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of it, so that it is rooted downward, but shoots upward, with stalks being put forth equal in number to the roots; and as the shoot is always being warmed, the moisture drawn through the roots, by the pull of the heat, is drawn up along with as much nourishment from the earth as is moderate, and to distribute this into stalk and husk and the sheaths of the grain, and the grain itself and the awns; and thus, as the growth occurs little by little, each of the growing things is brought to its own proper measure, whether it happens to be some kind of grain, or of legumes, or of vegetables or shrubs. One blade of grass and one herb is enough to occupy all your thought in the contemplation of the art that fashioned them; how the stalk of the grain is girded with joints, so that, like certain ligaments, they may easily bear the weight of the ears, when, being full of fruit, they bend down towards the earth. For this reason, the oat is entirely empty, since its head is not weighed down with anything; but nature has secured the wheat with these ligaments. And it placed the grain in a sheath so that it might not be easily plundered by the seed-gatherers; furthermore, by the projection of the awns, as with barbs, it wards off damage from small animals. 5.4 What shall I say? What shall I keep silent? Among the rich treasures of creation, the discovery of the most precious is difficult, but the loss of what has been passed over is most grievous. Let the earth bring forth the grass of the field. And immediately the poisons were brought forth along with the nourishments; with the grain, the hemlock; with the other foods, hellebore, and aconite, and mandrake, and the juice of the poppy. What then? Leaving aside giving thanks for the useful things, shall we accuse the Creator for the things destructive of our life? And shall we not consider this, that not all things have been created for the sake of our stomach? But for us, the appointed foods are at hand and well-known to all; and each of the things that have come to be fulfills some particular purpose in creation. For surely, just because a bull's blood is poisonous to you, should the animal for this reason either not have been brought forth, or having been brought forth, be bloodless, when our life has need of its strength for so many things? But for you, the reason dwelling within is sufficient for guarding against deadly things. For surely sheep and goats know to avoid the things that harm their life, discerning what is harmful by sense alone; but for you, who have reason, and the medical art providing what is useful, and the experience of those before you suggesting flight from harmful things, is it difficult, tell me, to shun poisons? And none of these things has come to be idly, nor uselessly. For it either provides food for one of the irrational animals; or has been found by the medical art for us ourselves for the relief of certain illnesses. For starlings feed on hemlock, escaping the harm from the poison due to the constitution of their body. For having narrow passages around the heart, they manage to digest what is swallowed, before the coldness from it can take hold of the vital parts. And hellebore is food for quails, who avoid the harm by a peculiarity of their constitution. And these very things are at times useful for us also. For by means of the mandrake, physicians induce sleep; and with opium they lull to sleep the severe pains of bodies. And some have already withered the raging of appetites with hemlock; and with hellebore they have dislodged many chronic diseases. So that what you thought you had as a charge against the Creator, this has turned into for you an additional reason for thanksgiving. 5.5 Let the earth bring forth the grass of the field. How much spontaneous nourishment does he mean in these things, both that in the roots, and that in the herb itself, and that already in the fruits? And how much which comes to us from care and agriculture? He did not immediately command seed and fruit to be given forth, but that the earth should sprout and be green, and then be perfected into seed, so that that first command might become an instruction for nature for the sequence to follow. How

