BOOK XXV. VIII. 27-xi. 31 



thii*ty feet long, and even that not entire, but broken 

 ofF short. 



IX. After moly the plant wth the highest repu- The dodec 

 tation they call the dodecatheon, as a compliment to 



the grandeur " of all the twelve gods. It is said that 

 taken in water it cures all diseases. Its leaves are 

 seven, very like those of lettuce and sprouting from 

 a yellow root. 



X. The first plant to be discovered was the peony, The pemi 

 which still retains the name of the discoverer ; it is 

 called by some pentorobon, by others glycyside, for 



an added difficulty in botany is the variety of names 

 given to the same plant in different districts. It 

 grows on shaded mountains, having a stem among 

 the leaves about four fingei-s high, which bears on 

 its top four or five growths Hke almonds, in 

 them being a large amount of seed, red and black. 

 This plant also prevents the mocking dehisions 

 that the Fauns bring on us in our sleep. They 

 recommend us to uproot it at night-time, because 

 the woodpecker of Mars, should he see the act, will 

 attack the eyes in its defence.'' 



XI. The plant panaces by its very name promises Panaces. 

 to be a cure for every disease ; it has many varieties, 



and to the gods have been ascribed the discovery of 

 its properties. One variety in fact has the additional 

 name of asclepion, after which Asclepius called his 

 daughter Panacia. The juice of this plant when 

 curdled is like that, ah-eady described,'^ of fennel- 

 giant, coming from a root with a thick and salty 

 skin. When it has been pulled up it is a pious duty 

 to fill in the hole with various cereals as an atone- 

 ment to the earth. Where the juice is prepared, and 

 how, and the most esteemed kind, I have already 



157 I 



