Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES., CHAP. 17.—THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHIRONIA, GYNÆCANTHE, OR APRONIA: THIRTY-FIVE REMEDIES.

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CHAP. 17.—THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHIRONIA, GYNÆCANTHE, OR APRONIA: THIRTY-FIVE REMEDIES.

For there is also a black vine, properly known as the "bryonia,"¹ though by some persons it is called the "chironia," and by others the "gynæcanthe," or "apronia." It differs only from the one previously mentioned in its colour, which, as already stated,² is black. The shoots of this tree, which resemble asparagus in appearance, are preferred by Diodes for eating to real asparagus,³ as a diuretic and for its property of reducing the spleen. It is found growing in shrubberies or reed-beds more particularly. The root of it, which is black outside, and of the colour of box within, is even more efficacious for the extraction of splintered bones than the plant last mentioned; in addition to which, it has the property of being a specific for excoriations of the neck in cattle. It is said, too, that if a person plants it around a farm, it will be sure to keep hawks away, and to preserve the poultry-yard⁴ in perfect safety. Attached to the ankles, it tends to disperse the blood, congested or otherwise, which may have settled in those parts of the body, whether in human beings or in beasts of burden.

Thus much with reference to the various species of vines.

1 This is in reality not the modern bryony, or white vine, but the Tamus communis of Linnæus, the black vine, or taminier of the French, the uva taminia, probably, of Chapter 13.

2 In the last Chapter.

3 The shoots of the Tamus communis are still eaten in Tuscany as a substitute for asparagus, to which, however, they are inferior in quality. It is there known by the name of tamaro.

4 An absurdity, as Fée remarks, not worthy of discussion. The same, too, as to the next assertion.

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

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CHAP. 17.—THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHIRONIA, GYNÆCANTHE, OR APRONIA: THIRTY-FIVE REMEDIES.

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

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Table of Contents:

CHAP. 17.—THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHIRONIA, GYNÆCANTHE, OR APRONIA: THIRTY-FIVE REMEDIES.

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