BOOK XX. xLiii. iii-xLiv. 115 



boiled in wine, if it be held in the mouth, cures 

 toothache. 



XLIV. Parsley " is universally popular, for sprigs Parsiey. 

 of it are found swimming in draughts of milk every- 

 where in the country, and in sauces it enjoys a 

 popularity all its own. Moreover apphed with 

 honey to the eyes, provided that they are also fre- 

 quently fomented with a warm decoction, it is 

 wonderfully beneficial, as also for other fluxes on 

 the Hmbs, when apphed pounded up, either by itself 

 or with bread or pearl-barley. Fish also, if they are 

 sickly in ponds, are revived by fresh parsley. But 

 no other plant taken from the ground has caused 

 such a variety of opinion among the learned. Parsley 

 shows distinction of sex.* Chrysippus says that female 

 parsley has hard and curHer leaves, a thick stem and 

 a sharp, hot taste, Dionysius that it is darker, has a 

 shorter root and breeds grubs ; both agree that 

 neither should be classed among the foods — nay, 

 that it is altogether a sin to eat parsley, because 

 it is dedicated to the funeral feasts in honour of 

 the dead, and that it is also bad for the eye-sight. 

 They say that the stem of female parsley breeds 

 grubs, and because of this those who have eaten it, 

 whether male or female, become barren, and actually 

 that sucking babies become epileptic if their nurses 

 have eaten parsley. The niale plant however they 

 say is the less injurious. This is why it is not classed 

 among plants utterly taboo. The application of 

 parsley leaves softens hardness of the breasts. 

 To boil parsley in it makes water sweeter to drink. 

 The juice of the root in particular added to wine 

 reHeves lumbago, and hardness of hearing if the 

 same liquid be dropped into the ears. The seed is 



67 



