CHAP. 31. (26.)—THE CORNEL. THE LENTISK.

The same degree of care is expended also on the cultivation of the cornel[1] and the lentisk;[2] that it may not be thought, forsooth, that there is anything that was not made for the craving appetite of man! Various flavours are blended to- gether, and one is compelled to please our palates by the aid of another—hence it is that the produce of different lands and various climates are so often mingled with one another. For one kind of food it is India that we summon to our aid, and then for another we lay Egypt under contribution, or else Crete, or Cyrene, every country, in fact: no, nor does man stick at poisons[3] even, if he can only gratify his longing to devour everything: a thing that will be still more evident when we come to treat of the nature of herbs.

1. The Cornus mas of Linnæus. The fruit of the cornel has a tart flavour, but is not eaten in modern Europe, except by school-boys.

2. That produces mastich. See B. xii. c. 36.

3. He alludes more especially, perhaps, to the use of cicuta or hemlock by drunkards, who looked upon it as an antidote to the effects of wine. See B. xiv. c. 7.