286 
PLINY'S IS'ATTJEAL HISTOET. 
[Book XV. 
left with the amurca and the pulp,^^ or, in other words, the tLesh 
of the olive that forms the residue and becomes the dregs. 
!For this reason, he recommends that the oil should be poured 
off several times in the day, and then put into vessels or caul- 
drons '"^ of lead, for copper vessels will spoil it, he says. All 
these operations, however, should be carried on with presses 
heated and tightly closed, and exposed to the air as little as 
possible — for which reason he recommends that wood should 
never be cut there, the most convenient fuel for the fires being 
the stones of the berries. Erom the cauldron the oil should 
be poured into vats,^^ in order that the pulp and the amurca 
may be disengaged in a solidified form : to efi'ect which object 
the vessels should be changed as often as convenient, while at 
the same time the osier baskets should be carefully cleaned with 
a sponge, that the oil may run out in as clean and pure a state 
as possible. 
In later times, the plan has been adopted of invariably 
crushing the olives in boiling water, and at once putting them 
whole in the press — a method of effectually extracting the 
amurca — and then, after crushing them in the oil-press, sub- 
jecting them to pressure once more. It is recommended, that 
not more than one hundred modii should be pressed at one 
time : the name given to this quantity is factus,*'^^ while the 
oil that flows out at the first pressure is called the fios."^" 
Four men, working at two presses day and night, ought to 
be able to press out three factuses of olives. 
CHAP. 7. (7.) EOKTY-EIGHT VARIETIES OF AKTIFICIAL OILS. THE 
CICUS-TEEE OE CEOTON, OK SILI, OK SESAMUM. 
In those tiiiies artificial oils had not been introduced, and 
^•^ Fracibus." The opinion of Phny, that oHves deteriorate by being left 
in the store-room, is considered to be well founded ; the olives being apt 
to ferment, to the deterioration of the oil : at the same time, he is wrong 
in supposing that the amount of oil diminishes by keeping the berries. 
Cortinas." If we may judge from the name, these vessels were three- 
footed, like a tripod. 
There are no good grounds for this recommendation, which is based 
on the erroneous supposition that heat increases the oil in the berry. The 
free circulation of the air also ought not to be restricted, as nothing is 
gained by it. In general, the method of extracting the oil is the same 
with the moderns as with the ancients, though these last did not employ 
the aid of boiling water. ^ Lubra. 
S9 A " making," or " batch.'* Or flower." 
