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CHAP. 100.—THE PHYLLON: ONE PROPERTY.

The Greeks give the name of "phyllon"1 to a plant which grows among the rocks, in mountainous spots. The female plant is of a more grass-green colour than the other, with a thin stem, a diminutive root, and a round seed, like that of the poppy. This last kind ensures the conception of issue of the same sex; while the male plant, differing only in the seed, which resembles the olive at its first appearance, ensures the conception of male issue. They are both taken in wine.

1 See B. xxii. c. 18, and B. xxvi. c. 91. Fée thinks that it is two plants, the Cnicus Casabonzæ, and the Thelygonum cynocrambe of Linnæus, that are here spoken of. Littré gives the Mercurialis perennis of Linnæus, Dog's mercury, as its synonym.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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