Chapter XXXIV: Book XXXI (7)

[2623] “For the manner of a dog is to bee angrie with the stone that is thrown at him, without regard to the partie that flung it, whereupon grew the proverb in Greeke, κύων εἰς τὸν λίθον ἀγανακτοῦσα (‘A dog venting his rage upon a stone.’)”—_Holland_.

[2624] See B. xx. cc. 6, 20. It is somewhat doubtful what the “seps” really was; whether, in fact, it was a lizard at all. Littré suggests the Tridactylus saurius.

[2625] Or Ferret, probably. See c. 16 of this Book.

[2626] In c. 16 of this Book.

[2627] From the circumstance that that country was covered with herbs and plants of a medicinal nature.

[2628] So called from ἀλωπὴξ, “a fox,” an animal very subject to the loss of its hair.

[2629] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2630] So swine’s dung was called “sucerda,” and cowdung “bucerda.”

[2631] Or Maagrus, the “fly catcher,” the name of a hero, invoked at Aliphera, at the festivals of Athena, as the protector against flies. It was also a surname of Hercules. See B. x. c. 40.

[2632] See B. viii. c. 53.

[2633] In c. 32 of this Book.

[2634] A recipe well understood in the restaurants of the French provinces, Ajasson says, but it is doubtful whether with the object named by our author.

[2635] He means slugs probably.

[2636] He does not appear to state this on hearsay only!

[2637] Cobwebs are still used for this purpose, as also the fur from articles made of beaver. Ajasson mentions English taffeta.

[2638] See c. 13 of this Book.

[2639] See B. xxvi. c. 39.

[2640] A disease of the crystalline humours of the eye.

[2641] See B. x. c. 33.

[2642] “Stibium.” See B. xxxiii. c. 33.

[2643] “Exuta vere,” as suggested by Sillig, would appear a better reading than “ex utero,” which can have no meaning here.

[2644] “Viper mixture.”

[2645] See c. 35 of this Book.

[2646] In B. xi. c. 62.

[2647] As Ajasson remarks, this would be very likely to gangrene the wound.

[2648] See B. viii. c. 14. Not the Boa constrictor of modern Natural History.

[2649] In B. x. c. 3.

[2650] See B. xxxiii. c. 25, and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38.

[2651] The tongues of peacocks and larks are recommended for epilepsy, by Lampridius, in his Life of the Emperor Elagabalus. The statement in the text is, of course, a fiction.

[2652] The reading here is doubtful.

[2653] A puerile reason, Ajasson remarks. It is much more probable that the reason was, because this vein was the most easily discovered.

[2654] See B. xxviii. c. 47.

[2655] In B. xxviii. c. 47.

[2656] See B. x. c. 52.

[2657] The serpent so called.

[2658] An absurdity. The probability is, that the sight of the young birds was only _supposed_ to be destroyed, the operation being imperfectly performed.

[2659] See B. xxxvii. c. 56.

[2660] The mention of this number denotes the Eastern origin of this remedy, Ajasson remarks.

[2661] See Note 6 above.

[2662] “Lacrymantibus sine fine oculis.”

[2663] Ajasson remarks, that Pliny has given here a much more exact description of the varieties of the Spider, than in the Eleventh Book. The learned Commentator gives an elaborate discussion, of eighteen pages, on the varieties of the Spider as known to the ancients in common with modern naturalists.

[2664] Green is universally the colour least fatiguing to the eye.

[2665] See B. xx. c. 23.

[2666] See B. vii. c. 27, and B. viii. c. 41. The formic acid which ants contain may possibly possess some medicinal properties.

[2667] Ajasson suggests that this may be the Lacerta cœpium of Dandin, of a reddish brown colour, with two blackish lines running longitudinally along the back.

[2668] This insect in reality is a woodlouse, whereas the millepedes previously described are evidently caterpillars. Woodlice are still swallowed alive by schoolboys, and old women are to be found who recommend them for consumption. Holland says that woodlice are good for pains in the ears.

[2669] “Perniciosam.”

[2670] In the middle ages there were many superstitions with reference to this insect, some of which have survived to the present day.

[2671] Ajasson seems to think that this passage means that the ant _itself_ adopts this plan of catching the cricket. If so, he is certainly in error, and his attack upon Pliny’s credulity is, in this instance at least, misplaced.

[2672] See B. xi. c. 34, and B. xxv. c. 60.

[2673] “Inhabiting mills.”

[2674] See B. xix. c. 38, and B. xxv. c. 38.

[2675] Of this writer nothing is known.

[2676] See B. xxiv. c. 11.

[2677] See the end of this Book.

[2678] See end of B. ii.

[2679] See end of B. ii.

[2680] See end of B. iii.

[2681] See end of B. ii.

[2682] See end of B. vi.

[2683] See end of B. xii.

[2684] See end of B. vii.

[2685] See end of B. xiv.

[2686] See end of B. vii.

[2687] See end of B. xii.

[2688] See end of B. xxviii.

[2689] See end of B. viii.

[2690] See end of B. xviii.

[2691] See end of B. xix.

[2692] See end of B. ii.

[2693] See end of B. xx.

[2694] There are four literary persons of this name mentioned by Suidas, who appears to give but a confused account of them. He speaks of an ancient poet of Athens of this name, who wrote a Cosmogony and other works; a native of Priene, to whom some attributed the work on “Incredible Stories,” by most persons assigned to Palæphatus of Athens; an historian of Abydos, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, and a friend of Aristotle; and a grammarian of Athens of uncertain date, to whom the work on “Incredible Stories” is mostly assigned. But in the former editions of Pliny, the reading “Philopator” is mostly adopted; bearing reference, it has been suggested, to a Stoic philosopher and physician of that name mentioned by Galen, “On the Symptoms of Mental Diseases,” c. 8.

[2695] See end of B. ii.

[2696] See end of B. xxi.

[2697] See end of B. xiii.

[2698] See end of B. xi.

[2699] See end of B. xii.

[2700] There were two Greek physicians of this name, one of whom was a native of Thasos, and wrote several medical works. The other was a native of Cnidos, and, according to Suidas, a slave of the philosopher Chrysippus. Galen, however, says that he was a pupil of the physician of that name, and afterwards became physician to Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, B.C. 283-239. Hardouin is of opinion that the two physicians were one and the same person.

[2701] See end of B. xx.

[2702] Servilius Democrates, a Greek physician at Rome about the time of the Christian era. He probably received his prænomen from being a client of the Servilian family. Pliny speaks of him in B. xxiv. c. 28, and B. xxv. c. 49. He wrote several works on medicine in Greek Iambic verse, the titles and a few extracts from which are preserved by Galen.

