BOOK XII. XXVI. 43-46 



its taste, which dries up the mouth and lcaves a 

 pleasant Havour. 



The priee of nard is 100 denarii a pound. The 

 nard-leaf market is graded according to the size of 

 the leaf : the kind called hadrosphaerum in larger 

 pills costs 40 denarii ; the smaller-leaved sort called 

 mesosphaerum sells at 60 denarii ; and the most highly 

 spoken of, microsphaerum, is made of the smallest 

 leaves and its price is 75 denarii. All the kinds 

 have an agreeable scent, stronger when they are 

 fresh. The betler nard has a blacker colour, if it 

 is old when gathered. In our part of the world * 

 the next most highly praised kind is the Syrian, 

 then that from Gaul, and in the third place is the 

 Cretan, which some call agrion and others phun * ; 

 it has a leaf hke that of alexanders, a stalk 18 inches 

 long, knotted and coloured whitish purple, and a 

 crooked hairy root resembling birds' claws. Wild 

 nard is called baccaris; we shall speak about it xx. 135. 

 among flowers. AU of these kinds of nard, however, 

 are herbs except the Indian. Among them the 

 GaUic kind is plucked with the root as well, and washed 

 in wine, dried in a shady place, and done up with 

 paper in small parcels ; it does not differ much from 

 the Indian nard, but it is lighter in weight than the 

 Syrian. Its price is 3 denarii. In the case of these 

 varieties the only way to test them is that the leaves 

 must not be brittle and parched instead of merely 

 dry. With GalHc nard there always grows the herb 

 called ' little goat ' because of its offensive smell, 

 Hke the smeU of a goat ; it is very much employed 

 to adulterate nard, from which it is distinguished 

 by having no stem and smaUer leaves, and by its 

 root, which is not bitter and also has no smeH. 



32, 



