PERFUMES. And Hicesius says, in the second book of his treatise on Matter,—"Of perfumes, some are rubbed on, and some are poured on. Now, the perfume made from roses is suitable for drinking parties, and so is that made from myrtles and from apples; and this last is good for the stomach, and useful for lethargic people. That made from vine-leaves is good for the stomach, and has also the effect of keeping the mind clear. Those extracted from sampsychum and ground thyme are also well suited to drinking parties; and so is that extract of crocus which is not mixed with any great quantity of myrrh. The [Greek: staktê], also, is well suited for drinking parties; and so is the spikenard: that made from fenugreek is sweet and tender; while that which comes from white violets is fragrant, and very good for the digestion."
Theophrastus, also, in his treatise on Scents, says, "that some perfumes are made of flowers; as, for instance, from roses, and white violets, and lilies, which last is called [Greek: sousinon]. There are also those which are extracted from mint and ground thyme, and gopper, and the crocus; of which the best is procured in Ægina and Cilicia. Some, again, are made of leaves, as those made from myrrh and the œnanthe; and the wild vine grows in Cyprus, on the mountains, and is very plentiful; but no perfume is made of that which is found in Greece, because that has no scent. Some perfumes, again, are extracted from roots; as is that made from the iris, and from spikenard, and from marjoram, and from zedoary."
40. Now, that the ancients were very much addicted to the use of perfumes, is plain from their knowing to which of our limbs each unguent was most suitable. Accordingly, Antiphanes, in his Thoricians, or The Digger, says—
A. He really bathes—
B. What then?
A. In a large gilded tub, and steeps his feet
And legs in rich Egyptian unguents;
His jaws and breasts he rubs with thick palm-oil,
And both his arms with extract sweet of mint;
His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram,
His knees and neck with essence of ground thyme.
And Cephisodorus, in his Trophonius, says—
A. And now that I may well anoint my body,
Buy me some unguents, I beseech you, Xanthias,
Of roses made and irises. Buy, too,
