Chapter XXXIII: Book XVII (8)

[1450] “Absinthites” made of the Artemisia Pontica of Linnæus. A medicinal wine is still prepared with wormwood; and “apsinthe,” a liqueur much esteemed in France, is made from it.

[1451] Hyssopites.

[1452] Hyssopites officinalis of Linnæus.

[1453] Helleborites.

[1454] Scammonites.

[1455] Fée says that this is not the fact; and queries whether the vulgar notion still entertained on this subject, may not be traced up to our author. It is a not uncommon belief that roses smell all the sweeter if onions are planted near them.

[1456] Lavendula stœchas of Linnæus. See B. xxvii. c. 107.

[1457] Gentiana lutea of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 34. Gentian wine is still made.

[1458] Thymus tragoriganum of Linnæus. See B. xx. c. 68.

[1459] Origanum dictamnus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 63.

[1460] Asarum Europæum of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 27.

[1461] Query, if not carrot? See B. xxv. c. 64.

[1462] A variety of salvia or sage: it will be mentioned again, further on.

[1463] Laserpitium hirsutum of Linnæus. See B. xxv. cc. 11, 12, and 13.

[1464] Acorus calamus of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 100.

[1465] See B. xxi. c. 32.

[1466] See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1467] Atrapora mandragora of Linnæus. This wine would act as a narcotic poison, it would appear.

[1468] Andropogon schœnanthus of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 72.

[1469] The origin and meaning of these names are unknown.

[1470] See B. xii. c. 11. Juniperus Lycia, and Juniperus Phœnicea of Linnæus.

[1471] Cupressus sempervirens of Linnæus.

[1472] Laurus nobilis of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. 39.

[1473] Juniperus communis of Linnæus.

[1474] See B. xiii. c. 12. The Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1475] See B. xii. c. 36. The Pistacia lentiscus of Linnæus.

[1476] “Chamelæa.” The Granium Cnidium, Daphne Cnidium, and Daphne cneorum of Linnæus. See B. xiii. c. 35. Venomous plants, which, taken internally, would be productive of dangerous results.

[1477] Chamæpitrys. The Teucrium chamæpitrys of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 20.

[1478] Chamædrys. The Teucrium chamædrys of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. c. 80. Dioscorides mentions most of these so-called wines.

[1479] Mead, or metheglin. See B. xxii. c. 51.

[1480] There is no ground, Fée says, for this recommendation.

[1481] Stoves are now used for this purpose.

[1482] “Hydromēlum,” on the other hand, made of water and apples, was the same as our modern cider.

[1483] See B. xxiii. c. 9.

[1484] “Subfervefactis.” “Just come on the boil.”

[1485] The oxymel of modern times contains no salt, and is only used as a medicament.

[1486] As drinks, no doubt; and with good reason, as to most of them.

[1487] Coactus.

[1488] Our medicinal wines will mostly keep longer than this, owing probably to the difference in the mode of making the real wines that form their basis.

[1489] There is little doubt that this is fabulous: wine taken in excess, we know, is productive of loss of the senses, frenzy in the shape of delirium tremens.

[1490] This is not unlikely; for, as Fée remarks, the red wines, containing a large proportion of alcohol, act upon the brain and promote sleep, while the white wines, charged with carbonic gas, are productive of wakefulness.

[1491] Or healing vine. See B. xxiii. c. 11.

[1492] “Libanios.” Probably incense was put in this wine, to produce the flavour.

[1493] From ἀ, “not,” and σπένδειν, “to make libation.”

[1494] See c. 9 of this Book. It was introduced, probably, from Thasos.

[1495] From ἐκβάλλω, “to eject.”

[1496] Apothecis.

[1497] He alludes to the working of wines in periods of extreme heat; also in the spring.

[1498] Of our modern wines, Madeira and Bourdeaux improve by being carried across sea. Burgundy, if any thing, deteriorates, by the diminution of its bouquet.

[1499] After the grapes had been trodden and pressed, the husks were taken out and their edges cut, and then again subjected to pressure: the result was known as “tortivum,” or “circumcisivum,” a wine of very inferior quality.

[1500] He alludes to the young shoots, which have an agreeable acidity, owing to acetic and tartaric acids.

[1501] Acetic acid; the result, no doubt, of the faulty mode of manufacture universally prevalent; their wines contained evidently but little alcohol.

[1502] See B. xxiii. c. 24, and B. xxxvi. c. 48.

[1503] A process very likely, as Fée remarks, to turn the wines speedily to vinegar.

[1504] Down to one-third. This practice of using boiled grape-juice as a seasoning, is still followed in Spain in making some of the liqueurs; but it is not generally recommended.

[1505] B. xvi. c. 21.

[1506] Asia Minor, namely.

[1507] B. xiii. c. 12.

[1508] B. xii. c. 37.

[1509] It produces but a very minute quantity of resin, which is no longer an article of commerce.

[1510] See B. xiii. c. 11, and B. xvi. c. 21. Not the cedar of Lebanon, probably, which only gives a very small quantity of resin, but one of the junipers.

[1511] Fée suggests that this may have been the resin of the Arabian terebinth.

[1512] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1513] Perhaps from the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnæus.

[1514] This was made from the terebinth: but the modern resin of Colophon is extracted from varieties of the coniferæ.

[1515] See B. xxiv. c. 22.

[1516] Earths are not soluble in oils.

[1517] As being a mark of extreme effeminacy.

[1518] The greater the quantity of alcohol, the more resin the wine would be able to hold in solution.

[1519] See B. xvi. c. 22.

[1520] “Crapula” properly means head-ache, and what is not uncommonly known as “seediness.” Resined wine was thought to be productive of these effects, and hence obtained the name. This kind of wine was used itself, as we see above, in seasoning the other kinds. Fée remarks, that in reality resins have no such effect as imparting body to weak wines.

[1521] The whole of this passage is hopelessly corrupt, and we can only guess at the meaning.

[1522] We have already stated that “vappa” is properly vinegar, which has been exposed to the air and has lost its flavour. In this fresh chemical change, which he calls a second fermentation, the wine becomes vinegar; and probably in the cases he mentions, for some peculiar reason, its speedy transition to “vappa” could not be arrested.

[1523] Mixed with water, it was the “posca,” or common drink of the Roman soldiers; and it was used extensively both by Greeks and Romans in their cooking, and at meals.

