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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 72. The TEAK-TREE (Tectonia grandis) is a valuable species of
timber, which grows in the forests of the East Indies.

This tree attains the height of fifty feet and upwards. Its leaves
are somewhat oval, slightly scalloped, rough on the upper side,
and clad with a white down beneath; and its flowers are in
bunches, small, white, and fragrant.

For the building of ships, teak-wood is esteemed superior to every

kind of timber except oak. It is said to be almost incorruptible in
water; and its bitterness preserves it from the attack of worms. For
all the purposes of carpentry, teak is the most useful timber that is
produced in Asia. It is easily wrought, and is peculiarly strong and
durable. That which grows on the coast of Malabar is considered the
best; but the greatest quantity is obtained from Pegu. The former is
nearly all hill timber, whereas the latter is the produce of a low and
flat country. In India much of the furniture is made of teak wood.

The attention of government has of late been called to the

cultivation of this timber; and great encouragement is now given to
an extensive propagation of it. In the present scarcity of oak timber
in England, the increase of teak in the East is become an object of
importance to the prosperity of our navy. Its culture has also been
recommended in our West Indian islands, the climate and soil of
which are considered nearly similar to those of its native country.

73. MANGOS, as they are imported into this country, are the
unripe fruit of an East Indian tree (Mangifera Indica) pickled in
vinegar.

The mango tree grows to a great size, and has spear-shaped

leaves, each eight or nine inches long, and two inches wide. The
flowers spring, in a loose kind of bunch, from the extremity of
the stems.
The fruit of this tree, when ripe, is as large as a goose's egg, and is
much esteemed in India, on account of its invigorating odour; which,
it is imagined, will restore health to persons in a declining state.
Beneath its rough shell there is a kernel, similar to that of the
almond, which may be eaten either fresh or preserved. From the
expressed juice of this fruit the Indians prepare a kind of wine.
When intended for pickling, the fruit is gathered in an unripe state.
An imitation of mangos is made in our own country with a particular
sort of melon. A small square piece is cut from the side of the
melon, through which the seeds are taken out. It is then filled with
mustard seeds and shred garlic, and afterwards pickled with vinegar
and spices. Large cucumbers are sometimes prepared as mangos.

74. RED CURRANTS are the fruit of a well known shrub (Ribes
rubum), which is cultivated, in gardens; and which also grows
wild in woods or thickets of some of the northern parts of
England. Its bunches are smooth and pendant; and its flowers
are flattish.

The utility of this fruit in domestic economy has long been

established. Its juice, if boiled with an equal weight of loaf sugar,
forms an agreeable substance, called currant jelly, which is much
employed in sauces and for other culinary purposes; and also in the
cure of sore throats and colds. The French frequently mix currant
jelly with sugar and water, as a beverage; and, by many persons,
this mixture is preferred to orgeat or lemonade. The juice of currants
is a valuable remedy in obstructions of the bowels; and, in febrile
complaints, it is useful on account of its readily quenching thirst, and
for its cooling effect on the stomach. This juice, fermented with a
proper quantity of sugar, becomes a palatable wine, which is much
improved by keeping; and which, with care, may be kept for twenty
years and upwards. Modes of making this, as well as other British
wines, are to be found in all the domestic receipt books.
The inner bark, boiled with water, is a popular remedy in jaundice;
and, by some medical men, it has been administered in dropsical
complaints.

White and flesh-coloured currants have, in every respect, the same

qualities as the red species.

75. BLACK CURRANTS are the fruit of a garden shrub (Ribes

nigrum) which is distinguished by having its bunches hairy and
its flowers oblong.

The berries of the black currant shrub are larger than those of the
red; and, in some parts of Siberia, are said to attain the size of a
hazel nut. They are occasionally made into wine, jelly, and rob or
syrup. The two latter are frequently employed in the cure of sore
throats; and, from the great use of black currants in quinsies, they
have sometimes been denominated squinancy or quincy berries.

The leaves are fragrant, and have been recommended for their
medicinal virtues. An infusion of them, in the manner of tea, is very
grateful, and, by many persons, is preferred to tea. The tender
leaves tinge common spirits so as to resemble brandy; and an
infusion of the young roots is useful in fevers of the eruptive kind.

Black currant trees grow wild in wet hedges, and near the banks of
rivers, in several parts of Norfolk. The dried currants of the shops do
not belong to this family, but are a small kind of grape (79).

76. GOOSEBERRIES are the fruit of a prickly shrub (Ribes

grossularia) which grows wild in Cheshire, Lancashire, and
several parts of Yorkshire.
Few of the garden fruits are more esteemed for the table than
gooseberries. For culinary purposes, gooseberries are generally
employed before they are ripe; but this is founded on erroneous
notions of their chemical properties, since, either for sauces or wine,
though they are more cool and refreshing, they do not possess the
delicate flavour and rich saccharine qualities which are inherent in
the ripe fruit. Wine made of gooseberries has great resemblance to
Champaigne. In the making of wine, after the juice has been
expressed, it is customary to throw away the skins of the fruit.
These, however, may with advantage be employed in distillation, as
they afford an agreeable spirit somewhat resembling brandy. When
kept a few months, this spirit is said to be little inferior, either in
strength or flavour, to the best Cogniac brandy. Vinegar may be
made from gooseberries. Some of the kinds are bottled while green,
and kept for winter use; and others are, for the same purpose,
preserved with sugar.

Gooseberries vary much in colour, size, and quality. Some are

smooth, and others hairy. Some are red, others green, and others
yellow or amber coloured. Wild gooseberries are greatly inferior, in
size, to those which are cultivated in gardens.

77. IPECACUANHA (Viola ipecacuanha) is a medicinal root, small,

wrinkled, bent, and contorted into a great variety of shapes;
which is imported from the West Indies and South America, and
is given as an emetic.

