, that are more civilized, such being the names²³² by which man has thought fit to distinguish the trees. Indeed, these last, which by their fruits or some other beneficial property, or else by the shade which they afford, show themselves the benefactors of man, are not inappropriately called "civilized"²³³ trees.

CHAP. 33. (20.)—TREES WHICH DO NOT LOSE THEIR FOLIAGE. THE RHODODOENDRON. TREES WHICH DO NOT LOSE THE WHOLE OF THEIR FOLIAGE. PLACES IN WHICH THERE ARE NO TREES.

Belonging to this last class, there are the following trees which do not lose their leaves: the olive, the laurel, the palm, the myrtle, the cypress, the pine, the ivy, the rhododendron,²³⁴ and, although it may be rather called a herb than a tree, the savin.²³⁵ The rhododendron, as its name indicates, comes from Greece. By some it is known as the nerium,²³⁶ and by others as the rhododaphne. It is an evergreen, bear- ing a strong resemblance to the rose-tree, and throwing out numerous branches from the stem; to beasts of burden, goats, and sheep it is poisonous, but for man it is an antidote²³⁷ against the venom of serpents.

(21.) The following among the forest-trees do not lose their haves: the fir, the larch, the pinaster, the juniper, the cedar, the terebinth, the box, the holm-oak, the aquifolia, the cork, the yew, and the tamarisk.²³⁸ A middle place between the evergreens and those which are not so, is occupied by the an- drachle²³⁹ in Greece, and by the arbutus²⁴⁰ in all parts of the world; as they lose all their leaves with the exception of those on the top of the tree. Among certain of the shrubs, too, the bramble and the calamus, the leaves do not fall. In the territory of Thurii, where Sybaris formerly stood, from the city there was a single oak²⁴¹ to be seen that never lost its leaves, and never used to bud before midsummer: it is a singular thing that this fact, which has been so often alluded to by the Greek writers, should have been passed over in silence by our own.²⁴² Indeed, so remarkable are the virtues that we find belonging to some localities, that about Memphis in Egypt, and at Ele- phantina, in Thebais, the leaves²⁴³ fall from none of the trees, not the vine even.

CHAP. 34. (22.)—THE NATURE OF THE LEAVES WHICH WITHER AND FALL.

All the trees, with the exception of those already men- tioned—a list which it would be tedious to enumerate-lose their leaves, and it has been observed that the leaf does not dry up and wither unless it is thin, broad, and soft; while, on the other hand, the leaves that do not fall are those which are fleshy, thick, and narrow.²⁴⁴ It is an erroneous theory that the leaf does not fall in those trees the juices of which are more unctuous than the rest; for who could make out that such is the case with the holm-oak, for instance? Timæus, the mathematician, is of opinion that the leaves fall while the sun is passing through the sign of Scorpio, being acted upon by the influences of that luminary, and a certain venom which exists in the atmosphere: but then we have a right to wonder how it is that, the same reasons existing, the same influence is not exercised equally on all.

The leaves of most trees fall in autumn, but in some at a later period, remaining on the tree till the approach of winter, it making no difference whether they have germinated at an earlier period or a later, seeing that some that are the very first to bud are among the last to lose their leaves—the almond, the ash, and the elder, for instance: the mulberry, on the other hand, buds the last of all, and loses its leaves among the very first. The soil, too, exercises a very considerable influence in this respect: the leaves falling sooner where it is dry and thin, and more particularly when the tree is old: indeed, there are many trees that lose them before the fruit is ripe, as in the case of the late fig, for instance, and the winter pear: on the pomegranate, too, the fruit, when ripe, beholds nothing but the trunk of the parent tree. And not even upon those trees which always retain their foliage do the same leaves always remain, for as others shoot up beneath them, the old leaves gradually wither away: this takes place about the solstices more particularly.

CHAP. 35.—TREES WHICH HAVE LEAVES OF VARIOUS COLOURS; TREES WITH LEAVES OF VARIOUS SHAPES. THREE VARIETIES OF THE POPLAR.

The leaves continue the same upon every species of tree, with the exception of the poplar, the ivy, and the croton, which we have already mentioned as being called the "cicus."²⁴⁵

(23.) There are three kinds of poplar; the white,²⁴⁶ the black,²⁴⁷ and the one known as the Libyan²⁴⁸ poplar, with a very diminutive leaf, and extremely black; much esteemed also for the fungi which grow from it. The white poplar has a parti- coloured leaf, white on the upper side and green beneath. This poplar, as also the black variety, and the croton, have a rounded leaf when young, as though it had been described with a pair of compasses, but when it becomes older the leaf throws out angular projections. On the other hand, the leaf of the ivy,²⁴⁹ which is angular at first, becomes rounder, the older the tree. From the leaves of the poplar there falls a very thick down;²⁵⁰ upon the white poplar, which, it is said, has a greater quantity of leaves than the others, this down is quite white, resembling locks of wool. The leaves of the pomegranate and the almond are red.

CHAP. 36.—LEAVES WHICH TURN ROUND EVERY YEAR.

We find a most remarkable and, indeed, a marvellous peculiarity²⁵¹ existing in the elm, the lime, the olive, the white poplar, and the willow; for immediately after the summer solstice the leaves of these trees turn completely round; indeed, we have no sign which indicates with greater certainty that that period has past.

(24.) These trees also present in their leaves the same difference that is to be observed in those of all the rest: the underside, which looks towards the ground, is of a green, grassy colour, and has a smooth surface;²⁵² while the veins, the callous skin, and the articulations, lie upon the upper face, the veins making incisions in the parts beneath, like those to be seen upon the human hand. The leaf of the olive is whiter above, and not so smooth; the same is the case, too, with that of the ivy. The leaves of all trees turn²⁵³ every day towards the sun, the object being that the under side may be warmed by its heat. The upper surface of them all has a down upon it, in however small quantity it may be; in some countries this down is used as a kind of wool.²⁵⁴

CHAP. 37.—THE CARE BESTOWED ON THE LEAVES OF THE PALM, AND THE USES TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLIED.

We have already said²⁵⁵ that in the East strong ropes are made of the leaves of the palm, and that they are improved by lying in the water. Among ourselves, too, the leaves of the palm are generally plucked immediately after harvest, the best being those that have no divisions in them. These leaves are left to dry under cover for four days, after which they are spread out in the sun, and left out in the open air all night, till they have become quite white and dry: after this they are split before they are put to any use.

CHAP. 38.—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH LEAVES.

The broadest leaves are those of the fig, the vine, and the plane; while those of the myrtle, the pomegranate, and the olive are narrow. The leaf of the pine and the cedar is fine and resembles hair, while that of the holly and one variety of the holm oak²⁵⁶ is prickly-indeed, in the juniper, we find a thorn in place of a leaf. The leaf of the cypress and the tamarisk²⁵⁷ is fleshy, and that of the alder is remarkable for its thickness.²⁵⁸ In the reed, the willow, and the palm,²⁵⁹ the leaf is long, and in the latter tree it is double as well: that of the pear is rounded, and it is pointed in the apple.²⁶⁰ In the ivy the leaf is angular, and in the plane divided.²⁶¹ In the pitch-tree²⁶² and the fir the leaf is indented like the teeth of a comb; while in the robur it is sinuous on the whole of the outer margin: in the bramble it has a spiny surface. In some plants the leaf has the property of stinging, the nettle for instance; while in the pine,²⁶³ the pitch-tree, the fir, the larch, the cedar, and the holly, it is prickly. In the olive and the holm-oak it has a short stalk, in the vine a long one: in the poplar the stalk of the leaf is always quivering,²⁶⁴ and the leaves of this tree are the only ones that make a crackling noise²⁶⁵ when coming in contact with another.

In one variety of the apple-tree²⁶⁶ we find a small leaf protruding from the very middle of the fruit, sometimes, indeed, a couple of them. Then, again, in some trees the leaves are arranged all round the branches, and in others at the extremities of them, while in the robur they are found upon the trunk itself. They are sometimes thick and close, and at others thinly scattered, which is more particularly the case where the leaf is large and broad. In the myrtle²⁶⁷ they are symmetrically arranged, in the box, concave, and, upon the apple, scattered without any order or regularity. In the apple and the pear we find several leaves issuing from the same stalk, and in the elm and the cytisus²⁶⁸ they are covered with ramified veins. To the above particulars Cato²⁶⁹ adds that the leaves of the poplar and the quercus should not be given to cattle after they have fallen and become withered, and he recommends the leaves of the fig,²⁷⁰ the holm-oak, and the ivy for oxen: the leaves, too, of the reed and the laurel are sometimes given them to eat. The leaves of the service-tree fall all at once, but in the others only by degrees. Thus much in reference to the leaves.

CHAP. 39. (25.)—THE NATURAL ORDER OF THE PRODUCTION OF PLANTS.

The following is the order in which the operations of Nature take place throughout the year. The first is fecundation, which takes place when the west wind begins to prevail, generally about the sixth day before the ides of February.²⁷¹ By the agency of this wind all the productions of the earth are impregnated; to such an extent, indeed, that the mares even in Spain are impregnated by it, as we have already stated.²⁷² This is the generating principle of the universe, and it receives its name of Favonius, as some think, from our word "fovere," which means "to warm and cherish:" it blows from due west at the opening of the spring. The peasantry call this period of the year the "time of heat,"²⁷³ because Nature is then longing to receive the seeds of her various productions, and is imparting life to everything that is planted. The vegetables conceive²⁷⁴ on various days, each according to its respective nature: some immediately, as with animals, others, again, more slowly, carrying with them for a longer period the produce of their conception, a state which has from that circumstance obtained the name of "germination." When the plant flowers, it may be said to bring forth, and the flower makes its appearance by bursting its little capsule, which has acted to it as an uterus. The period of training and education is the growth of the fruit. This, as well as that of germination, is a laborious process.

CHAP. 40.—TREES WHICH NEVER BLOSSOM. THE JUNIPER

The appearance of the blossom bespeaks the arrival of the spring and the birth anew of the year; this blossom is the very pride and delight of the trees. Then it is that they show themselves quite renewed, and altogether different from what they really are; then it is that they quite revel in the contest with each other which shall excel in the various hues and tints which they display. This merit has, however, been denied to many of them; for they do not all blossom, and there are certain sombre trees which do not participate in this joyous season of the year. The holm-oak, the pitch-tree, the larch, and the pine are never bedecked with blossoms, and with them there is no particular forerunner sent forth to announce the yearly birth of their respective fruits. The same is the case, too, with the cultivated and the wild fig,²⁷⁵ which immediately present their fruit in place of any blossom. Upon the fig, too, it is remarkable that there are abortive fruit to be seen which never ripen.

The juniper, also, is destitute²⁷⁶ of blossom; some writers, however, distinguish two varieties of it, one of which blossoms but bears no fruit,²⁷⁷ while the other has no blossom, but presents the berries immediately, which remain on the tree for so long a period as two years: this assertion, however, is utterly fallacious, and all the junipers always present the same sombre appearance. So, too, in life, the fortunes of many men are ever without their time of blossoming.

CHAP. 41.—THE FECUNDATION OF TREES. GERMINATION: THE APPEARANCE OF THE FRUIT.

All trees germinate, however,²⁷⁸ even those which do not blossom. In this respect there is a very considerable difference in relation to the various localities; for in the same species we find that the tree, when planted in a marshy spot, will germinate earlier than elsewhere; next to that, the trees that grow on the plains, and last of all those that are found in the woods: the wild pear, too, is naturally later in budding than the other pears. At the first breath of the west wind²⁷⁹ the cornel buds, and close upon it the laurel; then, a little before the equinox, we find the lime and the maple germinating. Among the earlier trees, too, are the poplar, the elm, the willow, the alder, and the nut-trees. The plane buds, too, at an early period.

Others, again, germinate at the beginning of spring, the holly, for instance, the terebinth, the paliurus,²⁸⁰ the chesnut, and the glandiferous trees. On the other hand, the apple is late in budding, and the cork-tree the very last of all. Some trees germinate twice, whether it is that this arises from some exuberant fertility of the soil, or from the inviting temperature of the atmosphere; this takes place more particularly in the several varieties of the cereals. Excessive germination, however, has a tendency to weaken and exhaust the tree.

Besides the spring budding, some trees have naturally another budding, which depends upon the influence of their own respective constellations,²⁸¹ a theory which we shall find an opportunity of more conveniently discussing in the next Book but one.²⁸² The winter budding takes place at the rising of the Eagle, the summer at that of the Dog-star, and a third budding²⁸³ again at that of Arcturus. Some persons think that these two buddings are common to all trees, but that they are to be remarked more particularly in the fig, the vine, and the pomegranate; seeing that, when this is the case, the crop of figs, in Thessaly and Macedonia more particularly, is remarkably abundant: but it is in Egypt more especially that illustrations of this vast abundance are to be met with. All the trees in general, when they have once begun to germinate, proceed continuously with it; the robur, however, the fir-tree, and the larch germinate intermittently, ceasing thrice, and as many times²⁸⁴ beginning to bud again, and hence it is that they shed the scales of their bark²⁸⁵ three several times; a thing that takes place with all trees during the period of germination, the outer coat of the tree bursting while it is budding.

With these last trees the first budding takes places²⁸⁶ at the beginning of spring, and lasts about fifteen days; and they germinate a second time when the sun is passing through the sign of Gemini: hence it is that we see the points of the first buds pushed upwards by those beneath, a joint marking the place where they unite.²⁸⁷ The third germination of these trees takes place at the summer solstice, and lasts no more than seven days: at this period we may very distinctly detect the articulations by which the buds are joined to one another as they grow. The vine is the only tree that buds twice; the first time when it first puts forth the grape, and the second time when the grape comes to maturity. In the trees which do not blossom there is only the budding, and then the gradual ripen- ing of the fruit. Some trees blossom while they are budding, and pass rapidly through that period; but the fruit is slow in coming to maturity, as in the vine, for instance. Other trees, again, blossom and bud but late, while the fruit comes to maturity with great rapidity, the mulberry,²⁸⁸ for example, which is the very last to bud of all the cultivated trees, and then only when the cold weather is gone: for this reason it has been pronounced the wisest among the trees. But in this, the germination, when it has once begun, bursts forth all over the tree at the very same moment; so much so, indeed, that it is accomplished in a single night, and even with a noise that may be audibly heard.²⁸⁹

CHAP. 42.—IN WHAT ORDER THE TREES BLOSSOM.

Of the trees which, as we have already stated,²⁹⁰ bud in winter at the rising of the Eagle, the almond blossoms the first of all, in the month of January²⁹¹ namely, while by March the fruit is well developed. Next to it in blossoming is the plum²⁹² of Armenia, and then the tuber and the early peach,²⁹³ the first two being exotics, and the latter forced by the agency of cultivation. Among the forest trees, the first that blossoms in the course of nature is the elder,²⁹⁴ which has the most pith of any, and the male cornel, which has none²⁹⁵ at all. Among the cultivated trees we next have the apple, and immediately after —so much so, indeed, that it would almost appear that they blossom simultaneously—the pear, the cherry, and the plum. Next to these is the laurel, and then the cypress, and after that the pomegranate and the fig: the vine, too, and the olive are budding when these last trees are in flower, the period of their conception²⁹⁶ being the rising of the Vergiliæ,²⁹⁷ that being their constellation.²⁹⁸ As for the vine, it blossoms at the summer solstice, and the olive begins to do so a little later. All blossoms remain on the trees seven days, and never fall sooner; some, indeed, fall later, but none remain on more than twice seven days. The blossoms are always off before the eighth day²⁹⁹ of the ides of July, the period of the prevalence of the Etesian³⁰⁰ winds.

CHAP. 43. (26.)—AT WHAT PERIOD EACH TREE BEARS FRUIT. THE CORNEL.

Upon some trees the fruit does not follow immediately upon the fall of the blossom. The cornel³⁰¹ about the summer solstice puts forth a fruit that is white at first, and after that the colour of blood. The female³⁰² of this tree, after autumn, bears a sour berry, which no animal will touch; its wood, too, is spongy and quite useless, while, on the other hand, that of the male tree is one of the very strongest and hardest³⁰³ woods known: so great a difference do we find in trees belonging to the same species. The terebinth, the maple, and the ash produce their seed at harvest-time, while the nut-trees, the apple, and the pear, with the exception of the winter or the more early kinds, bear fruit in autumn. The glandiferous trees bear at a still later period, the setting of the Vergiliæ,³⁰⁴ with the exception of the æsculus,³⁰⁵ which bears in the autumn only; while some kinds of the apple and the pear, and the cork-tree, bear fruit at the beginning of winter.

The fir puts forth blossoms of a saffron colour about the summer solstice, and the seed is ripe just after the setting of the Vergiliæ. The pine and the pitch-tree germinate about fifteen days before the fir, but their seed is not ripe till after the setting of the Vergiliæ.

CHAP. 44.—TREES WHICH BEAR THE WHOLE YEAR. TREES WHICH HAVE ON THEM THE FRUIT OF THREE YEARS.

The citron-tree,³⁰⁶ the juniper, and the holm-oak are looked upon as having fruit on them the whole year through, and upon these trees we see the new fruit hanging along with that of the preceding year. The pine, however, is the most remarkable of them all; for it has upon it at the same moment the fruit that is hastening to maturity, the fruit that is to come to maturity in the ensuing year, and the fruit that is to ripen the next year but one.³⁰⁷ Indeed, there is no tree that is more eager to develope its resources; for in the same month in which a nut is plucked from it, another will ripen in the same place; the arrangement being such, that there is no month in which the nuts of this tree are not ripening. Those nuts which split while still upon the tree, are known by the name of azaniæ;³⁰⁸ they are productive of injury to the others, if not removed.

CHAP. 45.—TREES WHICH BEAR NO FRUIT: TREES LOOKED UPON AS ILL-OMENED.

