Page:The Deipnosophists (Volume 2).djvu/164

 And Alcæeus, in his Palæstra, says—

And now she's roasted a large dish of cabbage.

And Polyzelus, in his Birth of the Muses, names cabbages; and says—

The close-grown cabbage with its lofty leaves.

11. The next thing to be mentioned is beet-root. Of beet-root (according to the opinion of Theophrastus), the white is more juicy than the black, and it contains less seed, and it is the kind which is called the Sicilian beet. But, says he, the beet called [Greek: seutlis] is a different kind from the [Greek: teutlon]. On which account, Diphilus the comic poet, in his drama called the Hero, reproaches some one for speaking incorrectly, and for calling [Greek: teutla], [Greek: teutlidas]. And Eudemus, in his treatise on Vegetables, says that there are four kinds of [Greek: teutla]: there is the kind which may be pulled, the kind with a stalk, the white kind, and the common kind; and this last is of a brown colour. But Diphilus the Siphnian says that the beet which he calls [Greek: seutlion] is more juicy than the cabbage, and is also, in a moderate degree, more nutritious; and it ought to be boiled and eaten with mustard, and that then it has a tendency to attenuate the blood, and to destroy worms; but the white kind is better for the stomach, while the black is more diuretic. He says, also, that their roots are more pleasing to the palate, and more nutritious.

12. Then there is the carrot. "This vegetable," says Diphilus, "is harsh, but tolerably nutritious, and moderately good for the stomach; but it passes quickly through the bowels, and causes flatulence: it is indigestible, diuretic, and not without some influence in prompting men to amatory feelings; on which account it is called a philtre by some people." And Numenius, in his Man fond of Fishing, says—

Of all the plants which grow in fields unsown, Or which take root in fertile plough'd-up lands In winter, or when flowering spring arrives, Such as the thistle dry, or the wild carrot, Or the firm rape, or lastly, the wild cabbage.

And Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, says—

Then there is also the deep root of fennel, And of rock-parsley, and the carrot too, Which loves dry soils, the sow-thistle, the myrrh plant, The dog-tongue and the chicory. And with them bruise The tough hard-tasted leaves of arum, and The plant which farmers do entitle bird's-milk.