178 pliny's natural iiistohy. [Book XIII. 



eating them, were it not for fear of the dangerous consequences 

 that would be sure to ensue. 



CHAP. 10. (5.)— THE TREES OF SYRIA: THE PISTACIA, THE COT- 

 TANA, THE DAMASCENA, AND THE MYXA. 



In addition to the palm, Syria has several trees that are pe- 

 culiar to itself. Among the nut-trees there is the pistacia/ 

 well known among us. It is said that, taken either m food or 

 drink the kernel of this nut is a specific against the bite ot 

 serpents. Among figs, too, there are those known as ca- 

 ricse" 51 together with some smaller ones of a similar kind 

 the name of which is " cottana." There is a plum, too, which 

 grows upon Mount Damascus, 53 as also that known as the 

 "mvxa-" 53 these last two are, however, now naturalized m 

 Italy. In Egypt, too, they make a kind of wine from the myxa. 



CHAP. 11.— THE CEDAR. TREES WHICH HAVE ON THEM THE FRUIT 

 OF THREE YEARS AT ONCE. 



Phoenicia too, produces a small cedar, which bears a strong 

 resemblance' to the juniper.^ Of this tree there _ are two 

 varieties ; the one found in Lycia, the other m Phoenicia. 5 ' The 

 difference is in the leaf: the one m which it is hard sharp, 

 and prickly, being known as the oxycedros, 56 a branchy tree 

 and rugged with knots. The other kind is more esteemed for 

 its powerful odour. The small cedar produces a fruit the size 

 of a grain of myrrh, and of a sweetish taste. There are two 

 kinds of the larger cedar 57 also; the one that blossoms bears 



so The Pistacia vera of Linnseus. It was introduced into Rome in the 

 reio-n of Tiberius. The kernel is of no use whatever m a medical point of 

 viei and what Pliny says about its curing the bite of serpents is per- 

 fectly fabubus The ucar . ca)) ^ ly the u Car ^, fi ft 

 -Ficuscarii? is, however, the name given to the common fig by the 



modern botanists. o ^ io 



■ The parent of our Damascenes, or damsons. See B xv^ c Id. 



53 Supposed to be the Corda myxa of Linnaeus. See B. xv. c 15. 



54 The Juninerus communis of Linnaeus. 



55 The Jun perns Lycia, and the Juniperus Phoenicia, probably, of Lin- 

 1 Tt has been supposed by some, that it is these trees that produce 



TLnLcense of AS, but/as Fee observes, the subject is enveloped 



^^Tle^sto^aTea 7 " cedar. The Juniperus oxycedrus of Linens. 

 The «SS" of Linmeus. The name "cedrus" was given by 

 / *« «Trmlv to the cedar of Lebanon, but to many others of the 



£K£ S^dltpSuculady to several varieties of the juu.pe, 