The only ones among all the trees that bear nothing whatever, not so much as any seed even, are the tamarisk,³⁰⁹ which is used only for making brooms, the poplar,³¹⁰ the alder, the Atinian elm,³¹¹ and the alaternus,³¹² which has a leaf between that of the holm-oak and the olive. Those trees are regarded as sinister,³¹³ and are considered inauspicious, which are never propagated from seed, and bear no fruit. Cremutius informs us, that this tree, being the one upon which Phyllis³¹⁴ hanged herself, is never green. Those trees which produce a gum open of themselves after germination: the gum never thickens until after the fruit has been removed.

CHAP. 46.—TREES WHICH LOSE THEIR FRUIT OR FLOWERS MOST READILY.

Young trees are unproductive³¹⁵ so long as they are growing. The fruits which fall most readily before they come to maturity are the date, the fig, the almond, the apple, the pear, and the pomegranate, which last tree is also very apt to lose its blossom through excessive dews and hoar frosts. For this reason it is, too, that the growers bend the branches of the pomegranate, lest, from being straight, they may receive and retain the moisture that is so injurious to them. The pear and the almond,³¹⁶ even if it should not rain, but a south wind happen to blow or the weather become cloudy, are apt to lose their blossoms, and their first fruit as well, if, after the blossom has fallen, there is a continuance of such weather. But it is the willow that loses its seed the most speedily of all, long, indeed, before it is ripe; hence it is that Homer has given it the epithet of "fruit- losing."³¹⁷ Succeeding ages, however, have given to this term an interpretation conformable to their own wicked practices, it being a well-known fact that the seed of the willow has the effect of producing barrenness in females. In this respect, however, Nature has employed her usual foresight, bestowing but little care upon the seed of a tree which is produced so easily, and propagated by slips. There is, however, it is said, one variety of willow,³¹⁸ the seed of which arrives at maturity: it is found in the Isle of Crete, at the descent from the grotto of Jupiter: the seed is unsightly and ligneous, and in size about as large as a chick-pea.

CHAP. 47.—TREES WHICH ARE UNPRODUCTIVE IN CERTAIN PLACES.

Certain trees also become unproductive, owing to some fault in the locality, such, for instance, as a coppice-wood in the island of Paros, which produces nothing at all: in the Isle of Rhodes, too, the peach-trees³¹⁹ never do anything more than blossom. This distinction may arise also from the sex; and when such is the case, it is the male³²⁰ tree that never produces. Some authors, however, making a transposition, assert that it is the male trees only that are prolific. Barrenness may also arise from a tree being too thickly covered with leaves.

CHAP. 48.—THE MODE IN WHICH TREES BEAR.

Some among the fruit-trees³²¹ bear on both the sides of the branches and the summit, the pear, for instance, the fig-tree, and the myrtle. In other respects the trees are pretty nearly of a similar nature to the cereals, for in them we find the ear growing from the summit, while in the leguminous varieties the pod grows from the sides. The palm, as we have already³²² stated, is the only one that has fruit hanging down in bunches enclosed in capsules.

CHAP. 49.—TREES IN WHICH THE FRUIT APPEARS BEFORE THE LEAVES.

The other trees, again, bear their fruit beneath the leaves, for the purpose of protection, with the exception of the fig, the leaf of which is very large, and gives a great abundance of shade; hence it is that we find the fruit placed above it; in addition to which, the leaf makes its appearance after the fruit. There is said to be a remarkable peculiarity connected with one species of fig that is found in Cilicia, Cyprus, and Hellas; the fruit grows beneath the leaves, while at the same time the green abortive fruit, that never reaches maturity, is seen growing on the top of them. There is also a tree that produces an early fig, known to the Athenians by the name of " prodro- mos."³²³ In the Laconian varieties of this fruit more particularly, we find trees that bear two crops³²⁴ in the year.

CHAP. 50. (27.)—TREES THAT BEAR TWO CROPS IN A YEAR. TREES THAT BEAR THREE CROPS.

In the island of Cea there are wild figs that bear three times in one year. By the first crop the one that succeeds is summoned forth, and by that the third. It is by the agency of this last crop that caprification³²⁵ is performed. In the wild fig, too, the fruit grows on the opposite side of the leaves. There are some pears and apples, too, that bear two crops in the year, while there are some early varieties also. The wild apple bears twice³²⁶ in the year, its second crop coming on after the rising of Arcturus,³²⁷ in sunny localities more particularly. There are vines, too, that will even bear three times in the year, a circumstance that has procured for them the name of "frantic"³²⁸ vines. On these we see grapes just ripening, others beginning to swell, and others, again, in blossom, all at the same moment.

M. Varro³²⁹ informs us, that there was formerly at Smyrna, near³³⁰ the Temple of the Mother of the Gods, a vine that bore two crops in the year, as also an apple-tree of a similar nature in the territory of Consentia. This, however, is constantly to be witnessed in the territory of Tacapa,³³¹ in Africa, of which we shall have to speak more fully on another occasion,³³² so remarkable is the fertility of the soil. The cypress also bears three times in the year, for its berries are gathered in the months of January, May, and September, being all three of different size.

There are also certain peculiarities observed in the different modes in which the trees bear their fruit, the arbutus and the quercus being most fruitful in the upper part, the walnut and the marisca³³³ fig in the lower. All trees, the older they grow, the more early they bear, and this more particularly in sunny spots and where the soil is not over-rich. All the forest-trees are slower in bringing their fruit to maturity; and indeed, in some of them the fruit never becomes fully ripe.³³⁴ Those trees, too, about the roots of which the earth is ploughed or broken and loosened, bring their fruit to maturity more speedily than those in which this has been neglected; by this process they are also rendered more fruitful.

CHAP. 51.—WHICH TREES BECOME OLD WITH THE GREATEST RAPIDITY, AND WHICH MOST SLOWLY.

There are great differences also in trees in respect to age. The almond and the pear³³⁵ are the most fruitful when old, which is the case also with the glandiferous trees and a certain species of fig. Others, again, are most prolific when young, though the fruit is later in coming to maturity, a thing particularly to be observed in the vine; for in those that are old the wine is of better quality, while the produce of the younger trees is given in greater abundance. The apple-tree becomes old very early, and the fruit which it produces when old is of inferior quality, being of smaller size and very liable to be attacked by maggots: indeed, these insects will breed in the tree itself. The fig is the only one of all the fruit-trees that is submitted to any process with the view of expediting the ripening of the fruit,³³⁶ a marvellous thing, indeed, that a greater value should be set upon produce that comes out of its proper season! All trees which bear their fruit before the proper time become prematurely³³⁷ old; indeed, some of them wither and die all of a sudden, being utterly exhausted by the too favourable influence of the weather, a thing that happens to the vine more particularly.

(28.) On the other hand, the mulberry becomes aged³³⁸ but very slowly, and is never exhausted by its crops. Those trees, too, the wood of which is variegated, arrive at old age but slowly,—the palm, the maple, and the poplar, for instance.

(29.) Trees grow old more rapidly when the earth is ploughed and loosened about the³³⁹ roots; forest trees at a later period. Speaking in general terms, we may say that care employed in the culture of trees seems to promote their fertility, while increased fertility accelerates old age. Hence it is that the carefully tended trees are the first to blossom, and the first to bud; in a word, are the most precocious in every respect: but all natural productions which are in any way weakened are more susceptible of atmospheric influences.

CHAP. 52.—TREES WHICH BEAR VARIOUS PRODUCTS. CRATÆGUM.

Many trees bears more than one production, a fact which we have already mentioned³⁴⁰ when speaking of the glandiferous trees. In the number of these there is the laurel, which bears its own peculiar kind of grape, and more particularly the barren laurel,³⁴¹ which bears nothing else; for which reason it is looked upon by some persons as the male tree. The filbert, too, bears catkins, which are hard and compact, but of no use³⁴² whatever.

(30.) But it is the box-tree that supplies us with the greatest number of products, not only its seed, but a berry also, known by the name of cratægum;³⁴³ while on the north side it produces mistletoe, and on the south hyphear; two products of which I shall shortly have to speak more³⁴⁴ at length. Sometimes, indeed, this tree has all four of these products growing upon it at the same moment.

CHAP. 53.—DIFFERENCES IN TREES IN RESPECT OF THE TRUNKS AND BRANCHES.

Some trees are of a simple form, and have but a single trunk rising from the root, together with numerous branches; such as the olive, for instance, the fig, and the vine; others again are of a shrubby nature, such as the paliurus,³⁴⁵ the myrtle, and the filbert; which last, indeed, is all the better, and the more abundant its fruit, the more numerous its branches. In some trees, again, there is no trunk at all, as is the case with one species of box,³⁴⁶ and the lotus³⁴⁷ of the parts beyond sea. Some trees are bifurcated, while there are some that branch out into as many as five parts. Others, again, divide in the trunk but have no branches, as in the case of the elder; while others have no division in the trunk but throw out branches, such as the pitch-tree, for instance.

In some trees the branches are symmetrically arranged, the pitch-tree and the fir, for example; while with others they are dispersed without any order or regularity, as in the robur, the apple, and the pear. In the fir the branches are thrown out from the trunk straight upwards, pointing to the sky, and not drooping downwards from the sides of the trunk. It is a singular thing,³⁴⁸ but this tree will die if the ends of its branches are cut, though, if taken off altogether, no bad effect is produced. If it is cut, too, below the place where the branches were, the part of the tree which is left will continue to live; but if, on the other hand, the top only of the tree is removed, the whole of it will die.

Some trees, again, throw out branches from the roots, the elm for example; while others are branchy at the top, the pine for instance, and the lotus³⁴⁹ or Grecian bean, the fruit of which, though wild, resembles the cherry very closely, and is called the lotus at Rome, on account of its sweetness. For sheltering houses these trees are more particularly esteemed, as they throw out their branches to a considerable distance, from a short trunk, thus affording a very extensive shade, and very frequently encroaching upon the neighbouring mansions. There is no tree, however, the shade afforded by which is less long-lived than this, and when it loses its leaves in winter, it affords no shelter from the sun. No tree has a more sightly bark, or one which has greater attractions for the eye; or branches which are longer, stouter, or more numerous; indeed, one might almost look upon them as forming so many trees. The bark³⁵⁰ of it is used for dyeing skins, and the root for colouring wool.

The branches of the apple-tree have a peculiar conformation; knots are formed which resemble the muzzles³⁵¹ of wild beasts, several smaller ones being united to a larger.

CHAP. 54.—THE BRANCHES OF TREES.

Some of the branches are barren, and do not germinate; this takes place either from a natural deficiency of strength, or else some injury received in consequence of having been cut, and the cicatrix impeding the natural functions. The same that the branch is in the trees that spread out, is the eye³⁵² in the vine, and the joint in the reed. All trees are naturally the thickest in the parts that are nearest the ground. The fir, the larch, the palm, the cypress, and the elm, and, indeed, every tree that has but a single trunk, develope themselves in their remarkable height. Among the branchy trees the cherry is sometimes³⁵³ found to yield a beam forty cubits in length by two in thickness throughout. Some trees divide into branches from the very ground, as in the apple-tree, for example.

CHAP. 55. (31.)—THE BARK OF TREES.

In some trees the bark³⁵⁴ is thin, as in the laurel and the lime; in others, again, it is thick, as in the robur; in some it is smooth, as in the apple and the fig, while in the robur and the palm it is rough: in all kinds it becomes more wrinkled when the tree is old. In some trees the bark bursts spontaneously, as in the vine for instance, while in others it falls off even, as we see in the apple and the arbutus. In the cork-tree and the poplar, the bark is substantial and fleshy; in the vine and the reed it is membraneous. In the cherry it is similar to the coats of the papyrus, while in the vine, the lime, and the fir, it is composed of numerous layers. In others, again, it is single, the fig and the reed for instance.

CHAP. 56.—THE ROOTS OF TREES.

There are great differences, too, in the roots of trees. In the fig, the robur, and the plane, they are numerous; in the apple they are short and thin, while in the fir and the larch they are single; and by this single root is the tree supported, although we find some small fibres thrown out from it laterally They are thick and unequal in the laurel and the olive, in which last they are branchy also; while in the robur they are solid and fleshy.³⁵⁵ The robur, too, throws its roots downwards to a very considerable depth. Indeed, if we are to believe Virgil,³⁵⁶ the æsculus has a root that descends as deep into the earth as the height to which the trunk ascends in the air. The roots of the olive, the apple, and the cypress, creep almost upon the very surface: in some trees they run straight and horizontally, as in the laurel and the olive; while in others they have a sinuous course—the fig for example. In some trees the roots are bristling with small filaments, as in the fir, and many of the forest trees; the mountaineers cut off these fine filaments, and weave with them very handsome flasks,³⁵⁷ and various other articles.

Some writers say that the roots of trees do not descend below the level to which the sun's heat is able to penetrate; which, of course, depends upon the nature of the soil, whether it happens to be thin or dense. This, however, I look upon³⁵⁸ as a mistake: and, in fact, we find it stated by some authors that a fir was transplanted, the roots of which had penetrated eight cubits in depth, and even then the whole of it was nut dug up, it being torn asunder.³⁵⁹ The citrus has a root that goes the very deepest of all, and is of great extent; next after it come the plane, the robur, and the various glandiferous trees. In some trees, the laurel for instance, the roots are more tenacious of life the nearer they are to the surface: hence, when the trunk withers, it is cut down, and the tree shoots again with redoubled vigour. Some think that the shorter the roots are, the more rapidly the tree decays; a supposition which is plainly contradicted by the fig, the root of which is among the very largest, while the tree becomes aged at a remarkably early period. I regard also as incorrect what some authors have stated, as to the roots of trees diminishing³⁶⁰ when they are old; for I once saw an ancient oak, uprooted by a storm, the roots of which covered a jugerum of ground.

CHAP. 57.—TREES WHICH HAVE GROWN SPONTANEOUSLY FROM THE GROUND.

It is a not uncommon thing for trees when uprooted to receive new strength when replanted, the earth about their roots forming a sort of cicatrix³⁶¹ there. This is particularly the case with the plane, which, from the density of its branches, presents a remarkably broad surface to the wind: when this happens, the branches are cut off, and the tree, thus lightened, is replaced in its furrow: this, too, has also been done before now with the walnut, the olive, and many others.

(32.) We have many instances cited also of trees falling to the ground without there being any storm or other perceptible cause, but merely by way of portentous omen, and then rising again of themselves. A prodigy of this nature happened to the citizens of Rome during their wars with the Cimbri: at Nuceria, in the grove consecrated to Juno, an elm inclined to such a degree, even after the top had been cut off, as to overhang the altar there, but it afterwards recovered itself to such an extent as to blossom immediately: it was from that very moment, too, that the majesty of the Roman people began to flourish once again after it had been laid low by disaster and defeat. A similar circumstance is said to have taken place also at Philippi, where a willow, which had fallen down, and the top of which had been taken off, rose again; and at Stagira, in the Museum³⁶² there, where the same thing occurred to a white poplar; all which events were looked upon as favourable omens. But what is most wonderful of all, is the fact that a plane, at Antandros, resumed its original position even after its sides had been rough-hewn all round with the adze,³⁶³ and took root again: it was a tree fifteen cubits long, and four ulnæ in thickness.

CHAP. 58.—HOW TREES GROW SPONTANEOUSLY—DIVERSITIES IN THEIR NATURE, THE SAME TREES NOT GROWING EVERYWHERE.

The trees which we owe to Nature are produced in three different ways; spontaneously, by seed sown, or by a slip which throws out a root. Art has multiplied the methods of reproduction, as we shall have occasion to state in its own appropriate Book³⁶⁴ at present our sole subject is the operations of Nature, and the manifold and marvellous methods she adopts. The trees, as we have already stated,³⁶⁵ do not all of them grow in every locality, nor will they live, many of them,³⁶⁶ when transplanted: this happens sometimes through a natural antipathy on the part of the tree, sometimes through an innate stubbornness, but more frequently through the weakness of the variety so transplanted, either the climate being unfavourable, or the soil repulsive to it.

CHAP. 59.—PLANTS THAT WILL NOT GROW IN CERTAIN PLACES.

Balsamum³⁶⁷ will grow nowhere but [in³⁶⁸ Judæa]: and the citron of Assyria refuses to bear fruit in any other country. The palm, too, will not grow everywhere, and even if it does grow in some places, it will not bear: sometimes, indeed, it may make a show and promise of bearing, but even then its fruit comes to nothing, it seeming to have borne them thus far in spite of itself. The cinnamon³⁶⁹ shrub has not sufficient strength to acclimatize itself in the countries that lie in the vicinity of Syria. Amomum,³⁷⁰ too, and nard,³⁷¹ those most delicate of perfumes, will not endure the carriage from India to Arabia, nor yet conveyance by sea; indeed, King Seleucus did make the attempt, but in vain. But what is more particularly wonderful, is the fact that most of the trees by care may be prevailed upon to live when transplanted; for sometimes the soil may be so managed as to nourish the foreigner and give support to the stranger plant; climate, however, can never be changed. The pepper-tree³⁷² will live in Italy, and cassia³⁷³ in the northern climates even, while the incense-tree³⁷⁴ has been known to live in Lydia: but how are we to impart to these productions the requisite warmth of the sun, in order to make all the crude juices go off by evaporation, and ripen the resins that distil from them?

Nearly as great a marvel, too, is the fact that the nature of the tree may be modified by circumstances, and yet the tree itself be none the less vigorous in its growth. Nature originally gave the cedar³⁷⁵ to localities of burning heat, and yet we find it growing in the mountains of Lycia and Phrygia. She made the laurel, too, averse to cold, and yet there is no tree that grows in greater abundance on Mount Olympus. At the city of Panticapæum, in the vicinity of the Cimmerian Bosporus, King Mithridates and the inhabitants of the place used every possible endeavour, with a view to certain religious ceremonies, to cultivate the myrtle³⁷⁶ and the laurel: they could not succeed, however, although trees abound there which require a hot climate, such as the pomegranate and the fig, as well as apples and pears of the most approved quality. In the same country, too, the trees that belong to the colder climates, such as the pine, the fir, and the pitch-tree, refuse to grow. But why go search for instances in Pontus? In the vicinity of Rome itself it is only with the greatest difficulty³⁷⁷ that the cherry and the chesnut will grow, and the peach-tree, too, at Tusculum: the Greek nut, too, is grown there from grafts only at a cost of considerable labour, while Tarracina abounds with whole woods of it.

