62. The next thing to be considered is Asparagus--which is divided into mountain asparagus and marsh asparagus; the best kinds of which are not raised from seed; but they are remedies for every kind of internal disorder. But those which are raised from seed grow to an immense size. And they say that in Libya, among the Gætuli, they grow of the thickness of a Cyprian reed, and twelve feet long; but that on the mountain land and on land near the sea they grow to the thickness of large canes, and twenty cubits long. But Cratinus writes the word, not ἀσπάραγος, but ἀσφάραγος, with a φ. And Theopompus says-- And then seeing the aspharagus in a thicket. And Ameipsias says-- No squills, no aspharagus, no branches of bay-tree. But Diphilus says, that of all greens, that sort of asparagus which is especially called the bursting asparagus, is better for the stomach, and is more easily digested; but that it is not very good for the eyes: and it is harsh-flavoured and diuretic, and injurious to the kidneys and bladder. But it is the Athenians who give it the name of bursting; and they also give the flowering cabbage, or cauliflower, the same name. Sophocles says, in The Huntsmen-- Then it puts forth a stalk, and never ceases The germination; because it is continually bursting out and putting forth shoots. However, Antiphanes always spells the word ἀσπάραγος, with a π; and he writes thus-- The asparagus was shining; the pale vetches had faded. And Aristophon says--"Capers, pennyroyal, thyme, asparagus, garlic; radishes, sage, and rue." 63. With respect to Snails.--Philyllius says-- I am not a grasshopper, nor a snail, O woman. And in a subsequent passage he says-- Sprats, tunny fish, and snails, and periwinkles. And Hesiod calls the snail, The hero that carries his house on his back. And Anaxilas says-- You are e'en more distrustful than a snail; Who fears to leave even his house behind him. And Achæus speaks of them, and says-- Can such a vapour strange produce The snails, those horned monsters? And an enigma, like a fishing-net, having reference to the snail, is often proposed at banquets, in these terms-- What is that spineless bloodless beast of the woods, Who makes his path amid the humid waters. And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says--"Snails appear to become pregnant in the autumn and in spring, and they are the only animals with coverings of shells that have ever been detected in union." But Theophrastus says, in his treatise about Animals which live in Holes--"Snails live in holes during the winter, and still more in the summer, on which account they are seen in the greatest numbers during the autumn rains. But their holes in the summer are made upon the ground, and in the trees." There are some snails which are called σέσιλοι. Epicharmus says--