[1524] In c. 24.

[1525] By the mixture of ashes, Fée says, the wines would lose their colour, and have a detestable alkaline flavour.

[1526] A perfect absurdity, Fée remarks.

[1527] B. xvi. cc. 16-23.

[1528] Bitterness, driness, and a disagreeable smell.

[1529] Georg. ii. 498.

[1530] See B. iv. c. 12.

[1531] See B. xii. c. 36.

[1532] See B. xxi. c. 19.

[1533] Bees’ wax, Fée remarks, would not have this effect, but vinegar vessels would.

[1534] De Re Rust. c. 23.

[1535] The second “squeezings.”

[1536] If the wine is turning to vinegar, subacetate of lead will be formed.

[1537] They are tartrates, and have no affinity at all with nitre.

[1538] Casks, in fact, similar to those used in France at the present day. In Spain they use earthen jars and the skins of animals.

[1539] Oblong earthen vessels, used as vats.

[1540] “Ventruosa.” He means “round.”

[1541] As oblong ones, probably.

[1542] While fermenting, and before racking off.

[1543] Flos vini, the Mycoderma vini of Desmazieres, a mould or pellicule which forms on the surface, and afterwards falls and is held in suspension.

[1544] Vessels of lead are never used for this purpose at the present day; as that metal would oxidize too rapidly, and liquids would have great difficulty in coming to a boil. A slow fire must have been used by the ancients.

[1545] They were thought to give a bad flavour to the sapa or defrutum.

[1546] A mere puerility, as Fée remarks.

[1547] He does not state the reason, nor does it appear to be known. At the present day warmed wine is sometimes given to a jaded horse, to put him on his legs again.

[1548] Though practised by those who wished to drink largely, this was considered to diminish the flavour of delicate wines.

[1549] See B. xxii. c. 23, and B. xxv. c. 95; also c. 7 of the present Book. Wine is no longer considered an antidote to cicuta or hemlock.

[1550] See B. xxxvi. c. 42.

[1551] This seems to be the meaning of “lectum;” but the passage is obscure.

[1552] Tunicam.

[1553] He satirizes, probably, some kind of gymnastic exercises that had been introduced to promote the speedy passage of the wine through the body.

[1554] “In vino veritas.”

[1555] Fée remarks that this is one proof that the wine of the ancients was essentially different in its nature from ours. In our day wine gives anything but a “pallid” hue.

[1556] “Rapere vitam.”

[1557] See B. xxiii. c. 23.

[1558] Three gallons and three pints!! There must have been some jugglery in this performance.

[1559] Probably towards those guilty of excesses in wine.

[1560] As Præfectus Urbis.

[1561] Love of drinking.

[1562] The mode of testing whether any “heeltaps” were left or not. It was this custom, probably, that gave rise to the favourite game of the cottabus.

[1563] Dr. Middleton, in his Life of Cicero, in his unlimited partiality for the family, quotes this as an instance of courage and high spirit.

[1564] According to Paterculus, he was fond of driving about in a chariot, crowned with ivy, a golden goblet in his hand, and dressed like Bacchus, by which title he ordered himself to be addressed.

[1565] He alludes to beer, or rather sweet wort, for hops were not used till the latter part, probably, of the middle ages. Lupines were sometimes used for flavouring beer.

[1566] Diodorus Siculus says that the Egyptian beer was nearly equal to wine in strength and flavour.

[1567] See end of B. iii.

[1568] See end of B. vii.

[1569] See end of B. vii.

[1570] See end of B. iii.

[1571] See end of B. x.

[1572] See end of B. xi.

[1573] See end of B. ii.

[1574] Decimus Junius Silanus. He was commissioned by the senate, about B.C. 146, to translate into Latin the twenty-eight books of Mago, the Carthaginian, on Agriculture. See B. xviii. c. 5.

[1575] See end of B. x.

[1576] See end of B. vii.

[1577] See end of B. iii.

[1578] See end of B. iii.

[1579] Julius Græcinus. He was one of the most distinguished orators of his time. Having refused to accuse M. Julius Silanus, he was put to death A.D. 39. He wrote a work, in two books, on the culture of the vine.

[1580] He was a contemporary of Celsus and Columella, the latter of whom states that he wrote a work on a peculiar method of cultivating the vine. See also B. xvii. c. 18.

[1581] See end of B. viii.

[1582] See end of B. vii.

[1583] See end of B. viii.

[1584] Nothing is known of him. He may possibly have written on Husbandry, and seems to have spoken in dispraise of the son of Cicero. See c. 28 of the present Book.

[1585] The famous Roman Comic poet, born B.C. 184. Twenty of his comedies are still in existence.

[1586] For Alfius Flavius, see end of B. ix.; for Cneius Flavius, see end of B. xii.

[1587] Or Dorsenus Fabius, an ancient Comic dramatist, censured by Horace for the buffoonery of his characters, and the carelessness of his productions. In the 15th Chapter of this Book, Pliny quotes a line from his _Acharistio_.

[1588] Q. Mutius Scævola, consul B.C. 95, and assassinated by C. Flavius Fimbria, having been proscribed by the Marian faction. He wrote several works on the Roman law, and Cicero was in the number of his disciples.

[1589] Sextus Ælius Pætus Catus, a celebrated jurisconsult, and consul B.C. 198. He wrote a work on the Twelve Tables.

[1590] See end of B. iii.

[1591] Son of Corvinus Messala. He appears to have been a man of bad repute: of his writings nothing seems to be known.

[1592] See end of B. ii.

[1593] A freedman of Pompey, by whose command he translated into Latin the work of Mithridates on Poisons. After Pompey’s death, he maintained himself by keeping a school at Rome.

[1594] For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. Fabianus Sabinus is supposed to have been the same person.

[1595] See end of B. xii.

[1596] He is mentioned by the elder Seneca, but nothing whatever is known of him.

[1597] See end of B. vii.

[1598] See end of B. iii.

[1599] See end of B. ii.

[1600] See end of B. ii.

[1601] See end of B. viii.

[1602] See end of B. viii.

[1603] See end of B. viii.

[1604] See end of B. iv.

[1605] See end of B. viii.

[1606] See end of B. viii.

[1607] See end of B. viii.

