part of the world was first revealed by his arms.

CHAP. 11.—THE INDIAN FIG.

The Indian fig[454] bears but a small fruit. Always growing
spontaneously, it spreads far and wide with its vast branches, the
ends of which bend downwards into the ground to such a degree, that
they take fresh root in the course of a year, and thus form a new
plantation around the parent stock, traced in a circular form, just
as though it had been the work of the ornamental gardener. Within the
bowers thus formed, the shepherds take up their abode in the summer,
the space occupied by them being, at once, overshadowed and protected
by the bulwark which the tree thus throws around; a most graceful
sight, whether we stand beneath and look upwards, or whether we view
its arcaded foliage from a distance. The higher branches, however,
shoot upwards to a very considerable height, and, by their number,
form quite a grove, springing aloft from the vast trunk of the parent
tree, which overspreads, very frequently, a space of sixty paces in
extent, while the shade that is thrown by it will cover as much as a
couple of stadia. The broad leaves of the tree have just the shape of
an Amazonian buckler; and hence it is that the fruit, from being quite
covered by the leaves, is greatly impeded in its growth. The fruit,
indeed, of this tree is but scanty, and never exceeds a bean in size;
being ripened, however, by the rays of the sun, as these penetrate the
leaves, the figs are remarkable for their singular lusciousness, and
are quite worthy of the marvellous tree by which they are produced.
These fig-trees are found, more particularly, in the vicinity of the
river Acesines.[455]

CHAP. 12. (6.)—THE PALA: THE FRUIT CALLED ARIENA.

There is another tree[456] in India, of still larger size, and even
more remarkable for the size and sweetness of its fruit, upon which the
sages[457] of India live. The leaf of this tree resembles, in shape,
the wing of a bird, being three cubits in length, and two in breadth.
It puts forth its fruit from the bark, a fruit remarkable for the
sweetness of its juice, a single one containing sufficient to satisfy
four persons. The name of this tree is “pala,” and of the fruit,
“ariena.” They are found in the greatest abundance in the country of
the Sydraci,[458] a territory which forms the extreme limit of the
expedition of Alexander.

There is another[459] tree, also, very similar to this, but bearing
a still sweeter fruit, though very apt to cause derangement of the
bowels. Alexander issued strict orders, forbidding anyone in the
expedition to touch this fruit.

CHAP. 13.—INDIAN TREES, THE NAMES OF WHICH ARE UNKNOWN. INDIAN TREES
WHICH BEAR FLAX.

The Macedonians[460] have made mention of various other kinds of
trees, the greater part of which, however, are without names. There
is one which resembles the terebinth[461] in every respect, except
the fruit, which is very similar to the almond, though less in size,
and remarkable for its extreme sweetness. This tree was met with in
Bactria, and some persons looked upon it as a variety of the terebinth,
rather than as bearing a strong resemblance to it. As to the tree from
which they manufacture a kind of linen[462] cloth, in leaf it resembles
the mulberry-tree, while the calix of the fruit is similar to the
dog-rose.[463] This tree is reared in the plains, and there is no sight
throughout the cultivated parts of the country that is more enchanting
than the plantations of it.

CHAP. 14. (7.)—THE PEPPER-TREE.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF
PEPPER—BREGMA—ZINGIBERI, OR ZIMPIBERI.

The olive-tree[464] of India is unproductive, with the sole exception
of the wild olive. In every part we meet with trees that bear
pepper,[465] very similar in appearance to our junipers, although,
indeed, it has been alleged by some authors that they only grow on the
slopes of Caucasus which lie exposed to the sun. The seeds, however,
differ from those of the juniper, in being enclosed in small pods
similar to those which we see in the kidney-bean. These pods are picked
before they open, and when dried in the sun, make what we call “long
pepper.” But if allowed to ripen, they will open gradually, and when
arrived at maturity, discover the white pepper; if left exposed to
the heat of the sun, this becomes wrinkled, and changes its colour.
Even these productions, however, are subject to their own peculiar
infirmities, and are apt to become blasted by the inclemency of the
weather; in which case the seeds are found to be rotten, and mere
husks. These abortive seeds are known by the name of “bregma,” a word
which in the Indian language signifies “dead.” Of all the various kinds
of pepper, this is the most pungent, as well as the very lightest,
and is remarkable for the extreme paleness of its colour. That which
is black is of a more agreeable flavour; but the white pepper is of a
milder quality than either.

The root of this tree is not, as many persons have imagined, the same
as the substance known as zimpiberi, or, as some call it, zingiberi,
or ginger, although it is very like it in taste. For ginger, in fact,
grows in Arabia and in Troglodytica, in various cultivated spots, being
a small plant[466] with a white root. This plant is apt to decay very
speedily, although it is of intense pungency; the price at which it
sells is six denarii per pound. Long pepper is very easily adulterated
with Alexandrian mustard; its price is fifteen denarii per pound,
while that of white pepper is seven, and of black, four. It is quite
surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing
that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness,
and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas,
pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either
fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being a certain pungency;
and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India! Who
was the first to make trial of it as an article of food? and who, I
wonder, was the man that was not content to prepare himself by hunger
only for the satisfying of a greedy appetite? Both pepper and ginger
grow wild in their respective countries, and yet here we buy them
by weight—just as if they were so much gold or silver. Italy,[467]
too, now possesses a species of pepper-tree, somewhat larger than the
myrtle, and not very unlike it. The bitterness of the grains is similar
to that which we may reasonably suppose to exist in the Indian pepper
when newly gathered; but it is wanting in that mature flavour which
the Indian grain acquires by exposure in the sun, and, consequently,
bears no resemblance to it, either in colour or the wrinkled appearance
of the seeds. Pepper is adulterated with juniper berries, which have
the property, to a marvellous degree, of assuming the pungency of
pepper. In reference to its weight, there are also several methods of
adulterating it.

CHAP. 15.—CARYOPHYLLON, LYCION, AND THE CHIRONIAN PYXACANTHUS.

There is, also, in India another grain which bears a considerable
resemblance to pepper, but is longer and more brittle; it is known by
the name of caryophyllon.[468] It is said that this grain is produced
in a sacred grove in India; with us it is imported for its aromatic
perfume. The same country produces, also, a thorny shrub, with
grains which bear a resemblance to pepper, and are of a remarkably
bitter taste. The leaves of this shrub are small, like those of the
cyprus;[469] the branches are three cubits in length, the bark pallid,
and the roots wide-spreading and woody, and of a colour resembling that
of boxwood. By boiling this root with the seed in a copper vessel, the
medicament is prepared which is known by the name of lycion.[470] This
thorny shrub grows, also, on Mount Pelion;[471] this last kind is much
used for the purpose of adulterating the medicament above mentioned.
The root of the asphodel, ox-gall, wormwood, sumach, and the amurca of
olive oil, are also employed for a similar purpose. The best lycion
for medicinal purposes, is that which has a froth on its surface; the
Indians send it to us in leather bottles, made of the skin of the camel
or the rhinoceros. The shrub itself is known by some persons in Greece
under the name of the Chironian pyxacanthus.[472]

CHAP. 16. (8.)—MACIR.

Macir,[473] too, is a vegetable substance that is brought from India,
being a red bark that grows upon a large root, and bears the name of
the tree that produces it; what the nature of this tree is, I have not
been able to ascertain. A decoction of this bark, mixed with honey, is
greatly employed in medicine, as a specific for dysentery.

CHAP. 17.—SUGAR.

Arabia, too, produces sugar;[474] but that of India is the most
esteemed. This substance is a kind of honey, which collects in reeds,
white, like gum, and brittle to the teeth. The larger pieces are about
the size of a filbert; it is only employed, however, in medicine.

CHAP. 18.—TREES OF ARIANA, GEDROSIA, AND HYRCANIA.

On the frontiers of India is a country called Ariana, which produces
a thorny shrub,[475] rendered precious by the tears which it distils.
It bears some resemblance to myrrh, but is very difficult of access,
by reason of the thorns with which it is armed. Here, too, a poisonous
shrub is found, with a root like the radish,[476] and leaves like those
of the laurel. By its powerful odour it attracts horses, and was very
nearly depriving Alexander of all his cavalry upon his first arrival
there, an accident which also happened in Gedrosia. A thorny shrub[477]
has been also spoken of as a native of the same country, with leaves
like those of the laurel, the juice of which, if sprinkled upon the
eyes, is productive of blindness in all animals. Another plant is
also mentioned, with a most remarkable odour, and full of diminutive
serpents,[478] the sting of which is sure to cause instant death.
Onesicritus states, that in the vallies of Hyrcania, there is a tree
resembling the fig, and known as the occhus,[479] from which a honey
distils for two hours every morning.

CHAP. 19. (9.)—TREES OF BACTRIANA, BDELLIUM, OR BROCHON, OTHERWISE
MALACHA, OR MALDACON, SCORDASTUM. ADULTERATIONS USED IN ALL SPICES AND
AROMATICS; THE VARIOUS TESTS OF THEM AND THEIR RESPECTIVE VALUES.

In the vicinity, too, of India, is Bactriana, in which region we find
bdellium,[480] that is so highly esteemed. This tree is of a black
colour, and about the size of the olive; it has leaves like those of
the robur, and bears a fruit similar to that of the wild fig, and
in nature resembling a kind of gum. This fruit is by some persons
called brochon, by others malacha, and by others, again, maldacon.
When of a black colour, and rolled up in cakes, it bears the name of
hadrobolon. This substance ought to be transparent and the colour of
wax, odoriferous, unctuous when subjected to friction, and bitter
to the taste, though without the slightest acidity. When used for
sacred purposes, it is steeped in wine, upon which it emits a still
more powerful odour. The tree is a native of both India and Arabia,
as well as Media and Babylon; some persons give to the bdellium that
is imported by way of Media, the name of peraticum.[481] This last is
remarkable for its brittleness, while, at the same time, it is harder
and more bitter than the other kinds; that of India, on the other
hand, is moister, and gummy. This last sort is adulterated by means
of almonds, while the various other kinds are falsified with the bark
of scordastum, that being the name of a tree[482] the gum of which
strongly resembles bdellium. These adulterations, however, are to be
detected—and let it suffice to mention it here, in relation to all
other perfumes as well—by the smell, the colour, the weight, the taste,
and the action of fire. The bdellium of Bactriana is shining and dry,
and covered with numerous white spots resembling the finger-nails;
besides which, it should be of a certain weight, heavier or lighter
than which it ought not to be. The price of bdellium, in its pure
state, is three denarii per pound.

CHAP. 20.—TREES OF PERSIS.

Adjoining the countries which we have previously mentioned is Persis,
lying along the shores of the Red Sea, which, when describing[483] it,
we have mentioned as the Persian Sea, the tides of which penetrate far
into the land. The trees in these regions are of a marvellous nature;
for, corroded by the action of the salt, and bearing a considerable
resemblance to vegetable substances that have been thrown up and
abandoned by the tide, they are seen to embrace the arid sands of
the sea-shore with their naked roots, just like so many polypi. When
the tide rises, buffeted by the waves, there they stand, fixed and
immoveable; nay, more, at high water they are completely covered; a
fact which proves to conviction, that they derive their nutriment from
the salt contained in the water. The size of these trees is quite
marvellous; in appearance they strongly resemble the arbute; the fruit,
which on the outside is very similar to the almond, has a spiral kernel
within.[484]

CHAP. 21. (10.)—TREES OF THE ISLANDS OF THE PERSIAN SEA. THE COTTON
TREE.

In the same gulf, there is the island of Tylos,[485] covered with a
forest[486] on the side which looks towards the East, where it is
washed also by the sea at high tides. Each of the trees is in size as
large as the fig; the blossoms are of an indescribable sweetness, and
the fruit is similar in shape to a lupine, but so rough and prickly,
that it is never touched by any animal. On a more elevated plateau
of the same island, we find trees that bear wool, but of a different
nature from those of the Seres;[487] as in these trees the leaves
produce nothing at all, and, indeed, might very readily be taken for
those of the vine, were it not that they are of smaller size. They
bear a kind of gourd, about the size of a quince;[488] which, when
arrived at maturity, bursts asunder and discloses a ball of down, from
which a costly kind of linen cloth is made.

(11.) This tree is known by the name of gossypinus:[489] the smaller
island of Tylos, which is ten miles distant from the larger one,
produces it in even greater abundance.

CHAP. 22.—THE TREE CALLED CYNA. TREES FROM WHICH FABRICS FOR CLOTHING
ARE MADE IN THE EAST.

Juba states, that about a certain shrub there grows a woolly down, from
which a fabric is manufactured, preferable even to those of India. He
adds, too, that certain trees of Arabia, from which vestments are made,
are called cynæ, and that they have a leaf similar to that of the palm.
Thus do their very trees afford clothing for the people of India. In
the islands of Tylos, there is also another tree, with a blossom like
the white violet[490] in appearance, though four times as large, but it
is destitute of smell, a very remarkable fact in these climates.

CHAP. 23.—A COUNTRY WHERE THE TREES NEVER LOSE THEIR LEAVES.

There is also another tree similar to the preceding one, but with a
thicker foliage, and a blossom like the rose. This flower shuts[491] at
night, and, beginning to open towards sun-rise, appears in full blow
by mid-day; the natives are in the habit of saying that in this way
it goes to sleep. The same island bears also the palm, the olive, the
vine, and the fig, with various other kinds of fruit. None of the trees
in this island lose their leaves;[492] it is abundantly watered by cool
streams, and receives the benefit of rain.

CHAP. 24.—THE VARIOUS USEFUL PRODUCTS OF TREES.

