BOOK XXV. XXXI. 68-xxxiii. 70 



It is like origanum but with narrowei' and long- 

 er leaves ; it has an angular, bushy stem a span 

 high, a flower Hke that of lychnis, a slight root 

 of no use in medicine, but with heahng quahties in its 

 juice. The plant itself is gathered in autumn, and 

 the juice is extracted from the leaves. Some cut up 

 and soak the stems, extracting the juice at the end of 

 eighteen days. This centaury the Romans call the 

 " gall of earth " on account of its extreme bitterness, 

 while the Gauls call it exacum, because a di'aught of 

 it evacuates from the body by stool all harmful drugs. 



XXXII. There is a third, centauris surnamed Tnorchis. 

 triorchis. Those who cut it nearly always wound 

 themselves. The juice it gives out is of the colour 



of blood. Theophrastus " relates that it is defended 

 by a species of hawk called triorchis, which attacks 

 those who gather it. From this too it has received its 

 name. The uninformed confuse these characteris- 

 tics * and assign them all to the first kind of cen- 

 taury. 



XXXIII. Clymenus is a plant called after the ciynieiius. 

 king of that name. It has leaves Hke those of ivy, 

 many branches, a hollow stem girded with joints, a 

 strong smell, and seed hke that of ivy ; it grows in 

 wooded, hilly districts. I shall say later what 

 diseases it cures if taken in drink ; but at the moment 



I must point out that, while it cures, even men ai-e 

 made sterile by the draught. The Greeks have said 

 that it is hke the plantain, with a square stem and 

 seed-bags intertwined hke the tentacles of the 

 polypus. The juice too is used in medicine, as it has 

 very great powers of coohng. 



* What are haec omnia. The sentence apparently means 

 that some people recognised only one kind of centaury. 



187 



