Notes

Le Moyne

Ce pourtrait cy que voyez, vous delivre
Du moyne au vif, ayant en main son livre,
Si d’aventure il n’ayme la vertu,
Pour recompense ie est ainsi vestu.

Aux ribaulx Moynes

C’est le Jaune-d’eau, autrement appelé Lis d’étang. Il est tres spécialement ordonné aux Moines, contre les tentations de la chair. Voiez Bouchet, Sérée. 24.

Water lily to Leacherous Monks

“Water lilly to Leacherous Monks.] It is in a most espetial Manner prescrib’d to the Monks, against the Temptations of the Flesh. See Bouchet.”

nenufar et nymphea heraclia

C’est le jaune-d’eau, autrement appellé lis d’étang. Il est très spécialement ordonné aux moines contre les tentations de la chair. Voyez Bouchet, sérée XXIV. (L.) — On l’apelle volet en Sologne; et on y est encore persuadé que l’eau de volet est in spécifique contre la concupiscence, et qu’on en faisoit boire au moines.

Notes

flos Jovis

Etiamnum folio coronant Iovis flos, amaracum, hemerocalles, habrotonum, helenium, sisymbrium, serpullum, omnia surculosa rosae modo. colore tantum placet Iovis flos, odor abest, sicut et illi qui Graece phlox vocatur. et ramis autem et folio odorata sunt excepto serpullo. Helenium e lacrimis Helenae dicitur natum, et ideo in Helene insula laudatissimum. est autem frutex humi se spargens dodrantalibus ramulis, serpullo simili folio.

Chaplets are also made from the leaves of the flower of Jupiter, sweet marjoram, day-lily, southernwood, helenium, water-mint, wild thyme, all with woody stalks like those of the rose. The flower of Jupiter is pleasing only for its colour, as it has no scent; it is the same with the flower called in Greek phlox. Both the stalks however and the leaves of the plants just mentioned are fragrant, except those of wild thyme. Helenium is said to have sprung up from the tears of Helen, and therefore is very popular in the island of Helene. It is a shrub spreading over the ground with its nine-inch sprigs, the leaf being like wild thyme.

oculus bouis

aizoi duo genera: maius in fictilibus vasculis seritur, quod aliqui buphthalmon appellant, alii zoophthalmon, alii stergethron, quod amatoriis conveniat, alii hypogeson, quoniam in subgrundiis fere nascitur, sunt qui ambrosiam potius vocant et qui amerimnon, Italia sedum magnum aut oculum aut digitillum. alterum minusculum, quod erithales vocant, alii trithales, quia ter floreat, alii erysithales, aliqui isoetes, Italia sedum, atque aizoum utrumque, quoniam vireat semper, aliqui sempervivum. maius et cubiti altitudinem excedit, crassitudine plus quam pollicari. folia in cacumine linguae similia, carnosa, pinguia, larga suco, latitudine pollicari, alia in terram convexa, alia stantia, ita ut ambitu effigiem imitentur oculi. quod minus est in muris parietinisque et tegulis nascitur, fruticosum a radice et foliosum usque ad cacumen, foliis angustis, mucronatis, sucosis, palmum alto caule. radix inutilis.

Of the aizoüm there are two kinds, the larger of which is planted in earthen pots, and is sometimes called buphthalmos [Ox-eye], zoophthalmos [Animal-eye], stergethronc (because it is useful for love-philtres) [Affection (although it means natural affection rather than sexual love)], hypogeson (for it generally grows under eaves) [Beneath the eaves (ὑπόγεισον)], although some prefer to call it ambrosia [Immortal food] or amerimnon [Care-free]; Italians call it great sedum, or eye, or little finger. The other kind is rather small, and is called erithales [Luxuriant blossom], trithales (because it flowers three times) [Thrice-blossoming], erysithales [Reddish blossom], isoetes [Possibly “equal all the year”], sedum by Italians, and both are called aizoüm, because they are always green, or sempervivum [Ever-flourishing]. The greater aizoüm grows to even more than a cubit in height and is thicker than a thumb. At the point the leaves are like a tongue, fleshy, rich with copious juice, as broad as a thumb, some bent to the ground and others upright, so that the circle of them is like an eye in shape. The smaller aizoüm grows on walls, ruins, and roof-tiles; it is bushy from the root and leafy to the top, with narrow, pointed and juicy leaves, and a stem a span high. The root is not used.

oculus bouis

Pisser… Une herbe qu’on appelle Pisse-en-lict. Buphthalmos, Oculus bouis, vulgo Dens leonis, aliquibus Ambubeia, Hieracium minus, Corula non fœtida.

Jupiter’s eye

Jupiter’s Eye. It is the Name which the Latins gave to the sempervivum majus. See Salmasius, who proves it by two Greek Authorities, ch. xix of his Homonymies, byles iatrica. Folia pinguis, says Gesner speaking of this Plant, carnosa, longitudine pollicari, in cacumine lingua familia, alia in terram convexa, alia in capite stantia invincem, ita ut ambitu effigiem imitentur oculi. Doubtless it was on Account of this Affinity the Latins called Jupiter’s Eye the sempervivum majus that just before for such another Affinity Rabelais with the Greeks uses the Word Jupiter’s Beard. [Ozell’s translation of a note by Le Duchat.]

L’œil de Jupiter

C’est le nom que les Latins donnoient au Sempervivum majus.Voyez Saumaise, qui le prouve par deux autoritez grecques, chapitre XIX de ses Homonymes hyles ïatricœ. Folia pinguia, dit Gesner parlant de cette plante, carnosa, longitudine pollicari, in cacumine linguœ similia, alia in terram convexa, alia in capute stantia invicem, ita ut ambitu effigiem imitentur oculi. C’est sans doute à cause de ce rapport que les Latins appellèrent œil de Jupiter le Sempervivum majus, qu’immédiatement auparavant, à cause d’un autre rapport, Rabelais venoit de nommer avec les Grecs barbe de Jupiter. (L.)

Jupiter’s Eye

Translated by Smith as “House-leek.”

l’œil de Juppiter

Appellation qu’on ne trouve pas chez les Anciens. Pline cite seulement flos Iovis, (XXI, 33), qui serait le φλὀξ, des Grecs, et notre Agrostemma coronaria, L., ou Coque-lourde des jardins ou, pour d’autres, l’A. flos Jovis, D.C. Le Διὀζ ὀφρύζ ou Sourcil de Jupiter était le nom magique de notre Anthémis (Cota) tinctoria L. var discoidea, Willd. Pour J.-B. Porta et Saumaise, cité par Le Duchat, l’œil de Jupiter est le joubarbe, notre Sempervivum tectorum, L.; et Brémond, sans autre prevue, y veut voir l’aunée. (Paul Delaunay)

par plus haulte resemblance

Tous ces noms sont attestés, sauf «œil de Jupiter» (oculus Iouis), qui est peut-etre une mauvaise lecture pour oculus bouis (Pline, XXV, 8), que Nicot identifie au pissenlit.

Sempervivum tectorum

Sempervivum tectorum (common houseleek)[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to the mountains of southern Europe, cultivated in the whole of Europe for its appearance and a Roman tradition claiming that it protects buildings against lightning strikes. Sempervivum tectorum was described in 1753 by Linnaeus, who noted that its leaves are ciliate, that is, fringed with hairs.
This plant has been known to humans for thousands of years, and has attracted many common names and traditions. In addition to common houseleek, names include variations of the following: … Jove’s beard, Jupiter’s eye …
The plant has been traditionally thought to protect against thunderstorms, and grown on house roofs for that reason,[13] which is why it is called House Leek.[6] Many of its popular names in different languages reflect an association with the Roman thunder-god Jupiter, notably the Latin barba Jovis (Jupiter’s beard), referred to in the Floridus traditionally attributed to Aemilius Macer,[14] and its French derivative joubarbe, which has in turn given rise to jubard and jo-barb in English…
It has been believed to protect more generally against decay and against witchcraft…

Notes

Absinthion

Absinthion

Absinthium vulgare

Absinthium vulgare
Artemisia absinthium L.
Ancient Greek: apsinthion
English: wormwood

absinthe

Absynthium, Wormwood. “The derivation of which Word according to the Authors of the Cambridge Dictionary is [from the Greek for undrinkable]; Wormwood does indeed make none of the pleasantest Drinkables, but in a Fit of the Cholic, there’s nothing so relieving as a Glass of Wormwood wine.” Ozell continues with a story about friends owho made wormwood-wine from a recipe titled “Alsem Wine,” a word they did not understand, but knew it was not Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, or French. Ozell informed them that the word was Low Dutch for wormwood. “Upon which they said I had hit right, and, for my Explanation, gave me half a Dozen Bottles. See what it is to have learnt Dutch!”

absinthe, au contraire de pinthe

Il paroît que Rabelais dérive ce mot de Πενεϊν bibere.

absinthe

« Il paroît, dit de Marsy, que Rabelais dérive ce mot de πινζἱν [?], bibere. » Mais le mot grec ἀψίνθιον, d’où vient le Latin absynthium, absinthe, doit avoir une étymologie bien différente, car il nous paroît composé d’ἃψ ou ἃψιζ, et ἃνθοζ, fleur.

Absynth

[greek], Scapula, Lexicon Gr.-Lat. (1580). “Apsinthia taetra” (Lucr. i. 936).

absynthe

« Ἀπίνθιον dictum, id est quod nemo bibere potest. » (Ch. Estienne). « Apinthion, c’est-à-dire non beuvable, pour ce qu’on n’en peut boyre aucunement à raison de l’amertume excessive qui est en elle. » (Fuchs.) De α et πίνθιον, impotable, dit aussi le Dictionnaire de Trévoux (1752). Lémery, par contre, donne comme étymologie α priv. et ψίνθοζ, delectatio, plante amère et désagréable. « Absinthii genera plura sunt », dit Pline, XXVII, 28 : Santonicum [Artemisia santonica, L. ?]; ponticum [Artemisia pontica, L. ?]; italicum [Artemisia absinthium, L.]. (Paul Delaunay)

absinthe, artemisia

Absinthii genera plura sunt: Santonicum appellatur e Galliae civitate, Ponticum e Ponto, ubi pecora pinguescunt illo et ob id sine felle reperiuntur, neque aliud praestantius,multoque Italicum amarius, sed medulla Pontici dulcis. de usu eius convenit, herbae facillimae atque inter paucas utilissimae, praeterea sacris populi Romani celebratae peculiariter, siquidem Latinarum feriis quadrigae certant in Capitolio victorque absinthium bibit, credo, sanitatem praemio dari honorifice arbitratis maioribus. stomachum corroborat, et ob hoc sapor eius in vina transfertur, ut diximus. bibitur et decoctum aqua ac postea nocte et die refrigeratum sub divo, †decoctis sex drachmis foliorum cum ramis suis in caelestis aquae sextarii tribus, oportet et salem addi. vetustissimum usu est†. bibitur et madefacti dilutum, ita enim appelletur hoc genus. diluti ratio ut, quisquis fuerit modus aquae, tegatur per triduum. tritum raro in usu est, sicut et sucus expressi. exprimitur autem, cum primum semen turgescit, madefactum aqua triduo recens aut siccum septem diebus, dein coctum in aeneo vaso ad tertias decem heminis in aquae sextariis xlv iterumque percolatum, herba electa, coquitur ad crassitudinem mellis, qualiter ex minore centaurio quaeritur sucus. sed hic [absinthii] inutilis stomacho capitique est, cum sit ille decoctus saluberrimus. namque adstringit stomachum bilemque detrahit, urinam ciet, alvum emollit et in dolore sanat, ventris animalia pellit, malaciam stomachi et inflationes discutit cum sile et nardo Gallico, aceti exiguo addito. fastidia absterget, concoctiones adiuvat, cruditates detrahit cum ruta et pipere et sale. antiqui purgationis causa dabant cum marinae aquae veteris sextario seminis sex drachmas cum tribus salis, mellis cyatho. efficacius purgat duplicato sale. diligenter autem teri debet propter difficultatem. quidam et in polenta dedere supra dictum pondus, addito puleio, alii pueris foliain fico sicca, ut amaritudinem fallerent. thoracem purgat cum iride sumptum. in regio morbo crudum bibitur cum apio aut adianto. adversus inflationes calidum paulatim sorbetur ex aceto aut pulte aut fico sumitur. adversatur fungis ex aceto, item visco, cicutae ex vino et muris aranei morsibus, draconi marino, scorpionibus. oculorum claritati multum confert. epiphoris cum passo inponitur, suggillatis cum melle. aures decocti eius vapor suffitu sanat aut, si manent sanie, cum melle tritum. urinam ac menses cient tres quattuorve ramuli cum Gallici nardi radice una, cyathis aquae sex, menses privatim cum melle sumptum et in vellere adpositum. anginae subvenit cum melle et nitro. epinyctidas ex aqua sanat, volnera recentia prius quam aqua tangantur inpositum, praeterea capitis ulcera. peculiariter ilibus inponitur cum Cypria cera aut cum fico. sanat et pruritus. non est dandum in febri. nausias maris arcet in navigationibus potum, inguinum tumorem in ventrali habitum. somnos adlicit olfactum aut inscio sub capite positum. vestibus insertum tineas arcet. culices ex oleo perunctis abigit et fumo, si uratur. atramentum librarium ex diluto eius temperatum litteras a musculis tuetur. capillum denigrat absinthii cinis unguento rosaceoque permixtus.

