Note 1070 — BOOK XIX. THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN PLANTS.
John Bostock translation
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.