122 plint's katttbal histoky. [Book XII. 



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 Illyri- 

 cum 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 rts 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. AMOMTJM. AMOMTS. 



The clustered amomum 90 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 pro- 

 duced, 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 



90 It is by no means settled among naturalists, what plant the Amomum 

 of the ancients was ; indeed, there has been the greatest divergence of 

 opinion. Tragus takes it to be a kind of bindweed : Matthioli, the Piper 

 iEthiopicuni of Linnaeus : Cordus and Scaliger, the rose of Jericho, the 

 Anastatica hierocuntica of Linnaeus. Gesner thinks it to have been the 

 garden pepper, the Solanum bacciferum of Tournefort: Csesalpinus the 

 cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnaeus : Plukenet and Sprengel the Cissus 

 vitiginea, whde Fee and Paulet look upon it as not improbably identical 

 with the Amomum racemosum of Linnaeus. The name is probably derived 

 from the Arabic hahmama, the Arabians having first introduced it to the 

 notice of the Greeks. 



