126 
pliny's natubal history. 
[Book XII, 
the almond-tree. Such, he says, is the appearance of the tree 
as seen in Carmania and Egypt, where it was introduced and 
planted under the auspices of the Ptolemies when reigning | 
there. It is well known that it has a bark not unlike that of j 
the laurel, and, indeed, some persons have asserted that their 
leaves are similar. At all events, such was the case with the 
tree as it grew at Sardes : for the kings of Asia also took con- i 
siderable care to have it planted there. The ambassadors 
who in my time have come to Eome from Arabia, have made 
all these matters more uncertain, even, than they were before ; 
a thing at which we may justly be surprised, seeing that 
some sprigs even of the incense- tree have been brought among' 
us, from which we have some reason to conclude that the 
parent tree is round and tapering, and that it puts forth ita 
shoots from a trunk that is entirely free from knots. 
CHAP. 32. VAKIOUS KINDS OF FRANKINCENSE. 
In former times, when they had fewer opportunities of 
selling it, they used to gather the frankincense only once a 
year ; but at the present day, as there is a much greater de- 
mand for it, there is a second crop as well. The first, and 
what we may call the natural, vintage, takes place about the 
rising of the Dog-star, a period when the heat is most intense ; 
on which occasion they cut the tree where the bark appears 
to be the fullest of juice, and extremely thin, from being dis- I 
tended to the greatest extent. The incision thus made is gra- j 
dually extended, but nothing is removed ; the consequence of j 
which is, that an unctuous foam oozes forth, which gradually f 
coagulates and thickens. "When the nature of the locality re- 
quires it, this juice is received upon mats of palm-leaves, though j 
in some places the space around the tree is made hard by being j i 
well rammed down for the purpose. The frankincense that i 
is gathered after the former method, is in the purest state, jj 
though that which falls on the ground is the heaviest in ! 
weight : that which adheres to the tree is pared off with an 
iron instrument, which accounts for its being found mingled 
with pieces of bark. 
The forest is allotted in certain portions, and such is the 
mutual probity of the owners, that it is quite safe from all 
depredation ; indeed, there is no one left to watch the trees 
after the incisions are made, and yet no one is ever known to 
