in Greek and Latin Authors. 45 



Sprengel, in Lis commentary on Dioscorides (ii. p. 472), 

 says that truffles are frequent in Laconia, and, referring to 

 Walpole's Memoirs, states that the divining-rod used to be 

 employed in their search. The story about the hydnophyllum 

 is, of course, a mere fancy. 



That thunder exercised some peculiar power in producing 

 truffles was an opinion current among the ancients, and 

 Plutarch has given us quite a long and curious dissertation 

 in his ' Symposiacs ' (book iv.) on the question, 8id it ra vSva 

 SoKet rfi (Bpovrfj ylvecrOat, " Why truffles are thought to be 

 produced by thunder." At a certain supper in Elis, where, 

 as we have seen, large truffles were found, some of extraordi- 

 nary size were set on the table; many of the guests seemed 

 to wonder, whereupon some individual jokingly referred to 

 the thunderstorms which had lately happened as being the 

 cause of their appearance, meaning to deride the popular 

 opinion as absurd ; whereupon Agemachus, the worthy host, 

 prayed the company not to conclude a thing was incredible be- 

 cause it was strange and wonderful, " for this ridiculous bulb, 

 which has become quite a proverb for absurdity, does not 

 escape the lightning on account of its small size, but because 

 it has a property the exact opposite to it, just as the fig-tree 

 and the skin of the sea-calf, as they say, and that of the 

 hyena have, with which things sailors clothe the ends of their 

 sailyards." After a little more dinner-talk, in which it was 

 satisfactorily proved that truffles grow by means of a certain 

 generating fluid contained in the thunder (vScop jovifxov), 

 which, being mixed with heat, pierces into the earth, turning 

 and rolling it round, and produces these tubers ; just as cer- 

 tain tumours called glands arise in the human body from some 

 bloody humour or other ; and that truffles do not resemble 

 plants, are not nourished by rain, and have neither root nor 

 sprout, but are quite free in the ground, and that, in conse- 

 quence, they have the nature of earth which has been altered 

 and changed in substance; after all this it was determined 

 to change the subject of conversation from truffles, " lest," 

 it is added, " that happen to us which once befell the painter 

 Androcydes, for when he painted the gulf Scylla he repre- 

 sented the fishes with more artistic effect than anything else, 

 so that people thought he cared more for the fishes than for 

 his art ; in like manner they will say of us, that we have 

 discoursed about the origin of truffles simply because we take 

 the greatest pleasure in eating them." 



The influence of thunder-rains on truffles is referred to by 

 Juvenal, who also speaks of the great estimation in which 

 they were held : — 



" Post liunc tradentur tubera, si ver 

 Tunc erit et facient optata tonitrua ccenas 