CHAP. 60. (33.)—THE CYPRESS.

The cypress³⁷⁸ is an exotic, and has been reckoned one of the trees that are naturalized with the greatest difficulty; so much so, indeed, that Cato³⁷⁹ has expatiated upon it at greater length and more frequently than any of the others. This tree is naturally of a stubborn³⁸⁰ disposition, bears a fruit that is utterly useless, a berry that causes a wry³⁸¹ face when tasted, and a leaf that is bitter: it also gives out a disagreeable pungent smell,³⁸² and its shade is far from agreeable. The wood that it furnishes is but scanty, so much so indeed, that it may be almost regarded as little more than a shrub. This tree is sacred to Pluto, and hence it is used as a sign of mourning³⁸³ placed at the entrance of a house: the female³⁸⁴ tree is for a long time barren. The pyramidal appearance that it presents has caused it not to be rejected, but for a long time it was only used for marking the intervals between rows of pines: at the present day, however, it is clipped and trained to form hedge-rows, or else is thinned and lengthened out in the various designs³⁸⁵ employed in ornamental gardening, and which represent scenes of hunting, fleets, and various other objects: these it covers with a thin small leaf, which is always green.

There are two varieties of the cypress; the one³⁸⁶ tapering and pyramidal, and which is known as the female; while the male tree³⁸⁷ throws its branches straight out from the body, and is often pruned and employed as a rest for the vine. Both the male and the female are permitted to throw out their branches, which are cut and employed for poles and props, being worth, after thirteen years' growth, a denarius a-piece. In respect of income, a plantation of cypress is remarkably profitable, so much so, indeed, that it was a saying in old times that a cypress-wood is a dowry for a daughter.³⁸⁸ The native country of this tree is the island of Crete, although Cato³⁸⁹ calls it Tarentine, Tarentum being the first place, I suppose, in which it was naturalized: in the island of Ænaria,³⁹⁰ also, if the cypress is cut down, it will grow again³⁹¹ from the root. But, in the Isle of Crete, in whatever place the earth is moved, this tree will shoot up³⁹² of its own natural vigour, and immediately appear above the soil; indeed, in that island there is no occasion even to solicit the soil, for it grows spontaneously there, on the mountains of Ida more particularly, and those known as the White Mountains. On the very summit of these elevations, from which the snows never depart, we find the cypress growing in great abundance; a thing that is truly marvellous-seeing that, in other countries, it will only grow in warm localities; from which it would appear to have a great dislike to its native climate.

CHAP. 61.—THAT THE EARTH OFTEN BEARS PRODUCTIONS WHICH IT HAS NEVER BORNE BEFORE.

It is not only the quality of the soil and the unchanging influences of the climate that affect the nature of trees, but wet and showery weather also, temporarily at least. Indeed, the torrents very often bring down with them seeds, and sometimes we find those of unknown kinds even floating along. This took place in the territory of Cyrenaica, at the period when laser was first grown there, as we shall have occasion to mention when we speak of the nature of the various herbs.³⁹³ A forest, too, sprang³⁹⁴ up in the vicinity of the city of Cyrene, just after a shower of rain, of a dense, pitchy nature, about the year of the City of Rome 430.

CHAP. 62. (34.)—THE IVY-TWENTY VARIETIES OF IT.

It is said that the ivy now grows in Asia,³⁹⁵ though Theophrastus³⁹⁶ has denied that such is the fact, and asserts that it grows nowhere in India, except upon Mount Meros.³⁹⁷ He says, too, that Harpalus used every possible exertion to naturalize it in Media, but to no purpose; and that Alexander, in consequence of the rarity of this plant, had himself crowned³⁹⁸ with it, after the example of Father Liber, when returning victorious with his army from India: and at the present day even, it is used to decorate the thyrsus of that god, and the casques and bucklers employed by the nations of Thrace in their sacred ceremonials. The ivy is injurious³⁹⁹ to all trees and plants, and makes its way through tombs and walls; it forms a haunt much frequented by serpents, for its refreshing coolness; so that it is a matter for astonishment that there should have been such remarkable veneration for this plant.

The two principal kinds in the ivy, as in other plants, are the male tree and the female.⁴⁰⁰ The male is said to have a larger trunk than the female, and a leaf that is harder and more unctuous, with a flower nearly approaching to purple: indeed, the flower of both the male and female tree strongly resembles the wild⁴⁰¹-rose, were it not destitute of smell. Each of these kinds of ivy is divided into three other varieties: the white⁴⁰² ivy, the black,⁴⁰³ and a third known as the helix."⁴⁰⁴ These varieties are again subdivided into others, as there is one in which the fruit only is white, and another in which it is only the leaf that is so. In those which have a white fruit, the berry in some cases is closely packed and large, the clusters, which are known as "corymbi," being of a spherical form. So, too, with the selenitium, which has a smaller berry, and fewer clusters; and the same is the case with the black ivy. One kind has a black seed, and another a seed of a saffron⁴⁰⁵ colour—it is this last that poets use for their chaplets,⁴⁰⁶ and the leaves of it are not so black as in the other kinds: by some it is known as the ivy of Nysa, by others as that of Bacchus:⁴⁰⁷ it is the one that among the black varieties has the largest clusters of all. Some of the Greek writers even distinguish in this last kind two varieties, according to the colour of the berries, the erythranum⁴⁰⁸ and the chrysocarpus.⁴⁰⁹

It is the helix, however, that has the most peculiarities of all, and in the appearance of the leaf more particularly, which is small, angular, and of a more elegant shape, the leaf in all the other kinds being plain and simple. It differs, too, in the distance between the joints, and in being barren more especially, as it never bears fruit. Some authors, however, think that this difference exists solely in respect of age and not of kind, and are of opinion that what is the helix when young, becomes the ordinary ivy when old. This, however, is clearly proved to be an error upon their part, for we find more varieties of the helix than one, and three in particular—that of a grass-green colour, which is the most abundant of all, the kind with a white leaf, and a third, which is parti-coloured, and known as the Thracian helix. In that of a grass-green colour, the leaves are smaller, more closely packed together, and symmetrically arranged; while in the other kinds the features are altogether different. In the parti-coloured kind, also, one variety has a smaller leaf than usual, similarly arranged, and lying closer together, while in the other none of these features are observed. The leaves, too, are either greater or smaller and differ in the disposition of the spots upon them, and in the white helix some of them are whiter than others: the grass-green variety, however, is the one that grows to the greatest height.

The white helix is in the habit of killing trees by depriving them of their juices, and increases to such a degree of density as to be quite a tree itself. Its characteristics are, a very large, broad, leaf, and projecting buds, which in all the other kinds are bent inwards; its clusters, too, stand out erect. Although, too, all the ivies have arms that throw out a root, those of this variety are particularly branchy and strong; next to it in strength, are those of the black ivy.

It is a peculiarity of the white ivy to throw out arms from the middle of the leaves, with which it invariably embraces any object that may be on either side of it; this is the case, too, with walls, even though it should not be able to clasp them. If the trunk is cut across in ever so many places, it will still live and thrive, having as many fresh roots as it has arms, by means of which it ensures safety and impunity, while at the same time it sucks and strangles the trees to which it clings. There are great differences also in the fruit of both the white ivy and the black; for in some of them the berry is so bitter that birds will not touch it. There. is an ivy also which grows upright,⁴¹⁰ and stands without any support; being the only one that does so among all the varieties, it has thence obtained the distinctive name of "cissos." The chamæcissos,⁴¹¹ on the other hand, is never found except creeping upon the ground.

CHAP. 63. (35.)—THE SMILAX.

Very similar to the ivy is a plant which first came from Cilicia, but is now more commonly found in Greece, and known by the name of smilax.⁴¹² It has numerous thick stalks covered with joints, and thorny branches of a shrub-like form: the leaf resembles that of the ivy, but is not angular, while from the foot-stalk it throws out tendrils; the flower is white, and has the smell of the lily. It bears clusters like those of the wild vine and not the ivy, and of a reddish colour. The larger berries contain three stones, the smaller but one only: these berries are black and hard. This plant is looked upon as ill-omened, and is consequently banished from all sacred rites, and is allowed to form no part of chaplets; having received this mournful character from the maiden Smilax, who upon her love being slighted by the youth Crocus, was transformed into this shrub. The common people, being mostly ignorant of this, not unfrequently take it for ivy, and pollute their festivities with its presence; for who, in fact, is unaware that the ivy is used as a chaplet by poets, as also by Father Liber and Silenus? Tablets are made⁴¹³ of the wood of the smilax, and it is a peculiarity of this wood to give out a slight sound,⁴¹⁴ if held close to the ear. It is said that ivy is remarkably efficacious for testing wine, and that a vessel made of this wood will let the wine pass through it, while the water will remain behind, if there has been any mixed with it.⁴¹⁵

CHAP. 64. (36.)—WATER PLANTS: THE RUSH: TWENTY-EIGHT VARIETIES OF THE REED.

Among those plants which thrive best in cold localities, it will be only proper to mention the aquatic shrubs.⁴¹⁶ In the first rank, we find the reed, equally indispensable for the emergencies of war and peace, and used among the appliances⁴¹⁷ of luxury even. The northern nations make use of reeds for roofing their houses, and the stout thatch thus formed will last for centuries even; in other countries, too, they make light vaulted ceilings with them. Reeds are employed, too, for writing upon paper, those of Egypt more particularly, which have a close affinity to the papyrus: the most esteemed, however, are the reeds of Cnidos, and those which grow in Asia, on the margin of the Anaitic Lake⁴¹⁸ there.

The reed of our country is naturally of a more fungous nature, being formed of a spongy cartilage, which is hollow within, and covered by a thin, dry, woody coat without; it easily breaks into splinters, which are remarkably sharp at the edge. In other respects, it is of a thin, graceful shape, articulated with joints, and tapering gradually towards the top, which ends in a thick, hairy tuft. This tuft is not without its uses, as it is employed for filling the beds used in taverns, in place of feathers; or else, when it has assumed a more ligneous consistency, it is pounded, as we see done among the Belgæ, and inserted between the joints of ships, to close the seams, a thing that it does most effectually, being more tenacious than glue, and adhering more firmly than pitch.

CHAP. 65.—REEDS USED FOR ARROWS, AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF WRITING.

It is by the aid of the reed⁴¹⁹ that the nations of the East decide their wars; fixing in it a barbed point, they inflict a wound from which the arrow cannot be withdrawn. By the addition of feathers they accelerate the flight of this instrument of death, and the weapon, if it breaks in the wound, furnishes the combatants with a weapon afresh. With these missiles the warriors darken the very rays of the sun.⁴²⁰ It is for this reason more particularly that they desire a clear and serene sky, and hold in abhorrence all windy and rainy weather, which has the effect of compelling them, in spite of themselves, to be at peace with one another.

If a person were carefully to enumerate the peoples of Æthiopia, Egypt, Arabia, India, Scythia, Bactria, and Sarmatia, together with all the numerous peoples of the East, and the vast realms of the Parthians, he would find that fully one-half of mankind throughout the whole world live under a dominion imposed by the agency of the arrow. It was their surpassing excellence in this arm that so ennobled the warriors of Crete, though in this respect, as well as in all others, Italy has gained the mastery; there being no reed in existence better adapted for making arrows than that found in the Rhenus, a river of the territory of Bononia: filled with a greater quantity of pith than any of the others, it is light, and easily cleaves the air, while at the same time it has sufficient weight to resist the action of the wind; an advantage that is not possessed in an equal degree by those employed among the Belgæ. These advantages, however, are possessed by the most approved kinds that are found in Crete, although those of India are preferred; in the opinion of some persons, however, these last are of a totally different nature, for by adding a point to them, the natives are able to use them as lances even. Indeed, we find that in India the reed grows to the thickness of a tree, a fact which is proved by the specimens which are everywhere to be seen in our temples. The Indians assure us that in this plant, too, there is the distinction of male and female; the body of the male being more compact, and that of the female of a larger size. In addition to this, if we can credit the fact, a single compartment between the joints is sufficiently large to answer the purposes of a boat.⁴²¹ These reeds are found more particularly on the banks of the river Acesines.

In every variety of the reed a single root gives birth to numerous stems, and if cut down, they will shoot again with increased fecundity. The root, which is naturally tenacious of life, is also jointed as well as the stem. The reeds of India are the only ones in which the leaves are short; but in all the varieties these leaves take their rise at the joints, and surround the stem with a fine tissue about half way upwards to the next joint, and then leave the stem and droop downwards. The reed, as well as the calamus, although rounded, has two sides, which throw out leaves alternately from above the joints, in such a way that when one springs from the right side, the next issues from the joint above it on the left, and so in turns. Branches, too, shoot occasionally from the stem, being themselves reeds of diminutive growth.

CHAP. 60.—FLUTE REEDS: TET REEDOF ORCHOMENTFS; REEDS USED FOR FOWLING AND FISHING.

The varieties of the reed are numerous. Some are more compact than others, thicker at the joints, and with a shorter interval between them; while others, again, are less compact, with longer intervals between the joints, and not so straight. Another kind of reed is quite hollow; it is known as the "syringia,"⁴²² and is particularly useful for making flutes, having neither pith in it nor any fleshy substance. The reed of Or- chomenus has a passage in it open from one end to the other, and is known as the auleticon;⁴²³ this last is best for making pipes,⁴²⁴ the former⁴²⁵ for the syrinx. There is another reed, the wood of which is thicker, and the passage very contracted, being entirely filled with a spongy kind of pith. One kind, again, is shorter, and another longer, the one thinner, the other more thick. That known as the donax, throws out the most shoots, and grows only in watery localities; indeed, this is a point which constitutes a very considerable difference, those reeds being greatly preferred which grow in a dry soil. The archer's reed forms a peculiar species, as we have already stated;⁴²⁶ but that of Crete⁴²⁷ has the longest intervals between the joints, and when subjected to heat is capable of being rendered perfectly pliable⁴²⁸ at pleasure. The leaves, too, constitute different varieties, not only by their number, but their colour also. The reed of Laconia is spotted,⁴²⁹ and throws out a greater number of shoots at the lower extremities; being very similar in nature, it is thought, to the reeds that we find growing about stagnant waters, and unlike those of the rivers, in being covered with leaves of considerable length; which, climbing upwards, embrace the stem to a considerable distance above the joints. There is also an obliquely-spreading reed, which does not shoot upwards to any height, but spreads out like a shrub, keeping close to the earth; this reed is much sought by animals when young, and is known by some persons as the elegia.⁴³⁰ There is in Italy, too, a substance found in the marsh-reeds, called by the name of adarca:⁴³¹ it is only to be found issuing from the cuter skin, below the flossy head of the plant, and is particularly beneficial to the teeth, having, in fact, an equal degree of pungency with mustard.

The terms of admiration in which they are spoken of by the ancients compels me to enter into some more minute details relative to the reed-beds of Lake Orchomenus. Characias⁴³² was the name given there to a reed of stout and compact quality, while a thinner one was known as the plotias; this last was to be found growing on the floating islands there, while the former grew upon the banks that were covered by the waters of the lake. A third kind again, which had the name of "auleticon," was the same that is now known as the musical pipe⁴³³ reed. This reed used to take nine years to grow, as it was for that period that the waters of the lake were continually on the increase; it used to be looked upon as a prodigy of evil omen, if at the end of its rise its waters remained overflowing so long as a couple of years; a thing that was observed at the period of the Athenian disasters at Cheronæa, and on various other occasions. This lake has the name of Lebaida, at the part where the river Cephisus enters it.

When this inundation has lasted so long as a year, the reed is found large enough to be available for the purposes of fowling: at this period it used to be called zeugites.⁴³⁴ On the other hand, when the waters subsided at an earlier period, the reeds were known as bombyciæ,⁴³⁵ being of a more slender form. In this variety, too, the leaf of the female plant was broader and whiter than that of the others, while that upon which there was little or no down bore the name of the eunuch reed. The stem of this last variety was used for the manufacture of concert⁴³⁶ flutes. I must not here pass by in silence the marvellous care which the ancients lavished upon these instruments, a thing which will, in some measure, plead as an apology for the manufacture of them at the present day of silver in preference. The reed used to be cut, as it was then looked upon as being in the best condition, at the rising of Arcturus;⁴³⁷ an usage which prevailed down to the time of Antigenides, the musician, and while flute-playing was of a more simple style. Being thus prepared, the reeds became fit for use in the course of a few years. At that period even the reed required considerable seasoning to render it pliable, and to be instructed, as it were, in the proper modulation of its sounds; the mouthpiece and stops⁴³⁸ being naturally contracted, and so producing a music better adapted to the theatrical taste of the day. But in later times, when the music became more varied, and luxury began to exercise its influence upon the musical taste, it became the general usage to cut the reeds before the summer solstice, and to make them fit for use at the end of three months; the stops and mouth-piece being found, when the reeds were cut at that period, to be more open and better adapted for the modifications of sound: it is in this state that the reed is used for similar purposes at the present day. In those times it was a very general persuasion also, that every pipe ought to have the tongue of its own mouth-piece cut from the same reed as itself, and that a section from the part nearest the root was best adapted to form the left-handed flute,⁴³⁹ and from the part adjoining the top the right-handed one: those reeds, too, were considered immeasurably superior, which had been washed by the waters of Cephisus itself.

At the present day the sacrificial pipes used by the Tuscans are made of box-wood, while those employed at the games are made of the lotus,⁴⁴⁰ the bones of the ass, or else silver. The fowler's reeds of the best quality are those of Panormus,⁴⁴¹ and the best reeds for fishing-rods come from Abarita in Africa.⁴⁴²

CHAP. 67.—THE VINE-DRESSERS' REED.

The reed is employed in Italy more particularly, as a sup- port for the vine. Cato⁴⁴³ recommends that it should be planted in a damp situation, the soil being first turned up with a double mattock, and a distance of three feet left between the young⁴⁴⁴ layers; he says, too, that the wild asparagus⁴⁴⁵ from which the cultivated species is produced, may be planted together with it, as they agree particularly well together.

