134 PLINY S NATUKAL HISTOET. [Book XIX. 



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 lada- 

 num has more grits, or stony particles, adhering to it, than 

 dust. 



CHAP. 38. ENHJEMOtf. 



In Arabia, too, the olive-tree distils a sort of tear, with 

 which the Indians make a medicament, known by the Greeks 

 as enhsemon ; 26 ' it is said to be of wonderful efficacy in con- 

 tracting and healing wounds and sores. These trees, 27 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. 



26 From the Greek tvaifjiov, "styptic," or "blood-stopping." It is at 

 the present day called gam " de lecce" in Italy. Fee says that it is nut 

 often procured from the olive-trees of France, though it is found very com- 

 monly on those of Naples and Calabria. It has no active powers, he says, 

 as a medicine. 



27 Hardouin suggests that they may be the pelagic, mentioned again in 

 B. xiii. c. 51. 



