SEASONING HERBS. 321 



municated by the pressed flowers, or the bruised seeds, 

 of the Melilotus officinalis. 



SAGE Salvia officinalis is a native of the 

 warmer parts of Europe, but it has long been cultiva- 

 ted in Britain. Gerarde notices it as being, in 1597, 

 a well known herb of the English garden. It is a 

 hardy plant, but, though a perennial, does not last 

 above three or four years without degenerating. New 

 plantations are readily made by cuttings of the young 

 shoots taken in the latter end of spring. 



This aromatic herb is chiefly used with the more 

 strong and oily kinds of food, as a mixture in stuff- 

 ings, and an ingredient in sauces. The leaves are 

 sometimes introduced into English cheese. 



A species of sage (Salvia pomifera), of a very 

 peculiar growth, is common to some of the Greek 

 islands. It has firm fleshy tumours, of about three- 

 quarters of an inch in thickness, swelling out from 

 the branches of the plant, and supposed to be pro- 

 duced in the same manner as oak-apples, by the 

 puncture of an insect of the Cynips genus. These 

 excrescences are semi-transparent, like jelly. They 

 are called sage-apples, and under that name are 

 always to be met with in the markets, as an article 

 of ordinary sale. They are made into a kind of 

 conserve, which is highly esteemed by the Greeks. 

 Dr Clarke, in the sixth volume of his travels, men- 

 tions having been regaled with this delicacy by the 

 English consul, at the island of Syros, and he bears 

 testimony to its excellence. This plant is consider- 

 ably larger than the common sage of our gardens, 

 and its flavour and smell are much more powerful. It 

 grows very abundantly in Candia, Syros, and Crete, 

 where it attains to the size of a small shrub. 



CLARY Salvia sclarea is a biennial plant, a 

 native of the south of France, of Switzerland, and of 