There are three kinds of ipecacuanha: ash-coloured or grey, brown,

and white. Of these, the ash-coloured is usually preferred for
medicinal use, from its being more efficacious than the white, and
less violent than the brown. Ipecacuanha was first brought into
Europe towards the middle of the seventeenth century; but it was
not admitted into general use until about the year 1686, when it was
introduced into practice under the patronage of Louis the Fourteenth
of France. Its taste is bitterish and somewhat acrid; and it seems to
cover the tongue with a kind of mucilage. It is one of the mildest
and safest emetics with which we are acquainted; and is
administered in powder, as a wine, and as a tincture. It has this
peculiar advantage, that, if it do not operate as an emetic, it passes
off without injury by the skin or bowels. In very small doses it is
efficacious in obstinate coughs, and in several other complaints. The
roots of a kind of dogsbane (Apocynum) are not unfrequently
substituted for those of ipecacuanha; but, in some instances, this
substitution has been attended with fatal consequences.

78. VINES are a very important tribe of shrubs, to the fruit of

which we are indebted for all our foreign wines, for raisins of
every description, and for the dried currants of the shops.

Several species of vine are cultivated; but by far the most

important of the whole is the common vine (Vitis vinifera of
Linnæus).

The earliest introduction of the vine into the western parts of Europe
is stated to have been about the year 280, under the sanction of
Probus, the Roman Emperor, who, throughout his whole dominions,
was a zealous encourager of agricultural pursuits. There can be no
doubt that vines were anciently propagated in our own island for the
purpose of wine, and that there were vineyards of considerable
extent in Gloucestershire, Hampshire, and some other counties; but,
as vines are principally found to flourish in inland countries, lying
betwixt the thirtieth and fifty-first degrees of latitude, it is evident
that there can be no part of Great Britain sufficiently adapted to
their successful cultivation.

Any person who has seen a hop garden, may easily form an idea of
the appearance of a vineyard. Vines are usually propagated by slips,
cuttings, or offsets from the roots. These, when they have obtained
a sufficiency of roots, are transplanted from the nursery-ground into
the vineyard, the soil of which ought to be light and rich. They are
placed, in this ground, in rows, and at regular intervals, leaving
space sufficient for the vine-dressers and the reapers to pass betwixt
them; and as soon as the rooted plants are three years old, they
begin to bear fruit. The season for pruning and dressing them is the
early part of the year, before the sap begins to rise; and about the
time when the flowers appear, the plants are fastened to poles, for
the purposes of supporting them, of preventing them from growing
entangled with each other, admitting a free circulation of air
amongst them, and affording greater convenience for gathering the
fruit.

The vintage, which is a season of mirth and delight to the whole

country, commences in the early part of autumn. The villagers
assemble in the respective vineyards under the direction of
overseers. The reaping of the grapes is, in general, performed in
three distinct gatherings. The first of these comprehends all the
finest and ripest bunches, carefully clearing away from them every
grape that appears green or decayed: the second is confined to the
large and thick clusters which are not so ripe as the others; and
those which are nearly green, withered, or decayed, are gathered
last.

To obtain the juice from the grapes, they are subjected to the
operation of large presses of somewhat similar construction to the
cyder presses of our own country (the separate gatherings being still
kept apart), and the juice is received into vessels fixed for that
purpose. Afterwards it undergoes the necessary fermentation to
convert it into wine. By the ancients the juice was obtained by
treading the grapes. This practice is alluded to in various parts of
Scripture, but perhaps in none are the characteristics of the ancient
vintage expressed more strongly than in the predictions of Isaiah
concerning Moab: "And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the
plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither
shall there be any shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in
their presses; I have made their vintage-shouting to cease." The
treading of grapes is still practised in several parts of the world. The
ancients frequently kept their wine in skins, or leathern bags, well
secured at the seams; hence the passage in the gospels; "neither do
men put new wine into old bottles; else the bottles break, and the
wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into
new bottles, and both are preserved."

The kinds of wine are extremely various. The difference which exists
betwixt them is not, however, so much owing to a distinction in the
species of grapes, as in the quality of the fruit, produced by the
varieties of soil, cultivation, and climate to which they are subject.
This difference likewise depends, in some instances, on the peculiar
mode of fermentation, and the state of the grapes from which the
wine is produced.

(a) Portuguese Wines.—Of all the kinds of wine that are consumed in
England, none are so much in request as red port. This has its name
from the city of Oporto, in the neighbourhood of which the vines
that produce it are chiefly cultivated. A great proportion, however, of
the port that is consumed in England, is said to be mixed with a
Spanish red wine of inferior quality, or to be otherwise adulterated.
Red port is brought over in casks called pipes, which measure 138
gallons each, and ought to fill fifty-two dozen bottles of legal
measure.

The difference in colour betwixt red wines and white does not so
much depend upon the quality of the grape, as upon the mode in
which the wines are prepared. The juice of red grapes, if carefully
pressed, and fermented separately from the skins, forms a white
wine. If the skins be pressed so as to discharge the colouring matter
they contain, or, if they be allowed to remain in the juice during the
fermentation, the wine assumes a red tinge.
White port, and Lisbon, are two kinds of white wine which we
receive from Portugal. Of these, the former was much in demand
some years ago, but it is now seldom called for; the latter is still in
use.

(b) French Wines.—Many excellent wines are produced in France.

That usually considered the best is Burgundy, a red wine of very
delicate flavour, which has its name from the province where it is
made. The wines of the neighbourhood of Orleans, however, after
having been matured by age, are much like Burgundy. Claret is the
only French red wine for which there is any great demand in
England. It is thin and highly flavoured, and is chiefly supplied from
the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux. Some of the red wines of
Champaigne are highly prized for their excellence and delicacy,
though they, occasionally, have a pungent and sourish taste.
Hermitage is produced from vineyards, at a place so called, near the
village of Thein, on the eastern bank of the Rhone; and Côte Rotie
from vineyards on the opposite side of the river.

No French white wine has so much celebrity as Champaigne. This is

of two kinds; one of which, called still or quiet Champaigne, has
gone through the whole process of fermentation; the other, which
has the name of sparkling Champaigne, has been bottled before the
fermentation was complete: this, consequently, proceeds slowly in
the bottle, and causes the wine, on the drawing of the cork, to
sparkle in the glass. Vin de Grave is produced in the vicinity of
Bourdeaux, and the lower parts of Gascoigne: Pontac is made in
Guienne; and Frontignac and Muscadel are white wines, the
delicious productions of Languedoc.