(37.) He says also that the willow may be planted in its vicinity, than which there is no aquatic plant of more general utility, although the poplar may be preferred for the training of the vine, and the support of the Cæcuban grape; although, too, the alder affords a more efficient protection by the hedges it forms, and, planted in the very water, makes a rampart along the banks in defence of the adjoining country against the violence of the rivers when they overflow; when cut down, too, this last tree is useful for the innumerable suckers which it throws out.

CHAP. 68.—THE WILLOW: EIEGT VARIETIES OF IT.

Of the willow, too, there are several varieties. One⁴⁴⁶ of them throws out its branches to a considerable height; and these, coupled together, serve as perches for the vine, while the bark around the tree itself is used for withes.⁴⁴⁷ Others,⁴⁴⁸ again, of a more pliable nature, supply a flexible twig, which is used for the purpose of tying; while others throw out osiers of remarkable thinness, adapted by their suppleness and graceful slenderness for the manufacture of wicker-work.⁴⁴⁹ Others, again, of a stouter make, are used for weaving panniers, and many other utensils employed in agriculture; while from a whiter willow the bark is peeled off, and, being remarkably tractable, admits of various utensils being made of it, which require a softer and more pliable material than leather: this last is also found particularly useful in the construction of those articles of luxury, reclining chairs. The willow, when cut, continues to thrive, and, indeed, throws out more thickly from the top, which, when closely clipped, bears a stronger resemblance to a closed fist than the top of a stump. It is a tree, which, in my opinion, deserves to be placed by no means in the lowest rank of trees; for there is none that will yield a more certain profit, which can be cultivated at less expense, or which is less liable to be influenced by changes in the weather.

CHAP. 69.—TREES IN ADDITION TO THE WILLOW, WHICH ARE OF USE IN MAKING WITHES.

Cato⁴⁵⁰ considers the culture of the willow as deserving to hold the third rank in estimation, and he gives it precedence to the cultivation of the olive, tillage for corn, or laying out land for pasture. It is not, however, because the willow is the only tree that produces withes; for they may be procured also from the broom, the poplar, the elm, the blood-red cornel, the birch, and the reed itself when split, or else the leaves of that plant, as we know to be the case in Liguria. The vine, also, will furnish them; the bramble, too, with the thorns removed, as well as the twisted hazel. It is a very singular thing, that a wood after it has been beaten and pounded should be found all the stronger for making withes, but such is a striking peculiarity that exists in the willow. The Greek red⁴⁵¹ willow is split for this purpose: while the willow⁴⁵² of Ameria is whiter but more brittle, for which reason it is used in an uncut state for tying. In Asia there are three varieties known of the willow; the black⁴⁵³ willow, which is best adapted for making withes, the white willow, employed for various agricultural purposes, and a third, which is shorter than the others, and known as the helix.⁴⁵⁴

With us, also, there is the same number of denominations given to as many varieties of the willow; one being known as the viminal or purple willow,⁴⁵⁵ another as the nitelina,⁴⁵⁶ from its resemblance to the colour of the nitela, thinner in the trunk than the preceding one, and the third as the Gallic⁴⁵⁷ kind, being the thinnest of them all.

CHAP. 70.—RUSHES: CANDLE-RUSHES: RUSHES FOR THATCHING.

The rush,⁴⁵⁸ so frail in form, and growing in marshy spots, cannot be reckoned as belonging to the shrubs, nor yet to the brambles or the stalk plants; nor, indeed, in strict justice, to any of the classes of plants except one that is peculiarly its own. It is extensively used for making thatch and matting, and, with the outer coat taken off, for making candles and funeral torches. In some places, however, the rush is more hard and firm: thus, for instance, it is employed not only by the sailors on the Padus for making the sails of boats, but for the purposes of sea-fishing as well, by the fishermen of Africa, who, in a most preposterous manner, hang the sails made of it behind the masts.⁴⁵⁹ The people, too, of Mauritania thatch their cottages⁴⁶⁰ with rushes; indeed, if we look somewhat closely into the matter, it will appear that the rush is held in pretty nearly the same degree of estimation there as the papyrus is in the inner regions of the world.⁴⁶¹

CHAP. 71.—THE ELDER: THE BRAMBLE.

Of a peculiar nature, too, though to be reckoned among the water⁴⁶²-plants, is the bramble, a shrub-like plant, and the elder, which is of a spongy nature, though not resembling giant fennel, from having upon it a greater quantity of wood. It is a belief among the shepherds that if they cut a horn or trumpet from the wood of this tree, it will give all the louder sound if cut in a spot where the shrub has been out of hearing of the crowing of the cock. The bramble bears mulberries,⁴⁶³ and one variety of it, known as the cynosbatos,⁴⁶⁴ bears a flower similar to the rose. There is a third variety, known to the Greeks as the Idæan⁴⁶⁵ bramble, from the place where it grows: it is slighter than the others, with smaller thorns, and not so hooked. Its flower, mixed with honey, is employed as an ointment for sore eyes and erysipelas: and an infusion of it in water is used for diseases of the stomach.⁴⁶⁶

The elder⁴⁶⁷ bears a small black berry, which contains a viscous juice, employed more particularly for staining⁴⁶⁸ the hair. The berries, too, are boiled in water and eaten.⁴⁶⁹

CHAP. 72. (38.)—THE JUICES OF TREES.

There is a juice in the bark of trees, which must be looked upon as their blood, though it is not of a similar nature in all. In the fig it is of a milky consistency, and has the peculiar property of curdling milk, and so forming cheese.⁴⁷⁰ In the cherry-tree this juice is gummy, in the elm clammy, in the apple viscous and fatty, while in the vine and the pear it is watery. The more viscous this humour is, the more long-lived the tree. In a word, we find in the bodies of trees-as with all other beings that are animated-skin, blood, flesh, sinews, veins, bones, and marrow; the bark serving them in place of skin. It is a singular fact connected with the mulberry-tree, that when the medical men wish to extract its juice, if the incision is lightly made, by a blow with a stone, and at the second hour of the day in spring, the juice will flow: but if, on the other hand, a wound is inflicted to any depth, it has all the, appearance of being dried up.

Immediately beneath the bark in most trees there is a fatty substance, which, from its colour, has obtained the name of alburnum:⁴⁷¹ it is soft, and is the very worst part of the wood, and in the robur even will very easily rot, being particularly liable to wood-worm, for which reason it is invariably removed. Beneath this fat lies the flesh⁴⁷² of the tree, and then under that, its bones, or, in other words, the choicest part of the wood. Those trees which have a dry wood, the olive, for instance, bear fruit every other year only: this is more the case with them than with those the wood of which is of a fleshy nature, such as the cherry, for instance. It is not all trees, too, that have this fat and flesh in any abundance, the same as we find to be the case among the more active animals. The box, the cornel, and the olive have none at all, nor yet any marrow, and a very small proportion, too, of blood. In the same way, too, the service-tree has no bones, and the elder no flesh, while both of them have marrow in the greatest abundance. Reeds, too, have hardly any flesh.

CHAP. 73.—TE VEINS AND FIBRES OF TREES.

In the flesh of some trees we find both fibres⁴⁷³ and veins: they are easily distinguished. The veins⁴⁷⁴ are larger, while the fibres are of whiter material, and are to be found in those woods more particularly which are easily split. Hence it is that if the ear is applied to the extremity of a beam of wood, however long, a tap with a graver⁴⁷⁵ even upon the other end may be distinctly heard, the sound penetrating by the passages which run straight through it: by these means it is that we ascertain whether timber runs awry, or is interrupted by knots. The tuberosities which we find on trees resemble the kernels⁴⁷⁶ that are formed in flesh: they contain neither veins nor fibres, but only a kind of tough, solid flesh, rolled up in a sort of ball: it is these tuberosities that are the most esteemed parts⁴⁷⁷ in the citrus and the maple. As to the other kinds of wood which are employed for making tables, the trees are split into planks lengthwise, and the parts are then selected along which the fibres run, and properly rounded; for the wood would be too brittle to use if it were cut in segments crosswise.⁴⁷⁸ in the beech, the grain of the fibrous part runs crosswise;⁴⁷⁹ hence it is that the ancients held in such high esteem all vessels made with the wood of it. Manius Curius made oath, on one occasion, that he had not touched an article of all the spoil except a single oil cruet⁴⁸⁰ of beech, to use for sacrificing. Wood is always put lengthwise into the water to season, as that part which was nearest the root will sink to a greater⁴⁸¹ depth than the other. In some wood there is fibre, without veins, and merely consisting of filaments slightly knit together: wood of this nature is remarkably fissile. Other wood, again, is more easily broken across than split, such as the wood of those trees that have no fibre, the olive and the vine, for instance: on the other hand, in the fig-tree, the whole of the body consists of flesh.⁴⁸² The holm-oak, the cornel, the robur, the cytisus, the mulberry, the ebony, the lotus, and the other trees which we have mentioned⁴⁸³ as being destitute of marrow, consist entirely of bone.⁴⁸⁴ All these woods are of a blackish colour, with the exception of the cornel, of which glossy yellow hunting-spears are made, marked with incisions for their further embellishment. In the cedar, the juniper, and the larch, the wood is red.

(39.) In Greece the female larch furnishes a wood⁴⁸⁵ which is known as ægis, and is just the colour of honey. This wood has been found to be proof against decay, and forms the pannels used by painters, being never known to gape or split; the portion thus employed is that which lies nearest to the pith. In the fir-tree this part is called "leuson" by the Greeks. In the cedar, too, the hardest part is the wood that lies nearest to the sap: after the slimys⁴⁸⁶ pith has been carefully removed, it has a similar degree of hardness to the bones in the bodies of animals. It is said, too, that in Greece the inner part of the elder is remarkably firm: indeed, those whose business it is to make hunting spears, prefer this material to all others, it being a wood composed wholly of skin and bone.

CHAP. 74.—THE FELLING OF TREES.

The proper time for felling trees that are wanted for barking, the round, tapering trees, for instance, that are employed in temples and for other purposes, is at the period of germination:⁴⁸⁷ for at other times it is quite impossible to detach the bark from the rotten wood that adheres to it, while the wood itself assumes a blackish hue. Squared logs, and wood from which the bark has been lopped, are generally cut in the period that intervenes between the winter solstice and the prevalence of the west winds; or else, if it is necessary to anticipate that period, at the setting of Arcturus and before that of the Lyre, the very earliest period being the summer solstice: the days of these respective constellations will be mentioned in the appropriate place.⁴⁸⁸

In general it is looked upon as quite sufficient to use all due precaution that a tree is not rough-hewn before it has borne its yearly crop. The robur, if cut in spring, is subject to the attacks of wood-worm, but if cut in winter, will neither rot nor warp: otherwise it is very liable to bend and become awry, as well as to crack; the same is the case, too, with the cork-tree, even if cut down at the proper time. The state of the moon,⁴⁸⁹ too, is of infinite importance, and it is generally recommended that trees should be cut only between the twentieth and the thirtieth days of the month. It is generally agreed, however, by all, that it is the very best time for felling timber, when the moon is in conjunction with the sun, a day which is called by some persons the interlu- nium, and by others the moon's silence. At all events, it was under these circumstances that Tiberius Cæsar gave orders for the larches to be cut in Rhætia, that were required for the purpose of rebuilding the bridge of the Naumachia⁴⁹⁰ after it had been destroyed by fire. Some persons say that the moon ought not only to be in conjunction, but below the horizon as well, a thing that can only happen in the night. If the conj unction should chance to fall on the very day of the winter solstice, the timber, they say, that is then felled will be of everlasting duration; the next best being the timber that is cut when the conjunction coincides with the constellations previously mentioned. There are some, too, who add the rising of the Dog-star as a favourable time, and say that it was at this period that the timber was cut which was employed in building the Forum of Augustus.

Wood which is intended for timber ought to be cut neither when too young nor too old. Some persons, too—and the practice is by no means without its utility—cut round⁴⁹¹ the tree as far as the pith, and then leave the timber standing, so that all the juices may be enabled to escape. Going back to ancient times, it is a remarkable fact, that in the first Punic War the fleet commanded by Duillius was on the water within sixty days from the time the timber was cut: and, what is still more so, Piso relates that King Hiero had two hundred and twenty ships wholly constructed in forty-five days: in the second Punic War, too, the fleet of Scipio was at sea the fortieth day after the axe had been put to the tree. Such is the energy and dispatch that can be displayed on occasions of emergency.

CHAP. 75.—TE OPINION OF CATO ON THE FELLING OF TIMBER.

Cato,⁴⁹² a man of consummate authority in all practical matters, expresses himself in relation to timber to the following effect:—"For making presses, employ the wood of the sappinus in preference. When you root up the elm, the pine, the nut- tree, or, indeed, any other kind of tree, mind and do so when the moon is on the wane, after midday, and when there is no south wind blowing. The proper time for cutting a tree is when the seed⁴⁹³ is ripe, but be careful not to draw it away or plane it while the dew is falling." He then proceeds to say⁴⁹⁴ —" Never touch the timber, except when the moon is on the change, or else at the end of the second quarter: at those periods you may either root up the tree, or fell it as it stands. The next seven days after the full moon are the best of all for grubbing up a tree. Be particularly careful, too, not to rough- hew timber, or, indeed, to cut or touch it, unless it is perfectly dry; and by no means while it is covered with frost or dew."

The Emperor Tiberius used also to observe the changes of the moon for cutting his hair.⁴⁹⁵ M. Varro⁴⁹⁶ has recommended that the hair should be cut at full moon only, if we would avoid baldness.

CHAP. 76.—THE SIZE OF TREES: THE NATURE OF WOOD: THE SAPPINUS.

From the larch, and still more the fir, after it has been cut, a liquid⁴⁹⁷ flows for a considerable period: these are the loftiest and straightest of all the trees. The fir is preferred for making the masts and sailyards of ships, on account of its comparative lightness. It is a common feature with these trees, in common with the pine, to have four rows of veins running along the wood, or else two, or sometimes only one. The heart⁴⁹⁸ of these trees is peculiarly well adapted for joiners' work, and the best wood of all is that which has four layers of veins, it being softer than the rest: men of experience in these matters can instantly form a judgment of the quality from the bark. That part in the fir which is nearest to the ground is free from knots: when soaked in river water in the way we have already mentioned,⁴⁹⁹ and then barked, the wood of this part is known⁵⁰⁰ as sappinus; while that of the upper part, which is harder and knotty, goes by the name of "fusterna." In trees, the side which looks towards the northeast is the most robust, and it is universally the case, that those which grow in moist and damp localities are of inferior quality, while in those which grow in warm and sunny spots, the wood is more compact and durable; hence it is, that at Rome the fir is preferred that grows on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea to that of the shores of the Adriatic.

There are also considerable differences in the qualities of these trees according to the country of their growth: the most esteemed are those of the Alps and the Apennines; in Gaul, those of Jura⁵⁰¹ and Mount Vogesus; those also of Corsica, Bithynia, Pontus, and Macedonia; while the firs of Ænea⁵⁰² and Arcadia are of inferior quality. Those, however, of Parnassus and Eubœa are the worst of all, the trees being branchy and knotted, and the wood very apt to rot. As for the cedar, those of Crete, Africa, and Syria are the most esteemed. Wood, if well rubbed with oil of cedar, is proof against wood-worm and decay. The juniper, too, has the same⁵⁰³ virtues as the cedar; in Spain it grows to a very considerable size, in the territory of the Vacæi⁵⁰⁴ more particularly: the heart of this tree, too, is universally more firm and solid than cedar even. A general fault in all wood is that known as cross-grain, which is formed by contortions of the knots and veins.⁵⁰⁵ In the wood of some trees there are to be found knurs,⁵⁰⁶ like those in marble; these knurs are remarkably hard, and offer a resistance like that of a nail, to the great injury of the saw: in some cases, also, they are formed accidentally, from either a stone, or the branch of another tree lodging there, and being absorbed in the body of the tree.

In the Forum at Megara there long stood a wild olive upon which warriors who had distinguished themselves by their martial powers had been in the habit of suspending their arms. In the lapse of time the bark of this tree had closed, and quite concealed these arms from view. Upon it, however, depended the fate of the city; for it had been announced by an oracle, that when a tree there should bring forth arms, the fall of the city would be close at hand: and such, in fact, was the result, when the tree was cut down and greaves and helmets were found within the wood.⁵⁰⁷ It is said that stones found under these circumstances have the property of preventing abortion.

(40.) It is generally thought that the largest⁵⁰⁸ tree that has ever been seen, was the one that was exhibited at Rome, by Tiberius Cæsar, as an object of curiosity, upon the bridge of the Naumachia previously mentioned.⁵⁰⁹ It had been brought thither along with other timber, and was preserved till the construction of the amphitheatre of the Emperor Nero:⁵¹⁰ it was a log of larch, one hundred and twenty feet long, and of an uniform thickness of a couple of feet. From this fact we can form an estimate of the original height of the tree; indeed, measured from top to bottom it must have been originally of a length that is almost incredible. In our own time, too, in the porticos of the Septa,⁵¹¹ there was a log which had been left there by M. Agrippa, as being equally an object of curiosity, having been found too large to be used in the building of the vote office⁵¹² there: it was twenty feet shorter than the one previously mentioned, and a foot-and-a-half in thickness. There was a fir, too, that was particularly admired, when it formed the mast of the ship, which brought from Egypt, by order of the Emperor Caius,⁵¹³ the obelisk⁵¹⁴ that was erected in the Vaticanian Circus, with the four blocks of stone intended for its base. It is beyond all doubt that there has been seen nothing on the sea more wonderful than this ship: one hundred and twenty thousand modii of lentils formed its ballast; and the length of it took up the greater part of the left side of the harbour at Ostia. It was sunk at that spot by order of the Emperor Claudius, three moles, each as high as a tower, being built upon it; they were constructed with cement⁵¹⁵ which the same vessel had conveyed from Puteoli. It took the arms of four men to span the girth of this tree, and we not unfrequently hear of the price of masts for such purposes, as being eighty thousand sesterces or more: rafts, too, of this wood are sometimes put together, the value of which is forty thousand. In Egypt and Syria, it is said, the kings, for want of fir, used to employ cedar⁵¹⁶ for building their ships: the largest cedar that we find mentioned is said to have come from Cyprus, where it was cut to form the mast of a galley of eleven tiers of oars that belonged to Demetrius: it was one hundred and thirty feet in length, and took three men to span its girth. The pirates of Germany navigate their seas in vessels formed of a single tree hollowed⁵¹⁷ out: some of these will hold as many as thirty men.