Arabia, which is in the vicinity of these islands, requires that we
should make some distinction in its vegetable products, seeing that
here the various parts of trees which are employed for useful purposes
are the root, the branches, the bark, the juices, the gum, the wood,
the shoots, the blossoms, the leaves, and the fruit.

CHAP. 25. (12.)—COSTUS.

A root and a leaf, however, are the productions which are held in the
very highest estimation in India. The root is that of the costus;[493]
it has a burning taste in the mouth, and a most exquisite odour; in
other respects, the branches are good for nothing. In the island of
Patale,[494] situate at the very mouth of the river Indus, there
are two kinds of costus found, the black and the white; the last is
considered the best. The price of it is five denarii per pound.

CHAP. 26.—NARD. THE TWELVE VARIETIES OF THE PLANT.

Of the leaf, which is that of the nard,[495] it is only right to
speak somewhat more at length, as it holds the principal place among
our unguents. The nard is a shrub with a heavy, thick root, but
short, black, brittle, and yet unctuous as well; it has a musty
smell, too, very much like that of the cyperus, with a sharp, acrid
taste, the leaves being small, and growing in tufts. The heads of the
nard spread out into ears; hence it is that nard is so famous for
its two-fold production, the spike or ear, and the leaf. There is
another kind, again, that grows on the banks of the Ganges, but is
altogether condemned, as being good for nothing; it bears the name of
ozænitis,[496] and emits a fetid odour. Nard is adulterated with a sort
of plant called pseudo-nard,[497] which is found growing everywhere,
and is known by its thick, broad leaf, and its sickly colour, which
inclines to white. It is sophisticated, also, by being mixed with the
root of the genuine nard, which adds very considerably to its weight.
Gum is also used for the same purpose, antimony, and cyperus; or, at
least, the outer coat of the cyperus. Its genuineness is tested by its
lightness, the redness of its colour, its sweet smell, and the taste
more particularly, which parches the mouth, and leaves a pleasant
flavour behind it; the price of spikenard is one hundred denarii per
pound.

Leaf[498] nard varies in price according to the size; for that which
is known by the name of hadrosphærum, consisting of the larger leaves,
sells at forty denarii per pound; when the leaves are smaller, it is
called mesosphærum, and is sold at sixty. But that which is considered
the most valuable of all, is known as microsphærum, and consists of
the very smallest of the leaves; it sells at seventy-five denarii per
pound. All these varieties of nard have an agreeable odour, but it is
most powerful when fresh. If the nard is old when gathered, that which
is of a black colour is considered the best.

In our part of the world, the Syrian[499] nard is held in the next
highest esteem next to this; then the Gallic;[500] and in the
third place, that of Crete,[501] which by some persons is called
“agrion,” and by others “phu.” This last has exactly the leaf of the
olusatrum,[502] with a stalk a cubit in length, knotted, of a whitish
colour, inclining to purple, and a root that runs sideways; it is
covered, too, with long hair, and strongly resembles the foot of a
bird. Field nard is known by the name of baccar.[503] We shall have
further occasion to mention it when we come to speak of the flowers.
All these kinds of nard, however, are to be reckoned as herbs, with
the exception of Indian nard. Of these, the Gallic kind is pulled up
along with the root, and washed in wine; after which it is dried in
the shade, and wrapped up in paper, in small parcels. It is not very
different from the Indian nard, but is lighter than that of Syria;
the price at which it sells is three denarii per pound. The only way
of testing the leaves of all these varieties of nard, is to see that
they are not brittle and parched, instead of being dried naturally
and gradually. Together with the nard that grows in Gaul, there
always[504] springs up a herb, which is known by the name of hirculus,
or the “little goat,” on account of its offensive smell, it being very
similar to that of the goat. This herb, too, is very much used in the
adulteration of nard, though it differs from it in the fact that it has
no stem, and its leaves are smaller; the root, too, is not bitter, and
is entirely destitute of smell.

CHAP. 27. (13.)—ASARUM, OR FOAL-FOOT.

The herb asarum,[505] too, has the properties of nard, and, indeed,
by some persons is known as wild nard. It has a leaf, however, more
like that of the ivy, only that it is rounder and softer. The flower is
purple, the root very similar to that of the Gallic nard, and the seed
is like a grape. It is of a warm and vinous flavour, and blossoms twice
a year, growing upon hill sides that are densely shaded. The best kind
is that found in Pontus, and the next best that of Phrygia; that of
Illyricum being only of third-rate quality. The root is dug up when it
is just beginning to put forth its leaves, and then dried in the sun.
It very soon turns mouldy, and loses its properties. There has, also,
been lately found a certain herb in some parts of Greece, the leaves of
which do not differ in the slightest degree from those of the Indian
nard.

CHAP. 28.—AMOMUM.—AMOMIS.

The clustered amomum[506] is very extensively used; it grows upon a
kind of wild vine that is found in India, though some persons have
been of opinion that it is borne by a shrub, resembling the myrtle in
appearance, and about the same height as the palm. This plant, also,
is plucked along with the root, and is carefully pressed together with
the hands; for it very soon becomes brittle. That kind is held in the
highest esteem, the leaves of which bear a strong resemblance to those
of the pomegranate, being free from wrinkles, and of a red colour.
The second quality is that which is of a pallid hue. That which has a
green, grassy appearance, is not so good, and the white is the worst of
all; it assumes this appearance when old. The price of clustered amomum
is sixty denarii per pound, but in dust it sells at only forty-nine.
Amomum is produced, also, in that part of Armenia which is known as
Otene; as, also, in Media and Pontus. It is adulterated with the leaves
of the pomegranate and a solution of gum, which is employed in order
to make the leaves adhere and form clusters, like those of the grape.

There is another substance, also, which is known by the name of
amomis;[507] it is not so full of veins as amomum, harder, and not so
odoriferous; from which it would appear, either that it is altogether a
different plant, or else that it is amomum gathered in an unripe state.

CHAP. 29.—CARDAMOMUM.

Similar to these substances, both in name as well as the shrub which
produces it, is the cardamomum,[508] the seeds of which are of an
oblong shape. It is gathered in the same manner both in India and
Arabia. There are four different kinds of cardamomum. That which is of
a very green colour, unctuous, with sharp angles, and very difficult
to break, is the most highly esteemed of all. The next best is of a
reddish white tint, while that of third-rate quality is shorter and
blacker, the worst of all being mottled and friable, and emitting but
little smell; which, in its genuine[509] state ought to be very similar
to costum. Cardamomum grows also in Media. The price of the best is
three denarii per pound.

CHAP. 30.—THE COUNTRY OF FRANKINCENSE.

Next in affinity to cardamomum would have been cinnamomum,[510] and
this we should have now proceeded to speak of, were it not more
convenient first to make mention of the treasures of Arabia, and the
reasons for which that country has received the names of “Happy” and
“Blest.” The chief productions of Arabia are frankincense and myrrh,
which last it bears in common with the country of the Troglodytæ.
(14.) There is no country in the world that produces frankincense
except Arabia,[511] and, indeed, not the whole of that. Almost in the
very centre of that region, are the Atramitæ,[512] a community of the
Sabæi, the capital of whose kingdom is Sabota, a place situate on
a lofty mountain. At a distance of eight stations from this is the
incense-bearing region, known by the name of Saba. The Greeks say that
the word signifies a “secret mystery.” This district looks towards
the north-east, and is rendered inaccessible by rocks on every side,
while it is bounded on the right by the sea, from which it is shut
out by cliffs of tremendous height. The soil of this territory is
said to be of a milky white, a little inclining to red. The forests
extend twenty schœni in length, and half that distance in breadth. The
length of the schœnus, according to the estimate of Eratosthenes, is
forty stadia, or, in other words, five miles; some persons, however,
have estimated the schœnus at no more than thirty-two stadia. In this
district some lofty hills take their rise, and the trees, which spring
up spontaneously, run downwards along the declivities to the plains. It
is generally agreed that the soil is argillaceous, and that the springs
which there take their rise are but few in number, and of a nitrous
quality. Adjoining are the Minæi, the people of another community,
through whose country is the sole transit for the frankincense, along a
single narrow road. The Minæi were the first people who carried on any
traffic in frankincense, which they still do to a greater extent than
any other persons, and hence it is that it has received the appellation
of “Minæan.” It is the Sabæi alone, and no other people among the
Arabians, that behold the incense-tree; and, indeed, not all of them,
for it is said that there are not more than three thousand families
which have a right to claim that privilege, by virtue of hereditary
succession; and that for this reason those persons are called sacred,
and are not allowed, while pruning the trees or gathering the harvest,
to receive any pollution, either by intercourse with women, or coming
in contact with the dead; by these religious observances it is that
the price of the commodity is so considerably enhanced. Some persons,
however, say, that the right of gathering incense in the forests
belongs to all these people in common, while others again state, that
they take their turns year by year.

CHAP. 31.—THE TREES THAT BEAR FRANKINCENSE.

Nor is it by any means agreed what is the appearance of the
incense-tree. We have sent several expeditions against Arabia, and
the Roman arms have penetrated into the greater part of that country;
indeed, Caius Cæsar,[513] the son of Augustus, even earned considerable
renown there; and yet this tree has been described by no Latin writer,
at least that I know of. The descriptions given of it by the Greek
writers vary very considerably: some of them say that it has exactly
the leaf of the pear-tree, only somewhat smaller, and of a grass-green
colour. Others, again, say, that it has a rather reddish leaf, like
that of the mastich, and others, that it is a kind of terebinth,[514]
and that King Antigonus, to whom a branch of it was brought, was of
that opinion. King Juba, in the work which he wrote and dedicated to
Caius Cæsar, the son of Augustus, who was inflamed by the wide-spread
renown of Arabia, states, that the tree has a spiral stem, and that
the branches bear a considerable resemblance to those of the Pontic
maple, while it secretes a sort of juice very similar to that of the
almond-tree. Such, he says, is the appearance of the tree as seen in
Carmania and Egypt, where it was introduced and planted under the
auspices of the Ptolemies when reigning there. It is well known that
it has a bark not unlike that of the laurel, and, indeed, some persons
have asserted that their leaves are similar. At all events, such was
the case with the tree as it grew at Sardes: for the kings of Asia also
took considerable care to have it planted there. The ambassadors who
in my time have come to Rome from Arabia, have made all these matters
more uncertain, even, than they were before; a thing at which we may
justly be surprised, seeing that some sprigs even of the incense-tree
have been brought among us, from which we have some reason to conclude
that the parent tree is round and tapering, and that it puts forth its
shoots from a trunk that is entirely free from knots.

CHAP. 32.—VARIOUS KINDS OF FRANKINCENSE.

In former times, when they had fewer opportunities of selling it, they
used to gather the frankincense only once a year; but at the present
day, as there is a much greater demand for it, there is a second crop
as well. The first, and what we may call the natural, vintage, takes
place about the rising of the Dog-star, a period when the heat is most
intense; on which occasion they cut the tree where the bark appears
to be the fullest of juice, and extremely thin, from being distended
to the greatest extent. The incision thus made is gradually extended,
but nothing is removed; the consequence of which is, that an unctuous
foam oozes forth, which gradually coagulates and thickens. When the
nature of the locality requires it, this juice is received upon mats
of palm-leaves, though in some places the space around the tree is
made hard by being well rammed down for the purpose. The frankincense
that is gathered after the former method, is in the purest state,
though that which falls on the ground is the heaviest in weight: that
which adheres to the tree is pared off with an iron instrument, which
accounts for its being found mingled with pieces of bark.

The forest is allotted in certain portions, and such is the mutual
probity of the owners, that it is quite safe from all depredation;
indeed, there is no one left to watch the trees after the incisions
are made, and yet no one is ever known to plunder his neighbour. But,
by Hercules! at Alexandria, where the incense is dressed for sale, the
workshops can never be guarded with sufficient care; a seal is even
placed upon the workmen’s aprons, and a mask put upon the head, or
else a net with very close meshes, while the people are stripped naked
before they are allowed to leave work. So true it is that punishments
afford less security among us than is to be found by these Arabians
amid their woods and forests! The incense which has accumulated during
the summer is gathered in the autumn: it is the purest of all, and
is of a white colour. The second gathering takes place in spring,
incisions being made in the bark for that purpose during the winter:
this, however, is of a red colour, and not to be compared with the
other incense. The first, or superior kind of incense, is known as
carfiathum,[515] the latter is called dathiathum. It is thought, also,
that the incense which is gathered from the tree while young is the
whitest, though the produce of the old trees has the most powerful
smell; some persons, too, have an impression that the best incense is
found in the islands, but Juba asserts that no incense at all is grown
there.

That incense which has hung suspended in globular drops is known to us
as “male” frankincense, although it is mostly the case that we do not
use the term “male” except in contradistinction to the word “female:”
it has been attributed, however, to religious scruples, that the name
of the other sex was not employed as a denomination for this substance.
Some persons, again, are of opinion that the male frankincense has been
so called from its resemblance[516] to the testes of the male. The
incense, however, that is the most esteemed of all is that which is
mammose, or breast-shaped, and is produced when one drop has stopped
short, and another, following close upon it, has adhered, and united
with it. I find it stated that one of these lumps used to make quite a
handful, at a time when men displayed less eagerness to gather it, and
it was allowed more time to accumulate. The Greeks call such lumps as
these by the name of stagonia[517] and atomus,[518] while the smaller
pieces are called orobia.[519] The fragments which are broken off by
shaking the tree are known to us as manna.[520] Even at the present
day, however, there are drops found which weigh one-third of a mina,
or, in other words, twenty-eight denarii. Alexander the Great, when
a boy, was on one occasion loading the altars with frankincense with
the greatest prodigality, upon which his tutor Leonides[521] remarked
to him that it would be time to worship the gods in such a lavish
manner as that, when he had conquered the countries that produced the
frankincense. After Alexander had conquered Arabia, he despatched
to Leonides a ship freighted with frankincense, and sent him word,
requesting that he would now worship the gods without stint or limit.

