Note 1856 — Chapter VI · PASTORAL LIFE.

Geop. xviii. 2. Apropos of Cytisus, it is observed by Æschylides, in Ælian. de Nat. Animal. xvi. 32, that the rustics of Cios, on account of the aridity of the island, possessed few flocks. Those they had, however, were fed entirely on the leaves of the cytisus, the fig-tree, and the olive, mingled occasionally with the straw and halm of vegetables. The lambs reared on this island were of singular beauty, and sold at a higher price than those of most other parts. In Lydia and Macedonia sheep were sometimes fattened upon fish, which must have given the mutton of those countries a somewhat unsavoury odour. Ælian. De Nat. Animal. xv. 5. Another favourite food of sheep was the leaves of the white nymphæa, the tender shoots of which were eaten by swine, while men themselves fed upon the fruit. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iv. 10. 7. Children, too, it is said, regarded as a delicacy the stalks of the phleos, the typha, and the butomos. The roots of this fruit were given as food to cattle. Id. ibid.