BOOK XIX. xLv. i57-.\xvii. i6o 



the end of a branch ciirves over, wlien it touches 

 the ground the plant at once strikes root. Basil 

 also has the same properties, except that its seed 

 dries with more ditficulty. Stubbing rue is a pro- 

 eess not without ditficulty, because it causes itching 

 ulcers, unless it is done with the hands protected by 

 gloves or safeguarded by oiHng. The leaves of rue 

 are also preserved, being kept in bundles. 



XLVI, Parsley" sowing begins at the vernal /Wi;.'!/ 

 equinox, the seed being first gently pounded in a ("'*^*')- 

 mortar : it is thought that the parsley is made 

 crisper by this process, or if the seed is rolled or 

 trodden into the earth after being sown. A peculi- 

 arity of parsley is that it changes its colour. In 

 Achaia it has the distinction of providing the wreath 

 wom by the winners of the sacred contest at Nemea. 



XLVII. Thisisalsothetimeforplantingmint^^^using Mint, 

 a shoot, or if it is not yet making bud, a matted tuft. ^^'^"yoyai 

 Mint is equally fond of damp ground. It is green in 

 summer and turns yellow in winter. There is a wild 

 kind of mint called mentastrum; this is propagated 

 by layering, like a vine, or by planting stalks end 

 downwards. The name of mint has been altered in 

 Greece because of its sweet scent ; it used to be called 

 mintha, from which our ancestors derived the Latin 

 name, but now it has begun to be called by a Greek 

 word meaning ' sweet-scented '. It is agreeable for 

 stuffing cushions, and pervades the tables ^vith its 

 scent at country banquets. One planting lasts for 

 a long period. It is closely related to pennyroyal, 

 which has the property which we have spoken of 

 more than once of flowering when it is in a larder. ir. 108, 

 These other herbs, I mean mint and also pennyroyal * " ' 



and catmint, are kept in the same kind of way. Yet 



5*3 