The incense, after being collected, is carried on camels’ backs
to Sabota,[522] at which place a single gate is left open for its
admission. To deviate from the high road while conveying it, the laws
have made a capital offence. At this place the priests take by measure,
and not by weight, a tenth part in honour of their god, whom they call
Sabis;[523] indeed, it is not allowable to dispose of it before this
has been done: out of this tenth the public expenses are defrayed,
for the divinity generously entertains all those strangers who have
made a certain number of days’ journey in coming thither. The incense
can only be exported through the country of the Gebanitæ, and for
this reason it is that a certain tax is paid to their king as well.
Thomna,[524] which is their capital, is distant from Gaza, a city of
Judæa, on the shores of our sea, 4436[525] miles, the distance being
divided into sixty-five days’ journey by camel. There are certain
portions also of the frankincense which are given to the priests and
the king’s secretaries: and in addition to these, the keepers of it,
as well as the soldiers who guard it, the gate-keepers, and various
other employes, have their share as well. And then besides, all along
the route, there is at one place water to pay for, at another fodder,
lodging at the stations, and various taxes and imposts besides; the
consequence of which is, that the expense for each camel before it
arrives at the shores of our[526] sea is six hundred and eighty-eight
denarii; after all this, too, there are certain payments still to be
made to the farmers of the revenue of our empire. Hence it is that a
pound of the best frankincense sells at six denarii, the second quality
five, and the third three. Among us, it is adulterated with drops of
white resin, a substance which bears a strong resemblance to it: but
the fraud may be easily detected by the methods which have been already
mentioned.[527] It is tested by the following qualities; its whiteness,
size, brittleness, and the readiness with which it takes fire when
placed on heated coals; in addition to which, it should not give to the
pressure of the teeth, but from its natural brittleness crumble all to
pieces.

CHAP. 33. (15.)—MYRRH.

According to some authors, myrrh[528] is the produce of a tree that
grows in the same forests as the incense-tree, though most say that
they grow in different places: but the fact is that myrrh grows in many
parts of Arabia, as will be seen when we come to speak of the several
varieties of it. A sort that is highly esteemed is brought from the
islands[529] also, and the Sabæi even cross the sea to procure it in
the country of the Troglodytæ. It is grown also by being transplanted,
and when thus cultivated is greatly preferred to that which is grown in
the forests. The plant is greatly improved by raking and baring the
roots; indeed, the cooler the roots are kept, the better it is.

CHAP. 34.—THE TREES WHICH PRODUCE MYRRH.

The tree grows to the height of five cubits, and has thorns upon
it: the trunk is hard and spiral, and thicker than that of the
incense-tree, and much more so at the root than at the upper part of
the tree. Some authors have said that the bark is smooth like that of
the arbute, others, that it is rough and covered with thorns: it has
the leaf of the olive, but more wavy, with sharp points at the edges:
Juba says, however, that it resembles the leaf of the olusatrum. Some
again say that it resembles the juniper,[530] only that it is rougher
and bristling with thorns, and that the leaves are of a rounder shape,
though they have exactly the taste of the juniper. There have been some
writers who have incorrectly asserted that both myrrh and frankincense
are the product of the same tree.

CHAP. 35.—THE NATURE AND VARIOUS KINDS OF MYRRH.

Incisions are made in the myrrh-tree also twice a year, and at the same
season as in the incense-tree; but in the case of the myrrh-tree they
are all made the way up from the root as far as the branches which are
able to bear it. The tree spontaneously exudes, before the incision
is made, a liquid which bears the name of stacte,[531] and to which
there is no myrrh that is superior. Second only in quality to this is
the cultivated myrrh: of the wild or forest kind, the best is that
which is gathered in summer. They give no tithes of myrrh to the god,
because it is the produce of other countries as well; but the growers
pay the fourth part of it to the king of the Gebanitæ. Myrrh is bought
up indiscriminately by the common people, and then packed into bags;
but our perfumers separate it without any difficulty, the principal
tests of its goodness being its unctuousness and its aromatic smell.
(16.) There are several[532] kinds of myrrh; the first among the wild
myrrhs is the Troglodytic; and the next are the Minæan, which includes
the Atramitic, and that of Ausaritis, in the kingdom of the Gebanitæ.
A third kind is the Dianitic,[533] and a fourth is the mixed myrrh,
or “all-sorts;”[534] a fifth, again, is the Sambracenian, which is
brought from a city in the kingdom of the Sabæi, near the sea; and a
sixth is known by the name of Dusaritic. There is a white myrrh also,
which is produced in only one spot, and is carried for sale to the city
of Messalum. The Troglodytic myrrh is tested by its unctuousness, and
its peculiarly dry appearance: it has also a dirty, rough look with
it, but is more acrid than the other kinds. The Sambracenian myrrh has
none of these faults, and is more sightly in appearance than any of
them, though it is far from being so powerful. In general, however, the
proof of its goodness consists in its being separated in little pieces
of uneven shape, formed by the concretion of a whitish juice, which
dries up little by little. When broken it ought to exhibit white marks
like the finger-nails, and to be slightly bitter to the taste. That
of second quality is of a mottled appearance within; while of worse
quality is that which is of a black colour within; the very worst of
all is that which is black on the outside as well.

The price of myrrh varies according to the number of purchasers.
Stacte is sold at prices which vary from three denarii to forty per
pound, while the very highest price of the cultivated myrrh is eleven
denarii. Erythræan myrrh, the same, it is pretended, as Arabian myrrh,
is sixteen denarii per pound, Troglodytic also, is sixteen denarii;
and that known as odoraria, or odoriferous myrrh, sells at fourteen.
Myrrh is adulterated with pieces of mastich, and other gums; it is also
drugged with the juice of wild cucumber, in order to produce a certain
bitterness, and with litharge for the purpose of increasing its weight.
Other sophistications may be discovered on tasting it, and the gum will
adhere to the teeth. But the cleverest mode of adulterating it is with
Indian myrrh,[535] a substance which is gathered from a certain prickly
shrub which grows there. This is the only thing that India produces of
worse quality than the corresponding produce of other countries: they
may, however, be very easily distinguished, that of India being so very
much inferior.

CHAP. 36. (17.)—MASTICH.

The transition, therefore,[536] is very easy to mastich, which grows
upon another prickly shrub of India and Arabia, known by the name of
laina. Of mastich as well there are two different kinds; for in Asia
and Greece there is also found a herb which puts forth leaves from the
root, and bears a thistly head, resembling an apple, and full of seeds.
Upon an incision being made in the upper part of this plant drops
distil from it, which can hardly be distinguished from the genuine
mastich. There is, again, a third sort,[537] found in Pontus, but more
like bitumen than anything else. The most esteemed, however, of all
these, is the white mastich of Chios, the price of which is twenty
denarii per pound, while the black mastich sells at twelve. It is said
that the mastich of Chios exudes from the lentisk in the form of a sort
of gum: like frankincense, it is adulterated with resin.

CHAP. 37.—LADANUM AND STOBOLON.

Arabia, too, still boasts of her ladanum.[538] Many writers have
stated that this substance is the fortuitous result of an accidental
injury inflicted upon a certain odoriferous plant, under the following
circumstances: the goat, they say, which is in general an animal that
is extremely mischievous to foliage, is particularly fond of the shrubs
that are odoriferous, as if, indeed, it were really sensible of the
value that is set upon them. Hence it is that as the animal crops the
sprouting shoots of the branches which are swollen with a liquid juice
of remarkable sweetness, these juices drop and become mingled together,
and are then wiped up by the shaggy hairs of its unlucky beard. Being
there mingled with the dust, these juices form knots and tufts, and
are then dried by the sun; and hence the circumstance is accounted for
that in the ladanum which is imported by us we find goats’ hairs. This,
however, we are told, occurs nowhere but among the Nabatæi,[539] a
people of Arabia, who border upon Syria. The more recent writers call
this substance by the name of stobolon, and state that in the forests
of Arabia the trees are broken by the goats while browzing, and that
the juices in consequence adhere to their shaggy hair; but the genuine
ladanum, they assure us, comes from the island of Cyprus. I make
mention of this in order that every kind of odoriferous plant may be
taken some notice of, even though incidentally and not in the order of
their respective localities. They say also that this Cyprian ladanum
is collected in the same manner as the other, and that it forms a kind
of greasy substance or œsypum,[540] which adheres to the beards and
shaggy legs of the goats; but that it is produced from the flowers of
the ground-ivy, which they have nibbled when in quest of their morning
food, a time at which the whole island is covered with dew. After this,
they say, when the fogs are dispersed by the sun, the dust adheres to
their wet coats, and the ladanum is formed, which is afterwards taken
off of them with a comb.

There are some authors who give to the plant of Cyprus, from which it
is made, the name of leda; and hence it is that we find it also called
ledanum. They say, also, that a viscous substance settles upon this
plant, and, that, by the aid of strings wound around it, its leaves
are rolled into balls, from which a kind of cake is made. Hence it is,
that in Cyprus, as well as in Arabia, there are two kinds of ladanum;
the one natural, and mingled with earth, and the other artificial: the
former is friable, while the latter is of a viscous nature.

It is stated, also, that this substance is the produce of a shrub
originally found in Carmania, and propagated by plants, by order of
the Ptolemies, in the parts beyond Egypt; while other authorities are
found, which say that it grows on the incense tree, and is gathered
like gum, from incisions made in the bark, after which it is collected
in bags of goat-skin. That of the most approved quality, sells at the
rate of forty asses per pound. Ladanum is adulterated with myrtle
berries, and filth taken from the fleeces of other animals besides the
goat. If genuine, it ought to have a wild and acrid smell, in some
measure redolent of the desert places where it is produced: it is dry
and parched in appearance, but becomes soft the moment it is touched.
When ignited, it gives a brilliant flame, and emits a powerful but
pleasant odour; if mixed with myrtle berries, its spurious quality is
immediately discovered by their crackling in the fire. In addition to
this, the genuine ladanum has more grits, or stony particles, adhering
to it, than dust.

CHAP. 38.—ENHÆMON.

In Arabia, too, the olive-tree distils a sort of tear, with which
the Indians make a medicament, known by the Greeks as enhæmon;[541]
it is said to be of wonderful efficacy in contracting and healing
wounds and sores. These trees,[542] situate on the coasts there, are
covered by the sea at high water, without the berries suffering the
slightest injury, although it is a well-known fact, that the salt
collects upon the leaves. All these trees are peculiar to Arabia,
but it has some few besides, in common with other countries, of which
we shall make mention elsewhere, the kinds growing in Arabia being of
inferior quality. The people of that country have a wonderful regard
for the perfumes of foreign parts, and import them from places at a
considerable distance; so soon are men sated with what they have of
their own, and so covetous are they of what belongs to others.

CHAP. 39.—THE TREE CALLED BRATUS.

Hence it is, that they import from the country of the Elymæi[543] the
wood of a tree called bratus,[544] which is similar in appearance to
a spreading cypress. Its branches are of a whitish colour, and the
wood, while burning, emits a pleasant odour; it is highly spoken of by
Claudius Cæsar, in his History,[545] for its marvellous properties. He
states that the Parthians sprinkle the leaves of it in their drink,
that its smell closely resembles that of the cedar, and that the smoke
of it is efficacious in counteracting the effects of smoke emitted
by other wood. This tree grows in the countries that lie beyond the
Pasitigris,[546] in the territory of the city of Sittaca, upon Mount
Zagrus.

CHAP. 40.—THE TREE CALLED STOBRUM.

The Arabians import from Carmania also the wood of a tree called
stobrum,[547] which they employ in fumigations, by steeping it in
palm wine, and then setting fire to it. The odour first ascends to
the ceiling, and then descends in volumes to the floor; it is very
agreeable, but is apt to cause an oppression of the head, though
unattended with pain; it is used for promoting sleep in persons when
ill. For these branches of commerce, they have opened the city of
Carræ,[548] which serves as an entrepot, and from which place they
were formerly in the habit of proceeding to Gabba, at a distance of
twenty days’ journey, and thence to Palæstina, in Syria. But at a
later period, as Juba informs us, they began to take the road, for
the purposes of this traffic, to Charax[549] and the kingdom of the
Parthians. For my own part, it would appear to me that they were in the
habit of importing these commodities among the Persians, even before
they began to convey them to Syria or Egypt; at least Herodotus bears
testimony to that effect, when he states that the Arabians paid a
yearly tribute of one thousand talents, in frankincense, to the kings
of Persia.

From Syria they bring back storax,[550] which, burnt upon the hearth,
by its powerful smell dispels that loathing of their own perfumes with
which these people are affected. For in general there are no kinds of
wood in use among them, except those which are odoriferous; indeed, the
Sabæi are in the habit of cooking their food with incense wood, while
others, again, employ that of the myrrh tree; and hence, the smoke and
smells that pervade their cities and villages are no other than the
very same which, with us, proceed from the altars. For the purpose of
qualifying this powerful smell, they burn storax in goat-skins, and
so fumigate their dwellings. So true it is, that there is no pleasure
to be found, but what the continual enjoyment of it begets loathing.
They also burn this substance to drive away the serpents, which are
extremely numerous in the forests which bear the odoriferous trees.

CHAP. 41. (18.)—WHY ARABIA WAS CALLED “HAPPY.”

