BOOK XVI. Lxvi. 167-170 



adarca, whicli is vcry bencficial for tlie teeth, as it has 

 the same pungency as mustard. 



The admiration exprcssed in old days for the reed- R^^<^' 0/ 

 beds of the Lake of Orchomenus compels me to speak uied esped- 

 about them in greater detail. The Greek name for a S/'^ 

 ratlier tliick, stronger kind of reed used to be ' fence- 

 reed,' and for a more slendcr variety ' plaiting reed,' 

 the lattcr growing in ishinds floating on the water 

 and tlie former on the banks overflowcd by the lake. 

 The third is the flageolet rced — ' pipe-reed ' used to 

 be the Greek name for it. This took eight years to 

 grow, as the lake also regularly took that space of 

 time in rising, it being thought to be a bad omen if 

 ever it continued at its full height two years longer, a 

 thing that was marked by the fatal Athenian i)attie 

 at Chaeronea.'^ Not far otf is Lebadea . . . is called 

 . . . the Cephisus flowing into it.^ When therefore 

 the flooding has continued for a ycar, the reeds grow 

 even to a size suitable for purposes of fowling: 

 these used to be called in Greek ' yoke-reeds ' ; on the 

 other hand those growing when the flood goes down 

 sooner were called ' silky reeds,' witli a thin stalk, 

 those with a broader and whiter leaf being dis- 

 tinguished by the name of ' female reeds,' and those 

 with only a small amount of down or none at all being 

 called ' eunuchs.' These supphed the instruments 

 for glorious music, though mention must also not be 

 omitted of the further remarkable trouble required 

 to grow them, so that excuse may be made for the 

 present-day preference for musical instruments of 

 silver. Down to the time of the flautist Anti- 

 genides, when a simple style of music was still 

 practised, the rceds used to be regarded as ready for 

 cutting after the rising of Arcturus. WTien thus 



497 