[1608] See end of B. viii.

[1609] See end of B. viii.

[1610] See end of B. viii.

[1611] See end of B. viii.

[1612] See end of B. viii.

[1613] See end of B. xiii.

[1614] See end of B. viii.

[1615] See end of B. vi.

[1616] See end of B. viii.

[1617] Supposed to have been a writer on Agriculture, but nothing further is known of him.

[1618] See end of B. viii.

[1619] See end of B. viii.

[1620] See end of B. ii.

[1621] See end of B. x.

[1622] See end of B. viii.

[1623] See end of B. viii.

[1624] See end of B. viii.

[1625] See end of B. viii.

[1626] See end of B. xii.

[1627] See end of B. viii.

[1628] See end of B vii.

[1629] See end of B. ii.

[1630] See end of B. v.

[1631] Hist. Plant. iv. c.

[1632] The Olea Europæa of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 31.

[1633] This has not been observed to be the fact. It has been known to grow in ancient Mesopotamia, more than one hundred leagues from the sea.

[1634] It is supposed that it is indigenous to Asia, whence it was introduced into Africa and the South of Europe. There is little doubt that long before the period mentioned by Pliny, it was grown in Africa by the Carthaginians, and in the South of Gaul, at the colony of Massilia.

[1635] This work of Hesiod is no longer in existence; but the assertion is exaggerated, even if he alludes to the growth of the tree from seed. Fée remarks that a man who has sown the olive at twenty, may gather excellent fruit before he arrives at old age. It is more generally propagated by slips or sets. If the trunk is destroyed by accident, the roots will throw out fresh suckers.

[1636] This is the case. We may remark that the tree will grow in this country, but the fruit never comes to maturity.

[1637] Georg. ii. 85, also ii. 420.

[1638] Probably the Olea maximo fructu of Tournefort. It has its name from the Greek ὄρχις the “testis,” a name by which it is still known in some parts of Provence.

[1639] Or “shuttle” olive. Probably the modern pickoline, or long olive.

[1640] Probably the Olea media rotunda præcox of Tournefort. It is slightly bitter.

[1641] This is so much the case, that though the olives of Spain and Portugal are among the finest, their oils are of the very worst quality.

[1642] It does not appear that the method of preparing oil by the use of boiling water was known to the ancients. Unripe olives produce an excellent oil, but in very small quantities. Hence they are rarely used for the purpose.

[1643] Called “virgin,” or “native” oil in France, and very highly esteemed.

[1644] Sporta.

[1645] “Exilibus regulis.” A kind of wooden strainer, apparently invented to supersede the wicker, or basket strainer.

[1646] It is more insipid the riper the fruit, and the less odorous.

[1647] By absorbing the oxygen of the air. It may be preserved two or three years even, in vessels hermetically closed. The oil of France keeps better than any other.

[1648] As well as the grape.

[1649] In consequence of the faulty mode of manufacture, the oil of Italy is now inferior to that of France. The oil of Aix is particularly esteemed.

[1650] In Campania. See B. xvii. c. 3. Horace and Martial speak in praise of the Venafran olive. Hardouin suggests that Licinius Crassus may have introduced the Licinian olive.

[1651] The heat of Africa is unfavourable to the olive.

[1652] The fæces, marc, or lees. This is a crude juice contained in the cellular tissue of the fruit, known as _viridine_ or _chlorophylle_.

[1653] This is owing, Fée says, to a sort of fermentation, which alters the tissue of the cells containing the oil, displaces the constituent elements, and forms others, such as mucus, sugar, acetic acid, ammoniac, &c. When ripe, the olive contains four oils; that of the skin, the flesh, the stone, and the kernel.

[1654] In B. xii. c. 60.

[1655] See B. xviii. c. 74.

[1656] 16th of September.

[1657] De Causis, B. i. c. 23.

[1658] This cannot possibly _increase_ the oil, but it would render it more fluid, and thereby facilitate its escape from the cells of the berry.

[1659] But Cato, Re Rust. c. 144, adds the very significant words, “injussu domini aut custodis.” “Without the leave of the owner or the keeper.”

[1660] It is found that the olive, after an abundant season, will not bear in the following year; probably the result of exhaustion.

[1661] More commonly spelt “pausia.”

[1662] “Regia.” It is impossible to identify these varieties.

[1663] 8th of February.

[1664] This assertion of Pliny is not generally true. The large olives of Spain yield oil very plentifully.

[1665] Probably a member of the variety known to naturalists as the Olea fructu majori, carne crassâ, of Tournefort, the royal olive or “triparde” of the French. The name is thought to be from the Greek φαῦλος, the fruit being considered valueless from its paucity of oil.

[1666] There are but few olive-trees in either Egypt or Decapolis at the present day, and no attempts are made to extract oil from them.

[1667] “Carnis.” He gives this name to the solid part, or pericarp.

[1668] See B. iii. c. 9.

[1669] These methods are not now adopted for preserving the olive. The fruit are first washed in an alkaline solution, and then placed in salt and water. The colymbas was so called from κολυμβάω, “to swim,” in its own oil, namely. Dioscorides descants on the medicinal properties of the colymbades. B. i. c. 140.

[1670] There are several varieties known of this colour, and more particularly the fruit of the Olea atro-rubens of Gouan.

[1671] The Spanish olive, Hardouin says. Fée thinks that the name “superba,” “haughty,” is given figuratively, as meaning rough and austere.

[1672] The olives of the present Merida, in Spain, are of a rough, disagreeable flavour.

[1673] This seems to be the meaning of “pinguis;” but, as Fée observes, salt would have no such effect as here stated, but would impart a disagreeable flavour to the oil.

[1674] Fée regards this assertion as quite fabulous.

[1675] It will be stated in B. xxviii. c. 13, to what purposes this abominable collection of filth was applied.

[1676] 15th of July. He alludes to the inspection of the Equites, which originally belonged to the Censors, but afterwards to the Emperors. On this occasion there was “recognitio,” or “review,” and then a “transvectio,” or “procession” of the horsemen.

[1677] The ovation was a lesser triumph, at which the general entered the city not in a chariot, but on foot. In later times, however, the victor entered on horseback: and a wreath of myrtle, sometimes laurel, was worn by him. For further particulars as to the ovation, see c. 38 of the present Book.

