Book 3
20
But Glaucides asserts that the best of all fruits which grow upon trees are the Cydonian apples, and those which are called phaulia, and strouthia. And Philotimus, in his third book, and also in his tenth book of his treatise on Food, says— "Of apples, those which come in season in spring are by far more indigestible than pears, whether they are both unripe, or whether they are both ripe. But they have the properties of juicy fruits; the sharp apples, and those which are not yet ripe, resembling those pears which have a harsher taste and which are in a certain degree sour; and they diffuse over the body a juice which is said to be corrosive. And, as a general rule, apples are not so digestible as pears; on which account those who are less addicted to eating them are less troubled with indigestions, and those who are most fond of them are the most liable to such inconvenience. But, as I said before, a corrosive juice is engendered by them, as is stated by Praxagoras, and as is shown by the fact that those things which are not digested will have the juice thicker. (And I have already said that, as a general rule, apples are less digestible than pears.) And the harsh and sour apples are in the habit of engendering thicker juices.
20
But of those apples which are in season in the winter, the Cydonian give out the more bitter juices, and those called strouthian give out juice more sparingly; though what they do give out is not so harsh tasted, and is more digestible." But Nicander of Thyatira says, that the Cydonian apples themselves are called στρούθεια; but he says this out of ignorance. For Glaucides asserts plainly enough that the best of all fruits which grow on trees are the Cydonian apples and those called phaulian and strouthian.
