316 
pliny's natueal histoet. 
[Book XV. 
were first known to us. It is generally agreed, too, that one 
peculiar variety has derived its name of caryon,"^^ from the 
headache which it is apt to produce by the pungency of 
its smeLl. 
The green shell of the walnut is used for dyeing^^ wool, and 
the nuts, while still small and just developing themselves, are 
employed for giving a red hue to the hair a discovery owing 
to the stains which they leave upon the hands. When old, 
the nut becomes more oleaginous. The only difference in the 
several varieties consists in the relative hardness or brittleness 
of the shell, it being thin or thick, full of compartments or 
smooth and uniform. This is the only fruit that l^^'ature has 
enclosed in a covering formed of pieces soldered together ; the 
shell, in fact, forming a couple of boats, while the kernel is 
divided into four separate compartments^ by the intervention 
of a ligneous membrane. 
In aU the other kinds, the fruit and the shell respectively 
are of one solid piece, as we find the case with the hazel-nut,^'* 
and another variety of the nut formerly known as *'Abel- 
lina," from the name^^ of the district in which it was first 
produced : it was first introduced into Asia and Greece from 
Pontus, whence the name that is sometimes given to it — the 
'^Pontic nut." This nut, too, is protected by a soft beard, ^'^ 
but both the shell and the kernel are round, and formed of a 
single piece: these nuts are sometimes roasted.^ In the 
middle of the kernel we find a germen or navel. 
A third class of nuts is the almond, which has an outer 
1^ Implying that it comes from the Greek /cap?;, the head." Some ety- 
mologists think that it is from the Celto-Scythian carw^ a boat ; such being 
the shape of the two parts of the inner shell. 
'^^ It is still a common notion, Fee says, that it is highly injurious to 
sleep beneath a walnut-tree. 
21 It is still used for this purpose. 
22 Eed hair was admired by the Romans. The Eoman females used 
this juice also for dyeing their hair when grey. 
23 They are not entirely separate. 
2* The Corylus avellana maxima of Willdenow. 
25 The filbert, the Corylus tubulosa of Willdenow. 
28 Abellinum, in Campania. See B. iii. c. 9. 
2"^ The down on the nut is more apparent when it is young ; but it is 
easily rubbed off. The outer coat is probably meant. 
28 Hazel nuts are sometimes roasted in some parts of Europe/ but not 
with us. 
2^ The Amygdalus communis of Linnaeus. 