[2703] Probably the same physician that is mentioned by Galen as belonging to the sect of the Empirici. See c. 39 of this Book.

[2704] See end of B. xx.

[2705] A fabulous king of Assyria, or Egypt, to whom was attributed the discovery of many remedies and medicaments. See B. xxx. c. 51, and B. xxxvii. c. 52.

[2706] See end of B. viii.

[2707] Beyond the mention made of his absurd remedy in c. 38 of the present Book, nothing seems to be known of this writer.

[2708] “Artes.” Medicine, religion, and the art of divination.

[2709] Ajasson remarks that, on the contrary, this is a subject of great doubt.

[2710] “Mathematicas artes.”

[2711] The title of the ancient kings of Persia.

[2712] Or Bactriana, more properly.

[2713] Magic, no doubt, has been the subject of belief from the earliest times, whatever may have been the age of Zoroaster, the Zarathustra of the Zendavesta, and the Zerdusht of the Persians. In the Zendavesta he is represented as living in the reign of Gushtasp, generally identified with Darius Hystaspes. He probably lived at a period anterior to that of the Median and Persian kings. Niebuhr regards him as a purely mythical personage.

[2714] See end of B. ii.

[2715] See end of this Book.

[2716] An exaggeration, of Oriental origin, most probably.

[2717] These names have all, most probably, been transmitted to us in a corrupted form. Ajasson gives some suggestions as to their probable Eastern form and origin.

[2718] One among the many proofs, Ajasson says, that the Iliad and the Odyssey belong to totally different periods.

[2719] In reference to the Tenth Book of the Odyssey.

[2720] See B. v. cc. 28, 29. Cicero mentions a college of Aruspices established at this city.

[2721] The name “Thessala” was commonly used by the Romans to signify an enchantress, sorceress, or witch. See the story of Apuleius, Books i. and iii.

[2722] The countries of the East.

[2723] Purely medicinal remedies.

[2724] In contradistinction to lightnings elicited by the practice of Magic.

[2725] A poetical figure, alluding to the “thunderbolts of war,” as wielded probably by Achilles and other heroes of Thessaly.

[2726] See B. ii. c. 9.

[2727] Ajasson queries whether this is a proper name, or an epithet merely.

[2728] Ajasson combats this assertion at considerable length, and with good reason. It is quite inadmissible.

[2729] The mysteries of philosophy, as Ajasson remarks, were not necessarily identical with the magic art.

[2730] In reality, Pythagoras was an exile from the tyranny of the ruler of Samos, Plato from the court of Dionysius the Younger, and Democritus from the ignorance of his fellow-countrymen of Abdera. There is no doubt that Pythagoras and Democritus made considerable researches into the art of magic as practised in the East.

[2731] Nothing is known of this writer.

[2732] Dardanus, the ancestor of the Trojans, if he is the person here meant, is said to have introduced the worship of the gods into Samothrace.

[2733] The works of Homer were transmitted in a similar manner.

[2734] Moses, no doubt, was represented by the Egyptian priesthood as a magician, in reference more particularly to the miracles wrought by him before Pharaoh. From them the Greeks would receive the notion.

[2735] In 2 Tim. iii. 8, we find the words, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth.” Eusebius, in his _Præparatio Evangelica_, B. ix., states that Jannes and Jambres, or Mambres, were the names of Egyptian writers, who practised Magic, and opposed Moses before Pharaoh. This contest was probably represented by the Egyptian priesthood as merely a dispute between two antagonistic schools of Magic.

[2736] Of this person nothing is known. The former editions mostly have “Jotapea.” “Jotapata” was the name of a town in Syria, the birthplace of Josephus.

[2737] He is mistaken here as to the nation to which Jannes belonged.

[2738] By some it has been supposed that this bears reference to Christianity, as introduced into Cyprus by the Apostle Barnabas. Owing to the miracles wrought in the infancy of the Church, the religion of the Christians was very generally looked upon as a sort of Magic. The point is very doubtful.

[2739] His itinerary, Ajasson remarks, would have been a great curiosity.

[2740] B. xxviii. c. 4.

[2741] These sacrifices forming the most august rite of the Magic art, as practised in Italy.

[2742] That this art was still practised in secret in the days of Pliny himself, we learn from the testimony of Tacitus (Annals, II. 69), in his account of the enquiries instituted on the death of Germanicus.

[2743] More particularly in the worship of their divinity Heu or Hesus, the god of war.

[2744] This he did officially, but not effectually, and the Druids survived as a class for many centuries both in Gaul and Britain.

[2745] He alludes to the British shores bordering on the Atlantic. See B. xix. c. 2.

[2746] It is a curious fact that the round towers of Ireland bear a strong resemblance to those, the ruins of which are still to be seen on the plains of ancient Persia.

[2747] “Ut dedisse Persis videri possit.” This might possibly mean, “That Persia might almost seem to have communicated it direct to Britain”. Ajasson enumerates the following superstitions of ancient Britain, as bearing probable marks of an Oriental origin: the worship of the stars, lakes, forests, and rivers; the ceremonials used in cutting the plants samiolus, selago, and mistletoe, and the virtues attributed to the adder’s egg.

[2748] Ajasson seems inclined to suggest that this may possibly bear reference to the Christian doctrines of redemption and the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

[2749] These kinds of divination, rather than magic, were called hydromancy, sphæromancy, aëromancy, astromancy, lychnomancy, lecanomancy, and axinomancy. See Rabelais, B. iii. c. 25, where a very full account is given of the Magic Art, as practised by the ancients. Coffee-grounds, glair of eggs, and rose-leaves, are still used in France for purposes of divination by the superstitious.

[2750] Suetonius says that his body was full of foul spots.

[2751] It was probably a doctrine of Magic, that an adept must not be deficient in any of his limbs.

[2752] After being conquered by the Roman general, Corbulo, he received the crown of Armenia from Nero, A.D. 63.

[2753] All vegetable substances were divided, according to their doctrine, into the pure and the impure, the rule being strictly observed at their repasts.

[2754] See end of this Book.

[2755] See B. xxv. c. 80.

[2756] Like the assertions of the famous impostor of the close of the last century, Count Cagliostro.

[2757] A mistake, of course; and one for which there is little excuse, as its eyes are easily perceptible. It is not improbably, however, that it was an impression with the ancients that its sight is impeded by the horny covering of its eyes.

