Natural History Quotes

“Contact with [menstrual blood] turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seed in gardens are dried up, the fruit of trees fall off, the edge of steel and the gleam of ivory are dulled, hives of bees die, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with an incurable poison.”
― Pliny the Elder, Natural History: A Selection

“It is madness that certain men have occupied their minds with measuring the world and have dared to publish their results.”
― Pliny the Elder, Natural History: A Selection

“It is madness that certain men have preoccupied their minds with measuring the world and have dared to publish their results.”
― Pliny the Elder, Natural History: A Selection