ALLIACEOUS PLANTS. 287 



and their coats so compact, as to render them less easy 

 of digestion.' The Egyptians divide them into four 

 parts, and eat them roasted together with pieces of 

 meat ; which preparation they consider so delicious, 

 that they devoutly wish it may form one of the viands 

 of Paradise. A soup made of these onions was pro- 

 nounced hy the learned traveller to be certainly one of 

 the best dishes of which he ever partook. 



This predilection for the savoury bulb extends in 

 Africa beyond the country of the Nile. Major Den- 

 ham, in his route south from Bornou, observed nume- 

 rous gardens, but the only vegetable produced in 

 them appeared to be onions. 



This plant is a biennial, having long tubulated leaves, 

 a swelling, pithy stalk, thicker in the middle than at 

 either of the ends, and a large spherical head of 

 flowers, which expand the second summer after sow- 

 ing. The root is a bulb, tunicated or formed of con- 

 centric coats ; this varies in size materially, according 

 to the variety, soil, and mode of cultivation. It seems 

 to be a general law among this species of roots, that 

 the small are more pungent than the large, that 

 those which have a tinge of red or purple are more 

 pungent than those which are white, and that those 

 which have the rind or outer membranous tunic upon 

 the bulb thin and transparent are always of milder 

 flavour than those which have it thick. It would be 

 unprofitable as well as uninteresting to attempt an 

 enumeration of the varieties of onions ; and, even 

 though it should be made complete at the present 

 time, new varieties are so constantly springing up, 

 that it would not long remain a correct list. Nearly 

 twenty different kinds are recommended as being 

 worthy of garden culture. 



A rich mellow ground, on a dry subsoil, is the 

 most favourable to the growth of this plant. It is 

 propagated by seed sown broad-cast in spring ; the 



