BOOK XXIV. Lxi. I02-LXIII. 104 



LXI. Sabine herb, called brathy by the Greeks, is of sarm. 

 two kinds. One has a leaf like that of the tamarisk, 

 the other hke that of the cypress, for which reason 

 some have called it the Cretan cypress. Many use it 

 instead of frankincense for fumigations ; in medicines 

 moreover a double dose is said to be equivalent in 

 strenffth to a sing-le dose of cinnamon. It reduces 

 gatherings and checks corroding sores ; an appHcation 

 cleanses ulcers, and used as a pessary or for fumigation 

 it bi-ings away the dead foetus. With honey it is used 

 as an ointment for erysipelas and carbuncles ; taken 

 in wine it cures jaundice. By fumigation sabine herb 

 is said to cure the pip in chickens. 



LXII. Like this sabine herb is the plant called selago Seiago. 

 It is gathered without iron with the right hand, thrust 

 under the tunic through the left arm-hole, as though 

 the gatherer were thieving." He should be clad in 

 white, and have bare feet washed clean ; before 

 gathering he should make a sacrificial offering of 

 bread and wine. The plant is carried in a new napkin. 

 The Druids of Gaul have recorded that it should be 

 kept on the person to ward off all fatalities, and that 

 the snioke of it is good for all diseases of the eyes. 



LXIII. The same authorities have called samolus Samolus. 

 (brook-weed) a plant growing in moist regions,'' 

 which (they say) is to be gathered with the left hand 



here the right hand pretends to be the left and deceives the 

 plant, taking it by surprise bcfore its virtue can slip away. 

 Such deception of e.g. rice is still common in the East. 

 MayhoS's text gives : " the right hand being covered by the 

 tunic, it is torn off by the left hand etc." 



' I think that e( before hanc is " and " not " also." The 

 latter meaning would make necessary a radical reconstruction 

 of § 103. But there seem to be contrasts between the two cases, 

 chx(ra){sinislra and sacro fac(o pa7ie vinoque){a ieiunis. One is 

 tempted to suggest at for et. 



75 



