Chap. 26.1 HAWK WEED. 231 



modify it ; it being the extent, either way, to which it is eaten 

 that promotes these opposite results. In the same way, too, 

 lettuces eaten in too large quantities are laxative, but taken in 

 moderation they are binding. They have the effect, also, of 

 attenuating the tough, viscous, phlegm, and, according to what 

 some persons say, of sharpening the senses. They are ex- 

 tremely serviceable, too, to debilitated stomachs ; for which 

 purpose * * 54 oboli of sour sauce 55 is added to them, the sharp- 

 ness of which is modified by the application of sweet wine, to 

 make it of the same strength as vinegar-sauce. 68 If, again, 

 the phlegm with which the patient is troubled is extremely 

 tough and viscous, wine of squills or of wormwood is em- 

 ployed ; and if there is any cough perceptible, hyssop wine 

 is mixed as well. 



Lettuces are given with wild endive for cceliac affections, 

 and for obstructions of the thoracic organs. White lettuces, too, 

 are prescribed in large quantities for melancholy and affections 

 of the bladder. Praxagoras recommends them for dysentery. 

 Lettuces are good, also, for recent burns, before blisters have 

 made their appearance : in such cases they are applied with 

 salt. They arrest spreading ulcers, being applied at first wi.h 

 saltpetre, and afterwards with wine. Beaten up, they are 

 applied topically for erysipelas; and the stalks, beaten up 

 with polenta, and applied with cold w^ater, are soothing for 

 luxations of the limbs and spasmodic contractions ; used, too, 

 with wine and polenta, they are good for pimples and erup- 

 tions. Eor cholera lettuces have been given, cooked in the 

 saucepan, in which case it is those with the largest stalk 

 and bitter that are the best: some persons administer them, 

 also, as an injection, in milk. These stalks boiled, are re- 

 markably good, it is said, for the stomach : the summer let- 

 tuce, too, more particularly, and the bitter, milky lettuce, of 

 which we have already 57 made mention as the " meconis," 

 have a soporific effect. This juice, in combination with 

 woman's milk, is said to be extremely beneficial to the eye- 

 sight, if applied to the head in good time; it is a remedy, 



w Sillig is probably correct in his belief that there is a lacuna here. 



55 Qxypori." M " Ad intinctura aceti." 



57 In B. xix. c. 38; the "opium" or " poppy lettuce," the Lactuca 



silvestris of modern botany, the soporific properties of which are superior 



to those of the cultivated kinds. 



