Note 32 — Chapter V · The Witch in Holy Writ
Reading edition
Pliny (Historia Naturalis, XV. 86) says walnuts were thrown, and it appears from an inscription that this custom prevailed on birthdays as well as at weddings. But originally, at any rate, chestnuts were also used. In time the meaning became obscured, and as nuts were used in all kinds of games they merely became synonymous with playthings.