Leg umimus Fruits. 
sm 
Ervum oj the Romans. 
pficg of the Greeks, ervum of the Romans, is, as is gene- 
rally supposed, Ervum i ervilia. It has a mark which points 
it out, namely, its stupifying property. Of this property 
Theophrastus, Columella and others, make mention. It is be- 
lieved that this property depends upon the time at which the 
grain was sown. The plant actally grows wild in the south of 
Europe. The modern Greeks call the fruit ag«/3as ervum has 
passed into most of the other modern dialects ; the Italians 
call it veggiola. 
Trigonella Fcenum Grucurn was much cultivated by the 
ancients, and is still cultivated, especially for fodder. The 
seeds were very much used by the ancients as medicine. 'I hey 
also made use of their mucilage. According to Galen, the 
green plant was eaten. In Theophrastus's writings only 
is mentioned among the later Greeks, the plants is called ■th , a<s ; 
Galen says there is no difference between them, and adds also 
the name myUiyts. The Romans cultivated the plant under the 
name Fcenum Greecum , which has passed into all modern lan- 
guages. The Arabians also valued the plant greatly as a medi- 
cine. It seems to grow wild in the south of Europe. 
5X A is quoted by Galen as another name of Lathyrus , which 
appears in a play of Aristotle that has not been preserved. In 
Theophrastus (Hist. PL 1. viii. c. 8.) there is mention of a weed 
of this name. Galen speaks of a weed called u**%os 9 which, 
without doubt, is the same. Sprengel supposes the former to 
be Fisum arvense , the latter Ervum tetraspermum or Vicia 
lathyroides. The latter does not appear in the south of Europe 
as a weed, and with respect to the two former, we may as well 
suppose another species of Lathyrus or Vicia. It is equally 
uncertain what k^yj^n j means in Theophrastus (I. i. c. 11. 
c. 6. ed. Schneid.) The plant brings forth its fruit under the 
ground, whence Sprengel supposes it to be Lathyrus amphicar- 
pos , in the History of Botany ; and Arachis hypogaa , in the 
Herbar. Botanic. But, according to Theophrastus, the plant 
has no leaves, not even any thing resembling them, and all 
known plants have leaves. 
