§3διὰ τί παραβάλλουσι τοῖς θρέμμασιν ἅλας οἱ νομεῖς;
Why do shepherds give salt to their beasts?
πότερον, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ νομίζουσι, πλήθους τροφῆς ἕνεκα καὶ τοῦ παχύνειν;
Is it, as most people think, for the sake of abundance of food and for fattening?
τήν τε γὰρ ὄρεξιν ἡ δριμύτης ἐκκαλεῖται καὶ τοὺς πόρους ἀναστομοῦσα μᾶλλον ὁδοποιεῖ τῇ τροφῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάδοσιν·
For the sharpness of it excites the appetite, and by opening the pores, it makes a better passage for the food to be distributed.
διὸ καὶ τοὺς ἰσχνοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀτρόφους Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Ἡροφίλειος ἐκέλευε μὴ γλυκεῖ μηδὲ χονδρῷ τρέφειν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταριχευτοῖς καὶ ὑφαλμυρίζουσιν, ὧν ἡ λεπτότης, ὥσπερ ἐντρίχωμα γενομένη, τὰ σιτία τοῖς σώμασι διὰ τῶν πόρων προστίθησιν.
Therefore Apollonius, the follower of Herophilus, advised not to nourish lean and malnourished people with sweet or thick food, but with salted and brackish things, whose thinness, acting like a brush, attaches the food to the bodies through the pores.
ἢ μᾶλλον ὑγιείας ἕνεκα καὶ συγκοπῆς πλήθους τὸν ἅλα λείχειν ἐθίζουσι τὰ βοσκήματα;
Or is it rather for the sake of health and to reduce excess weight that they accustom the cattle to lick salt?
νοσεῖ γὰρ ἄγαν πιαινόμενα, τὴν δὲ πιμελὴν τήκουσιν οἱ ἅλες καὶ διαχέουσιν ὅθεν εὐμαρῶς καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀποδέρουσιν αὐτὰ σφάξαντες· ἡ γὰρ κολλῶσα καὶ συνδέουσα τὸ δέρμα πιμελὴ λεπτὴ καὶ ἀσθενὴς γέγονεν ὑπὸ τῆς δριμύτητος.
For they fall ill when they grow too fat, and salt melts and disperses the fat; hence when they slaughter them, they flay them easily and quickly, because the fat that glues and binds the skin has become thin and weak under the sharpness of the salt.
λεπτύνεται δὲ καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῶν τὸ ἅλας λειχόντων οὐδὲ πήγνυται τὰ ἐντός, ἁλῶν μιγέντων.
The blood of those who lick salt also becomes thin, and the internal parts do not coagulate, since the salt is mixed in.
σκόπει δέ, μὴ καὶ γονιμώτερα καὶ προθυμότερα πρὸς τὰς συνουσίας· καὶ γὰρ αἱ κύνες κύουσι ταχέως τάριχος ἐπεσθίουσαι, καὶ τὰ ἁληγὰ τῶν πλοίων πλείους τρέφει μῦς διὰ τὸ πολλάκις συμπλέκεσθαι.
Consider also whether they do not become more fertile and more eager for copulation; for female dogs conceive quickly when they eat salted meat in addition, and ships carrying salt breed more mice because of their frequent coupling.
§4διὰ τί τῶν ὀμβρίων ὑδάτων εὐαλδέστερα τοῖς σπέρμασι τὰ μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ ἀστραπῶν, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἀστραπαῖα καλοῦσι;
Why, among rain-waters, is that which is accompanied by thunder and lightning—which indeed they call "lightning-water"—more nourishing for seeds?
πότερον ὅτι πνευματώδη διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος ταραχὴν καὶ ἀνάμιξιν, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τὴν ὑγρότητα κινοῦν μᾶλλον ἀναπέμπει καὶ ἀναδίδωσιν ἢ βροντὰς μὲν καὶ ἀστραπὰς ποιεῖ τὸ θερμὸν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι πρὸς τὸ ψυχρὸν μαχόμενον, διὸ χειμῶνος ἣκιστα βροντᾷ μάλιστα δʼ ἔαρος καὶ φθινοπώρου διὰ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν τῆς κράσεως, ἡ δὲ θερμότης;
Is it because they are full of wind due to the agitation and mixture of the air, and the wind, by moving the moisture, sends it up and distributes it more?
πέπτουσα τὸ ὑγρὸν προσφιλὲς ποιεῖ τοῖς βλαστάνουσι καὶ ὠφέλιμον·
Or is it that the heat in the air fighting against the cold produces thunder and lightning, wherefore it thunders least in winter and most in spring and autumn due to the unevenness of the mixture, and this heat, by digesting the moisture, makes it congenial and beneficial to sprouting things?
ἢ μάλιστα μὲν ἔαρος βροντᾷ καὶ ἀστράπτει διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν, τὰ δʼ ἐαρινὰ τῶν ὑδάτων ἀναγκαιότερα τοῖς σπέρμασι πρὸ τοῦ θέρους, ὅθεν ἡ πλεῖστον ὑομένη τοῦ ἔαρος χώρα καθάπερ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καρποὺς ἀναδίδωσιν;
Or is it that it thunders and lightens most in spring for the reason mentioned, and spring waters are most necessary for seeds before summer, whence a region that receives most rain in spring, like Sicily, yields many and good fruits?