[2758] In B. xxix. c. 27.

[2759] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2760] It is doubtful what is meant by this male white “water-serpent.” In B. xxxii. c. 26, he appears to include it among the fishes.

[2761] See B. xxv. c. 108.

[2762] It is a singular thing that we still hear of the maggots found in filberts being used for the same purpose.

[2763] See B. xxix. c. 17.

[2764] Marcus Empiricus says, honey.

[2765] See B. xvi. c. 19.

[2766] Dalechamps thinks that these “Herculean” ants were so called from their great size. Ajasson queries whether they may not be the “grenadier ants” of Dupont de Nemours.

[2767] See B. xxii. c. 36. Belon takes it to be the Lixus paraplecticus.

[2768] In B. xxix. c. 30.

[2769] In B. xxii. c. 21.

[2770] “Stigmata.”

[2771] See B. iv. c. 23, B. viii. c. 59, and cc. 15 and 43 of the present Book.

[2772] “Smegma.”

[2773] See B. xx. c. 2.

[2774] No very great obligation, apparently.

[2775] See B. x. c. 49.

[2776] “Riparia.”

[2777] The only birds’ nests that are _now_ taken internally are the _soutton bourong_, or, edible birds’ nests, of the Chinese.

[2778] See B. xxix. c. 39.

[2779] Marcus Empiricus says that the heart must be enclosed in a silver lupine and worn suspended from the neck, being efficacious for scrofula both in males and females. The silver lupine was probably what we should call a “locket.”

[2780] “The bull.” Dalechamps takes this to be the stag-beetle or bull-fly; but that, as Ajasson remarks, has four horns, two antennæ, and two large mandibules; in addition to which, from its size, it would hardly be called the “earth-louse.” He concludes that a lamellicorn is meant; but whether belonging to the Lucanidæ or the Scarabæidæ, it is impossible to say.

[2781] “Pediculus terræ.”

[2782] In B. xxix. c. 33.

[2783] In B. xxix. c. 21.

[2784] He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their utility in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same; Spielmann prescribes them for arthrosis; Riviere considers them as a detergent for ulcers, and a resolvent for tumours of the mamillæ; and Baglivi maintains that they are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a lithontriptic. They contain muriate of lime and of potash, which may possibly, in some small degree, give them an aperitive virtue.

[2785] See Horace, Epode xii. l. 5.

[2786] Hence, perhaps, the practice of nursing lap-dogs.

[2787] See B. iii. c. 30, and Note 2, p. 267.

[2788] In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some. Snail milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive patients: it is doubtful with what effect.

[2789] Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43.

[2790] See B. v. c. 20.

[2791] See B. iii. c. 12.

[2792] Our periwinkles.

[2793] Dalechamps takes this to mean “without horns:” and Hardouin is of opinion that it means “genuine” or “unmixed.” In either sense, the word is derived from the Greek.

[2794] He has omitted to do so.

[2795] “Humida tussis.”

[2796] See c. 12 of this Book.

[2797] Our “cricket.” The troxallis was probably a kind of locust, still known to naturalists by that name.

[2798] “Protropum.” Wine of the first running.

[2799] “Carmen.” Holland says “the _aforesaid_ charm:” but this does not appear from the context. From the account, however, given by Marcus Empiricus, we learn that the charm, thus repeated twenty-seven times, is the same as that already given.

[2800] Or “wolf.” See B. xi. c. 28.

[2801] See B. xxix. c. 28

[2802] Or woodlouse. See B. xxix. c. 39.

[2803] In B. xxix. c. 36.

[2804] See B. xxix. c. 36.

[2805] The iliac passion, or ileus volvulus.

[2806] In c. 16 of this Book.

[2807] A kind of bustard. See B. x. cc. 29, 50, and c. 45 of this Book.

[2808] See c. 14 of this Book, where a similar notion is mentioned.

[2809] There were three consuls of this name, L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 7; L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 29; and P. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 38. They are mentioned also by Suetonius, Tacitus, Dion Cassius, Frontinus, and Seneca.

[2810] See c. 14 of this Book.

[2811] See B. viii. c. 56.

[2812] This passage is omitted by Sillig as an evident interpolation from the context a couple of lines below.

[2813] The belief in lithontriptics can hardly be said to exist at the present day. Ajasson refers to the grant made by the British Parliament of £5000 to Mrs. Stephens for her lithontriptic!!

[2814] In c. 16 of this Book.

[2815] See B. xxix. c. 39.

[2816] See B. xxxiv. c. 33.

[2817] It can hardly be said to add to his fame.

[2818] See B. xiv. c. 4.

[2819] In B. xxix. c. 36 and in c. 19 of this Book.

[2820] See B. xxxii. c. 35.

[2821] Ajasson remarks that this may probably be useful.

[2822] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13.

[2823] “Acetabuli mensurâ” seems a preferable reading to “aceto mensurâ,” which makes no sense.

[2824] See B. xxi. c. 56.

[2825] See B. xviii. c. 17.

[2826] “Subluviem.” The same, probably, as the disease of the fingers which he elsewhere calls “paronychia,” and perhaps identical with whitlow.

[2827] See B. xxiii. c. 13.

[2828] A popular fallacy of Pliny’s time. See B. xi. c. 40.

[2829] Spectres and nightmare.

[2830] The serpent so called.

[2831] See B. viii. c. 35.

[2832] In c. 12 of this Book. Woodlice are meant.

[2833] See B. viii. c. 49.

[2834] A cozener, cheat, or rogue. Ajasson has a page of discussion on the origin of this appellation.

[2835] In B. xxix. c. 16.

[2836] See B. xvi. c. 6.

[2837] Like our game poultry.

[2838] This word being also the Greek name for the jaundice.

[2839] See B. x. c. 50. The Witwall.

[2840] “Bastard-wasp.”

[2841] “Rostellum.” Holland renders it “The little prettie snout’s end of a mouse.”

[2842] Of cowdung. It was supposed that there was no female scarabæus, and that the male insect formed these balls for the reproduction of its species. It figures very largely in the Egyptian mythology and philosophy as the emblem of the creative and generative power. It has been suggested that its Coptic name “_skalouks_” is a compound Sanscrit word, signifying—“The ox-insect that collects dirt into a round mass.” See B. xi, c. 34.

[2843] Probably the “lucanus” mentioned in B. xi. c. 34; supposed to be the same as the stag-beetle.

[2844] The “fuller,” apparently. This name may possibly be derived, however, from the Greek φυλλὸν, a “leaf.”

