"Aphrodisiac" Quotes from Famous Books
... spices is not now made at Bender 'Abbas. Date arrack, however, is occasionally found. At Kerman a sort of wine or arrack is made with spices and alcohol, distilled from sugar; it is called Ma-ul-Hayat (water of life), and is recommended as an aphrodisiac. Grain in the Shamil plain is harvested in April, dates are gathered in August." (Houtum-Schindler, ... — The Travels of Marco Polo Volume 1 • Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa
... all about it. Cantarella, he calls it—Cantharides. Why Cantarella? Possibly because it is a pleasing, mellifluous word that will help a sentence hang together smoothly; possibly because the notorious aphrodisiac properties of that drug suggested it to Giovio as just the poison to be kept handy by folk addicted to the pursuits which he and others attribute to the Borgias. Can you surmise any better reason? For observe ... — The Life of Cesare Borgia • Raphael Sabatini |