Of all woods, the most compact, and consequently the hea- viest, are the ebony and the box, both of them of a slender make. Neither of these woods will float in water, nor, indeed, will that of the cork tree, if the bark is removed; the same is the case, too, with the wood of the larch. Of the other woods, the driest is that of the tree known at Rome as the lotus,⁵¹⁸ and next, that of the robur, when the white sap has been removed. The wood of the robur is dark, and that of the cytisus⁵¹⁹ still more so, approaching, in fact, the nearest of all to the colour of ebony; though there are not wanting writers who assert that the wood of the Syrian terebinth is darker.⁵²⁰ An artist of the name of Thericles is highly spoken of for his skill in turning goblets from the wood of the terebinth: and, indeed, that fact is a proof of the goodness of the wood. Terebinth is the only wood that requires to be rubbed with oil, and is im- proved thereby. Its colour is imitated remarkably well with the walnut and the wild pear, which have its peculiar tint imparted to them by being boiled in colouring liquid. The wood of all the trees of which we have here made mention is firm and compact. Next after them comes the cornel, although it can hardly be looked upon as timber, in consequence of its remarkable slimness; the wood of it, in fact, is used for hardly any other purpose than the spokes of wheels, or else for making wedges for splitting wood, and pins or bolts, which have all the hardness of those of iron. Besides these, there are the holm-oak, the wild and the cultivated olive, the chesnut, the yoke-elm, and the poplar. This last is mottled similarly to the maple, and would be used for joiners' work if wood could be good for anything when the branches are so often lopped: that acting upon the tree as a sort of castration, and depriving it of its strength. In addition to these facts, most of these trees, but the robur more particularly, are so extremely hard, that it is quite impossible to bore the wood till it has been soaked in water; and even then, a nail once driven home cannot be drawn out again. On the other hand, a nail has no⁵²¹ hold in cedar. The wood of the lime is the softest of all, and, as it would appear, the hottest by nature; a proof of this, they say, is the fact that it will turn the edge of the adze sooner than any other wood.⁵²² In the number, also, of the trees that are hot by nature, are the mulberry, the laurel, the ivy, and all those woods from which fire is kindled by attrition.

CHAP. 77.—METHODS OF OBTAINING FIRE FROM WOOD.

This is a method⁵²³ which has been employed by the outposts of armies, and by shepherds, on occasions when there has not been a stone at hand to strike fire with. Two pieces of wood are rubbed briskly together, and the friction soon sets them on fire; which is caught on dry and inflammable substances, fun- guses and leaves being found to ignite the most readily. There is nothing superior to the wood of the ivy for rubbing against, or to that of the laurel for rubbing with. A species of wild vine,⁵²⁴ too—not the same as the labrusca—which climbs up other trees like the ivy, is highly approved of. The coldest⁵²⁵ woods of all are those of the aquatic trees; but they are the most flexible also, and for that reason the best adapted for the construction of bucklers. On an incision being made in them, they will contract immediately, and so close up their wounds, at the same time rendering it more difficult for the iron to penetrate: in the number of these woods are the fig, the willow, the lime, the birch, the elder, and both varieties of the poplar.

The lightest of all these woods, and consequently the most useful, are the fig and the willow. They are all of them employed, however, in the manufacture of baskets and other utensils of wicker-work; while, at the same time, they possess a degree of whiteness and hardness which render them very well adapted for carving. The plane has considerable flexibility, but it is moist and slimy like the alder. The elm, too, the ash, the mulberry, and the cherry, are flexible, but of a drier nature; the wood, however, is more weighty. The elm is the best of all for retaining its natural toughness, and hence it is more particularly employed for socket beams for hinges, and cases for the pannelling of doors, being proof against warping. It is requisite, however, that the beam to receive the hinge should be inverted when set up, the top of the tree answering to the lower hinge, the root to the upper. The wood of the palm and the cork-tree is soft, while that of the apple and the pear is compact. Such, however, is not the case with the maple, its wood being brittle, as, in fact, all veined woods are. In every kind of tree, the varieties in the wood are still more augmented by the wild trees and the males. The wood, too, of the barren tree is more solid than that of the fruit-bearing ones, except in those species in which the male trees⁵²⁶ bear fruit, the cypress and the cornel, for instance.

CHAP. 78.—TREES WHICH ARE PROOF AGAINST DECAY: TREES WHICH NEVER SPLIT.

The following trees are proof against decay and the other- wise injurious effects of age—the cypress, the cedar, the ebony, the lotus, the box, the yew, the juniper, and both the wild and cultivated olive. Among the others, the larch, the robur, the cork-tree, the chesnut, and the walnut are also remarkably durable. The cedar, cypress, olive, and box are never known to split or crack spontaneously.

CHAP. 79.—HISTORICAL FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE DURABILITY OF WOOD.

Of all the woods, the ebony, the cypress, and the cedar are considered to be the most durable, a good proof of which is to be seen in the timber of which the Temple of Diana at Ephesus is built: it being now four hundred years since it was erected, at the joint expense of the whole of Asia;⁵²⁷ and, what is a well-known fact, the roof is wholly constructed of planks of cedar. As to the statue of the goddess, there is some doubt of what wood it is made; all the writers say that it is ebony, with the exception of Mucianus, who was three times consul, one of the very latest among the writers that have seen it; he declares that it is made of the wood of the vine, and that it has never been changed all the seven times that the temple has been rebuilt. He says, too, that it was Endæus who made choice of this wood, and even goes so far as to mention the artist's name, a thing that really surprises me very much, seeing that he attributes to it an antiquity that dates before the times of Father Liber, and of Minerva even. He states, also, that, by the aid of numerous apertures, it is soaked with nard, in order that the moist nature of that drug may preserve the wood and keep the seams⁵²⁸ close together: I am rather surprised, however, that there should be any seams in the statue, considering the very moderate size it is. He informs us, also, that the doors are made of cypress, and that the wood, which has now lasted very nearly four hundred years, has all the appearance of new.⁵²⁹ It is worthy of remark, too, that the wood of these doors, after the pieces had been glued together, was left to season four years before they were put up: cypress was made choice of from the circumstance that it is the only kind of wood that maintains its polish to all future time.

And have we not the statue of Vejovis,⁵³⁰ also, made of cypress, still preserved in the Capitol, where it was consecrated in the year of the City 661? The Temple of Apollo, too, at Utica, is equally celebrated: there we may see beams of cedar still in existence, and in just the same condition in which they were when erected at the first building of that city, eleven hundred and seventy-eight years ago. At Saguntum, too, in Spain, there is a temple of Diana, which was brought thither by the original founders of the place, from the island of Zacynthus, in the year 200 before the taking of Troy, Bocchus says—It is preserved beneath the town, they say. Hannibal, being induced thereto by feelings of religious veneration, spared this temple, and its beams, made of juniper, are still in existence at this very day. But the most memorable instance of all is that of the temple which was dedicated to the same goddess at Aulis, several ages before the Trojan War: of what wood, however, it was originally built is a fact that has been long lost in oblivion. Speaking in general terms, we may say that those woods are of the greatest durability which are the most odoriferous.⁵³¹

Next to those woods of which we have just spoken, that of the mulberry is held in the highest degree of esteem, and it will even turn black when old. There are some trees, again, that are more durable than others, when employed for certain purposes. The wood of the elm lasts the best in the open air, that of the robur when buried in the ground, and that of the quercus when exposed to the action of water: indeed, the wood of this last, if employed in works above ground, is apt to split and warp. The wood of the larch thrives best in the midst of moisture; the same is the case, too, with that of the black alder. The wood of the robur spoils by exposure to the action of sea-water. The beech and the walnut are far from disapproved of for constructions under water, and, in fact, these are the principal woods, too, that are used for works under ground: the same is the case, also, with the juniper; which is equally serviceable when exposed to the atmosphere. The woods of the beech and the cirrus⁵³² very quickly deteriorate, and that of the æsculus will not withstand the action of water. On the other hand, the alder, when driven into the ground in marshy localities, is of everlasting duration, and able to support the very heaviest weights. The wood of the cherry is strong, while those of the elm and the ash are pliable, though apt to warp: these last will still retain their flexibility, and be less liable to warp, if the wood is left to stand and dry upon the trunk after the pith has been cut around.⁵³³ It is said that the larch, when used for sea-going ships, is liable to the attacks⁵³⁴ of the teredo, as, in fact, all the woods are, with the exception of the wild and cultivated olive. It is a fact, too, that there are some woods that are more liable to spoil in the sea, and others in the ground.

CHAP. 80. (41.)—VARIETIES OF THE TEREDO.

There are four kinds of insects that attack wood. The teredo has a head remarkably large in proportion to the other part of the body, and gnaws away the wood with its teeth: its attacks, however, are confined solely to the sea, and it is generally thought that this is the only insect that is properly so called. The wood-worm that prevails on the land is known as the " tinea," while those which resemble a gnat in appearance are called "thripes." The fourth kind of wood-worm belongs to the maggot class; some of them being engendered by the corruption of the juices of the wood itself, and others being produced, just as in the trees, by the worm known as the cerastes.⁵³⁵ When this worm has eaten away enough of the wood to enable it to turn round, it gives birth to another. The generation of these insects is prevented, however, by the bitterness that exists in some woods, the cypress, and the hardness of others, the box, for instance.

It is said, too, that the fir, if barked about the time of budding, and at the period of the moon already mentioned,⁵³⁶ will never spoil in water. The followers of Alexander the Great have left a statement that, at Tylos, an island in the Red Sea, there are trees, of which ships are built, the wood of which has been found uninjured at the end of two hundred years,⁵³⁷ even if it has been under water all that time. They say, also, that in the same island there is a certain shrub,⁵³⁸ about the thickness of a walking-stick only, and spotted like a tiger's skin: it is very heavy, and will break like glass if it happens to fall upon a hard substance.

CHAP. 81. (42.)—THE WOODS USED IN BUILDING.

We have in Italy some woods that are apt to split of themselves: to prevent this, architects recommend that they should be first seasoned in manure⁵³⁹ and then dried, in order to render them proof against the action of the atmosphere. The woods of the fir and larch are well adapted, even when used transversely, for the support of heavy burdens; while the robur and the olive are apt to bend and give way under a weight. The wood of the poplar and the palm are also strong, but this last will bend, though in a manner different from the others; for, while in all other instances the wood bends downwards, in the palm it bends in the contrary direction,⁵⁴⁰ and forms an arch. The woods of the pine and the cypress are proof against decay and all attacks of wood-worm. The walnut is easily warped, but we sometimes see beams even made of it. It gives warning, however, before it breaks, by a loud cracking noise; such was the case at Antandros, at the public baths there—the bathers took the alarm upon hearing the beams crack, and made their escape. The pine, the pitch-tree, and the alder are employed for making hollow pipes for the conveyance, of water, and when buried in the earth will last for many years. If, however, they are not well covered over, they will very soon rot; and the resistance they offer to decay will increase in a most surprising degree if the outer surface as well is left in contact with the water.

CHAP. 82.—CARPENTERS' WOODS.

The wood of the fir is strongest in a vertical⁵⁴¹ position: it is remarkably well adapted for the pannels of doors, and all kinds of in-door joiners' work, whether in the Grecian, the Campanian, or the Sicilian style. The shavings of this wood when briskly planed, always curl up in circles like the tendrils of the vine. This wood, too, unites particularly well with glue: it is used in this state for making vehicles, and is found to split sooner in the solid parts than in a place where the pieces have been glued together.

CHAP. 83. (43.)—WOODS UNITED WITH GLUE.

Glue, too, plays one of the principal parts in all veneering and works of marqueterie. For this purpose, the workmen usually employ wood with a threaded vein, to which they give the name of "ferulea," from its resemblance to the grain of the giant fennel,⁵⁴² this part of the wood being preferred from its being dotted and wavy. In every variety there are some woods to be found that will not take the glue, and which refuse to unite either with wood of the same kind or of any other; the wood of the robur for example. Indeed, it is mostly the case that substances will not unite unless they are of a similar nature; a stone, for instance, cannot be made to adhere to wood. The wood of the service-tree, the yoke-elm, the box, and, in a less degree, the lime, have a particular aversion to uniting with the cornel. All the yielding woods which we have already spoken⁵⁴³ of as flexible readily adapt themselves to every kind of work; and in addition to them, the mulberry and the wild fig. Those which are moderately moist are easily sawn and cut, but dry woods are apt to give way beyond the part that is touched by the saw; while, on the other hand, the green woods, with the exception of the robur and the box, offer a more obstinate resistance, filling the intervals between the teeth of the saw with sawdust, and rendering its edge uniform and inert; it is for this reason that the teeth are often made to project right and left in turns, a method by which the saw-dust is discharged. The ash is found the most pliable wood of all for working; and, indeed, for making⁵⁴⁴ spears it is better even than the hazel, being lighter than the cornel, and more pliable than the wood of the service-tree. The Gallic variety is so supple, that it is employed in the construction of vehicles even. The elm would rival the trunk of the vine⁵⁴⁵ for some purposes, were it not that its weight is so much against it.

CHAP. 8.—VENEERING.

The wood, too, of the beech is easily worked, although it is brittle and soft. Cut into thin layers of veneer, it is very flexible, but is only used for the construction of boxes and desks. The wood, too, of the holm-oak is cut into veneers of remarkable thinness, the colour of which is far from unsightly; but it is more particularly where it is exposed to friction that this wood is valued, as being one to be depended upon; in the axle-trees of wheels, for instance; for which the ash is also employed, on account of its pliancy, the holm-oak for its hardness, and the elm, for the union in it of both those qualities. There are also various workman's tools made of wood, which, though but small, are still remarkably useful; in this respect, it is said that the best materials for making auger handles are the wild olive, the box, the holm-oak, the elm, and the ash. Of the same woods also mallets are made; the larger ones, however, are made of the pine and the holm- oak. These woods, too, have a greater degree of strength and hardness if cut in season than when hewn prematurely; indeed, it has been known for hinge-jambs, made of olive, a wood of remarkable hardness, after having remained a considerable time on the spot, to put out buds⁵⁴⁶ like a growing plant. Cato⁵⁴⁷ recommends levers to be made of holly, laurel, or elm; and Hyginus speaks highly of the yoke-elm, the holm-oak, and the cerrus, for the handles of agricultural implements.

The best woods for cutting into layers, and employing as a veneer for covering others, are the citrus, the terebinth, the different varieties of the maple, the box, the palm,⁵⁴⁸ the holly, the holm-oak, the root of the elder, and the poplar. The alder furnishes also, as already stated,⁵⁴⁹ a kind of tuberosity, which is cut into layers like those of the citrus and the maple. In all the other trees the tuberosities are of no value whatever. It is the central part of trees that is most variegated, and the nearer we approach to the root the smaller are the spots and the more wavy. It was in this appearance that originated that requirement of luxury which displays itself in covering one tree with another, and bestowing upon the more common woods a bark of higher price. In order to make a single tree sell many times over, laminæ of veneer have been devised; but that was not thought sufficient—the horns of animals must next be stained of different colours, and their teeth cut into sections, in order to decorate wood with ivory, and, at a later period, to veneer it all over. Then, after all this, man must go and seek his materials in the sea as well! For this purpose he has learned to cut tortoise-shell into sections; and of late, in the reign of Nero, there was a monstrous invention devised of destroying its natural appearance by paint, and making it sell at a still higher price by a successful imitation of wood.

It is in this way that the value of our couches is so greatly enhanced; it is in this way, too, that they bid the rich lustre of the terebinth to be outdone, a mock citrus to be made that shall be more valuable than the real one, and the grain of the maple to be feigned. At one time luxury was not content with wood; at the present day it sets us on buying tortoiseshell in the guise of wood.

CHAP. 85. (44.)—THE AGE OF TREES. A TREE THAT WAS PLANTED BY THE FIRST SCIPIO AFRICANUS. A TREE AT ROME FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

The life of some trees might really be looked upon as of infinite⁵⁵⁰ duration, if we only think of the dense wilds and inaccessible forests in some parts of the world. In relation, however, to those, the date of which is still within the memory of man, there are some olive-trees still in existence at Liternum, which were planted by the hand of the first Scipio Africanus, as also a myrtle there of extraordinary size; beneath them there is a grotto, in which, it is said, a dragon keeps watch over that hero's shade. There is a lotus⁵⁵¹ tree in the open space before the Temple of Lucina at Rome, which was built in the year of the City 379, a year in which the republic had no⁵⁵² magistrates. How much older the tree is than the temple, is a matter of doubt; but that it is older is quite certain, for it was from that same grove that the goddess Lucina⁵⁵³ derived her name; the tree in question is now about four hundred and fifty years old. The lotus tree, which is known as the Capillata, is still older than this, though it is uncertain what is its age; it received that name from the circumstance of the Vestal Virgins suspending locks of their hair⁵⁵⁴ from it.

CHAP. 86.—TREES AS OLD AS THE CITY.

There is another lotus in the Vulcanal,⁵⁵⁵ which Romulus erected with the tenth part of the spoil taken from the enemy: according to Massurius, it is generally considered to be as old as the City. The roots of this tree penetrate as far as the Forum of Cæsar, right across the meeting-places of the municipalities.⁵⁵⁶ There was a cypress of equal age growing with it till towards the latter part of Nero's reign, when it fell to the ground, and no attempts were made to raise it again.

CHAP. 87.—TREES IN THE SUBURBAN DISTRICTS OLDER THAN THE CITY.

Still older than the City is the holm-oak that stands on the Vaticanian Hill: there is an inscription in bronze upon it, written in Etruscan characters, which states that even in those days it was an object of religious veneration. The foundation of the town of Tibur, too, dates many years before that of the City of Rome: there are three holm-oaks there, said to be more ancient than Tiburnus even, who was the founder of that place; the tradition is that in their vicinity he was inaugurated. Tradition states also that he was a son of Amphiaraüs, who died before Thebes, one generation before the period of the Trojan war.