[1678] Or “oleaster.”

[1679] De Re Rust. c. 6.

[1680] A middling or even poor soil is chosen for the olive at the present day.

[1681] Apparently meaning the “white wax” olive.

[1682] In warm countries, a site exposed to the north is chosen: in colder ones, a site which faces the south.

[1683] See B. xvii. c. 37. This moss has not been identified with precision; but the leaf of the olive is often attacked by an _erysiphus_, known to naturalists as the Alphitomorpha communis; but it is white, not of a red colour.

[1684] Fée queries how any one could possibly eat olives that had been steeped in a solution of mastich. They must have been nauseous in the extreme.

[1685] De Re Rust. c. 64.

[1686] “Fracibus.” The opinion of Pliny, that olives deteriorate by being left in the store-room, is considered to be well founded; the olives being apt to ferment, to the deterioration of the oil: at the same time, he is wrong in supposing that the amount of oil diminishes by keeping the berries.

[1687] “Cortinas.” If we may judge from the name, these vessels were three-footed, like a tripod.

[1688] There are no good grounds for this recommendation, which is based on the erroneous supposition that heat increases the oil in the berry. The free circulation of the air also ought not to be restricted, as nothing is gained by it. In general, the method of extracting the oil is the same with the moderns as with the ancients, though these last did not employ the aid of boiling water.

[1689] Labra.

[1690] A “making,” or “batch.”

[1691] Or “flower.”

[1692] It may be remarked, that in this Chapter Pliny totally confounds fixed oils, volatile oils, and medicinal oils. Those in the list which he here gives, and which are not otherwise noticed in the Notes, may be considered to belong to this last class.

[1693] The oleaster furnishes but little oil, and it is seldom extracted. The oil is thinner than ordinary olive oil, and has a stronger odour.

[1694] The Daphne Cneorum and Daphne Cnidium of botanists. See B. xiii. c. 35, also B. xxiv. c. 82. Fée doubts if an oil was ever made from the chamelæa.

[1695] See B. xxiii. c. 41: the Ricinus communis of Linnæus, which abounds in Egypt at the present day. Though it appears to have been formerly sometimes used for the table, at the present day the oil is only known as “castor” oil, a strong purgative. It is one of the fixed oils. The Jews and Abyssinian Christians say that it was under this tree that Jonah sat.

[1696] A “tick.”

[1697] This method, Fée says, is still pursued in America.

[1698] See B. xiii. c. 2. One of the fixed oils.

[1699] An essential oil may be extracted from either; it is of acrid taste, green, and aromatic; but does not seem to have been known to the ancients. The berries give by decoction a fixed oil, of green colour, sweet, and odoriferous. The oils in general here spoken of by Pliny as extracted from the laurel, are medicinal oils.

[1700] The Laurus latifolia of Bauhin.

[1701] The Myrtus latifolia Romana of Bauhin. It yields an essential oil, and by its decoction might give a fixed oil, in small quantity, but very odoriferous. As boiled with olive oil, he treats it as a volatile oil.

[1702] See B. xxv. c. 100. This myrtle is the Ruscus aculeatus of Linnæus.

[1703] See B. xiii. c. 29, and B xxiii. c. 45. A volatile oil might be extracted from the citrus, if one of the thuyæ, as also from the cypress.

[1704] See B. xxiii. c. 45. It is a fixed oil, still considerably used in some parts of Europe.

[1705] From the Greek καρύα, a “walnut.”

[1706] “Pitch oil.” See B. xxiv. c. 11. This would be a volatile oil.

[1707] See B. xxiii. c. 45, also B. xiii. c. 35. Fée is of opinion, that as no fixed oil can be extracted from the Daphne Cnidium or Daphne Cneorum, Pliny must allude to a medicinal composition, like the oil of wild myrtle, previously mentioned.

[1708] A fixed oil. See B. xii. c. 36. The seeds were used for making it. See B. xxiii. c. 45.

[1709] See B. xii. c. 51, and B. xxiii. c. 45. The leaves of the Lawsonia are very odoriferous.

[1710] The myrobalanus, or ben. See B. xii. c. 46, and B. xxiii. c. 46.

[1711] Neither the chesnut nor rice produce any kind of fixed oil.

[1712] See B. xvii. c. 13.

[1713] Or Fish-eaters. See B. xxxii. c. 38. This is one of the fixed oils.

[1714] In reality, no fixed oil can be obtained from them.

[1715] Or wild vine. See B. xii. c. 61, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1716] Not an oil, so much as a medicinal preparation. Dioscorides mentions as component parts of it, omphacium, sweet rush, Celtic nard, aspalathus, costus, and must. It received its name from γλεῦκος “must.”

[1717] The Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus. See B. xii. c 52, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1718] See B. xii. c. 48.

[1719] See B. xii. c. 54, and B. xiii. c. 2.

[1720] See B. xii. c. 29.

[1721] See B. xii. c. 57.

[1722] See B. xiii. c. 2, p. 163.

[1723] See B. xii. c. 41.

[1724] See B. xiii. c. 2.

[1725] Fée doubts the possibility of such a resemblance.

[1726] Hyoscyamus. A medicinal oil is still extracted from it. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1727] This medicinal oil is no longer used. The Lupinus albus was formerly held in greater esteem than it is now.

[1728] The Raphanus sativus of Linnæus. See B. xix. c. 26. This is one of the fixed oils; varieties of it are rape oil, and colza oil, now so extensively used.

[1729] From the Greek χόρτος, “grass.” This medicinal oil would be totally without power or effect.

[1730] A fixed oil is still extracted in Egypt from the grain known as sesamum.

[1731] See B. xxii. c. 15.

[1732] From κνίδη, a “nettle.” The nettle, or Urtica urens of Linnæus, has no oleaginous principles in its seed.

[1733] Lily oil is still used as a medicinal composition: it is made from the petals of the white lily, Lilium candidum of Linnæus.

[1734] From Selga, a town of Pisidia. See B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1735] See B. iii. c. 9, and B. xxiii. c. 49.

[1736] A volatile oil, mixed with a small proportion of empyreumatic oil and carbon.

[1737] “Oil-honey.” Probably a terebinthine, or oleo-resin. See B. xxiii. c. 50.

[1738] When rancid and oxygenized by age, it has an irritating quality, and may be found useful for herpetic diseases.

