BOOK XII. xLviii. 106-L. 108 



denarii a pound. It is reported that scented rush is 

 also found in Campania. 



We have now left the countries looking on the ocean A/rican 

 to come to those that converge towards our seas. "^^ ^"'"' 

 XLIX. Well, Africa, which Hes below Ethiopia, in 

 its sandy deserts distils tear-hke drops of a sub- 

 stance called hammoniacum ; this is also the origin 

 of the name of the Oracle of Hammon, near to which 

 this substance is produced from a tree called 

 metopon, after the manner of resin or gum. There 

 are two kinds of hammoniacum : one called thrauston 

 (friable), which is hke male frankincense and is the 

 kind most approved, and the other, greasy and resi- 

 nous, which they call phyrama (paste). It is adulter- 

 ated with sand, which looks as if it has stuck to it while 

 growing; consequently it is preferred in extremely 

 small lumps and these as pure as possible. The price 

 of the best hammoniacum is 40 asses a pound. 



L. The sphagnos valued most highly is found in the Scenud 

 province of Cyrenaica, south of these regions : others 

 call it bryon. The second place is held by the Cyprian 

 kind, and the third by the Phoenician. It is also 

 said to grow in Egypt, and indeed in Gaul as well, 

 and I am not prepared to doubt this ; for there are 

 grey tufts that bear this name growing on trees, 

 resembhng the growths that we principally see on the 

 oak, but having a superior scent. The most highly 

 esteemed are the whitest and most widely spreading 

 mosses, and the bright red ones are in the second 

 class, but no value at all is attached to the black 

 variety ; moreover, the mosses that grow on islands 

 and on rocks are not esteemed, nor are all those that 

 have the scent of palm-trees and not that of their 

 own kind. 



77 



