CHAP. 1. (1.)—INTRODUCTION.
We have now set forth the various properties, medicinal or otherwise, as well of the cereals as of the other productions which lie upon2833 the surface of the earth, for the purpose either of serving us for food, or for the gratification of our senses with their flowers or perfumes. In the trees, however, Pomona has entered the lists with them, and has imparted certain medicinal properties to the fruits as they hang. Not content with protecting and nourishing, under the shadow of the trees, the various plants which we have2834 already described, she would even appear to be indignant, as it were, at the thought that we should derive more succour from those productions which are further removed from the canopy of heaven, and which have only come into use in times comparatively recent. For she bids man bear in mind that it was the fruits of the trees which formed his first nourishment, and that it was these which first led him to look upwards towards the heavens: and not only this, but she reminds him, too, that even still it is quite possible for him to derive his aliment from the trees, without being indebted to grain for his subsistence.