CHAP. 51.—CYPROS.
The cyprus [Note] is a tree of Egypt, with the leaves of the ziziphus, [Note] and seeds like coriander, [Note] white and odoriferous.
These seeds are boiled in olive oil, and then subjected to
pressure; the product is known to us as cypros. The price of
it is five denarii per pound. The best is that produced on the
banks of the Nile, near Canopus, that of second quality coming
from Ascalon in Judæa, and the third in estimation for the
sweetness of its odour, from the island of Cyprus. Some people
will have it that this is the same as the tree which in Italy we
call ligustrum. [Note]