[1739] It very probably will have this effect; but at the expense of the colour of the ivory, which very soon will turn yellow.

[1740] It has quite lost its ancient repute: the only use it is now put to is the manufacture of an inferior soap. See B. xxiii. c. 37.

[1741] De Re Rust. cc. 130, 169.

[1742] Dolia and cadi. Fée observes, that this, if done with the modern vessels, would have a tendency to make the oil turn rancid.

[1743] On the contrary, Fée is inclined to think it would attract them, from its mucilaginous properties.

[1744] Olive oil, however, has a tendency to generate verdigrease in copper vessels.

[1745] This, as Fée remarks, is probably so absurd as not to be worth discussing.

[1746] Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.

[1747] If she happens to have destroyed the buds, but not otherwise.

[1748] The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.

[1749] See B. xvi. c. 23. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an agreeable flavour.

[1750] Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The nuts are slightly resinous.

[1751] Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at the present day to make this preparation.

[1752] The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.

[1753] From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called “melicotones.”

[1754] Or “golden apple.” The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an emblem of love.

[1755] Apparently meaning the “sparrow quince.” Dioscorides, Galen, and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?

[1756] “Early ripener.”

[1757] Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the pear is.

[1758] Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.

[1759] Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.

[1760] We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.

[1761] The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of modern botanists.

[1762] “Mala.” The term “malum,” somewhat similar to “pome” with us, was applied to a number of different fruits: the orange, the citron, the pomegranate, the apricot, and others.

[1763] Or peach.

[1764] See B. xiii. c. 34.

[1765] Or “pound-weight” pears: the Pirus volema of Linnæus.

[1766] Or “hard-berry”—probably in reference to the firmness of the flesh. It is generally thought to be the nectarine.

[1767] “Præcocia.” It is generally thought that in this name originates the word “apricot,” the Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus. There is, however, an early peach that ripens by the middle of July, though it is very doubtful if it was known to Pliny.

[1768] “From above.”

[1769] Perhaps the Prunus ungarica of naturalists, the black damask plum; or else the Prunus perdrigona, the perdrigon.

[1770] Probably the Prunus galatensis of naturalists.

[1771] “Hordearia:” the Prunus præcox of naturalists; probably our harvest plum.

[1772] Or “ass”-plum. The Prunus acinaria of naturalists: the cherry plum of the French.

[1773] Or “wax plum.” The Prunus cereola of naturalists: the mirabelle of the French.

[1774] Possibly the Prunus enucleata of Lamarck: the myrobalan of the French. Many varieties, however, are purple.

[1775] There are two opinions on this: that it is the Prunus Claudiana of Lamarck, the “Reine Claude” of the French; or else that it is identical with the apricot already mentioned, remarkable for the sweetness of its smell.

[1776] Or nut-prune.

[1777] The Prunus insititia of Linnæus.

[1778] The result of this would only be a plum like that of the tree from which the graft was cut.

[1779] The same as with reference to the graft on the apple.

[1780] This is probably quite fabulous.

[1781] B. xiii. c. 10.

[1782] The Prunus Damascena of the naturalists; our common damson, with its numerous varieties.

[1783] Probably the Cordia myxa of Linnæus; the Sebestier of the French. It has a viscous pulp, and is much used as a pectoral. It grows only in Syria and Egypt; and hence Fée is inclined to reject what Pliny says as to its naturalization at Rome, and the account he gives as to its being engrafted on the sorb.

[1784] _I. e._ Asia Minor.

[1785] Hospitium.

[1786] See B. xiii. c. 17. The Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille.

[1787] It was this probably, and not the peach-tree, that would not bear fruit in the isle of Rhodes.

[1788] Perseus.

[1789] Fée remarks that the wild plum, the Prunus silvestris or insititia of Linnæus, was to be found in Italy before the days of Cato.

[1790] See B. xii. c. 7.

[1791] Of Media.

[1792] Its fruit will ripen in France, as far north as Tours. It is the Zizyphus vulgaris of Lamarck. It resembles a small plum, and is sometimes used as a sweetmeat. The confection sold as jujube paste is not the dried jelly of this fruit, but merely gum arabic and sugar, coloured.

[1793] A variety of the jujube, Fée is inclined to think. A nut-peach has also been suggested.

[1794] A.U.C. 779.

[1795] Or perhaps embankment: “agger.”

[1796] A reddish colour. For the composition of this colour, see B. xxxv. c. 24.

[1797] “Lanata;” perhaps rather the “downy” fruit; a variety of quince, Fée thinks. Pliny probably had never seen this fruit, in his opinion, and only speaks after Virgil, Ecl. ii. l. 51. “Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala.”

[1798] See B. xii. c. 6. The Matian and the Cestian apple are thought by Dalechamps to have been the French “court-pendu,” or “short stalk.”

[1799] The Scandian is thought to have been a winter pear.

[1800] Adrian Junius takes this to be the “kers-appel” of the Flemish.

[1801] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 143.

[1802] Dolia.

[1803] Hardouin says that this is the “Pomme d’api” of the French; it is the “Court-pendu” with Adrian Junius.

[1804] The “Pomme de Saint Thomas,” according to Adrian Junius: Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme de Granoi. See B. iii. c. 19, and cc. 17 and 18 of the present Book.

[1805] “Græcula.” So called, perhaps, from Tarentum, situated in Magna Græcia.

[1806] Twins. This variety is unknown.

[1807] Or “red” apple. The red calville of the French, according to Hardouin; the Pomme suzine, according to Dalechamps.

[1808] The Girandotte of the French; the appel-heeren of the Dutch.

[1809] The “early ripener.” Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme Saint Jean, the apple of St. John.

[1810] The Pomme rose, or rose apple, according to Dalechamps.

[1811] Or “erect teat.” The Pomme taponne of the French, according to Dalechamps.

[1812] Or eunuch. The Passe pomme, or Pomme grillotte of the French.

[1813] Or “leaf apple.” Fée remarks that this occasionally happens, but the apple does not form a distinct variety.

[1814] The Pomme pannete, according to Dalechamps: the Pomme gelée of Provence.

[1815] Or “lung” apple. The Pomme folane, according to Dalechamps.

[1816] The Pirus malus of Linnæus, the wild apple, or estranguillon of the French.