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αὐτῆς ὥστε ῥιζοῦσθαι μὲν εἰς τὸ κάτω, ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω δὲ προκύπτειν ἰσαρίθμων ταῖς ῥίζαις τῶν καλάμων προβαλ λομένων· θαλπομένου δὲ ἀεὶ τοῦ βλαστήματος, συρομένην διὰ τῶν ῥιζῶν τὴν νοτίδα, τῇ ὁλκῇ τοῦ θερμοῦ συνεπά γεσθαι τοῦ τροφίμου τῆς γῆς ὅσον μέτριον, καὶ τοῦτο καταμερίζειν εἰς καλάμην καὶ φλοιὸν καὶ τὰς θήκας τοῦ σίτου, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν σῖτον καὶ τοὺς ἀνθέρικας· καὶ οὕτω κατὰ μικρὸν τῆς αὐξήσεως γινομένης, ἐπὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον ἕκαστον τῶν φυομένων ἀποκαθίστασθαι, εἴτε τι τῶν σιτηρῶν, εἴτε τῶν χεδροπῶν, εἴτε τῶν λαχανωδῶν ἢ φρυγανικῶν τυγχάνοι. Εἷς χόρτος καὶ μία βοτάνη ἐξαρκεῖ τὴν διάνοιάν σου πᾶσαν εἰς τὴν θεωρίαν τῆς ἐξεργασαμένης αὐτὰ τέχνης ἀπασχολῆσαι· πῶς γόνασι διαζώννυται ἡ καλάμη τοῦ σίτου, ἵνα ὥσπερ σύνδεσμοί τινες ῥᾳδίως τὸ βάρος τῶν ἀσταχύων φέρωσιν, ὅταν πλήρεις ὄντες καρπῶν πρὸς τὴν γῆν κατακλίνωνται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ μὲν βρόμος διόλου κενὸς, ἅτε μηδενὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν βαρυνόμενος· τὸν δὲ σῖτον τοῖς συνδέσμοις τούτοις ἡ φύσις κατησφαλίσατο. Ἐν θήκῃ δὲ τὸν κόκκον ἀποθεμένη ὡς μὴ εὐδιάρπαστον εἶναι τοῖς σπερμολόγοις· ἔτι καὶ τῇ προβολῇ τῶν ἀνθερίκων οἷον ἀκίσι τὰς ἐκ τῶν μικρῶν ζῴων ἀφίστησι βλάβας. 5.4 Τί εἴπω; τί σιωπήσω; Ἐν πλουσίοις τῆς κτίσεως θησαυροῖς ἄπορος μὲν ἡ εὕρεσις τοῦ τιμιωτέρου, δυσφορω τάτη δὲ ἡ ζημία τοῦ παρεθέντος. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. Καὶ εὐθέως συνεξεδόθη τοῖς τροφίμοις τὰ δηλητήρια· μετὰ τοῦ σίτου τὸ κώνειον· μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν τροφίμων ἑλ λέβορος, καὶ ἀκόνιτον, καὶ μανδραγόρας, καὶ ὁ τῆς μήκωνος ὀπός. Τί οὖν; ἀφέντες τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς χρησίμοις τὴν χάριν ὁμολογεῖν, ἐγκαλέσομεν τῷ δημιουργῷ ἐπὶ τοῖς φθαρτικοῖς ἡμῶν τῆς ζωῆς; ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐ λογισόμεθα, ὅτι οὐ πάντα τῆς γαστρὸς ἕνεκεν τῆς ἡμετέρας δεδημιούργηται; Ἀλλ' ἡμῖν μὲν αἱ ἀποτεταγμέναι τροφαὶ πρόχειροι καὶ πᾶσιν εὔγνωστοι· ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν γενομένων ἴδιόν τινα λόγον ἐν τῇ κτίσει πληροῖ. Μὴ γὰρ ἐπειδή σοι δηλητήριον τὸ ταύριον αἷμα, τούτου ἕνεκεν ἔδει ἢ μὴ παραχθῆναι τὸ ζῷον, ἢ παραχθὲν ἄναιμον εἶναι, οὗ τῆς ἰσχύος πρὸς τοσαῦτα ἡμῶν ἐπιδεῖται ὁ βίος; Ἀλλά σοι μὲν αὐτάρκης ὁ σύνοικος λόγος πρὸς τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν ὀλεθρίων. Οὐ δήπου γὰρ πρόβατα μὲν καὶ αἶγες ἴσασιν ἀποφεύγειν τὰ κακοῦντα αὐτῶν τὴν ζωὴν, μόνῃ τῇ αἰσθήσει τὸ βλαβερὸν διακρίνοντα· σοὶ δὲ ᾧ καὶ λόγος πάρεστι, καὶ ἰατρικὴ τέχνη τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκπορίζουσα, καὶ ἡ τῶν προλαβόντων πεῖρα τῶν βλαπτόντων τὴν φυγὴν ὑποβάλλουσα, χαλεπόν ἐστιν, εἰπέ μοι, ἐκκλῖναι τὰ δηλητή ρια; Ἔστι δὲ τούτων οὐδὲν ἀργῶς, οὐδὲν ἀχρήστως γεγενημένον. Ἢ γὰρ τροφὴν παρέχει τινὶ τῶν ἀλόγων· ἢ καὶ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς παρὰ τῆς ἰατρικῆς τέχνης εἰς παραμυθίαν τινῶν ἀρρωστημάτων ἐξεύρηται. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κώνειον οἱ ψᾶρες βόσκονται, διὰ τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ σώματος τὴν ἐκ τοῦ δηλητηρίου βλάβην ἀποδιδράσκοντες. Λεπτοὺς γὰρ ἔχοντες τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας πόρους, φθάνουσιν ἐκπέψαι τὸ καταποθὲν, πρὶν τὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ψύξιν τῶν καιρίων καθάψασθαι. Ἑλλέβορος δὲ ὀρτύγων ἐστὶ τροφὴ, ἰδιότητι κράσεως τὴν βλάβην ἀποφευγόντων. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα ἐν καιρῷ ποτε καὶ ἡμῖν χρήσιμα. ∆ιὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ μανδραγόρου ὕπνον ἰατροὶ κατεπάγουσιν· ὀπίῳ δὲ τὰς σφοδρὰς ὀδύνας τῶν σωμάτων κατακοιμίζουσιν. Ἤδη δέ τινες τῷ κωνείῳ καὶ τὸ λυσσῶδες τῶν ὀρέξεων κατεμάραναν· καὶ τῷ ἑλλεβόρῳ πολλὰ τῶν χρονίων παθῶν ἐξεμόχλευσαν. Ὥστε ὃ ἐνόμιζες ἔχειν κατὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος ἔγκλημα, τοῦτό σοι εἰς προσθήκην εὐχαριστίας περιελήλυθε. 5.5 Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. Πόσην αὐ τόματον λέγει τροφὴν ἐν τούτοις, τήν τε ἐν ῥίζαις, καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ βοτάνῃ, καὶ τὴν ἐν καρποῖς ἤδη; πόσην δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ γεωργίας ἡμῖν προσγινομένην; Οὐκ εὐθὺς ἐκέλευσε σπέρμα καὶ καρπὸν ἀναδοθῆναι, ἀλλὰ βλαστῆσαι καὶ χλοάσαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ τότε εἰς σπέρμα τελειωθῆναι, ἵνα τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο πρόσταγμα διδασκά λιον τῇ φύσει γένηται πρὸς τὴν ἑξῆς ἀκολουθίαν. Πῶς