[2845] See B. xi. c. 38.

[2846] Some suppose that this was an insect that lived among dry wood, and derive the name from the Greek φρυγανὸν. Queslon is of opinion that it is the salamander.

[2847] The “wolf” spider. See c. 17 of this Book.

[2848] See B. xxxiv. c. 33.

[2849] Ajasson remarks that, in reality, this is not blood, but a kind of viscous liquid.

[2850] “Digitus medicus”—“The physician’s finger,” properly. Why the fourth finger, or that next to the little finger, was thus called, it seems impossible to say.

[2851] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2852] See B. xxxiv. c. 34.

[2853] See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13.

[2854] “Cosses.”

[2855] Dioscorides speaks of this honey as the produce of Sicily.

[2856] The “creeper.” It has not been identified.

[2857] Which are also called “herpetic” or “creeping.”

[2858] The serpent so called.

[2859] Antonius Castor, probably. See end of B. xx.

[2860] See c. 16 of this Book.

[2861] A chronic cancer.

[2862] “Ulula.”

[2863] In B. xxviii. c. 77.

[2864] “Fieri.”

[2865] See B. xviii. c. 17.

[2866] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2867] See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.

[2868] Varro calls them “albulæ,” and says that they were found at Reate.

[2869] Of course she will be liable to do so, from fright.

[2870] The whole of this account appears to be in a very confused state, and is probably corrupt. Sillig’s punctuation has not been adopted.

[2871] Ajasson has wasted ten lines of indignation upon the question where such a staff is to be found!

[2872] See c. 16 of this Book.

[2873] See B. xxxvi. c. 39.

[2874] An impossibility. See B. x. c. 15, for the stories about the raven on which this notion was based.

[2875] See B. x. cc. 29, 50.

[2876] See B. xxxiv. cc. 22, 23.

[2877] See B. xxviii. c. 77.

[2878] “Scabiem vulvarum.”

[2879] Ajasson queries whether “denigrare” may not mean here “to render pale.”

[2880] “Sorex.”

[2881] Supposed to be an inflammation of the membranes of the brain.

[2882] See c. 8 of this Book.

[2883] A remedy still used, Ajasson says, in the French provinces.

[2884] See B. viii. c. 14, and B. xxix. c. 38.

[2885] “Inter se conligatæ in coitu.”

[2886] See B. xxviii. c. 80.

[2887] See end of B. xxix.

[2888] He has hardly immortalized his name by it.

[2889] Possibly a kind of crane.

[2890] See B. viii. c. 75, and B. xxviii. c. 42.

[2891] It has not been identified.

[2892] Hardouin thinks that the worm called ἴξ by the Greeks is meant. Ovid speaks in his Fasti, B. i. 11. 354-360, of the goat, as being very fond of gnawing the vine.

[2893] See B. xi. c. 19.

[2894] See B. x. c. 20.

[2895] See B. viii. c. 72.

[2896] Some authorities say the ass, and others the Onager, or wild ass.

[2897] This story is generally regarded as an absurdity, and is rejected by Arrian and Plutarch.

[2898] See end of B. ii.

[2899] See end of B. vi.

[2900] See end of B. vii.

[2901] See end of B. xii.

[2902] See end of B. xix.

[2903] See end of B. ii.

[2904] See end of B. ii.

[2905] An eminent philosopher, a native of Smyrna, and disciple of Callimachus. He flourished about the middle of the third century B.C., and left numerous works, the principal of which was a Biography of the Philosophers, Poets, and Historians, which seems to have been highly esteemed. It is thought, too, that he wrote a work on Magic and Astrology; but there are some doubts about the writer’s identity.

[2906] A native of Oasis in Egypt, who taught rhetoric at Rome in the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius. Some curious particulars are given respecting him in c. 6 of the present Book. His ostentation, vanity, and insolent pretensions fully merited the title “Cymbalum mundi,” which Tiberius bestowed on him. He was a man, however, of considerable learning and great eloquence, and was distinguished for his hatred to the Jews. Of his numerous works only some fragments remain.

[2907] See end of B. xx.

[2908] See end of B. ii.

[2909] See end of B. xxi.

[2910] See end of B. xiii.

[2911] See end of B. xxix.

[2912] See end of B. xi.

[2913] See end of B. xix.

[2914] See end of B. xii.

[2915] See end of B. xxix.

[2916] See end of B. xx.

[2917] See end of B. xxix.

[2918] See end of B. xx.

[2919] See end of B. viii.

[2920] See end of B. xxix.

[2921] See B. ii. c. 43. Ajasson remarks, that the electric fluid, forming lightning, escapes from the clouds through causes _totally_ independent of water. Still, Pliny would appear to be right in one sense; for if there were no water, there would be no clouds; and without clouds the electric fluid would probably take some other form than that of lightning.

[2922] He alludes to the mineral waters of Acqs or Dax on the Adour, in the French department of the Ariège. They are still highly esteemed.

[2923] The principal of which are those of Aigues-Chaudes, Aigues-Bonnes, Bagnères-Adores, Cambo, Bagnères, Barèges, Saint-Sauveur, and Cauteret.

[2924] Ajasson remarks that animals in all cases refuse to drink mineral waters.

[2925] He alludes to Neptune, Amphitrite, the Oceanides, Nereides, Tritons, Crenides, Limnades, Potamides, and numerous other minor divinities.

[2926] See B, iii. c. 9.

[2927] See B. iii. c. 7.

[2928] See B. iii. c. 5.

[2929] The mineral waters of Baiæ are still held in high esteem.

[2930] As to the identity of the “nitrum” of Pliny, see c. 46 of this Book.

[2931] Posides, a eunuch who belonged to the Emperor Claudius, according to Suetonius, c. 28.

[2932] There are still submarine volcanoes in the vicinity of Sicily, but the spot here referred to is now unknown.

[2933] The Eaux Bonnes in the Basses Pyrénées are good for wounds. After the battle of Pavia they received from the soldiers of Jean d’Albret, king of Navarre, the name of _Eaux d’arquebusade_.

[2934] Only, Ajasson remarks, where the ophthalmia is caused by inflammation of the conjunctive.

[2935] He also called it his Puteolan villa.

[2936] The “Quæstiones Academicæ.”

[2937] “Monumenta.” Ajasson queries what monuments they were, thus raised by the “_parvenu_ of Arpinum.” He suggests that the erection may have been a chapel, temple-library, or possibly funeral monument.

[2938] C. Antistius Vetus probably, a supporter of Julius Cæsar, Consul Suffectus, B.C. 30.

