Chap. 47.] 
PHOENICOBALAOTS. 
143 
duced in the Thebais yields it in larger quantities. Among 
these various kinds, that which is sent from the country of the 
Troglodytse is the worst of all. There are some persons who 
prefer that of Ethiopia to all of these, the nut of which is 
black, and not oleaginous ; it has only a very small kernel, but 
the liquid which is extracted from it is more odoriferous than 
that of the other kinds ; it grows, too, in a champaign, open 
country. It is said that the Egyptian nut is even more olea- 
ginous, being of a reddish colouP with a thicker shell, and 
that the plant, although it grows in wet, marshy spots, is 
shorter and drier than the other kinds. The Arabian nut, 
again, is said to be of a green colour and of smaller size, but 
harder and more compact, from the circumstance that it grows 
in mountainous districts. The best of all, however, is that of 
Petra, which comes from a city mentioned on a previous 
occasion ; it has a black shell, but the kernel is white. The 
perfumers, however, only extract the juices from the shells ; 
but medical men pound the kernels, pouring warm water on 
them, little by little, as they do it. 
CHAP. 47. (22.) PHCENICOBALANUS. 
The fruit of the palm in Egypt, which is known by the 
name of adipsos,^-^ is put to a similar use in unguents, and is 
held next in esteem after the myrobalanum. It is of a green 
colour, has exactly the smell of a quince, and has no stone or 
nut within. It is gathered a little before it begins to ripen. 
That which is left ungathered is known as plioeiiicobalanus ; 
it turns black, and has a tendency to inebriate the person who 
eats of it. The price of myrobalanum is two denarii per pound. 
The shop-keepers give this name also to the dregs of the 
unguent that is made with it. . 
^ This iEthiopian variety is quite unknown, and is, as Fee remarks, 
most probably of a different species from the genuine myrobalanus, 
56* See B. vi. c. 32. 
5^ " Curing thirst.'* Dioscorides, B. i. c. 148, says that it was so called 
from being full of juice, which quenched thirst like water. 
5^ " Palm-nut." Fee thinks it not improbable that one of the date- 
alms is meant, if we may judge from the name. He suggests that possi- 
ly the Elais or avoira of Guinea, the Elais Guineensis, which is found as 
far as Upper Egypt, and which produces a fine oil known as palm-oil, is 
meant, or possibly the Douma Thebaica, a palm-tree frequently met with 
in Egypt. On fermentation, a vinous drink is extracted from the last, 
which is capable of producing intoxication. 
