BOOK XXV 



I. This peculiar glory of plants which I am now Ofpiants 

 going to speak of, Mother Earth producing them ^peciaiiy 

 sometimes for medicinal purposes only, rouses in /?'' '"^'''" 

 one's mind admiration for the care and industry of 

 the men of old; there was nothing left untried or un- 

 attempted by them, and furthermore nothing kept 

 secret, nothing which they wished to be of no benefit 

 to posterity. But we moderns desire to hide and 

 suppress the discoveries worked out by these inves- 

 tigators, and to cheat human Hfe even of the good 

 things that have been won by others. Yes indeed, 

 those who have gained a Httle knowledge keep it in 

 a grudging spirit secret to themselves, and to teach 

 nobody else increases the prestige of their learn- 

 ing. So far has custom departed from fresh research 

 and assistance to life ; the supreme task of our great 

 minds has long been to keep within individual 

 memory the successes of the ancients, so allowing 

 them to be forgotten. But, heaven knows, there are 

 some whom a single discovery has added to the 

 number of the gods, whose Ufe on earth at any rate 

 has been made more glorious by their names being 

 given to plants, so kind the thanks of a mindful 

 posterity. This careful research of theirs is less 

 wonderful when rewarded by plants of fascinating 

 growth or attractive as food ; but they have scoured 

 also trackless mountain heights, unexplored deserts 

 and all the bowels of the earth, finding out the power 



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