MEMOIR OF PLINY. 
67 
funerall fire, two miles without the city, in a certain 
open field called Rediculi.” 
The eleventh book treats of Insects in general ; — 
bees, wasps, silkworms, spiders, scorpions, grass- 
hoppers, beetles, locusts, ants, moths, and gnats. It 
contains also an anatomical description of the human 
body, and of various parts of animals, which, though 
not remarkable for accuracy, is nevertheless inte- 
resting to the student. 
The next seventeen books are devoted to Botany, 
and give an account of trees, shrubs, and plants ; 
their cultivation and uses in domestic economy and 
the arts ; and the remedies that are obtained from 
them. The products of India and Arabia — incense, 
spices, gums, oils, perfumes, &c. ; timber- trees, fruit- 
trees, the sugar-cane, the vine, and the different kinds 
of wine used by the ancients ; agriculture, horticul- 
ture, the rearing of flowers, pot-herbs and vegeta- 
bles of all sorts ; together with tlieir natural proper- 
ties and medicinal virtues, — ai'e described at great 
length. These curious subjects form the most ex- 
tensive portion of Pliny’s writings ; but they are dis- 
cussed in so irregular and unscientific a manner, that 
it is impossible, in most cases, to determine the spe- 
cies of which he speaks ; and as to the cures alleged 
to be accomplished by means of herbs, they are bet- 
ter suited to the rude pharmacy of the Romans, 
than to the advanced state of medicine in our day. 
The twenty-eighth book treats of Dietetics; reme- 
dies derived from various animals ; and the nature 
