CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE LATIN AUTHORS WHO HAVE WRITTEN UPON
THESE PLANTS.
This subject has not been treated of by the writers in our
own language so extensively as it deserves, eager as they have
proved themselves to make enquiry into everything that is
either meritorious or profitable. M. Cato, that great master
in all useful knowledge, was the first, and, for a long time, the
only author who treated of this branch [Note] of learning; and
briefly as he has touched upon it, he has not omitted to make
some mention of the remedial treatment of cattle. After him,
another illustrious personage, C. Valgius, [Note] a man distinguished
for his erudition, commenced a treatise upon the same subject,
which he dedicated to the late Emperor Augustus, but left
unfinished. At the beginning of his preface, replete as it is
with a spirit of piety, [Note] he expresses a hope that the majestic
sway of that prince may ever prove a most efficient remedy
for all the evils to which mankind are exposed.