406 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Ciiai-. V. 



The plaTit \ised for flavoring, called hasll, wliicli now stands so liigli that a 

 London alderman wonld spurn a basin of turtle made without it, was, 2r)() 

 years before Christ, condemned by Ohrysipi^us as an enemy to the siglit and 

 a robber of the wits. Pliny says ihey sowed the seeds witli inaledictions 

 and ill M-ords, believing that the more it vras cursed the better it would 

 prosper. 



Lettuce appears, from an anecdote related by Ilcrodot'us, to liave been 

 served at the royal tables of the Persian kings, five or six hundred years 

 before the Christian era, but they only knew one .sort, which was a black 

 variety, Tliis esculent has been greatly improved by cnltivation as well as 

 cabliage. We can remember when a head of lettuce would have been a 

 great cnriosity, and the heads of cabbage fifty years ago were very mdike 

 merchantable cabbage-heads of tlie present day. 



Mint appears to have been used formerly for other purposes besides 

 making mint-jnlcps, which produce a disease which, in ancient times, mint 

 was used to cure; for Pliny says, at a consultation of physicians in his 

 chamber, it "was decided that a chaplet of pennyroyal was better for gid- 

 diness and swimming in the head than one of roses. 



According to Ovid, mint was used by the ancients to perfume their tables, 

 by rubbing the leaves upon them before serving the supper; and mush- 

 rooms, Ijoth edilile and poisonous, were known to the ancients. They were 

 considered, Mdien good, a great dainty with the voluptuous Itomans; and 

 one of the poisonous sorts was used by Agrippina to destroy her husband 

 Tiberius Claudius. 



Ilustaixl, it will be recollected by Eiblc-readcrs, was cultivated in Syria 

 at the time of our Saviour, as it is mentioned in one of his beautiful parables 

 as being the least seed that was sown in the field. 



Garlic and onions must have been in high favor as food. at a very early 

 day, since it appears tliat the Egyptians worshiped garlic, and" were said to 

 wish tliat they might enjoy it in Paradise ; though the Greeks held it in 

 such abliorrence, that they regarded tliose "who ate it as profane. The Po- 

 mans gave it to their laborers and soldiers to strengthen them, and to their 

 game-cocks previously to fighting them ; and the Israelites, while in the 

 wilderness, lamented the deprivation of these stimulating roots, to which 

 they had become so accustomed in Egypt. lu this country, onions are eaten 

 by all classes, and in New York city, we have noticed, are greatly esteemed 

 in winter by the very poorest classes, particularly the dissipated. They are 

 not generally considered unhealthy, thougli no dyspeptic should ever touch 

 garlic or onions in any shape, particularly raw. 



Parsncps were held in high esteem by the Emperor Tiberius, who im- 

 ported them annually into Pome from Germany, probably because they 

 grew much better in that colder climate, as they are greatly improved here 

 by remaining in the ground to freeze during winter. 



Parsneps contain a large proportion of sugar; beer is made from them in 

 the north of Ireland, and wine, closely approaching the malmsey of Madeira, 



