BOOK XXII. xxxvi. yS-xxxviii. 80 



XXX\'I. Buprestis the Greeks with great incon- fiupre.ins 

 sistency went to the length of including aniong tlieir 

 praised foods, and yet they prescribed correctives 

 of it as though it were poison, and the mere name 

 implies that it is poison to oxen at any rate," which it 

 is allowed burst when they taste it. Wherefore it is 

 one ^ of the plants about which I shall not speak at 

 length. Is there indeed a reason why I should de- 

 scribe poisons when dealing with grass crowns, unless 

 there be someone who thinks that for the sake of lust 

 buprestis is desirable, which taken in drink is the 

 most potent aphrodisiac knov.n ? " 



XXXVII. Elaphoboscon (wild parsnip) is a plant i:iaphot>os 

 like fennel-giant, with a jointed stem of thc thickness '^'"'' 



of a finger, the seed in clusters hanging down Uke 

 hartwort, but not bitter, and with the leaves of 

 olusatrum.'^ This too has been praised as a food — 

 in fact it is even preserved for future use — being 

 good as a diuretic, for soothing pains in the side, for 

 curing ruptures and spasms, for dispersing flatulence 

 and colic, and for the wounds of snakes and of all 

 stinging creatures — in fact report has it that deer 

 by eating it fortify themselves against snakes.^ 

 Fistulas too are cured by the application of the root 

 with saltpetre added, but when used in this way it 

 must first be dried, so that it may not be soaking with 

 its own juice, although the latter does not impair its 

 efficacy as a remedy for snake bites. 



XXXVIII. Scandix (chervil) too is classed by the scandii. 

 Greeks as a wild vegetable, as Ophion and Erasis- 

 tratus report. A decoction of it too tones up loose 



reason why . . . crowns ! But perhaps someone thinks that, 

 etc." 



"* Alexanders. ' The name means " deer-feeding." 



349 



