PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY 



tamen gloria est, si ^ modo a conceptu admota vulvis 



98 in carne bubula mares figurat, ut traditur. piscatores 

 Campaniae radicem eam quae rotunda est venenum 

 terrae vocant, coramque nobis contusam mixta calce 

 in mare sparsere. advolant pisces cupiditate mira 

 statimque exanimati fluitant. quae polyn'hizos 

 cognominatur convulsis, contusis, ex alto praeci- 

 pitatis radice pota ex aqua utilissima esse traditur, 

 semine pleuriticis et nervis, confirmare, excalfacere, 

 eadem satvrion esse. 



99 LV. \ erum et efFectus ususque dicendi sunt ordien- 

 dumque a malorum omnium pessimo est, serpentium 

 ictu. medentur ergo britannica herba, panacis 

 omnium generum radix e vino, chironii et flos et 

 semen potum inlitumve ex vino et oleo, privatim quae 

 cunila bubula appellatur, polemonia vel philetaeris 

 radicis drachmis quattuor in mero, teucria, sideritis, 



100 scordotis ex vino, privatim ad angues, pota et inlita 

 sive suco sive folio sive decocto, centaurii maioris 

 radix drachma in vini albi cyathis tribus, gentiana 

 praecipue adversus angues duabus drachmis cum 



^ si Detlefsen : ea {vel haec) si Mayhqff -. et si fere omnes 

 codd. {num et ex est ortum ?). 



" See note h on p. 206, with the fiaKpoTdra? of Dioscorides. 



^ The emendation of Mayhoff makes it a little clearer that 

 the conditional clause applies to the radix oblonga and not to 

 the rotunda. 



" A contradiction of valent radice tantum (§ 96). Through- 

 out this chapter PUny seems to be at his worst. It is a 

 mystery why he uses ohlonga twice, when he must refer to the 

 plant called longissima, whereas in Dioscorides the correspond- 

 ing Greek word apphes to the root only, as does oblonga 

 in§97. 



2o8 



