3 1 8 The Honey-Makers 



or not, to his cattle or his bees, if he be a physician, and 

 be convicted of poisoning, shall be punished with death ; 

 or if he be a private person, the court shall determine what 

 he is to pay or suffer. But he who seems to be the sort of 

 man who injures others by magic knots, or enchantments, 

 or incantations, or any of the like practices, if he be a 

 prophet or diviner, let him die ; and if, not being a prophet, 

 he be convicted of witchcraft, as in the previous case, let 

 the court fix what he ought to pay or suffer." 



We also incidentally are informed in the last paragraph 

 of the estimation in which bees were held. 



Wax was used, too, to cover the surface of writing tablets, 

 as upon its yielding substance lines could be traced with the 

 stylus. It was also used to wax the pipes of shepherds, 

 and was put to innumerable other uses. 



Pliny tells us that Punic wax was considered best for 

 medical preparations, also, "Wax is made black by addition 

 of ashes of papyrus, and a red color is given to it by ad- 

 mixture of alkanet; indeed, by the employment of various 

 pigments, it is made to assume various tints, in which state 

 it is used for making likenesses, and for other purposes 

 without number, among which we may mention varnishing 

 walls and armor to protect them from the air." 



