Chap. 64.] WATER PLANTS. 403 



that the ivy is used as a chaplet by poets, as also by Father 

 Liber and Silemis ? Tablets are made 19 of the wood of the 

 smilax, and it is a peculiarity of this wood to give out a slight 

 sound, 20 if held close to the ear. It is said that ivy is remark- 

 ably efficacious for testing wine, and that a vessel made of this 

 wood will let the wine pass through it, while the water will 

 remain behind, if there has been any mixed with it. 21 



chai\ 64. (36.) — watek plants: the rush : twenty-eight 

 varieties oe the reed. 



Among those plants which thrive best in cold localities, it 

 will be only proper to mention the aquatic shrubs. 22 In the 

 irst rank, we find the reed, equally indispensable for the 

 smergencies of war and peace, and used among the appliances 23 

 )f luxury even. The northern nations make use of reeds 

 or roofing their houses, and the stout thatch thus formed will 

 last for centuries even ; in other countries, too, they make 

 light vaulted ceilings with them. Reeds are employed, too, 

 for writing upon paper, those of Egypt more particularly, which 

 have a close affinity to the papyrus : the most esteemed, how- 

 ever, are the reeds of Cnidos, and those which grow in Asia, 

 on the margin of the Anaitic Lake 2i there. 



The reed of our country is naturally of a more fungous 

 nature, being formed of a spongy cartilage, which is hollow 

 within, and covered by a thin, dry, woody coat without ; it 

 easily breaks into splinters, which are remarkably sharp at the 

 edge. In other respects, it is of a thin, graceful shape, arti- 

 culated with joints, and tapering gradually towards the top, 

 which ends in a thick, hairy tuft. This tuft is not without 

 its uses, as it is employed for filling the beds used in taverns, 

 in place of feathers ; or else, when it has assumed a more 

 Ligneous consistency, it is pounded, as we see done among the 

 Belgae, and inserted between the joints of ships, to close the 



19 Fee is inclined to question this ; but the breadth of the tablets may 

 have been very small in this instance. 



20 Of course this is fabulous : though it is not impossible that the 

 riting on the tablets may sometimes have caused " a noise in the world," 



and that hence the poets may have given rise to this story. 



21 Pliny borrows this fabulous story from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 3. 



22 The reeds cannot be appropriately ranked among the shrubs. 



23 For musical purposes, namely. 



24 B. v. c. 20. 



D D 2 