Arabia produces neither cinnamon nor cassia; and this is the country
styled “Happy” Arabia! False and ungrateful does she prove herself
in the adoption of this surname, which she would imply to have been
received from the gods above; whereas, in reality, she is indebted
for it far more to the gods below.[551] It is the luxury which is
displayed by man, even in the paraphernalia of death, that has rendered
Arabia thus “happy;” and which prompts him to burn with the dead what
was originally understood to have been produced for the service of the
gods. Those who are likely to be the best acquainted with the matter,
assert that this country does not produce, in a whole year, so large a
quantity of perfumes as was burnt by the Emperor Nero at the funeral
obsequies of his wife Poppæa. And then let us only take into account
the vast number of funerals that are celebrated throughout the whole
world each year, and the heaps of odours that are piled up in honour
of the bodies of the dead; the vast quantities, too, that are offered
to the gods in single grains; and yet, when men were in the habit of
offering up to them the salted cake, they did not show themselves any
the less propitious; nay, rather, as the facts themselves prove, they
were even more favourable to us than they are now. But it is the sea of
Arabia that has even a still greater right to be called “happy,” for it
is this that furnishes us with pearls. At the very lowest computation,
India, the Seres, and the Arabian Peninsula, withdraw from our empire
one hundred millions of sesterces every year—so dearly do we pay for
our luxury and our women. How large a portion, too, I should like to
know, of all these perfumes, really comes to the gods of heaven, and
the deities of the shades below?

CHAP. 42. (19.)—CINNAMOMUM.[552] XYLOCINNAMUM.

Fabulous antiquity, and Herodotus[553] more particularly, have related
that cinnamomum and cassia are found in the nests of certain birds, and
principally that of the phœnix, in the districts where Father Liber was
brought up; and that these substances either fall from the inaccessible
rocks and trees in which the nests are built, in consequence of the
weight of the pieces of flesh which the birds carry up, or else are
brought down by the aid of arrows loaded with lead. It is said, also,
that cassia grows around certain marshes, but is protected by a
frightful kind of bat armed with claws, and by winged serpents as well.
All these tales, however, have been evidently invented for the purpose
of enhancing the prices of these commodities. Another story, too, bears
them company, to the effect that under the rays of the noon-day sun,
the entire peninsula exhales a certain indescribable perfume composed
of its numerous odours; that the breezes, as they blow from it, are
impregnated with these odours, and, indeed, were the first to announce
the vicinity of Arabia to the fleets of Alexander the Great, while
still far out at sea. All this, however, is false; for cinnamomum,
or cinnamum, which is the same thing, grows in the country of the
Æthiopians,[554] who are united by intermarriages with the Troglodytæ.
These last, after buying it of their neighbours, carry it over vast
tracts of sea, upon rafts, which are neither steered by rudder, nor
drawn or impelled by oars or sails. Nor yet are they aided by any of
the resources of art, man alone, and his daring boldness, standing
in place of all these; in addition to which, they choose the winter
season, about the time of the equinox, for their voyage, for then a
south easterly wind is blowing; these winds guide them in a straight
course from gulf to gulf, and after they have doubled the promontory
of Arabia, the north east wind carries them to a port of the Gebanitæ,
known by the name of Ocilia.[555] Hence it is that they steer for this
port in preference; and they say that it is almost five years before
the merchants are able to effect their return, while many perish on the
voyage. In return for their wares, they bring back articles of glass
and copper, cloths, buckles, bracelets, and necklaces; hence it is that
this traffic depends more particularly upon the capricious tastes and
inclinations of the female sex.

The cinnamon shrub[556] is only two cubits in height, at the most, the
lowest being no more than a palm in height. It is about four fingers
in breadth, and hardly has it risen six fingers from the ground,
before it begins to put forth shoots and suckers. It has then all the
appearance of being dry and withered, and while it is green it has no
odour at all. The leaf is like that of wild marjoram, and it thrives
best in dry localities, being not so prolific in rainy weather; it
requires, also, to be kept constantly clipped. Though it grows on level
ground, it thrives best among tangled brakes and brambles, and hence
it is extremely difficult to be gathered. It is never gathered unless
with the permission of the god, by whom some suppose Jupiter to be
meant; the Æthiopians, however, call him Assabinus.[557] They offer the
entrails of forty-four oxen, goats, and rams, when they implore his
permission to do so, but after all, they are not allowed to work at it
before sunrise or after sunset. A priest divides the branches with a
spear, and sets aside one portion of them for the god; after which, the
dealer stores away the rest in lumps. There is another account given,
which states that a division is made between the gatherers and the
sun, and that it is divided into three portions, after which lots are
twice drawn, and the share which falls to the sun is left there, and
forthwith ignites spontaneously.

The thinnest parts in the sticks, for about a palm in length, are
looked upon as producing the finest cinnamon; the part that comes next,
though not quite so long, is the next best, and so on downwards. The
worst of all is that which is nearest the roots, from the circumstance
that in that part there is the least bark, the portion that is the most
esteemed: hence it is that the upper part of the tree is preferred,
there being the greatest proportion of bark there. As for the wood, it
is held in no esteem at all, on account of the acrid taste which it
has, like that of wild marjoram; it is known as xylocinnamum.[558] The
price of cinnamomum is ten denarii per pound. Some writers make mention
of two kinds of cinnamon, the white and the black: the white was the
one that was formerly preferred, but now, on the contrary, the black is
held in the highest estimation, and the mottled, even, is preferred to
the white. The most certain test, however, of the goodness of cinnamon
is its not being rough, and the fact that the pieces when rubbed
together do not readily crumble to powder. That which is soft is more
particularly rejected, which is the case, also, when the outer bark too
readily falls off.

The right of regulating the sale of the cinnamon belongs solely
to the king of the Gebanitæ, who opens the market for it by public
proclamation. The price of it was formerly as much as a thousand
denarii per pound; which was afterwards increased to half as much
again, in consequence, it is said, of the forests having been set
on fire by the barbarians, from motives of resentment; whether this
took place through any injustice exercised by those in power, or only
by accident, has not been hitherto exactly ascertained. Indeed, we
find it stated by some authors, that the south winds that prevail in
these parts are sometimes so hot as to set the forests on fire. The
Emperor Vespasianus Augustus was the first to dedicate in the temples
of the Capitol and the goddess Peace chaplets of cinnamon inserted in
embossed[559] gold. I, myself, once saw in the temple of the Palatium,
which his wife Augusta[560] dedicated to her husband the late emperor
Augustus, a root of cinnamon of great weight, placed in a patera of
gold: from it drops used to distil every year, which congealed in hard
grains. It remained there until the temple was accidentally destroyed
by fire.

CHAP. 43.—CASSIA.

Cassia[561] is a shrub also, which grows not far from the plains where
cinnamon is produced, but in the mountainous localities; the branches
of it are, however, considerably thicker, than those of cinnamon. It
is covered with a thin skin rather than a bark, and, contrary to what
is the case with cinnamon, it is looked upon as the most valuable when
the bark falls off and crumbles into small pieces. The shrub is three
cubits in height, and the colours which it assumes are threefold:
when it first shoots from the ground, for the length of a foot, it is
white; after it has attained that height, it is red for half a foot,
and beyond that it is black. This last is the part that is held in the
highest esteem, and next to it the portion that comes next, the white
part being the least valued of all. They cut the ends of the branches
to the length of two fingers, and then sew them in the fresh skins
of cattle that have been killed expressly for the purpose; the object
being that the skins may putrefy, and the maggots generated thereby
may eat away the woody parts, and so excavate[562] the bark; which
is so intensely bitter, that it is quite safe from their attacks.
That which is the freshest is the most highly esteemed; it has a very
delicate smell, and is so extremely hot to the taste, that it may be
said to burn the tongue, rather than gradually warm the mouth. It is
of a purple colour, and though of considerable volume, weighs but very
little in comparison; the outer coat forms into short tubes which are
by no means easily broken: this choice kind of cassia, the barbarians
call by the name of lada. There is another sort, again, which is
called balsamodes,[563] because it has a smell like that of balsam,
but it is bitter; for which reason it is more employed for medicinal
purposes, just as the black cassia is used for unguents. There is no
substance known that is subject to greater variations in price: the
best qualities sell at fifty denarii per pound, others, again, at five.

(20.) To these varieties the dealers have added another, which they
call daphnoides,[564] and give it the surname of isocinnamon;[565]
the price at which it sells is three hundred denarii per pound. It is
adulterated with storax, and, in consequence of the resemblance of
the bark, with very small sprigs of laurel. Cassia is also planted in
our[566] part of the world, and, indeed, at the extreme verge of the
Empire, on the banks of the river Rhenus, where it flourishes when
planted in the vicinity of hives of bees. It has not, however, that
scorched colour which is produced by the excessive heat of the sun; nor
has it, for the same reason, a similar smell to that which comes from
the south.

CHAP. 44.—CANCAMUM AND TARUM.

From the confines of the country which produces cinnamon and cassia,
cancamum[567] and tarum[568] are imported; but these substances are
brought by way of the Nabatæan Troglodytæ, a colony of the Nabatæi.

CHAP. 45. (21.)—SERICHATUM AND GABALIUM.

Thither, too, are carried serichatum[569] and gabalium, aromatics
which the Arabians rear for their own consumption, and which are only
known by name in our part of the world, though they grow in the same
country as cinnamon and cassia. Still, however, serichatum does reach
us occasionally, and is employed by some persons in the manufacture of
unguents. It is purchased at the rate of six denarii per pound.

CHAP. 46.—MYROBALANUM.

In the country of the Troglodytæ, the Thebais, and the parts of Arabia
which separate Judæa from Egypt, myrobalanum[570] is commonly found; it
is provided by Nature for unguents, as from its very name would appear.
From its name, also, it is evident that it is the nut of a tree, with
a leaf similar to that of the heliotropium, which we shall have to
mention when speaking of the herbs. The fruit of this tree is about the
size of a filbert. The kind that grows in Arabia is known as Syriaca,
and is white, while, on the other hand, that which grows in the Thebais
is black: the former is preferred for the quality of the oil extracted
from it, though that which is produced in the Thebais yields it in
larger quantities. Among these various kinds, that which is sent from
the country of the Troglodytæ is the worst of all. There are some
persons who prefer that of Æthiopia[571] to all of these, the nut of
which is black, and not oleaginous; it has only a very small kernel,
but the liquid which is extracted from it is more odoriferous than
that of the other kinds; it grows, too, in a champaign, open country.
It is said that the Egyptian nut is even more oleaginous, being of a
reddish colour with a thicker shell, and that the plant, although it
grows in wet, marshy spots, is shorter and drier than the other kinds.
The Arabian nut, again, is said to be of a green colour and of smaller
size, but harder and more compact, from the circumstance that it grows
in mountainous districts. The best of all, however, is that of Petra,
which comes from a city mentioned[572] on a previous occasion; it has
a black shell, but the kernel is white. The perfumers, however, only
extract the juices from the shells; but medical men pound the kernels,
pouring warm water on them, little by little, as they do it.

CHAP. 47. (22.)—PHŒNICOBALANUS.

The fruit of the palm in Egypt, which is known by the name of
adipsos,[573] is put to a similar use in unguents, and is held next
in esteem after the myrobalanum. It is of a green colour, has exactly
the smell of a quince, and has no stone or nut within. It is gathered
a little before it begins to ripen. That which is left ungathered is
known as phœnicobalanus;[574] it turns black, and has a tendency to
inebriate the person who eats of it. The price of myrobalanum is two
denarii per pound. The shop-keepers give this name also to the dregs of
the unguent that is made with it.

CHAP. 48.—THE SWEET-SCENTED CALAMUS;[575] THE SWEET-SCENTED RUSH.

Scented calamus also, which grows in Arabia, is common to both India
and Syria, that which grows in the last country being superior to
all the rest. At a distance of one hundred and fifty stadia from the
Mediterranean, between Mount Libanus and another mountain of no note
(and not, as some have supposed, Antilibanus), there is a valley of
moderate size, situate in the vicinity of a lake, the marshy swamps of
which are dried up every summer. At a distance of thirty stadia from
this lake grow the sweet-scented calamus and rush. We shall here make
some further mention of this rush as well, although we have set apart
another Book for plants of that description, seeing that it is our
object here to describe all the different materials used for unguents.
These plants differ in appearance in no respect from others of their
kind; but the calamus, which has the more agreeable smell of the two,
attracts by its odour at a considerable distance, and is softer to the
touch than the other. The best is the kind which is not so brittle, but
breaks into long flakes, and not short, like a radish. In the hollow
stalk there is a substance like a cobweb, which is generally known by
the name of the “flower:” those plants which contain the most of it are
esteemed the best. The other tests of its goodness are its being of a
black colour—those which are white not being esteemed; besides which,
to be of the very best quality it should be short, thick, and pliant
when broken. The price of the scented calamus is eleven, and of the
rush fifteen denarii per pound. It is said that the sweet-scented rush
is to be met with also in Campania.

CHAP. 49.—HAMMONIACUM.

We have now departed from the lands which look towards the ocean to
enter upon those which have an aspect towards our seas. (23.) Africa,
which lies below Æthiopia, distils a tear-like gum in its sands, called
hammoniacum,[576] the name of which has passed to the oracle of Hammon,
situate near the tree which produces it. This substance, which is also
called metopion,[577] bears a strong resemblance to a resin or a gum.
There are two kinds of ammoniacum; that to which the name is given of
thrauston, and which bears a resemblance to male frankincense, being
the kind that is the most esteemed, and that which is known as phyrama,
being of an unctuous and resinous nature. This substance is adulterated
by means of sand, which has all the appearance of having adhered to
it during its growth: hence it is greatly preferred when the pieces
are extremely small, and in the purest state possible. The price of
hammoniacum of the best quality is forty asses per pound.

CHAP. 50.—SPHAGNOS.

