PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK XII

I. Such are the generic and specific characteristics of all the animals about which it has been possible to obtain information. It remains to describe the things produced by the earth or dug up from it—these also not being devoid of vital spirit, since nothing lives without it—and not to pass over in silence any of the works of nature.

Trees: introductory remarks.

The riches of earth’s bounty were for a long time hidden, and the trees and forests were supposed to be the supreme gift bestowed by her on man. These first provided him with food, their foliage carpeted his cave, and their bark served him for raiment; there are still races which practice this mode of life. This inspires us with ever-greater wonder that, starting from these beginnings, man has come to quarry the mountains for marble, to go as far as China for raiment, to explore the depths of the Red Sea for the pearl, and the bowels of the earth for the emerald. For this purpose has been devised the fashion of making wounds in the ears, because, forsooth, it was not enough for jewels to be worn on the hands and neck and hair without making them even pierce through the body. Consequently, it will be well to follow the biological order and to speak...