Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  Awnings have been lately extended, too, by the aid of ropes, over the amphitheatres of the Emperor Nero, dyed azure, like the heavens, and bespangled all over with stars. Those which are employed by us to cover the inner court of our houses are generally red: one reason for employing them is to protect the moss that grows there from the rays of the sun. In other respects, white fabrics of linen have always held the ascendancy in public estimation. Linen, too, was highly valued as early as the Trojan war; for why else should it not have figured as much in battles as it; did in shipwrecks? Thus Homer, we find, bears witness that there were but few among the warriors of those days who fought with cuirasses on made of linen; while, as for the rigging of the ships, of which that writer speaks, it is generally supposed by the more learned among the commentators, that it was made of this material; for the word “sparta,” which he employs, means nothing more than the produce of a seed.

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  CHAP. 7. (2.)

  THE NATURE OF SPARTUM.

  For the fact is that spartum did not begin to be employed till many ages after the time of Homer; indeed, not before the first war that the Carthaginians waged in Spain. This, too, is a plant that grows spontaneously, and is incapable of being reproduced by sowing, it being a species of rush, peculiar to a dry, arid soil, a morbid production confined to a single country only; for in reality it is a curse to the soil, as there is nothing whatever that can be sown or grown in its vicinity. There is a kind of spartum grown in Africa, of a stunted nature, and quite useless for all practical purposes. It is found in one portion of the province of Carthage in Nearer Spain, though not in every part of that; but wherever it is produced, the mountains, even, are covered all over with it.

  This material is employed by the country-people there for making their beds; with it they kindle their fires also, and prepare their torches; shoes also, and garments for the shepherds, are made of it. As a food for animals, it is highly injurious, with the sole exception of the tender tops of the shoots. When wanted for other uses, it is pulled up by the roots, with considerable labour; the legs of the persons so employed being protected by boots, and their hands with gloves, the plant being twisted round levers of bone or holm-oak, to get it up with the greater facility. At the present day it is gathered in the winter, even; but this work is done with the least difficulty between the ides of May and those of June, that being the period at which it is perfectly ripe.

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  CHAP. 8.

  THE MODE OF PREPARING SPARTUM.

  When taken up it is made into sheaves, and laid in heaps for a couple of days, while it retains its life and freshness; on the third day the sheaves are opened out and spread in the sun to dry, after which it is again made up into sheaves, and placed under cover. It is then put to soak in sea-water, this being the best of all for the purpose, though fresh water will do in case sea-water cannot be procured: this done, it is again dried in the sun, and then moistened afresh. If it is wanted for immediate use, it is put in a tub and steeped in warm water, after which it is placed in an upright position to dry: this being universally admitted to be the most expeditious method of preparing it. To make it ready for use, it requires to be beaten out. Articles made of it are proof, more particularly, against the action of fresh or sea-water; but on dry land, ropes of hemp are generally preferred. Indeed, we find that spartum receives nutriment even from being under water, by way of compensation, as it were, for the thirst it has had to endure upon its native soil.

  By nature it is peculiarly well adapted for repairing, and however old the material may be, it unites very well with new. The person, indeed, who is desirous duly to appreciate this marvellous plant, has only to consider the numerous uses to which, in all parts of the world, it is applied: from it are made, the rigging of ships, various appliances of mechanism employed in building, and numerous other articles which supply the wants of daily life. To suffice for all these requirements, we find it growing solely on a tract of ground which lies upon the sea-line of the province of New Carthage, somewhat less than thirty miles in breadth by one hundred in length. The expense precludes its being transported to any very considera- ble distance.

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  CHAP. 9.

  AT WHAT PERIOD SPARTUM WAS FIRST EMPLOYED.

  The Greeks used formerly to employ the rush for making ropes; so, at least, we are led to believe, from the name given by them to that plant; and at a later period they made them, it is very clear, from the leaves of the palm, and the inner bark of the linden-tree. It seems to me very probable, too, that it was from them that the Carthaginians borrowed the first hint for applying spartum to a similar purpose.

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  CHAP. 10.

  THE BULB ERIOPHORUS.

  Theophrastus informs us, that there is a kind of bulb, which grows on the banks of rivers, and which encloses between the outer coat and the portion that is eaten a sort of woolly substance, of which felt socks, and other articles of dress, are made; but, in the copies, those at least which have fallen in my way, there is no mention made of the country in which it grows, or of any details in connection with it, beyond the fact that the name given to it is “eriophoron.” As to spartum, he makes no mention of it whatever, although he has given the history, with the greatest exactness, of all the known plants, three hundred and ninety years before our time — a fact to which I have already alluded on other occasions: from this it would appear that spartum has come into use since his day.

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  CHAP. 11.

