BOOK XXVII. XXIX. 53-xxxiii. 56 



Narrower than the former, and less bitter, it is 

 injurious to the stomach, but softens the bowels and 

 expels intestinal worms. It is taken in drink with 

 oil and salt, or infused " into gruel of three-month 

 wheat. A handful is boiled down in a sextarius of 

 water to one-half. 



XXX. Ballote has a second name, black leek, given Baihte. 

 to it by the Greeks. It is a bushy plant, with quad- 

 rangulate,'' dark stems, covered with hairy leaves, 

 larger and darker than those of leek, and with an 

 ofFensive smell.'^ It proves an effective antidote to 

 dog-bites, the pounded leaves being laid with salt 



on the wound ; cooked also in hot ashes and ^vrapped 

 in a cabbage leaf '^ they are appHed to condylomata. 

 With honey the plant also cleanses foul ulcers. 



XXXI. Botrys is a bushy plant with yellow twigs. Botrys. 

 Seed grows all round them, and the leaves are Hke 

 those of chicory. It is found on the banks of 

 torrents, and is used as treatment for orthopnoea. 

 The Cappadocians call it ambrosia, others artemisia. 



XXXII. Brabilla « has an astringent/ property like BrabUla. 

 the quince ; apart from this my authorities tell me 

 nothing about it. 



XXXIII. Sea bryon is without doubt a plant?; it Brnon 

 has leaves like those of lettuce, wrinkled, and as it '"'*'■'"'""■ 

 were crumpled.^ It has no stem, the leaves growing 



out of a single root. It grows more especially upon 

 rocks and on shells sunk in the ground.* Its special 



^* See Theophrastus loc. cit. : pxrTL^wMaTepov Kai (MOTnp 

 avveaTTaof^Uvov. 



' See Theophrastus loc. cit. : iiTX twv Xldiov . . . Trpd? T17 yrj 

 Kal Tu>v oaTpaKcov, and Dioscorides (IV 98) : ^yeroi eTrt Xidcov 

 Kal oaTpaKoiv napa daXduarj. Is PUny's terra conprehensis a 

 mistranslation ? 



423 