[2939] “In parte primâ.”

[2940] There are three Epigrams probably by this author in the Greek Anthology.

[2941] We are sensible that, in thus shortening the penultimate, we shall incur the censure of solecizing, which Hardouin has cast upon the poet Claudian for doing the same.

[2942] At the Torre de’ Bagni, Hardouin says, near the church of Santa Maria a Caudara.

[2943] Saline and gaseous waters are good for this purpose. See B. iii. c. 12.

[2944] It has still the same reputation, Hardouin says, and is situate near the castle of Francolici.

[2945] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2946] Or “half-strength” waters, apparently. See B. iii. c. 9.

[2947] See B. iii. c. 9.

[2948] See B. ii. cc. 62, 106, and B. iii. c. 17.

[2949] Alluded to, probably, by Ovid, Met. xv. 319, _et seq._

[2950] The present Bagni di Tivoli. They have other sanitary properties as well, a fact known to Strabo. Martial and Vitruvius also mention them.

[2951] See B. iii. c. 17. Called Cotiscoliæ by Strabo. They were of a salt and aluminous nature.

[2952] See B. iv. c. 2.

[2953] Pausanias calls it the “Elaphus.”

[2954] Isidorus, in his “Origines,” calls it the “Lechnus.”

[2955] In Thessaly, probably, according to Stephanus Byzantinus.

[2956] Ἄλφος; from which the lake probably derived its name. It has been suggested that the source of the river Anigrus in Elis is meant. Its waters had an offensive smell, and its fish were not eatable; and near it were caverns sacred to the Nymphs Anigrides, where persons with cutaneous diseases were cured. The water of these caverns is impregnated with sulphur.

[2957] Possibly the M. Titius who was proscribed by the Triumvirs, B.C. 43, and escaped to Sex. Pompeius in Sicily.

[2958] See B. v. c. 22.

[2959] “Cassius Parmensis.” See the end of this Book.

[2960] According to some authorities, he alludes to the still famous waters of Spa; but it is more probable that he alludes to the spring still in existence at the adjacent town of Tongres, which was evidently well known to the Romans, and is still called the “Fountain of Pliny.”

[2961] The springs on the present Monte Posilippo.

[2962] This work is lost. Chifflet suggests that “Varro” should be read. See, however, B. vii. c. 2, B. xxix. c. 16 and c. 28 of this Book. It was a common-place book, probably, of curious facts.

[2963] See B. ii. c. 106, where a growing rock in the marsh of Reate is mentioned.

[2964] In Thessaly. A mere fable, no doubt.

[2965] Ovid, Met. xv. 315, _et seq._, tells very nearly the same fabulous story about the rivers Crathis and Sybaris.

[2966] This marvellous story appears to have been derived from the works of Aristotle.

[2967] Near the town of Lebadea, now Livadhia.

[2968] One called “Mnemosyne” or Memory, and the other “Lethe,” or Forgetfulness.

[2969] From the Greek νοῦς “spirit,” “mind,” or “intelligence.” Ajasson thinks it possible that its water may have assuaged vertigo, or accelerated the circulation of the blood, and that thence its reputation.

[2970] A fable invented by the priests, Ajasson thinks.

[2971] See Ovid, Met. xv. 322. It seems to be uncertain whether it was at this lake or the adjoining spring of Lusi above-mentioned, that the daughters of Prœtus were purified by Melampus. See the “Eliaca” of Pausanias.

[2972] In B. ii. c. 106.

[2973] See B. ii. c. 106. As Ajasson remarks, Mucianus should have had the sense to see that it was only a juggle of the priests of Bacchus. He compares it to the miracle of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples. The contrivance of the priests of Bel was not very dissimilar; but in their case, _they themselves_ were the real recipients of what the god was supposed to devour.

[2974] He no doubt alludes to “petroleum,” rock-oil, or Barbadoes tar.

[2975] So called from the Greek λιπαρὸς, “unctuous.”

[2976] A new reading given by Sillig in place of “India,” the former one. Tasitia is the name of a district mentioned by Ptolemy, iv. 7, 15, as being in Æthiopia. He alludes to a burning spring, probably, of naphtha or of petroleum. The burning springs of Bakou in the East are well known. Genoa is lighted with naphtha from the village of Amiano, in Parma.

[2977] In Macedonia.

[2978] “Lacum insanum.”

[2979] Juba has been deceived, Ajasson remarks, by the tales of travellers, there being no serpents of this length in Africa, except boas. He thinks that large congers, and other similar fishes, may be the animals really alluded to.

[2980] From κλαίειν, “to weep,” and γελᾷν, “to laugh.”

[2981] His credulity, we have seen already, was pretty extensive.

[2982] In Thessaly.

[2983] At the town called “Aquæ Mattiacæ,” the modern Wiesbaden.

[2984] In B. ii. c. 106.

[2985] Sotion, professing to quote from Ctesias, says that it rejected everything placed on its waters, and hurled it back upon dry land.

[2986] Whence, as it was said, its name, ἄορνος, “Without birds.” Strabo ridicules this story.

[2987] M. Douville says that in the interior of Africa there is a lake called Kalonga Kouffoua, or the Dead Lake, the surface of which is covered with bitumen and naphtha, which contains no fish, has oleaginous waters, and presents all the phænomena of the Dead Sea.

[2988] In Lycia.

[2989] Hardouin is of opinion that a river also was so called. See B. v. c. 43. Of the divinity of this name, nothing further is known.

[2990] A story evidently connected with a kind of ordeal.

[2991] See B. iv. c. 34. Intermittent springs are not uncommon. See B. ii. c. 106.

[2992] See B. xix. c. 11.

[2993] According to Elias of Thisbe this river was the Goza; but Holstenius says that it was the Eleutherus, or one of its tributaries. Josephus says that it flowed on the Sabbath day, and was dry the other six.

[2994] Ajasson thinks that he means, grey. He remarks also, that it is a matter of doubt whether there are any fishes that are poisonous.

[2995] The Danube.

[2996] In B. ii. c. 106, see also B. xxx. c. 53.

[2997] See B. iii. c. 14, and B. xviii. c. 21.

[2998] In B. iv. c. 15.

[2999] He alludes, according to Dalechamps, to the Eurotas, a tributary, and not the source, of the Peneus. See B. iv. c. 8.

[3000] “Siliquà.”

[3001] A town of Mysia, south of Adramyttium.

[3002] As Ajasson remarks, numerous instances are known of this at the present day. Pliny, however, does not distinguish the _incrusting_ springs from the _petrifying_ springs.

