Old-fashioned French cookery-books direct that the lettuce should never be washed.

The stalks should be cut off, the outside leaves removed and thrown away, and the lettuce itself should then be pulled in pieces with the fingers, and each piece wiped with a clean cloth.

This is not always practicable, but the principle remains the same.

You can wash the lettuce leaves without bruising them.

You can dry them by shaking them up lightly in a large clean cloth, and you can spread them out and let them get _dry_ an hour or two before they are dressed.
Another important point to be borne in mind is that a salad should never be dressed till just before it is wanted to be eaten.