148 
PLINY's natural HISTOET. 
[Book XII. 
our own as well as foreign writers had attributed to it : for, in 
fact, it bears a much stronger resemblance to the vine than to 
the myrtle. This recent acquisition by conquest has learned, 
like the vine, to be reproduced by mallet '^-shoots, and it 
covers declivities just like the vine, which supports its own 
weight without the aid of stays. When it puts forth branches 
it is pruned in a similar manner, and it thrives by being well 
raked at the roots, growing with remarkable rapidity, and 
bearing fruit at the end of three years. The leaf bears a very 
considerable resemblance to that of rue, and it is an ever- 
green. The Jews vented their rage upon this shrub just as 
they were in the habit of doing against their own lives and 
persons, while, on the other hand, the Eomans protected it ; in- 
deed, combats have taken place before now in defence of a shrub. 
At the present day the reproduction of it has become a duty 
of the fiscal authorities, and the plants were never known to 
be more numerous or of larger growth ; they never exceed the 
height, however, of a couple of cubits. 
There are three different kinds of balsamum. The first has 
a thin and hair-like foliage, and is known by the name of 
eutheriston.'^^ The second is of a rugged appearance, bending 
downwards, full of branches, and more odoriferous than the 
first; the name of this is trachy. The third kind is the 
eumeces, so called, because it is taller than the others ; it has 
a smooth, even, bark. It is the second in quality, the euthe- 
riston being inferior to the trachy. The seed of this plant 
has a flavour strongly resembling that of wine ; it is of a 
reddish colour, and not without a certain amount of unctuous- 
ness ; the grains of inferior quality are lighter in weight and 
of a greener hue : the branches of the shrub are thicker than 
those of the myrtle. Incisions are made in it either with 
glass, or else a sharp stone, or knives made of bone : it being 
highly injurious to touch the vital parts with iron, for in such 
case it will immediately wither away and die. On the other 
hand, it will allow of all the superfluous branches being pruned j 
away with an instrument of iron even. The hand of the 
Malleolis." So called when the new shoot of the tree springing from 
a branch of the former year, is cut off for the sake of planting, with a bit 
of the old wood on each side of it, in the form of a mallet. 
"^^ "Easily cut.'* This and the other kinds, the names of which mean 
rough barked," and "good length," are probably only varieties of the 
same tree, in different states. i 