[3003] In Thessaly, according to Hecatæus.

[3004] “Lateres.” He means unburnt bricks, probably.

[3005] He alludes to stalactites and stalagmites.

[3006] Both on the roof and on the floor.

[3007] In Caria, opposite Rhodes.

[3008] Rain-water really is the lightest, but the reason here given is frivolous, for it does not ascend as water, but as vapour.

[3009] See B. ii. c. 38. Before venturing on this argument, he should have been certain as to the circumstances under which aërolites are generated, a question which still remains hidden in mystery.

[3010] Ajasson remarks that this is only the case in the water of heavy falls of rain after long drought.

[3011] “Calefiat.”

[3012] Snow-water is pernicious in a very high degree, being the fruitful source of goitre and cretinism.

[3013] See B. xvii. c. 44, and B. xviii. c. 68.

[3014] This is somewhat similar to what is said of the putrefaction and purification of Thames water, on a voyage.

[3015] “Inutilis alvo duritia faucibusque.” The passage is probably corrupt.

[3016] See B. vi. c. 27.

[3017] Or “mud”—“limus.” All rivers of necessity have it, in a greater or less degree.

[3018] On the contrary, the more the mud and slime, the more numerous the eels.

[3019] “Tænias.”

[3020] Waters, probably, impregnated with mineral alkali. As to the “nitrum” of Pliny, see c. 46 of this Book.

[3021] “Salmacidas.”

[3022] “Cænum.”

[3023] Also, Ajasson says, to observe whether soap will melt in it. If it will not, it is indicative of the presence of selenite.

[3024] As drinking water.

[3025] As Plautus says of women, Mostell, A. i. S. 3—“They smell best, when they smell of nothing at all.”

[3026] See B. xv. c. 32.

[3027] In purity and tastelessness. As Ajasson observes, Pliny could hardly appreciate the correctness of this remark, composed as water is of two gases, oxygen and hydrogen.

[3028] Pausanias and Athenæus mention also the well of Mothone in Peloponnesus, the water of which exhaled the odour of the perfumes of Cyzicus. Such water, however, must of necessity be impure.

[3029] More probably Astarte, Fée thinks, Juno being unknown in Mesopotamia.

[3030] “Statera.” Ajasson remarks that it does not require an instrument _very_ nicely adjusted to indicate the difference in weight between pure and very impure water. Synesius, Ep. xv., gives an account of the “hydroscopium” used by the ancients for ascertaining the weight of water. Beckmann enters into a lengthy examination of it, as also an enquiry into the question whether the ancients, and among them Pliny, were acquainted with the hydrometer. See his _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 163-169. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3031] “Ne manus pendeant.” These words, which Hardouin pronounces to be full of obscurity, have caused considerable discussion. The passage appears to be imperfect, but it is not improbable that he alludes to the use of the balance or scales for ascertaining the comparative wholesomeness of water.

[3032] “Corripiat.”

[3033] The thread of his reasoning is not _very_ perceptible; but he seems to mean that the more air there is in a body the colder it is. If the air is inhaled by a person when eating peppermint, he will be sensible of a cold feeling in the mouth.

[3034] Galen believes this method to have been known to Hippocrates, and Aristotle was undoubtedly acquainted with it. See Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 143-4. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3035] This is not at all the opinion at the present day.

[3036] “Magis refrigerari.” The experiments made by Mariotte, Perrault, the Academy del Cimento, Mariana, and others, showed no perceptible difference in the time of freezing, between boiled and unboiled water; but the former produced ice harder and clearer, the latter ice more full of blisters. In later times, Dr. Black, of Edinburgh, has from his experiments asserted the contrary. “Boiled water,” he says, “becomes ice sooner than unboiled, if the latter be left at perfect rest.” Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 145. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3037] “Subtilissimo invento.”

[3038] Or perhaps, as we say, “to the touch, and vice versâ.” The original is “Alternante hoc bono.”

[3039] A considerable number of its arches are yet standing, and it still in part supplies Rome with water.

[3040] At Sublaqueum, now Subiaco.

[3041] “Primus auspicatus est.” In obedience to the “auspices,” probably.

[3042] In A.U.C. 720. See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[3043] “Aqua Virgo.” This aqueduct, erected A.U.C. 735, still exists, and bears the name of “Aqua Vergine.”

[3044] Another story was, that it had this name from the circumstance that the spring was first pointed out by a girl to some soldiers in search of water.

[3045] In c. 23 of this Book.

[3046] This was only temporarily, in all probability.

[3047] There seems, as he says below, to be no general rule as to this point.

[3048] So called from the snow on their summit.

[3049] In B. xxvi. c. 16.

[3050] “Salix erratica.”

[3051] Surely _not_ the reed, as he has mentioned it above as one of the indications to be depended upon. In one MS. it appears to be omitted, and with justice, probably.

[3052] “Coria.”

[3053] “Sabulum.”

[3054] “Sabulum masculum.” Coarse, reddish sand, Dalechamps says.

[3055] “Arena.”

[3056] See B. xvii. c. 3.

[3057] An inconvenience neutralized in a considerable degree by Davy’s invention of the safety-lamp.

[3058] “Arenatum.” Properly a mortar, which consisted of one part lime and two parts sand.

[3059] “Riget.”

[3060] See B. iv. c. 11. At Bisley, in Surrey, there is a spring, Aubrey says, that is cold in summer and warm in winter.

[3061] See B. xviii. c. 7.

[3062] The sandy soil being dried in hot weather into masses of mud or clay, which become loosened when rain falls.

[3063] See B. ii. c. 106.

[3064] Ajasson remarks, that just the converse of this has been proved by modern experience to be the case.

[3065] The son of Antipater, then acting for Alexander during his absence in the East.

[3066] See B. ii. c. 84.

[3067] In Cilicia.

[3068] Whether he means the district of Thessaly so called, or one of the two cities of that name in Lydia, does not appear to be known.

[3069] Its locality is unknown, but it was probably near the sea-shore.

[3070] In Elis in Peloponnesus.

[3071] His credulity is influenced by the popular story that the river Alpheus in Peloponnesus, in its love for the Fountain Nymph Arethusa, penetrated beneath the bed of the sea, and reappeared in Sicily. See B. iii. c. 14.

[3072] See c. 20.

[3073] The modern Dnieper.

[3074] The Boug.

[3075] See B. xviii. c. 3, and the Introduction to Vol. III.

[3076] In jets, he means.

[3077] “Si quinariæ erunt.”