[1817] It is doubtful whether he does not allude here to a peculiar variety.

[1818] Or “mealy” apples.

[1819] Or “proud” pear. The Petite muscadelle, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the water-peere of the Dutch.

[1820] From Crustumium in Italy; the Poire perle, or pearl pear, according to Dalechamps: the Jacob’s peere of the Flemish.

[1821] The Poire sucrée, or “sugar-pear,” according to Hardouin; the Bergamotte, according to Dalechamps.

[1822] “Potu.” He would appear to allude to the manufacture of perry.

[1823] The Syrian pear is commended by Martial; it has not been identified, however.

[1824] The Poire musot, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the Engelsche braet-peere of the Flemish.

[1825] The Pirus Pompeiana of Linnæus. Dalechamps identifies it with the Bon chretien, and Adrian Junius with the Taffel-peere of the Flemish.

[1826] The “breast-formed.”

[1827] The Pirus Favonia of Linnæus: the Grosse poire muscadelle of the French.

[1828] The Poire prevost, according to Dalechamps.

[1829] The Poire foré, according to Dalechamps.

[1830] The Saint Thomas’s pear of the Flemish.

[1831] The Poire chat of the French, according to Dalechamps; the Riet-peere of the Flemish.

[1832] “Like onyx.” The Cuisse-madame, according to Dalechamps.

[1833] The Calveau rosat, according to Dalechamps. Perhaps the Poire d’ambre, or amber pear, of the French.

[1834] The Poire d’argent, or silver pear, according to Dalechamps.

[1835] Or “barley pear.” The Poire de Saint Jean, according to Dalechamps; the musquette or muscadella, according to Adrian Junius.

[1836] Barley-harvest.

[1837] So called from its resemblance to the “ampulla,” a big-bellied vessel with a small neck, identified with the Poire d’angoisse by Dalechamps.

[1838] The Poire de jalousie, according to Dalechamps.

[1839] Or gourd-pear. This is the “isbout” according to Adrian Junius, the Poire courge of Dalechamps, and the Poire de sarteau, or de campane of others.

[1840] The Poire de Venus, according to Adrian Junius; the Poire acciole, according to Dalechamps.

[1841] Coloured pear.

[1842] “Regium.” The Poire carmagnole, according to Dalechamps; the Mispeel-peere of the Flemish, according to Adrian Junius.

[1843] The Poire sarteau, according to Dalechamps.

[1844] Georgics, ii. 87.

[1845] “A handful”—probably the pound or pounder pear: the Bergamotte, according to Hardouin; the Bon chretien of summer, according to Adrian Junius.

[1846] De Re Rust. c. 7.

[1847] Or “Seedling.”

[1848] The “early ripener.” Fée suggests that this may be a variety of the Bon chretien.

[1849] Georgics, ii. 69. This statement of Virgil must be regarded as fabulous; grafting being impracticable with trees not of the same family, and not always successful even then.

[1850] This was probably some superstition taught by the augurs for the purpose of enveloping their profession in additional mystery and awe.

[1851] Cadis.

[1852] He probably alludes here to cider and perry. See p. 300, and B. xxiii. c. 62.

[1853] “Pulmentarii vicem;” properly “a substitute for pulmentarium,” which was anything eaten with bread, such as meat, vegetables, &c. He alludes to marmalade. The French raisine is a somewhat similar preparation from pears and quinces boiled in new wine.

[1854] “Specularibus.” He alludes to windows of transparent stone, lapis specularis, or mica; windows of glass being probably unknown in his time. The ordinary windows were merely openings closed with shutters. See B. xxxvi. c. 45.

[1855] He must allude to a kind of quince marmalade.

[1856] As Fée remarks, the fruit, if treated thus, would soon lose all the properties for which it is valued.

[1857] De Re Rust. B. i. c. 59.

[1858] A faulty proceeding, however dry it may be.

[1859] This fruit, Fée remarks, keeps but indifferently, and soon becomes soft, vinous, and acid.

[1860] An absurd superstition.

[1861] A method not unlikely to spoil the grape, from the difficulty of removing the coat thus given to it.

[1862] A very absurd notion, as Fée observes. To keep fruit in millet is also condemned.

[1863] Which, of course, must deteriorate the flavour of the grape.

[1864] It is doubtful if they will increase in size, when once plucked.

[1865] The modern authorities recommend the precisely opposite plan.

[1866] As absurd as the use of the bulb of squill.

[1867] In a pit two feet deep, &c. See above.

[1868] Capsæ.

[1869] See B. xxi. c. 49.

[1870] De Re Rust. B. xii. c. 43.

[1871] These must make raisins of the sun.

[1872] These must have been perfectly dry, or else they would tend to rot the grapes or raisins.

[1873] Columella, for instance, B. xii. c. 43.

[1874] The dust is in reality very liable to spoil the fruit, from the tenacity with which it adheres. In all these methods, little attention would seem to be paid to the retention of the flavour of the fruits.

[1875] A detestable practice, Fée says, as the oil makes an indelible mark on the grape, and gives it an abominable flavour. It is the best method to put the fruit in bags of paper or hair.

[1876] See B. xiii. c. 19.

[1877] There are about forty varieties now known.

[1878] B. xiii. c. 14, 15. These are the Ficus sycomorus of Linnæus.

[1879] In Troas; called the Alexandrian fig, from the city of Alexandria there. Fée doubts if this was really a fig, and suggests that it might be the fruit of a variety of Diospyros.

[1880] No fig-tree now known is destitute of this.

[1881] Fée treats this as an exaggeration.

[1882] From “mamilla,” a teat.

[1883] In Egypt. The Figue servantine, or cordeliere.

[1884] “Delicata.” The “bon-bouche.”

[1885] Fée suggests that this may have been the small early fig.

[1886] From Livia, the wife of Augustus.

[1887] From Pompeius Magnus.

[1888] Apparently meaning the “marsh” fig.

[1889] The Laconian reed, Theophrastus says, B. iv. c. 12.

[1890] The “white-wax” fig.

[1891] Fée queries whether it may not be the Grosse bourjasotte.

[1892] Or “people’s” fig. The small early white fig.

[1893] Or “swallow”-fig.

[1894] Or it may mean “white and black,” that being the colour of the fig. Such a variety is still known.

