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

Chapter 505: CHAP. 55.—THE SWEET APPLES CALLED MELIMELA: SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. SOUR APPLES: FOUR OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

By the Elder Pliny

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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. 55.—THE SWEET APPLES CALLED MELIMELA: SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. SOUR APPLES: FOUR OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

The apples known as “melimela,”3068 and the other sweet apples, relax the stomach and bowels, but are productive of heat and thirst,3069 though they do not act injuriously upon the nervous system. The orbiculata 3070 arrest diarrhœa and vomiting, and act as a diuretic. Wild apples resemble the sour apples of spring, and act astringently upon the bowels: indeed, for this purpose they should always be used before they are ripe.