§5διὰ τί τῶν χυμῶν, ὀκτὼ τῷ γένει ὄντων, ἕνα μόνον, τὸν ἁλμυρόν, ἀπʼ οὐδενὸς καρποῦ γεννώμενον ὁρῶμεν;
Why, of the flavors which are eight in genus, do we see only one, the salty, generated from no fruit?
καίτοι καὶ τὸν πικρὸν ἡ ἐλαία φέρει πρῶτον καὶ τὸν ὀξὺν ὁ βότρυς,· εἶτα μεταβάλλων ὁ μὲν γίνεται λιπαρὸς ὁ δʼ οἰνώδης· μεταβάλλει δὲ καὶ ὁ στρυφνὸς ἐν ταῖς φοινικοβαλάνοις καὶ ὁ αὐστηρὸς ἐν ταῖς ῥόαις εἰς τὸν γλυκύν· ἔνιαι δὲ ῥόαι καὶ μῆλα τὸν ὀξὺν ἁπλῶς φέρουσιν, ὁ δὲ δριμὺς ἐν ταῖς ῥίζαις καὶ σπέρμασι πολύς ἐστι.
And yet the olive bears the bitter flavor first, and the grape-cluster the sour, then by changing, the former becomes oily and the latter winy; and the astringent flavor in dates and the harsh one in pomegranates change into the sweet; while some pomegranates and apples bear simply the sour flavor, and the sharp one is abundant in roots and seeds.
πότερον οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἁλμυροῦ γένεσις ἀλλὰ φθορὰ τῶν ἄλλων τὸ ἁλμυρόν, διὸ καὶ πᾶσιν ἄτροφον τοῖς. ἀπὸ φυτῶν καὶ σπερμάτων τρεφομένοις, ἥδυσμα δʼ ἐνίοις γίνεται τῷ τὸ πλήσμιον ἀφαιρεῖν τῶν τρεφόντων·
Is it then because there is no generation of the salty, but the salty is a destruction of the other flavors, wherefore it is also non-nourishing for all things nourished by plants and seeds, but becomes a seasoning for some by removing the satiety of the nourishing elements?
ἤ, καθάπερ τῆς θαλάττης ἕψοντες ἀφαιροῦσι τὸ ἁλυκὸν καὶ δηκτικόν, ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς ὑπὸ θερμότητος ἐξαμαυροῦται τὸ ἁλμυρόν·
Or, just as when they boil sea-water they remove the salty and biting element, so in hot plants the salty is effaced by the heat?
ἢ χυμὸς μέν ἐστιν, ὡς Πλάτων εἶπεν, ὕδωρ ἠθημένον διὰ φυτοῦ, διηθουμένη δὲ καὶ θάλαττα τὸ ἁλμυρὸν ἀποβάλλει;
Or is flavor, as Plato said, water filtered through a plant, and does even the sea when filtered cast off its saltiness?
γεῶδες γὰρ καὶ παχυμερές ἐστιν, ὅθεν ὀρύττοντες παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἐντυγχάνουσι ποτίμοις λιβαδίοις, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ κηρίνοις ἀγγείοις ἀναλαμβάνουσιν ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ὕδωρ γλυκὺ διηθούμενον, ἀποκρινομένου τοῦ ἁλυκοῦ καὶ γεώδους· ἡ δὲ διʼ ἀργίλου προδιαγωγὴ παντάπασι τὴν θάλατταν διηθουμένην πότιμον ἀποδίδωσι τῷ κατέχειν ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ μὴ διιέναι τὸ γεῶδες.
For it is earthy and thick-particled, whence those who dig along the shore meet with drinkable springs of water, and many also draw up sweet water filtered from the sea with waxen vessels, the salty and earthy element being separated; and passing it through clay renders the sea-water completely filtered and drinkable, because the clay holds back the earthy element in itself and does not let it pass through.
οὕτω δὲ τούτων ἐχόντων, εἰκός ἐστι τὰ φυτὰ μήτʼ ἔξωθεν ἀναλαμβάνειν ἁλμυρίδα μήτʼ, ἂν ἐν αὐτοῖς λάβῃ γένεσιν, ἐκκρίνειν εἰς τὸν καρπόν· οἱ γὰρ πόροι διὰ λεπτότητα τὸ γεῶδες καὶ παχυμερὲς οὐ διηθοῦσιν.
Since these things are so, it is natural that plants neither take in saltiness from outside, nor, if it should be generated in them, secrete it into the fruit; for their pores, because of their thinness, do not filter the earthy and thick-particled element.
ἢ τῆς πικρότητος εἶδος τὴν ἁλμυρότητα θετέον, ὡς Ὅμηρος
"
στόματος δʼ ἐξέπτυσεν ἅλμην
πικρήν, ἥ οἱ πολλὸν ἀπὸ κρατὸς κελάρυζε
"
; καὶ ὁ Πλάτων φησὶν ἀμφοτέρους ῥύπτειν καὶ ἀποτήκειν τοὺς χυμούς, ἧττον δὲ ταῦτα ποιεῖν τὸν ἁλυκὸν καὶ οὐ τραχὺν εἶναι· δόξει δὲ τὸ πικρὸν τοῦ ἁλυκοῦ ξηρότητος ὑπερβολῇ διαφέρειν, ἐπεὶ ξηραντικόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ ἁλυκόν.
Or should we place saltiness as a species of bitterness, as Homer says: "and from his mouth he spat out the brine, bitter, which trickled down in abundance from his head"; and Plato says that both of these flavors cleanse and dissolve, but the salty does these things less and is not rough; and the bitter will seem to differ from the salty by an excess of dryness, since the salty too is drying.