BOOK XIX. XXXIII. iio-wxiv. 113 



markings are less prominent. Thore is a story that a 

 niember of the Order of Kniglits iiamed Mela, when 

 recalled from a deputy-governorship by the empcror 

 Tiberius to be impeached for maladministration, in 

 extreme despair swallowed a dose of leek-juice weigh- 

 ing three denarii in silver, and immediately expired 

 without suffering any pain. A larger dose " is said to 

 have no injui-ious effect. 



XXXIV. GarUc is believed to be serviceable for Guriic: ita 

 making a number of medicaments, especially those vaiue""^ 

 used in the country. It is enveloped in very fine 

 skins in entirely separate layers, and then consists 

 of several kernels in a cluster, each of these also 

 having a coat of its own ; it has a pungent flavour, 

 and the more kernels there were the moi-e pungent 

 it is. Garhc as well as onions gives an offensive 

 smell to the breath, though when boiled it causes 

 no smell. The difference between the various kinds 

 consists in the time they take to ripen — the early 

 kind ripens in 60 days — and also in their size. 

 Ulpicum also comes in this class, the plant called 

 by the Greeks Cyprian garhc, or by others antis- 

 corodon ; it holds a high rank among the dishes of 

 the country people, particularly in Africa, and it 

 is larger than garUc ; when beaten up in oil and 

 vinegar it sweUs up in foam to a surprising size. 

 Some people say that ulpicum and garUc must not 

 be planted in level ground, and advise placing it in 

 Uttle mounds a yard apart likc a chain of forts ; 

 there must be a space of four inches between the 

 grains, and as soon as three leaves have brokcn out 

 the plants must be hoed over : they grow largcr the 

 oftener they are hoed. When they begin to ripen, 

 their stalks are pressed down into the earth and 



493 