  PLANTS WHICH SPRING UP AND GROW WITHOUT A ROOT — PLANTS WHICH GROW, BUT CANNOT BE REPRODUCED FROM SEED.

  As we have here made a beginning of treating of the marvels of Nature, we shall proceed to examine them in detail; and among them the very greatest of all, beyond a doubt, is the fact that any plant should spring up and grow without a root. Such, for instance, is the vegetable production known as the truffle; surrounded on every side by earth, it is connected with it by no fibres, not so much as a single thread even, while the spot in which it grows, presents neither protuberance nor cleft to the view. It is found, in fact, in no way adhering to the earth, but enclosed within an outer coat; so much so, indeed, that though we cannot exactly pronounce it to be composed of earth, we must conclude that it is nothing else but a callous concretion of the earth.

  Truffles generally grow in dry, sandy soils, and spots that are thickly covered with shrubs; in size they are often larger than a quince, and are found to weigh as much as a pound. There are two kinds of them, the one full of sand, and consequently injurious to the teeth, the other free from sand and all impurities. They are distinguished also by their colour, which is red or black, and white within; those of Africa are the most esteemed. Whether the truffle grows gradually, or whether this blemish of the earth — for it can be looked upon as nothing else — at once assumes the globular form and magnitude which it presents when found; whether, too, it is possessed of vitality or not, are all of them questions, which, in my opinion, are not easy to be solved. It decays and rots in a manner precisely similar to wood.

  It is known to me as a fact, that the following circumstance happened to Lartius Licinius, a person of prætorian rank, while minister of justice, a few years ago, at Carthage in Spain; upon biting a truffle, he found a denarius inside, which all but broke his fore teeth — an evident proof that the truffle is nothing else but an agglomeration of elementary earth. At all events, it is quite certain that the truffle belongs to those vegetable productions which spring up spontaneously, and are incapable of being reproduced from seed.

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  CHAP. 12. (3.)

  MISY; ITON; AND GERANION.

  Of a similar nature, too, is the vegetable production known in the province of Cyrenaica by the name of “misy,” re- markable for the sweetness of its smell and taste, but more fleshy than the truffle: the same, too, as to the iton
of the Thracians, and the geranion of the Greeks.

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  CHAP. 13.

  PARTICULARS CONNECTED WITH THE TRUFFLE.

  The following peculiarities we find mentioned with reference to the truffle. When there have been showers in autumn, and frequent thunder-storms, truffles are produced, thunder contributing more particularly to their developement; they do not, however, last beyond a year, and are considered the most delicate eating when gathered in spring. In some places the formation of them is attributed to water; as at Mytilene, for instance, where they are never to be found, it is said, unless the rivers overflow, and bring down the seed from Tiara, that being the name of a place at which they are produced in the greatest abundance. The finest truffles of Asia are those found in the neighbourhood of Lampsacus and Alopeconnesus; the best in Greece are those of the vicinity of Elis.

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  CHAP. 14.

  THE PEZICA.

  Belonging to the mushroom genus, also, there is a species, known to the Greeks by the name of “pezica,” which grows without either root or stalk.

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  CHAP. 15.

  LASERPITIUM, LASER, AND MASPETUM.

  Next to these, laserpitium claims our notice, a very re- markable plant, known to the Greeks by the name of “silphion,” and originally a native of the province of Cyrenaica. The juice of this plant is called “laser,” and it is greatly in vogue for medicinal as well as other purposes, being sold at the same rate as silver. For these many years past, however, it has not been found in Cyrenaica, as the farmers of the revenue who hold the lands there on lease, have a notion that it is more profitable to depasture flocks of sheep upon them. Within the memory of the present generation, a single stalk is all that has ever been found there, and that was sent as a curiosity to the Emperor Nero. If it so happen that one of the flock, while grazing, meets with a growing shoot of it, the fact is easily ascertained by the following signs; the sheep, after eating of it, immediately falls asleep, while the goat is seized with a fit of sneezing. For this long time past, there has been no other laser imported into this country, but that produced in either Persis, Media, or Armenia, where it grows in considerable abundance, though much inferior to that of Cyrenaica; and even then it is extensively adulterated with gum, sacopenium, or pounded beans. I ought the less then to omit the facts, that in the consulship of C. Valerius and M. Herennius, there was brought to Rome, from Cyrenæ, for the public service, thirty pounds’ weight of laserpitium, and that the Dictator Cæsar, at the beginning of the Civil War, took from out of the public treasury, besides gold and silver, no less than fifteen hundred pounds of laserpitium.

  We find it stated by the most trustworthy among the Greek writers, that this plant first made its appearance in the vicinity of the gardens of the Hesperides and the Greater Syrtis, immediately after the earth had been soaked on a sudden by a shower as black as pitch. This took place seven years before the foundation of the city of Cyrenæ, and in the year of Rome 143. The virtues of this remarkable fall of rain extended, it is said, over no less than four thousand stadia of the African territory; and upon this soil laserpitium began universally to grow, a plant that is in general wild and stubborn, and which, it attempted to be cultivated, will leave the spot where it has been sown quite desolate and barren. The roots of it are numerous and thick, the stalk being like that of fennel-giant, and of similar thickness. The leaves of this plant were known as “maspetum,” and bore a considerable resemblance to parsley; the seeds of it were foliaceous, and the plant shed its leaves every year. They used to feed the cattle there upon it; at first it purged them, but afterwards they would grow fat, the flesh being improved in flavour in a most surprising degree. After the fall of the leaf, the people themselves were in the habit of eating the stalk, either roasted or boiled: from the drastic effects of this diet the body was purged for the first forty days, all vicious humours being effectually removed.

  The juices of this plant were collected two different ways, either from the root or from the stalk; in consequence of which these two varieties of the juice were known by the distinguish- ing names of “rhizias” and “caulias,” the last being of inferior quality to the other, and very apt to turn putrid. Upon the root there was a black bark, which was extensively employed for the purposes of adulteration. The juice of the plant was received in vessels, and mixed there with a layer of bran; after which, from time to time it was shaken, till it had reached a proper state of maturity; indeed, if this precaution was neglected, it was apt to turn putrid. The signs that it had come to maturity were its colour, its dryness, and the absorption of all humidity.

  There are some authors, however, who state that the root of laserpitium was more than a cubit in length, and that it presented a tuberosity above the surface of the earth. An incision, they say, was made in this tuberosity, from which a juice would flow, like milk in appearance; above the tuberosity grew a stalk, to which they give the name of “magydaris;” the leaves that grew upon this stalk were of the colour of gold, and, falling at the rising of the Dog-star, when the south winds begin to prevail, they acted as seed for the purposes of reproduction. It was from these leaves, too, they say, that laserpitium was produced, the root and the stalk attaining their full growth in the space of one year. The same writers also state, that it was the practice to turn up the ground about the plant, and that it had no such effect as purging the cattle that were fed upon it; though one result of using it as food was, that such cattle as were ailing were either cured of their distempers, or else died immediately upon eating of it, a thing, however, that but rarely happened. The first description, however, is found to agree more nearly with the silphium that comes from Persis.

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  CHAP. 16.

  MAGYDARIS.

  There is another variety of this plant, known as “magydaris,” of a more delicate nature, less active in its effects, and destitute of juice. It grows in the countries adjacent to Syria, but is not to be found in the regions of Cyrenaica. There grows also upon Mount Parnassus, in great abundance, a plant to which some persons give the name of “laserpitium:” by means of all these varieties, adulterations are effected of a production that is held in the highest esteem for its salutary qualities and its general usefulness. The chief proofs of its genuineness consist in its colour, which ought to be slightly red without, and when broken quite white and transparent within; the drops of it, too, should melt very rapidly on the application of spittle. It is extensively employed for medi- cinal purposes.

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  CHAP. 17.

  MADDER.

  There are two other plants also, which are but little known to any but the herd of the sordid and avaricious, and this because of the large profits that are derived from them. The first of these is madder, the employment of which is necessary in dyeing wool and leather. The madder of Italy is the most esteemed, and that more particularly which is grown in the suburbs of the City; nearly all our provinces, too, produce it in great abundance. It grows spontaneously, but is capable of reproduction by sowing, much after the same manner as the fitch. The stem, however, is prickly, and articulated, with five leaves arranged round each joint: the seed is red. Its medicinal properties we shall have occasion to mention in the appropriate place.

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  CHAP. 18.

  THE RADICULA.

  The plant known to us by the name of “radicula,” is the second of these productions. It furnishes a juice that is extensively employed in washing wool, and it is quite wonderful how greatly it contributes to the whiteness and softness of wool. It may be produced anywhere by cultivation, but that which grows spontaneously in Asia, and Syria, upon rugged, rocky sites, is more highly esteemed. That, however, which is found beyond the Euphrates has the highest repute of all. The stalk of it is ferulaceous and thin, and is sought by the inhabitants of those countries as an article
of food. It is employed also for making unguents, being boiled up with the other ingredients, whatever they may happen to be. In leaf it strongly resembles the olive. The Greeks have given it the name of “struthion.” It blossoms in summer, and is agreeable to the sight, but entirely destitute of smell. It is somewhat thorny, and has a stalk covered with down. It has an extremely diminutive seed, and a large root, which is cut up and employed for the purposes already mentioned.