BOOK XXV. Lviii. 104-LIX. 107 



draught. Henbane crushed with the leaves on is 

 given in wine, especially for the poison of asps. 



LIX. No plant however is so renowned among the Hiera bou 

 Romans as hiera botane (" sacred plant "). Some call 

 it asistereon, and Latin ^vriters verbenaca. This is 

 the plant which I mentioned as carried to the enemy 

 by envoys." With this the table of Jupiter is swept,'' 

 and homes are cleansed and purified. There are two 

 kinds of it ; one has many leaves and is thought to be 

 female, the other, the male, has fewer leaves. Each 

 kind has several sprigs that are slender, a cubit long 

 and angular ; the leaves are smaller and narrower 

 than those of the oak ; the indentations too are 

 deeper, the blossom is grey, and the x'oot long and 

 slender. It grows everywhere in flat, moist localities. 

 Some authorities do not distinguish these two kinds 

 but make of them one only, since both have the same 

 properties. Both kinds are used by the people of 

 Gaul in fortune-telling and in uttering prophecies, but 

 the Magi especially make the maddest statements 

 about the plant : that people who have been rubbed 

 with it obtain their wishes, banish fevers,'^ win 

 friends and cure all diseases without exception. 

 They add that it must be gathered about the rising of 

 the Dog-star without the action being seen by moon 

 or sun ; that beforehand atonement must be made 

 to Earth by an offering of honey-comb and honey ; 

 that a circle must be drawn with iron round the plant 

 and then it should be pulled up with the left hand and 

 raised aloft ; that leaves, stem and root must be 

 dried separately in the shade. They say too that 

 if a dining-couch is sprinkled with water in which 



that a plant cures fevers. The madness lies in believing that 

 anointed persona have magical powers. 



215 