There are several kinds of wormwood. The Santonic comes from the state of the Santoni in Gaul, the Pontic from Pontus, where cattle fatten on it, and so are found to be without gall; there is no finer wormwood than this, the Italian being far more bitter, but the pith of Pontic wormwood is sweet. About its use there is general agreement, for it is a plant very easily found, and one of the most useful, being moreover especially honoured at the religious rites of the Roman people, seeing that at the Latin festival there is a race for four-horse chariots on the Capitoline Hill, the winner of which takes a draught of wormwood, our ancestors thinking, I believe, that health was a very grand prize to give. It strengthens the stomach and for this reason it is used, as I have said, to give a flavour to wines. A decoction in water, which is afterwards cooled in the open for a day and a night, is also taken; six drachmae of the leaves with their branches are boiled down in three sextarii of rain water; salt too should be added. When very old it can still be used. There is also administered an infusion of wormwood in water; for this preparation should be styled “infusion,” and an essential of the infusion is that, whatever quantity of water is used, for three days the preparation should be wholly enclosed. Pounded wormwood is rarely employed; rarely too the extracted juice. It is extracted, however, as soon as the seed begins to swell, the plant being soaked in water for three days when fresh and for seven when dried; it is then boiled down to one third in a bronze vessel, ten heminae to forty-five sextarii of water; and after being strained to remove the solid pieces it is boiled down again to the thickness of honey, just like juice obtained from the lesser centaury. But this juice is injurious to the stomach and head, while the decoction I mentioned is very wholesome. For it is astringent to the stomach, and with sil, Gallic nard and a little vinegar, brings away bile, promotes urine, soothes the bowels, curing them when in pain, drives out worms from the belly, and removes nausea and flatulence. With rue, pepper and salt, it takes away the distaste for food, and aids digestion, bringing away undigested food. As a purge, the old custom was to give six drachmae of the seed, three of salt, and a cyathus of honey, in a sextarius of sea water kept for a time, the purge being more efficacious if the amount of salt is doubled. The pounding however must be carefully done, as it is a difficult task. Some have also given the aforesaid weight in pearl barley with the addition of pennyroyal; some the leaves in a dried fig to children, so that the bitter taste is not noticed. Taken with iris it purges the thorax. For jaundice it is taken raw in drink with celery or adiantum. For flatulence it is slowly sipped hot in water; for the liver it is taken with Gallic nard; for the spleen, with vinegar, pottage or fig. In vinegar it is an antidote to poisonous fungi, as also to mistletoe; in wine, to hemlock, the poison of the shrew mouse, sea weever and scorpions. It is a great aid to clear vision. With raisin wine it is applied to eye fluxes, and with honey to bruises. Ear trouble is cured by fumigation with the steam of the decoction, or when bloody pus exudes, by pounded wormwood with honey. Three or four twigs, with one root of Gallic nard and six cyathi of water, are diuretic and an emmenagogue; it is specific for faulty menstruation if taken with honey or applied as a pessary in wool. With honey and soda it is helpful for quinsy. In water it cures night rashes. Recent wounds it heals if applied before they have been touched with water; it cures, moreover, sores on the head. With Cyprian wax or with fig it makes an exceptionally good application for affections of the flanks. It also cures pruritus, but must not be given to feverish patients. Taken in drink on sea voyages it prevents nausea; worn under a belly-band, swellings of the groin. It induces sleep if inhaled through the nose or placed secretly under the sufferer’s head. Put into clothes it keeps away moth. Rubbing the body all over with it in oil drives away gnats, as does the smoke of it when burnt. Writing ink mixed with the infusion protects the writing from mice. Ashes of wormwood mixed with ointment and rose-oil stain the hair black.

absinthe

Thus the Greek [pinthion] means grateful to the taste; [apinthion] means unpalatable: hence absinthe.

Pynthe

Pynthe. as Pinte (Rab.)
Pinte. A pinte; the French, or Pasrsien pinte, somewhat lessw than a sixt part short of our Quart.

pinte

Pinte, f. penac. Est une espece de mesure de vin vendu à pot, dont les deux cens quatre vingts et huit font le muyd au fust et jaulge de Paris, et contient deux chopines, et n’est seulement mesure de liquides, comme vin, eauë, et huyle: ains aussi d’aucunes arides, ainsi on dit une pinte de febves. Aucuns estiment que ce mot vienne de cestuy Grec, pinô, qui signifie boire. L’opinion desquels est favorisée de ce qu’on appelle un homme Pinton, qui est grand beuveur. Les autres le tirent de cet autre Grec pitunê, qui signifie un vase de terre à mettre vin, enduict de poix par syncope de y, et transposition de la lettre n, mais ne les uns ne les autres n’ont gueres grande raison, estant pitunê de la façon de ce grand vase de tere que l’Italien par mot corrompu appelle Vettina, auquel à Rome on met l’eauë du Tibre.

Notes

Arthemisia

Arthemisia (text)

Partial text.

Artemisia

Artemisia

Leto Giving Birth to Apollo and Diana

Leto Giving Birth to Apollo and Diana on the Island of Delos
1560s
Engraving, 407 x 560 mm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

This engraving was executed after a preparatory drawing for a painting of the same subject by Giulio Romano. The theme is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphosis: Leto, a lover of Jupiter, is at rest after giving birth to the twins Apollo and Diana on the island of Delos where she sought refuge to escape from Juno’s jealousy.

Armoise

Artemesia (Mug-Wort, or Mother-wort) from Queen Artemisia, or from Diana, who was likewise called Artemis.

