LETTUCE. .il/ 



Athenaeus and Constantino Caesar sav, 

 that the Pythagoreans called this plant the 

 Eunuch ; and the ancients fabled, that after 

 the death of Adonis, Venus lay upon a bed 

 of lettuce ; which evidently shews that they 

 were acquainted with the cooling and opiate 

 nature of this vegetable, which is still thought 

 more salutary for those whose religious pro- 

 fession enjoins them a life of celibacy, than 

 for settlers in new colonies. 



We learn also from Pliny, that the Greek 

 lettuce was a variety that grew both high and 

 large, and that the Romans, in his day, culti- 

 vated the purple lettuce with a large root 

 that was called Cceciliana. They had likewise 

 the Egyptian, Cilician, and Cappadocian 

 lettuce, besides the A sty Us, or the chaste 

 lettuce, which, he says, was often called 

 Eunuchion, because it was thought less favour- 

 able to Venus than other plants. This natu- 

 ralist adds, they were all considered cooling, 

 therefore eaten principally in the summer. 

 Great pains were used to make them cab- 

 bage: they were earthed up with sea-sand, 

 to blanch them and give them heart. The 

 white lettuce was noticed, in that mild cli- 

 mate, to be the least able to endure cold. 



The Romans esteemed this vegetable as a 



