eanse the organs and instruments of sense, and gently by their heat,
without any violence or force, dissolve the humors, and warm and cherish
the brain itself, which is naturally cold. And upon this account, they
call those little posies they hang about their necks [Greek omitted],
and anointed their breasts with the oils that were squeezed from them;
and of this Alcaeus is a witness, when he bids his friends,

Pour ointments o'er his laboring temples, pressed
With various cares, and o'er his aged breast.

For the warm odors shoot upward into the very brain, being drawn up by
the nostrils. For they did not call those garlands hung about the neck
[Greek omitted] because they thought the heart was the seat and citadel
of the mind [Greek omitted], for on that account they should rather have
called them [Greek omitted], but, as I said before, from their vapor
and exhalation. Besides, it is no strange thing that these smells of
garlands should be of so considerable a virtue; for some tell us that
the shadow of the yew, especially when it blossoms, kills those that
sleep under it; and a subtle spirit ariseth from pressed poppy, which
suddenly overcomes the unwary squeezers. And there is an herb called
alyssus, which to some that take it in their hands, to others that do
but look on it, is found a present remedy against the hiccough; and some
affirm that planted near the stalls it preserves sheep and goats from
the rot and mange. And the rose is called [Greek omitted], probably
because it sends forth a stream [Greek omitted] of odors; and for that
reason it withers presently. It is a cooler, yet fiery to look upon; and
no wonder, for upon the surface a subtile heat, being driven out by the
inward heat, looks vivid and appears.

QUESTION II. WHETHER IVY IS OF A HOT OR COLD NATURE.

AMMONIUS, TRYPHO, ERATO.

Upon this discourse, when we all hummed Trypho, Ammonius with a smile
said: It is not decent by any contradiction to pull in pieces, like a
chaplet, this various and florid discourse of Trypho's. Yet methinks the
ivy is a little oddly interwoven, and unjustly said by its cold powers
to temper the heat of strong wine; for it is rather fiery and hot, and
its berries steeped in wine make the liquor more apt to inebriate and
inflame. And from this cause, as in sticks warped by the fire, proceeds
the crookedness of the boughs. And snow, that for many days will lie on
other trees, presently melts from the branche