HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



265 



THE HISTOEY OF OUR CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



No. VII.— THE PARSNIP {Pastlnaca sativa). 



HE Parsuip be- 

 longs to the 

 same tribe of 

 plants as the 

 Carrot (Umbel- 

 lifer a;), and 

 ^^<^^J^ grows on simi- 

 lar soils. In its natural state 

 the stem rises from two to 

 three feet high, bearing yellow 

 flowers, which are succeeded 

 by thin, flat, oval-shaped fruit. 

 The leaves are simply pinnate, 

 shining, downy beneath, and 

 are not so delicately formed as 

 those of the Carrot. Like that 

 plant the Parsnip is biennial. 

 It appears that this vege- 

 table was reclaimed and early 

 cultivated at Gelduba, in the neighbourhood of the 

 Rhine, from which place the Emperor Tiberius, 

 who held parsnips in high repute, had them brought 

 annually to Rome. They were served for the table 

 with their pith taken out, after being boiled ; and 

 eaten with a sauce made of honey or mead. The 

 ancients attributed wonderful qualities to this root, 

 and it was much esteemed by the worshippers of 

 Vulcan. Pliny tells us the Romans were accustomed 

 to transplant their parsnips in the spring into 

 ground that had been dug to a considerable depth 

 for the purpose, and that they were fit for eating at 

 the end of the year, still better at the end of two ; 

 but it was impossible to get rid of its strong pungent 

 flavour. It was also believed that persons wlio 

 carried this plant about with them were never stung 

 by serpents. Mixed with axle-grease {Axnugia), 

 properly swine grease, with which the axle-trees of 

 the chariots were rubbed, it was applied to parts of 

 the body stung by reptiles, and the leaves were 

 eaten as a remedy for indigestion. 

 Parsnips might have been brought into England 

 No. 120. 



by the Romans, but of this we have no account. 

 Hartlib, who wrote in 1650, states that they were 

 introduced with carrots, &c., from Holland or 

 Elanders. Old Gerard says, " The herbelist of our 

 time do call the garden parsnip Pastinaca, and 

 therefore we have surnamed it LatifoUa, or broad- 

 leaved, that it may differ from the other garden 

 parsnip, with narrow leaves, which is truly and pro- 

 perly called StaphjUnus, that is the garden carrot." 

 Parsnips were also called Mypes in the time of this 

 author, who adds they are more nourishing than 

 carrots or turnips. He tells us that there is good 

 and pleasant bread made from the roots of the par- 

 snip, " as my friend Master Plat has set forth in his 

 book of experiments." That student in physic and 

 astrology, Culpepper, states in his " Herbal," " that 

 the root of this vegetable is often used, but the seed 

 much more. The wild being better than the tame, 

 shows Dame Nature to be the best physician." 

 Parkinson informs us that the seed ripens the 

 second year after sowing, and adds, if they do 

 flower the first year, the country people call them 

 Madde Neepes. 



Ray says it is asserted by some writers that eating 

 old parsnips is likely to cause delirium and madness, 

 and for this reason they are called Mad Napes. 

 Withering states that the seeds of this plant con- 

 tain an essential oU ; they were much used in medi- 

 cine, and were often taken to cure intermittent 

 fevers, and should be those of the wild plant ; but 

 the druggists in his time commonly sold the seed of 

 the garden kind, which they could purchase at an 

 easy price when it was too old to grow. Dr. John 

 M'Cuiloch was the first writer who noticed more 

 than one cultivated variety of this plant. In his 

 paper on the Parsnip, addressed to the Caledonian 

 Horticultural Society, September, 1814, he men. 

 tions three kinds being known in the islands of 

 Guernsey and Jersey: in the same paper he mentions 

 that this plant will stand the frost better than any 

 other vegetable. "The unusually severe winter of 



