Natural History Volume 3, The by PLINY THE ELDER
by LibriVox
January 1, 1970 10:00 am
Naturalis Historia (Latin for “Natural History”) is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. The scheme of his great work is vast and comprehensive, being nothing short of an encyclopedia of learning and of art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature. The work divides neatly into the organic world of plants and animals, and the realm of inorganic matter, although there are frequent digressions in each section. He is especially interested in not just describing the occurrence of plants, animals and insects, but also their exploitation (or abuse) by man, especially Romans. The description of metals and minerals is particularly detailed, and valuable for the history of science as being the most extensive compilation still available from the ancient world. (Summary from Wikipedia)This third volume includes books eleven to fifteen, covering the following subjects:Book 11 – The various kinds of insectsBook 12 – The natural history of treesBook 13 – The natural history of exotic trees and an account of unguentsBook 14 – The natural history of the fruit treesBook 15 – The natural history of the fruit trees
Recent Episodes
01 - Book 11, Chapters 1-9 : The extreme smallness of insects; whether insects respire and whether they have blood; the bodies of insects; bees; the order displayed in the work of bees(..); persons who have made bees their study
55 years ago02 - Book 11, Chapter 10 - 17: The mode in which bees work; drones; the qualities of honey; (...); the reproduction of bees; the mode of government by the bees
55 years ago03 - Book 11, Chapters 18 - 29: Happy omens sometimes afforded by a swarm of bees; the various kinds of bees; the diseases of bees; (...) wasps and hornets; the silk-worm; (...); spiders; the generation of spiders
55 years ago04 - Book 11, Chapters 30 - 38: Scorpions; the grasshopper; the wings of insects; the beetle; the glow-worm; other kinds of beetles; locusts; ants; the chrysalis
55 years ago05 - Book 11, Chapters 39 - 57: Insects that are parasites of man; an animal which has no passage for the evacuations; moths, cantharides, gnats; (...); the various kinds of horns; animals in which they are moveable; the heads of animals; those which have none; the hair; the brain; the ears; the face; the eyes; the diversity of the color of the eyes; the theory of sight; the nature of the pupil; the hair of the eyelids; animals which have no eyelids
55 years ago06 - Book 11, Chapters 58 - 73: The cheeks; the nostrils; the mouth; the lips; the chin; the teeth (...); the tongue; the tonsils; the neck; the throat; the dorsal spine; the throat; the stomach; the heart; the blood; the vital spirit (...); the lungs; the liver
55 years ago07 - Book 11, Chapters 74 - 92 :The gall; the properties of the gall; the diaphragm; the nature of laughter; the belly; animals which have no belly; the small guts (...); the spleen; the kidneys; the greast; the ribs; the bladder; the womb; animals which do not grow fat; the marrow; bones and fishbones; the cartilage; the nerves; the arteries; the veins (...);whether the blood is the principle of life
55 years ago08 - Book 11, Chapters 93 - 108: The hide of animals; the hair and the covering of the skin; te paps; birds that have paps; the milk; cheese; various kinds of cheese; the fingers; the arms; the nails; the knees and the hams; varicose veins; the gait, the feet, the legs; hoofs; the feet of biords; the feet of animals
55 years ago09 - Book 11, Chapters 109 - 119:The sexual parts; hermaphrodites; the testes; the tails of animals; the different voices of animals; superfluous limbs; respiration and nutriment; reasons for indigestion; from what causes corpulence arises and how it may be reduced; what things, by merely tasting of them, allay hunger and thirst; authors quoted
55 years ago10 - Book 12, Chapters 1 - 13:The honourable place occupied by trees in the system of nature; the early history of trees; exotic trees; the plane-tree; (...) the trees of India; (...) Indian trees, the names of which are unknown; Indian trees which bear flax
55 years ago