Chaps. 10-22.

Chap. 10.—Other Productions on These Trees Besides the Acorn.

The robur, in addition to its fruit, has a great number of other productions: it bears [The ancients were not aware that the gall was produced from the eggs of the cynips, deposited upon the leaf or bark of the tree. Tan and gallic acid are its principal component parts.] the two varieties of the gall-nut, and a production which closely resembles the mulberry, [A substance quite unknown now; but it is very doubtful if Pliny is rightly informed here.] except that it differs from it in being dry and hard: for the most part it bears a resemblance to a bull’s head, and in the inside there is a fruit very similar to the stone of the olive. Little balls [A fungous gall, produced by the Cynips fungosa. It is not used for any domestic purpose at the present day.] also are found growing on the robur, not unlike nuts in appearance, and containing within them a kind of soft wool, which is used for burning in lamps; for it will keep burning without oil, which is the case also with the black gall-nut. It bears another kind, too, of little ball, covered with hair, [This kind of gall is now unknown. Fée questions the assertion about its juice.] but used for no purpose: in spring, however, this contains a juice like honey. In the hollows formed by the union of the trunk and branches of this tree there are found also small round balls, [The Cynips quercus baccarum of Linnæus, one of the common galls.] which adhere bodily to the bark, and not by means of a stalk: at the point of junction they are white, but the rest of the body is spotted all over with black: inside they are of a scarlet colour, but on opening them they are found to be empty, and are of a bitter taste.

Sometimes, too, the robur bears a kind of pumice, [The root cynips, the Cynips radicum of Fourcroi, produces these galls, which lie near the root, and have the appearance of ligneous nodosities. It is harder than wood, and contains cells, in which the larva of the insect lies coiled up.] as well as little balls, which are formed of the leaves rolled up; upon the veins of the leaves, too, there are watery pustules, of a whitish hue, and transparent while they are soft; in these a kind of gnat [This is a proof, as Fée remarks, that the ancients had observed the existence of the cynips; though, at the same time, it is equally evident that they did not know the important part it acts in the formation of the gall.] is produced, and they come to maturity just in the same way that the ordinary gall-nut does.

Chap. 11. (8.)—Cachrys.

The robur bears cachrys, [This word, as employed by Theophrastus, means a catkin, the Julus amentum of the botanists; but it is doubtful if Pliny attaches this meaning to the word, as the lime or linden-tree has no catkin, but an inflorescence of a different character. It is not improbable that, under this name, he alludes to some excrescence.] too; such being the name given to a small round ball that is employed in medicine for its caustic properties. It grows on the fir likewise, the larch, the pitch-tree, the linden, the nut-tree, and the plane, and remains on the tree throughout the winter, after the leaves have fallen. It contains a kernel very similar to that of the pine-nut, and increases in size during the winter. In spring the ball opens throughout, and it finally drops when the leaves are beginning to grow.

Such is the multiplicity of the products borne by the robur in addition to its acorns; and not only these, but mushrooms [These were the “boletus” and the “suillus” the last of which seem only to have been recently introduced at table in the time of Pliny. See B. xxii. c. 47.] as well, of better or worse quality, the most recent stimulants that have been discovered for the appetite; these last are found growing about its roots. Those of the quercus are the most highly esteemed, while those of the robur, the cypress, and the pine are injurious. [He alludes clearly to fungi of radically different qualities, as the nature of the trees beneath which they grow cannot possibly influence them, any further than by the various proportions of shade they afford. The soil, however, exercises great influence on the quality of the fungus; growing upon a hill, it may be innoxious, while in a wet soil it may be productive of death.] The robur produces mistletoe [See cc.,, and, of this Book.] also, and, if we may believe Hesiod, [Works and Days, l. 230.] honey as well: indeed, it is a well-known fact, that a honey-like [Pliny seems to have here taken in a literal sense, what has been said figuratively by Virgil, Ecl. iv. l. 26: “Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella;” and by Ovid, in relation to the Golden Age, Met. i. 113: “Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.” Fée remarks, that we find on the leaf of the lime-tree a thin, sugary deposit, left by insects, and that a species of manna exudes from the Coniferæ, as also the bark of the beech. This, however, is never the case with the oak.] dew falling from heaven, as we have already mentioned, [B. xi. c..] deposits itself upon the leaves of this tree in preference to those of any other. It is also well known that the wood of this tree, when burnt, produces a nitrous [By this word, Fée observes, we must not understand the word “nitre,” in the modern sense, but the sub-carbonate of potash; while the ashes of trees growing on the shores of the sea produce a sub-carbonate of soda.] ash.

Chap. 12.—The Kermes Berry.

The holm oak, however, by its scarlet berry [“Coccus.” This is not a gall, but the distended body of an insect, the kermes, which grows on a peculiar oak, the “Quercus coccifera,” found in the south of Europe.] alone challenges competition with all these manifold productions. This grain appears at first sight to be a roughness on the surface of the tree, as it were, a small kind of the aquifolia [We have previously mentioned, that he seems to have confounded the holly with the holm oak.] variety of holm oak, known as the cusculium. [Poinsinet, rather absurdly, as it would appear, finds in this word the origin of our word “cochineal.”] To the poor in Spain it furnishes [The kermes berry is but little used in Spain, or, indeed, anywhere else, since the discovery of the cochineal of America.] the means of paying one half of their tribute. We have already, when speaking [B. ix. c. 65.] of the purple of the murex, mentioned the best methods adopted for using it. It is produced also in Galatia, Africa, Pisidia, and Cilicia: the most inferior kind is that of Sardinia.

Chap. 13.—Agaric.

It is in the Gallic provinces more particularly that the glandiferous trees produce agaric; [Not the white agaric, Fée says, of modern pharmacy; but, as no kind of agaric is found in the oak, it does not seem possible to identify it. See B. xxv. c. 57.] such being the name given to a white fungus which has a strong odour, and is very useful as an antidote. It grows upon the top of the tree, and gives out a brilliant light [It is evident that no fungus would give out phosphoric light; but it may have resulted from old wood in a state of decomposition.] at night: this, indeed, is the sign by which its presence is known, and by the aid of this light it may be gathered during the night. The ægilops is the only one among the glandiferous trees that bears a kind of dry cloth, [It is pretty clear that one of the lichens of the genus usnea is here referred to. Amadue, or German tinder, seems somewhat similar.] covered with a white mossy shag, and this, not only attached to the bark, but hanging down from the branches as well, a cubit even in length: this substance has a strong odour, as we have already [B. xii. c..] stated, when speaking of the perfumes.

The cork is but a very small tree, and its acorn is of the very worst [On the contrary, Fée says, the acorn of the Quercus suber is of a sweet and agreeable flavour, and is much sought as a food for pigs. The hams of Bayonne are said to owe their high reputation to the acorns of the cork-tree.] quality, and rarely to be found as well: the bark [The word “cork” is clearly derived from the Latin “cortex,” “bark.” See Beckmann’s History of Inventions, V. i. p. 320, et seq., Bohn’s Edition, for a very interesting account of this tree.] is its only useful product, being remarkably thick, and if removed it will grow again. When straitened out, it has been known to form planks as much as ten feet square. This substance is employed more particularly attached as a buoy to the ropes [This passage, the meaning of which is so obvious, is discussed at some length by Beckmann, Vol. i. pp. 321, 322.] of ships’ anchors and the drag-nets of fishermen. It is employed also for the bungs of casks and as a material for the winter shoes [It is still employed for making soles which are impervious to the wet.] of females; for which reason the Greeks not inappropriately call them [It is doubtful whether this name was given to the shoes, or the females who wore them, and we have therefore preserved the doubt, in the ambiguous “them.” Beckmann also discusses this passage, p. 321. He informs us, p. 322, that the Roman ladies who wished to appear taller than they really were, were in the habit of putting plenty of cork under their soles.] “the bark of a tree.”

There are some writers who speak of it as the female of the holm oak; and in the countries where the holm does not grow, they substitute for it the wood of the cork-tree, more particularly in cartwrights’ work, in the vicinity of Elis and Lacedæmon for instance. The cork-tree does not grow throughout the whole of Italy, and in no [At the present day, it grows in the greatest abundance in France, the Landes more particularly.] part whatever of Gaul.

Chap. 14. (9.)—Trees of Which the Bark Is Used.

The bark also of the beech, the lime, the fir, and the pitch-tree is extensively used by the peasantry. Panniers and baskets are made of it, as also the large flat hampers which are employed for the carriage of corn and grapes: roofs of cottages, [This is still the case in some of the poorer provinces of Spain.] too, are made of this material. When a spy has been sent out he often leaves information for his general, written upon fresh bark, by cutting letters in the parts of it that are the most juicy. The bark of the beech is also employed for religious purposes in certain sacred rites. [As Fée remarks, Mars is no longer the Divinity in honour of whom characters are traced on the bark of trees.] This tree, however, when deprived of its bark, will not survive.

Chap. 15. (10.)—Shingles.

The best shingles are those made of the wood of the robur; the next best being those furnished by the other glandiferous trees and the beech. Those most easily made are cut from the wood of the resinous trees, but they do not last, [On the contrary. Fée says, the resinous woods are the most proof of all against the action of the air.] with the exception of those made of pine. Cornelius Nepos informs us, that Rome was roofed solely with shingles down to the time of the war with Pyrrhus, a period of four hundred and seventy years. It is well known that it was remarkable for the fine forests in its vicinity. Even at the present day, the name of Jupiter Fagutalus points out in what locality there stood a grove of beeches; [Festus says that the Fagutal, a shrine of Jupiter, was so called from a beech tree (fagus) that stood there, and was sacred to that god.] the Querquetulan Gate shows where the quercus once stood, and the Viminal Hill is the spot where the “vimen” [Or osier.] was sought in ancient times. In many other parts, too, there were groves to be found, and sometimes as many as two. Q. Hortensius, the Dictator, on the secession of the plebeians to the Janiculum, passed a law in the Æsculetum, [Or “plantation of the æsculus.”] that what the plebeians had enacted should be binding upon every Roman citizen. [A.U.C. 367.]

Chap. 16.—The Pine.

In those days they regarded as exotics, because they did not exist in the vicinity [Fée regards this as an extremely doubtful assertion.] of the City, the pine and the fir, as well as all the other varieties that produce pitch; of which we shall now proceed to speak, in order that the method of seasoning wine, from the very first, may be fully known. Whereas there are several among the trees already mentioned in Asia or the East, that produce pitch, in Europe there are but six varieties of kindred trees that supply it. In this number there are the pine [The Pinus pinea of Linnæus, the cultivated pine.] and the pinaster, [The Pinus silvestris of Linnæus, the wild pine; the Pinus maritima of Lamarck is a variety of it.] which have long thin leaves like hair, and pointed at the end. The pine yields the least resin of them all: in the pine nut, indeed, of which we have previously spoken, [B. xv. c..] it is sometimes to be found, but hardly in sufficient quantities to warrant us in reckoning the pine among the resinous trees.

Chap. 17.—The Pinaster.

The pinaster is nothing else but a wild pine: it rises to a surprising height, and throws out branches from the middle, just as the pine does from the top. This tree yields a more copious supply of resin than the pine: the mode in which this is done we shall set forth [In c. of this Book.] on a future occasion. It grows also in flat countries. Many people think that this is the same tree that grows along the shores of Italy, and is known as the “tibulus;” [A variety of the Pinus silvestris of Linnæus.] but this last is slender, and more compact than the pine; it is likewise free from knots, and hence is used in the construction of light gallies; [“Liburnicæ.” See B. ix. cc. 5 and 48.] they are both almost entirely destitute of resin.

Chap. 18.—The Pitch-tree: The Fir.

The pitch-tree [The Abies excelsa of Decandolle—the Pesse or Faux sapin (false fir) of the French. This tree, however, has not the pectinated, or comb-like leaf, mentioned by Pliny in c..] loves the mountain heights and cold localities. This is a funereal tree, and, as an emblem of death, is placed before the door of the deceased, and is left to grow in the vicinity of the funeral pile. Still, however, it is now some time since it was admitted into our gardens, in consequence of the facility with which it is clipped into various shapes. It gives out considerable quantities of resin, [It is still known in commerce as “false incense;” and is often sold as incense for the rites of the Roman church: while sometimes it is purposely employed, as being cheaper.] which is intermingled with white granulations like pearls, and so similar in appearance to frankincense, that when mixed, it is impossible to distinguish them; hence the adulterations we find practised in the Seplasia. [A great street in Capua, which consisted entirely of the shops of sellers of unguents and perfumes.] All this class of trees have a short bristly leaf, thick and hard, like that of the cypress. The branches of the pitch-tree are of moderate size, and extend from almost the very root of the tree, adhering to the sides like so many arms: the same is the case with the fir, [It has the same pyramidal form as the pitch-tree. It is still much used in ship-building, both for its resinous and durable qualities and the lightness of the wood.] the wood of which is held in great esteem for ship-building.

This tree grows upon the summits of lofty mountains, as though, in fact, it had an antipathy to the sea, and it does not at all differ from the pitch-tree in appearance: the wood is also very highly esteemed for the construction of rafters, and many other appliances of life. A flow of resin, which in the pitch-tree constitutes its great merit, is looked upon as a defect in the fir, [The presence of resin is not looked upon as any defect in the fir at the present day. It produces what is known in commerce as “Strasbourg turpentine.”] though it will generally exude in some small quantity on exposure of the wood, to the action of the sun. On the other hand, the wood which in the fir-tree is remarkably fine, in the pitch-tree is only used for making shingles, vats, and a few other articles of joiners’ work.

Chap. 19.—The Larch: The Torch-tree.

The fifth kind of resinous tree has the same localities, and is very similar in appearance; it is known as the larch. [The Abies larix of Linnæus, and the Larix Europæa, it is thought, of Decandolles.] The wood of this tree is far more valuable, being unimpaired by time, and proof against all decay; it is of a reddish colour, and of an acrid smell. Resin [It is the Venice turpentine of commerce. Each tree will furnish seven or eight pounds each year for half a century.] flows from this wood in still greater quantities; it is of the colour of honey, more viscous than the other varieties, and never turns hard.

A sixth variety is the torch-tree, [It is doubtful if the tæda, or torch-tree, has been identified. Some take it to be the Pinus mugho of Miller, the torch-pine of the French; others, again, suggest that it is the same as the Pinus cembro of the botanists.] properly so called, which gives out more resin than any of the others, with the exception of the pitch-tree; but its resin is more liquid than that of this last. The wood, too, of this tree is more particularly employed for kindling fires and giving torch-light in religious ceremonials. Of this tree it is the male only that bears what is known to the Greeks by the name of “syce,” [So called from its resemblance to a fig. Fée says that there is little doubt that this pretended fruit was merely a resinous secretion, which hardens and assumes the form of a fig.] remarkable for its extremely powerful odour. When the larch [He somewhat mistranslates a passage of Theophrastus here, who, without transforming the larch into another tree, says that it is a sign of disease in the larch, when its secretions are augmented to such a degree that it seems to turn itself into resin.] is changed into the torch-tree, it is a proof that it is in a diseased state.

The wood of all these trees, when set fire to, gives out immoderate volumes of sooty smoke, [The lamp-black of commerce is made from the soot of the pine.] and sputters every now and then with a sudden crackling noise, while it sends out red-hot charcoal to a considerable distance—with the sole exception of that of the larch, which will neither burn [This statement, though supported by that of Vitruvius, B. ii. c. 9, is quite erroneous. The wood of the larch gives out more heat than that of the fir, and produces more live coal in proportion.] nor char, nor, in fact, suffer any more from the action of fire than a stone. All these trees are evergreens, and are not easily [This, Fée remarks, is the fact.] distinguished by the foliage, even by those who are best acquainted with them, so nearly related are they to one another. The pitch-tree, however, is not so high as the larch; which, again, is stouter, and has a smoother bark, with a more velvety leaf, more unctuous to the touch, thicker, and more soft and flexible. [This description is inexact, and we should have some difficulty in recognizing here the larch as known to us.] The pitch-tree, again, has a leaf more sparsely scattered and drier; it is thinner also, and of a colder nature, rougher all over in appearance, and covered with a resinous deposit: the wood of this tree is most like that of the fir. The larch, when the roots are once burnt, will not throw out fresh shoots, which the pitch-tree will do, as was found to be the case in the island of Lesbos, after the Pyrrhæan grove had been burnt there.

In the same species too, the variety of sex [Pliny is in error here, there being no distinction of sex in the coniferous trees. All that he relates relative to the differences between the male and female pine is consequently false. He has, however, in this instance, only perpetuated an erroneous opinion of Theophrastus.] is found to constitute a considerable difference: the male is the shorter tree, and has a harder wood; while the female is taller, and bears a leaf more unctuous to the feel, smooth and free from all rigidity. The wood of the male tree is hard and awry, and consequently not so well suited for carpenters’ work; while that of the female is softer, as may be very easily perceived on the application of the axe, a test, in fact, which, in every variety, immediately shows us which trees are males; the axe in such case meeting with a greater resistance, falling with a louder noise, and being withdrawn from the wood with considerably greater difficulty: the wood of the male tree is more parched too, and the root is of a blacker hue. In the vicinity of Mount Ida, in Troas, the circumstance whether the tree grows in the mountain districts or on the sea-shore, makes another considerable difference. In Macedonia and Arcadia, and in the neighbourhood of Elis, the names of the several varieties have been totally altered, and it has not been agreed by authors which name ought to be given to each: we have, therefore, contented ourselves with employing the Roman denominations solely.

The fir is the largest of them all, the female being the taller of the two; the wood, too, is softer and more easily worked. This tree is of a rounder form than the others, and its leaves are closely packed and feathered, so as not to admit of the passage of rain; the appearance, too, of the tree is altogether more cheerful. From the branches of these different varieties, with the sole exception of the larch, [This is an erroneous statement. The larch has its cone, as well as the rest. It is possible, however, that its small size may have caused it to be overlooked by Pliny.] there hang numbers of scaly nuts of compact shape, like so many catkins. The nuts found upon the male fir have a kernel in the fore-part, which is not the case with those on the female tree. In the pitch-tree, again, these kernels, which are very small and black, occupy the whole of the catkin, which is smaller and more slender than in the other varieties; hence it is that the Greeks call this tree by the name of phthirophoron. [Or “louse-bearing.” As Fée says, it is difficult to see the analogy.] In this tree, too, the nuts on the male are more compressed, and less moist with resin.

Chap. 20.—The Yew.

Not to omit any one of them, the yew [The Taxus baccata of Linnæus. The account here given is in general very correct.] is similar to these other trees in general appearance. It is of a colour, however, but slightly approaching to green, and of a slender form; of sombre and ominous aspect, and quite destitute of juice: it is the only one, too, among them all, that bears a berry. In the male tree the fruit is injurious; indeed, in Spain more particularly, the berries contain a deadly poison. [It is supposed that Pliny derives this notion as to the yew berry from Julius Cæsar, who says that “Cativulcus killed himself with the yew, a tree which grows in great abundance in Gaul and Germany.” It is, however, now known that the berry is quite innocuous; but the leaves and shoots are destructive of animal life.] It is an ascertained fact that travellers’ vessels, [“Viatoria;” probably not unlike our travelling flasks and pocket-pistols. This statement made by Pliny is not at all improbable.] made in Gaul of this wood, for the purpose of holding wine, have caused the death of those who used them. Sextius says, that in Greece this tree is known by the name of “smilax,” and that in Arcadia it is possessed of so active a poison, that those who sleep beneath it, or even take food [This statement does not deserve a serious contradiction.] there, are sure to meet their death from it. There are authors, also, who assert that the poisons which we call at the present day “toxica,” and in which arrows are dipped, were formerly called taxica, [It is not improbable, however, that τόξον, an “arrow,” is of older date than “taxus,” as signifying the name of the yew.] from this tree. It has been discovered, also, that these poisonous qualities are quite neutralized by driving a copper nail into the wood of the tree.

Chap. 21. (11.)—Methods of Making Tar—How Cedrium Is Made.

In Europe, tar is extracted from the torch-tree [Numerous varieties of the coniferæ supply us with tar, and Pliny is in error in deriving it solely from the torch-tree, the Pinus mugho of Linnæus.] by the agency of fire; it is employed for coating ships and for many other useful purposes. [See B. xxiv. c. 23.] The wood of the tree is chopped [It is still obtained in a similar way.] into small billets, and then put into a furnace, which is heated by fires lighted on every side. The first steam that exudes flows in the form of water into a reservoir made for its reception: in Syria this substance is known as “cedrium;” [Fée remarks, that Pliny is in error here; this red, watery fluid formed in the extraction of tars, being quite a different thing from “cedrium,” the alkitran or kitran of the Arabs; which is not improbably made from a cedar, or perhaps the Juniperus Phœnicea, called “Cedrus” by the two Bauhins and Tournefort. He says that it is not likely that the Egyptians would use this red substance for the purpose of preserving the dead, charged as it is with empyreumatic oil, and destitute of all properties peculiar to resins.] and it possesses such remarkable strength, that in Egypt the bodies of the dead, after being steeped in it, are preserved from all corruption. [See B. xxi. c. 3, and B. xxiv. c. 23.]

Chap. 22.—Methods by Which Thick Pitch Is Prepared.

The liquid that follows is of a thicker consistency, and constitutes pitch, properly so called. This liquid, thrown again into a brazen cauldron, and mixed with vinegar, becomes still [This is impracticable; neither vinegar, wine, nor water, will mingle with pitch. These resins, however, if stirred up briskly in hot water, become of a paler colour, and acquire an additional suppleness.] thicker, and when left to coagulate, receives the name of “Bruttian” [Perhaps so called from Calabria, a country where the pine abounded, and part of which was called Bruttium.] pitch. It is used, however, only for pitching the insides of dolia [Or wine-vats.] and other vessels, it differing from the other kinds in being more viscous, of a redder colour, and more unctuous than is usually the case. All these varieties of pitch are prepared from the pitch-tree, by putting red-hot stones, with the resinous wood, in troughs made of strong oak; or if these troughs are not attainable, by piling up billets of the wood in the method employed for the manufacture of charcoal. [See c. of the present Book.] It is this pitch that is used for seasoning wine, being first pounded and reduced to a fine powder: it is of a blacker colour, too, than the other sort. The same resin, if boiled gently with water, and then strained off, becomes viscous, and assumes a red colour; it is then known as “distilled [Stillaticia.] pitch:” for making this, the refuse portions of the resin and the bark of the tree are generally selected.

Another method is adopted for the manufacture of that used as crapula. [See B. xiv. c..] Raw flower of resin is taken, direct from the tree, with a plentiful sprinkling of small, thin chips of the wood. These are then pounded [This operation removes from the pitch a great portion of its essential oil, and disengages it of any extraneous bodies that may have been mixed with it.] down and passed through a sieve, after which they are steeped in water, which is heated till it comes to a boil. The unctuous portion that is extracted from this is the best resin: it is but rarely to be met with, and then only in a few places in Italy, in the vicinity of the Alps: it is in considerable request for medicinal purposes. For this, they generally boil a congius of white resin to two congii of rain-water: [Fée remarks that there is no necessity for this selection, though no doubt rain-water is superior to spring or cistern water, for some purposes, from its holding no terreous salts in solution.] some persons, however, think it better [This would colour the resin more strongly, Fée says, and give it a greater degree of friability.] to boil it without water for one whole day by a slow fire, taking care to use a vessel of white copper. [See B. xxxiv. c. 20.] Some, again, are in the habit of boiling the resin of the terebinth [See B. xiv. c., and B. xxiv. c. 22.] in a flat pan [“Sartago.” Generally understood to be the same as our frying-pan. Fée remarks that this method would most inevitably cause the mass infusion to ignite; and should such not be the case, a coloured resin would be the result, coloured with a large quantity of carbon, and destitute of all the essential oil that the resin originally contained.] placed upon hot ashes, and prefer it to any other kind. The resin of the mastich [See B. xiv. c..] is held in the next degree of estimation. [The terebinthine of the mastich, Fée says, is an oleo-resin, or in other words, composed of an essential oil and a resin.]