96 PLINl's NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXV, 



property to which it is indebted for the name of " splenion," 

 given to it by some. It is said too, that swine which have fed 

 upon the root of this phmt are found to have no milt. 



Some authors give this name also to a ligneous plant, ^^ with 

 branches like those of hyssop, and a leaf resembling that of 

 the bean ; they say too, that it should be gathered while in 

 blossom, from which we may conclude that they entertain no 

 doubt that it does blossom. That which grows on the moun- 

 tains of Cilicia and Pisidia is more particularly praised by them. 



CHAP. 21. MELAMPODITJM, HELLEBORE, OR VERATRUM : THREE 



VARIETIES OF IT. THE WAY IN WUICH IT IS GATHERED, AND 

 HOW THE QUALITY OF IT IS TESTED. 



The repute of Melampus, as being highly skilled in the arts of 

 divination, is universally known. This personage has given a 

 name to one species of hellebore, known as the ** melampodion.'* 

 Some persons, however, attribute the discovery of this plant 

 to a shepherd of that name, who remarked that his she-goats 

 were violently purged after browsing upon it, and afterwards 

 cured the daughters of Prcetus of madness, by giving them 

 the milk of these goats. It will be the best plan, therefore, to 

 take this opportunity of treating of the several varieties of 

 hellebore. The two principal kinds are the white ®^ and the 

 black f^ though, according to most authorities, this difference 

 exists in tlie root only. There are some authors, however, 

 who assure us that the leaves of the black hellebore are similar 

 to those of the plane-tree, only darker, more diminutive, and 

 more jagged at the edges : and who say, that the white hel- 

 lebore has leaves like those of beet when first shooting, 

 though at the same time of a more swarthy colour, with reddish 

 veins on the under side. The stem, in both kinds, is feru- 

 laceous, a palm^^ in height, and covered with coats like those 

 of the bulbs, the root, too, being fibrous like that of the onion. ^ 



°^ The Teucrium lucidura of Linnaeus : though, as Fee says, there is 

 little similarity between it and hyssop, or between its leaves and those of 

 the bean. See B. xxiv. c. 80. 



3^ Identified by F^e with the Veratrum album and Veratrum nigrum of 

 liinnseus, species between which there is little difi'erence. 



■'"' Identified by Tournefort with the Helleborus niger of LaraarcL 

 Littre mentions the Helleborus orientalis of Linnncus. 



'^ The stem of white hellebore is much longer than this. 



^ This comparison with the onion, Fee says, is altogether inexact. 