[1895] A Spanish variety; those of the south of Spain are very highly esteemed.

[1896] The modern “black” fig.

[1897] The sun of the former year.

[1898] In Mœsia—the present Servia and Bulgaria.

[1899] Another war is said to have originated in this fruit. Xerxes was tempted by the fine figs of Athens to undertake the invasion of Greece.

[1900] “Tertium ante diem.” In dating from an event, the Romans included both days in the computation; the one they dated _from_, and the day _of_, the event.

[1901] In sending for the fig, and thinking of this method of speaking to the feelings of his fellow-countrymen.

[1902] A place in the Forum, where public meetings were held, and certain offences tried.

[1903] He alludes to the Puteal, or enclosed space in the Forum, consecrated by Scribonius Libo, in consequence of the spot having been struck by lightning.

[1904] On the banks of the Tiber, below the Palatine Mount. The whole of this passage is in a most corrupt state, and it is difficult to extract a meaning from it.

[1905] By slips from the old tree, as Tacitus seems to say—“in novos fœtus revivisceret.”

[1906] At the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

[1907] Probably near where the Curtius Lacus had stood in the early days of Rome. The story of Metius Curtius, who leaped into the yawning gulph in the Forum, in order to save his country, is known to every classical reader.

[1908] The Forum.

[1909] See B. xix. c. 6.

[1910] The Ficus Carica of Linnæus. It _does_ bear fruit, though small, and disagreeable to the taste.

[1911] This insect is one of the Hymenoptera; the Cynips Psenes of Linnæus and Fabricius. There is another insect of the same genus, but not so well known.

[1912] Fée observes that the caprification accelerates the ripeness of the fruit, but at the expense of the flavour. For the same purpose the upper part of the fig is often pricked with a pointed quill.

[1913] “Infantiam pomi”—literally, “the infancy of the fruit.”

[1914] Fée denies the truth of this assertion.

[1915] Frumenta.

[1916] A mixture of the sugar of the fruit with the milky juice of the tree, which is a species of caoutchouc.

[1917] Capsis.

[1918] See B. iii. c. 11. The Balearic Isles still produce great quantities of excellent dried figs.

[1919] See B. iii. c. 17.

[1920] Orcæ.

[1921] Cadi.

[1922] Ground, perhaps, into a kind of flour.

[1923] Opsonii vicem. “Opsonium” was anything eaten with bread, such as vegetables, meat, and fish, for instance.

[1924] De Re Rust. c. 56.

[1925] Because they would be sure, under any circumstances, to eat plenty of them.

[1926] See B. xiii. c. 10.

[1927] These were so called from Caunus, a city of Caria, famous for its dried figs. Pronounced “Cavneas,” it would sound to the superstitious, “Cave ne eas,” “Take care that you go not.”

[1928] At Brundisium.

[1929] A.U.C. 801.

[1930] Alba Longa. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1931] The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists.

[1932] The Mespilus germanica of the botanists.

[1933] The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii folio laciniato of C. Bauhin.

[1934] The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrato of C. Bauhin, the Mespilus cotoneaster of J. Bauhin.

[1935] Its identity is matter of uncertainty; but it has been thought to be the Cratægus oxyacantha of modern botanists.

[1936] By “amplissimus,” he must mean that it spreads out very much in proportion to its height, as it is merely a shrub.

[1937] Fée thinks it a tree indigenous to the north.

[1938] The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists.

[1939] The sorb-pear.

[1940] Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus domestica of Linnæus.

[1941] Fée is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of Lamarck. Anguillara thinks that it is the Cratægus of Theophrastus, considered by Sprengel to be identical with the Cratægus azarolus of Linnæus. In ripening, the fruit of the sorb undergoes a sort of vinous fermentation: hence a kind of cider made of it.

[1942] De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 145.

[1943] The Juglans regia of Linnæus.

[1944] Tastes have probably altered since this was written.

[1945] These were rude and sometimes obscene songs sung at festivals, and more particularly marriages. While these songs were being sung at the door of the nuptial chamber, it was the custom for the husband to scramble walnuts among the young people assembled there. The walnut is the nut mentioned in Solomon’s Song, vi. 11.

[1946] Or, more probably, from the union of the two portions of the inner shell.

[1947] “Tripudium sonivium;” implying that it was considered sacred to marriage, from the use made of it by the friends of the bridegroom when thrown violently against the nuptial chamber, with the view of drowning the cries of the bride. A very absurd notion, to all appearance.

[1948] The “Persian” nut.

[1949] The “king’s” nut. The walnut-tree still abounds in Persia, and is found wild on the slopes of the Himalaya.

[1950] Implying that it comes from the Greek κάρη, “the head.” Some etymologists think that it is from the Celto-Scythian _carw_, a boat; such being the shape of the two parts of the inner shell.

[1951] It is still a common notion, Fée says, that it is highly injurious to sleep beneath a walnut-tree.

[1952] It is still used for this purpose.

[1953] Red hair was admired by the Romans. The Roman females used this juice also for dyeing their hair when grey.

[1954] They are not _entirely_ separate.

[1955] The Corylus avellana maxima of Willdenow.

[1956] The filbert, the Corylus tubulosa of Willdenow.

[1957] Abellinum, in Campania. See B. iii. c. 9.

[1958] The down on the nut is more apparent when it is young; but it is easily rubbed off. The outer coat is probably meant.

[1959] Hazel nuts are sometimes roasted in some parts of Europe, but not with us.

[1960] The Amygdalus communis of Linnæus.

[1961] De Re Rust. c. 8. Some think that this was the bitter almond; and the word “acriore,” used by Pliny, would almost seem to imply that such is the case.

[1962] Apparently the “smooth” or “bald” nut. May not a variety something like the hickory nut of America be meant?

[1963] Festus says that a kind of nut was so called, because the Prænestines, when besieged by Hannibal at Casilinum, subsisted upon them. See Livy, B. xxiii. Fée considers it only another name for the common hazel nut.

[1964] De Re Rust. c. 145.

[1965] The soft-shelled almond, or princess almond of the French; the Amygdalus communis fragilis of naturalists.

[1966] This last variety does not seem to have been identified: the hard-shell almonds do not appear to be larger than the others.

[1967] Or “soft” almond, a variety only of the Amygdalus fragilis.

