54 
SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 
least—viz., L. scariola, L,, L. saligna, L., and 
L. muralisy Tresen—are rare ; the last-named, how¬ 
ever, grows freely on the walls of Warwick Castle. 
The other native species, L. virosa , L., is far from a 
common plant. The lettuce appears in Shakespeare 
only in Othello, I. iii. 32 4, in connection with hyssop 
and thyme as symbols of those pleasing qualities 
self-culture produces. The exact words are : 
If we will plant nettles or sow lettuce. 
Othello , I. iii. 325. 
The name is derived from the Latin lactuca; 
Early English, lettice; Old French, lactnce —a name 
derived from its milky juice. 
The bean ( Faha vulgaris, Mch.), said by Dorme to 
be a native of Egypt, is one of the most ancient and 
best of the farinaceous foods of mankind. It has 
been found among other plants in the lake-dwellings 
of Switzerland, which shows that three or four 
thousand years ago it was a staple article of food, 
and in no very great way different from the best 
varieties of modern market-gardeners. It may be 
worth while to quote here the deduction of the 
talented author of “ Lake Dwellings/' namely, that 
a all plants which come in contact with man become 
changed up to a certain point, and thus man 
participates in the great transformations of Nature, 
while the wild plants ... do not exhibit the smallest 
change ” (p. 530). 
Ellacombe quotes a Lincolnshire proverb, that you 
must “ sleep in a bean-field all night if you want to 
have awful dreams or go crazy." 
The most curious use to which beans have been 
put is probably that of parish register. 
At the baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, the 
baptismal church of that great city, the yearly 
