Plinies Maturall Hirtorie^ 



A Firft and formoft therforCjall perfumes Eookc their names cither of the countrie where they 

 were compoundedjOr of the liquors that went to their makingjOr of the plants that yeeided the 

 fimples and the drugs : or elfe of the caufes and Occafions proper and peculiar unto them. And 

 here it would be noted alfo principally, that thefame ointments were not alwaics in like credits 

 and eftimation : but one robbed another of their honour and worth : infbmueh, as inany times 

 -upon fundrieoccafionsj that which was lately in requeft an dp rice, anonc gave place to a new 

 and later invention* At the firft in auncient timejthe heft ointments were thought to come frorii 

 Dclos3 but afterwardsjthofe that were brought out of-^gypt : no talkc then but of Mendefiiini, 

 compounded at Mendcs, a cittie there. And this varietie and alteration was not occafioned al^ 

 waicsbythe diverfitie ofcompofition and mixture, but otherwhiles by ieafonof good or bad 

 drugs :forycfliould have the fame kind of liquors and oiles better in this counttey for one pur- 

 pofejand in that for another; yeajand that which in fome place was right and true, the fame did 

 degenerate and grow to a baftard nature^if you chaunged once the region. For-a long time, the 

 oile or ointment of Iris or the Floure de-luce root made at Corinth, was in much rcqudl, and 

 highly praifcd : but afterwards diat of Gizicum woon the name & credite/or the arrificiall com* 

 poiition thereof. Semblably, the oile of Rofes that came from PhafeiuSj was greatly called for : 

 but in procelTe of time^Naples, Capiia^and Prxnefte^ftole that honour and gloriefrom thence 

 in that bchalfe.Thc ointment of SaffironjConfeded^t Soli in Cilicia, imported for a good while 

 and caiiedthe praife alone: but foone after, that of Rhodes was every mans money* The Oile 

 drawne out of the flowers ot the wild vinein Cyprusjbare thename oncejbut afterwards that of 



Q -^gypt waspreferred before it : and in the end the Adramyttians gained the eredite and com- 

 mendation from both places,for the perfed & abfolute confedion thereof.The ointment made 

 of Marjoram,gave eredite for a certaine time to the Kle Coos : but not long atter^their name was ' * 

 greater for another made of Quinces. As for the oileCyprinum^which came of Cypros^the beft 

 was thought to be made in Cyprus: bur afterwards there was a better fiippofed to be in ^Egypt^ 

 where the ointments Metopiuin and Mendcfium all of afuddaine were better accepted than all 

 the refi. It was not long firftj but tharPhoenice put jEgypt by that eredite for thofe two fingular 

 compoiitions^ and left the yEgyptiins the name alone for the forefaid Oile Cyprinum. The A- 

 thenians were renowned for their auncient Panathenaicumjand ever held their owne.There was 

 in old time a notable compofition named Pardalium5made iaTharfus : but now the mixture and 



D making thereof is quite ioft.The ointment likewife NarciiTimumjwhere the flower of the Daffa- 

 dillwastheBafisjis nowforgottenjandnoraoremadeofii. The manner of compounding all 

 thefeointments,was two-fold, to wit^ either of the juice and liquor, or els of thevcry fubflance 

 and bodie of the fimples. The former fort refcmbk the nature rather of Oiles : but the latter of 

 Ointments. And thefe the Greckes call either Scymmataawhich yeeld the confiflence and thick- 

 nefle to ointments; or Hedyfmatajwhich ferve to aromatize and give a compleat perfection un- 

 to them. There is a third thing between thefe/cquifite alfo to the full makingofdiefe fweet oint-^ 

 iiients,namely5the colour: although many take no regard at all of it. And for this purpofe^the 

 pertuniers put into their compofitions Cinnabaris [/.Vermillion or Sanguis Draconis] and 

 Orcaner. The fait moreover that is ifrewed among, ferveth to reprefle and corred the nature of 



E the oile that uniteth all the ingredients befides.But thofe that have the root of Orcanet in theni^ 

 need no fait at all to be put in befides. As for Rofm and Gum,they are mingled with the reft to in- 

 corporate the drugs and fpiccs,and to keepe in the fweet odour thereof, which otherwife would 

 evaporate and foone be loft. We are to prefuine by all likclyhoodjthat the firft compofition of 

 ointments, and fboneft made, was of the odoriferous mofte Bryon, and tlie oile of Ben onely 

 whereof we have written in the former booke. Then came in place a more compound ointment 

 calledMendefiunijand that received Rofinalfoto the forefaidoileofBen.And more than that, 

 another befides named Metopium . Now is this Metopium an oile compounded, which the 

 Egyptians doe prefle out firft of bitter Almonds^ but they added thereto for to incorporate the 

 bettcr^grape Verjuice : and the ingredients befides^ were Cardamanum, Squinanth, fweet Ca- 



F lamus, Honnie, Wine, Myrrhe^ the graines or feeds of BaulmejGalbanumjRofinjand Terpin- 

 tine. One of the meaneftand bafeft ointments now adaies, and therefore thought to be as aun- 

 cient as any oiherjisthat which confifteth of theoile of JVlyrtles/weet Calamus, Cypreflejand 

 Cypros[Squin3nth] Lentiske, and the rind of the Pomgranate.Butlwould thinke verily, that 

 Ointments came to be fa divulged and common every where abroad j by mcanes of Rofes mof^ 



