The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)

Chapter 220: CHAP. 64.—SOFT CUNILA: THREE REMEDIES. LIBANOTIS: THREE REMEDIES.

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The text compiles practical and encyclopedic guidance on crop cultivation and plant uses, beginning with cereals and farm management — types of grain, sowing and harvesting schedules, ploughing, seed selection, storage, and maladies — plus weather and stellar prognostics for agricultural timing. It proceeds to flax and garden plants, detailing varieties, planting and processing methods, garden layout, and pest and disease remedies. The final section assembles medicinal preparations and numerous remedies derived from vegetables and herbs, listing applications and recipes for treating ailments using garden-grown plants.

CHAP. 64.—SOFT CUNILA: THREE REMEDIES. LIBANOTIS: THREE REMEDIES.

The variety, on the other hand, known as soft 1602 cunila, has a more velvety leaf, and branches covered with thorns; when rubbed it has just the smell of honey, and it adheres to the fingers when touched. There is another kind, again, known to us as “libanotis,”1603 a name which it owes to the resemblance of its smell to that of frankincense. Both of these plants, taken in wine or vinegar, are antidotes for the stings of serpents. Beaten up in water, also, and sprinkled about a place, they kill fleas.1604