392 CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



of Celsus v. I, Juvenal, and Plutarch, the concrete juice "opisma" imported according to Dioscorides 

 from India, or according to Pliny xxvii. 5 the Indian kind is the best (brought of course by way of 

 India originally from the district around the entrance to the Red Sea) : "A. officinalis " was observed 

 by Forskal p. 73 wild in Yemen and called " sabr," from the odour of its juice clearly the source 

 of the Socotrine aloes of commerce; this according to Lindley is imported from Bombay and Smyrna, 

 and " Mocha aloes and genuine hepatic aloes are supposed to be varieties of the same species." By 

 European colonists, the living A. Socotrina was carried from Socotra to the botanic garden at Bom- 

 bay (Graham) : from transported specimens is described also by Miller 15, and Woodville pi. 202. 



Aloe littoralis of the seashore of peninsular Hindustan. Yielding a good kind of aloes (Drur.), 

 possibly the "aloes inthikes" of Andreas: —A. littoralis was observed by Koenig, and Ainslie, in 

 Hindustan, the juice of its leaves applied externally in ophthalmia, and by the Mahommedans used for 

 making ink (Drur.). 



Aloe Indica of the arid sandy plains of Northwestern Hindustan. Yielding aloes (Drur.), and 

 perhaps included in the "aloes inthikes" of Andreas, — and "aloes indicae " distinguished by Mar- 

 cellus 8 : A. Indica, termed " a. perfoliata " by Roxburgh, was also seen in Hindustan by Royle. 



All/tea officinalis of Europe and the adjoining portion of Asia. Called in Britain marsh-mallow 

 (Prior), in France "guimauve" (Nugent), in Germany " eibisch " (Fraas), in Italy "bismalva " or 

 "buonvisco" or "altea" (Lenz), in Greece " n£romol6ha " (Fraas); in which we recognize the 

 " althaia " identified through Syn. Diosc. with the € B I C K Y whose root is prescribed by Andreas — ■ 

 (Gal. c. med. gen. vii. 7) : the " iviskon " is further identified in Syn. Diosc. with the "althiokon ; " 

 and the "althaia" is described by Dioscorides as having a stem two cubits high, downy leaves, and 

 a " rdthoeithes " rose-like flower: A. officinalis was observed by Sibthorp, Chaubard, and Fraas, 

 frequent in marshy situations from the Peloponnesus throughout Greece ; is known to grow also in 

 Siberia (Pers.). Farther South, seeds of "althaea" are enumerated by Alpinus as employed medici- 

 nally in Egypt, and the living A. officinalis according to Clot-Bey has been recently introduced. 

 Westward, the "hibisco" is described by Virgil eel. ii. 30 to x. 71 as green and slender, furnishing a 

 switch for driving kids, and woven into wicker baskets " fiscellam texere ; " is prescribed by Celsus ; 

 is identified by Pliny xx. 14 with the " molochen agriam " by some called " pistolochiam ; " and " agre- 

 stisque malva " or " althaea " or " eviscus " is mentioned by Macer Floridus : A. officinalis is termed 

 '• a. Dioscoridis et Plinii " by Tournefort inst. 97 ; was observed by Lenz in Italy ; and is known to 

 grow "near the sea" as far as Denmark (fl. Dan. pi. 530, Pers., and Lindl.). Seeds may have 

 floated across the Atlantic to New England, the plant observed by myself only along salt-marshes : 

 but clearly by European colonists, was carried to Southeast Australia, where it has become natural- 

 ized (T. Corder, and A. Dec.) ; and to the Mauritius Islands, observed under cultivation by Bojer. 

 The whole plant, especially the root, yields according to Lindley " a plentiful tasteless " mucilage, 

 " very salutary in' cases of irritation," and "a favourite medicine with the French." (See Alcea 

 acaulis.) 



Orchis undulatifolia of the Mediterranean countries. Called in Greece " sarkinovotani " or 

 "oura tou algpou " (Sibth.) : the C A P ATT I A A A of Andreas, — so called from the many uses of its 

 root, is identified by Dioscorides with the "orhis <5te>os " having oblong " pras6 "-like leaves curling 

 at the axil, stems a span high and purplish flowers, and referred here by Fraas : the " sarapiatha " is 

 also mentioned by Aetius : O. undulatifolia was observed by Sibthorp, Chaubard, and Fraas, from 

 Cyprus to the Peloponnesus, not rare, and the root dried and used for food. Westward, the account 

 by Pliny xxvi. 62 of the "serapias" or "orchis herba" seems chiefly taken from Dioscorides and the 

 Greeks : O. undulatifolia is termed " o. cercopithecum lusitanic." by Breynius pi. 42, is further identi- 

 fied by Chaubard with the " 3d ophrys insectifera" of Linnaeus 1343 and "orchis longi cruris " of 

 Link; is known to grow in Portugal (Brot, Pers., and Steud.), and was observed by Bivona ii. pi. 6 

 in Sicily. 



"217 B. C." (Polyb. 81, and Sm. b. d.), attempt to assassinate Ptolemy IV. ; in which his physi- 

 cian Andreas was slain. 



Amanita aurantiaca of Europe. An edible mushroom called in Piedmont "bole real," and the 

 "boletos" commended by Glaucias — (Plin. xxii. 47), Asellius Sabinus (Suet. vit. Tiber. 42), and 

 Apicius, are referred here by Dierbach and others : A. aurantiaca is known to grow in various parts 

 of Southern Europe. 



"216 B. C." (Polyb , and Clint.), the Romans defeated by Hannibal at Cannae. The swords of 

 the Gallic or French allies of Hannibal are described by Polybius ii. 33 as easily bent, and straight- 

 ened on the ground under foot ; and by Livy xxii. 46, as " praelongi ac sine mucronibus," very long 

 and not sharp-pointed: swords agreeing with this description, long, straight, double-edged, rounded 

 at the extremity, and of untempered iron, are found in tombs apparently contemporaneous in Switzer- 

 land and Northern Europe (Troyon p. 347) 



After the defeat at Cannae, O. Fabius Pictor sent by the Romans to consult the Oracle at Del- 



