Μέλι πρωτέυει τὸ Ἀττικὸν, καὶ τούτου τὸ Ὑμήττιον καλούμενον. Dioscor. ii. 101. Strab. ix. 1. t. ii. p. 246. Geopon. vii. 17. viii. 25. 1. Ἄριστον μέλι τὸ Ἀττικὸν, καὶ τοῦ Ἀττικοῦ τὸ Ὑμήττιον. Diophan. ap. Geopon. xv. 7. 1. Plin. Nat. Hist. xi. 13. xxi. 10. Galen. de Antidot. i. 2. Virg. Georg. iv. 177. Tzetz. Chil. vii. 93. xi. 370. Synes. Epist. 147. Eustath. ad Dion. Perieg. 530. Footnote 1757: Petit, de Legg. Att. v. 5, p. 417. Æschin. Epist. 5. Orat. Att. xii. p. 305. Geopon. ix. 1. 1. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iv. 14. Footnote 1758: Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 767. Footnote 1759: The importation of these delicacies, however, originally profited the subjects of Persia only, the king having been forbidden by a fundamental law of the monarchy the use of all foreign commodities. The ordinance of course was speedily dispensed with, since we find the eunuchs placing before their master, at his dessert, the figs of Attica, which on one occasion, drew from the Shah a right royal remark: Ἐρωτῆσαι ποταπαὶ εἶεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπύθετο ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν, τοῖς ἀγορασταῖς ἐκέλευεν ὠνεῖσθαι, ἕως, ἂν ἐξουσία γένηται αὐτῷ λαμβάνειν ὅταν ἐφέλῃ, καὶ μὴ ἁγοράζειν. Athen. xiv. 62. The best figs came from the Demos Ægilia. Id. ibid. Ἀπ’ Αἰγίλω ἰσχάδα τρώγοις. Theocrit. Eidyll. i. 147. These fruits we find reached Persia in a state of the greatest freshness and perfection. Plut. Alexand. § 50. ----- A trade was carried on too in herbs and plants, which being more fragrant and possessing greater virtues here than in any other country, the citizens of the neighbouring states sought to obtain the like, by procuring slips and seeds from Athens. Thus strangers having observed that the knolls and uplands of Attica were covered with thyme,[1760] which, flowering about midsummer, filled the air with sweetness, and enabled the owners of bees to foretell with exactness whether honey would be scarce or plentiful, desired to transplant it to the neighbourhood of their own cities. It was found however by experience, that it flourished and attained its natural luxuriance only in such situations as were reached by the sea breezes.[1761] In Arcadia, for example, it refused to be naturalised, though the climate of that country was found to agree very well with the marjoram, and the summer savory. Among the simples employed by the ancients in their materia medica were the Attic valerian,[1762] hemlock,[1763] and melilot.[1764] Kermes also were produced in this country.[1765] ----- Footnote 1760: Ægialeus appears, for example, to have been no less celebrated for its thyme than Hymettos. Suid. V. μᾶσσον. t. ii. p. 104. a. Meurs. Rel. Attic. i. p. 2. Plin. Nat. Hist. iv. 11. Footnote 1761: Οὐ γάρ φασι δύνασθαι φύεσθαι καὶ λαμβάνειν, ὅπου μὴ ἀναπνοὴ διϊκνεῖται, ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης· διὸ οὐδ᾽ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ γίνεται· θύμβρα δὲ καὶ ὀρίγανον καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πολλὰ καὶ πολλαχοῦ. Theoph. Hist. Plant. vi. 2. 4. Footnote 1762: