226 plint's natttbal histoey. [Book XIV. 



ness, are its great protection against the disastrous effects of 

 hail. 



The grapes known as " helvolaB" 53 are remarkable for the 

 peculiarity of their colour, which is a sort of midway between 

 purple and black, but varies so frequently that it has made 

 some persons give them the name of " variana?." Of the two 

 sorts of helvolse, the black is the one generally preferred : they 

 both of them produce every other year, but the wine is best 

 when the vintage has been less abundant. 



The vine that is known as the " precia" M is also divided 

 into two varieties, distinguished by the size of the grape. 

 These vines produce a vast quantity of wood, and the grape is 

 very good for preserving in jars; 55 the leaves are similar in 

 appearance to, that of parsley. 56 The people of Dyrrhachium 

 hold in high esteem the vine known as the " basilica," the 

 same which in Spain is called the " cocolobis." 57 The grapes 

 of this Tine grow in thin clusters, and it can stand great heat, 

 and the south winds. The wine produced from it is apt to fly 

 to the head : 58 the produce of the vine is very large. The 

 people in Spain distinguish two kinds of this vine, the one 

 with the oblong, the other with the round grape ; they gather 

 this fruit the very last of all. The sweeter the cocolobis is, 

 the more it is valued ; but even if it has a rough taste, the wine 

 will become sweet by keeping, while, on the other hand, that 

 which was sweet at first, will acquire a certain roughness ; it 

 is in this last state that the wine is thought to rival that of 

 Alba. 59 It is said that the juice of this grape is remarkably 

 efficacious when drunk as a specific for diseases of the bladder. 



53 By this name it would be understood that they were of an inter- 

 mediate colour between rose and white, a not uncommon colour in the 

 grape. Pliny, however, says otherwise, and he is supported by Columella. 



54 C. Bauhin took this to mean one of the garden currant trees, the 

 Ribes uva crispa of Linnaeus, called by Bauhin Grossularia simplici acino, 

 or else Spinosa agrestis. But, as Fee observes, the ancients were not so 

 ignorant as to confound a vine with a currant-bush. 



55 Like the Portuguese grapes of the present day. 



56 Crisped and indented. 



57 This variety, according to Christian de la Vega, was cultivated 

 abundantly in Grenada. The word cocolab, according to some, meant 

 cock's comb. It is mentioned as a Spanish word by Columella. 



58 Dalechamps says, that a similar wine was made at Montpellier, and 

 that it was called "piquardant." 



59 See B. xxiii. cc. 20, 21. 



