46 tJMBELLIFEE^ 



the effect of blanching so well, that Ave cannot do better than present his 

 words to our readers. "If," he says, "you cause a plant, or any part of a 

 plant, to grow in total darkness, it will be entirely destitute of greenness ; 

 or, in other words, the substance of the plant will remain of its original 

 yellowish Avhite, because no green matter can be formed but by the action of 

 light ; and if a part already green is kept for a long time in darkness it will 

 become yellowish-white, in consequence of all its green being destroyed l)y 

 the peculiar action of the atmosphere upon plants in darkness. This is the 

 explanation of blanching. But mere loss of colour is not the onh^ conse- 

 quence of plants being kept in the dark. Poisons, when it is the nature of 

 the plants to yield poisons, are all formed in leaves by the action of light ; 

 the absence of this wonderful agent will therefore prevent the formation of 

 poisons, as well as the formation of green colour ; and hence blanching 

 renders poisonous plants harmless. Thus in the Celery, but a small portion 

 only of the leaves is exposed to the light ; the whole of the stem and of the 

 lower part of the leaves is buried in the earth ; the small quantity of noxious 

 matter that might be formed by the few leaves which are allowed to bask in 

 the sun, has to pass down the buried stalks of the leaves before it can reach 

 the stem, where it would be laid up ; but the leaf-stalk of the Celery is very 

 long, and anything Avhich has to filter from the uj)per part of such a leaf to 

 its bottom, has to take a long journey, in the course of which it is constantly 

 under the destroying influence of darkness ; so that before it can reach the 

 stem it will all have perished." 



The cultivated Celery often attains a very large size ; and a head of this 

 plant, Avliich was reared in the neighbourhood of Manchester, is stated to 

 have Aveighed nine pounds, inclusive of the roots and leaves, and to have 

 measured four feet and a half in height. There are several A'arieties in the 

 kitchen-garden, as the red and Avhite upright kinds, and the more hardy 

 turnip-rooted Celery, or Celeriac, of Avhich the root is the only edible part. 

 This is much prized in Germany, either as a boiled vegetable, or sliced and 

 eaten cold Avith vinegar, Avhen it makes an excellent salad. Though rarely 

 cultiA^ated in this country, it is imported occasionally from Hamburgh. 



The blanched footstalks of the leaves are the portions of the Celery 

 usually seen at our tables ; but the Italians use the unblanched leaves in 

 soups ; and the seed is so strongly flavoured, that it is sometimes substituted 

 in cooking for the succulent stalks. 



6. Parsley {PdroseUnuin). 



1. Common Parsley (P. sativum). — Leaves thrice pinnate, shining; 

 loAver leaflets egg-shaped, somcAvhat wedge-shaped, 3-cleft, and toothed; 

 upper ones lanceolate, nearly entire ; partial involucre thread-like. Plant 

 biennial. This Avell-knoAvn garden herb is not truly wild, but is naturalized 

 on rocks and old walls in many parts of the kingdom, especially in the south- 

 west of England. It is Avorthy of note that the Parsley is noAvhere known 

 as an indigenous plant, but only as a cultivated herb, or a naturalized escape 

 from cultivation. This fact appears to show that it has been grown by man 

 for so long a period that it has become Avidely different from the Avild form 

 and the relationship is no longer recognisable. Besides being used as a 



