SOL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



SOL 



slowly : in about ten or fifteen minutes after beginning to boil, 

 try whether they be done enough ; if done, pour off all the 

 water, and putting the pot over the fire for about five minutes, 

 throw in some salt, and continue to shake the pot so as to 

 move the potatoes, until all the steam is evaporated. Then 

 cover them close with a clean napkin, and keeping them near 

 the fire, they will continue good-looking and well tasted for 

 near an hour, if necessary. Some dress them in an iron 

 pot, over a slow fire, without any water. Boiling by steam, 

 which has lately become so general, is certainly an im- 

 provement ; but, the boiling them as above directed, in 

 water, has this material advantage, that it carries off some 

 matter, which is detained in the process by steam, and which 

 injures the flavour of the root. The use of Potatoes, as ap- 

 plied to the sustenance of cattle, is too obvious and sim- 

 ple to require any observation. It is worthy of remark, 

 that both yeast, or, as it is often called, barm, and also an 

 ardent spirit, may be obtained from Potatoes. To obtain the 

 barm, boil a pound of mealy Potatoes for every quart of 

 yeast to be made, till they are quite soft; skin and mash them 

 very smooth ; mix as much in the water in which they were 

 boiled, as will reduce them to the consistency of common 

 yeast, but not thicker: add to every pound of Potatoes two 

 ounces of coarse sugar or treacle ; and, when lukewarm, stir 

 in, for every pound of Potatoes, two table-spoonfuls of good 

 new beer-yeast; keep it stirring and warm for twenty-four 

 hours, or till it has done fermenting, when it will be fit for 

 use ; but if older the better. It will keep three months in 

 bottles. Many years ago, it was proposed in Sweden to 

 extract spirit from Potatoes, in order to save corn ; and it is 

 said, that they found an acre of land, planted with this root, 

 would yield a greater quantity of spirit than if it were sown 

 with Barley. The practice was tried in Scotland with 

 different degrees of success, supposed to be owing to the 

 different care and attention bestowed in the process. Dr. 

 Anderson obtained, from seventy-two pounds of Potatoes, an 

 English gallon of pure spirit, considerably above proof, and 

 about a quart more below proof. He celebrates it as the 

 finest and most agreeable vinous spirit he ever tasted; some- 

 what like very fine brandy, but milder, with a peculiar cool- 

 ness upon the palate, and a flavour as if it had been impreg- 

 nated with Violets and Raspberries. The potatoes were 

 boiled to a pulp, bruised, and passed through a sieve, with 

 fresh water to separate the skins. The pulp was then gra- 

 dually mixed with about twenty gallons of cold water; yeast 

 was added to this mixture at a proper temperature, and in 

 ten or twelve hours a fermentation began, and continued for 

 about that time, and was then renewed by stirring it briskly 

 at the same intervals, for a fortnight; at the end of which 

 time it could not be renewed by agitation or otherwise, and 

 was found, upon trial, to have acquired a kind of acid slightly- 

 vinous taste, fit for distillation. It was then cautiously dis- 

 tilled, taking care to stir it till it began to boil, before the 

 still head was applied. The fire was made so strong as to 

 keep it boiling briskly till the whole came over, in order to 

 prevent the thick matter from subsiding and burning to the 

 bottom, which would have given it an intolerably offensive 

 flavour. This experiment has been found to succeed upon a 

 second trial, in every respect, except that the peculiar Rasp- 

 berry flavour was not produced. Vast quantities of common 

 starch are also made from Potatoes, and of late years it has 

 greatly improved in quality. 



32. Solanum Pimpinellifolium ; Burnet-leaved Nightshade. 

 :>tem unarmed, herbaceous; leaves pinnate, quite entire; 

 acemes simple. Native of Peru. This, and the six follow- 

 ng species, are all propagated by sowing their seeds on a 



VOL. II. 115. 



moderate hot-bed in March; and when the plants are come 

 up two inches high, they should be transplanted into another 

 moderate hot-bed, at about four inches' distance from each 

 other, observing to shade them until they have taken root; 

 after which they must have frequent waterings, and a large 

 share of fresh air; for if they are too much drawn while 

 young, they seldom do well afterwards. In May they ought 

 to be transplanted either into pots filled with light earth, or 

 into borders near walls, pales, or reed-hedges, to which 

 their branches may be fastened, to support them from trail- 

 ing on the ground, which they are liable to do, and then the 

 fruit will not ripen. Hence, where these plants are culti- 

 vated for the sake of fruit, they should have a warm aspect, 

 with their branches regularly fastened as they extend, that 

 the fruit may have the advantage of the sun's warmth to 

 forward them, otherwise it will be late in the season before 

 they are ripe, and they are unfit for use before ; but when 

 the plants are brought forward in the spring, and thus regu- 

 larly trained to the south sun, the fruit will ripen by the 

 latter end of July, and there will be a succession until the 

 plants are killed by the frost. Some persons cultivate them, 

 for ornament, but the leaves emit so offensive an odour on 

 being touched, as to render them very improper for a pleasure- 

 garden; and their branches extend so widely and irregularly, 

 especially when they are planted in good ground, that they 

 will appear very unsightly; therefore the borders in the 

 kitchen-garden where the plants are placed for the sake of 

 their fruit, must not be too rich, for in a moderate soil they 

 are less luxuriant, and more fruitful. 



33. Solanum Lycopersicum; Love-apple^ or Tomato. Stem 

 unarmed, herbaceous; leaves pinnate, gashed; racemes two- 

 parted, leafless; fruits smooth. It varies in form, size, and 

 colour. One variety is commonly cultivated in the south of 

 Europe, to put into soups and sauces, to which it imparts an 

 agreeable acid flavour. The fruit of this variety is very large, 

 compressed at both top and bottom, and deeply furrowed 

 all over the sides, of a red or yellow colour. The other is 

 round, about the size of a large cherry, either yellow or red. 

 Native of South America. It flowers from July to Septem- 

 ber, or till stopped by the frost; and the fruit ripens from 

 the end of July till the autumnal frosts come on. The Italians 

 and Spaniards eat it, as we do Cucumbers, with pepper, oil, 

 and salt; and they are now much used in soups in England. 

 For its propagation and culture, see the preceding species. 



34. Solanum Pseudo-Lycopersicum ; False Tomato. Stem 

 unarmed, herbaceous; leaves pinnate, gashed ; racemes sim- 

 ple ; fruits subvillose ; berry not grooved, less than in the 

 preceding. Native of St. Helena. See the thirty-second 

 species. 



35. Solanum Peruvianum; Peruvian Nightshade. Stem 

 unarmed, herbaceous; leaves pinnate, gashed, tomentose ; 

 racemes two-parted, leafy ; berries somewhat hairy. Root 

 perennial ; corollas bright yellow. Native of Peru. 



36. Solanum Montanum ; Mountain Nightshade. Stem 

 unarmed, herbaceous; leaves subcordate, repand. Native 

 of Peru. 



37. Solanum Rubrum ; Red Nightshade. Stem unarmed, 

 subperennial; leaves in pairs, ovate, quite entire; peduncles 

 subumbelled. Native of St. Helena. 



38. Solanum Nodiflorum ; Knot-Jlowered Nightshade. 

 Stem unarmed, shrubby ; leaves smooth, ovate, acuminate 

 at both ends ; umbels peduncled, extrafoliaceous. This is 

 an upright shrub, ten feet high, smooth, weak ; branches 

 round, subdichotomous, erect, knobbed at the divisions; 

 flowers small. The Malays call it Bret, and cultivate it as 

 a potherb. Native of the island of Mauritius. 



7M 



