[1066] Fée thinks that this may be the wild leek, which is commonly found as a weed in Spain.
[1067] M. Annæus Mela, the brother of L. Seneca the philosopher, and the father of the poet Lucan.
[1068] Though Pliny would seem inclined, as Fée says, to credit this story, the juice of the leek is in reality quite harmless.
[1069] The Allium sativum of Linnæus. It was much eaten by the Roman soldiers and sailors, and by the field labourers. It is in reference to this vegetable, “more noxious than hemlock,” that Horace exclaims—
“O dura messorum ilia!”
[1070] It was thought to have the property of neutralizing the venom of serpents; and though persons who had just eaten of it were not allowed to enter the Temple of the Mother of the Gods, it was prescribed to those who wished to be purified and absolved from crimes. It is still held in considerable esteem in the south of Europe, where, by the lower classes, great medicinal virtues are ascribed to it.
[1071] Theophrastus says, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4, that this is the largest of all the varieties of garlic.
[1072] Second of May.
[1073] Seventeenth of December.
[1074] The Allium oleraceum of Linnæus.