Armoise

Mugwort, from Artemisia or Artemis. Pliny xxv. 7 § 36.

artemisia

Mulieres quoque hanc gloriam adfectavere, in quibus Artemisia uxor Mausoli adoptata herba quae antea parthenis vocabatur. sunt qui ab Artemide Ilithyia cognominatam putent, quoniam privatim medeatur feminarum malis. est autem absinthii modo fruticosa, maioribus foliis pinguibusque. ipsius duo genera: altera altior latioribus foliis, altera tenera tenuioribus, et non nisi in maritimis nascens. sunt qui in mediterraneis eodem nomine appellent, simplici caule, minimis foliis, floris copiosi erumpentis cum uva maturescit, odore non iniucundo. quam quidam botryn, alii ambrosiam vocant, talis in Cappadocia nascitur.

Women too have been ambitious to gain this distinction, among them Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, who gave her name to a plant which before was called parthenis. There are some who think that the surname is derived from Artemis Ilithyia, because the plant is specific for the troubles of women. It is also bushy, resembling wormwood, but with larger and fleshy leaves. Of the plant itself there are two kinds: one higher and with broader leaves, the other soft and with more slender leaves, growing only near the sea-side. There are some who in inland districts call by the same name a plant with a single stem, very small leaves, abundant blossom bursting out when the grapes are ripening, and with a not unpleasant smell. The sort that some call botrys, and others ambrosia, grows in Cappadocia.

armoise, de Artemis

Rabelais la place sous l’invocation d’Artémis, ou Diane Ilithya. D’autres, comme A. Paré, veulent qu’il s’agisse d’Artémise, reine de Carie: « Artemisia, uxor Mausoli, adoptata herba quæ antea parthenis vocabatur », dit Pline, XXV, 36. — Dioscorides ne décrit pas moins de quatre artemisia, que Fée rapporte à nos A. campestris, L., A. camphorata, Vill., A. pontica, L., A. chamæmelifolia, Vill. Ce sont des plantes amères, stomachiques, aromatiques, emménagogues, d’un usage thérapeutique fort ancien. (Paul Delaunay)

Ambroise Paré

Ambroise Paré, né vers 1510 au Bourg-Hersent, près de Laval, et mort 1590 à Paris, est un chirurgien et anatomiste français.
In 1552, Paré was accepted into royal service of the Valois Dynasty under Henry II; he was however unable to cure the king’s fatal blow to the head, which he received during a tournament in 1559. Paré stayed in the service of the Kings of France to the end of his life in 1590, serving Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III.

artemesia

Thus artemesia, wormwood or mugwort, named for Artemys Diana, or possibly, for Artemys, Queen of Caria, wife to Mausolus.

Armoise, de Artemis, qui est Diane

Pour certains, comme Ambroise Paré, il s’agirait d’Artémise, reine de Caire (voir Tiers livre, éd Lefranc, n. 15, p. 347.

Artemis

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name, and indeed the goddess herself, was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: “Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals”. In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.

Those who at a profit more evident want to value it

Spin it and weave it.

avalluer

Mettre en valeur.

Notes

Ropemakers

Rope makers from the 1873 edition of Gargantua and Pantagruel illustrated by Gustav Doré.

The ropewalk

To spin the hemp into strong, durable rope, workers at the ropewalk maintain a clockwise twist in three separate strands at left, while at right workers bind all three strands together by twisting them in the opposite direction. This use of opposite twists counteracted the rope’s natural tendency to unwind. Because the rope shortened slightly with every twist, the big binding crank and the center quide were mounted on heavy sleds to enable them to move slowly with the inevitable contraction. Between the sleds, workers use staves to add leverage to the twist, in order to ensure that the bind is both tight and uniform.

The ropewalk

At the ropewalk, workers girdled by fibrous bundles of hemp attach the fiver to revolving hooks on man-powered spinning machines, at center, and then walk slowly backward, paying out the hemp as it twists into rough yarn. To make the long yarn need for lengthy marine cables, ropemakers sometimes retreated hundreds of yards, slipping the yarn through overhead and waist-high guides like those at left, to keep it off the ground. When all the fiber had been paid out, the yarn was reeled back in on spools, at right, and then carried off to be saturated in weatherproofing tar before being spun into finished rope.

a recullons

Dont pour ceste année les chancres yront de cousté, et les cordiers à recullon…

acquieser

To yeeld, or agree unto; come to an agreement, be at quiet strive, or stir, no more.

Acquiescent

S’en tiennent là, en ce qu’ils emploient le chanvre tout crud.

gain their living by going backwards

Ropemakers, to whom the Hemp comes raw, and who in working it, go backwards.

à recullons

Les Cordiers. Ils acquiescent; c’est-à-dire, ils s’en tiennent à cette préparation grossier, employant le chanvre tout crud.

acquiescent

S’en tiennent-là, en ce qu’ils emploient le chanvre tout crud. (L.) — S’en tiennent à cette préparation grossière, employant le chanvre tout crû.
Il veut parler des cordiers qui gagnent leur vie en travaillant à reculons.

a recullons

Ce sont les cordiers.

going backwards

Fr. à reullons. The reference is to rope-makers, who walk backwards in twisting their ropes. Cf. Pant. Prog. c. 2.

à recullons

Les cordiers. Ils marchent à recullons en tirent d’un sac les fibres de chanvre dont se file la corde.

they earn their living by backing up

These are the ropemakers, who retreat as they draw, from a bag, the hemp threads they twist into ropes.

guaingnent leur vie à recullons

Rabelais met le lecteur ordinaire sur la voie de déchiffrer l’enigme. On peut estimer que les «gens doctes et sçavants» avient déjà soulevé le léger voile du mot pantagruélion, mais les autres point encore. Gagner sa vie à reculons, en revanche, était une locution qui, au su de tout le monde voulait dire être cordier (Cotgrave: «To live by going backwards; viz., by making of ropes»). Or tous les auteurs depuis Pline, XIX, 56 — utilissima funibus cannavis — font ressortir l’importance du chanvre dans la manufacture des cordes. Cf. aux deux extremes, Dioscorides, De medica materia, Francfort, 1549, 283: «Cannabis sativa planta magni in vita usus ad robustos funes factitandos. […] Hujis cortex torquendis funibus accomodatus», etc.; C. Estienne, Praedium rusticum, Paris, 1554, 436: «Utilissima funibus: quoque densior, eo est tenerior».

à reculons

Gagner sa vie à reculons était une locution proverbiale pour désigner les tisserands.

a recullons

Les cordiers, qui reculent en tirant du sac les fibres de chanvre avec lesquelles on file la corde.

