Limeum
Limeum herba appellatur a gallis qua sagitas in venatu tingunt quod venenum cervarium vocant et cetera, Plinius.
Apparatus:
Limeuʒ (-meũ C) AC | Limeu p | Limen B efj {‘eu’ misread as ‘en’}
a gallis AC ejp | a galis (agalis B) B f
sagitas ABC f | sagittas ejp
cervarium AC ej | cernarium B f {'u' misread as 'n'} | ceruarum p
et cetera om. B ej
Translation:
Limeum is what a certain herb is called by the Gauls in which they soak their arrows for hunting, and they call it deer poison, etc., according to Pliny.
Commentary and Botanical identification:
Simon's entry is a near verbatim quote from
Pliny, 27, 76, 101, ed. W.H.S. Jones (1938-63: VII.450):
Limeum herba appellatur a Gallis qua sagittas in venatu tingunt medicamento, quod venenum cervarium vocant.
Jones (1938-63: VII.451) translates: "Limeum is the name given by the Gauls to a herb that they use to make a drug, called by them deer poison, with which when hunting they poison their arrows".
Limeum:
The name limeum is only mentioned in Pliny, and it is obviously a Gaulish word. The information about the plant, i.e. it is used as an arrow poison for deer hunting, is too scarce to allow any botanical identification.
WilfGunther 23/07/13