previous next

CHAP. 63.—CINNAMON OR COMACUM.

In Syria, too, is produced that kind of cinnamon which is also known as comacum.1 This is a juice which is extracted from a nut, and very different from the extract of the real cinnamomum, though it somewhat resembles it in its agreeable smell. The price at which it sells is forty asses per pound.

SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and seventy-four.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,2 Mucianus,3 Virgil,4 Fabianus,5 Sebosus,6 Pomponius Mela,7 Flavius,8 Procilius,9 Hyginus,10 Trogus,11 Claudius Cæsar,12 Cornelius Nepos,13 Sextus Niger14 who wrote a Greek treatise on Medicine, Cassius Hemina,15 L. Piso,16 Tuditanus,17 Antias.18

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Theophrastus,19 Herodotus,20 Cal- listhenes,21 Isigonus,22 Clitarchus,23 Anaximenes,24 Duris,25 Nearchus,26 Onesicritus,27 Polycritus,28 Olympiodorus,29 Diognetus,30 Nicobulus,31 Anticlides,32 Chares33 of Mitylene, Men- mechmus,34 Dorotheus35 of Athens, Lycus,36 Antseus,37 Ephippus,38 Dion,39 Demodes,40 Ptolemy Lagus,41 Marsyas42 of Macedon, Zoilus43 of Macedon, Democritus,44 Amphilochus,45 Aristomachus,46 Alexander Polyhistor,47 Juba,48 Apollodorus49 who wrote on Perfumes, Heraclides50 the physician, Archidemus51 the physician, Dionysius52 the physician, Democlides53 the physician, Euphron54 the physician, Muesides55 the physician, Diagoras56 the physician, Iollas57 the physician, Heraclides"58 of Tarentum, Xenocrates59 of Ephesus, Eratosthenes.60

1 Bauhin thinks that this juice or oil was extracted from the nutmeg, the Myristica moschata of Thunberg, and Bonastre is of the same opinion. But, as Fée observes, the nutmeg is a native of India, and Pliny speaks of the Comacum as coming from Syria. Some authors, he adds, who are of this opinion, think also that the other cinnamomum mentioned by Pliny was no other than the nutmeg, which they take to be the same as the chrysobalanos, or "golden nut," of Galen.

2 See end of B. ii.

3 See end of B. ii.

4 See end of B. vii.

5 Fabianus Papirius: see end of B. ii.

6 See end of B. ii.

7 See end of B. iii.

8 The son of a freedman; some further particulars are given of him by Pliny in B. xxxiii. c. 1. By his talents and eloquence, he attained considerable distinction at Rome. He was made a senator by Appius Claudius, and was curule ædile B.C. 303. He published a collection of legal rules, entitled the "Jus Flavianum."

9 See end of B. viii.

10 See end of B. iii.

11 See end of B. vii.

12 See end of B. v.

13 See end of B. ii.

14 Probably the same as the Niger mentioned by Dioscorides as a writer on Materia Medica. He is also mentioned by Epiphanius and Galen; but Dioscorides charges him with numerous blunders in his accounts of vegetable productions.

15 A compiler of Roman history, who wrote at the beginning of the second century before Christ. He wrote Annals of Rome from the earliest to his own times: only a few fragments of his work have survived.

16 See end of B. ii.

17 C. Sempronius Tuditanus, consul of Rome, B.C. 129. He wrote a book of historical Commentaries. He was maternal grandfather of the orator Hortensius.

18 See end of B. ii.

19 See end of B. iii.

20 See end of B. ii.

21 A native of Olynthus. His mother, Hero, was a cousin of the philosopher Aristotle, under whose tutelage he was educated. It is generally supposed that he was put to death by order of Alexander the Great, but in what manner is a matter of uncertainty. He wrote a History of Greece, and numerous other learned works. Some MSS. are still extant, professing to be his writings; but they are generally looked upon as spurious.

22 See end of B. vii.

23 See end of B. vii.

24 A native of Lampsacus, and disciple of Diogenes the Cynic. He accompanied Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expedition. He wrote a history of the reigns of Philip and Alexander, and a history of Greece, in twelve books. Only a few fragments of his works are left.

25 See end of B. vii.

26 See end of B. vi.

27 See end of B. ii.

28 There was a native of Mendæ. in Sicily, of this name, who wrote a history of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse. It was, probably, a different person of this name who wrote a work on the East; if such is the case, Pliny most probably quotes from the work of the latter.

29 Nothing seems to be known of this writer; but it is suggested that he may have accompanied Nearchus and Onesicritus in the East.

30 See end of B. vi.

31 Nothing is known of him; but Hardouin suggests that he may have accompanied Alexander the Great in his Eastern expedition.

32 See end of B. iv.

33 An officer at the court of Alexander the Great, who wrote a collection of anecdotes respecting the private life and reign of that emperor, some fragments of which are preserved by Athenæus.

34 See end of B. iv.

35 He is supposed to have been the same with the person of that name who wrote a history of Alexander the Great; but nothing further is known of him.

36 A physician of Neapolis, who is supposed to have lived in the early part of the first century after Christ.

37 A writer on medicine, of whom all further particulars have perished.

38 Possibly Ephippus of Olynthus, a Greek historian of the reign of Alexander the Great.

39 See end of B. viii.

40 An ancient Greek historian, mentioned also by Strabo; but no further particulars are known of him.

41 The founder of the dynasty of the Egyptian Ptolemies, which ended in Cleopatra, B.C. 38: he wrote a narrative of the wars of Alexander, which is frequently quoted by the later writers, and served as the groundwork for Arrian's history.

42 A native of Pella, who wrote a history of Macedonia down to the wars of Alexander the Great. There was another writer of the same name, a native of Philippi, who also wrote a treatise, either geographical or historical, relative to Macedonia.

43 A native of Amphipolis, though some make him to have been an Ephesian. The age in which he lived is not exactly known. He attacked the writings of Homer with such uncalled-for asperity, that his name has been proverbial for a snarling, captious critic. He is said to have met with a violent death. His literary productions were numerous, but none of them have come down to us.

44 See end of B. ii.

45 See end of B. viii.

46 See end of B. xi.

47 See end of B. iii.

48 See end of B. v.

49 See end of B. xi.

50 A physician of Heraclea, near Ephesus. He wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates.

51 Nothing is known of him; but it has been suggested that he may have been the author of a few fragments on veterinary surgery which still exist.

52 There were many physicians and surgeons of this name, but probably Dionysius of Samos is meant, or else Sallustius Dionysius, quoted by Pliny, B. xxxii. c. 26.

53 Also called Democedes, a physician of Crotona, who practised at Ægina. He was afterwards physician to Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, and King Darius, whose foot he cured. His work on medicine has perished.

54 Nothing whatever is known of this writer.

55 Nothing is known relative to this writer.

56 Nothing is known of him.

57 Or Iölaus, a native of Bithynia, who wrote a work on Materia Medica. He was probably a contemporary of Heraclides of Tarentum, in the third century B.C.

58 A physician of Tarentum, who belonged to the Empiric sect. He wrote several medical works, and is highly commended by Galen. Only a few fragments of his writings remain.

59 An historical and geographical writer, frequently quoted by Pliny. From the mention made of him in B. xxxvii. c. 2, it would appear that the flourished during the time of Pliny, or very shortly before.

60 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.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
38 BC (1)
303 BC (1)
129 BC (1)
hide References (5 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: