Book XXV. The Natural History of the Wild Plants.

Chaps. 1-16.

Chap. 1. (1.)—When the Wild Plants Were First Brought into Use.

The more highly esteemed plants of which I am now about to speak, and which are produced by the earth for medicinal purposes solely, inspire me with admiration of the industry and laborious research displayed by the ancients. Indeed there is nothing that they have not tested by experiment or left untried; no discovery of theirs which they have not disclosed, or which they have not been desirous to leave for the benefit of posterity. We, on the contrary, at the present day, make it our object to conceal and suppress the results of our labours, and to defraud our fellow-men of blessings even which have been purchased by others. For true it is, beyond all doubt, that those who have gained any trifling accession of knowledge, keep it to themselves, and envy the enjoyment of it by others; to leave mankind uninstructed being looked upon as the high prerogative of learning. So far is it from being the habit with them to enter upon new fields of discovery, with the view of benefitting mankind at large, that for this long time past it has been the greatest effort of the ingenuity of each, to keep to himself the successful results of the experience of former ages, and so bury them for ever!

And yet, by Hercules! a single invention before now has elevated men to the rank of gods; and how many an individual has had his name immortalized in being bestowed upon some plant which he was the first to discover, thanks to the gratitude which prompted a succeeding age to make some adequate return! If it had been expended solely upon the plants which are grown to please the eye, or which invite us by their nutrimental properties, this laborious research on the part of the ancients would not have been so surprising; but in addition to this, we find them climbing by devious tracts to the very summit of mountains, penetrating to the very heart of wilds and deserts, and searching into every vein and fibre of the earth—and all this, to discover the hidden virtues of every root, the properties of the leaf of every plant, and the various purposes to which they might be applied; converting thereby those vegetable productions, which the very beasts of the field refuse to touch, into so many instruments for our welfare.

Chap. 2. (2.)—The Latin Authors Who Have Written Upon These Plants.

This subject has not been treated of by the writers in our own language so extensively as it deserves, eager as they have proved themselves to make enquiry into everything that is either meritorious or profitable. M. Cato, that great master in all useful knowledge, was the first, and, for a long time, the only author who treated of this branch [As Fée remarks, it is more as a writer upon Agriculture than upon Materia Medica, that Cato is entitled to the thanks of posterity.] of learning; and briefly as he has touched upon it, he has not omitted to make some mention of the remedial treatment of cattle. After him, another illustrious personage, C. Valgius, [See end of B. xx.] a man distinguished for his erudition, commenced a treatise upon the same subject, which he dedicated to the late Emperor Augustus, but left unfinished. At the beginning of his preface, replete as it is with a spirit of piety, [His piety, apparently, was tainted with adulation.] he expresses a hope that the majestic sway of that prince may ever prove a most efficient remedy for all the evils to which mankind are exposed.

Chap. 3.—At What Period the Romans Acquired Some Knowledge of This Subject.

The only [With the exception of Cato, of course.] person among us, at least so far as I have been able to ascertain, who had treated of this subject before the time of Valgius, was Pompeius Lenæus, [See end of B. xiv.] the freedman of Pompeius Magnus; and it was in his day, I find, that this branch of knowledge first began to be cultivated among us. Mithridates, the most powerful monarch of that period, and who was finally conquered by Pompeius, is generally thought to have been a more zealous promoter of discoveries for the benefit of mankind, than any of his predecessors—a fact evinced not only by many positive proofs, but by universal report as well. It was he who first thought, the proper precautions being duly taken, of drinking poison every day; it being his object, by becoming habituated to it, to neutralize its dangerous effects. This prince was the first discoverer too of the various kinds of antidotes, one [See c. 79 of this Book: also B. xxiii. c. 77, and B. xxix. c..] of which, indeed, still retains his name; and it is generally supposed that he was the first to employ the blood of the ducks of Pontus as an ingredient in antidotes, from the circumstance that they derive their nutriment from poisons. [A mere prejudice, arising from the fact that numerous poisonous plants grew in the countries on the shores of the Euxine. The blood of no animal whatever is an antidote to any poison.]

It was to Mithridates that Asclepiades, [See B. vii. c. 37. An interesting account of his system will be found in B. xxvi. c.. See also B. xxix. c..] that celebrated physician, dedicated his works, still extant, and sent them, as a substitute for his own personal attendance, when requested by that monarch to leave Rome and reside at his court. It is a well-known fact, that this prince was the only person that was ever able to converse in so many as two-and-twenty languages, and that, during the whole fifty-six years of his reign, he never required the services of an interpreter when conversing with any individuals of the numerous nations that were subject to his sway.

Among the other gifts of extraordinary genius with which he was endowed, Mithridates displayed a peculiar fondness for enquiries into the medical art; and gathering items of information from all his subjects, extended, as they were, over a large proportion of the world, it was his habit to make copies of their communications, and to take notes of the results which upon experiment had been produced. These memoranda, which he kept in his private cabinet, [See B. xxiii. c. 77.] fell into the hands of Pompeius, when he took possession of the royal treasures; who at once commissioned his freedman, Lenæus the grammarian, to translate them into the Latin language: the result of which was, that his victory was equally conducive to the benefit of the republic and of mankind at large.

Chap. 4.—Greek Authors Who Have Delineated the Plants in Colours.

In addition to these, there are some Greek writers who have treated of this subject, and who have been already mentioned on the appropriate occasions. Among them, Crateuas, Dionysius, and Metrodorus, adopted a very attractive method of description, though one which has done little more than prove the remarkable difficulties which attended it. It was their plan to delineate the various plants in colours, and then to add in writing a description of the properties which they possessed. Pictures, however, are very apt to mislead, and more particularly where such a number of tints is required, for the imitation of nature with any success; in addition to which, the diversity of copyists from the original paintings, and their comparative degrees of skill, add very considerably to the chances of losing the necessary degree of resemblance to the originals. And then, besides, it is not sufficient to delineate a plant as it appears at one period only, as it presents a different appearance at each of the four seasons of the year. [The four great changes in plants, though not always at the four seasons of the year, are the budding and foliation, the blossoming, the fructification, and the fall of the leaf.]

Chap. 5.—The First Greek Authors Who Wrote Upon Plants.

Hence it is that other writers have confined themselves to a verbal description of the plants; indeed some of them have not so much as described them even, but have contented themselves for the most part with a bare recital of their names, considering it sufficient if they pointed out their virtues and properties to such as might feel inclined to make further enquiries into the subject. Nor is this a kind of knowledge by any means difficult to obtain; at all events, so far as regards myself, with the exception of a very few, it has been my good fortune to examine them all, aided by the scientific researches of Antonius Castor, [See end of B. xx.] who in our time enjoyed the highest reputation for an intimate acquaintance with this branch of knowledge. I had the opportunity of visiting his garden, in which, though he had passed his hundredth year, he cultivated vast numbers of plants with the greatest care. Though he had reached this great age, he had never experienced any bodily ailment, and neither his memory nor his natural vigour had been the least impaired by the lapse of time.

There was nothing more highly admired than an intimate knowledge of plants, in ancient times. It is long since the means were discovered of calculating before-hand, not only the day or the night, but the very hour even at which an eclipse of the sun or moon is to take place; and yet the greater part of the lower classes still remain firmly persuaded that these phænomena are brought about by compulsion, through the agency of herbs and enchantments, and that the knowledge of this art is confined almost exclusively to females. What country, in fact, is not filled with the fabulous stories about Medea of Colchis and other sorceresses, the Italian Circe in particular, who has been elevated to the rank of a divinity even? It is with reference to her, I am of opinion, that Æschylus, [There is little doubt that he alludes to the passage of Æschylus, quoted by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 15. Τυῤῥήνων γενεὰν φαρμακοποιὸν ἔθνος —“The race of the Tyrrheni, a drug-preparing nation.”] one of the most ancient of the poets, asserts that Italy is covered with plants endowed with potent effects, and that many writers say the same of Circeii, [See B. ii. c. 87, B. iii. c. 9, B. xv. c. 36, and B. xxxii. c. 21.] the place of her abode. Another great proof too that such is the case, is the fact, that the nation of the Marsi, [See B. vii. c. 2.] descendants of a son of Circe, are well known still to possess the art of taming serpents.

Homer, that great parent of the learning and traditions of antiquity, while extolling the fame of Circe in many other respects, assigns to Egypt the glory of having first discovered the properties of plants, and that too at a time when the portion of that country which is now watered by the river Nilus was not in existence, having been formed at a more recent period by the alluvion [See B. ii. c. 87.] of that river. At all events, he states [Od. iv. 228, et seq.] that numerous Egyptian plants were sent to the Helena of his story, by the wife of the king of that country, together with the celebrated nepenthes, [See B. xxi. c. 91.] which ensured oblivion of all sorrows and forgetfulness of the past, a potion which Helena was to administer to all mortals. The first person, however, of whom the remembrance has come down to us, as having treated with any degree of exactness on the subject of plants, is Orpheus; and next to him Musæus and Hesiod, of whose admiration of the plant called polium we have already made some mention on previous occasions. [See B. xxi. cc. 21, 84.] Orpheus and Hesiod too we find speaking in high terms of the efficacy of fumigations. Homer also speaks of several other plants by name, of which we shall have occasion to make further mention in their appropriate places.

In later times again, Pythagoras, that celebrated philosopher, was the first to write a treatise on the properties of plants, a work in which he attributes the origin and discovery of them to Apollo, Æsculapius, and the immortal gods in general. Democritus too, composed a similar work. Both of these philosophers had visited the magicians of Persia, Arabia, Æthiopia, and Egypt, and so astounded were the ancients at their recitals, as to learn to make assertions which transcend all belief. Xanthus, the author of some historical works, tells us, in the first of them, that a young dragon [Or serpent.] was restored to life by its parent through the agency of a plant to which he gives the name of “ballis,” and that one Tylon, who had been killed by a dragon, was restored to life and health by similar means. Juba too assures us that in Arabia a man was resuscitated by the agency of a certain plant. Democritus has asserted—and Theophrastus believes it—that there is a certain herb in existence, which, upon being carried thither by a bird, the name of which we have already [In B. x. c. 20.] given, has the effect, by the contact solely, of instantaneously drawing a wedge from a tree, when driven home by the shepherds into the wood.

These marvels, incredible as they are, excite our admiration nevertheless, and extort from us the admission that, making all due allowance, there is much in them that is based on truth. Hence it is too that I find it the opinion of most writers, that there is nothing which cannot be effected by the agency of plants, but that the properties of by far the greater part of them remain as yet unknown. In the number of these was Herophilus, a celebrated physician, a saying of whose is reported, to the effect that some plants may possibly exercise a beneficial influence, if only trodden under foot. Be this as it may, it has been remarked more than once, that wounds and maladies are sometimes inflamed [Most probably by the agency of “feverish expectation” on the part of the patient.] upon the sudden approach of persons who have been journeying on foot.

Chap. 6.—Why a Few of the Plants Only Have Been Used Medicinally. Plants, the Medicinal Properties of Which Have Been Miraculously Discovered. The Cynorrhodos: Two Remedies. The Plant Called Dracunculus: One Remedy. The Britannica: Five Remedies.

Such was the state of medical knowledge in ancient times, wholly concealed as it was in the language of the Greeks. But the main reason why the medicinal properties of most plants remain still unknown, is the fact that they have been tested solely by rustics and illiterate people, such being the only class of persons that live in the midst of them: in addition to which, so vast is the multitude of medical men always at hand, that the public are careless of making any enquiries about them. Indeed, many of those plants, the medicinal properties of which have been discovered, are still destitute of names—such, for instance, as the one which we mentioned [In B. xviii. c. 45.] when speaking of the cultivation of grain, and which we know for certain will have the effect of keeping birds away from the crops, if buried at the four corners of the field.

But the most disgraceful cause of all, why so few simples are known, is the fact that those even who are acquainted with them are unwilling to impart their knowledge; as though, forsooth, they should lose for ever anything that they might think fit to communicate to others! Added to all this, there is no well-ascertained method to guide us to the acquisition of this kind of knowledge; for, as to the discoveries that have been made already, they have been due, some of them, to mere accident, and others again, to say the truth, to the interposition of the Deity.

Down to our own times, the bite of the mad dog, the symptoms of which are a dread of water and an aversion to every kind of beverage, was incurable; [As Fée remarks, this dreadful malady is still incurable, notwithstanding the eulogiums which have been lavished upon the virtues of the Scutellaria laterifolia of Linnæus, the Alisma plantago, Genista tinctoria, and other plants, as specifics for its cure.] and it was only recently that the mother of a soldier who was serving in the prætorian guard, received a warning in a dream, to send her son the root of the wild rose, known as the cynorrhodos, [Dog-rose, or eglantine. See B. viii. c. 63.] a plant the beauty of which had attracted her attention in a shrubbery the day before, and to request him to drink the extract of it. The army was then serving in Lacetania, the part of Spain which lies nearest to Italy; and it so happened that the soldier, having been bitten by a dog, was just beginning to manifest a horror of water when his mother’s letter reached him, in which she entreated him to obey the words of this divine warning. He accordingly complied with her request, and, against all hope or expectation, his life was saved; a result [An unwarranted assertion, no doubt.] which has been experienced by all who have since availed themselves of the same resource. Before this, the cynorrhodos had been only recommended by writers for one medicinal purpose; the spongy excrescences, they say, which grow [He alludes to a substance known to us as “bedegnar,” a kind of gall-nut, produced by the insect called Cynips rosæ.] in the midst of its thorns, reduced to ashes and mixed with honey, will make the hair grow again when it has been lost by alopecy. I know too, for a fact, that in the same province there was lately discovered in the land belonging to a person with whom I was staying, a stalked plant, the name given to which was dracunculus. [Or “little dragon.” The Arum dracunculus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. cc. 91, 93.] This plant, about an inch in thickness, and spotted with various colours, like a viper’s skin, was generally reported to be an effectual preservative against the sting of all kinds of serpents. I should remark, however, that it is a different plant from the one of the same name of which mention has been made in the preceding Book, [In c. 93.] having altogether another shape and appearance. There is also another marvellous property belonging to it: in spring, when the serpents begin to cast their slough, it shoots up from the ground to the height of about a couple of feet, and again, when they retire for the winter it conceals itself within the earth, nor is there a serpent to be seen so long as it remains out of sight. Even if this plant did nothing else but warn us of impending danger, and tell us when to be on our guard, it could not be looked upon otherwise than as a beneficent provision made by Nature in our behalves.

(3.) It is not, however, the animals only that are endowed with certain baneful and noxious properties, but, sometimes, waters [As Fée remarks, the influence of water impregnated with selenite upon the health is well known.] even, and localities as well. Upon one occasion, in his German campaign, Germanicus Cæsar had pitched his camp beyond the river Rhenus; the only fresh water to be obtained being that of a single spring in the vicinity of the sea-shore. It was found, however, that within two years the habitual use of this water was productive of loss of the teeth and a total relaxation of the joints of the knees: the names given to these maladies, by medical men, were “stomacace” [Fée says that this disease was an “intense gastritis, productive of a fetid breath.” It would seem, however, to be neither more nor less than the malady now known as “scurvy of the gums.” Galen describes the “sceloturbe,” as a kind of paralysis. “Stomacace” means “disease of the mouth;” “sceloturbe” “disease of the legs.”] and “sceloturbe.” A remedy for them was discovered, however, in the plant known as the “britannica,” [Sprengel and Desfontaines identify it with the Rumex aquaticus, but Fée considers it to be the Inula Britannica of Linnæus. The Statice armeria, Statice plantaginea, and Polygonum persicaria have also been suggested.] which is good, not only for diseases of the sinews and mouth, but for quinzy [The pseudo-Apuleius, in B. xxix. t. 7, says, that if gathered before thunder has been heard, it will be a preservative against quinzy for a whole year.] also, and injuries inflicted by serpents. This plant has dark oblong leaves and a swarthy root: the name given to the flower of it is “vibones,” [The flower of the Inula Britannica, Fée says, is much more likely, from its peculiarities, to have merited a peculiar name, than that of the Rumex.] and if it is gathered and eaten before thunder has been heard, it will ensure safety in every respect. The Frisii, a nation then on terms of friendship with us, and within whose territories the Roman army was encamped, pointed out this plant to our soldiers: the name [Lipsius, in his Commentaries upon Tacitus, Ann. i. 63, has very satisfactorily shown that it did not derive its name from the islands of Britain, but from a local appellation, the name given by the natives to the marshy tracts upon the banks of the Ems, between Lingen and Covoerden, which are still known as the “Bretaasche Heyde.” Munting and Poinsinet de Sivry suggest that it may have received its name from being used as a strengthener of the teeth in their sockets, being compounded of the words tann, “tooth,” and brita, “to break.”] given to it, however, rather surprises me, though possibly it may have been so called because the shores of Britannia are in the vicinity, and only separated by the ocean. At all events, it was not called by this name from the fact of its growing there in any great abundance, that is quite certain, for at the time I am speaking of, Britannia was still independent. [And therefore comparatively unknown.]

Chap. 7.—What Diseases Are Attended with the Greatest Pain. Names of Persons Who Have Discovered Famous Plants.

In former times there was a sort of ambition, as it were, of adopting plants, by bestowing upon them one’s name, a thing that has been done before now by kings even, as we shall have occasion to show: [In c. 33, et seq., of this Book.] so desirable a thing did it appear to have made the discovery of some plant, and thus far to have contributed to the benefit of mankind. At the present day, however, it is far from impossible that there may be some who will look upon these researches of ours as frivolous even, so distasteful to a life of ease and luxury are the very things which so greatly conduce to our welfare.

Still, however, it will be only right to mention in the first place those plants the discoverers of which are known, their various properties being classified [In the next Book.] according to the several maladies for the treatment of which they are respectively employed: in taking a review of which one cannot do otherwise than bewail the unhappy lot of mankind, subject as it is, in addition to chances and changes, and those new afflictions which every hour is bringing with it, to thousands of diseases which menace the existence of each mortal being. It would seem almost an act of folly to attempt to determine which of these diseases is attended with the most excruciating pain, seeing that every one is of opinion that the malady with which for the moment he himself is afflicted, is the most excruciating and insupportable. The general experience, however, of the present age has come to the conclusion, that the most agonizing torments are those attendant upon strangury, resulting from calculi in the bladder; next to them, those arising from maladies of the stomach; and in the third place, those caused by pains and affections of the head; for it is more generally in these cases, we find, and not in others, that patients are tempted to commit suicide.

For my own part, I am surprised that the Greek authors have gone so far as to give a description of noxious plants even; in using which term, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean the poisonous plants merely; for such is our tenure of life that death is often a port of refuge to even the best of men. We meet too, with one case of a somewhat similar nature, where M. Varro speaks of Servius Clodius, [See the case of M. Agrippa, mentioned in B. xxiii. c. 27.] a member of the Equestrian order, being so dreadfully tormented with gout, that he had his legs rubbed all over with poisons, the result of which was, that from that time forward all sensation, equally with all pain, was deadened in those parts of his body. But what excuse, I say, can there be for making the world acquainted with plants, the only result of the use of which is to derange the intellect, to produce abortion, and to cause numerous other effects equally pernicious? So far as I am concerned, I shall describe neither abortives nor philtres, bearing in mind, as I do, that Lucullus, that most celebrated general, died of the effects of a philtre. [Said, by Plutarch, to have been administered to him by his freedman Callisthenes, with the view of securing his affection] Nor shall I speak of other ill-omened devices of magic, unless it be to give warning against them, or to expose them, for I most emphatically condemn all faith and belief in them. It will suffice for me, and I shall have abundantly done my duty, if I point out those plants which were made for the benefit of mankind, and the properties of which have been discovered in the lapse of time.

Chap. 8. (4.)—Moly: Three Remedies.

According to Homer, [Od. x. l. 302, et seq.] the most celebrated of all plants is that, which, according to him, is known as moly [Fée devotes a couple of pages to the vexata quæstio of the identification of this plant, and comes to the conclusion that the Moly of Homer, mentioned on the present occasion, and of Theophrastus, Ovid, and the poets in general is only an imaginary plant; that the white-flowered Moly of Dioscorides and Galen is identical with the Allium Dioscoridis of Sibthorp; and that the yellow-flowered Moly of the author of the Priapeia is not improbably the Allium Moly or magicum of Linnæus. Sprengel derives the name “Moly” from the Arabic, and identifies it with the Allium nigrum of Linnæus.] among the gods. The discovery of it he attributes to Mercury, who was also the first to point out its uses as neutralizing the most potent spells of sorcery. At the present day, it is said, it grows in the vicinity of Lake Pheneus, and in Cyllene; a district of Arcadia. It answers the description given of it by Homer, having a round black root, about as large as an onion, and a leaf like that of the squill: there is no [Homer says that there is difficulty to men, but not to the gods.] difficulty experienced in taking it up. The Greek writers have delineated [In their pictures, mentioned in c. 4.] it as having a yellow flower, while Homer, [Ovid, Galen, and Theophrastus, say the same.] on the other hand, has spoken of it as white. I once met with a physician, a person extremely well acquainted with plants, who assured me that it is found growing in Italy as well, and that he would send me in a few days a specimen which had been dug up in Campania, with the greatest difficulty, from a rocky soil. The root of it was thirty [There must either be some error in the reading here, or the physician must have attempted to impose upon our author’s credulity.] feet in length, and even then it was not entire, having been broken in the getting up.

Chap. 9.—The Dodecatheos: One Remedy.

The plant next in esteem to moly, is that called dodecatheos, [Or “the twelve gods.”] it being looked upon as under the especial tutelage of all the superior gods. [Generally identified with the Primula vulgaris or officinalis of Linnæus. Its leaves, however, are of varying number, and not like those of the lettuce. The Dodecatheos Meadia, or Virginian cowslip, it must be remembered, is an American plant.] Taken in water, it is a cure, they say, for maladies of every kind. The leaves of it, seven in number, and very similar to those of the lettuce, spring from a yellow root.

Chap. 10.—The Pæonia, Pentorobus, or Glycyside: One Remedy.

The plant known as “pæonia” [The Pæonia officinalis of Linnæus, our Peony.] is the most ancient of them all. It still retains the name [Pæon, the physician, mentioned in the Iliad, B. v. l. 401. as healing Pluto, when wounded by Hercules.] of him who was the first to discover it, being known also as the “pentorobus” [From its five seeds, which resemble fitches.] by some, and the “glycyside” [“Sweet to the view,” apparently.] by others; indeed, this is one of the great difficulties attendant on forming an accurate knowledge of plants, that the same object has different names in different districts. It grows in umbrageous mountain localities, and puts forth a stem amid the leaves, some four fingers in height, at the summit of which are four or five heads resembling Greek nuts [See B. xxiii. c. 76.] in appearance; enclosed in which, there is a considerable quantity of seed of a red or black colour. This plant is a preservative against the illusions [He means nightmare.] practised by the Fauni in sleep. It is generally recommended to take it up at night; for if the wood-pecker [See B. x. cc. 18, 20, and B. xxvii. c..] of Mars should perceive a person doing so, it will immediately attack his eyes in defence of the plant.

Chap. 11.—The Panaces Asclepion: Two Remedies.

The panaces, by its very name, [The Greek for “all-healing.”] gives assurance of a remedy for all diseases: there are numerous kinds of it, and the discovery of its properties has been attributed to the gods. One of these kinds is known by the additional name of “asclepion,” [Probably the Laserpitium hirsutum of Lamarck. The Echinophora tenuifolia of Linnæus, the thin-leaved prickly parsnip, has also been named.] in commemoration of the circumstance that Æsculapius gave the name of Panacia [Or “All-heal.”] to his daughter. The juice of it, as we have had occasion to remark already, [In B. xii. c. 57] coagulates like that of fennel-giant; the root is covered with a thick rind of a salt flavour.

After this plant has been taken up, it is a point religiously observed to fill the hole with various kinds of grain, a sort of expiation, as it were, to the earth. We have already [In B. xii. c. 57.] stated, when speaking of the exotic productions, where and in what manner this juice is prepared, and what kind is the most esteemed. That which is imported from Macedonia is known as “bucolicon,” from the fact that the neatherds there are in the habit of collecting it as it spontaneously exudes: it evaporates, however, with the greatest rapidity. As to the other kinds, that more particularly is held in disesteem which is black and soft, such being a proof, in fact, that it has been adulterated with wax.

Chap. 12.—The Panaces Heracleon: Three Remedies.

A second kind of panaces is known by the name of “heracleon,” [Identified with the Laserpitium Chironium of Linnæus, otherwise called Pastinaca opopanax. Fée observes, that when the word ‘Panaces’ is used alone, this plant is always the one meant.] from the fact that it was first discovered by Hercules. Some persons, however, call it “Heracleotic origanum,” or wild origanum, from its strong resemblance to the origanum of which we have already [In B. xx. cc. 62, 69.] spoken: the root of it is good for nothing.

Chap. 13.—The Panaces Chironion: Four Remedies.

A third kind of panaces is surnamed “chironion,” from him [The Centaur Chiron; see B. vii. c. 57. Sprengel identifies this plant with the Hypericum origanifolium of Willdenow, but Fée is inclined to think that its synonym is still unknown. M. Fraäs, in his Synopsis, p. 139, identifies it with the Hypericum Olympicum, an odoriferous plant, which the H. organifolium is not.] who first discovered it. The leaf is similar to that of lapathum, except that it is larger and more hairy; the flower is of a golden colour, and the root diminutive. It grows in rich, unctuous soils. The flower of this plant is extremely efficacious; hence it is that it is more generally used than the kinds previously mentioned.

Chap. 14.—The Panaces Centaurion or Pharnacion: Three Remedies.

A fourth kind of panaces, discovered also by Chiron, is known by the additional name of “centaurion:” [The Centaurea centaurium of Linnæus, the greater centaury.] it is also called “pharnacion,” from King Pharnaces, it being a matter in dispute whether it was really discovered by Chiron or by that prince. It is grown from seed, [“Seritur.”] and the leaves of it are longer than those of the other kinds, and serrated at the edge. The root, which is odoriferous, is dried in the shade, and is used for imparting an aroma to wine. Some writers distinguish two varieties of this plant—the one with a smooth leaf, the other of a more delicate form.

Chap. 15.—The Heracleon Siderion: Four Remedies.

The heracleon siderion [Hardouin identifies it with the Geranium Robertianum of Linnæus; Sprengel and Desfontaines with the Phellandrium mutellina of Linnæus; Columna with the Sanicula; Sibthorp with the Scrofularia lucida; and M. Fraäs with the Scrofula chrysanthemifolia of Linnæus. Fée expresses himself unable to speak with any certainty on the subject.] is also another discovery of Hercules. The stem is thin, about four fingers in length, the flower red, and the leaves like those of coriander. It is found growing in the vicinity of lakes and rivers, and is extremely efficacious for the cure of all wounds made by iron. [Whence its name “sidereon.”]

Chap. 16.—The Ampelos Chironia: One Remedy.

The ampelos Chironia [Or “Chironian vine.”] also, which we have already [In B. xxiii. c. 17.] mentioned when speaking of the vines, is a discovery due to Chiron. We have spoken too, on a previous occasion, [In B. xxii. c. 20.] of a plant, the discovery of which is attributed to Minerva.