CHAP. 88.—TREES PLANTED BY AGAMEMNON THE FIRST YEAR OF THE TROJAN WAR: OTHER TREES WHICH DATE FROM THE TIME THAT THE PLACE WAS CALLED ILIUM, ANTERIOR TO THE TROJAN WAR.

There are some authors, too, who state that a plane-tree at Delphi was planted by the hand of Agamemnon, as also another at Caphyæ, a sacred grove in Arcadia. At the present day, facing the city of Ilium, and close to the Hellespont, there are trees growing over the tomb⁵⁵⁷ of Protesilaiis there, which, in all ages since that period, as soon as they have grown of sufficient height to behold Ilium, have withered away, and then begun to flourish again. Near the city, at the tomb of Ilus, there are some oaks⁵⁵⁸ which are said to have been planted there when the place was first known by the name of Ilium.

CHAP. 89.—TREES PLANTED AT ARGOS BY HERCULES: OTHERS PLANTED BY APOLLO. A TREE MORE ANCIENT THAN ATHENS ITSELF.

At Argos⁵⁵⁹ an olive-tree is said to be still in existence, to which Argus fastened Io, after she had been changed into a cow. In the vicinity of Heraclea in Pontus, there are certain altars called after Jupiter surnamed Stratios; two oaks there were planted by Hercules. In the same country, too, is the port of Amycus,⁵⁶⁰ rendered famous by the circumstance that King Bcbryx was slain there. Since the day of his death his tomb has been covered by a laurel, which has obtained the name of the "frantic laurel," from the fact that if a portion of it is plucked and taken on board ship, discord and quarrel- ling are the inevitable result, until it has been thrown overboard. We have already made mention⁵⁶¹ of Aulocrene, a district through which you pass in going from Apamia into Phrygia: at this place they show a plane upon which Marsyas was hanged, after he had been conquered by Apollo, it having been chosen even in those days for its remarkable height. At Delos, also, there is a palm⁵⁶² to be seen which dates from the birth of that divinity, and at Olympia there is a wild olive, from which Hercules received his first wreath: at the present day it is preserved with the most scrupulous veneration. At Athens, too, the olive produced by Minerva, is said still to exist.

CHAP. 90.—TREES WHICH ARE THE MOST SHORT-LIVED.

On the other hand, the pomegranate,⁵⁶³ the fig, and the apple are remarkably short-lived; the precocious trees being still more so than the later ripeners, and those with sweet fruit than those with sour: among the pomegranates, too, that variety which bears the sweetest fruit lives the shortest time. The same is the case, too, with the vine,⁵⁶⁴ and more particularly the more fruitful varieties. Græcinus informs us that vines have lasted so long as sixty years. It appears, also, that the aquatic trees die the soonest. The laurel,⁵⁶⁵ the apple, and the pomegranate age rapidly, it is true, but then they throw out fresh shoots at the root. The olive must be looked upon, then, as being one of the most long-lived, for it is generally agreed among authors that it will last two hundred years.

CHAP. 91.—TREES THAT HAVE BEEN RENDERED FAMOUS BY REMARKABLE EVENTS.

In the territory about the suburbs of Tusculum, upon a hill known by the name of Corne, there is a grove which has been consecrated to Diana by the people of Latium from time immemorial; it is formed of beeches, the foliage of which has all the appearance of being trimmed by art. Passienus Crispus, the orator, who in our time was twice consul, and afterwards became still more famous as having Nero for his step-son, on marrying his mother Agrippina, was passionately attached to a fine tree that grew in this grove, and would often kiss and embrace it: not only would he lie down, too, beneath it, but he would also moisten its roots with wine.⁵⁶⁶ In the vicinity of this grove there is a holm-oak, likewise of very considerable celebrity, the trunk of which is no less⁵⁶⁷ than thirty-four feet in circumference; giving birth to ten other trees of remarkable size, it forms of itself a whole forest.

CHAP. 92.—PLANTS THAT HAVE NO PECULIAR SPOT FOR THEIR GROWTH: OTHERS THAT GROW UPON TREES, AND WILL NOT GROW IN THE GROUND. NINE VARIETIES OF THEM: CADYTAS, POLYPODION, PHAULIAS, HIPPOPHÆSTON.

It is a well-known fact that trees are killed by ivy.⁵⁶⁸ The mistletoe also has a similar influence, although it is generally thought that its injurious effects are not so soon perceptible: and, indeed, this plant, apart from the fruit that it bears, is looked upon as by no means the least remarkable. There are certain vegetable productions which cannot be propagated in the ground, and which grow nowhere but on trees; having no domicile of their own, they live upon others; such, for instance, is the case with the mistletoe, and a herb that grows in Syria, and is known as the " cadytas."⁵⁶⁹ This last entwines around not only trees, but brambles even; in the neighbourhood of Tempe, too, in Thessaly, there is found a plant which is called "polypodion;⁵⁷⁰ the dolichos⁵⁷¹ is found also, and wild thyme.⁵⁷² After the wild olive has been pruned there springs up a plant that is known as "phaulias;⁵⁷³ while one that grows upon the fuller's thistle is called the "hippophæston;"⁵⁷⁴ it has a thin, hollow stem, a small leaf, and a white root, the juice of which is considered extremely beneficial as a purgative in epilepsy.

CHAP. 93.—THREE VARIETIES OF MISTLETOE. THE NATURE OF MISTLETOE AND SIMILAR PLANTS.

There are three varieties of the mistletoe.⁵⁷⁵ That which grows upon the fir and the larch has the name of⁵⁷⁶ stelis in Eubœa; and there is the hyphear⁵⁷⁷ of Arcadia. It grows also upon the quercus,⁵⁷⁸ the robur, the holm-oak, the wild plum, and the terebinth, but upon no other tree.⁵⁷⁹ It is most plentiful of all upon the quercus, and is then known as "adasphear." In all the trees, with the exception of the holmoak and the quercus, there is a considerable difference in its smell and pungency, and the leaf of one kind has a disagreeable odour; both varieties, however, are sticky and bitter. The hyphear is the best for fattening⁵⁸⁰ cattle with; it begins, however, by purging off all defects, after which it fattens all such animals as have been able to withstand the purging. It is generally said, however, that those animals which have any radical malady in the intestines cannot withstand its drastic effects. This method of treatment is generally adopted in the summer for a period of forty days.

Besides the above, there is yet another difference⁵⁸¹ in the mistletoe; that which grows upon the trees which lose their leaves, loses its leaves as well; while, on the other hand, that which grows upon evergreens always retains its leaves. In whatever way the seed may have been sown, it will never come to anything, unless it has been first swallowed⁵⁸² and then voided by birds, the wood-pigeon more particularly, and the thrush: such being the nature of the plant, that it will not come to anything unless the seed is first ripened in the crop of the bird. It never exceeds a single cubit in height, and is always green and branchy. The male⁵⁸³ plant is fruitful, the female barren; sometimes, indeed, the male even bears no berry.

CHAP. 94.—THE METHOD OF MAKING BIRDLIME.

Birdlime is made of the berries of the mistletoe, which are gathered at harvest, and while in an unripe state; for if the rainy season comes on, though they increase in size, the viscous juice is apt to lose its virtues. They are then dried,⁵⁸⁴ and when brought to a state of perfect aridity, are first pounded, and then put in water, in which they are left to rot for twelve days; this being, in fact, the only thing that finds improve- ment in decay. After this, they are again beaten in running water with a mallet, and after losing the outer coat there is only the viscous inner pulp remaining. This substance is birdlime; and after it has been thinned by the addition of walnut oil, it is found particularly useful for catching birds, it being quite sufficient if they only touch it with the wings.

CHAP. 95.—HISTORICAL FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE MISTLETOE.

Upon this occasion we must not omit to mention the admiration that is lavished upon this plant by the Gauls. The Druids—for that is the name they give to their magicians⁵⁸⁵— held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree that bears it, supposing always that tree to be the robur.⁵⁸⁶ Of itself the robur is selected by them to form whole groves, and they perform none of their religious rites without em- ploying branches of it; so much so, that it is very probable that the priests themselves may have received their name from the Greek name⁵⁸⁷ for that tree. In fact, it is the notion with them that everything that grows on it has been sent immediately from heaven, and that the mistletoe upon it is a proof that the tree has been selected by God himself as an object of his especial favour.

The mistletoe, however, is but rarely found upon the robur; and when found, is gathered with rites replete with religious awe. This is done more particularly on the fifth day of the moon, the day which is the beginning of their months and years, as also of their ages, which, with them, are but thirty years. This day they select because the moon, though not yet in the middle of her course, has already considerable power and influence; and they call her by a name which signifies, in their language, the all-healing.⁵⁸⁸ Having made all due preparation for the sacrifice and a banquet beneath the trees, they bring thither two white bulls, the horns of which are bound then for the first time. Clad in a white robe the priest ascends the tree, and cuts the mistletoe with a golden sickle, which is received by others in a white cloak.⁵⁸⁹ They then immolate the victims, offering up their prayers that God will render this gift of his propitious to those to whom he has so granted it. It is the belief with them that the mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons.⁵⁹⁰ Such are the religious feelings which we find entertained towards trifling objects among nearly all nations.

SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, one thousand one hundred and thirty-five.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—-M. Varro,⁵⁹¹ Fetialis,⁵⁹² Nigidius,⁵⁹³ Cornelins Nepos,⁵⁹⁴ Hyginus,⁵⁹⁵ Massurius,⁵⁹⁶ Cato,⁵⁹⁷ Mucianus,⁵⁹⁸ L. Piso,⁵⁹⁹ Trogus,⁶⁰⁰ Calpurnius Bassus,⁶⁰¹ Cremutius,⁶⁰² Sextius Niger,⁶⁰³ Cornelius Bocchus,⁶⁰⁴ Yitruvius,⁶⁰⁵ Græcinus.⁶⁰⁶

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Alexander Polyhistor,⁶⁰⁷ Hesiod,⁶⁰⁸ Theophrastus,⁶⁰⁹ Democritus,⁶¹⁰ Homer, Timæus⁶¹¹ the mathematician.

1 The methods of grafting and inoculation.

2 B. xiii. c. 50. They dwelt between the Ems and the Elbe.

3 See B. iv. c. 29.

4 "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.

5 He alludes to turf for firing; the Humus turfa of the naturalists.

6 Of course this applies only to those who dwelt near the sea-shore, and not those more inland.

7 Guichardin remarks, that Pliny does not here bear in mind the sweets of liberty.

8 So Laberius says, "Fortuna multis parcere in pœnam solet;" "Fortune is the saving of many, when she means to punish them."

9 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.

10 "Quercus." We shall see, in the course of this Book, that its identity has not been satisfactorily established.

11 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.

12 "Robora." It will be seen in this Book that the robur has not been identified, any more than the quercus.

13 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.

14 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.

15 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.

16 Given to the first man who scaled the wall of a besieged place. It was made of gold, and decorated with turrets.

17 Given to the first soldier who surmounted the vallum or entrenchments. It was made of gold, and ornamented with "valli," or palisades.

18 One of the varieties of the triumphal crown was the "corona aurea," or "golden crown."

19 Made of gold, and decorated with the "rostra," or "beaks" of ships.

20 See B. vii. c. 31.

21 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.

22 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.

23 Which was suspended, as already mentioned, at the gate of his palace.

24 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.

25 II. xiii. 736.

26 See cc. 34 and 35 of the present Book.

27 The Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemæan games.

28 See B. vii. c. 27.

29 He is called Tullus Hostilius by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the same as his grandson.

30 A.U.C. 411. The leaves of the holm-oak were employed by Romulus on the occasion above-mentioned.

31 These varieties of the oak will be considered in the next chapter.

32 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.

33 Implying thereby, that the city that could produce a man who could so distinguish himself, stood in no need of walls.

34 In the Circus.

35 In B. vii. c. 29.

36 B. vii. c. 29.

37 Livy says eight. He saved the life of Servilius, the Master of the Horse.

38 "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.

39 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.

40 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.

41 The word "quercu" 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.

42 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. Fee thinks that it answers to the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith, sometimes also called "rouvre" by the French.

43 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.

44 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.

45 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.

46 He speaks probably of one of the galls which are found attached to the leaves of the forest trees.

47 "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.

48 The Quercus suber of Linnæus; it is found more particularly in the department of the Landes in France.

49 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 dif- ferent tree.

50 The smilax or milax was a real holm oak, but the aquifolia was the holly.

51 Od. xi. 242. Fée remarks that the berry of the holly has no resem blance 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.

52 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.

53 Or "broad-leaved" oak; one of the varieties of the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith—For. Brit.

54 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.

55 A variety of the common oak, the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck; Sprengel takes it to be the Quercus ballota of Desfontaines.

56 The Quercus ægilops of Linnæus. It is a native of Piedmont, some parts of Italy, and the island of Crete.

57 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.

58 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."

59 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.

60 This assertion is perhaps too general; gall-nuts are produced in very small quantities by the holm-oak.

61 A variety of the Quercus racemosa, which produces the green gallnut of Aleppo, considered in modern, as in ancient, times the choicest in quality.

62 Theophrastus says the end of June.

63 Its growth, in reality, is not so rapid as this.

64 Such a thing is never seen at the present day.

65 In Syria. We have mentioned the galls of Aleppo in Note 62.

66 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.

67 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.

68 A substance quite unknown now; but it is very doubtful if Pliny is rightly informed here.

69 A fungous gall, produced by the Cynips fungosa. It is not used for any domestic purpose at the present day.

70 This kind of gall is now unknown. Fée questions the assertion about its juice.

71 The Cynips quercus baccarum of Linnæus, one of the common galls.

72 The root cynips, the Cynips radicum of Fourcroi, produces these galls, which lie near the root, and have the appearance of ligneous nodo- sities. It is harder than wood, and contains cells, in which the larva of the insect lies coiled up.

73 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.

74 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.

75 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.

76 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.

77 See cc. 93, 94, and 95, of this Book.

78 Works and Days, 1. 230.

79 Pliny seems to have here taken in a literal sense, what has been said figuratively by Virgil, Eel. iv. 1. 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.

80 B. xi. c. 12.

81 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.

82 "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.

83 We have previously mentioned, that he seems to have confounded the holly with the holm oak.

84 Poinsinet, rather absurdly, as it would appear, finds in this word the origin of our word "cochineal."

85 The kermes berry is but little used in Spain, or, indeed, anywhere else, since the discovery of the cochineal of America.

86 B. ix. c. 65.

87 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.

88 It is evident that no fungus would give out phosphoric light; but it may have resulted from old wood in a state of decomposition.

89 It is pretty clear that one of the lichens of the genus usnea is here referred to. Amadue, or German tinder, seems somewhat similar.

90 B. xii. c. 50.

91 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 corktree.

92 The word "cork" is clearly derived from the Latin "cortex," "bark" See Beckmann's History of Inventions, V. i. p. 320, et seq., Bolrn's Edition, for a very interesting account of this tree.

93 This passage, the meaning of which is so obvious, is discussed at some length by Beckmann, Vol. i. pp. 321, 322.

94 It is still employed for making soles which are impervious to the wet.

95 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.

96 At the present day, it grows in the greatest abundance in France, the Landes more particularly.

97 This is still the case in some of the poorer provinces of Spain.

98 As Fée remarks, Mars is no longer the Divinity in honour of whom characters are traced on the bark of trees.

99 On the contrary, Fée says, the resinous woods are the most proof of all against the action of the air.

100 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.

101 Or osier.

102 Or "plantation of the æsculus."

103 A.U.C. 367.

104 Fée regards this as an extremely doubtful assertion.

105 The Pinus pinea of Linnæus, the cultivated pine.

106 The Pinus silvestris of Linnæus, the wild pine; the Pinus maritima of Lamarck is a variety of it.

107 B. xv. c. 9.

108 In c. 23 of this Book.

109 A variety of the Pinus silvestris of Linnæus.

110 "Liburnicæ." See B. ix. cc. 5 and 48.

111 The Abies excelsa of Decandolle—the Pese 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.

112 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.

113 A great street in Capua, which consisted entirely of the shops of sellers of unguents and perfumes.

114 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.

115 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."

116 The Abies larix of Linnæus, and the Larix Europæa, it is thought, of Decandolles.

117 It is the Venice turpentine of commerce. Each tree will furnish seven or eight pounds each year for half a century.

118 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.

119 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.

120 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.

121 The lamp-black of commerce is made from the soot of the pine.

122 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.

123 This, Fée remarks, is the fact.

124 This description is inexact, and we should have some difficulty in recognizing here the larch as known to us.

125 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.

126 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.

127 Or "louse-bearing." As Fée says, it is difficult to see the analogy.

128 The Taxus baccata of Linnæus. The account here given is in general very correct.

129 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.

130 "Viatoria;" probably not unlike our travelling flasks and pocket-pis- tols. This statement made by Pliny is not at all improbable.

131 This statement does not deserve a serious contradiction.

132 It is not improbable, however, that τόξον, an "arrow," is of older date than "taxus," as signifying the name of the yew.

133 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.

134 See B. xxiv. c. 23.

135 It is still obtained in a similar way.

136 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.

137 See B. xxi. c. 3, and B. xxiv. c. 23.

138 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.

139 Perhaps so called from Calabria, a country where the pine abounded, and part of which was called Bruttium.

140 Or wine-vats.

141 See c. 8 of the present Book.

142 Stillaticia.

143 See B. xiv. c. 25.

144 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.

145 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.

146 This would colour the resin more strongly, Fée says, and give it a greater degree of friability.

147 See B. xxxiv. c. 20.

148 See B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xxiv. c. 22.

149 "Sartago." Generally understood to be the same as our frying-pan. Fée remarks that this method would most inevitably cause the mass in fusion 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.

150 See B. xiv. c. 20.

151 The terebinthine of the mastich, Fée says, is an oleo-resin, or in other words, composed of an essential oil and a resin.

152 Apparently meaning "boiled pitch."

153 See B. xxiv. c. 26.

154 This account has been borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B is. c. ii. The modern method of extracting the resin of the pine is very similar.

155 There is no foundation whatever for this statement.

156 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.

157 As a torch or candle, probably.

158 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.

159 See B. xxxv. c. 51. He alludes to the bitumen known as asphalt, bitumen of Judæa, mineral pitch, mountain pitch, malthe, pissalphate.

160 These particulars, borrowed from Theophrastus, are in general correct.

161 This is not the fact; the essential oil in which the resin so greatly abounds, becomes volatile with remarkable facility.

162 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.

163 B. xv. c. 9.

164 The name borne also by the torch-tree.

165 See c. 76 of this Book.

166 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.

167 Il. xxiv. 277.

168 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.

169 Or "bull's-ash." This variety does not seem to have been identified.

170 This statement results from his misinterpretation of the language of Theophrastus, who is really speaking of the yew, which Pliny mistakes or the ash.

171 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.

172 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.

173 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.

174 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.

175 Not at all singular, Fée says, the fruit being dry and insipid.

176 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.

177 See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. 1. 337, speaks of the revellers at drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra.

178 "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 larva of the byrrhus, our deathwatch.

179 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.

180 The maple is much less in size than what the lime or linden really is.

181 See B. xiii. c. 29.

182 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.

183 Fée identifies it with the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, the Acer montanum candidum of C. Bauhin. This tree is not uncommon in Italy.

184 "Acer pavonaceum:" "peacock maple." He gives a similar account of the spots on the wood of the citrus, B. xiii. c. 19.

185 Or "thick-veined" maple.

186 Supposed by Fée to be the Acer Monspessulanus of Linnæus, also the Acer trilobum of Linnæus.

187 A variety of the Acer pseudo-platanus of Linnæus, according to Fée.

188 The Carpinus betulus of Linnæus; the horn-beam or yoke-elm.

189 "Silicios." This word appears to be explained by the accompanying word "laminas;" but it is very doubtful what is the correct reading.

190 The Alnus glutinosa of Decandolles. In c. 38, Pliny says, very in- correctly, that the alder has a remarkably thick leaf; and in c. 45, with equal incorrectness, that it bears neither seed nor fruit.

191 Fée observes, that it is incorrect to say that the male tree blossoms before the female, if such is Pliny's meaning here.

192 From the Greek, meaning "a tree with clusters." It is the Staphylea pinnata of Linnæus, the wild or false pistachio of the French.

193 "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.

194 The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus.

195 It is still extensively used for a similar purpose.

196 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.

197 The Buxus sempervirens of Linnæus; very common in the south of France, and on the banks of the Loire.

198 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.

199 A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus suffruticosa of Lamarck.

200 The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind.

201 In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29.

202 The arborescent variety.

203 This is doubted by Fée, but it is by no means impossible. In Pennsylvania the bees collect a poisonous honey from the Kalmia latifolia.

204 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.

205 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.

206 The Ulmus effuse of Willdenow; the Ulmus montana of Smith: Flor. Brit.

207 The Ulmus campestris of Linnæus; the Ulmus marita of other betanists.

208 The ordinary elm, Fée thinks.

209 A variety of the Ulmus campestris, probably.

210 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.

211 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 Laudes.

212 On the contrary, the yoke-elm, or horn-beam, grows almost exclusively on the plains; and the same with the cornel and the poplar.

213 The Rhus cotinus of Linnæus, the fustic. See ii. xiii. . 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.

214 The maple, the ash, and the service-tree, are as often found in the plains as on the hills.

215 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.

216 The Genista tinctoria of Linnæus, or "dyers'" broom.

217 Or "service-tree," the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus. It thrives just as well in a warm locality as a cold one.

218 The Betula alba of Linnæus. It was an object of terror not only in the hands of the Roman lietor, but in those of the pedagogue also and is still to some extent. Hence it was formerly nicknamed "Arbor sapientiæ," the "tree of wisdom."

219 This is no longer done in France, but it is in Russia, where they extract from it an empyreumatic oil, which is used in preparing Russia leather, and which imparts to it its agreeable smell.

220 Boys, both of whose parents were surviving, used to carry before the bride a torch of white thorn. This thorn was, not improbably, the "Cratægus oxyacantha" of Linnæus, which bears a white flower. See B. xxiv. c. 66.

221 The Cytisus laburnum of Linnæus, also known as "false ebony," still a native of the Alps.

222 But blackish in the centre; whence its name of false ebony.

223 Meaning the clusters of the flowers.

224 The Anthyllis barba Jovis of modern botanists. The leaves have upon them a silvery down, whence the name "argyrophylla," given to it by Mænch.

225 But in c. 30, he says that the poplar grows on hilly or mountainous declivities.

226 This tree has not been satisfactorily identified; but Fée is of opinion that it is probably a variety of the willow, the Salix vitellina of Linnæus. Sprengel thinks that it is the Salix capræa.

227 The Ligustrum vulgare of Linnæus. It has black fruit and a white flower, and is rendered famous by the lines of Virgil—Eel. ii. 17: O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori; Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur." It is evidently this juxtaposition that has prompted Pliny to mention the vaccinium in the succeeding passage. In B. xii. c. 51, and B. xxiv. c. 45, Pliny seems inclined to confound this shrub with the Cyprus, the Lawsonia inermis of Linnæus, the Henna of the east, a totally different plant.

228 Wooden tallies used by public officers in keeping their accounts. They were employed till the middle ages.

229 The Prunus mahaleb, Desfontaines says; but Fée identifies it with the black heath-berry, or whortle-berry, still called "vaciet" in France. It does not, however, grow, as Pliny says, in watery places, but in woods and on shrubby hills.

230 See B. xxi. c. 97.

231 These observations, Fée says, are borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iii. c. 4, and are founded on truth.

232 Silvestres," and "urbaniores."

233 Urbanæ.

234 The Nerion oleander of Linnæus; the laurel-rose, or rose of St. An. thony of the French; it has some distant resemblance to the olive-tree, but its leaf is that of the laurel, and its flower very similar to that of the rose.

235 See B. xxiv. c. 61.

236 "Nerion" is the Greek name.

237 It has certain dangerous properties, which cause the herbivorous ani- mals to avoid touching it. It acts strongly on the muscular system, and, as Fée remarks, used as an antidote to the stings of serpents, it is not improbable that its effect would be the worst of the two.

238 See B. xiii. c. 37. The tamarisk of the moderns is not an evergreen, which has caused writers to doubt if it is identical with the tamariscus of the ancients, and to be disposed to look for it among the larger ericæ or heaths. The leaves of the larch fall every year; those of the other evergreens mostly every two or three years.

239 See B. xiii. c. 40.

240 See B. xiii. c. 40. This assertion of Pliny is erroneous, as these trees are in reality evergreens, though all trees of that class are liable to lose their leaves through certain maladies.

241 "Quercus." The ilex or holm-oak is an evergreen.

242 Pliny is in error here. Varro, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 7, has made mention of this tree.

243 The hot climates possess a greater number of evergreens than the temperate regions, but not of the same species or genus. The vine invariably loses its leaves each year.

244 This last assertion, Fée says, is far from true, in relation to the coni- ferous trees.

245 See B. xv. c. 7.

246 The Populus alba of Linnæus.

247 The Populus nigra of Linnæus.

248 The Populus tremula of Linnæus. This statement as to the leaves of the poplar is verified by modern experience.

249 This does not appear to be exactly correct as to the ivy. The leaves on the young suckers or the old and sterile branches are divided into three or five regular lobes, while those which grow on the branches destined to bear the blossoms are ovals or lanceolated ovals in shape.

250 It is not from the leaves, but from the fruit of the tree that this down falls; the seeds being enveloped with a cottony substance. This passage is hopelessly corrupt.

251 See B. xviii. c. 68, where he enlarges still further on this asserted peculiarity; he borrows his statement from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. i. c. 16.

252 These statements are quite conformable with the fact.

253 This statement is quite true, so far as the fact that the leaves have not the same position in the day-time as during the night: the changes of position vary greatly, however, in the different kinds. It is generally thought that an organic irritability is the cause of this phenomenon.

254 This seems to be the meaning of "In aliis gentium lana est." He alludes, probably, to cotton or silk: see B. vi. c. 20. Thunberg tells us that at Roodesand, near the Cape of Good Hope, there grows so thick a down on the Buplevrum giganteum of Lamarck, that it is employed to imitate a sort of white velvet, and is used for bonnets, gloves, stockings, &c.

255 B. xiii. c. 7.

256 "Genere ilicum." It is not improbable that he here refers to the variety of the holm-oak which he has previously called "aquifolia," apparently confounding it with the holly. See c. 8 of this Book.

257 See B. xiii. c. 37.

258 This must be understood of the young leaf of the alder, which has a sort of thick gummy varnish on it.

259 B. xiii. c. 7.

260 B. xv. c. 15. Pliny is not correct here; the leaf of the pear is oval or lanceolated, while that of the apple is oval and somewhat angular, though not exactly "mucronata," or sharply pointed.

261 Not exactly "divided," but strongly lobed.

262 If this is the case, the pitch-tree can hardly be identical with the false fir, the Abies excelsa of Decandolles. See c. 18 of this Book, and the Note.

263 This passage would be apt to mislead, did we not know that the leaves of the coniferous trees here mentioned are not prickly, in the same sense as those of the holly, which are armed with very formidable weapons.

264 More particularly in the Populus tremula, the "quivering" poplar.

265 Crepitantia.

266 See B. xv. c. 15. Not a species, but an accidental monstrosity.

267 See B. xv. c. 37, where he speaks of the Hexastich myrtle.

268 The leaves of the elm and the tree supposed to be identical with the cytisus of the ancients have no characteristics in common. See B. xiii. c. 47, and the Notes.

269 De Re Rust. cc. 5, 30, 45.

270 Very inappropriate food for cattle, it would appear: the fig leaf being charged with a corrosive milky juice; the leaf of the holm oak, hard and leathery; and that of the ivy, bitter and nauseous in the highest degree.

271 Eighth of February.

272 See B. viii. c. 67.

273 Catlitio.

274 He alludes to the period of the rising of the sap; an entirely distinct process from germination.

275 This statement, as also that relative to the holm oak, and other trees previously mentioned, is quite incorrect. The blossoms of the fig-tree are very much concealed, however, from view in the involucre of the clinanthium.

276 This is not the fact, though the blossom of the juniper is of humble character, and not easily seen. Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 6, only says that it is a matter of doubt, what Pliny so positively affirms.

277 This is the fact; the male tree is sterile, but it fecundates the female.

278 These remarks, borrowed from Theophrastus, are generally consistent with our experience.

279 Fée remarks that Pliny here copies from Theophrastus, a writer of Greece, without making allowance for the difference of localities. Theophrastus, however, gives the laurel an earlier period for budding than Pliny does.

280 The Rhamnus paliurus of Linnæus.

281 This is entirely fanciful: though it is the case that in some trees, the ligneous ones, namely, there are two germinations in the year, one at the beginning of spring, which acts more particularly on the branches, and the other at the end of summer, which acts more upon the parts nearer the roots.

282 See B. xviii. c. 57.

283 There is no such thing as a third budding.

284 As already stated, there are never more than two germinations.

285 This rupture of the epidermis, caused by the formation beneath of new ligneous and conical layers, takes place not solely, as Pliny and Theophrastus state, at the time of germination, but slowly and continuously.

286 On the contrary, they are irregular both in their commencement and their duration.

287 This is not the case; each bud is independent of the one that has preceded it. A sucker, however, newly developed may give birth to buds not at the extremity, but throughout the whole length of it.

288 See B. xviii c. 67. What Pliny says here is in general true, though its germination does not take place with such rapidity as he states.

289 A mere fable, of course.

290 In the last Chapter.

291 In Paris, Fée says, the almond does not blossom till March. If the tree should blossom too soon, it is often at the expense of the fruit.

292 Probably the apricot. See B. xv. c. 12.

293 See B. xv. c. 11.

294 See B. xxiv. c. 8.

295 This, of course, is not the fact. As to the succeeding statements, they are borrowed mostly from Theophrastus, and are in general correct.

296 The rising of the sap.

297 The Pleiades. See B. xviii. cc. 59, 60.

298 It was supposed in astrology that the stars exercised an effect equally upon animal and vegetable life.

299 25th of July.

300 See R. xviii. c. 68.

301 The Cornus mas of botanists; probably the Frutex sanguineus mentioned in c. 30. See also B. xv. c. 31.

302 Probably the Lonicera Alpiena of Linnæus; the fruit of which resembles a cherry, but is of a sour flavour, and produces vomiting.

303 The wood is so durable, that a tree of this kind in the forest of Montmorency is said to be a thousand years old.

304 See B. xviii. cc. 59,60.

305 See c. 6 of this Book.

306 See B. xii. c. 7.

307 This supposed marvel merely arises from the fact that the fruit has a strong ligneous stalk, which almost precludes the possibility of its drop ping off. This is the case, too, not only with the pine, but with numerous other trees as well.

308 "Dried" nuts.

309 See B. xxiv. c. 41.

310 But in B. xxiv. c. 32, he speaks of the fruit of the black poplar as an antidote for epilepsy. In fact, he is quite in error in denying a seed to any of these trees.

311 See c. 29 of this Book.

312 The Rhamnus alaternus of Linnæus, the Phylica elatior of C. Bauhin. In reality, it bears a small black berry, of purgative qualities.

313 "Infelices," "unhappy" rather.

314 Daughter of Sithon, king of Thrace, who hanged herself on account of the supposed inconstancy of her lover, Demophöon. See Ovid, Heroid. 2.

315 This must not be taken to the letter; indeed, Fée thinks that the proper meaning is:—"Young trees do not produce fruit till they have arrived at a certain state of maturity." Trees mostly continue on the increase till they die.

316 See B. xvii. c. 2. The assertion here made has not been confirmed by experience.

317 "Frugiperda:" in the Greek, ὠλεσίκαρπον. See Homer. Od. x. 1. 510. It has been suggested, Pliny says, that the willow seed had this epithet from its effect in causing abortion; but he does not seem to share the opinion.

318 This cannot be a willow, Fée remarks; indeed, Theophrastus, E. iii. c. 5, speaks of a black poplar as growing there.

319 See B. xv. c 13. It is not impossible that Pliny may have mistaken here the Persea, or Balanites Ægyptiaca, for the Persica, or peach. See p. 296.

320 Fée remarks, that this expression is remarkable as giving a just notion of the relative functions of the male and female in plants. He says that one might almost be tempted to believe that they suspected something of the nature and functions of the pistils and stamens.

321 This statement, which is drawn from Theophrastus, is rather fanciful than rigorously true.

322 B. xiii. c. 7.

323 Or "forerunner." The Spaniards call a similar fig "brevas," the ready ripener."

324 See B. xv. c. 19.

325 See B. xv. c. 21.

326 This does not happen in the northern climates; though sometimes it is the case that a fruit-tree blossoms again towards the end of summer, and it the autumn is fine and prolonged, these late fruits will ripen. Such a phenomenon, however, is of very rare occurrence.

327 See B. xviii. c. 74.

328 "Insanæ." There are some varieties of the vine which blossom more than once, and bear green grapes and fully ripe ones at the same moment.

329 De Re Rust. c. 7.

330 The suggested reading, "apud matrem magnam," seems preferable to "apud mare," and receives support from what is said relative to Smyrna in B. xiv. c. 6.

331 See B. v. c. 3.

332 B. xviii. c. 51.

333 B. xv. c. 19.

334 This is not the fact: the fruits of all trees have their proper time for ripening.

335 He speaks here in too general terms: the pear, for instance, is not more fruitful when old than when young.

336 He speaks of the process of caprification. See B. xv. c. 21.

337 So our proverb, " Soon ripe, soon rotten;" applicable to mankind as well as trees. See B. xxiii. c. 23.

338 See B. xv. c. 27. The mulberry tree will live for several centuries.

339 This stimulates the sap, and adds to its activity: but the tree grows old all the sooner, being the more speedily exhausted.

340 In cc. 9–14 of the present Book.

341 This passage is quite unintelligible; and it is with good reason that Fée questions whether Pliny really understood the author that he copied from.

342 Fée remarks, that Pliny does not seem to know that the catkin is an assemblage of flowers, and that without it the tree would be totally barren.

343 Pliny blunders sadly here, in copying from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 16. He mixes up a description of the box and the cratægus, or holm-oak, making the latter to be a seed of the former: and he then attributes a mistletoe to the box, which Theophrastus speaks of as growing on the cratægus.

344 See c. 93, where he enlarges on the varieties of the mistletoe.

345 See B. xxiv. c. 71.

346 He means the garden or border-box mentioned in c. 28 of this Book.

347 See B. xiii. c. 17: the African lotus, probably; the Zizyphus lotus of Desfontaines.

348 This statement is entirely incorrect. If a tree loses the terminal bud, it will grow no higher, but it will not die if the extremities of the branches are cut. Such, in fact, is much more likely to happen when they are all cut off, from the extreme loss of juices which must naturally ensue at the several cicatrices united.

349 The Celtis australis of Linnæus. Pliny is in error in calling this tree the "Grecian bean." In B. xiii. c. 22, he erroneously calls the African lotus by the name of "celtis," which only belongs to the lotus of Italy; that of Africa being altogether different.

350 The bark, which is astringent, is still used in preparing skins, and a black colouring matter extracted from the root is employed in dyeing wool.

351 Quite an accidental resemblance, if, indeed, it ever existed.

352 "Oculus"—the bud on the trunk.

353 This must be either a mistake or an exaggeration; the cherry never being a very large tree.

354 It is evident that he is speaking of the epidermis only, and not the cortical layers and the liber.

355 The roots of trees being ligneous, " carnosæ," Fée remarks, is an inappropriate term.

356 Georg. ii. 291.

357 "Lagenas." Fée takes this to mean here vessels to hold liquids, and remarks that the workers in wicker cannot attain this degree of perfection at the present day.

