Chap. 21.] THE POLIUM, OR TETJTHBION. 325 



up the iris, drench the ground about it some three months he- 

 fore with hydromel, as though a sort of atonement offered to 

 appease the earth ; with the point of a sword, too, they trace 

 three circles round it, and the moment they gather it, they lift 

 it up towards the heavens. 



The iris is a plant of a caustic nature, and when handled, it 

 causes blisters like burns to rise. It is a point particularly 

 recommended, that those who gather it should be in a state of 

 chastity. The root, not only when dried, 57 but while still in 

 the ground, is very quickly attacked by worms. In former 

 times, it was Leucas and Elis that supplied us with the best 

 oil M of iris, for there it has long been cultivated ; at the present 

 day, however, the best comes from Pamphylia, though that of 

 Cilicia and the northern climates is held in high esteem. 



CHAP. 20. THE SALITJNCA. 



The saliunca 59 has a rather short leaf, which does not admit 

 of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which 

 it is held together ; being more of a herb than a flower, and 

 so closely matted and tangled that it would almost appear to 

 have been pressed together with the hand in short, it is a 

 turf 60 of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in Pannonia and 

 the sunny regions of Noricum and the Alps, as also the vicinity 

 of the city of Eporedia ; 61 the smell being so remarkably sweet 

 that the crops of it have been of late quite as profitable as the 

 working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued for the 

 pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept. 



CHAP. 21. THE POLIUM, OR TKUTHEION. 



It is the same, too, with the polium, 62 a herb employed for 

 a similar purpose among the Greeks, and highly extolled by 

 Musseus and Hesiod, who assert that it is useful for every pur- 

 pose, and more particularly for the acquisition of fame and 

 honour ; 63 indeed, it is a truly marvellous production, if it is 



57 This, Fee says, is quite consistent with modern experience. 



68 "Irinum." See B. xiii. c. 2. 



59 Probably the Valeriana Celtica of Linnaeus. See B. xii. c. 27, where 

 it is mentioned as Gallic nard, 



60 " Csespes." 61 See B. iii. c. 21. 



62 Probably the Teucrium polium of Linnaeus ; the herb poley, or poley- 

 mountain. 

 6:J By those who carry it on their person. 



