Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES., CHAP. 26.

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CHAP. 26.—ARTIFICIAL WINES.

Among the artificial wines, the preparation of which we have¹ described, [there are some which],² I think, are no longer made; in addition to which, it would be a mere loss of time to enlarge upon their medicinal effects, having expatiated elsewhere upon the properties of the various elements of which they are composed. And then, besides, the conceits of the medical men in relation to these wines have really passed all bounds; they pretend, for instance, that a wine extracted from turnips³ is good for recruiting the exhausted strength, after exercises in arms or on horseback; and, not to speak of other preparations, they attribute a similar effect to wine of juniper.⁴ Who is there, too, that would think of looking upon wormwood wine⁵ as superior in its effects to wormwood itself?

I shall pass in silence the rest of these preparations, and among them palm wine,⁶ which is injurious to the head, and is beneficial only as a laxative to the bowels, and as a cure for spitting of blood. We cannot, however, look upon the liquor which we have spoken of⁷ under the name of "bion," as being an artificial wine; for the whole art of making it consists merely in the employment of grapes before they have arrived at maturity. This preparation is extremely good for a deranged stomach or an imperfect digestion, as also for pregnancy, fainting fits, paralysis, fits of trembling, vertigo, gripings of the bowels, and sciatica. It is said, too, that in times of pestilence, and for persons on a long journey, this liquid forms a beverage of remarkable efficacy.

1 In B. xiv. cc. 18, 19, 20.

2 In accordance with the suggestion of Sillig, we insert "sunt quæ," otherwise the passage is defective.

3 This would be a vigorous liquor, Fée thinks, and a good tonic; similar, in fact, to the modern antiscorbutie wines.

4 Fée queries whether this was made from the fermented berries, or from an infusion of them in wine. In the former case it would bear some slight resemblance to our gin.

5 "Apsinthites." See B. xiv. c. 10.

6 See B. xiii. c. 9.

7 In B. xiv. c. 10.

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. 26.—ARTIFICIAL WINES.

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. 26.—ARTIFICIAL WINES.

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