Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT-TREES., CHAP. 9. (9.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FRUIT-TREES AND THEIR NATURES. FOUR VARIETIES OF PINE-NUTS.

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CHAP. 9. (9.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FRUIT-TREES AND THEIR NATURES. FOUR VARIETIES OF PINE-NUTS.

The other fruits found on trees can hardly be enumerated, from their diversity in shape and figure, without reference to their different flavours and juices, which have again been modified by repeated combinations and graftings.

(10.) The largest fruit, and, indeed, the one that hangs at the greatest height, is the pine-nut. It contains within a number of small kernels, enclosed in arched beds, and covered with a coat of their own of rusty iron-colour; Nature thus manifesting a marvellous degree of care in providing its seeds with a soft receptacle. Another variety of this nut is the terentina,¹ the shell of which may be broken with the fingers; and hence it becomes a prey to the birds while still on the tree. A third, again, is known as the "sappinia,"² being the produce of the cultivated pitch-tree: the kernels are enclosed in a skin more than a shell, which is so remarkably soft that it is eaten together with the fruit. A fourth variety is that known as the "pityis;" it is the produce of the pinaster,³ and is remarkable as a good specific for coughs. The kernels are sometimes boiled in honey⁴ among the Taurini, who then call them "aquiceli." The conquerors at the Isthmian games are crowned with a wreath of pine-leaves.

1 The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.

2 See B. xvi. c. 23. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an agreeable flavour.

3 Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The nuts are slightly resinous.

4 Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at the present day to make this preparation.

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. 9. (9.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FRUIT-TREES AND THEIR NATURES. FOUR VARIETIES OF PINE-NUTS.

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. 9. (9.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FRUIT-TREES AND THEIR NATURES. FOUR VARIETIES OF PINE-NUTS.

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