3C6 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVI* 



morning or the evening, be it ever so long ; indeed, they will 

 always keep at the greatest possible distance from it. We 

 state the fact from ocular demonstration, 75 that if a serpent 

 and a lighted fire are placed within a circle formed of the leaves 

 of the ash, the reptile will rather throw itself into the fire than 

 encounter the leaves of the tree. By a wonderful provision 

 of Nature, the ash has been made to blossom before the ser- 

 pents leave their holes, and the fall of its leaf does not take 

 place till after they have retired for the winter. 



CHAP. 25. (14.) — TWO VAEIETIES OF THE LINDEN-TREE. 



In the linden- tree the male 76 and the female are totally dif- 

 ferent. In the male the wood is hard and knotty, of a redder 

 hue, and with a stronger smell ; the bark, too, is thicker, and, 

 when taken off, has no flexibility. The male bears neither 

 seed nor blossom as the female does, the trunk of which is 

 thicker, and the wood white and of excellent quality. It is a 

 singular 77 thing, but no animal will touch the fruit of this 

 tree, although the juice of the leaves and the bark is sweet. 

 Between the bark and the wood there are a number of thin 

 coats, formed by the union of numerous fine membranes ; of 

 these they make those bands 78 which are known to us as "tiliae." 

 The finer membranes are called "philyraB," and are rendered 

 famous by the honourable mention that the ancients have 

 made of them as ribbons for wreaths 79 and garlands. The 



75 This story of Pliny has been corroborated by M. de Verone, and as 

 strongly contradicted by Caraerarius and Charras : with M. Fee, then, we 

 must leave it to the reader to judge which is the most likely to be speaking 

 the truth. It is not improbable that Pliny may have been imposed upon, 

 as his credulity would not at all times preclude him from being duped. 



76 There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the flowers are 

 hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties : the male of Pliny being 

 the Tilia microphylla of Pecaudolles, and a variety of the Tilia Europaea 

 of Linnaeus ; and the female being the Tilia platyphyllos, another variety 

 of the Tilia Europasa of Linnaeus. 



77 Not at all singular, Fee says, the fruit being dry and insipid. 



78 In France these cords are still made, and are used for well-ropes, 

 wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are made of the 

 outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia. 



79 See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. 1. 337, speaks of the revellers at 

 drunken banquets bindiug their hair with the philyra. 



