161. Lactuca: i.e. lettuce; cold and wet in the second degree; if it be pounded and applied as a plaster to the parts of the body where there is an excess of heat, this will relieve it. If it be applied with white of egg as a plaster to the forehead, it will provoke sleep in the acute fevers, and its efficacy and operation is the same as those of portulaca. Platearius says that this herb is temperate, and that its seed is colder than the herb itself; this herb serves well as a food for fever patients, and its seed as a medicine; Platearius says, on the authority of all the experts, that this herb is the most temperate of all the herbs, because it produces good blood; it increases the mother's milk, and it also increases the sperm; it is the right food for people with the choleric humour. It is appropriate, raw or cooked, for every hot complexion. If it be boiled in vinegar and sugar be put through it, it will open the oppilation of the liver and spleen. If the seed of this herb be pounded with white of egg through it, and it be applied as a plaster to the temples, it will provoke sleep. If this herb be rubbed on the nipples of the breasts, and so given in the mouth of the child, it will provoke sleep. Item, Macer says that if wax and this herb be taken with vinegar, it will comfort the stomach and relax the abdomen; but if it be taken regularly it will darken the vision. If it be boiled in water, and the water given to drink to fever patients, it will provoke sleep. If it be applied with oil as a plaster to apostumes, it will