Below these countries, and in the province of Cyrenaica, the perfume
called sphagnos[578] is found in the highest state of perfection: there
are some who call it by the name of bryon. The sphagnos of Cyprus
holds the second rank, and that of Phœnicia the third. It is said
that this plant is produced in Egypt also, and in Gaul as well, and I
see no reason to doubt that such is the fact, for this name is given
to certain white shaggy tufts upon trees, such as we often see upon
the quercus: those, however, of which we are speaking, emit a most
exquisite odour. The most esteemed of all are the whitest, and those
situate at the greatest height upon the tree. Those of second quality
are red, while those which are black are not of the slightest value.
The sphagnos, too, that is produced on islands and among rocks,[579] is
held in no esteem, as well as all those varieties which have the odour
of the palm-tree, and not that which is so peculiarly their own.

CHAP. 51.—CYPROS.

The cyprus[580] is a tree of Egypt, with the leaves of the
ziziphus,[581] and seeds like coriander,[582] white and odoriferous.
These seeds are boiled in olive oil, and then subjected to pressure;
the product is known to us as cypros. The price of it is five denarii
per pound. The best is that produced on the banks of the Nile, near
Canopus, that of second quality coming from Ascalon in Judæa, and the
third in estimation for the sweetness of its odour, from the island
of Cyprus. Some people will have it that this is the same as the tree
which in Italy we call ligustrum.[583]

CHAP. 52.—ASPALATHOS, OR ERYSISCEPTRUM.

In the same country,[584] too, grows aspalathos,[585] a white, thorny
shrub, the size of a moderate tree, and with flowers like the rose, the
root of which is in great request for unguents. It is said that every
shrub over which the rainbow is extended is possessed of the sweet
odour that belongs to the aspalathos, but that if the aspalathos is one
of them, its scent is something quite indescribable. Some persons call
this plant erysisceptrum,[586] and others, again, sceptrum. The proof
of its genuineness is its red or fiery colour; it is also compact to
the touch, and has the smell of castoreum:[587] it is sold at the rate
of five denarii per pound.

CHAP. 53.—MARON.

In Egypt, too, grows marum,[588] though of inferior quality to that of
Lydia, which last has larger leaves, covered with spots. Those of the
other are shorter and smaller, and give out a powerful scent.

CHAP. 54. (25.)—BALSAMUM; OPOBALSAMUM; AND XYLOBALSAMUM.

But to all other odours that of balsamum[589] is considered preferable,
a plant that has been only bestowed by Nature upon the land of Judæa.
In former times it was cultivated in two gardens only, both of which
belonged to the kings of that country: one of them was no more than
twenty jugera in extent, and the other somewhat smaller. The emperors
Vespasianus and Titus had this shrub exhibited at Rome; indeed, it
is worthy of signal remark, that since the time of Pompeius Magnus,
we have been in the habit of carrying trees even in our triumphal
processions. At the present day this tree pays us homage and tribute
along with its native land, but it has been found to be of altogether a
different nature to that which our own as well as foreign writers had
attributed to it: for, in fact, it bears a much stronger resemblance to
the vine than to the myrtle. This recent acquisition by conquest has
learned, like the vine, to be reproduced by mallet[590]-shoots, and it
covers declivities just like the vine, which supports its own weight
without the aid of stays. When it puts forth branches it is pruned in
a similar manner, and it thrives by being well raked at the roots,
growing with remarkable rapidity, and bearing fruit at the end of three
years. The leaf bears a very considerable resemblance to that of rue,
and it is an evergreen. The Jews vented their rage upon this shrub just
as they were in the habit of doing against their own lives and persons,
while, on the other hand, the Romans protected it; indeed, combats have
taken place before now in defence of a shrub. At the present day the
reproduction of it has become a duty of the fiscal authorities, and the
plants were never known to be more numerous or of larger growth; they
never exceed the height, however, of a couple of cubits.

There are three different kinds of balsamum. The first has a thin and
hair-like foliage, and is known by the name of eutheriston.[591] The
second is of a rugged appearance, bending downwards, full of branches,
and more odoriferous than the first; the name of this is trachy. The
third kind is the eumeces, so called, because it is taller than the
others; it has a smooth, even, bark. It is the second in quality,
the eutheriston being inferior to the trachy. The seed of this plant
has a flavour strongly resembling that of wine; it is of a reddish
colour, and not without a certain amount of unctuousness; the grains
of inferior quality are lighter in weight and of a greener hue: the
branches of the shrub are thicker than those of the myrtle. Incisions
are made in it either with glass, or else a sharp stone, or knives made
of bone: it being highly injurious to touch the vital parts with iron,
for in such case it will immediately wither away and die. On the other
hand, it will allow of all the superfluous branches being pruned away
with an instrument of iron even. The hand of the person who makes the
incision is generally balanced by an artificial guide, in order that he
may not accidentally inflict a wound in the wood beyond the bark.

A juice distils from the wound, which is known to us as opobalsamum;
it is of extraordinary sweetness,[592] but only exudes in tiny drops,
which are then collected in wool, and deposited in small horns. When
taken from out of these, the substance is placed in new earthen
vessels; it bears a strong resemblance to a thick oil, and is of
a white colour when fresh. It soon, however, turns red, and as it
hardens loses its transparency. When Alexander the Great waged war in
those parts, it was looked upon as a fair summer day’s work to fill a
single concha[593] with this liquid; the entire produce of the larger
garden being six congii, and of the smaller one a single congius; the
price, too, at which it was sold was double its weight in silver. At
the present day the produce of a single tree, even, is larger; the
incisions are made three times every summer, after which the tree is
pruned.

The cuttings, too, form an article of merchandize: the fifth year after
the conquest of Judæa, these cuttings, with the suckers, were sold
for the price of eight hundred thousand sesterces. These cuttings are
called xylobalsamum,[594] and are boiled down for mixing with unguents,
and in the manufactories have been substituted for the juices of the
shrub. The bark is also in great request for medicinal purposes, but it
is the tears that are so particularly valuable; the seed holding the
second rank in estimation, the bark the third, and the wood being the
least esteemed of all. Of the wood, that kind which resembles boxwood
is considered the best: it has also the strongest smell. The best seed
is that which is the largest in size and the heaviest in weight; it has
a biting or rather burning taste in the mouth. Balsamum is adulterated
with hypericon[595] from Petra, but the fraud is easily detected, from
the fact that the grains of the latter are larger, comparatively empty,
and longer than those of balsamum; they are destitute also of any
pungency of smell, and have a flavour like that of pepper.

As to the tears of balsamum, the test of their goodness is their
being unctuous to the touch, small, of a somewhat reddish colour, and
odoriferous when subjected to friction. That of second-rate quality is
white; the green and coarse is inferior, and the black is the worst of
all; for, like olive-oil, it is apt to turn rancid when old. Of all the
incisions, the produce is considered the best of those from which the
liquid has flowed before the formation of the seed. In addition to what
has been already stated, it is often adulterated with the juice of the
seed, and it is with considerable difficulty that the fraud is detected
by a slight bitterness in the taste, which ought to be delicate and
without the slightest mixture of acidity, the only pungency being that
of the smell. It is adulterated also with oil of roses, of cyprus,
of mastich, of balanus, of turpentine, and of myrtle, as also with
resin, galbanum, and Cyprian wax, just as occasion may serve. But the
very worst adulteration of all, is that which is effected with gum, a
substance which is dry when emptied into the hand, and falls to the
bottom when placed in water; both of which are characteristics of
the genuine commodity. Balsamum, in a genuine state, should be quite
hard, but when it is mixed with gum a brittle pellicle forms upon it.
The fraud can also be detected by the taste, and when placed upon hot
coals it may easily be seen if there has been any adulteration with
wax and resin; the flame too, in this case, burns with a blacker smoke
than when the balsamum is pure. When mixed with honey its qualities
are immediately changed, for it will attract flies even in the hand.
In addition to these various tests, a drop of pure balsamum, if placed
in luke-warm water will settle to the bottom of the vessel, whereas,
if it is adulterated, it will float upon the surface like oil, and
if it has been drugged with metopion or hammoniacum, a white circle
will form around it. But the best test of all is, that it will cause
milk to curdle, and leave no stain upon cloth. In no commodity are
there practised more palpable frauds than in this, for a sextarius
of balsamum which is sold by the fiscal authorities at three hundred
denarii, is sold again for a thousand, so vast is the profit to be
derived from increasing this liquid by sophistication. The price of
xylobalsamum is six denarii per pound.

CHAP. 55.—STORAX.

That part of Syria joining up to Judæa, and lying above Phœnicia,
produces storax, which is found in the vicinity of Gabala and
Marathus,[596] as also of Casius, a mountain of Seleucia. The tree[597]
bears the same name, and has a strong resemblance to, the quince. The
tear has a harsh taste, with a pleasant smell; in the interior it has
all the appearance of a reed, and is filled with a liquid juice. About
the rising of the Dog-star, certain small winged worms hover about
this substance and eat it away, for which reason it is often found
in a rotten state, with worm-holes full of dust. The storax next in
estimation after that already mentioned, comes from Pisidia, Sidon,
Cyprus, and Cilicia; that of Crete being considered the very worst of
all. That which comes from Mount Amanus, in Syria, is highly esteemed
for medicinal purposes, and even more so by the perfumers. From
whatever country it comes, that which is of a red colour is preferred,
and it should be both unctuous as well as viscous to the touch; the
worst kind is that which crumbles like bran, and is covered all over
with a whitish mould. This substance is adulterated with the resin of
cedar or with gum, and sometimes with honey or bitter almonds; all
which sophistications may, however, be detected by the taste. The price
of storax of the best quality is seventeen denarii per pound. It comes
also from Pamphylia, but this last is more arid, and not so full of
juice.

CHAP. 56.—GALBANUM.

Syria produces galbanum too, which grows upon the same mountain of
Amanus: it exudes from a kind of giant-fennel[598] of the same name
as the resin, though sometimes it is known as stagonitis. The kind
that is the most esteemed is cartilaginous, clear like hammoniacum,
and free from all ligneous substances. Still, however, it is sometimes
adulterated with beans, or with sacopenium.[599] If ignited in a
pure state, it has the property of driving away serpents[600] by its
smoke. It is sold at five denarii per pound, and is only employed for
medicinal purposes.

CHAP. 57. (26.)—PANAX.

Syria, too, furnishes panax,[601] an ingredient used in unguents.
This plant grows also at Psophis in Arcadia, about the sources of the
Erymanthus, in Africa also, and in Macedonia. This is a peculiar kind
of giant-fennel, which stands five cubits in height: it first throws
out four leaves, and then six, which lie close to the ground, round,
and of very considerable size; those, however, which grow towards the
top resemble the leaves of the olive. It bears its seed in certain
tufts, which hang down, just as in the fennel. The juice is obtained
by incisions made in the stalk at harvest-time, and in the root in
autumn. When in a coagulated state, it is esteemed according to its
whiteness. The next in value is that of a pallid colour, while the
black is held in no esteem. The price of that of the best quality is
two denarii per pound.

CHAP. 58.—SPONDYLIUM.

The difference between this kind of giant-fennel and that known as
spondylium,[602] consists only in the leaf, which is smaller, and
divided like that of the plane-tree. It grows in shady places only. The
seed bears the same name as the plant, and has a strong resemblance to
that of hart-wort: it is only employed in medicine.

CHAP. 59.—MALOBATHRUM.

Syria produces the malobathrum[603] also, a tree which bears a folded
leaf, with just the colour of a leaf when dried. From this plant an
oil is extracted for unguents. Egypt produces it in still greater
abundance; but that which is the most esteemed of all comes from India,
where it is said to grow in the marshes like the lentil. It has a more
powerful odour than saffron, and has a black, rough appearance, with
a sort of brackish taste. The white is the least approved of all, and
it very soon turns musty when old. In taste it ought to be similar to
nard, when placed under the tongue. When made luke-warm in wine, the
odour which it emits is superior to any other. The prices at which this
drug ranges are something quite marvellous, being from one denarius to
four hundred per pound; as for the leaf, it generally sells at sixty
denarii per pound.

CHAP. 60. (27.)—OMPHACIUM.

Omphacium[604] is also a kind of oil, which is obtained from two
trees, the olive and the vine, by two different methods. It is
produced from the former by pressing the olive while it is still in
the white state. That is of an inferior quality which is made from
the druppa—such being the name that is given to the olive before it
is ripe and fit for food, but already beginning to change its colour.
The difference between them is, that the latter kind is green, the
former white. The omphacium that is made from the vine is extracted
from either the psythian[605] or the Aminean grape, when the grapes are
about the size of a chick-pea, just before the rising of the Dog-star.
The grape is gathered when the first bloom is appearing upon it, and
the verjuice is extracted, after which the residue[606] is left to dry
in the sun, due precautions being taken against the dews of the night.
The verjuice, after being collected, is put into earthen vessels, and
then, after that, stored in jars of Cyprian copper.[607] The best kind
is that which is of a reddish colour, acrid, and dry to the taste. The
price at which it sells is six denarii per pound. Omphacium is also
made another way—the unripe grape is pounded in a mortar, after which
it is dried in the sun, and then divided into lozenges.

CHAP. 61. (28.)—BRYON, ŒNANTHE, AND MASSARIS.