[1968] There is little doubt that Fée is right in his assertion, that this great personage imposed on our author; as no trees of this family are known to bear two crops.

[1969] B. xiii. c. 10.

[1970] In c. xxi. of this Book.

[1971] The tree is the Fagus castanea of Linnæus.

[1972] Cortex.

[1973] The common mode of eating it at the present day. The Italians also take off the skin and dry the nut; thus keeping it from year to year. When required for eating, it is softened by the steam of boiling water.

[1974] Not improbably said in allusion to the fasts introduced by the Jews, who had become very numerous in Rome.

[1975] It was said to have come from Castana, a city of Pontus, whence its name “Castanea.” It is probably indigenous to Europe.

[1976] The Greek for “Jove’s acorn.”

[1977] Or “acorn chesnut.” The same variety, Fée says, that is found in the vicinity of Perigueux, small, nearly round, and without any particular flavour.

[1978] The Ganebelone chesnut of Perigueux, Fée says, answers to this description.

[1979] On account of the prickles on the outer shell.

[1980] B. xvii. c. 26.

[1981] Fée says that the royal white chesnut of the vicinity of Perigueux answers to this.

[1982] “Boiling” chesnuts.

[1983] He alludes to wild or horse chesnuts, probably.

[1984] See B. xiii. c. 16.

[1985] This skin is not eatable. It is fibrous and astringent.

[1986] In B. xvi. c. 6.

[1987] “Acinis.” The grape, ivy-berry, elder-berry, and others.

[1988] “Inter cutem succumque.”

[1989] Baccis. Some confusion is created by the non-existence of English words to denote the difference between “acinus” and “bacca.” The latter is properly the “berry;” the grape being the type of the “acinus.”

[1990] See B. xvi. c. 41. The mulberry is the Morus nigra of modern naturalists. It is generally thought that this was the only variety known to the ancients; but Fée queries, from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which represents the mulberry as changing from white to blood colour, that the white mulberry was not unknown to them; but through some cause, now unknown, was gradually lost sight of.

[1991] This is still the case with the mulberry.

[1992] See B. xvi. c. 71, and B. xxiv. c. 73. He alludes to the blackberry.

[1993] The common strawberry, the Fragaria vesca of Linnæus. See B. xxi. c. 50. A native of the Alps and the forests of Gaul, it was unknown to the Greeks.

[1994] The Arbutus unedo of Linnæus. It is one of the ericaceous trees, and its fruit bears a considerable resemblance to the strawberry—otherwise there is not the slightest affinity between them. The taste of the arbute is poor indeed, compared to that of the strawberry.

[1995] He suggests that it is so called from “unum edo,” “I eat but one;” a rather fanciful etymology, it would seem.

[1996] This supposition is not warranted, from merely the fact of there being two names.

[1997] See B. xvi. c. 52.

[1998] See B. xxiv. c. 35.

[1999] See B. xiii. c. 34.

[2000] “Baccis.” Berries, properly so called.

[2001] The Celtis Australis of Linnæus.

[2002] Supposed by some to be the holly. See B. xxv. c. 72.

[2003] He alludes to a variety of the cratægus.

[2004] The Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. It is said to have obtained its name from Cerasus, in Asia Minor, where Lucullus found it.

[2005] He must allude to what he has stated in B. xii. c. 3, for he has nowhere said that the cherry will not grow in Egypt. It is said that the cherry is not to be found in Egypt at the present day.

[2006] The griotte cherry of the French, the mazzard of the English.

[2007] A variety of the mazzard, Fée thinks.

[2008] Some take this for the Cerasus Juliana, the guignier of the French, our white heart; others, again, for the merisier, our morello.

[2009] It is most generally thought that this is the Cerasus avium of botanists, our morello, which is a very tender cherry.

[2010] Or “hard berry,” the Prunus bigarella of Linnæus, the red bigaroon.

[2011] Fée queries whether it may not have received its name of “Pliniana” in compliment to our author, or one of his family.

[2012] Hardouin thinks that this Portuguese cherry is the griotte, or mazzard.

[2013] No such cherry is known at the present day.

[2014] Such a graft is impossible; the laurel-cherry must have had some other origin.

[2015] Fée suggests that this may be the early dwarf cherry.

[2016] Or “ground-cherry;” a dwarf variety, if, indeed, it was a cherry-tree at all, of which Fée expresses some doubt.

[2017] This explains, Fée says, why it will not grow in Egypt.

[2018] The Cornus mas of Linnæus. The fruit of the cornel has a tart flavour, but is not eaten in modern Europe, except by school-boys.

[2019] That produces mastich. See B. xii. c. 36.

[2020] He alludes more especially, perhaps, to the use of cicuta or hemlock by drunkards, who looked upon it as an antidote to the effects of wine. See B. xiv. c. 7.

[2021] Fée remarks, that in this enumeration there is no method. Linnæus enumerates eleven principal flavours in the vegetable kingdom—dry or insipid, aqueous, viscous, salt, acrid, styptic, sweet, fat, bitter, acid, and nauseous; these terms, however seem, some of them, to be very indefinite.

[2022] It requires considerable discernment to appropriate nicely its English synonym to these four varieties of tastes, “acer, acutus, acerbus, and acidus,” more especially when we find that the “bitter” and the “rough” are occupied already by the “amarus” and the “austerus.”

[2023] In allusion, probably, to the pungency of the aroma or bouquet.

[2024] Lenitate.

[2025] This seems to be the meaning of “succus.”

[2026] The “insipid.”

[2027] This is so much the case, that the most nauseous medicine may be taken almost with impunity—so far as taste is concerned—by tightly pressing the nostrils while taking it.

[2028] Fée remarks that this is true of fire, and of distilled or perfectly pure water; but that physiologists are universally agreed that the air has its own peculiar smell.

[2029] All fruits that are rich in sugar and amidine, Fée says, either have, or acquire in time, a vinous flavour, by the development of a certain quantity of alcohol.

[2030] In the fruit with a fixed oil, this principle succeeds, when they are ripe, to the mucilaginous.

[2031] He must mean a thinner juice, though still sweet.

[2032] About the peduncle or stalk of the fig. The juice here, Fée says, is a real sugar, of the same nature as that which circulates throughout the whole fruit: the juice in the interior of which is produced by another order of vessels.