363 
Leguminous Fruits . 
Peas. 
Respecting Pease , we are late of finding any information 
among the ancients. Yellow pease are not mentioned, as is sup- 
posed, by Aristophanes, but he is speaking (Plut. v. 427.) only 
of a XiiboTcZXiq. The Scholiast says, x&tB-ov means an egg, and 
that the former word signifies a buyer of eggs. But xUiS-ov also 
signifies *7<rov, and this has its name from Pisa in Elis. What 
Theophrastus has said of ^a-og, does not correspond with our 
pease. He places them, indeed, among the x, (Hist. PI. 
1. viii. c. 1.) ; but he says, some have round leaves like beans, 
others long leaves, as me-os, XuS-v^og, u%£og, (1. viii. c. 3.), whilst 
our pease have very round leaves. Commonly he places Trims 
along with xubv^og and Z^og, (1. viii. c. 3., 1. iii. c. 27.). He 
says further, mrbg has many leaves, is divided at the root into 
many branches, suffers much from the cold, on account of its 
tender roots, is easily broken, and occupies a great space, (De 
Cans. 1. iii. c. 15.). All this agrees better with a plant related 
to Lathyrus sativus than with our pea, which has not many 
leaves, nor many branches at the root, and is a hardy plant. 
From the Roman writers little that is definite can be gained. 
Pisum belongs, according to Columella, to the leguminous fruits 
which are used as food, likes a soft, light earth, and a warm, 
moist air, (1. ii. c. 7. 10.), and manures the ground when it is 
fresh cut, [(c. 11.) Dioscorides does not use the word nivog* 
Galen (De Alimentor facultat. Li. c. 11.) says little about 
it, and places it along with the bean. In the Geoponica (1. ii. 
e. 13. 3.), according to Columella’s authority, it is said to prefer 
a loamy soil. Pliny (1. xviii. c. 12.) says, Pisum impa - 
tientissimum frigoris , and affirms that it has siliquce cylindra - 
cea 9 from which expression, however, there is reason to fear 
that he was thinking on x.vXivfya>}ug Xofio), (Theophr. Hist. 
PI. 1. viii. c. 5.) It is further said respecting cicercula , — Est 
minuti ciceris inaqualis angulosi veluti pisum , according to 
which the grain ought to be angular. It is further worthy of 
remark, that the ancient Arabians were not acquainted with 
our pease. They translated pisum by Co ? and in a ma- 
nuscript of Ebn Baithar’s Materia Medica , which lies before 
me, I find the following description of it. Masch is a small 
grain like Ervum , of a green colour, shining, with a navel spot 