[3078] “Denaria.”

[3079] “Quinaria.”

[3080] The name given to these reservoirs was “castellum” or “dividiculum:” in French the name is “_regard_.” Vitruvius describes them, B. vii. c. 7.

[3081] Pliny appears to have forgotten the warm springs of the Scamander, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, B. xxii. l. 147, _et seq._

[3082] Or rather, as Ajasson says, for cutaneous diseases.

[3083] See B. iii. c. 17.

[3084] In conformity with Sillig’s suggestion, we reject “atque” as an interpolation.

[3085] “Mulceri.”

[3086] In spite of what Pliny says, in some cases the use of a mineral bath is recommended for a long period of time together. At Leuk or Læch, for instance, in the Valais, the patients, Ajasson says, remain in the bath as much as eight hours together.

[3087] To promote expectoration, Dalechamps says; or rather vomiting, according to Holland.

[3088] This substance, Ajasson says, is still used in medicine; that of the waters of Silvanez, for example, in the department of Aveyron, is highly celebrated for the cure of inveterate ulcers and sciatica. The mud baths, too, of Saint Amand, enjoy an European reputation.

[3089] See B. ii c. 106.

[3090] In B. xxiv. c. 19, and B. xxviii. c. 14.

[3091] An elder brother of the philosopher Seneca. His original name was M. Annæus Noratus; but upon being adopted by the rhetorician Junius Gallio, he changed his name into L. Junius Annæus—or Annæanus—Gallio. He destroyed himself, A.D. 65.

[3092] He was “Consul subrogatus” only.

[3093] “Malagmatis.”

[3094] It acts in most cases as an emetic, and is highly dangerous if taken in considerable quantities.

[3095] It is still considered useful, Ajasson says, for the treatment of lymphatic diseases.

[3096] “Virus.”

[3097] Or “spitter.” See B. xxviii. c. 18.

[3098] “Mammas sororiantes.” A malady, according to Dalechamps, in which the mamillæ are so distended with milk that they kiss, like sisters—“sorores.”

[3099] The ancients being unable to analyze sea-water, could only imitate it very clumsily.

[3100] “Sea-water honey.”

[3101] See B. xiv. c. 20, and B. xxii. c. 51. He is speaking, probably, of fermented hydromel, a sort of mead.

[3102] The joints being rendered more supple thereby.

[3103] He probably means sea-water, alluding to certain kinds of sea-weed. Dioscorides speaks of it, in B. iv. c. 99, as being good for gout. It is, in reality, of some small utility in such cases.

[3104] He most probably means sea-water.

[3105] The Greeks used sand-baths for the purpose of promoting the perspiration; the names given to them were παρόπτησις and φοίνιγμος.

[3106] “Sal fit.” This expression is not correct, there being no such thing as _made_ salt. It is only collected from a state of suspension or dissolution. Pliny, however, includes under the name “sal” many substances, which in reality are _not_ salt. His “hammoniacum,” for instance, if identical with hydrochlorate of ammonia, can with justice be said to be _made_, being formed artificially from other substances.

[3107] “Coacto humore vel siccato.” These two terms in reality imply the same process, by the medium of evaporation; the former perfect, the latter imperfect.

[3108] The evaporation not being sufficiently strong to dry up the deeper parts.

[3109] There is in reality nothing wonderful in this, considering that most lakes are constantly fed with the streams of rivers, which carry mineral salts along with them, and that the work of evaporation is always going on.

[3110] “Glæbas.”

[3111] Because it is necessarily purer than that found upon the sand.

[3112] The description is not sufficiently clear to enable us to identify these lakes with certainty. Ajasson thinks that one of them may be the Lake of Badakandir in the Khanat of Bokhara; and the other the lake that lies between Ankhio and Akeha, in the west of the territory of Balkh, and near the Usbek Tartars.

[3113] “Sale exæstuant.”

[3114] In consequence of the intense heat.

[3115] All these regions, Ajasson remarks, are covered with salt. An immense desert of salt extends to the north-east of Irak-Adjemi, and to the north of Kerman, between Tabaristan, western Khoracan, and Khohistan.

[3116] Identified by Ajasson with the Herat and the Djihoun. He thinks that it is of some of the small affluents of this last that Pliny speaks.

[3117] “Lapis specularis.”

[3118] A “crumb” properly, in the Latin language.

[3119] See B. vi. c. 32.

[3120] More commonly known as Jupiter Hammon.

[3121] See B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxiv. c. 28, for an account of gum resin ammoniac, a produce of the same locality. The substance here spoken of is considered by Beckmann to be nothing but common salt in an impure state. See his _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 398-9, where this passage is discussed at considerable length. Ajasson, on the other hand, considers it to be Hydrochlorate of ammonia, the Sal ammoniac of commerce. According to some accounts, it was originally made in the vicinity of the Temple of Jupiter Hammon, by burning camels’ dung.

[3122] Called ἄμμος, in Greek.

[3123] See B. xxxv. c. 52.

[3124] Sal ammoniac crystallizes in octahedrons.

[3125] “Intra specus suos.” On this passage, Beckmann says, “From what is said by Pliny it may with certainty be concluded that this salt was dug up from pits or mines in Africa.—Many kinds of rock-salt, taken from the mines of Wieliczka, experience the same change in the air; so that blocks which a labourer can easily carry in the mine, can scarcely be lifted by him after being for some time exposed to the air. The cause here is undoubtedly the same as that which makes many kinds of artificial salt to become moist and to acquire more weight.”—Vol. II. p. 399, _Bohn’s Ed._

[3126] According to modern notions, his reason is anything but _evident_.

[3127] In Celtiberia. He alludes to the mountain of salt at Cardona, near Montserrat in Catalonia.

[3128] Speaking generally, this is true; but soils which contain it in small quantities are fruitful.

[3129] A similar method is still employed, Ajasson says, at the salt-mines near Innspruck in the Tyrol.

[3130] Native bitumen; always to be found in greater or less quantities, in saliferous earths.

[3131] The process of artificial evaporation.

[3132] This would produce an impure alkaline salt. According to Townson, this practice still prevails in Transylvania and Moldavia.

[3133] “The water, evaporating, would leave the salt behind, but mixed with charcoal, ashes, earth, and alkaline salts; consequently it must have been moist, or at any rate nauseous, if not refined by a new solution.”—Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 493. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3134] Not improbably a people of India so called, and mentioned in B. vi. c. 20.

[3135] See B. ix. c. 42.