Bryon[608] also bears an affinity to these substances, being the
clusters of berries produced by the white poplar. The best kinds grow
in the vicinity of Cnidos, or in Caria, in spots that are destitute of
water, or else in dry and rugged localities. A bryon of second-rate
quality is produced from the cedar of Lycia.[609] Œnanthe, too, bears
an affinity to these substances, being the clusters of the wild vine:
it is gathered when it is in flower, or, in other words, when it has
the finest smell: after which it is dried in the shade upon a linen
sheet spread beneath it, and then stored away in casks. The best sort
is that which comes from Parapotamia;[610] the next best kinds are
those made at Antiochia and Laodicea in Syria; and that of third-rate
quality, comes from the mountainous parts of Media; this last, however,
is preferable for medicinal purposes. Some persons give the preference
over all to that grown in the island of Cyprus. As to that which comes
from Africa, it is solely used for medicinal purposes, being known by
the name of massaris.[611] Whatever country it may happen to be, the
white wild vine produces an œnanthe of superior quality to the black.

CHAP. 62.—ELATE OR SPATHE.

There is another tree[612] also, that contributes to the manufacture of
unguents, by some persons known under the name of elate, but which we
call abies; others again call it a palm, and others give it the name of
spathe. That of Hammonium is the most esteemed, and that of Egypt next,
after which comes the Syrian tree. It is only odoriferous, however, in
places that are destitute of water. The tears of it are of an unctuous
nature, and are employed as an ingredient in unguents, to modify the
harshness of the oil.

CHAP. 63.—CINNAMON OR COMACUM.

In Syria, too, is produced that kind of cinnamon which is also known as
comacum.[613] This is a juice which is extracted from a nut, and very
different from the extract of the real cinnamomum, though it somewhat
resembles it in its agreeable smell. The price at which it sells is
forty asses per pound.

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

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,[614] Mucianus,[615] Virgil,[616]
Fabianus,[617] Sebosus,[618] Pomponius Mela,[619] Flavius,[620]
Procilius,[621] Hyginus,[622] Trogus,[623] Claudius Cæsar,[624]
Cornelius Nepos,[625] Sextus Niger[626] who wrote a Greek treatise
on Medicine, Cassius Hemina,[627] L. Piso,[628] Tuditanus,[629]
Antias.[630]

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Theophrastus,[631] Herodotus,[632]
Callisthenes,[633] Isigonus,[634] Clitarchus,[635] Anaximenes,[636]
Duris,[637] Nearchus,[638] Onesicritus,[639] Polycritus,[640]
Olympiodorus,[641] Diognetus,[642] Nicobulus,[643] Anticlides,[644]
Chares[645] of Mitylene, Menæchmus,[646] Dorotheus[647] of Athens,
Lycus,[648] Antæus,[649] Ephippus,[650] Dion,[651] Demodes,[652]
Ptolemy Lagus,[653] Marsyas[654] of Macedon, Zoilus[655] of Macedon,
Democritus,[656] Amphilochus,[657] Aristomachus,[658] Alexander
Polyhistor,[659] Juba,[660] Apollodorus[661] who wrote on Perfumes,
Heraclides[662] the physician, Archidemus[663] the physician,
Dionysius[664] the physician, Democlides[665] the physician,
Euphron[666] the physician, Mnesides[667] the physician, Diagoras[668]
the physician, Iollas[669] the physician, Heraclides[670] of Tarentum,
Xenocrates[671] of Ephesus, Eratosthenes.[672]

BOOK XIII.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EXOTIC TREES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF UNGUENTS.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—UNGUENTS—AT WHAT PERIOD THEY WERE FIRST INTRODUCED.

Thus far we have been speaking of the trees which are valuable for the
odours they produce, and each of which is a subject for our wonder in
itself. Luxury, however, has thought fit to mingle all of these, and
to make a single odour of the whole; hence it is that unguents have
been invented.[673] Who was the first to make unguents is a fact not
recorded. In the times of the Trojan war[674] they did not exist, nor
did they use incense when sacrificing to the gods; indeed, people knew
of no other smell, or rather stench,[675] I may say, than that of the
cedar and the citrus,[676] shrubs of their own growth, as it arose in
volumes of smoke from the sacrifices; still, however, even then, the
extract of roses was known, for we find it mentioned as conferring
additional value on olive-oil.

We ought, by good rights, to ascribe the first use of unguents to
the Persians, for they quite soak themselves in it, and so, by an
adventitious recommendation, counteract the bad odours which are
produced by dirt. The first instance of the use of unguents that I have
been able to meet with is that of the chest[677] of perfumes which fell
into the hands of Alexander, with the rest of the property of King
Darius, at the taking of his camp.[678] Since those times this luxury
has been adopted by our own countrymen as well, among the most prized
and, indeed, the most elegant of all the enjoyments of life, and has
begun even to be admitted in the list of honours paid to the dead;
for which reason we shall have to enlarge further on that subject.
Those perfumes which are not the produce of shrubs[679] will only be
mentioned for the present by name: the nature of them will, however, be
stated in their appropriate places.

CHAP. 2.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF UNGUENTS—TWELVE PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS.

The names of unguents are due, some of them, to the original place of
their composition, others, again, to the extracts which form their
bases, others to the trees from which they are derived, and others to
the peculiar circumstance under which they were first made: and it is
as well, first of all, to know that in this respect the fashion has
often changed, and that the high repute of peculiar kinds has been but
transitory. In ancient times, the perfumes the most esteemed of all
were those of the island of Delos,[680] and at a later period those of
Mendes.[681] This degree of esteem is founded, not only on the mode of
mixing them and the relative proportions, but according to the degree
of favour or disfavour in which the various places which produce the
ingredients are held, and the comparative excellence or degeneracy of
the ingredients themselves. The perfume of iris,[682] from Corinth,
was long held in the highest esteem, till that of Cyzicus came into
fashion. It was the same, too, with the perfume of roses,[683] from
Phaselis,[684] the repute of which was afterwards eclipsed by those
of Neapolis, Capua, and Præneste. Oil of saffron,[685] from Soli in
Cilicia, was for a long time held in repute beyond any other, and then
that from Rhodes; after which perfume of œnanthe,[686] from Cyprus,
came into fashion, and then that of Egypt was preferred. At a later
period that of Adramytteum came into vogue, and then was supplanted by
unguent of marjoram,[687] from Cos, which in its turn was superseded
by quince blossom[688] unguent from the same place. As to perfume of
cyprus,[689] that from the island of Cyprus was at first preferred, and
then that of Egypt; when all on a sudden the unguents of Mendes and
metopium[690] rose into esteem. In later times Phœnicia eclipsed Egypt
in the manufacture of these last two, but left to that country the
repute of producing the best unguent of cyprus.

Athens has perseveringly maintained the repute of her
panathenaicon.[691] There was formerly a famous unguent, known as
“pardalium,”[692] and made at Tarsus; at the present day its very
composition and the mode of mixing it are quite unknown there: they
have left off, too, making unguent of narcissus[693] from the flowers
of that plant.

There are two elements which enter into the composition of unguents,
the juices and the solid parts. The former generally consist of various
kinds of oils, the latter of odoriferous substances. These last are
known as hedysmata, while the oils are called stymmata.[694] There
is a third element, which occupies a place between the two, but
has been much neglected, the colouring matter, namely. To produce a
colour, however, cinnabar[695] and alkanet[696] are often employed.
If salt[697] is sprinkled in the oil, it will aid it in retaining its
properties; but if alkanet has been employed, salt is never used. Resin
and gum are added to fix the odour in the solid perfumes; indeed it
is apt to die away and disappear with the greatest rapidity if these
substances are not employed.

The unguent which is the most readily prepared of all, and indeed, in
all probability, the very first that was ever made, is that composed of
bryon[698] and oil of balanus,[699] substances of which we have made
mention already. In later times the Mendesian unguent was invented,
a more complicated mixture, as resin and myrrh were added to oil of
balanus, and at the present day they even add metopion[700] as well,
an Egyptian oil extracted from bitter almonds; to which have been
added omphacium,[701] cardamum,[702] sweet rush,[703] honey,[704]
wine, myrrh, seed of balsamum,[705] galbanum,[706] and resin of
terebinth,[707] as so many ingredients. Among the most common unguents
at the present day, and for that reason supposed to be the most
ancient, is that composed of oil of myrtle,[708] calamus, cypress,[709]
cyprus, mastich,[710] and pomegranate-rind.[711] I am of opinion,
however, that the unguents which have been the most universally
adopted, are those which are compounded of the rose, a flower that
grows everywhere; and hence for a long time the composition of oil
of roses was of the most simple nature, though more recently there
have been added omphacium, rose blossoms, cinnabar, calamus, honey,
sweet-rush, flour of salt or else alkanet,[712] and wine. The same is
the case, too, with oil of saffron, to which have been lately added
cinnabar, alkanet, and wine; and with oil of sampsuchum,[713] with
which omphacium and calamus have been compounded. The best comes from
Cyprus and Mitylene, where sampsuchum abounds in large quantities.

The commoner kinds of oil, too, are mixed with those of myrrh and
laurel, to which are added sampsuchum, lilies, fenugreek, myrrh,
cassia,[714] nard,[715] sweet-rush, and cinnamon.[716] There is an oil,
too, made of the common quince and the sparrow quince, called melinum,
as we shall have occasion to mention hereafter;[717] it is used as an
ingredient in unguents, mixed with omphacium, oil of cyprus, oil of
sesamum,[718] balsamum,[719] sweet-rush, cassia, and abrotonum.[720]
Susinum[721] is the most fluid of them all: it is made of lilies, oil
of balanus, calamus, honey, cinnamon, saffron,[722] and myrrh; while
the unguent of cyprus[723] is compounded of cyprus, omphacium and
cardamum, calamus, aspalathus,[724] and abrotonum. There are some
persons who, when making unguent of cyprus, employ myrrh also, and
panax:[725] the best is that made at Sidon, and the next best that
of Egypt: care must be taken not to add oil of sesamum: it will keep
as long as four years, and its odour is strengthened by the addition
of cinnamon. Telinum[726] is made of fresh olive-oil, cypirus,[727]
calamus, melilote,[728] fenugreek, honey, marum,[729] and sweet
marjoram. This last was the perfume most in vogue in the time of the
Comic poet Menander: a considerable time after that known as “megalium”
took its place, being so called as holding the very highest rank;[730]
it was composed of oil of balanus, balsamum, calamus, sweet-rush,
xylobalsamum,[731] cassia, and resin. One peculiar property of this
unguent is, that it requires to be constantly stirred while boiling,
until it has lost all smell: when it becomes cold, it recovers its
odour.[732]

There are some single essences also which, individually, afford
unguents of very high character: the first rank is due to
malobathrum,[733] and the next to the iris of Illyricum and the sweet
marjoram of Cyzicus, both of them herbs. There are perfumers who
sometimes add some few other ingredients to these: those who use the
most, employ for the purpose honey, flour of salt, omphacium, leaves
of agnus,[734] and panax, all of them foreign ingredients.[735] The
price of unguent[736] of cinnamon is quite enormous; to cinnamon
there is added oil of balanus, xylobalsamum, calamus, sweet-rush,
seeds of balsamum, myrrh, and perfumed honey: it is the thickest in
consistency of all the unguents; the price at which it sells ranges
from thirty-five to three hundred denarii per pound. Unguent[737]
of nard,[738] or foliatum, is composed of omphacium or else oil of
balanus, sweet-rush, costus,[739] nard, amomum,[740] myrrh, and
balsamum.

While speaking on this subject, it will be as well to bear in mind that
there are nine different kinds of plants of a similar kind, of which
we have already made mention[741] as being employed for the purpose
of imitating Indian nard; so abundant are the materials that are
afforded for adulteration. All these perfumes are rendered still more
pungent by the addition of costus and amomum, which have a particularly
powerful effect on the olfactory organs; while myrrh gives them greater
consistency and additional sweetness, and saffron makes them better
adapted for medicinal purposes. They are most pungent, however, when
mixed with amomum alone, which will often produce head-ache even.
There are some persons who content themselves with sprinkling the more
precious ingredients upon the others after boiling them down, for the
purpose of economy; but the strength of the unguent is not so great as
when the ingredients have been boiled together. Myrrh used by itself,
and without the mixture of oil, forms an unguent, but it is stacte[742]
only that must be used, for otherwise it will be productive of too
great bitterness. Unguent of cyprus turns other unguents green, while
lily unguent[743] makes them more unctuous: the unguent of Mendes turns
them black, rose unguent makes them white, and that of myrrh of a
pallid hue.

Such are the particulars of the ancient inventions, and the various
falsifications of the shops in later times; we will now pass on to make
mention of what is the very height of refinement in these articles of
luxury, indeed, I may say, the beau ideal[744] of them all.

(2.) This is what is called the “regal” unguent, from the fact that
it is composed in these proportions for the kings of the Parthians. It
consists of myrobalanus,[745] costus, amomum, cinnamon, comacum,[746]
cardamum, spikenard, marum, myrrh, cassia, storax,[747] ladanum,[748]
opobalsamum, Syrian calamus[749] and Syrian sweet-rush,[750] œnanthe,
malobathrum, serichatum,[751] cyprus, aspralathus, panax, saffron,
cypirus, sweet marjoram, lotus,[752] honey, and wine. Not one of
the ingredients in this compound is produced either in Italy, that
conqueror of the world, or, indeed, in all Europe, with the exception
of the iris, which grows in Illyricum, and the nard, which is to be
found in Gaul: as to the wine, the rose, the leaves of myrtle, and the
olive-oil, they are possessed by pretty nearly all countries in common.

CHAP. 3.—DIAPASMA, MAGMA; THE MODE OF TESTING UNGUENTS.

Those unguents which are known by the name of “diapasma,”[753] are
composed of dried perfumes. The lees[754] of unguents are known by
the name of “magma.[755]” In all these preparations the most powerful
perfume is the one that is added the last of all. Unguents keep best in
boxes of alabaster,[756] and perfumes[757] when mixed with oil, which
conduces all the more to their durability the thicker it is, such as
the oil of almonds, for instance. Unguents, too, improve with age; but
the sun is apt to spoil them, for which reason they are usually stowed
away in a shady place in vessels of lead. When their goodness is being
tested, they are placed on the back of the hand, lest the heat of the
palm, which is more fleshy, should have a bad effect upon them.

