Plinies Nacurall Hiftone. $6^ 



A daintie way is to breake and bruifeit firft.Moreovcrjby auncicnc rites and religious ceremonies^ 

 at the folemne facrifice called Fabaria,the manner was to offer unto certain gods and goddefles 

 Beane cakes.This was taken for a ftrong food^being eaten with a thicke grewcll or potta^rc 5 how- 

 beit^men thought that it dulled a mans fences and underftandingj yeUjand canled troubicfomc 

 dreames in the night . In regard of which mconveniences, Pythagoras expreflely forbad to eat 

 Beanes : but as fome have thought and taught jit was becaufc fblke imagined, that the fpulcs of 

 fuch as were dcpartedjhad refidence therein : which is the reafon alfo,that they be ordinarily ufed 

 and eaten at the funerals and obfequies of the dead.r^rr^; alfo affirmeth,That the great Prieft or 

 Sacrificer called the Flaminc, abftaincth ftom Beanes both in thofe rcfpeds aforefaid, as alfo 

 for that there arc to be feene in the flower thereof certainc letters or charaders that fhew hcavi- 



B nelTe and (ignes of death.Furthcrmorejtliere was obferved in old time a religious ceremonie id 

 Beanes : for when they had fowcd their grounds, their manner was, ofali other come to bring 

 backe w^h them out of the field fome Beanes/or good lucke fake, prefaging thereby, that their 

 come would returne home againc unto them^and thefe Beanes thereupon were called in Latine 

 Rcfrivae, or Referivx. Likewife in all port-fales it was thoughtjthat if Beanes were enterminglcd 

 with the goods offered to be fold^they would be luckie and gaincfull to the iciler. This is certain^ 

 that of all fruits ofthe earth, this onely will bee full and found when the Moone is croif ant, not- 

 withilandingicwcregnawneand halfe eaten with fome thing before. Set them over the fire iri 

 a pan with fea water or any other that is faltifli,they will never be throughly fodden. They are fcK 

 or fowne before the retrait of theStarreVer|ilia?5 [/.the Brood-hen] thefirftof all other Pulley « 



C becaufe they might take root betimes & prevent the Winter. And yet "^rtrgill would have them *rerefkhh0o, 

 to bee put into the ground in the Spring: like as the manner is in Piemont and jLumbardic^ all ^""^s-^'^-^- 

 about the river Po. 



But the greater part of good Husbandmen are of this opinion. That the flalkcorflrawof i^^^chlikctd 

 Beanes fowne earely or fet betimes,are beuter than the very fruit it fclfe^which hath had but three hcre',n Eng- 

 monechs being in the ground .For the cods and ftalkes onely of Beanes arc palling good fodder Und^AUnh 

 and forragc for cattell . Beanes when they are blouming, and in their fiowerjdcfire mofl: of all to ^/jfjj^^j^j^i^ 

 berefrelTicd with goodftoreof raine: but after they have done flouring, they caie for little. The o,^,, ^' 

 fowing of thisPulTc in any ground,is as good as a mucking unto it, for it cnricheth it mightily^ 

 And therefore towards Macedonie and about Thcffalie, the manner is when Beanes begin to 

 D blofTomejforto turne them into the ground with the plough .Beanes come up and growin moft 

 placesjof their own accord without fowing 5 and namely,in certain Iflands lying within thcNor- 

 therncOcean^which our countreymen thereupon have named F«barii;e. Semblably,they grow 

 wild commonly throughout all Mautitania^but exceeding hard and tough they bee, and fuch as 

 poflibly cannot be foddentendcr.Tiiereaie Iskewifein^gyptto be found Beanes^with a ftalke 

 befet full of prickes or thornesiwhich is the caiifc chat Crocodiles will not come neare them, for 

 feare of hurting their eyes. The flemme of thefe Beanes is fourecubices in height, but excee- 

 ding thicke and big wichall: tender it is notwithflandingjand foft, running up even and fmooth 



• withoutany knots or joints at all: itcariethaheadinihetoplikeChcsboulecrPoppiCjof arofe 

 red colopr: wherein are contained not above 30 Beanes at the mof^.Thc leaves be largcuhe fruit 



E it felfe(or the Bean) is bitter in iaf^,and the fmell not plcafant : howbeit the root is a moil daintie 



• meat, which the inhabitants doc cat as well raw as fodden 3 and like it is to reed and cane roots; 

 Thefe grow in Syria and Cilicia^as alfo abont the lakcTorone,withinChaicis, 



As touchingotherPulfe,LcntiIs be [owed in November, and fo are Peafe, but in Greece on* 

 ly.LentilsIovea light ground better than afat and heavie: they like alfo drie aitdfaire weather. 

 Two kinds thereof bee found in ^gypt: the one more round and blackc than the other \ the 

 reft beefafliioned as common Lentils. According to the manifold ufc and diverfe effcds of Lcn- 

 tilsjthere have fundrie names and denominations been borrowed from them : for I find in wri- 

 tcrs^that the eating of Lentils maketh men to bee mild and patient, whereupon they bee called 

 Len ti and Lenes. As foi Pcafe,it ought to be fo wed in warme places lying well upon the Sunne, 

 F for of all things it cannot abide the cold.VVhich is the caufe,that in Italic and in other countries 

 where the clime is rough and hardjthey are not fowne ufually but in the Spring3and folke chufc 

 a gentle,lightjand loole ground. 



To come now to the Cich pcafe, the nature of it is to be nitrous and fahifb, and therefore it 

 burneth the ground where i: groweih. Neither mufi it be fownejUnlcffe it were well ftccped and 



G c e iij foked 