à recullons

C’est-à-dire les cordiers, comme l’etablit la Pantagruéline Prognostication, II: «Pour cette année les chancres yront de cousté, et les cordiers à recullon.» «Gagner sa vie à reculons» était une locution répandue pour les désigner.

chanvre

CHANVRE
A.− Plante dicotylédone de la famille des Cannabinées, cultivée dans les régions tempérées pour ses fibres textiles.
SYNT. Chanvre d’eau, chanvre sauvage; essence, extrait, huile, vapeur de chanvre; broyer, cueillir, tiller ou teiller le chanvre.
Matière textile fournie par le chanvre et préparée par rouissage et teillage :

Dans mon allée habite un cordier patriarche,
Vieux qui fait bruyamment tourner sa roue, et marche
À reculons, son chanvre autour des reins tordu.
 —Hugo, Les Contemplations, t. 2, 1856, p. 25.

Cravate de chanvre. Cf. cravate.
B.− En partic. Chanvre indien. Chanvre cultivé dans les régions chaudes et dont les fleurs sont utilisées pour préparer le hachisch. 

le chanvre avec lequel on fait la pâte de hachich était cette même herbe qui, au dire d’Hippocrate, communiquait aux animaux une sorte de rage et les portait à se précipiter dans la mer. —Nerval, Voyage en Orient, t. 2, 1851, p. 186.

Étymol. et Hist.

1. Chanvreur<, subst. masc. Ouvrier qui travaille le chanvre. 

Ce qui achevait de me troubler la cervelle, c’étaient les contes de la veillée lorsque les chanvreurs venaient broyer
—G. Sand, Histoire de ma vie,t. 3, 1855, p. 45

2. Chanvrier, ière, adj.,subst. Celui, celle qui prépare le chanvre. Emploi adj. Relatif à l’industrie du chanvre. − fém.  1resattest. 1680 (Rich.); 1826 (Mozin-Biber t. 1)

3. Chanvrière, subst. fém.Terre où l’on cultive le chanvre. Se dit parfois pour chènevière. − Les dict. indiquent que chènevière est plus usité.− 1^reattest. 1429 (Trésor des Chartes du Comté de Rethel, III, 93, 28 ds Morlet 1969).

Notes

Alcmene

285. namque laboriferi cum iam natalis adesset
Herculis et decimum premeretur sidere signum,
tendebat gravitas uterum mihi, quodque ferebam,
tantum erat, ut posses auctorem dicere tecti
ponderis esse Iovem. nec iam tolerare labores
ulterius poteram. quin nunc quoque frigidus artus,
dum loquor, horror habet, parsque est meminisse
doloris.
septem ego per noctes, totidem cruciata diebus,
fessa malis, tendensque ad caelum bracchia, magno
Lucinam Nixosque pares clamore vocabam.
illa quidem venit, sed praecorrupta, meumque
quae donare caput Iunoni vellet iniquae.
utque meos audit gemitus, subsedit in illa
ante fores ara, dextroque a poplite laevum
pressa genu et digitis inter se pectine iunctis
300sustinuit partus. tacita quoque carmina voce
dixit, et inceptos tenuerunt carmina partus.
nitor, et ingrato facio convicia demens
vana Iovi, cupioque mori, moturaque duros
verba queror silices. matres Cadmeïdes adsunt,
305votaque suscipiunt, exhortanturque dolentem.
una ministrarum, media de plebe, Galanthis,
flava comas, aderat, faciendis strenua iussis,
officiis dilecta suis. ea sensit iniqua
nescio quid Iunone geri, dumque exit et intrat
310saepe fores, divam residentem vidit in ara
bracchiaque in genibus digitis conexa tenentem,
et ‘quaecumque es,’ ait ‘dominae gratare. levata est
Argolis Alcmene, potiturque puerpera voto.’
exsiluit, iunctasque manus pavefacta remisit
315diva potens uteri: vinclis levor ipsa remissis

For when the natal hour of toil-bearing Hercules was near and the tenth sign was being traversed by the sun, my burden was so heavy and what I bore so great that you could know Jove was the father of the unborn child; nor could I longer bear my pangs. Nay, even now as I tell it, cold horror holds my limbs and my pains return even as I think of it. For seven nights and days I was in torture; then, spent with anguish, I stretched my arms to heaven and with a mighty wail I called upon Lucina and her fellow guardian deities of birth. Lucina came, indeed, but pledged in advance to give my life to cruel Juno. There she sat upon the altar before the door, listening to my groans, with her right knee crossed over her left, and with her fingers interlocked; and so she stayed the birth. Charms also, in low muttered words, she chanted, and the charms prevented my deliverance. I fiercely strove and, mad with pain, I shrieked out vain revilings against ungrateful Jove. I longed to die, and my words would have moved the unfeeling rocks. The Theban matrons stood around me, appealed to heaven, and strove to stay my grief. There was one of my attendants born of the common folk, Galanthis, with hair of reddish hue, active always in obedience to my commands, well loved by me for her faithful services. She felt assured that unjust Juno was working some spell against me; and as she was passing in and out the house, she saw the goddess seated on the altar holding her clinched hands upon her knees, and said to her: ‘Whoever you are, congratulate our mistress: Argive Alcmena is relieved; her prayers are answered and her child is born.’ Up leaped the goddess of birth, unclinched her hands and spread them wide in consternation; my bonds were loosed and I was delivered of my child.

Alcmene

Hominum monstrificas naturas et veneficos aspectus diximus in portentis gentium et multas animalium proprietates, quae repeti supervacuum est. quorundam hominum tota corpora prosunt, ut ex his familiis quae sunt terrori serpentibus tactu ipso levant percussos suctuve madido, quorum e genere sunt Psylli Marsique et qui Ophiogenes vocantur in insula Cypro, ex qua familia legatus Evagon nomine a consulibus Romae in dolium serpentium coniectus experimenti causa circummulcentibus linguis miraculum praebuit. signum eius familiae est, si modo adhuc durat, vernis temporibus odoris virus. atque eorum sudor quoque medebatur, non modo saliva. nam in insula Nili Tentyri nascentes tanto sunt crocodilis terrori ut vocem quoque eorum fugiant. horum omnium generum insita repugn a interventum quoque mederi constat, sicuti adgravari vulnera introitu eorum qui umquam fuerint serpentium canisve dente laesi. iidem gallinarum incubitus, pecorum fetus abortu vitiant. tantum remanet virus ex accepto semel malo ut venefici fiant venena passi. remedio est ablui prius manus eorum aquaque illa eos quibus medearis inspergi. rursus a scorpione aliquando percussi numquam postea a crabronibus, vespis apibusve feriuntur. minus miretur hoc qui sciat vestem a tineis non attingi quae fuerit in funere, serpentes aegre praeterquam laeva manu extrahi. e Pythagorae inventis non temere fallere, inpositivorum nominum inparem vocalium numerum clauditates oculive orbitatem ac similes casus dextris adsignare partibus, parem laevis. ferunt difficiles partus statim solvi, cum quis tectum in quo sit gravida transmiserit lapide vel missili ex his qui tria animalia singulis ictibus interfecerint, hominem, aprum, ursum. probabilius id facit hasta velitaris evulsa corpori hominis, si terram non attigerit. eosdem enim inlata effectus habet. sic et sagittas corpori eductas, si terram non attigerint, subiectas cubantibus amatorium esse Orpheus et Archelaus scribunt, quin et comitiales morbos sanari cibo e carne ferae occisae eodem ferro quo homo interfectus sit. quorundam partes medicae sunt, sicuti diximus de Pyrrhi regis pollice, et Elide solebat ostendi Pelopis scapula,1 quam eburneam adfirmabant. naevos in facie tondere religiosum habent etiam nunc multi.

Persons possessed of powers of witchcraft and of the evil eye, along with many peculiar characteristics of animals, I have spoken ofc when dealing with marvels of the nations; it is superfluous to go over the ground again. Of certain men the whole bodies are beneficent, for example the members of those families that frighten serpents. These by a mere touch or by wet suction relieve bitten victims. In this class are the Psylli, the Marsi, and the Ophiogenes, as they are called, in the island of Cyprus. An envoy from this family, by name Evagon, was at Rome thrown by the consuls as a test into a cask of serpents, which to the general amazement licked him all over. A feature of this family, if it still survives, is the foul smell of its members in spring. Their sweat also, not only their saliva, had curative powers. But the natives of Tentyris, an island on the Nile, are such a terror to the crocodiles that these run away at the mere sound of their voice. All these peoples, so strong their natural antipathy, can, as is well known, effect a cure by their very arrival, just as wounds grow worse on the entry of those who have ever been bitten by the tooth of snake or dog. The latter also addle the eggs of a sitting hen, and make cattle miscarry; so much venom remains from the injury once received that the poisoned are turned into poisoners. The remedy is for their hands to be first washed in water, which is then used to sprinkle on the patients. On the other hand, those who have once been stung by a scorpion are never afterwards attacked by hornets, wasps or bees. He may be less surprised at this who knows that moths do not touch a garment that has been worn at a funeral, and that snakes are with difficulty pulled out of theirVarious kinds of magic power. holes except with the left hand. One of the discoveries of Pythagoras will not readily deceive you: that an uneven number of vowels in given names portends lameness, blindness, or similar disability, on the right side, an even number of vowels the same disabilities on the left. It is said that difficult labour ends in delivery at once, if over the house where is the lying-in woman there be thrown a stone or missile that has killed with one stroke each three living creatures—a human being, a boar, and a bear. A successful result is more likely if a light-cavalry spear is used, pulled out from a human body without the ground being touched. The result indeed is the same if the spear is carried indoors. So too, as Orpheus and Archelaus write, arrows drawn out of a body and not allowed to touch the ground act as a love-charm upon those under whom when in bed they have been placed. Moreover, add these authorities, epilepsy is cured by food taken from the flesh of a wild beast killed by the same iron weapon that has killed a human being. Some men have healing powers confined to parts of their body. We have mentioned the thumb of King Pyrrhus, and at Elis there used to be shown a shoulder bladed of Pelops, which was stated to be of ivory. Many men even today have scruples about cutting hair from moles on the face.

alcmene

Adsidere gravidis, vel cum remedium alicui adhibeatur, digitis pectinatim inter se inplexis veneficium est, idque conpertum tradunt Alcmena Herculem pariente, peius, si circa unum ambove genua, item poplites alternis genibus inponi. ideo haec in consiliis ducum potestatiumve fieri vetuere maiores velut omnem actum inpedientia, vetuere vero et sacris votisve simili modo interesse, capita autem aperiri aspectu magistratuum non venerationis causa iussere, sed, ut Varro auctor est, valetudinis,
quoniam firmiora consuetudine ea fierent. cum quid oculo inciderit, alterum conprimi prodest, cum aqua dextrae auriculae, sinistro pede exultari capite in dextrum umerum devexo, invicem e diversa aure. si tussim concitet saliva, in fronte ab alio adflari, si iaceat uva verticem morsu alterius suspendi, in cervicium dolore poplites fricare aut cervicem in poplitum, pedes in humo deponi, si nervi in his cruribusve tendantur in lectulo, aut si in laeva parte id accidat, sinistrae plantae pollicem dextra manu adprehendi, item e diverso, extremitates corporis velleribus perstringi contra horrores sanguinemve narium inmodicum, . . . lino vel papyro principia genitalium, femur medium ad cohibenda urinae profluvia, in stomachi solutione pedes pressare aut manus in ferventem aquam demitti. iam et sermoni parci multis de causis salutare est. triennio Maecenatem Melissum accepimus silentium sibi imperavisse a convolsione reddito sanguine. nam eversos scandentesque ac iacentes si quid ingruat contraque ictus spiritum cohibere singularis praesidii est, quod inventum esse animalis docuimus. clavum ferreum defigere in quo loco primum caput fixerit corruens morbo comitiali absolutorium eius mali dicitur. contra renum aut lumborum, vesicae cruciatus in balnearum soliis pronos urinam reddere mitigatorium habetur. vulnera nodo Herculis praeligare mirum quantum ocior medicina est, atque etiam cottidiani cinctus tali nodo vim quandam habere utilem dicuntur, quippe cum Herculaneum prodiderit numerum quoque quaternarium Demetrius condito volumine, et quare quaterni cyathi sextariive non essent potandi. contra lippitudines retro aures fricare prodest et lacrimosis oculis frontem. augurium ex homine ipso est non timendi mortem in aegritudine quamdiu oculorum pupillae imaginem reddant.

To sit in the presence of pregnant women, or when medicine is being given to patients, with the fingers interlaced comb-wise, is to be guilty of sorcery, a discovery made, it is said, when Alcmena was giving birth to Hercules. The sorcery is worse if the hands are clasped round one knee or both, and also to cross the knees first in one way and then in the other. For this reason our ancestors forbade such postures at councils of war or of officials, on the ground that they were an obstacle to the transaction of all business. They also forbade them, indeed, to those attending sacred rites and prayers; but to uncover the head at the sight of magistrates they ordered, not as a mark of respect, but (our authority is Varro) for the sake of health, for the habit of baring the head gives it greater strength. When something has fallen into the eye, it does good to press down the other; when water gets into the right ear, to jump with the left leg, leaning the head towards the right shoulder; if into the left ear, to jump in the contrary way; if saliva provokes a cough, for another person to blow on the forehead; if the uvula is relaxed, for another to hold up the top of the head with his teeth; if there is pain in the neck, to rub the back of the knees, and to rub the neck for pain in the back of the knees; to plant the feet on the ground for cramp in feet or legs when in bed; or if the cramp is on the left side to seize with the right hand the big toe of the left foot and vice versa; to rub the extremities with pieces of fleece to step shivers or violent nose-bleeding; . . . with linen or papyrus the tip of the genitals and the middle of the thigh to check incontinence of urine; for weakness of the stomach to press together the feet or dip the hands into very hot water. Moreover, to refrain from talking is healthful for many reasons. Maecenas Melissus, we are told, imposed a three-year silence on himself because of spitting of blood after convulsions. But if any danger threatens those thrown down, climbing, or prostrate, and as a guard against blows, to hold the breath is an excellent protection, a discovery which, I have stated, we owe to an animal. To drive an iron nail into the place first struck by the head of an epileptic in his fall is said to be deliverance from that malady. For severe pain in the kidneys, loins or bladder, it is supposed to be soothing if the patient voids his urine while lying on his face in the tub of the bath. To tie up wounds with the Hercules knot [A difficult knot with no ends to be seen] makes the healing wonderfully more rapid, and even to tie daily the girdle with this knot is said to have a certain usefulness, for Demetrius wrote a treatise in which he states that the number four is one of the prerogatives of Hercules, giving reasons why four cyathi or sextarii at a time should not be drunk. For ophthalmia it is good to rub behind the ears, and for watery eyes the forehead. From the patient himself it is a reliable omen that, as long as the pupils of his eyes reflect an image, a fatal end to an illness is not to be feared.

Les doitz de ses mains liez

Voiez Pline, l. 28 chap. 6.

Juno’s fingers

See Pliny, l. 28, c. 6.

mains liez

Voyez Pline, liv. XXVIII, chapl VI. (L.)

Alcmene

Voy. Pline, l. XXVIII, c. VI.

Alcmena

Sir T. Browne Pseudodox Ep., v. 22. 9. Cf. Ov. Met. ix 297-301; 311; Pliny xxviii 6 § 17.

Alcmene

Cf. Ovide, Metamorphoses, IX, 297-301, et Pline, XXVIII, 17 : « Adsidere gravidis, … digitis pectinatim inter se implexis, veneficium est ; idque compertum tradunt, Alcmene Herculem pariente. »

l’enfantement de Alcmene

Cf. Ovide, Metam, IX, 297 seq.; Pline, XXVIII, 6

Alcmene

Ovide, Métamorphoses, IX, v. 297-313.

instrumens catharactes

Des «instrumens catharactes» sont proprement des instruments qui s’abaissent pour rompre ou déchirer. Selon Ovide, Lucine tenta de contrecarrer l’accouchement d’Alcmène en croisant les doigts (Métamorphoses, IX, 297-301); Pline signale ce charme dans son Hist. naturelle, XXXVIII, 6, a l’aide d’un adverbe rare, pectinatim (en forme de peigne): rappelant le cas d’Alcmène, it dit que cet empêchement se fait «digitis inter se pectinatim implexis».

and others [plants of two sexes]

Ozell notes, “Among these unnamed ones, may be intended Mushrooms and Rose of the Mount.”

Notes

Cardus

Cardus (text)

Cardo

Cardo (text)

Artischocke

Cynara cardunculus L. [as Artischocke] [syn. Cynara communis Lam.]
Artichoke, cardoon, globe artichoke

cactus

Phaenias in Book V of On Plants (fr. 38 Wehrli) mentions a Sicilian cactus (kaktos), which is a spiny plant. Likewise Theophrastus in Book VI of On Plants (HP 6.4.10–11): The so-called kaktos is found only around Sicily, and not in Greece. It sends out stalks that spread out on the ground straight up from the root. It has a flat, spiny leaf; the term kaktos is properly applied to the stalks. They are edible when peeled, and are slightly bitter; and they preserve them in brine. Another type sends up an erect stalk, which they refer to as a pternix; this too is edible. After the downy parts have been removed, the flesh resembles palm heart. This too is edible, and their name for it is askalēron. Can anyone accept this evidence but lack the courage to say that this kaktos is what the Romans, who are not located far from Sicily, call kardos [Latin carduus/cardus (“thistle”), whence ultimately English “cardoon”] and what the Greeks patently refer to as kinara (“cardoon”)? Because if two letters were changed, kardos and kaktos would be the same word.

Cinarum

Cynara

According to Athenæus, the Egyptian king Ptolemy Energetes, of the second century before Christ, had found in Libya a great quantity of the wild kinara, by which his soldiers had profited. (Athenæus, Diepn., ii. 84)

Cynara, that is Artichokes

Athenaeus, 70 A-C. (Classical Museum cites Athen II. pp. 70, 71. Casaub.; Origin of Cultivated Plants

Cynara

Cynara, nom d’une fille qui fut, selon la fable rapportée dans le Banquet d’Athénée, métamorphosée en plante. On trouve dans Pline (VIII, 41) le mot Cinare. Mais les Kactos, Kinara et Scolimos des Grecs et le Carduus des Romains n’étaient que le Cardon, Cynara cardunculus, L. Les Anciens, selon Targioni, n’ont pas connu l’artichaut, Cynara scolymus, L., forme culturale probablement dérivée du précédent, qui fut apportée en 1466 de Naples à Florence, et importée en France au début du XVIe siecle. (Paul Delaunay)

cynare

Cf. De latinis nominibus, «Cinarum, artichault, a puella quae in eam plantam mutata est». [Artichoke, a plant from the girl who was changed into it.]

