348 



Many of them, such as the Fuchsia, Epilobium, Gaura, 

 Clarkia, and Lopezia, are highly ornamental plants. 

 Montinia acris, which is remarkable for having albu- 

 minous seeds, likewise deviates from the other genera 

 in having an acrid fruit. Of the Epilobia, or willow 

 herbs, the E. or Chamnerion angustifolium is said to 

 produce a kind of intoxication, or to stupify those 

 who drink a decoction of the stems and leaves ; and 

 hence perhaps the reason why it is added by the 

 Kamtschatdales to " enrich the spirit " they prepare 

 from the cowparsnep. The pith when dried becomes 

 sweet, and the same people brew from it a kind of 

 ale, and also procure their vinegar. The young shoots 

 of this and other species are also eatable, when dressed 

 in the same manner as asparagus. The Epilobia are 

 valuable for shrubberies, growing in the shade, and 

 remain unhurt among the smoke of large towns. The 

 leaves of Jussieua Peruviana are esteemed in America 

 for making good emollient poultices. Circcea, the 

 enchanter's nightshade, is a common British plant, 

 and though it bears an ominous name, being named 

 after the famous enchantress Circe, it is an entirely 

 innocuous plant. All the genera are increased by 

 cuttings or seeds. 



ONC1DIUM (Swam). A beautiful genus of 

 South American perennial herbs, bearing gynandrious 

 flowers, and belonging to the natural order Orckidece. 

 This, like many of its congeners, is found growing on 

 the stems of trees in thick shady and damp woods of 

 Brazil and other parts of South America. In our 

 collections the species are grown in moist stoves kept 

 at a high temperature ; and, to imitate their natural 

 habitat, are fixed to a rugged branch of a tree among 

 moss, and outer shells of the cocoa-nut nailed round 

 to form a bed for the roots. They are increased by 

 division of the roots. 



ONION is the Allium cepa of Linnaeus, a well- 

 known culinary vegetable. Garlic, and onions of 

 various kinds, were highly esteemed in Egypt, and, 

 according to Hasselquist, not without reason. He 

 conjectures that the A. cepa, which is still used in 

 that country in amazing quantities, and forms a most 

 delicious food, is one of the species of onion after 

 which the Israelites longed when in the wilderness. 

 He says" Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt will 

 allow that none can be had better in any part of the 

 universe. Here they are sweet, in other countries 

 they are nauseous and strong ; here they are soft, 

 whereas in the northern and other parts they are 

 hard, and the coats so compact that they are difficult 

 of digestion. Hence they cannot be eaten in any 

 place with less prejudice and more satisfaction than 

 in Egypt." 



It was probably an assumption of austerity and 

 show of self-denial which caused the Egyptian priests 

 to abstain from the use of onions as food, and this 

 subsequently led to the superstitious reverence with 

 which, by the bulk of the people, they were re- 

 garded. Lucian, when giving an account of the 

 different deities worshipped in Egypt, states that the 

 inhabitants of " Peluseum adore the onion." The 

 Egyptians, indeed, were commonly reproached for 

 swearing by the onions and leeks in their gardens ; 

 for Pliny says" Allium " cepasque inter Deos in jure 

 jurando habet Egyptus," an absurdity which did not 

 escape the scourge of Juvenal : 



" O sanctas gentes quibus hsec nascuntur in hortis 

 Numina." 



" Religious nation, sure, and blest abodes, 

 Where eveiy garden is o'er-run -with gods." 



ONCIDIUM ONOBRYCHIS. 



But, while some of the people did not dare to eat 

 eeks, garlic, or onions, for fear of injuring their gods, 

 others fed on them with enthusiasm, excited by the 

 :est of appetite, if not by religious zeal, if we may 

 ud<re from the distich which declares that 



" Such savoury deities must sure be good, 

 Which serve at once for worship and for food.' 



ONISCUS (LinnseusV A genus of apterous in- 

 sects, belonging to the class Crustacea, order Isopoda, 

 and forming the type of the family Oiiiscidce, in which 

 :he body is of an oval or hemispherical form, with 

 'our antennae, the intermediate pair being very small, 

 and only two-jointed. The abdomen is six-jointed, 

 and very short, with two or four terminal styles, and 

 without any lateral swimming plates ; some of the 

 species of this family are aquatic, whilst others are 

 .errestrial, and the modifications which the organs of 

 respiration undergo in those different species are very 

 interesting. The restricted genus Oniscus, of modem 

 authors, comprises only terrestrial species, being con- 

 founded with the Glomeris marginata, under the com- 

 mon name of wood-lice. They have eight joints in 

 the lateral antennae, the base of which is not exposed ; 

 the two external appendages of the tail are much 

 larger than the two interior. They frequent dark 

 and retired situations, such as cellars, caves, the cracks 

 of walls, &c. They are also fond of burrowing into 

 rotten window-sashes, beams, decayed trees, &c. 

 They feed upon vegetable and animal matter in a 

 state of decay, appearing abroad only in rainy or 

 damp weather. They creep slowly, and are easily 

 alarmed ; the eggs are enclosed in a pectoral pouch, 

 in which the young are hatched, these, at their birth, 

 are deficient, wanting one segment and a pair of 

 legs, which they afterwards acquire. The typical 

 species Oniscus asellus, Linnaeus, is very abundant, and 

 commonly called pigs'-louse, wood-louse, &c. It was 

 formerly employed in medicine, and was supposed to 

 cure agues, consumptions, &c. ; but it has now, like 

 many other similar medicines, been expunged from 

 the Pharmacopoeia. The writer has observed, that 

 the young of the common species, whilst very small, 

 and of a white colour, frequents the nest of the brown 

 garden ant, with which it lives in perfect harmony. 

 Mr. Knapp has noticed the same thing in the nest of 

 Formica flava. He says, " some of these ant-hills con- 

 tained multitudes of the young of the wood-louse, 

 inhabiting with perfect familiarity the same compart- 

 ments as the ants, crawling about with great activity 

 with them, and perfectly domesticated with each 

 other ; they were small and white, but the constant 

 vibration of their antennae, and the alacrity of their 

 motions, manifested a healthy vigour, although the 

 ants at the same time were in a torpid state." Journal 

 of a Naturalist, p. 304. 



ONOBRYCHIS (Tournefort). A genus of herb- 

 aceous plants, chiefly natives of Europe. The flowers 

 are diadelphous, and belong to the natural order 

 Leguminosee. Several of the species were ranked as 

 hedysarums by Linnaeus, and of them the type of the 

 genus is the well-known agricultural plant called 

 saintfoin. On chalky loams this plant is a useful 

 one to the farmer when the season for making the 

 crop into hay is favourable. It is fit for the sithe 

 as soon as any of the clovers (except, perhaps, the 

 scarlet trefoil), and its hay is prized above that of all 

 other plants ; but one shower of rain upon it, after it 

 is cut and withered, spoils it entirely, so that it is not 

 so generally cultivated as it otherwise would be, 



