Chap. 3.] THE BOMANS' FIRST KNOWLEDaE OE WILD PLANTS. 79 
more zealous promoter of discoveries for the benefit of mankind, 
than any of his predecessors — a fact evinced not only by many 
positive proofs, but by universal report as well. It was he 
who first thought, the proper precautions being duly taken, of 
drinking poison every day ; it being his object, by becoming 
habituated to it, to neutralize its dangerous effects. This 
prince was the first discoverer too of the various kinds of anti- 
dotes, one ^ of which, indeed, still retains his name ; and it is 
generally supposed that he was the first to employ the blood 
of the ducks of Pontus as an ingredient in antidotes, from the 
circumstance that they derive their nutriment from poisons J 
It was to Mithridates that Asclepiades,^ that celebrated 
physician, dedicated his works, still extant, and sent them, as a 
substitute for his own personal attendance, when requested by 
that monarch to leave Eome and reside at his court. It is a 
well-known fact, that this prince was the only person that was 
ever able to converse in so many as two-and- twenty languages, 
and that, during the whole fifty- six years of his reign, he never 
required the services of an interpreter when conversing with 
any individuals of the numerous nations that were subject to 
his sway. 
Among the other gifts of extraordinary genius with which 
he was endowed, Mithridates displayed a peculiar fondness for 
enquiries into the medical art; and gathering items of informa- 
tion from all his subjects, extended, as they were, over a large 
proportion of the world, it was his habit to make copies 
of their communications, and to take notes of the results which 
upon experiment had been produced. These memoranda, which 
he kept in his private cabinet,^ fell into the hands of Pompeius, 
when he took possession of the royal treasures ; who at once 
commissioned his freedman, Lenseus the grammarian, to trans- 
late them into the Latin language : the result of which was, 
that his victory was equally conducive to the benefit of the 
republic and of mankind at large. 
6 See c. 79 of this Book : also B, xxirl. c. 77, and B. xxix. c. 8. 
A mere prejudice, arising from the fact that numerous poisonous plants 
grew in the countries on the shores of the Euxine. The blood of no 
animal whatever is an antidote to any poison, 
^ See B. vii. c. 37. An interesting account of his system will be found 
in B. xxvi. c. 7. See also B. xxh. c. o. 
^ See B. xxiii. c. 77. 