Cynara

Métamorphosée en cardon.

artichoke

artichoke. Forms: -chowe, artechock, -choke, archoke, artychough, harti-, artichock(e, chau(x, artichoake, -chou(x, -choach, hartichoak(e, -choke, hartechooke, artichoak, artichoke. [adaptation of north. Ital. articiocco, arciciocco, for arcicioffo (all in Florio), adaptation of or cognate with Old Spanish alcarchofa, adopted from Spanish Arabic al-kharshofa (P. de Alcala) = Arabic al-kharshu¯f. Like other words of foreign origin, much influenced in its forms by popular etymology. Association with native words, arci- arch-, chief, cioffo horse-collar, ciocco stump, must have caused the North Italian changes; in French the terminal –chau was variously assimilated to chou cabbage, chaud warm, hault, haut high, as artichau, -chou, -chaud, -chault, -chaut; the Italian and French forms were latinized in the 16th century as articoccus, -coctus, -cactus, all with plausible though delusory etymologies, cactus being actually the ancient Latin name of the Cardoon; in English, explanations of the name were found in its choking the garden or the heart (horti-, harty-chocks), or having a `chock’ or `choke’ in its heart. Hence also the change from -chock to -choak, -choke. As to alleged Arabic ardi-shauki¯, see Skeat.]

A composite plant (Cynara Scolymus), allied to the thistles, originally from Barbary and the south of Europe, widely cultivated in kitchen-gardens; its eatable parts are the fleshy bases of the involucral leaves or scales of the gigantic thistle-like flower, and its receptacle or `bottom,’ when freed from the bristles and seed-down or `choke.’ (According to De Candolle the Artichoke is only a cultivated variety of the Cardoon C. Cardunculus, and occurs nowhere truly wild. It was brought to Florence from Naples in 1466. For its introduction to England, see quot. 1599.)

Notes

agaric

Les agarics se reproduisent ay moyen de spores exogènes, développées à la surface de certaines cellules des lames de l’hyménium, nommées basides. Il n’y a point chez eux de reproduction sexuée. (Paul Delaunay)

Agaricus

Agaricus (text)

Partial text.

Fly Agaric

the good Agaric

“Galliarum gladiferae maxime arbores agricarum ferunt. Est autem fungus candidus, odoratus, antidotis efficax, in summis arborius nascens, nocte relucens” (Pliny xvi. 8, § 13).

Agaric

Galliarum glandiferae maxime arbores agaricum ferunt; est autem fungus candidus, odoratus, antidotis efficax, in summis arboribus nascens, nocte relucens: signum hoc eius quo in tenebris decerpitur.

In the Gallic provinces chiefly the acorn-bearing trees produce agaric [A species of non-edible Fomes], which is a white fungus with a strong odour, and which makes a powerful antidote; it grows on the tops of trees, and is phosphorescent at night; this is its distinguishing mark, by which it can be gathered in the dark.

Agaric

Agaric blanc, Polyporus officinalis Fries (Basidiomycétes, Polyporées). Ce champignon croît sur les troncs de sapin et de mélèze dans les Alpes et le Dauphiné. Le parasitisme de l’Agaric sur le mélèze est également noté par Séb. Munster et par Belon (De arb. conif., f° 26). bien que ce dernier le dise rare. Lémery réserve à l’Agaric du mélèze le nom d’Agaric femelle. C’est le seul que l’on ait employé et que l’on emploie encore en matière médicale. (Paul Delaunay)

Melze

Meleses estants si frequentes au territoire d’Embrum & autout de Morienne, ne donneront despense à recouurer. Elles ont leurs semences plus petites que Cyprés, tant en la pommette que au noyau, toutesfois chasque chartée sur le lieu, qui l’entreprendoit, ne cousteroit pas un sou. C’est sur celuy dont la Manne est cueillie, & la grosse Terebenthine & l’Agaric aussi, & dont l’arbre est autant frequent es montaignes des Grisons, nommez en Latin Theti, qu’il fut onc, & es mesmes endroicts dont Tibere Empereur en feit apporter à Rome pour refaire le pont Naumachiarius, qui auoit esté bruslé.

larege

«Larege, Un arbre retirant à un Pin ou Sapin, Larix laricis. Les Venitiens l’appellent Larege, les Montagnars le nomment Melze», écrit Nicot. Sur l’agaric, voir Pline, XXV, 9, et Ruellius, De natura stirpium III, 1 : ce champignon était utilisé en médecine. La résine de mélèze est décrit par Pline, XVI, 10, et vantée par Galien, De compositione medicamentorum per genera, I, 12. Le «miel du ciel», ou «manne», qui, à l’aube, degoutte notamment sur les feuilles de mélèze, est examiné par Langius, Epistolae medicinales, LXIV. L’incombustibilité du mélèze est assurée par Pline, XVI, suivi par un foule d’auteurs.

agaric

Agaricum ut fungus nascitur arboribus circa Bosporum colore candido. dantur oboli quattuor contriti cum binis cyathis aceti mulsi. id quod in Gallia1 nascitur infirmius habetur, praeterea mas spissior amariorque2—hic et capitis dolores facit—femina solutior, initio gustus dulcis mox in amaritudinem transit.

An agaric grows as a white fungus on trees around the Bosporus. A dose is four oboli crushed and two cyathi of oxymel. The kind that grows in Gaula is considered of inferior strength; further [Dioscorides has Galatia, the Greek for Gaul], the male is firmer and more bitter—this kind causes headaches—but the female is softer, and at first its taste is sweet, but afterwards turns bitter [Dioscorides says this of both “sexes”: γεύσει δὲ ἀμφότερα ὅμοια, κατ᾿ ἀρχὰς μὲν γλυκάζοντα, εἶτα ἐξ ἀναδόσεως ἔμπικρα (III. 1). The two authorities might be made to agree by putting a full stop at solutior, but then amarior conflicts with dulcis. This difficulty might be avoided by reading maiorque spissiorque with E, but these words seem a scribe’s correction of spissiora maiorque (V.), which however is surely a wrong division of spissior amariorque, the reading in the text].

agaric

Agaric blanc, champignon qui pousse sur les sapins et les mélèzes dans les Alpes; ce paragraphe a été inspiré d’un traité de Symphorien Champier (Gallicum pentapharmacum…, publié à Lyon en 1534) et de Pline (36, 19).

Agaric

Champignon qui croît sur les souches de sapin et de mélèze dans les Alpes et le Dauphiné.

agaric

agaric [adaptation of Latin agaricum the tree fungus used for tinder, touchwood, adaptation of Greek agarik-o´n (said by Dioscorides to be named from Agaria a place in Sarmatia). Hence modern Latin Agaricus given by Dillenius, and adopted by Linnæus, for a genus of Fungi.]

A name given to various corky species of Polyporus, a genus of fungi growing upon trees; of which P. officinalis, chiefly found on the Larch, the `Female Agarick’ of old writers, was renowned as a cathartic, and with P. fomentarius, and igniarius, `Male Agarick’ used as a styptic, as tinder, and in dyeing. Obsolete or archaic.

A mushroom; properly one of the Linnæan genus Agaricus.