[1430] Fée is of opinion that this in reality is not a lettuce, but that Pliny has been led, by the milky juice which it contains, to that conclusion. In B. xxvi. c. 39, he calls it “tithymalum.” Hardouin conjectures it to have been the spurge, or Euphorbia lathyris of Linnæus, the juice of which is a violent drastic; and Fée is of opinion that it must have been one of the Euphorbiaceæ. At the same time, he says, powerful as their properties are, we cannot believe that they exercise the destructive effects on fish here stated.
[1431] Fée thinks that this plant may be looked for among the varieties of the Sonchus or the Hieracium, which belong to the same family as the lettuce.
[1433] Fée thinks that this is the Isatis tinctoria of Linnæus in a wild state, and Littré suggests that the one next mentioned is the same plant, cultivated. Fée says, however, that this plant, employed in dyeing wool, does not contain any milky juice, a fact which should have cautioned Pliny against classing it among the Lactucæ.
[1434] Of the lettuce, evidently. Fée says, who would recognise a lettuce, with its green leaves, and smooth stalk and leaves, under this description? Still, it is by no means an inaccurate description of the wild lettuce.
[1435] “Hawk-weed,” from the Greek ἱέραξ, “a hawk.” Under this name are included, Fée thinks, the varieties of the genus Crepis.
[1436] Apuleius, Metam. c. 30, says this of the eagle, when preparing to soar aloft.
[1437] This is in some degree true of the juices of the wild lettuces, in a medicinal point of view; but it must be remembered that he has enumerated the Isatis among them, which in reality has no milky juice at all.
[1438] “Lactucarium,” or the inspissated milky juice of the garden lettuce, is still used occasionally as a substitute for opium, having slightly anodyne properties, but, as Fée remarks, all that Pliny says here of its effects is erroneous.
[1439] “Adustiones;” “burns,” perhaps.