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TOPIC: Pliny's Natural History
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/41af74211bd2088c?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Jan 1 2008 6:31 pm
From: "Edward Frank"
ENTS,
Some excerpts from Pliny's Natural History, Pliny the Elder (23 - 79
CE) public domain texts courtesy of A.K. A. Mary Jones http://www.maryjones.us/index.html
Book 16: The Natural History of the Forest Trees.
Chapter 95: Historical Facts Connected with the Mistletoe.
Upon this occasion we must not omit to mention the admiration that
is lavished upon this plant by the Gauls. The Druids--for that is
the name they give to their magicians -- held nothing more sacred
than the mistletoe and the tree that bears it, supposing always that
tree to be the robur. Of itself the robur is selected by them to
form whole groves, and they perform none of their religious rites
without employing branches of it; so much so, that it is very
probable that the priests themselves may have received their name
from the Greek name for that tree. In fact, it is the notion with
them that everything that grows on it has been sent immediately from
heaven, and that the mistletoe upon it is a proof that the tree has
been selected by God himself as an object of his especial favour.
The mistletoe, however, is but rarely found upon the robur; and when
found, is gathered with rites replete with religious awe. This is
done more particularly on the fifth day of the moon, the day which
is the beginning of their months and years, as also of their ages,
which, with them, are but thirty years. This day they select because
the moon, though not yet in the middle of her course, has already
considerable power and influence; and they call her by a name which
signifies, in their language, the all-healing. Having made all due
preparation for the sacrifice and a banquet beneath the trees, they
bring thither two white bulls, the horns of which are bound then for
the first time. Clad in a white robe the priest ascends the tree,
and cuts the mistletoe with a golden sickle, which is received by
others in a white cloak. They then immolate the victims, offering up
their prayers that God will render this gift of his propitious to
those to whom he has so granted it. It is the belief with them that
the mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals
that are barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons. Such
are the religious feelings which we find entertained towards
trifling objects among nearly all nations.
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Book 22: The Properties of Plants and Fruits.
Chapter 1: The Properties of Plants. Nature and the earth might have
well filled the measure of our admiration, if we had nothing else to
do but to consider the properties enumerated in the preceding Book,
and the numerous varieties of plants that we find created for the
wants or the enjoyment of mankind. And yet, how much is there still
left for us to describe, and how many discoveries of a still more
astonishing nature! The greater part, in fact, of the plants there
mentioned recommend themselves to us by their taste, their
fragrance, or their beauty, and so invite us to make repeated trials
of their virtues: but, on the other hand. the properties of those
which remain to be described, furnish us with abundant proof that
nothing has been created by Nature without some purpose to fulfil,
unrevealed to us though it may be.
Chapter 2: Plants Used by Nations for the Adornment of the Person. I
remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign nations
which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ certain plants
for the embellishment of the person. That, among some barbarous
peoples, the females stain the face by means of various plants,
there can be little doubt, and among the Daci and the Sarmat? we
find the men even marking their bodies. There is a plant in Gaul,
similar to the plantago in appearance, and known there by the name
of "glastum:" with it both matrons and girls among the
people of Britain are in tile habit of staining the body all over,
when taking part in the performance of certain sacred rites;
rivalling hereby tile swarthy hue of the ?thiopianls, they go in a
state of nature.
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Book 24: The Remedies Derived from the Forest Trees.
Chapter 62: Selago: Two Remedies.
Similar to savin is the herb known as "selago." Care is
taken to gather it without the use of iron, the right hand being
passed for the purpose through the left sleeve of the tunic, as
though the gatherer were in the act of committing a theft. The
clothing too must be white, the Feet bare and washed clean, and a
sacrifice of bread and wine must be made before gathering it: it is
carried also in a new napkin. The Druids of Gaul have pretended that
this plant should be carried about the person as a preservative
against accidents of all kinds, and that the smoke of it is
extremely good for all maladies of the eyes.
Chapter 63: Samolus: Two Remedies.
The Druids, also, have given the name of "samolus" to a
certain plant which grows in humid localities. This too, they say,
must be gathered fasting with the left hand, as a preservative
against the maladies to which swine and cattle are subject. The
person, too, who gathers it must be careful not to look behind him,
nor must it be laid anywhere but in the troughs from which the
cattle drink.
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