CHAP. 26.—HAWK-WEED: SEVENTEEN REMEDIES.
The properties which are common to all the wild varieties
1
are whiteness, a stem sometimes as much as a cubit in length,
and a roughness upon the stalk and leaves. Among these plants
there is one with round, short leaves, known to some persons as "hieracion;"
2 from the circumstance that the hawk
tears it open and sprinkles
3 its eyes with the juice, and so dispels any dimness of sight of which it is apprehensive. The
juice of all these plants is white, and in its properties resembles that of the poppy.
4 It is collected at harvest-time, by
making incisions in the stalk, and is kept in new earthen
vessels, being renowned as a remedy for numerous maladies.
5
Mixed with woman's milk, it is a cure for all diseases of the
eyes, such as argema for instance, films on the eyes, scars and
inflammations
6 of all kinds, and dimness of the sight more
particularly. It is applied to the eyes, too, in wool, as a remedy
for defluxions of those organs.
This juice also purges the bowels, taken in doses of two oboli
in vinegar and water. Drunk in wine it is a cure for the
stings of serpents, and the leaves and stalk of the plant are
pounded and taken in vinegar. They are employed also as a
liniment for wounds, the sting of the scorpion more particu-
larly; combined, too, with oil and vinegar, they are similarly
applied for the bite of the phalangium.
7 They have the
effect, also, of neutralizing other poisons, with the exception
of those which kill by suffocation or by attacking the bladder,
as also with the exception of white lead. Steeped in oxymel,
they are applied to the abdomen for the purpose of drawing out
vicious humours of the intestines. The juice is found good,
also, in cases of retention of the urine. Crateuas prescribes
it to be given to dropsical patients, in doses of two oboli, with
vinegar and one cyathus of wine.
Some persons collect the juice of the cultivated lettuce as well,
but it is not so efficacious
8 as the other. We have already made
mention,
9 to some extent, of the peculiar properties of the
cultivated lettuce, such as promoting sleep, allaying the sexual
passions, cooling the body when heated, purging
10 the stomach,
and making blood. In addition to these, it possesses no few
properties besides; for it has the effect of removing flatulency,
and of dispelling eructations, while at the same time it promotes the digestion, without ever being indigestible itself.
Indeed, there is no article of diet known that is a greater stimulant to the appetite, or which tends in a greater degree to
modify it; it being the extent, either way, to which it is eaten
that promotes these opposite results. In the same way, too,
lettuces eaten in too large quantities are laxative, but taken in
moderation they are binding. They have the effect, also, of
attenuating the tough, viscous, phlegm, and, according to what
some persons say, of sharpening the senses. They are extremely serviceable, too, to debilitated stomachs; for which
purpose * *
11 oboli of sour sauce
12 is added to them, the sharp
ness of which is modified by the application of sweet wine, to
make it of the same strength as vinegar-sauce.
13 If, again,
the phlegm with which the patient is troubled is extremely
tough and viscous, wine of squills or of wormwood is em-
ployed; and if there is any cough perceptible, hyssop wine
is mixed as well.
Lettuces are given with wild endive for cœliac affections,
and for obstructions of the thoracic organs. White lettuces, too,
are prescribed in large quantities for melancholy and affections
of the bladder. Praxagoras recommends them for dysentery.
Lettuces are good, also, for recent burns, before blisters have
made their appearance: in such cases they are applied with
salt. They arrest spreading ulcers, being applied at first with
saltpetre, and afterwards with wine. Beaten up, they are
applied topically for erysipelas; and the stalks, beaten up
with polenta, and applied with cold water, are soothing for
luxations of the limbs and spasmodic contractions; used, too,
with wine and polenta, they are good for pimples and eruptions. For cholera lettuces have been given, cooked in the
saucepan, in which case it is those with the largest stalk
and bitter that are the best: some persons administer them,
also, as an injection, in milk. These stalks boiled, are remarkably good, it is said, for the stomach: the summer lettuce, too, more particularly, and the bitter, milky lettuce, of
which we have already
14 made mention as the "meconis,"
have a soporific effect. This juice, in combination with
woman's milk, is said to be extremely beneficial to the eyesight, if applied to the head in good time; it is a remedy,
too, for such maladies of the eyes as result from the action of
cold.
I find other marvellous praises lavished upon the lettuce,
such, for instance, as that, mixed with Attic honey, it is no
less beneficial for affections of the chest than abrotonum;
15
that the menstrual discharge is promoted in females by using
it as a diet; that the seed, too, of the cultivated lettuce is
administered as a remedy for the stings of scorpions, and
that pounded, and taken in wine, it arrests all libidinous
dreams and imaginations during sleep; that water, too, which
affects
16 the brain will have no injurious effects upon those who
eat lettuce. Some persons have stated, however, that if lettuces are eaten too frequently they will prove injurious to
the eye sight.