CHAP. 4. (3.)—THE EXCESSES TO WHICH LUXURY HAS RUN IN UNGUENTS.

These perfumes form the objects of a luxury which may be looked upon
as being the most superfluous of any, for pearls and jewels, after
all, do pass to a man’s representative,[758] and garments have some
durability; but unguents lose their odour in an instant, and die away
the very hour they are used. The very highest recommendation of them
is, that when a female passes by, the odour which proceeds from her may
possibly attract the attention of those even who till then are intent
upon something else. In price they exceed so large a sum even as four
hundred denarii per pound: so vast is the amount that is paid for a
luxury made not for our own enjoyment, but for that of others; for the
person who carries the perfume about him is not the one, after all,
that smells it.

And yet, even here, there are some points of difference that deserve
to be remarked. We read in the works of Cicero,[759] that those
unguents which smell of the earth are preferable to those which smell
of saffron; being a proof, that even in a matter which most strikingly
bespeaks our state of extreme corruptness, it is thought as well to
temper the vice by a little show of austerity.[760] There are some
persons too who look more particularly for consistency[761] in their
unguents, to which they accordingly give the name of “spissum”;[762]
thus showing that they love not only to be sprinkled, but even to
be plastered over, with unguents. We have known the very soles[763]
even of the feet to be sprinkled with perfumes; a refinement which
was taught, it is said, by M. Otho[764] to the Emperor Nero. How, I
should like to know, could a perfume be at all perceptible, or, indeed,
productive of any kind of pleasure, when placed on that part of the
body? We have heard also of a private person giving orders for the
walls of the bath-room to be sprinkled with unguents, while the Emperor
Caius[765] had the same thing done to his sitting-bath:[766] that this,
too, might not be looked upon as the peculiar privilege of a prince, it
was afterwards done by one of the slaves that belonged to Nero.

But the most wonderful thing of all is, that this kind of luxurious
gratification should have made its way into the camp even: at all
events, the eagles and the standards, dusty as they are, and bristling
with their sharpened points, are anointed on festive[767] days. I
only wish it could, by any possibility, be stated who it was that
first taught us this practice. It was, no doubt, under the corrupting
influence of such temptations as these, that our eagles achieved the
conquest[768] of the world: thus do we seek to obtain their patronage
and sanction for our vices, and make them our precedent for using
unguents even beneath the casque.[769]

CHAP. 5.—WHEN UNGUENTS WERE FIRST USED BY THE ROMANS.

I cannot exactly say at what period the use of unguents first found
its way to Rome. It is a well-known fact, that when King Antiochus and
Asia[770] were subdued, an edict was published in the year of the City
565, in the censorship of P. Licinius Crassus and L. Julius Cæsar,
forbidding any one to sell exotics;[771] for by that name unguents were
then called. But, in the name of Hercules! at the present day, there
are some persons who even go so far as to put them in their drink, and
the bitterness produced thereby is prized to a high degree, in order
that by their lavishness on these odours they may thus gratify the
senses of two parts[772] of the body at the same moment.[773] It is a
well-known historical fact, that L. Plotius,[774] the brother of L.
Plancus, who was twice consul and censor, after being proscribed by
the Triumvirs, was betrayed in his place of concealment at Salernum by
the smell of his unguents, a disgrace which more than outweighed all
the guilt[775] attending his proscription. For who is there that can
be of opinion that such men as this do not richly deserve to come to a
violent end?

CHAP. 6.—THE PALM-TREE.

In other respects, Egypt is the country that is the best suited of all
for the production of unguents; and next to it, Campania,[776] from its
abundance of roses.

(4.) Judæa, too, is greatly renowned for its perfumes, and even still
more so for its palm-trees,[777] the nature of which I shall take this
opportunity of enlarging upon. There are some found in Europe also.
They are not uncommon in Italy, but are quite barren there.[778] The
palms on the coast of Spain bear fruit, but it is sour.[779] The fruit
of those of Africa is sweet, but quickly becomes vapid and loses its
flavour; which, however is not the case with the fruit of those that
grow in the East.[780] From these trees a wine is made, and bread by
some nations,[781] and they afford an aliment for numerous quadrupeds.
It will be with very fair reason then, that we shall confine our
description to the palm-tree of foreign countries. There are none in
Italy that grow spontaneously,[782] nor, in fact, in any other part of
the world, with the exception of the warm countries: indeed, it is only
in the very hottest climates that this tree will bear fruit.

CHAP. 7.—THE NATURE OF THE PALM-TREE.

The palm-tree grows in a light and sandy soil, and for the most part of
a nitrous quality. It loves the vicinity of flowing water; and as it
is its nature to imbibe the whole of the year, there are some who are
of opinion that in a year of drought it will receive injury from being
manured even, if the manure is not first mixed with running water:
this, at least, is the idea entertained by some of the Assyrians.

The varieties of the palm are numerous. First of all, there are those
which do not exceed the size of a shrub; they are mostly barren, though
sometimes they are known to produce fruit; the branches are short, and
the tree is well covered with leaves all round. In many places this
tree is used as a kind of rough-cast,[783] as it were, to protect the
walls of houses against damp. The palms of greater height form whole
forests, the trunk of the tree being protected all round by pointed
leaves, which are arranged in the form of a comb; these, it must be
understood, are wild palms, though sometimes, by some wayward fancy or
other, they are known to make their appearance among the cultivated
varieties. The other kinds are tall, round, and tapering; and being
furnished with dense and projecting knobs or circles in the bark,
arranged in regular gradation, they are found easy of ascent by the
people in the East; in order to do which, the climber fastens a loop of
osier round his body and the trunk, and by this contrivance ascends the
tree with astonishing[784] rapidity. All the foliage is at the summit,
and the fruit as well; this last being situate, not among the leaves,
as is the case with other trees, but hanging in clusters from shoots
of its own among the branches, and partaking of the nature both of the
grape and the apple. The leaves terminate in a sharp edge, like that of
a knife, while the sides are deeply indented—a peculiarity which first
gave the idea of a troop of soldiers presenting face on two sides at
once; at the present day they are split asunder[785] to form ropes and
wythes for fastening, as well as light umbrellas[786] for covering the
head.

The more diligent[787] enquirers into the operations of Nature state
that all trees, or rather all plants, and other productions of the
earth, belong to either one sex or the other; a fact which it may be
sufficient to notice on the present occasion, and one which manifests
itself in no tree more than in the palm. The male tree blossoms at
the shoots; the female buds without blossoming, the bud being very
similar to an ear of corn. In both trees the flesh of the fruit shows
first, and after that the woody part inside of it, or, in other words,
the seed: and that this is really the case, is proved by the fact,
that we often find small fruit on the same shoot without any seed in
it at all. This seed is of an oblong shape, and not rounded like the
olive-stone. It is also divided down the back by a deep indentation,
and in most specimens of this fruit there is exactly in the middle a
sort of navel, as it were, from which the root of the tree first takes
its growth.[788] In planting this seed it is laid on its anterior
surface, two being placed side by side, while as many more are placed
above; for when planted singly, the tree that springs up is but weak
and sickly, whereas the four seeds all unite and form one strong tree.
The seed is divided from the flesh of the fruit by several coats of a
whitish colour, some of which are attached to the body of it; it lies
but loosely in the inside of the fruit, adhering only to the summit by
a single thread.[789]

The flesh of this fruit takes a year to ripen, though in some places,
Cyprus[790] for instance, even if it should not reach maturity, it
is very agreeable, for the sweetness of its flavour: the leaf of the
tree too, in that island, is broader than elsewhere, and the fruit
rounder than usual: the body of the fruit however, is never eaten,
but is always spit[791] out again, after the juice has been extracted.
In Arabia, the palm fruit is said to have a sickly sweet taste,
although Juba says that he prefers the date found among the Arabian
Scenitæ,[792] and to which they give the name of “dablan,” before those
of any other country for flavour. In addition to the above particulars,
it is asserted that in a forest of natural growth the female[793] trees
will become barren if they are deprived of the males, and that many
female trees may be seen surrounding a single male with downcast heads
and a foliage that seems to be bowing caressingly towards it; while the
male tree, on the other hand, with leaves all bristling and erect, by
its exhalations, and even the very sight of it and the dust[794] from
off it, fecundates the others: if the male tree, too, should happen to
be cut down, the female trees, thus reduced to a state of widowhood,
will at once become barren and unproductive. So well, indeed, is this
sexual union between them understood, that it has been imagined even
that fecundation may be ensured through the agency of man, by means of
the blossoms and the down[795] gathered from off the male trees, and,
indeed, sometimes by only sprinkling the dust from off them on the
female trees.

CHAP. 8.—HOW THE PALM-TREE IS PLANTED.

Palm-trees are also propagated by planting;[796] the trunk is first
divided with certain fissures two cubits in length which communicate
with the pith of the tree, and is then buried in the earth. A slip
also torn away from the root will produce a sucker with vitality, and
the same may be obtained from the more tender among the branches. In
Assyria, the tree itself is sometimes laid level, and then covered
over in a moist soil; upon which it will throw out roots all over, but
it will grow only to be a number of shrubs, and never a tree: hence it
is that they plant nurseries, and transplant the young trees when a
year old, and again when two years old, as they thrive all the better
for being transplanted; this is done in the spring season in other
countries, but in Assyria about the rising of the Dog-star. In those
parts they do not touch the young trees with the knife, but merely tie
up the foliage that they may shoot upwards, and so attain considerable
height. When they are strong they prune them, in order to increase
their thickness, but in so doing leave the branches for about half a
foot; indeed, if they were cut off at any other place, the operation
would kill the parent tree. We have already[797] mentioned that they
thrive particularly well in a saltish soil; hence, when the soil is not
of that nature, it is the custom to scatter salt, not exactly about the
roots, but at a little distance off. There are palm-trees in Syria and
in Egypt which divide into two trunks, and some in Crete into three and
as many as five even.[798] Some of these trees bear immediately at the
end of three years, and in Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt, when they are four
years old; others again at the end of five years: at which period the
tree is about the height of a man. So long as the tree is quite young
the fruit has no seed within, from which circumstance it has received
the nickname of the “eunuch.”[799]

CHAP. 9.—THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF PALM-TREES, AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS.

There are numerous varieties of the palm-tree. In Assyria, and
throughout the whole of Persis, the barren kinds are made use of for
carpenters’ work, and the various appliances of luxury. There are
whole forests also of palm-trees adapted for cutting,[800] and which,
after they are cut, shoot again from the root; the pith of them
towards the top, which is usually called the brain[801] of the tree,
is sweet to the taste, and the tree will live even after it has been
extracted, which is the case with no other kind. The name of this tree
is “chamæreps;”[802] it has a broader and softer leaf than the others,
which is extremely useful for various kinds of wickerwork;[803] these
trees are very numerous in Crete, and even more so in Sicily. The wood
of the palm-tree, when ignited, burns both brightly and slowly.[804] In
some of those that bear fruit,[805] the seed of the fruit is shorter
than in others, while in some, again, it is longer; in some it is
softer than in others, and in some harder; in some it is osseous and
crescent-shaped; polished with a tooth, superstition employs the stone
as an antidote against charms and fascination. This stone is enclosed
in several coats, more or less in number; sometimes they are of a thick
texture, and sometimes very thin.

Hence it is that we find nine and forty different kinds of palm-trees,
if any one will be at the trouble of enumerating all their various
barbarous names, and the different wines that are extracted from them.
The most famous of all, are those which, for the sake of distinction,
have received the name of “royal” palms, because they were preserved
solely by the kings of Persia; these used to grow nowhere but at
Babylon, and there only in the garden of Bagoüs,[806] that being the
Persian for an eunuch, several of whom have even reigned over that
country! This garden was always carefully retained within[807] the
precincts of the royal court.

In the southern parts of the world, the dates known as “syagri,”[808]
hold the highest rank, and next after them those that are called
“margarides.” These last are short, white, and round, and bear a
stronger resemblance to grapes than to dates; for which reason it is
that they have received their name, in consequence of their close
resemblance to “margaritæ,” or pearls. It is said that there is only
one tree that bears them, and that in the locality known as Chora.[809]
The same is the case also with the tree that bears the syagri. We
have heard a wonderful story too, relative to this last tree, to the
effect that it dies and comes to life again in a similar manner to the
phœnix, which, it is generally thought, has borrowed its name from the
palm-tree, in consequence of this peculiarity; at the moment that I
am writing this, that tree is still bearing fruit. As for the fruit
itself, it is large, hard, and of a rough appearance, and differing
in taste from all other kinds, having a sort of wild flavour peculiar
to itself, and not unlike that of the flesh of the wild boar; it is
evidently this circumstance from which it has derived its name of
“syagrus.”

In the fourth rank are the dates called “sandalides,” from their
resemblance to a sandal in shape. It is stated, that on the confines
of Æthiopia there are but five of these trees at the most, no less
remarkable for the singular lusciousness of their fruit, than for their
extreme rarity. Next to these, the dates known as “caryotæ”[810] are
the most esteemed, affording not only plenty of nutriment, but a great
abundance of juice; it is from these that the principal wines[811]
are made in the East; these wines are apt to affect the head, a
circumstance from which the fruit derives its name. But if these trees
are remarkable for their abundance and fruitfulness, it is in Judæa
that they enjoy the greatest repute; not, indeed, throughout the whole
of that territory, but more particularly at Hiericus,[812] although
those that grow at Archelais, Phaselis, and Livias, vallies in the
same territory, are highly esteemed. The more remarkable quality of
these is a rich, unctuous juice; they are of a milky consistency,
and have a sort of vinous flavour, with a remarkable sweetness, like
that of honey. The Nicolaän[813] dates are of a similar kind, but
somewhat drier; they are of remarkable size, so much so, indeed, that
four of them, placed end to end, will make a cubit in length. A less
fine kind, but of sister quality to the caryotæ for flavour, are
the “adelphides,”[814] hence so called; these come next to them in
sweetness, but still are by no means their equals. A third kind, again,
are the patetæ, which abound in juice to excess, so much so, indeed,
that the fruit bursts, in its excess of liquor, even upon the parent
tree, and presents all the appearance of having been trodden[815] under
foot.

