Chap. 38.] THE IfATUEE OF GAEDEI-f PLAINTS. 181 



Some persons ^ have made distinctions in reference to their 

 respective colours, and the times for sowing them : the black 

 lettuce is sown in the month of January, the white in March, 

 and the red in April ; and they are fit for transplanting, all of 

 them, at the end of a couple of months. Those, again, who 

 have pursued these enquiries even further than this, have dis- 

 tinguished a still greater number of varieties of them — the 

 purple, the crisped, the Cappadocian,^ and the Greek lettuce, 

 this last having a longer leaf than the rest, and a broad stalk : 

 in addition to which, there is one with a long, narrow leaf, 

 very similar to endive in appearance. The most inferior kind, 

 however, of all, is the one to which the Greeks, censuring it 

 for its bitterness, have given the name of *' picris."^ There is 

 still another variety, a kind of white lettuce, called '' meconis,"* 

 a name which it derives from the abundance of milk, of a 

 narcotic quality, which it produces : though, in fact, it is gene- 

 rally thought that they are all of them of a soporific tendency. 

 In former times, this last was the only kind of lettuce that 

 was held in any esteem^ in Italy, the name '' lactuca " having 

 been given it on account of the milk ^ which it contains. 



The purple kind, with a very large root, is generally known 

 as the Caecilian ' lettuce ; while the round one, with an ex- 

 tremely diminutive root and broad leaves, is known to some 

 persons as the ''astytis,"^ and to others as the '' eunychion," 

 it having the efi'ect, in a remarkable degree, of quenching the 

 amorous propensities. Indeed, they are, all of them, possessed 

 of cooling and refreshing properties, for which reason it is, 

 that they are so highly esteemed in summer ; they have the 

 effect, also, of removing from the stomach distaste for food, 

 and of promoting the appetite. At all events, we find it 

 stated, that the late Emperor Augustus, when ill, was saved 

 _ 1 Columella more particularly. There are still varieties known respec- 

 tively as the black, brown, white, purple, red, and blood-red lettuce. 



ly as the black, brown, white, purpU 

 2 Martial, B. v. Epig. J9, gives to this lettuce the epithet of '' vile." 



3 It has been suggested that this may have been wild endive, the Cicho- 

 reum intubus of botanists. 



* Or "poppy-lettuce." See B. xx. c. 26. The Lactuca ^4rosa, pro- 

 bably, of modern botany, the milky juice of which strongly resembles 

 opium in its effects. 



5 For its medicinal quaUties, most probably. 6 «Lac." 



' So called, Columella informs us, from Cfecilius Metellus, Consul 

 A.v.c. 503. 



s Meaning " ajitaphrodisiac." The other name has a kindred meaning. 



