Chap. 54.] 
THE AEISTOLOCHIA. 
117 
lochia, which would appear to have derived its name from 
females in a state of pregnancy, as being api^rr^ Xo^ov<ratg.^'' 
Among us, however, it is known as the malum terrse,'' or 
apple of the earth, four different varieties of it being dis- 
tinguished. One of these has a root covered with tubercles of 
a rounded shape, and leaves of a mixed appearance, between 
those of the mallow and the ivy, only softer and more swarthy. 
The second kind is the male plant, with an elongated root 
some four fingers in length, and the thickness of a walking- 
stick. A third variety is extremely thin and long, similar to 
a young vine in appearance : it has the most strongly-marked 
properties of them all, and is known by the additional names 
of clematitis," and '*cretica." All these plants are the 
colour of boxwood, have a slender stem, and bear a purple flower 
and small berries like those of the caper : the root is the only 
part that is possessed of any virtues. 
There is also a fourth kind, the name given to which is 
plistolochia it is more slender than the one last mentioned, 
has a root thickly covered with filaments, and is about as thick 
as a good-sized bulrush : another name given to it is potyr- 
rhizos." The smell of all these plants is medicinal, but that of 
the one with an oblong root and a very slender stem, is the most 
agreeable : this last, in. fact, which has a fleshy outer coat, is 
well adapted as an ingredient for nardine unguents even. They 
grow in rich champaign soils, and the best time for gathering 
them is harvest ; after the earth is scraped from off them, they 
are put by for keeping. 
The aristolochia that is the most esteemed, however, is that 
"Most excellent for pregnancy." See B. xxvi. c. 56. 
19 Identified by Fee with the Aristolochia rotunda of Linnaeus, Eoundod 
birthwort, a native of the south of France and the southern parts of 
Europe. Littre gives the Aristolochia pallida of Willdenow. 
20 Most probably the Aristolochia longa of Linnaeus, found in France, 
Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Littre gives as its synonym the Aristolochia 
parvifolia of Sibthorp. 
21 The Aristolochia clematis of Linnsus, almost identical with the 
Aristolochia Cretica and Baetica. 
22 The Aristolochia plistolochia of Linna3us, the Spanish branching 
stemmed birthwort. Fee thinks that these identifications, though probable 
enough, are not altogether satisfactory, and that the Greeks may have made 
these distinctions between varieties of the plant comparatively unknown to 
the rest of Europe. They are no longer held in any esteem for their 
medicinal properties. 
