The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 5 (of 6)

Chapter 636: CHAP. 15.—SALT AND BITTER WATERS.

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This volume catalogs remedies derived from forest trees and wild plants, presenting systematic entries for dozens of species with prescribed treatments and applications. It enumerates specific uses for resins, barks, leaves, berries, and sap, and gives instructions on preparation, dosage, and testing of potency. The text also records variations among species, regional observations on growth and harvesting, and anecdotes on how certain plants were discovered or associated with animals and human practices. Overall it functions as a practical herbal compendium combining botanical description with medicinal recipes and empirical notes.

CHAP. 15.—SALT AND BITTER WATERS.

Juba says, that in the country of the Troglodytæ there is a lake, called the “Lake of Insanity,”2978 from its highly noxious properties: thrice a day it becomes salt and bitter, and then again fresh, the same taking place as many times during the night. It is full, he says, of white serpents, twenty cubits long.2979 He mentions, also, a certain spring in Arabia, which rises from the ground with such remarkable force, as to throw back any object pressed down upon it, however weighty.