[3136] “In laterculis.” Hardouin considers this to mean small earthen vessels or pipes.

[3137] In c. 39 of this Book.

[3138] “Melanthium.” See B. xx. c. 17.

[3139] “Flos salis.” Further mentioned in c. 42.

[3140] See B. iv. c. 17.

[3141] St. Augustin mentions this marvellous kind of salt. De Civit. Dei, B. xxi. cc. 5, 7.

[3142] As well as Centuripa.

[3143] “Opsonium.”

[3144] “Pulmentarii.”

[3145] See c. 43 of this Book.

[3146] This is consistent with modern experience.

[3147] “Sales.”

[3148] Literally, “salt money”—“argentum” being understood. The term was originally applied to the pay of the generals and military tribunes. Hence our word “salary.”

[3149] Beginning at the Colline Gate.

[3150] “In congiario.”

[3151] Most probably “He cannot earn salt to his bread,” or something similar, like our saying, “He cannot earn salt to his porridge.” The two Greek proverbs given by Dalechamps do not appear to the purpose.

[3152] “Mola salsa.”

[3153] “Favillam.”

[3154] “Schroder thinks that in what Pliny says of _Flos Salis_, he can find the martial sal-ammoniac flowers of our chemists, [the double chloride of ammonium and iron], or the so-called _flores sales ammoniaci martiales_.—It is certain that what Dioscorides and Pliny call _flos salis_, has never yet been defined. The most ingenious conjecture was that of Cordus, who thought that it might be Sperma ceti; but though I should prefer this opinion to that of Schroder, I must confess that, on the grounds adduced by Matthiali and Conrad Gesner, it has too much against it to be admitted as truth.”—Beckmann, _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 193. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3155] Salt collected from the foam on the sea-shore.

[3156] A sort of bitumen, probably.

[3157] Medicines for relieving weariness. See B. xxiii. c. 45, and B. xxix. c. 13.

[3158] “Smegmatis.”

[3159] It was, probably, of an intermediate nature, between caviar and anchovy sauce.

[3160] See B. xxxii, c. 53. It does not appear to have been identified.

[3161] As to the identity of the Scomber, see B. ix. c. 19.

[3162] See B. xix. c. 7.

[3163] “Garum sociorum.”

[3164] The present Straits of Gibraltar.

[3165] In Gallia Narbonensis.

[3166] Sillig reads “Delmatia” here.

[3167] See B. ix. c. 74. The fry of larger fish, Cuvier says.

[3168] Ajasson considers this to be an absurd derivation; and thinks it much more probable, that the name is from ἀ privative, and φύω “to beget;” it being a not uncommon notion that these small fish were produced spontaneously from mud and slime.

[3169] The present Frejus, in the south of France.

[3170] “Wolf.” Not the fish of that name, Hardouin says, mentioned in B. ix. c. 28.

[3171] The festivals of Ceres. The devotees, though obliged to abstain from meat, were allowed the use of this _garum_, it would appear.

[3172] Gesner proposes to read “_non_ carêntibus,” “_with_ scales”—fishes _without_ scales being forbidden to the Jews by the Levitical Law. See Lev. c xi. ver. 10. It is, most probably, Pliny’s own mistake.

[3173] See B. xxvii. c. 2.

[3174] At the end of c. 42.

[3175] He alludes to its decrepitation in flame.

[3176] Pharnaces caused the body of his father Mithridates to be deposited in brine, in order to transmit it to Pompey.

[3177] He uses the word “pterygia” here, as applied to the whole of the body—“totius corporis”—in its two distinct senses, a hangnail or excrescence on the fingers, and a web or film on the eyes.

[3178] In c. 23, he has said much the same of cold water.

[3179] “Sale et sole.”

[3180] This passage would come more naturally _after_ the succeeding one.

[3181] See B. xxiii. c. 13.

[3182] “Ita ut batuerentur ante.” From the corresponding passage in Dioscorides, where the expression Βαπτόμενοι εἰς ὄξος is used, it would appear that the proper word here is “baptizarentur;” or possibly, a lost Græco-Latin word, “bapterentur.” Littré suggests “hebetarentur,” “the part being first numbed” by the aid of a bandage.

[3183] “Spuma salis.” Collected from the foam on the sea-shore.

[3184] See Note 36, above, p. 507.

[3185] Beckmann, who devotes several pages to a consideration of the “nitrum” of the ancients, considers it not to be our “nitre” or “saltpetre,” but a general name for impure alkaline salts. See his _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. pp. 490-503, _Bohn’s Ed._ Ajasson, without hesitation, pronounces it to be nitrate of potash, neither more or less than our saltpetre, and quotes a statement from Andreossy, that it is still to be found in great quantities at Mount Ptou-Ampihosem, near the city of Pihosem, called Nitria by St. Jerome.

[3186] “Salt bursting from the earth.”

[3187] “Wild.”

[3188] See c. 40 of this Book. He is evidently speaking of a _vegetable_ alkali here. See Beckmann, Vol. II. pp. 492-3, _Bohn’s Ed._

[3189] Beckmann thinks that these kinds of water were in reality only impure and not potable, from their nauseous taste, and that hence they were considered as nitrous. Nitrous water, he remarks, or water containing saltpetre, in all probability, does not exist. Vol. II. pp. 498-9. _Bohn’s Edition._

[3190] Or in other words, crystallization. Beckmann remarks that, in reference to alkaline water, this is undoubtedly true. Vol. II. p. 499.

[3191] From the adjacent town of Chalastra, on the Thermæan Gulf. The site is probably occupied by the modern Kulakia.

[3192] Carbonate of soda is found in the mineral waters of Seltzer and Carlsbad, and in the volcanic springs of Iceland, the Geysers more particularly.

[3193] Ajasson remarks, that from this we may conclude that the fabrication of nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, was in its infancy. It is by no means improbable that the _artificial_ nitrum, _here_ mentioned by Pliny, really was artificial saltpetre, more or less impure; the _native_ nitrum, on the other hand, being, as Beckmann suggests, a general term for impure alkaline mineral salts, in common with native saltpetre. Pliny’s account, however, is confused in the highest degree, and in some passages far from intelligible.

[3194] Of a bituminous nature, probably. See c. 42 of this Book.

[3195] See B. v. c. 40. An alkaline water, Beckmann thinks. See Vol. II, pp. 96-7. _Bohn’s Ed._

[3196] He may possibly mean bleaching the material before dyeing.

[3197] See B. xxxvi. c. 65. This certainly goes far towards proving that under the name “nitrum,” alkaline salts were included.