BOOK XXV. xxxviii. 77-79 



XXXVIII. In the age too of our fathers King Euphorbea. 

 Juba " discovered ^ a plant to which he gave the 

 name euphorbea, calHng it after his own physician 

 Euphorbus. This man was the brother of the Musa 

 we have mentioned <= as the saviour of the life of the 

 late Emperor Augustus. It was these brothers who 

 first adopted the plan of bracing the body by copious 

 douches of cold water after the bath. Before this 

 the custom was to bathe in hot water only, as we 

 find that it is also in Homer. But the treatise also of 

 Juba on this plant is still extant, and it makes a 

 splendid testimonial. He discovered it on Mount 

 Atlas : it has the appearance of a thyrsus and the 

 leaves of the acanthus. Its potency is so great that 

 the juice, obtained by incision ^vith a pole, is gathered 

 from a distance ; it is caught in receivers made of 

 kids' stomachs placed underneath. Fhiid and like 

 milk as it drops down, when it has dried and con- 

 gealed it has all the features of frankincense. The 

 collectors find their vision improved. It is em- 

 ployed as treatment for snake-bite. In whatever 

 part of the body the bite may be, an incision is made 

 in the top of the skull and the medicament in- 

 serted there. The Gaetulians who gather the juice 

 adulterate it out of weary disgust by adding milk, 

 but fire is a test of genuineness, for that which is 

 adulterated emits a nauseating smell. Far inferior 

 to the Atlas juice is that which in Gaul comes from 

 the ground-oUve, which bears a red berry like kermes. 

 Broken it resembles hammoniacum, and even a 

 slight taste leaves for a long time a burning sensation 

 in the mouth ; after a while this increases until it 

 dries up even the throat. 



' See XIX. § 128. 



193 