358 Pliny is in error in rejecting this notion.

359 See B. xii. c. 5, and B. xiii. c. 29. What Pliny states of the fir, or Abies pectinata, Theophrastus relates of the πεύκη,, or Abies excelsa of Decandolles. There is little doubt that in either case the statement is incorrect.

360 On the contrary, the roots of trees increase in size till the period of their death.

361 By preventing the action of the air from drying the roots, and so killing the tree.

362 A grove, probably, consecrated to the Muses.

363 These stories must be regarded as either fables or impostures; though it is very possible for a tree to survive after the epidermis has been removed with the adze.

364 See B. xvii. c. 9.

365 In c. 7 of this Book.

366 It is not improbable that he has in view here the passage in Virgil's Georgics, B. ii. 1. 109, et seq.

367 Or balm of Gilead. See B. xii. c. 54. Bruce assures us that it is indigenous to Abyssinia; if so, it has been transplanted in Arabia. It is no more to be found in Judæa.

368 This is inserted, as it is evident that the text without it is imperfect. Fée says that even in Judæa it was transplanted from Arabia.

369 As to the identification of the cinnamomum of Pliny, see B. xii. cc. 41 and 42, and the Notes.

370 As to the question of the identity of the amomum, see B. xii. c. 28.

371 See B. xii. c. 26.

372 This cannot be the ordinary Piper nigrum, or black pepper, which does not deserve the title " arbor." It is, no doubt, the pepper of Italy, which he mentions in B. xii. c. 14.

373 The Cassia Italicta, probably, of B. xii. c. 43. The cassia of the East could not possibly survive in Italy. The fact is, no doubt, that the Romans gave the names of cassia, piper, and amomunm, to certain indigenous plants, and then persuaded themselves that they had the genuine plants of the East.

374 See B. xii. c. 30.

375 Under the name of Cedrus, no doubt, several of the junipers have been included. See B. xiii. c. 11.

376 Fée is inclined to doubt this statement. The myrtle has been known to stand the winters of Lower Brittany.

377 Owing, no doubt, as Fée says, solely to bad methods of cultivation. The same, too, with the grafted peach and the Greek nut or almond.

378 The Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus, the Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle.

379 De Re Rust. cc. 48,151.

380 Morosa;" meaning that it reaches maturity but very slowly.

381 Tristis tentantum sensu torquebit amaror.—Virg. Georg. ii. 247.

382 This statement is exaggerated.

383 It is still to be seen very frequently in the cemeteries of Greece and Constantinople.

384 The cypress is in reality monœcious, the structure of the same plant being both male and female.

385 This was formerly done with the cypress, in England, to a considerable extent. Such absurdities are now but rare.

386 The Cupressus fastigiata of Decandolle; and a variety of the Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

387 The Cupressus horizontalis of Miller; the variety B of the C. sempervirens of Linnæus.

388 The present name given to this tree in the island of Crete, is the "daughter's dowry."

389 De Re Rust. cc. 151.

390 B. iii. c. 12.

391 This, Fée says, is the case with none of the coniferous trees.

392 Of course this spontaneous creation of the cypress is fabulous; and, indeed, the whole account, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is greatly exaggerated.

393 B. xix. c. 15.

394 This story, which is borrowed from Theophrastus, is evidently fabu- lons.

395 Meaning Asia Minor.

396 Hist. Plant. B. iii c. 10.

397 See B. vi. c. 23.

398 Bacchus, after the alleged conquest by him of India, was said to have returned crowned with ivy, and seated in a car drawn by tigers.

399 It is a mistake to suppose that the ivy exhausts the juices of trees. Its tendrils fasten upon the cortical fissures; and, if the tree is but small, its development is apt to be retarded thereby. It is beneficial, rather than destructive, to walls.

400 This plant is really monœcious or androgynous.

401 The Rosa Eglanteria.

402 The Hedera helix of Linnæus, or, possibly, a variety of it with variegated leaves.

403 The Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin, the common ivy.

404 The Hedera major sterilis of C. Bauhin.

405 The first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera helix of Linnæus.

406 A wreath of ivy was the usual prize in the poetic contests.

407 See B. v. c. 16, and B. vi. c. 23.

408 The "red berry" and the "golden fruit."

409 The berries are yellow in the first variety of the common ivy, the Hedera poetica of C. Bauhin.

410 This is the case sometimes with the black ivy, the Hedera arborea of C. Bauhin. Only isolated cases, however, are to be met with.

411 There is an ivy of this kind, the Hedera humi repens cf botanists; but most of the commentators are of opinion that it is the ground ivy, the Glechoma hederacea of Linnæus, that is spoken of. Sprengel takes it to be the Anthirrinum Azarina, from which opinion, however, Fée dissents.

412 The Smilax aspera of Linnæus; the sarsaparilla plant.

413 Fée is inclined to question this; but the breadth of the tablets may have been very small in this instance.

414 Of course this is fabulous: though it is not impossible that the writing on the tablets may sometimes have caused " a noise in the world," and that hence the poets may have given rise to this story.

415 Pliny borrows this fabulous story from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 3.

416 The reeds cannot be appropriately ranked among the shrubs.

417 For musical purposes, namely.

418 B. v. c. 20.

419 "Claus." The so-called reed of the East, used for making darts and arrows, does not belong to the genus Arundo, but to those of the Bambos and Nastus.

420 Few readers of history will fail to recollect the report made to King Henry V. by Davy Gam, before the battle of Agincourt:—" The enemy are so numerous," said the messenger, "that their arrows will darken the sun." "We must e'en be content to fight in the dark then," was the warrior's reply.

421 See B. vii. c. 2. This is probably an exaggeration. He alludes to the Bambos arundinacea of Lamarck, the Arundo arbor of C. Bauhin.

422 The Arundo donax of Linnæus.

423 Or the pipe-reed.

424 The tibia, or pipe, was played lengthwise, like the flageolet or clarionet.

425 A variety of the Arundo donax. The Orchomenian reed is of the same class. The fistula was played sideways; and seems to have been a name given both to the Syrinx or the Pandæan pipes, and the flute, properly so called.

426 In the last Chapter. The Arundo donax, probably, so far as European warfare was concerned.

427 A variety of the Arundo donax of Linnæus.

428 This is not the fact.

429 The Arundo versicolor of Miller.

430 Constantinus and Schneider, upon Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. iv. c. 11, suspect the correctness of this word.

431 See B. xx. c. 88, and B. xxxii. c. 52.

432 The Arundo phragmites of Linnæus. The Plotias, no doubt, was only a variety of it.

433 "Arundo tibialis." The story about the time taken by it to grow, and the increase of the waters, is, of course, fabulous.

434 The "yoke reed," or "reed for a double flute."

435 Perhaps so called from the silkiness of its flossy pinicules.

436 This seems to be the meaning of "ad inclusos cantus."

437 B. xviii. c. 74.

438 Lingulis.

439 The words "dextræ" and " sinistr," denote the treble and the bass flutes; it is thought by some, because the former were held with the right hand, and the latter with the left. Two treble or bass flutes were occasionally played on at the same time.

440 See B. xiii. c. 32.

441 These were of the variety Zeugites, previously mentioned.

442 Fée suggests, that what he mentions here may not have been a reed at all, but one of the cyperaccous plants, the papyrus, perhaps.

443 De Re Rust. c. 6. It was the donax that was thus employed; as it is in France at the present day.

444 Oculis. See B. xvii. c. 33.

445 See B. xix c. 42.

446 The white willow, Salix Alba of Linnæus.

447 The Salix vitellina more particularly is used in France for this purpose.

448 The Salix helix of Linnæus.

449 The Salix amygdalina of Linnæus.

450 De Re Rust. c. 6. Fée remarks that the notions of modern agriculturists are very different on this point.

451 The Salix purpurea of Linnæus: the Salix vulgaris rubens of C. Bauhin.

452 This belongs, probably, to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

453 Fé equeries whether this may not be the Salix incana of Schrank and Hoffmann, the bark of which is a brown green.

454 Belonging to the Salix helix of Linnæus.

455 Belonging to the Salix purpurea of Linnæus.

456 Field-mouse or squirrel colour. See B. viii. c. 82. The same, probably, as the Salix vitellina of Linnæus.

457 A variety, Fée thinks, of the Salix rubens.

458 The Scirpus lacustris of Linnæus.

459 And not in front of them.

460 Mapalia.

461 Egypt, namely.

462 The bramble is sometimes found on the banks of watery spots and in marshy localities, but more frequently in mountainous and arid spots.

463 Known to us as blackberries. This tree is the Rubus fruticosus of Linnæus; the same as the Rubus tomentosus, and the Rubus corylifolius of other modern botanists.

464 The Rosa canina of Linnæus: the dog-rose or Eglantine.

465 The Rubus Idæus of botanists; the ordinary raspberry.

466 See B. xxiv. c. 75.

467 See B. xxiv. c. 35.

468 They are still used for dyeing, but not for staining the hair.

469 Only as a purgative, probably.

470 Though the acid it contains would curdle milk, still its natural acridity would disqualify it from being used for making cheese.

471 The white sap or inner bark; the aubier of the French. Fée remarks, that its supposed analogy with fat is incorrect.

472 He means the outer ligneous layers of the wood. They differ only in their relative hardness.

473 "Pulpæ." The ligneous fibres which form the tissue of the bark.

474 "Venæ." By this term he probably means the nutritive vessels and the ligneous fibres united. It was anciently the general belief that the fibres acted their part in the nutriment of the tree.

475 "Graphium." Properly a stylus or iron pen.

476 "Glandia." This analogy, Fée remarks, does not hold good.

477 See B. xiii. c. 29, and c. 27 of this Book.

478 And at an angle with the grain or fibre of the wood.

479 And at right angles. In the Dicotyledons, the disposition of the fibres is longitudinal and transversal.

480 Guttum.

481 For the simple reason, because the part near the root is of greater diameter.

482 Soft ligneous layers.

483 In c. 72 of this Book.

484 Hard wood-such as we know generally as "heart;" "heart of oak" for instance.

485 Probably that of the ligneous layers near the pith or sap.

486 "Limo:" the alburnum previously mentioned.

487 This practice was formerly forbidden by the forest laws of France.

488 In B. xviii.

489 Pliny borrows this superstition from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 1.

490 This was the name of mimic sea-fights, exhibited at Rome in the Circus or amphitheatres, or else in lakes dug expressly for the purpose. Hardouin says, there were five Naumachiæ at Rome, in the 14th region of the City.

491 This practice is no longer followed.

492 De Re Rust. c. 31; also cc. 17 and 37.

493 This practice is observed in modern times.

494 C. 37.

495 Pliny, no doubt, observes an analogy between the hair of the human head, and trees as forming the hair of the earth. The superstition here mentioned, Fée says, was, till very recently, observed in France to a con- siderable extent.

496 De Re Rust. 1, 37.

497 Terebinthine or turpentine.

498 "Ad fabrorum intstina opera medulla seetilis " This passage is pro- bably corrupt.

499 In c. 74.

500 With reference to the fir, namely.

501 B. iii. c. 5.

502 B. iv. c. 3.

503 An additional proof, perhaps, that the cedar of the ancients is only one of the junipers, and that, as Fée says, they were not acquainted with the real cedar.

504 B. iii. c. 4.

505 "Spiras." It seems to have been the opinion of the ancients that the internal knots of the wood are formed spirally. Such is not the fact, as they consist of independent layers.

506 Centra.

507 He takes this account from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 3.

508 The greatest height, Fée says, of any tree known, is that of the palm, known as ceroxvlon; it sometimes attains a height of 250 feet. Adanson speaks of the baobab as being 90 feet in circumference.

509 In c, 74.

510 See B. xix. c. 6.

511 A spot enclosed in the Campus Martius, for the resort of the people during the Comitia, and when giving their votes.

512 "Diribitorium." This was the place, probably, where the diribitores distributed to the citizens the tabellæ, with which they voted in the Comitia, or else, as Wunder thinks, divided the votes, acting as "tellers," in the modern phrase.

513 Caligula.

514 B. xxxvi. c. 14.

515 See B. xxxvi. c. 14. This was a mortar made of volcanic ashes, which hardened under water. It is now known as Pozzuolane.

516 The Pinus cedrus of Linnæus.

517 The canoes were formed probably of the fir.

518 The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

519 See B. xiii. c 27.

520 This, Fée says, is not the case, if the Syrian terebinth is the same as the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

521 This is not the case; a nail has a firm hold in all resinous woods.

522 This is evidently a puerile absurdity: but it is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. v. c. 4.

523 The savages of North America, and, indeed, of all parts of the globe, seem to have been acquainted with this method of kindling fire from the very earliest times.

524 See B. xxiv. c. 49. The Viticella, belonging to the genus clematis.

525 This unfounded notion is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 4.

526 In the modern botanical sense of the word, the male trees do not bear at all.

527 Asia Minor, namely. See B. xxxv. c. 21.

528 The junctures where the pieces of wood are united by glue. This is to be observed very easily in the greater part of the oaken statuary that is so plentiful in the churches of Belgium.

529 Cypress is perhaps the most lasting of all woods.

530 One of the earliest appellations, probably, of Jupiter among the Romans. See Ovid's Fasti, B. iii. 1. 445, et seq.

531 This is correct. Their resin defends them from the action of the air, from damp, and the attacks of noxious insects.

532 A variety of the oak. See c. 6 of this Book.

533 As mentioned at the end of c. 74.

534 See B. i. c. 2.

535 See B. xvii. c. 37.

536 In c. 74.

537 There is nothing very surprising in this, as most woods are preserved better when completely immersed in water, than when exposed to the variations of the atmosphere.

538 He borrows this fable from Theophrastus, B. v. c. 5.

539 This process, Fée says, would be attended with no success.

540 It is not quite clear whether he intends this observation to apply to the poplar and the palm, or to the last only. It is true, however, in neither case, and is contrary, as Fée observes, to all physical laws.

541 The resistance that woods offer when placed vertically is in the same ratio as that presented by them when employed horizontally. This paragraph is borrowed from Theophrastus, B. iii. c. 4, and B. v. cc. 6, 7, 8.

542 Ferula.

543 In c. 77.

544 See c. 24.

545 Fée thinks, from the context, that the meaning is, that the vine was employed in the construction of chariots; it depends entirely on the punctuation adopted.

546 This could only have happened in the first year that they were so employed.

547 De Re Rust. c. 31.

548 It is singular. Fée says, to find the wood of the palm, and that of the poplar, which are destitute of veins, enumerated among those employed for veneering.

549 In c. 27.

550 According to Adanson, the baobab will live for more than six thousand years.

551 The Celtis australis of Linnæus.

552 In consequence of the disputes between the patricians and plebeians.

553 Thus deriving Lucina from "lucus," a grove.

554 Capillos.

555 An area before the temple of Vulean.

556 "Stationes municipiorum." A sort of exchange, near the Forum, where the citizens met to discuss the topics of the day.

557 See B. iv. c. 18. Of course, this story must be regarded as fabulous

558 Quercus.

559 These are fables founded upon the known longevity of trees, which, as Fée remarks, Pliny relates with a truly "infantine simplicity."

560 See B. v. c. 43.

561 See B. v. c. 29.

562 The palm is by no means a long-lived tree.

563 The pomegranate, on the contrary, has been known to live many cen- turies.

564 He has elsewhere said that the vine is extremely long-lived.

565 In the last Chapter he has spoken of a laurel having existed for many centuries.

566 To its great detriment, probably.

567 Fée says that no holm-oak is ever known to attain this size.

568 See c. 62.

569 Sprengel says that this is the parasitic plant, which he calls Cassyta filiformis. Fée says that this opinion, though perhaps not to be absolutely rejected, must be accepted with reserve.

570 It does not seem to have been identified.

571 See B. xviii. c. 35.

572 Serpyllum. See B. xx. c. 90.

573 A mistletoe, apparently, growing upon the wild olive. Fée says that no such viscus appears to be known.

574 See B. xxvii. c. 66. The Calcitrapa stellata of Lamarck. Fée remarks that Pliny has committed a great error, in making it a parasite of the Spina fullonia. Dioscorides only says that the two plants grow in the same spots.

575 The Viscum Europæum of modern naturalists.

576 The Viscum album of Linnæus; but Sprengel takes it to be the Loranthus Europæus.

577 Fée questions whether this may not be the Loranthus Europæus.

578 The Viscum album of Linnæus; the oak mistletoe or real mistletoe.

579 This is not the fact: it grows upon a vast multitude of other trees.

580 It is no longer used for this purpose.

581 The mistletoe never in any case loses its leaves, upon whatever tree it may grow.

582 This is, of course, untrue; but the seeds, after being voided by birds, are more likely to adhere to the bark of trees, and so find a nidus for ger- mination.

583 The exact opposite is the case, the female being the fruitful plant.

584 The method used in Italy for making bird-lime is very similar at the present day.

585 Magos.

586 Decandolle was of opinion, that the mistletoe of the Druids was not a viscum, but the Loranthus Europæus, which is much more commonly found on oaks.

587 δρῦς, an "oak." It is much more probable that it was of Celtic origin.

588 Omnia sanantem.

589 "Sagum." Properly, a "military cloak."

590 It was, in comparatively recent times, supposed to be efficacious for epilepsy.

591 See end of B. ii.

592 Author of a History or Annals of Rome. Nothing further is known of him.

593 See end of B. vi.

594 See end of B. ii.

595 See end of B. iii.

596 See end of B. vii.

597 See end of B. iii.

598 See end of B. ii.

599 See end of B. ii.

600 See end of B. vii.

601 He is wholly unknown: but is conjectured to have lived in the reign of Caligula or Tiberius.

602 See end of B. vii.

603 See end of B. xii.

604 He is unknown; but Solinus speaks of him as a valuable writer.

605 M. Vitruvius Pollio, an eminent architect, employed by Augustus. His valuable work on architecture is still extant.

606 See end of B. xiv.

607 See end of B. iii.

608 See end of B. vii.

609 See end of B. iii.

610 See end of B. ii.

611 See end of B. ii.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Cross-references to this page (3):
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), CAL´AMUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), CORO´NA
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), FUNUS
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- Lewis & Short, disco
- Lewis & Short, prae-verto

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.