Chap. 55.] WILD THYME; SISYMBllIUM. 197 



unknown to them, his sanguinary message through the envoys 

 who had been sent by his son. 



CHAP. 54. OTHER PLANTS WHICH REQUIKE TO BE SOWN AT THE 



AUTUMNAL EQUINOX. 



There are some other plants, again, which require to be 

 sown together at the time of the autumnal equinox ; coriander, 

 for instance, anise, orage, mallows, lapathum, chervil, known to 

 the Greeks as " paederos," 9 and mustard, 10 which has so pun- 

 gent a flavour, that it burns like fire, though at the same time 

 it is remarkably wholesome for the body. This last, though 

 it will grow without cultivation, is considerably improved by 

 being transplanted ; though, on the other hand, it is extremely 

 difficult to rid the soil of it when once sown there, the seed 

 when it falls germinating immediately. This seed, when 

 cooked in the saucepan, 11 is employed even for making ragouts, 

 its pungency being rendered imperceptible by boiling; the 

 leaves, too, are boiled just the same way as those of other 

 vegetables. 



There are three different kinds of mustard, 12 the first of a 

 thin, slender form, the second, with a leaf like that of the 

 rape, and the third, with that of rocket : the best seed comes 

 from Egypt. The Athenians have given mustard the name of 

 "napy," 13 others, " thapsi," 14 and others, again, " saurion." 15 



CHAP. 55. WILD THYME; SISYMBRIUM. 



Most mountains abound with wild thyme and sisymbrium, 

 those of Thrace, for example, where 16 branches of these wild 

 plants are torn up and brought away for planting, So, too, 

 the people of Sicyon seek for wild thyme on their mountains, 



9 " Lad's lore." 



10 Black mustard, Fee thinks. 



11 He can hardly mean a pottage made of boiled mustard-seed alone, 

 as Fee seems to think. If so, however, Fee no doubt is right in thinking 

 that it would be intolerable to a modern palate. 



12 See B. xx. c. 87. 



13 Perhaps a corruption of its Greek name, aivr]Tri. 



14 Hardouin suggests " thlaspi." 



15 Its bite being as sharp as the venom of the "saurus,'' or lizard. 



16 Hardouin, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 7, suggests a 

 reading, "whence the streams bring down branches of them torn off, and 

 so plant them." 



