The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)

Chapter 180: CHAP. 24.—THE LETTUCE: FORTY-TWO REMEDIES. THE GOAT-LETTUCE: FOUR REMEDIES.

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The text compiles practical and encyclopedic guidance on crop cultivation and plant uses, beginning with cereals and farm management — types of grain, sowing and harvesting schedules, ploughing, seed selection, storage, and maladies — plus weather and stellar prognostics for agricultural timing. It proceeds to flax and garden plants, detailing varieties, planting and processing methods, garden layout, and pest and disease remedies. The final section assembles medicinal preparations and numerous remedies derived from vegetables and herbs, listing applications and recipes for treating ailments using garden-grown plants.

CHAP. 24.—THE LETTUCE: FORTY-TWO REMEDIES. THE GOAT-LETTUCE: FOUR REMEDIES.

The first kind of lettuce which grows spontaneously, is the one that is generally known as “goat 1429-lettuce;” thrown into the sea, this vegetable has the property of instantaneously killing all the fish that come into its vicinity. The milky juice of this lettuce,1430 left to thicken and then put into vinegar, is given in doses of two oboli, with the addition of one cyathus of water, to patients for dropsy. The stalk and leaves, bruised and sprinkled with salt, are used for the cure of wounds of the sinews. Pounded with vinegar, and employed as a gargle in the morning twice a month, they act as a preventive of tooth-ache.