BOOK XIX. XXX. 94-97 



them grow bigger, the leaves, which in this plant are 



of a large size, are bent down in a circle round them 



and covered with soil, so causing the hcads to draw 



all the juice into themselves. They gi'ow wild in 



very large quantities in the Balcaric Islands and 



Iviza, and throughout the Spanisli provinces. The 



philosopher Pythagoras wrote a whole book about 



them, inchiding an account of their medicinal 



properties, which we shall record in the next Vohmie. xx.i02sqq. 



The remaining kinds of bulbs differ in colour and size 



and in flavour, some being eaten raw, for instance in 



the Crimea ; next after these the ones that grow in 



Africa are most highly spoken of, and then those of 



Apulia. The Greeks have distinguished the following 



kinds — bolbine, seianion, opition, cyix, aegilops and 



sisyrinchion ; the last possesses the remarkable Harbary nui. 



projiertv that its bottom roots grow in winter, but in 



the spring-time, when the violet has appeared, these 



diminish while the actual bulb, on the other hand, 



aftervvards begins to swell out. Among the varieties 



of bulb thei-e is also the one that in Egy])t they call 



the arum, which is very near to the squill in size and Cnckoo-pim. 



to the sorrel in foliage, \y\\\\ a straight stalk a yard 



long of the thickness of a walking-stick, and a root of 



softer substance, which can even be eaten raw. Bulbs 



are dug up before tlie beginning of spring, or else 



they at once go off in quality ; it is a sign that they 



are ripe when the leaves become dry at the lower end. 



The rather green ones are disapproved of, as also are 



the long and the small ones, whereas those of a 



reddish colour and rounder shape are praised, as 



also are those of the largest size. Usually their top 



has a bitter taste and the middle parts are sweet. 



Previous writers have stated that bulbs only grow 



4«3 



