140 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
powdered seeds may be taken, with a lump of sugar, in a wine- 
glassful of hot water. But narcotic effects have been known 
to follow the chewing of Caraway Seeds in excess, such as two 
or three ounces at a time. In the north of England an oaten 
cake made with treacle, and Caraway Seeds, is commonly eaten 
at breakfast. A poultice of crushed Caraway Seeds steeped in 
hot water to the consistence of a pulp, and applied within muslin 
around a sprained joint, will afford speedy relief. The young 
roots of Caraway plants as cultivated in Kent, and Essex, may 
be sent to table like parsnips; they warm and stimulate, and 
strengthen a cold languid stomach. 
CARROT. 
THE Garden Carrot (Daucus carota), an umbelliferous plant, is 
so common a vegetable with us all as not to need any descriptive 
preliminaries. The root contains an essential oil, which is 
fragrant, aromatic, and stimulating. Upon this much of the 
virtues depend. Carrots are also rich in sugar, both cane, and 
fruit, in kind, to the amount of nearly 10 per cent. Their juice 
when expressed affords “carotin,” in red crystals, with pectin, 
albumin, and the volatile oil already mentioned. The chief 
virtues of the Carrot lie in the strong antiseptic qualities which 
it possesses, as preventive of putrescent changes either within 
the body, or when applied externally. The sugar of Carrots can 
be collected from their inspissated juice, and used at table, 
being excellent for the coughs of consumptive persons. At 
Vichy, where derangements of the liver, and of the biliary 
digestion, are specially treated, Carrots in one form or another 
are served at every meal, whether in soup, or with meat, or as @ 
vegetable dish, considerable efficacy for cures being attributed 
to them. 
For preparing Carrot juice, rub cleansed Carrots with a grater, 
and squeeze their juice through a clean cloth ; then boil it, with, 
or without sugar, skimming carefully the while. When it no 
longer froths take it off the fire, and let it cool. Then strain it 
through a cloth, and pour it into glasses. A teaspoonful thereof 
may be taken several times in the day for subduing a troublesome 
cough, or as a quieting nervine cordial. Confectioners often 
mix the pectin of Carrots, residing principally in their outer 
rind, with fruit jelly as a diluent. 