There are numerous kinds of dates also, of a drier nature, which are
long and slender, and sometimes of a curved shape. Those of this sort
which we consecrate to the worship of the gods are called “chydæi”[816]
by the Jews, a nation remarkable for the contempt which they manifest
of the divinities. Those found all over Thebais and Arabia are dry
and small, with a shrivelled body: being parched up and scorched by
the constant heat, they are covered with what more nearly resembles a
shell[817] than a skin. In Æthiopia the date is quite brittle even,
so great is the driness of the climate; hence the people are able to
knead it into a kind of bread, just like so much flour.[818] It grows
upon a shrub, with branches a cubit in length: it has a broad leaf, and
the fruit is round, and larger than an apple. The name of this date is
“coïx.”[819] It comes to maturity in three years, and there is always
fruit to be found upon the shrub, in various stages of maturity. The
date of Thebais is at once packed in casks, with all its natural heat
and freshness; for without this precaution, it quickly becomes vapid;
it is of a poor, sickly taste, too, if it is not exposed, before it is
eaten, to the heat of an oven.

The other kinds of dates appear to be of an ordinary nature, and are
generally known as “tragemata;”[820] but in some parts of Phœnicia and
Cilicia, they are commonly called “balani,” a name which has been also
borrowed by us. There are numerous kinds of them, which differ from one
another in being round or oblong; as also in colour, for some of them
are black, and others red—indeed it is said that they present no fewer
varieties of colour than the fig: the white ones, however, are the most
esteemed. They differ also in size, according to the number which it
requires to make a cubit in length; some, indeed, are no larger than a
bean. Those are the best adapted for keeping which are produced in salt
and sandy soils, Judæa, and Cyrenaïca in Africa, for instance: those,
however, of Egypt, Cyprus, Syria, and Seleucia in Assyria, will not
keep: hence it is that they are much used for fattening swine and other
animals. It is a sign that the fruit is either spoilt or old, when the
white protuberance disappears, by which it has adhered to the cluster.
Some of the soldiers of Alexander’s army were choked by eating green
dates;[821] and a similar effect is produced in the country of the
Gedrosi, by the natural quality of the fruit; while in other places,
again, the same results arise from eating them to excess. Indeed,
when in a fresh state, they are so remarkably luscious, that there
would be no end to eating them, were it not for fear of the dangerous
consequences that would be sure to ensue.

CHAP. 10. (5.)—THE TREES OF SYRIA: THE PISTACIA, THE COTTANA, THE
DAMASCENA, AND THE MYXA.

In addition to the palm, Syria has several trees that are peculiar to
itself. Among the nut-trees there is the pistacia,[822] well known
among us. It is said that, taken either in food or drink, the kernel of
this nut is a specific against the bite of serpents. Among figs, too,
there are those known as “caricæ,”[823] together with some smaller ones
of a similar kind, the name of which is “cottana.” There is a plum,
too, which grows upon Mount Damascus,[824] as also that known as the
“myxa;”[825] these last two are, however, now naturalized in Italy. In
Egypt, too, they make a kind of wine from the myxa.

CHAP. 11.—THE CEDAR. TREES WHICH HAVE ON THEM THE FRUIT OF THREE YEARS
AT ONCE.

Phœnicia, too, produces a small cedar, which bears a strong resemblance
to the juniper.[826] Of this tree there are two varieties; the one
found in Lycia, the other in Phœnicia.[827] The difference is in the
leaf: the one in which it is hard, sharp, and prickly, being known as
the oxycedros,[828] a branchy tree and rugged with knots. The other
kind is more esteemed for its powerful odour. The small cedar produces
a fruit the size of a grain of myrrh, and of a sweetish taste. There
are two kinds of the larger cedar[829] also; the one that blossoms
bears no fruit, while, on the other hand, the one that bears fruit has
no blossom, and the fruit, as it falls, is being continually replaced
by fresh. The seed of this tree is similar to that of the cypress. Some
persons give this tree the name of “cedrelates.” The resin produced
from it is very highly praised, and the wood of it lasts for ever,
for which reason it is that they have long been in the habit of using
it for making the statues of the gods. In a temple at Rome there is
a statue of Apollo Sosianus[830] in cedar, originally brought from
Seleucia. There is a tree similar to the cedar, found also in Arcadia;
and there is a shrub that grows in Phrygia, known as the “cedrus.”

CHAP. 12. (6.)—THE TEREBINTH.[831]

Syria, too, produces the terebinth, the male tree of which bears no
fruit, and the female consists of two different varieties;[832] one
of these bears a red fruit, the size of a lentil, while the other
is pale, and ripens at the same period as the grape. This fruit is
not larger than a bean, is of a very agreeable smell, and sticky and
resinous to the touch. About Ida in Troas, and in Macedonia, this tree
is short and shrubby, but at Damascus, in Syria, it is found of very
considerable size. Its wood is remarkably flexible, and continues sound
to a very advanced age: it is black and shining. The blossoms appear
in clusters, like those of the olive-tree, but are of a red colour;
the leaves are dense, and closely packed. It produces follicules, too,
from which issue certain insects like gnats, as also a kind of resinous
liquid[833] which oozes from the bark.

CHAP. 13.—THE SUMACH-TREE.

The male sumach-tree[834] of Syria is productive, but the female is
barren. The leaf resembles that of the elm, though it is a little
longer, and has a downy surface. The footstalks of the leaves lie
always alternately in opposite directions, and the branches are short
and slender. This tree is used in the preparation of white skins.[835]
The seed, which strongly resembles a lentil in appearance, turns red
with the grape; it is known by the name of “ros,” and forms a necessary
ingredient in various medicaments.[836]

CHAP. 14. (7.)—THE TREES OF EGYPT. THE FIG-TREE OF ALEXANDRIA.

Egypt, too, has many trees which are not to be found elsewhere, and the
kind of fig more particularly, which for this reason has been called
the Egyptian fig.[837] In leaf this tree resembles the mulberry-tree,
as also in size and general appearance. It bears fruit, not upon
branches, but upon the trunk itself: the fig is remarkable for its
extreme sweetness, and has no seeds[838] in it. This tree is also
remarkable for its fruitfulness, which, however, can only be ensured by
making incisions[839] in the fruit with hooks of iron, for otherwise
it will not come to maturity. But when this has been done, it may be
gathered within four days, immediately upon which another shoots up
in its place. Hence it is that in the year it produces seven abundant
crops, and throughout all the summer there is an abundance of milky
juice in the fruit. Even if the incisions are not made, the fruit will
shoot afresh four times during the summer, the new fruit supplanting
the old, and forcing it off before it has ripened. The wood, which is
of a very peculiar nature, is reckoned among the most useful known.
When cut down it is immediately plunged into standing water, such being
the means employed for drying[840] it. At first it sinks to the bottom,
after which it begins to float, and in a certain length of time the
additional moisture sucks it dry, which has the effect of penetrating
and soaking all[841] other kinds of wood. It is a sign that it is fit
for use[842] when it begins to float.

CHAP. 15.—THE FIG-TREE OF CYPRUS.

The fig-tree that grows in Crete, and is known there as the Cyprian
fig,[843] bears some resemblance to the preceding one; for it bears
fruit upon the trunk of the tree, and upon the branches as well, when
they have attained a certain degree of thickness. This tree, however,
sends forth buds without any leaves,[844] but similar in appearance to
a root. The trunk of the tree is similar to that of the poplar, and
the leaves to those of the elm. It produces four crops in the year,
and germinates the same number of times, but its green[845] fruit will
not ripen unless an incision is made in it to let out the milky juice.
The sweetness of the fruit and the appearance of the inside are in all
respects similar to those of the fig, and in size it is about as large
as a sorb-apple.

CHAP. 16. (8.)—THE CAROB-TREE.

Similar to this is the carob-tree, by the Ionians known as the
“ceraunia,”[846] which in a similar manner bears fruit from the trunk,
this fruit being known by the name of “siliqua,” or “pod.” For this
reason, committing a manifest error, some persons[847] have called it
the Egyptian fig; it being the fact that this tree does not grow in
Egypt, but in Syria and Ionia, in the vicinity, too, of Cnidos, and
in the island of Rhodes. It is always covered with leaves, and bears
a white flower with a very powerful odour. It sends forth shoots at
the lower part, and is consequently quite yellow on the surface, as
the young suckers deprive the trunk of the requisite moisture. When
the fruit of the preceding year is gathered, about the rising of the
Dog-star, fresh fruit immediately makes its appearance; after which the
tree blossoms while the constellation of Arcturus[848] is above the
horizon, and the winter imparts nourishment to the fruit.

CHAP. 17. (9.)—THE PERSIAN TREE. IN WHAT TREES THE FRUITS GERMINATE THE
ONE BELOW THE OTHER.

Egypt, too, produces another tree of a peculiar description, the
Persian[849] tree, similar in appearance to the pear-tree, but
retaining its leaves during the winter. This tree produces without
intermission, for if the fruit is pulled to-day, fresh fruit will
make its appearance to-morrow: the time for ripening is while the
Etesian[850] winds prevail. The fruit of this tree is more oblong than
a pear, but is enclosed in a shell and a rind of a grassy colour, like
the almond; but what is found within, instead of being a nut as in the
almond, is a plum, differing from the almond[851] in being shorter and
quite soft. This fruit, although particularly inviting for its luscious
sweetness, is productive of no injurious effects. The wood, for its
goodness, solidity, and blackness, is in no respect inferior to that
of the lotus: people have been in the habit of making statues of it.
The wood of the tree which we have mentioned as the “balanus,”[852]
although very durable, is not so highly esteemed as this, as it is
knotted and twisted in the greater part: hence it is only employed for
the purposes of ship-building.

CHAP. 18.—THE CUCUS.

On the other hand, the wood of the cucus[853] is held in very high
esteem. It is similar in nature to the palm, as its leaves are
similarly used for the purposes of texture: it differs from it,
however, in spreading out its arms in large branches. The fruit, which
is of a size large enough to fill the hand, is of a tawny colour, and
recommends itself by its juice, which is a mixture of sweet and rough.
The seed in the inside is large and of remarkable hardness, and turners
use it for making curtain rings.[854] The kernel is sweet, while fresh;
but when dried it becomes hard to a most remarkable degree, so much so,
that it can only be eaten after being soaked in water for several days.
The wood is beautifully mottled with circling veins,[855] for which
reason it is particularly esteemed among the Persians.

CHAP. 19.—THE EGYPTIAN THORN.

No less esteemed, too, in the same country, is a certain kind of
thorn,[856] though only the black variety, its wood being imperishable,
in water even, a quality which renders it particularly valuable for
making the sides of ships: on the other hand, the white kinds will
rot very rapidly. It has sharp, prickly thorns on the leaves even,
and bears its seeds in pods; they are employed for the same purposes
as galls in the preparation of leather. The flower, too, has a pretty
effect when made into garlands, and is extremely useful in medicinal
preparations. A gum, also, distils from this tree; but the principal
merit that it possesses is, that when it is cut down, it will grow
again within three years. It grows in the vicinity of Thebes, where we
also find the quercus, the Persian tree, and the olive: the spot that
produces it is a piece of woodland, distant three hundred stadia from
the Nile, and watered by springs of its own.

(10.) Here we find, too, the Egyptian[857] plum-tree, not much unlike
the thorn last mentioned, with a fruit similar to the medlar, and which
ripens in the winter. This tree never loses its leaves. The seed in
the fruit is of considerable size, but the flesh of it, by reason of
its quality, and the great abundance in which it grows, affords quite
a harvest to the inhabitants of those parts; after cleaning it, they
subject it to pressure, and then make it up into cakes for keeping.
There was formerly[858] a woodland district in the vicinity of Memphis,
with trees of such enormous size, that three men could not span one
with their arms: one of these trees is remarkable, not for its fruit,
or any particular use that it is, but for the singular phænomenon that
it presents. In appearance it strongly resembles a thorn,[859] and
it has leaves which have all the appearance of wings, and which fall
immediately the branch is touched by any one, and then immediately
shoot again.

CHAP. 20. (11.)—NINE KINDS OF GUM. THE SARCOCOLLA.

It is universally agreed, that the best gum is that produced from the
Egyptian thorn;[860] it is of variegated appearance, of azure colour,
clean, free from all admixture of bark, and adheres to the teeth; the
price at which it sells is three denarii per pound. That produced from
the bitter almond-tree and the cherry[861] is of an inferior kind,
and that which is gathered from the plum-tree is the worst of all. The
vine, too, produces a gum,[862] which is of the greatest utility in
healing the sores of children; while that which is sometimes found on
the olive-tree[863] is used for the tooth-ache. Gum is also found on
the elm[864] upon Mount Corycus in Cilicia, and upon the juniper,[865]
but it is good for nothing; indeed, the gum of the elm found there is
apt to breed gnats. From the sarcocolla[866] also—such is the name of
a certain tree—a gum exudes that is remarkably useful to painters[867]
and medical men; it is similar to incense dust in appearance, and for
those purposes the white kind is preferable to the red. The price of it