46 PLINY's IfATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII. 



CHAP. 31. — LENTILS. PEASE. 



Among the leguminous plants the lentil is sown in the 

 month of November, and the pea," among the Greeks. The 

 lentil thrives best in a soil that is rather thin than rich, and 

 mostly stands in need of dry weather. There are two kinds* 

 of lentil grown in Egypt ; one of which is rounder and blacker 

 than the other, which has a peculiar shape of its own. The 

 name of this plant has been applied to various uses, and 

 among others has given origin to our word " lenticula." ^^ I 

 find it stated in some authors that a lentil diet is productive ol 

 evenness of temper. The pea requires to be sown in a warm, 

 sunny spot, and is ill able to endure cold ; hence in Italy and 

 the more rigorous climates, it is sown in the spring only, a light, 

 loose soil being chosen for the purpose. 



CHAP. 32. — THE SEVERAL KINDS OP CHICK-PEASE. 



The chick-pea'^' is naturally salt,''* for which reason it is apt 

 to scorch the ground, and should only be sown after it has 

 been steeped a day in water. This plant presents consider- 

 able differences in reference to size, colour,^' form, and taste. 

 One variety resembles in shape a ram's head, from which cir- 

 cumstance it has received the name of " arietinum ;" there 

 are both the white and the black arietinum. There is also the 

 columbine chick-pea, by some known as the ''pea of Yenus ;" 

 it is white, round, and smooth, being smaller than the arie- 

 tinum, and is employed in the observances of the night festivals 

 or \ngils. The chicheliug vetch,^'' too, is a diminutive kind ol 

 chick-pea, unequal and angular, like^' the pea. The chick- 

 pea that is the sweetest in flavour is the one that bears the 

 closest resemblance to the fitch ; the pod in the black and the 

 red kinds is more firmly closed than in the white ones. 



«J Pisum sativum of Liniifcus. I 



8- Mt-aniiin; a wart or pimple on the face. ' 



" Ciccr arit'tiuum of the botanists. 

 . " /' ^.'t'.'ji «u"i salsilagine." It abounos in India, and while blossom- 

 ing, It distils a corrosive acid, which corrodes the shoes of those who tread i 

 upon It. 



" There are still the red and the white kinds, the large and the small. ' 

 « Cicereula : the Lathyrus sativus of Linnteus. It is difficult to cook. 

 and hard of digestion. Sue c. 26. 



6J This mubt be said iu referouce to some of the pease when in a driec 

 state. 