(c) Spanish Wines.—The country about Xeres, in Andalusia, is

celebrated for a grape which produces an excellent wine called
Sherry. There are several French and English houses at Xeres and
Seville which trade, to great extent, in this wine. It is very strong,
and full-bodied, owing, in a great degree, to the quantity of brandy
with which it is mixed. In the province of Valencia, some of the
proprietors have wines of different kinds, sixty, eighty, and even a
hundred years old, the prices of which differ according to their age.
Rota, in Seville, produces a rich and sweet white wine; and the
country around Malaga, near Gibraltar, is celebrated for white wine
which is known by that name; and so assiduously is the cultivation
of the vine there pursued, that the export of the produce of the
vineyards yields to the inhabitants an annual revenue of more than
200,000l. sterling per annum. We import from Spain a harsh and
inferior kind of red wine, which, duty free, sells for only 10l. or 15l.
per pipe of 126 gallons; but the territory of Alicant produces a very
rich and excellent kind of red wine. The sweet red wine which we
call Tent is a Spanish production; chiefly imported from Cadiz, and in
hogsheads of about sixty gallons each. It is made from the juice of a
particular kind of grapes, which are not used for this purpose until
some time after they have been perfectly ripe.

(d) Italian Wines.—Notwithstanding the ancient celebrity of many of

the wines of Italy, by far the greater part of what are now
manufactured in that country are thin and bad. Certain vineyards on
mount Vesuvius, however, still have great celebrity for a luscious red
wine called Lachryma Christi.

(e) German Wines.—Germany produces many excellent wines, of

which Tokay, Hock, Rhenish, and Moselle, are the most celebrated.
Tokay has its name from a town in Hungary, near which it is chiefly
made. The quantity of this wine is so small that, even on the spot
where it is manufactured, it is sold at a very high price. It is made by
mixing with the common grapes a portion of luscious, half-dried, and
shrivelled grapes; the latter being absolutely necessary to constitute
the peculiar quality of the wine. The two kinds of grapes are pressed
separately, and the juice is afterwards mixed, fermented, and
strained through a cloth or sieve into the barrels in which it is to
continue. The best Tokay does not long remain in the place where it
is made, a great portion of it being sent into the cellars of the
nobility in other parts of Hungary. Tokay is certainly a fine wine, but
is no way adequate to the price for which it is sold. Several years
ago it could not be purchased, even in Hungary, for much less than
half a guinea of English money per bottle; and yet there are few
Englishmen, who, except on account of its scarceness, would prefer
it to good Claret or Burgundy. Of all the German wines, that which is
in greatest demand in England is Hock. This has its name from the
town of Hochstadt in Suabia, celebrated for a great battle which was
fought in its neighbourhood by the French and the allies in 1704.
Rhenish and Moselle are produced chiefly on the banks of the rivers
Rhine and Moselle, and have a cool, sharp taste, and considerable
strength. Anterior to the late wars in Germany, there were wines in
the cellars of many of the noble and wealthy inhabitants of that
country which were more than a hundred years old, and of such
body as to be uninjured even by so great an age.

(f) Madeira and Teneriffe Wines.—To the Madeira and Canary islands
we are indebted for some excellent white wines. Of these Madeira
wine is considered by far the most valuable, particularly after it has
been ripened by conveyance into a hot climate. The number of pipes
of Madeira annually made is about 30,000. The grapes, when
gathered, are put into wooden vessels, and the juice is extracted by
persons treading upon them.

The Canary Islands gave name to a rich white wine, which was
formerly in great esteem under the name of Canary sack, and is now
usually called Malmsey Madeira. The genuine Malmsey wine, which
is of sweet and luscious flavour, and rich golden yellow colour, is the
produce of Malvesia, one of the Greek islands, and thence had
originally its name, the French merchants denominating it Vin de
Malvesia: but so little is now made that few persons can possess it.
Teneriffe wine, when two or three years old, has much the flavour of
Madeira, but, after this age, it becomes so sweet and mellow, as
somewhat to resemble Malaga.
(g) Cape Wines.—There are produced, at the Cape of Good Hope, two
kinds of peculiarly rich, sweet, and delicate wine, called red and
white Constantia. The farm from which they have their name is
situated about eight miles from Cape Town. The grapes of this farm,
owing, as it is supposed, to some peculiarity in the soil, are superior
to any other in the whole country. The vintage commences about
March or April; and great care is taken in the manufacture of the
wine, no fruit being used but such as is fully ripe and in the highest
perfection. The annual produce is considered to be about sixty pipes
of the red, and 100 pipes of the white wine. Constantia is in
perfection when about two years old; but, when kept six or seven
years, it sparkles in the glass somewhat like wine which has not
undergone a perfect fermentation. What is denominated Cape
Madeira is a light kind of white wine, the produce of the Cape of
Good Hope. Considerable quantities of this wine are now consumed
in England, in consequence of the lowness of its price. This is owing
to its paying to government only one-third part of the duty which is
imposed on most other wines.

The juice of unripe grapes has a harsh, sour, and rough taste. This,
under the name of verjuice, was formerly much esteemed for
culinary and other purposes. The young twigs of the vine, when
dried, cut into small pieces, and moistened with water, afford a
wholesome food for cattle and horses. The leaves and tendrils have
an astringent taste, which it is probable they would impart to British
made wines, and thus render them somewhat similar to foreign
wines. The wood of the vine, reduced to charcoal, is used by
painters for drawing outlines; and, from the seeds or stones, a kind
of oil is sometimes made, which can scarcely be distinguished from
olive oil. These stones, when purified, moderately roasted, and
ground to a coarse powder, form a tolerable substitute for chocolate.

