ONION, ITS HISTORY.

19

in any part in the universe; here they are sweet, in other countries they are nauseous and strong; here they are soft, whereas in the north and other parts they are hard, and the coats so compact that they are hard of digestion. Hence they cannot in any place be eaten with less prejudice, and more satisfaction than in Egypt. They eat them roasted,

cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat, which the Turks in Egypt call kebab, and with this dish they are so delighted, that I have heard them wish they might enjoy it in Paradise."

Brown notices their mildness, and says they are of the purest white*; and we are told by Sonnini †, that they are sold in the streets and markets, both raw and dressed, for a mere trifle, and that they form almost the only sustenance of the poor. It is, however, a just remark of the same author, that, notwithstanding their great mildness, still they are onions, and the excessive use of them must increase the disposition which the Egyptians have to disorders in the eyes.

Perhaps the garlic mentioned in Scripture is not the species we are familiarly acquainted with, as it does not appear to be a native of Egypt, nor is it cultivated there, though it is imported in large quantities from Syria, under the name of "Seeds of Damascus." The leek is in high estimation in Egypt, and often, with a little bread, forms the

* Brown's Travels in Africa, p. 136.

+ Sonnini's Travels in Egypt, p. 282, 283.

favourite dinner of the lower classes. As the latter plant forms the national emblem of Wales, it might be supposed that the inhabitants of that country are much addicted to its use. It owes its estimation among them, however, to a very different circumstance. On the first of March, in the year 640, the Welsh, under command of their king Cadwallo, obtained a complete victory over the Saxons: the battle happened near a place where leeks were cultivated, and the Welsh soldiers put, each, a bit of leek in his cap. Fluellen says, in the fourth act of Henry the Fifth, "If your Majesties is remember'd of it, the Welshmen did goot service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which your Majesty knows to this hour is an honourable padge of the service and I do believe your Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon St. Tavy's day.'

The onion is a favourite, it appears, even amidst the delicious productions of India. "Our best vegetable," Maria Graham says, "is the onion, for which Bombay is famous throughout the east." '+ The Brahmins, however, and many other Hindoos reject it, according to Forbes, from their bill of fare.+

* The plant used by the Welsh on the above occasion, was most probably a different species from the leek, the latter being a native of Switzerland, and, according to the Hortus Kewensis, not introduced into England till about the year

1562.

+ Journal of a Residence in India, p. 24.

Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 51.

ONION, CARDAMOM, &c.

21

The intolerable smell which onions, and more particularly garlic, communicate to the breath, is an insurmountable obstacle to their use among the better classes of society in this country. Eating some parsley leaves is said, most effectually, to cover their scent; but scarcely any thing will conceal it. In Cochin China, cardamom seeds are used for this purpose. In currie, which is the standing dish of that country, onions and garlic are introduced with a very unsparing hand; and to sweeten the breath from their taint, these seeds are chewed. "Every lady," says Barrow, "carries about with her a box of cardamoms, which she presents to her friends or strangers in the same manner as the snuff-box is presented in Europe."* It would be much wiser, however, could they do as Bottom advises: "And, most dear actors, eat no onions, nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath." These roots are in very general use throughout Spain; and among the poor, whose food is chiefly or entirely vegetable, they are valuable, as affording a salutary stimulus to the stomach. The poor fishermen in China, who reside constantly upon the water, form rafts of bamboo, interwoven with reeds and grass, which they cover with earth; and on these, which are towed after their boats, they cultivate their onions and garlic.

Roots are sometimes named from the direction they take. The fusiform root, we have seen, pene

trates in general perpendicularly into the earth ; and hence, by some authors, the term fusiform is dropped, and that of perpendicular is used in its place: but this must be erroneous, for many plants have roots strictly perpendicular as to direction which are not spindle-shaped; and some spindleshaped roots run horizontally. Willdenow's definition of the perpendicular root is, that it is "equally thick, and goes perpendicularly into the ground, as in the shepherd's purse;" but this is a distinction too finely drawn.

Some plants have roots, which, instead of striking down into the soil, run in a horizontal direction near its surface, and hence the

7. RADIX horizontalis, or horizontal root, as in iris, common polypody, wood anemone, &c. The superficial situation and horizontal direction of the roots of some trees render them easily blown down. "It is not," Mary Woolstonecraft observes, “surprising that the pine should be often undermined; it shoots its fibres in such a horizontal direction, merely on the surface of the earth, requiring only enough to cover those that cling to the crags." The superficial situation of the roots of many American trees, is assigned as one reason why the Americans have a dislike to woods and forest scenery. "To them," says an intelligent traveller, "the sight of a wheat-field, or a cabbage-garden, would convey pleasure far greater than that of the * Letters from Norway, p. 154.

AMERICAN TREES.

23

most romantic woodland views. They have an unconquerable aversion to trees, and whenever a settlement is made, they cut away all before them without mercy; not one is spared; all share the same fate, and are involved in the general havoc. It appears strange, that in a country where the rays of the sun act with such prodigious power, some few trees near the habitations should not be spared, whose foliage might afford a cooling shade during the parching heat of summer; and I have oftentimes expressed my astonishment that none were ever left for that purpose. In answer, I have generally been told, that they could not be left standing near a house without danger. The trees, it seems, in the American forests, have but a very slender hold in the ground, considering their immense height, so that when two or three fully grown are deprived of shelter, in consequence of the others which stood around them being cut down, they are very apt to be levelled by the first storm that chances to blow. This, however, would not be the case with trees of a small growth, which might safely be spared, and which would soon afford an agreeable shade, if the Americans thought proper to leave them standing: but the fact of the matter is, that, from the face of the country being entirely overspread with trees, the eyes of the people become satiated with the sight of them. The ground cannot be tilled, nor can the inhabitants