ONIONS AND GARLIC 



that 1600 talents had been paid for onions, radishes, and 

 garlic used by the workmen during its erection. 



The Jewish priests were forbidden to eat garlic, which 

 (with cucumber) formed the dishes most regretted by the 

 Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. The 

 Shallot comes from Ascalon, where it will be remembered 

 Richard the First defeated Saladin the Sultan, and where 

 also Sir Sidney Smith defeated the Emperor Napoleon and 

 made him miss his destiny. It was not brought to this 

 country till 1548. Probably, therefore, Tennyson's Lady 

 of Shalott lived somewhere else. Onions and leeks are of 

 course popular in this country, and especially in Wales, 

 where the latter has been the badge of the Welsh since they 

 gained a victory over the Saxons in the sixth century. 

 They wore it as a badge on that occasion by an order of 

 St. David. 



But in warmer countries onions and garlic are much more 

 important, where they have flavoured almost every dish since 

 the days of Nestor's banquet to Machaon in Asia, and of the 

 Emperor Nero in Italy, until our own days. 



But the subject is so inexhaustible, depending as it does 

 upon man's powers of invention and his tendency to weird 

 superstitions, that we must close this chapter and also the 

 book. 



And we will end by asking the reader to think sometimes 

 of all these many and various ways in which plants help and 

 interest man. 



It is not merely because our life depends upon them. 

 Everything that we eat has been produced by plant life and 

 plant work. 



Tea, coffee, cocoa, and wine are pleasant because plants 

 have produced some essence which is found useful and agree- 



373 