Brandy is a spirituous liquor, produced by the distillation of wine; and

prepared in most of the wine countries of Europe. The principal
manufactories of this spirit are in France, particularly in Languedoc,
and Anjou, whence comes the well-known Cognac brandy. The
distilleries of brandy in Catalonia, in Spain, are so extensive as to
yield more than 35,000 pipes per annum. When brandy first issues
from the still, it is colourless as water; and the colour, which is given
to it by the merchants, is produced partly by the oaken casks in
which it is kept, but chiefly by the addition of red saunders wood,
burnt sugar, and other colouring matters. These, however, do not in
the least affect the quality of the spirit.

In addition to the preceding uses of the vine, we have to add those

of its fruit in a recent state, called grapes, as a delicious addition to
our desserts; and of this fruit, in a dried state, under the appellation
of raisins and currants.

Raisins are grapes which have been suffered to remain on the trees
until they are perfectly ripe, and have been dried. They are
occasionally dried in ovens. Sometimes the clusters, being tied
several together, are dipped in a ley of the ashes of rosemary and
vine branches, with a certain portion of slaked lime, and are then
dried by exposure to the sun. The best fruit of this description are
the sun, and jar raisins; both of which are dried in the sun, without
any preparation. These are imported from the southern countries of
Europe; and also from the Asiatic provinces of Turkey. They are
principally used for desserts, whilst Malaga raisins, and some other
kinds, are employed for culinary purposes and the making of wine.

79. The CURRANTS of commerce are a small kind of raisins, or

dried grapes, which are produced in the Grecian Archipelago,
and particularly in the islands of Zante and Cephalonia.

The chief plantation of these grapes was anciently in the isthmus of

Corinth, whence they obtained the name of Corinths, since
corrupted to currants, Few, however, are now produced there, the
vineyards having been neglected in consequence of the jealousy of
the Turks not allowing large vessels to enter the gulf for their
exportation. These grapes have no stones, are usually either of a red
or black colour, and when recently gathered, are an extremely
delicious fruit.

The harvest commences in the month of August, and as soon as the

grapes are plucked from the trees, they are spread to dry, upon a
floor prepared for the purpose by stamping the earth quite hard.
This floor is formed with a gentle rising in the middle, that the rain,
in case any should fall, may run off, and not injure the fruit. When
sufficiently dry, the currants are cleaned, and laid up in magazines,
being poured into them through a hole, and stowed so closely that it
is necessary to dig them out with an iron instrument. They are
packed for exportation in large casks, and by persons who have their
feet greased in order to tread them close.

The principal consumption of currants is in England; but the

inhabitants of the islands whence they are brought know little of the
use we make of them. They imagine that we employ them only in
the dyeing of cloth, and are entirely ignorant of our luxury of
Christmas pies, and plum puddings. A small but inferior kind of
currants are grown in some parts of Spain.

DIGYNIA.

80. BEET (Beta vulgaris) is a well known fleshy or succulent

root, which is cultivated in our kitchen gardens, and grows wild
in several countries of the south of Europe.

There are two principal varieties of beet, one of which is of deep

red or purple colour, and the other is white, crossed with bands
of red.
Red beet is principally used at table boiled and cut in slices: it is,
however, sometimes pickled, and sometimes stewed with onions;
but, if eaten in great quantity, it is said to be injurious to the
stomach. The roots may be taken out of the ground for use about
the end of August, but they do not attain their full size and
perfection till the month of October. When good they are large, and
of deep red colour; and, when boiled, they are tender, sweet, and
palatable.

It has lately been ascertained that beet roots may be substituted for
malt, if deprived of the greater part of their juice by pressure, then
dried, and treated in the same manner as the grain intended for
brewing. The beer, made from beet, has been found perfectly
wholesome and palatable, and little inferior to that prepared from
malt.

From white beet the French, during the late war, endeavoured to
prepare sugar; that article, as a British colonial produce, having been
prohibited in France. For this purpose, the roots were boiled as soon
as possible after they were taken from the earth. When cold, they
were sliced, and afterwards the juice was pressed out, and
evaporated to the consistence of syrup. The sugar was obtained,
from this syrup, by crystallization. From 110 pounds' weight of the
roots, 41½ pounds of juice were obtained, which, on further
evaporation, yielded somewhat more than 4¼ pounds of brown
sugar; and these, by a subsequent operation, produced four pounds
of well grained white powder sugar. The residuum, together with the
syrup or molasses which remained, produced after distillation, 3½
quarts of rectified spirit, somewhat similar to rum.

81. MANGEL WURZEL or ROOT OF SCARCITY, is a plant of the

beet tribe (a variety of Beta cicla) with large and red veined
leaves; those arising from the root being on footstalks, and
 those of the stem being without stalks, and the flowers growing
in threes.

The farmers, in some parts of Germany, cultivate this plant as food

for cattle, and they are said to prefer it, for that use, to potatoes,
turnips, carrots, and indeed to most other vegetables. It was
introduced to the public notice in England, by the late Dr. Lettsom;
and it has been strongly recommended, not only for the feeding of
cattle, but also for the use of man. Both the leaves and root grow to
very large size; and the former, which may be eaten as spinach,
continue in season long after that plant is withered. The root is
insipid and unpalatable; but the stalks, and the stronger middle part
of the leaves, may be stewed, or eaten plain-boiled, as asparagus.

82. BARILLA is the Spanish name of a plant (Salsola soda) from

the ashes of which is produced the salt called kali or soda.

Soda is also procured from the ashes of PRICKLY SALTWORT

(Salsola kali), SHRUBBY SALTWORT (Salsola fructicosa), and
numerous plants of other tribes.

On the shores of the Mediterranean, where the preparation of soda

is pursued to considerable extent, the seeds of the plants from
which it is obtained are regularly sown in places near the sea. When
at a sufficient state of maturity, the plants are pulled up by the
roots, dried, and afterwards tied in bundles to be burnt. In some
places, this is done in ovens constructed for the purpose; and in
others, in trenches dug near the sea. The ashes, whilst they are hot,
are continually stirred with long poles, and the saline matter they
contain forms, when cold, a solid mass, almost as hard as stone.
This mass is afterwards broken into pieces of convenient size for
exportation. The best sort of Spanish soda is in dark-coloured
masses of bluish tinge, very heavy, sonorous, dry to the touch, and
it externally abounds in small cavities. Its taste is sharp, corrosive,
and strongly saline.

