Latin Texts & Translations

Of a peculiar nature, too, though to be reckoned among the water ^[Note]-plants, is the bramble, a shrub-like plant, and the elder, which is of a spongy nature, though not resembling giant fennel, from having upon it a greater quantity of wood. It is a belief among the shepherds that if they cut a horn or trumpet from the wood of this tree, it will give all the louder sound if cut in a spot where the shrub has been out of hearing of the crowing of the cock. The bramble bears mulberries, ^[Note] and

one variety of it, known as the cynosbatos, ^[Note] bears a flower similar to the rose. There is a third variety, known to the Greeks as the Idæan ^[Note] bramble, from the place where it grows: it is slighter than the others, with smaller thorns, and not so hooked. Its flower, mixed with honey, is employed as an ointment for sore eyes and erysipelas: and an infusion of it in water is used for diseases of the stomach. ^[Note]

The elder ^[Note] bears a small black berry, which contains a viscous juice, employed more particularly for staining ^[Note] the hair. The berries, too, are boiled in water and eaten. ^[Note]