Chap. 4.] YAEIETIES OF THE VINE. 231 



Gallic vine is a great favourite, while beyond the Alps that of 

 Picenum 93 is preferred. Virgil has made mention 94 of the 

 Thasian vine, the Mareotis, the lagea, and several other foreign 

 varieties, which are not to be found in Italy. 



There are some vines, again, that are remarkable, not for 

 their wine, but for their grapes, such, for instance, as the am- 

 brosia, 95 one of the " duracinus ' ;96 kind, a grape which requires 

 no potting, but will keep perfectly well if left on the vine, so 

 remarkable is the strength with which it is endowed for with- 

 standing the effects of cold, heat, and stormy weather. The 

 " orthampelos," 97 too, is a vine that requires neither tree nor 

 stay, as it is well able to sustain its own weight. This, how- 

 ever, is not the case with the " dactylis," 98 the stem of which 

 is no thicker than the finger. The " coiumbina" 99 is one of 

 those with the finest clusters, and still more so is the purple 

 " bimammia ;*' it does not bear in clusters, 1 but only secondary 

 bunches. There is the tripedanea, 2 too, a name which it owes 

 to the length of its clusters, and the scirpula, 3 with its shrivelled 

 berry ; the Rhaetica, 4 too, so called in the Maritime Alps, though 

 very different from the grape of that name which is so highly 

 esteemed, and of which we have previously spoken ; for in 

 this variety the clusters are small, the grapes lie closely packed, 



the name, probably. Fee suggests that it may have originated in the not 

 uncommon practice of letting the bunches hang after they were ripe, and 

 then twisting them, which was thought to increase the juice. 



93 In the modern Marches of Ancona. 



94 Georgics, ii. 91, et seq. 



Sunt Thasia; vites, sunt et Mareotides albse : 

 ***** 



Et passo Psithia utilior. tenuisque Lageos, 

 Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam, 

 Purpurea?, Preciseque 



95 A muscatel, Fee thinks. 



96 o r "hard-berried." Fee thinks that the maroquin, or Morocco 

 grape, called the "pied de poule" (or fowl's foot), at Montpellier, may be 

 the duracinus. 



97 Or "upright vine." In Anjou and Herault the vines are of similar 

 character. 



98 The "finger-like" vine. 99 The "pigeon " vine. 



1 Though very fruitful, it does not bear in large clusters (racemi), but 

 only in small bunches (uvae). 



2 The " three-foot" vine. 



3 Perhaps meaning the " rush" grape, from its shrivelled appearance. 



4 See c. 3 of this Book. 