Soda is chiefly employed in glass and soap manufactories. See the

uses of minerals, Vol. i. No. 200.

83. ELMS are forest-trees well known in almost every part of

England. There are several species, of which, however, only
three, the COMMON ELM (Ulmus campestris, Fig. 61,) WYCH HAZEL,
or BROAD-LEAVED ELM (Ulmus montana, Fig. 62,) and DUTCH ELM
(Ulmus suberosa), grow in this country without cultivation. They
are easily distinguishable from most other forest-trees, by their
leaves being rough, and doubly serrated at the edge.

Of these trees the flowers of the first are four-cleft, and have
each four stamens, and the fruit is oblong: those of the second
are five or six cleft, and have each five or six stamens, the fruit
is roundish, and the leaves are broad; those of the third are
four-cleft, and have four stamens, and the bark of the branches
has a corky appearance.

The Dutch elm is grown in most parts of England. The common elm,
though plentiful in Worcestershire, Middlesex, and some other
southern counties, is said to be rare further north than Grantham or
Stamford. The wych hazel is common in woods and hedges
throughout the whole of South Britain.

The use of the elm as timber is chiefly confined to rough and inferior
work. Implements of husbandry are almost wholly made of it; and it
is employed for waggons, carts, mill-wheels, water-pipes, low-priced
chairs, blocks for hat-makers, and various other purposes; and
among the lower and middling classes, almost exclusively, for
coffins. The preference which it has obtained for the latter purpose,
is supposed to have originated in its peculiar durability in moist
situations.

Some of the northern writers state that, from the inner bark of the
elm, if stripped off in the spring, and boiled in water, a very
palatable kind of beer may be brewed; and that this bark, dried and
ground to powder, has, in times of scarcity, been mixed with meal to
make bread. It is occasionally administered as a decoction for
obstinate cutaneous complaints; and it has been proposed for use in
rheumatism, dropsy, and other diseases. The young leaves may be
used for the feeding of silk-worms.

Few trees are better adapted than the elm for planting in hedge
rows, along the sides of roads, and along shady walks; but in the
latter case the numerous suckers which grow up from its roots give
much trouble to keep the ground clear.

84. GENTIAN is a bitter drug, the dried root of a plant (Gentiana

lutea) which grows wild amongst the Alps, and in other
mountainous parts of the Continent.

The flower-stem of the gentian is two or three feet high, strong,

smooth, and erect. The leaves which grow upon its lower part
are spear-shaped and ribbed, and those on the upper part are
concave, smooth, and egg-shaped. The flowers, which are large
and yellow, grow round the upper part of the stem on strong
footstalks, and are divided at the edge into five or more
segments. The calyx is a kind of sheath.

Gentian is one of the principal bitters that are now used in medicine;
and is of considerable service in fevers, and in such complaints as
arise from weakness of the stomach. It is externally of a brown
colour, and internally yellowish or bright red. Its taste is at first
sweetish, but immediately afterwards bitter and pungent. As a
simple bitter, it is rendered more grateful to the stomach by the
addition of some warm aromatic; and, for this purpose, orange-peel
is commonly employed. An extract of gentian root, boiled with water
till it has nearly the consistence of honey, is kept in the shops.

85. GARDEN CARROT (Daucus carota) is a plant too well known

to need any description.

In few vegetable productions are the effects of cultivation more

conspicuous than in the carrot. The wild plants, which are common
in most parts of England, have a root so small and woody, that no
one could suppose they had any alliance whatever to the large and
succulent root of the garden carrot.

The various uses of the carrot in cookery are well known. But,
although it contains much nutriment, this root is difficult of
digestion; particularly if eaten raw, or imperfectly boiled. Carrots are
an excellent fodder for cattle and horses, either alone or mixed with
hay; and, if given to cows, in winter or the early part of spring, they
are said to cause a great increase of milk. If carrots be boiled with
their wash, hogs will thrive well upon them. In some parts of
England this vegetable has been cultivated as a winter food for deer;
and the leaves have sometimes been made into hay. Carrots contain
a large proportion of saccharine matter, and various but unsuccessful
experiments have been made to extract sugar from them. They
have, however, been more advantageously employed in distillation.
Ten pounds' weight of carrots will yield about half a pint of very
strong, ardent spirit: and the carrots (twenty tons in weight)
produced by an acre of ground, have been known to produce 240
gallons of spirit. A syrup made of these roots, and clarified with the
white of eggs, has been found useful for many purposes. An infusion
of the seeds and the expressed juice of the roots, are said to afford
relief in fits of the gravel. A marmalade of carrots has been used
with success in sea-scurvy, and a poultice prepared from them is
sometimes employed in cancerous ulcers. Crickets are so fond of
these roots that they may easily be destroyed by making a paste of
flour, powdered arsenic, and scraped carrots, and placing this near
their habitations.

86. ROCK SAMPHIRE (Crithmum maritimum) is an umbelliferous

plant, with fleshy, spear-shaped leaflets, and small but regular-
shaped white flowers.

The cliffs of Dover have long been celebrated for the production of
this vegetable, which has received an additional interest from the
notice that Shakspeare has taken of the gathering of it:

"Half-way down
Hangs one that gathers
samphire; dreadful
trade!"

It is also found on cliffs of other parts of the south of England, as

well as in Italy, France, and Spain; and generally in inaccessible
situations.

In some parts of England the leaves of samphire pickled in vinegar

are in use for the table: they are also used in salads, and for other
culinary purposes. But their place is frequently supplied by a much
more common plant, which grows in salt marshes, and has the name
of marsh samphire (Salicornia). This, however, is a very inferior
substitute, and entirely destitute of the fine aromatic flavour of the
former species.

87. ASAFŒTIDA is a resinous gum, procured from the root of a

large umbelliferous plant (Ferula asafœtida) which grows in the
mountains of some parts of Persia.
 The leaves of this plant are nearly two feet long, doubly winged,
and have the leaflets alternate. The flowers are small, and the
seeds oval, flat, and each marked with three longitudinal lines.

No one who has ever smelt the peculiarly powerful, and garlic-like
odour of asafœtida, can well forget it. If exposed to the air, but
particularly when heated, it will pervade every apartment of a house.
Notwithstanding this, it constitutes a favourite seasoning, for food,
with the inhabitants of many of the eastern countries of the world.
The Banian Indians, who never eat animal food, use it in almost all
their dishes; and, before their meals, they even rub their mouths
with it, to stimulate their appetite. It is sometimes used by our own
cooks, but in very small quantity, in place of garlic. In many parts of
Arabia and Persia, asafœtida is much esteemed as a remedy for
internal diseases, and even as an external application to wounds;
and, with us, it is considered a powerful medicine in several
disorders. It has been applied with success, in the cure of hooping-
cough and worms; and in flatulent colics, it has, in many cases,
afforded great relief. It is imported in masses of various sizes and
form, and of yellow, brown, or bluish colour, sometimes interspersed
with roundish white pieces.

The plant from the root of which asafœtida is produced grows in the
mountains which surround the small town of Disgnun, in Persia; and,
at the season when it is collected, the whole place smells of it. The
upper part of the roots, which are sometimes as thick as a man's
leg, rises somewhat above the surface of the ground. The harvest
commences when the leaves begin to decay; and the whole
gathering is performed by the inhabitants of the place, in four
different journeys to the mountains. The demand for the article in
foreign countries being first ascertained to be sufficient for the
trouble of collecting, the persons employed proceed to the
mountains in companies of four or five each. The juice is obtained
by cutting the roots across, at the same time sheltering them by the
leaves (which have been previously twisted off) from the intense
heat of the sun. Each party takes into its care about 2000 plants.
After the first incision has been made, the roots are suffered to
remain untouched for about a month, when they are again visited,
and the gum which has exuded is taken off. This operation is
repeated three times, a few days betwixt each; after which the
plants are exhausted and left to die. At the respective gatherings
each party generally brings away about fifty pounds' weight of
asafœtida. It is stated that a single ship is exclusively devoted to
transporting the bulk of this commodity to the ports in the Persian
Gulf; and that, when smaller parcels are carried, it is usual to tie
them to the top of the mast.

In the year 1784, the asafœtida plant was introduced into the
Botanic garden at Edinburgh, from seeds which had been sent by Dr.
Guthrie of Petersburgh to Dr. Hope.

The ferula tribe consists of nine or ten known species of plants, and
it is supposed that asafœtida is yielded by several of them.

In some parts of the Levant the sailors are said to use the stalks of a
species of ferula to transport fire from one island to another. This
custom is of great antiquity, and explains a passage of Hesiod, who,
speaking of the fire stolen from heaven by Prometheus, says that he
carried it in a ferula. The foundation of this fable is undoubtedly
owing to what Diodorus Siculus informs us of Prometheus, that he
was the inventor of the steel with which fire is struck from flint; and
in all probability that prince made use of the pith of the ferula
instead of tinder, to convey it from one place to another.

88. CORIANDER is a small globular seed, produced by an annual

umbelliferous plant (Coriandrum sativum), with leaves in slender
 segments, and small whitish flowers, that grows wild in Suffolk
and Essex, and is cultivated in several parts of England.

In several farms in Essex and Kent the cultivation of coriander is

pursued to considerable extent. This is done solely for the seed,
which is used by distillers, druggists, and confectioners. In some
parts of the North of Europe it is ground and mixed with dough, to
give an aromatic flavour to bread.

Coriander is usually grown with teasel (53) and caraway (91); but,
as neither of the latter come to perfection until the second year after
they have been sown, the coriander is harvested without interfering
with the other crops. In this labour, which usually commences about
the beginning of July, women and children are principally employed:
and, to prevent the seeds of the largest and best plants from being
shed and lost, each stem is cut separately. The stems are then
carried into some convenient part of the field, and threshed all
together upon a sail cloth.

So luxuriantly, and, at the same time, so abundantly does this plant

grow in a wild state, in some of the southern parts of Europe, as
almost to choke the growth of wheat and other grain. Every part of
it, except the seed, has a fetid and disagreeable smell. The seeds,
when taken in large quantities, have been considered injurious; but
Dr. Withering states, that he has known six drams of them taken
without any remarkable effect.

89. PARSNIP is the root of an umbelliferous plant (Pastinaca

sativa), with winged and serrated leaves, and small yellow
flowers, which is cultivated in kitchen gardens, and which also
grows wild on the borders of ploughed fields in several parts of
England.
The wild and cultivated parsnips differ much from each other, but
particularly in the roots of the latter being large and succulent, and
those of the former being slender and woody.

Parsnips are propagated by seed sown in February or March, and the

roots are in perfection about October. These, besides their use as a
vegetable for the table, are of great value for the feeding of cattle,
horses, sheep, and hogs. Land in Guernsey, which lets for 7l. an
acre, is sown with parsnips to feed cattle; and the milk of the cows
so fed is not only richer than it would otherwise be, but yields butter
of fine saffron colour and excellent taste.

If parsnips be washed clean, and sliced among bran, horses will eat
them. They will fatten sheep and oxen in a short time; and for the
feeding of hogs they are at least equal if not superior to carrots. As
food for mankind they are considered extremely nutritive; and may,
with great advantage, be kept on board ships that are destined for
long voyages. It is, however, said that they should not be dug up for
use in the spring, because, at that season, the nutritive juices rising
upward to produce the seed, they are then unwholesome.

Parsnips abound in saccharine juice; and various experiments have,

in vain, been made with a view to extract sugar from them. In
several parts of Ireland they are used instead of malt in brewing;
and, when properly fermented, they afford an agreeable beverage.
The seeds are considered by some practitioners as an efficacious
remedy in intermittent fevers.

90. FENNEL (Anethum fœniculum) is a well known plant, which

is cultivated in gardens, and grows wild in several parts of
England.

