390 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Rook XXII. 



with it both matrons and girls 4 among the people of Britain 

 are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking 

 part in the performance of certain sacred rites; rivalling 

 hereby the swarthy hue of the ^Ethiopians, they go in a state 

 >f nature. 



CHAP. 3. (2.) - EMPLOYMENT OF PLANTS FOK DYKING. EXPLANA- 

 TION OF THE TEKMS SAGMKN, YKKKKNA, AND C1.AK1GAT10. 



*\Ve know, too, that from plants are extracted admirable 

 colours for dyeing; and, not to mention the berries 5 of Oalatia, 8 

 Africa, and Lusitania. which furnish the coccus, a dye re- 

 MTved for the military costume 7 of our generals, the people of 

 Gaul beyond the Alps produce the Tyrian colours, the conchy- 

 Hated^ and ail the other hues, by the agency of plants 9 alone. 

 They have not there to seek the murex at the bottom of the 

 or to expose themselves to be the prey of the monsters of 

 the deep, while tearing it from their jaws, nor have they to go> 

 searching in depths to which no anchor has penetrated and 

 all this for the purpose of tiiiding the means whereby some 

 mother of a family may appear more charming in the eyes of 

 her paramour, or the seducer may make himself more captivat- 

 ing to the wife of another man. Standing on dry laud, the 

 people there gather in their dyes just as we do our crops of 



colour.. The root of this Celtic wood is probably "glas," ''blue." whence 

 - .->ur word "glass;" and it is not improbable that the name oi 



..iven to it from tlie blue tints which it presented. Julius Ca^ar and 

 Pomponius Mela translate this word glastum," by the Latin " vitruiii," 



* "Conjugal nurusque." Caesar says that all the people in Britain were 

 in the habit "of staining the body with woad, to add to the horror of their 

 appearance in battle. Pompomus Mela expresses himself as uncertain for 

 what purpose it was done, whether it was to add to their beauty, or fur 

 some 'aim unknown. 



5 "Grai:.- the ancients took to be a vegetable substance, is 

 now known to be an insect, the kermes of the Quercus cocci fora. 



6 See B. ix. c. 63. 



" raludamentis." The k 'paludamentum" was the cloak worn by a 



Roman general when in command, his principal officers, and personal at- 



tendants. It was open in front, reached to the knees or thereabout, and 



hung over the shoulders, being fastened across the chest by a clasp. It 



omnionly white or purple. 



8 For an account of all these colours see B. ix. cc. 60 65. 



9 The vacemium for instance. See B. xvi. c. 31. 



