PLINY : NATURAL HISTORY 



95 LXII. Sed inter pauca mirabilis est orchis herba 

 sive serapias, foliis porri, caule palmeo, flore pur- 

 pureo, gemina radice testiculis simiU, ita ut maior 

 sive, ut aHqui dicunt, tenuior ^ ex aqua pota excitet 

 hbidinem, minor sive mollior e lacte caprino in- 

 hibeat. quidam folio scillae esse dicunt leviore ac 

 minore, caule spinoso. radices sanant oris ulcera, 

 thoracis pituitas, alvum sistunt ex vino potae. 



96 concitatricem vim habet - satyrion. duo eius genera : 

 una longioribus foHis quam oleae, caule quattuor 

 digitorum, flore purpureo, radice gemina ad formam 

 hominis testium alternis annis intumescente ac 

 residente. altera satyrios orchis cognominatur et 

 ffeminam ^ esse creditam.t distinguitur inter- 

 nodiis et ramosiore frutice, radice fascini. nascitur 

 fere iuxta mare. haec tumores et vitia partium 



^ tenuior codd. : durior Ca^sarius : plenior ex Dioscoride 

 coni. Mayhoff. Vide notam. 



^ habet codd. : habet et Mayhoff. 



^ feminam esse creditam codd. : feminam esse creditur 

 Detlefsen : femina esse credita est Mayhoff, qui invenio 

 excidisse coni. : feminam esse credunt coni. Warmington. 

 Fortasse femina esse creditur. 



" All the MSS. have tenuior, a word that is scarcely a 

 contrast to mollior. Dioscorides says of one opp^is, not the one 

 equated with aepaTrias, («X^') pi-i<^v ^oXpoeLhrj, eTnfiriKTj, 8L7TXrjv, 

 aTevqv, ws eXalav, ttjv /xev dvw, ttiv Se KaTioTepco, Kal ttjv fiev 

 TrXrjp-q, ttjv Se pLoXaKTjv Kal pvarjv (III 126). There wouid be 

 much to be said for the conjectures durior and plenior were it 

 not that tenuior, the reading of all MSS., is far harder to 

 vmderstand. Perhaps Pltny had a Greek text with oTev^ as 

 epithet of ij avw pi^a. Pliny's words imply the existence of 

 differences in nomenclature. 



* I have left the ungrammaticai reading of the MSS, 

 ULnaltered, but obelized. 



