CHAP. 103. (18.)—THE ERIPIHA.
Many authors have made mention of the eriphia,[1] a plant
which contains a kind of beetle in its hollow stem. This
beetle is continually ascending the interior of the stalk, and
as often descending, while it emits a sound like the cry of a
kid; a circumstance to which the plant is indebted for its name.
There is nothing in existence, they say, more beneficial to the
voice.
1. From e)ri/fos, a "kid." Ruellius has attempted to identify this plant
with one of the Ranunculaceæ; but there is little doubt, as Fée says, that
both plant and insect are imaginary.