The leaves of fennel, both boiled and raw, are used in sauce for
several kinds of fish. The tender buds are eaten in salads; and, in
Italy, the stalks are sometimes blanched as winter salad. A distilled
water, prepared from the seeds, is occasionally administered as a
medicine; and there was formerly a notion that the roots were
peculiarly valuable, as a remedy in several diseases, but they are
now almost wholly disregarded.

91. CARAWAY is a small well known seed, produced by an

umbelliferous plant (Carum carui), with smooth and double
winged leaves, narrow leaflets, and small white, or pale flesh-
coloured flowers, of which the petals are bent inward, so as to
become heart-shaped.

The seeds of caraway have a pleasant spicy smell, and a warm

aromatic taste. They are much used by pastry-cooks and
confectioners in cakes, and for other purposes. Incrusted with sugar,
they are called caraway comfits. They are also distilled with
spirituous liquors, to improve their flavour; and are recommended as
a medicine in several disorders. An essential oil and a spirit are also
prepared from them. In the spring of the year the leaves are
sometimes used in soups, or boiled with pot-herbs. The roots may
be converted into an agreeable pickle; and, if simply boiled, they are
said by Parkinson to be better than parsnips.

This plant grows wild in several parts of England, but particularly in

meadows and pastures near Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk. It is much
cultivated in Essex and Kent, sometimes alone, and sometimes
mixed with teasel (53) and coriander (88). The season for cutting it
is about the beginning of July; and it is threshed in the field on a
cloth, in the same manner as rape-seed (187).

92. ANISE-SEEDS are the production of an umbelliferous annual

plant (Pimpinella anisum), which grows wild in Egypt, Syria, and
other Eastern countries. They are roundish and striated, flatted
 on one side, and pointed at one end; and of pale colour,
inclining to green.

Attempts were made more than two hundred years ago to cultivate
anise in this country, but the summers of our climate are seldom
warm enough to bring the plant to perfection. It has consequently
been found necessary to import the seed from Malta and Spain,
where it is cultivated to considerable extent.

Anise-seeds have an aromatic smell, and a pleasant warm taste,

accompanied with some degree of sweetness. They have long been
employed in medicine, and have been considered useful in diseases
of the lungs and complaints of the stomach. They give out all their
virtue to rectified spirit; and a spirituous water prepared from a
mixture of equal parts of anise-seed and angelica, is kept in the
shops as a cordial.

93. PARSLEY (Apium petroselinum) is an annual umbelliferous

plant too common to need any description.

The uses of parsley, in our kitchens, both for sauce and garnish, are
numerous and well known. It is, however, poisonous to several kinds
of birds; and, although so commonly used at table, facts have been
adduced from which it would appear that, with some persons, it
occasions epilepsy, or at least aggravates the fits in those who are
subject to that disease. Inflammation in the eyes has also been
attributed to the use of it. Parsley is eaten with great avidity by
sheep, and has been recommended for use in several diseases of
those animals, as well as in some diseases of horses. Both the roots
and seed are employed in medicine. The former have a sweetish
taste, accompanied with a slight warmth, and a flavour somewhat
resembling that of the carrot: the latter are warm and aromatic.
Parsley is a native of Sardinia, and propagated by seed, which is
usually sown about the month of March.

94. CELERY (Apium graveolens) is a well known plant belonging

to the same tribe as parsley.

In a wild state celery is found in ditches and marshes of several

parts of England, and is a small, acrid, and noxious plant, called
smallage: but, when cultivated, it entirely loses these properties.

It is grown in trenches, and is earthed up for the purpose of

blanching or whitening the lower parts. The seeds are sown in
spring, and the plants may be taken out for use towards the end of
the autumn. Celery is eaten raw in salads, boiled in soup, or stewed.
The seeds are used, particularly at sea, for the flavouring of soup, to
which they give the same taste as the plant itself.

95. COPAL is a somewhat resinous substance, obtained from a

tree (Rhus copallinum) the produce of America, which has
winged and very entire leaves, the foot-stalks membranaceous
and jointed.

We annually import considerable quantities of copal from the

Spanish colonies in America, in irregular masses, some of which are
transparent, of yellowish or brown colour, and others are whitish and
semi-transparent. When copal is dissolved in any volatile liquid, and
thinly spread upon wood, metal, or any other firm substance, so that
the liquid may evaporate, the copal remains perfectly transparent;
and forms one of the most beautiful and perfect varnishes that can
be imagined. The varnish thus formed has the name of copal
varnish, and is said to have been first discovered in France. One
mode of preparing it is by melting the copal with an equal quantity
of linseed oil (97); another, by mixture with oil of turpentine; and a
third, by mixture with alcohol or spirit of wine. The particular
processes are described in the fourth volume of Dr. Thomson's
System of Chemistry, fifth edition; but they are too long and intricate
for insertion here.

Copal is the varnish which is chiefly used in the japanning of snuff-

boxes, tea-boards, and other similar articles.

TRIGYNIA.

96. The COMMON ELDER (Sambucus nigra) is a wild English

shrub, distinguishable by its winged leaves, with serrated and
somewhat oval leaflets, its clusters of small white flowers
divided into five principal branches, and the small black or
purple berries by which these are succeeded.

The uses of the elder are more numerous than those of most other
shrubs. There is scarcely any part of this shrub which has not been
advantageously employed in some way or other. The wood is yellow,
and, in old trees, becomes so hard that it will take a polish almost as
bright as that of box (232); and, indeed, it is often used as a
substitute for box-wood. Its toughness also is such that it is made
into skewers for butchers, tops for fishing rods, and needles for the
weaving of nets. It is likewise employed by turners.

