468 PLINT'a NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXIII. 



CHAP. 17. THE BLACK VINE, OTHERWISE CALLED BRYONA, CHI- 



RONIA, GYN^CANTHE, OR APRONIA *. THIRTY-FIVE REJklEBIES. 



For there is also a black vine, properly knoAvn as the '' bry- 

 onia,"^^ though by some persons it is called the " chironia," 

 and by others the '' gynnecanthe," or *' apronia." It differs only 

 from the one previously mentioned in its colour, which, as 

 already stated,^" is black. The shoots of this tree, which 

 resemble asparagus in appearance, are preferred by Diodes for 

 eating to real asparagus,^^ as a diuretic and for its property of 

 reducing the spleen. It is found growing in shrubberies or 

 I'eed-beds more particularly. The root of it, which is black 

 outside, and of the colour of box within, is even more efficacious 

 for the extraction of splintered bones than the plant last men- 

 tioned ; in addition to which, it has the property of being a 

 specific for excoriations of the neck in cattle. It is said, too, 

 that if a person plants it around a farm, it will be sure to 

 keep hawks away, and to preserve the poultry-yard^'^ in perfect 

 safety. Attached to the ankles, it tends to disperse the blood,- 

 congested or otherwise, which may have settled in those 

 parts of the body, whether in human beings or in beasts of 

 burden. 



Thus much with reference to the various species of vines. 



CHAP. 18. must: FIFTEEN- REMEDIES. 



The various kinds of must^^ have different properties ; some 

 of them being black, some white, and others of intermediate 

 shades of colour. There is a difference, too, between the kinds 

 of must from which wine is made, and those from which 

 raisin wine is prepared. The various degrees of care and at- 

 tention on the part of the maker, render the differences that 



^^ This is in reality not the modern bryony, or white vine, but the 

 Tamus coinniuuis of Linnaeus, the black vine, or taminier of the French, 

 the uva tarainia, probably, of Chapter 13. 



61* In the last Chapter. 



^^ The slioots of the Tamus communis are still eaten in Tuscany as a 

 substitute for asparagus, to which, however, they are inferior in quality. 

 It is there kuown by the name of tamaro. 



c- An absurdity, as Fee remarks, not worthy of discussion. The same, 

 too, as to the next assertion. 



*^3 Of course there arc as many varieties of must, or grape-juice, as 

 tliere are of wines. Alust is of a purgative and emollient nature, but is 

 no louger employed in medicine. 



