BOOK XV. XXXVII. 123-XXXV111. 125 



how to make wine from the black myrtle, by drying 

 it in the shade until no moisture remained and then 

 putting it in must ; he says that if the berrics are not 

 thoroughly dried, oil is produced. Afterwards a way 

 was also discovered of making a white wine from the 

 pale variety , by steeping a quart of pounded myrtle in 

 a pint and a half of wine and then pressing out the 

 hquor. The leaves are also dried by themselves 

 till they go to a powder, which is used as a cure for 

 sores on the human body, the powder being slightly 

 corrosive and serving to cool off the perspiration. 

 Moreover, the oil also curiously enough contains a 

 certain flavour of wine, and at the same time has a 

 greasy fluidity which makes it specially efficacious 

 for improving wines if it is poured over the wine- 

 strainers before they are used ; this is because the 

 oil retains the lees and only allows the pure liquor to 

 pass through, and unites with the wine after it has 

 been strained, greatly improving it. Sprigs of myrtle 

 also merely by being carried by a traveller are bene- 

 ficial whcn making a long journey on foot. More- 

 over, rings made of myrtle twigs which have never 

 been touched by iron are a cure for swellings in the 

 groin. 



XXXMII. The myrtle has also claimed a part in Myrtie- 

 matters of warfare, and Pubhus Postumius Tubertus, ^ations^ 

 the first of all men who ever entered the city with an 

 ovation, during his consulship celebrated a triumph 503 b.c. 

 over the Sabines, and because he had won the cam- 

 paign easily, without bloodshed, he made his entry 

 wearing a wreath made of the myrtle of Venus 

 \'ictrix, and so made that tree a coveted object even 

 for our enemies. Subsequently a myrtle wreath was 

 regularly worn by generals celebrating an ovation, 



373 



