pPant "ls)ore, IfDegel^^/, ancl "bLjric/, 411 



he pulls her up." So Peter's mother grasped the Leek-leaf; but 

 all the souls in torment ran after her, and clung to her skirts, so 

 that the angel was dragging quite a string of them after her. Her 

 evil disposition, however, would not permit her to keep quiet. It 

 grieved her avaricious temperament that anyone besides herself 

 should be saved; so slie struggled and kicked, in order to shake the 

 poor souls off, and in so doing tore the saving Leek-leaf, and fell 

 back again, and sank deeper than before. 



LENT LILIES.— The Daffodil is the Lent Lily. Mingled 

 with Yew, which is the emblem of the Resurrecftion, it forms an 

 appropriate decoration for Easter. Lent Lilies are called by the 

 French Panvres Filles de Ste. Clare. (See Narcissus). 



LENTIL. — Like almost all vegetables. Lentils are tradition- 

 ally regarded as funereal plants : formerly they were forbidden at 



all sacrifices and feasts. St. Hilarion, when he arrived at man's 



estate, subsisted for three years upon Lentils steeped in cold water. 



To dream of Lentils is supposed to indicate sorrow and 



anxiety. 



LETTUCE. — Pythagoras, we are told, was extremely fond 

 of Lettuces, which formed a large portion of his diet ; but Eubulus 

 is said to have bitterly reproached his wife for having served up at 

 a meal Lettuces, which were only recommended for funeral repasts. 



The ancients considered the Lettuce [Lactuca) as an aliment 



appropriate in times of mourning, and they employed it largely in 

 their funeral repasts in commemoration of the death of Adonis, son 

 of Myrrha, whom Venus had concealed in a bed of Lettuces, and 

 whose death had occurred from a wound mfli<fted by a wild boar 

 •that had come to feed on the Lettuces, and so surprised the beau- 

 tiful youth. Another legend states that the young man hidden 



by Venus in the Lettuce bed was Phaon, the handsome boatman 



of Lesbos, and not Adonis. In mediaeval days, it was supersti- 



tiously thought that an evil spirit lurked in a bed of Lettuces, and 

 a species known by women as Astylida was believed to affe(ft 

 mothers adversely, and to cause grievous ills to newly-born infants. 

 Perhaps this may account for a saying often heard at Richmond, 

 Surrey : — " O'er-much Lettuce in the garden will stop a young 



wife's bearing." The old poets prescribed a bed of Lettuce for 



those who were unable to obtain repose ; and Pliny states that 

 Lettuces of all descriptions were thought to cause sleep. Pope, 

 referring to its soporific qualities, has said of the Lettuce : — 



" If your wish be rest, 

 *' Lettuce and Cowslip w'me, frobatum est." 



Gerarde remarks that, if eaten after supper, this vegetable prevents 



the drunkenness resulting from too free indulgence in wine. 



Lettuce is stated by the Mishna to be one of the five "bitter herbs" 

 ordered to eaten by Jews at the Feast of the Passover, To 