Sir J. E. Smith has remarked that this tree is, as it were, a whole
magazine of physic to rustic practitioners, and that it is not quite
neglected even by professional men. Ointments have been made of
the green inner bark, and of the leaves. The dried flowers, infused in
water, are used in fomentations, or as tea: and, mixed with butter-
milk, they are sometimes employed as a wash for the face; and the
clusters of flowers, before they open, may be made into a delicious
pickle, to eat with boiled mutton. The berries are boiled into a rob,
which is useful in sore throats, colds, and hoarsenesses. In addition
to their medicinal services, the leaves are sometimes thrown into the
subterraneous paths of moles, under an impression that their smell
will drive away those noxious animals. If turnips, cabbages, fruit
trees, or corn, all of which are subject to blight from various kinds of
insects, be strongly whipped with the green leaves and branches of
elder, insects will not attack them; and an infusion of the leaves is
sometimes sprinkled by gardeners over the buds of such flowers as
they wish to preserve from the devastation of caterpillars. Elder
flowers have an agreeable flavour, which they impart, in distillation,
to water: they are likewise used to give a flavour to vinegar. The
berries are poisonous to poultry, but their juice, properly fermented,
makes a pleasant and wholesome wine; and, in Germany, a very
pure and strong spirit is distilled from them. The juice of elder
berries is sometimes employed to give a red colour to raisin or other
sweet wine. The young shoots of this shrub are filled with an
exceedingly light pith, which is cut into balls for electrical
experiments; and is also made into toys for the amusement of
children.

The elder will grow and thrive in almost any soil and situation; but,
as every part of this shrub has an unpleasant narcotic smell, people
ought to be cautious not to sleep under its shade, as, in such case, it
might prove of serious injury to them.

TETRAGYNIA.

97. FLAX is the produce of an annual plant (Linum

usitatissimum, Fig. 37), with spear-shaped leaves, and blue
flowers, which is cultivated in several parts of Great Britain, and
grows wild in corn-fields and sandy pastures of some of the
southern counties.

The stems of these plants rise to the height of about two feet.
The seed vessels and leaves of the calyx are sharp pointed, and
 the flowers have each five scolloped petals.

It is supposed that we were originally indebted for this plant to those

parts of Egypt which are annually inundated by the Nile; but the
time of its introduction into this country is unknown. Its utility is
incalculable. To it we are indebted for the linen we wear, for our
sheets, table-cloths, and numerous other indispensable articles of
clothing and domestic economy; and although cotton might, in some
degree, supply its place, those persons who have been accustomed
to the comforts of linen would be little desirous of the exchange.

The cultivation of flax is pursued to considerable extent in some

parts of the British dominions. The seed imported from Riga and
Holland is generally, though perhaps erroneously, esteemed the best.
It is sown in March or April; and the plants, when nearly ripe, are
pulled up by the roots. These, if flax and not seed be the object of
the crop, are either placed in small parcels upon the surface of the
land, for exposure to the sun, to dry; or they are immediately
conveyed to the place where they are to undergo the process called
watering. For this purpose they are loosely tied in small bundles,
placed in pools or ponds of soft and stagnant water, and allowed to
continue there several days. By the fermentation which takes place,
the bark or flaxy substance becomes separated. They are then taken
out, and thinly spread upon the grass, in regular rows. Here they are
occasionally turned until they have become so brittle, that, on being
rubbed between the hands, the flax easily and freely separates from
the stalks. They are taken up, and bound in sheaves, to be either
sent to a mill, or to be broken and scuttled, as it is called, by a
machine contrived for that purpose.

The flax, by the above process, having been separated from the
stalks, it subsequently undergoes various dressings, according to the
purposes for which it is to be used.
When the plants have been grown for seed, they are pulled as
before, and then laid together by handfuls upon the ground, with
the seed ends towards the south, that they may be the better
exposed to the sun. The next operation is to force off the seed
vessels. For this purpose a large cloth is usually spread on some
adjacent and convenient spot of ground, and an instrument, called a
ripple, is placed in the middle of it. This is a sort of comb, consisting
of six, eight, or ten, long, triangular, upright teeth. The seed ends of
the flax are pulled repeatedly through the teeth of the comb, by
which the parts containing the seed are removed from the stalks.
After this the pods and seeds, which have the name of line-seeds,
are spread upon a cloth in the sun to dry, and subsequently are
threshed, sifted, winnowed, and cleansed. The best seed is generally
preserved for sowing, and the second sort yields considerable profit
in the oil which is obtained from it by pressure. This, which is called
linseed oil, is equally useful in the arts and in medicine. It is
occasionally employed for making the soap called green soap. If
heat be applied during the pressure of the seeds, the oil attains a
yellowish colour and a peculiar smell, and, in this state, it is used by
painters and varnishers. An infusion of the seed, in the manner of
tea, is recommended in coughs; and from the seed is also made an
useful kind of poultice for external inflammations.

After the oil has been expressed, the remaining farinaceous part of
the seeds is squeezed together into large masses, called oil-cake
which is given as food to oxen.

It must be remarked that the water in which flax has been

macerated becomes thereby poisonous to cattle; and, on this
account, the practice of steeping it in any running stream or
common pond was prohibited by an act of Parliament, passed in the
reign of Henry the Eighth.
 CLASS VI.—HEXANDRIA.

MONOGYNIA.

98. The PINE (Bromelia ananas) is a rich and highly fragrant

fruit, of large size, and yellow colour, with protuberances on its
surface; and crowned by a tuft of strong and pointed leaves,
edged with sharp spines.

This, the best and finest flavoured of all known fruits, was originally
imported into England from South America, about the year 1690. In
that country and the West Indies it has long been cultivated in the
open ground; and, from free access to a congenial atmosphere, it
attains there a much finer flavour than is possible in a forced state,
in the hot-houses of Great Britain.

Pines are planted in earth; and the pots which contain them are
immersed in beds of bark, after it has been used by the tanners.
About the month of April the young fruit begins to advance, but the
usual season for ripening does not commence till July, and the fruit
is in greatest perfection from the middle of August to the end of
September. The ripening of pines is discoverable by the fragrant
odour which they emit, and by their protuberances yielding to
pressure with the hand; and their flavour speedily dissipates if left
uncut longer than three or four days after they are fully ripe. When
brought to table, their leafy crowns should be reserved for planting.
These, if placed in pots, and plunged in the bark-bed, or in a hot-
bed, and covered, for some time, with glass, will in two years bear
fruit.
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