AMURCA

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Super omnia vero celebravit amurcam laudibus Cato. dolia olearia cadosque illa imbui, ne bibant oleum; amurca subigi areas terendis messibus, ut formicae rimaeque absint; quin et lutum parietum ac tectoria et pavimenta horreorum frumenti, vestiaria etiam contra teredines ac noxia animalium amurca aspergi, semina frugum perfundi. morbis quadripedum, arborum quoque, illa medendum, efficaci ad ulcera interiora humani quoque oris. lora etiam et coria omnia et calceamina axesque decocta ungui atque aeramenta contra aeruginem colorisque gratia elegantioris et totam supellectilem ligneam ac vasa fictilia, in quis ficum aridam libeat adservare, aut si folia bacasque in virgis myrti aliudve quod genus simile. postremo ligna macerata amurca nullo fumi taedio ardere. oleam si lambendo capra lingua contigerit depaveritque primo germinatu, sterilescere auctor est M. Varro. et hactenus de olea atque oleo.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

But it is upon the praises of amurca more particularly, that Cato has enlarged. He recommends that vats and casks for keeping oil should be first seasoned with it, to prevent them from soaking up the oil; and he tells us that threshing-floors should be well rubbed with it, to keep away ants, and to prevent any chinks or crannies from being left. The mortar, too, of walls, he says, ought to be seasoned with it, as well as the roofs and floors of granaries; and he recommends that wardrobes should be sprinkled with amurca as a preservative against wood-worms and other noxious insects. He says, too, that all grain of the cereals should be steeped in it, and speaks of it as efficacious for the cure of maladies in cattle as well as trees, and as useful even for ulcerations in the inside and upon the face of man. We learn from him, also, that thongs, all articles made of leather, sandals, and axle-trees used to be anointed with boiled amurca; which was employed also to preserve copper vessels against verdigrease, and to give them a better colour; as also for the seasoning of all utensils made of wood, as well as the earthen jars in which dried figs were kept, or of sprigs of myrtle with the leaves and berries on, or any other articles of a similar nature: in addition to which, he asserts that wood which has been steeped in amurca will burn without producing a stifling smoke.

According to M. Varro, an olive-tree which has been licked by the tongue of the she-goat, or upon which she has browsed when it was first budding, is sure to be barren. Thus much in reference to the olive and the oils.