

THE POTATO. 121 



roots with skins like the onion of the alium tribe, and with fleshy fibres, 

 (strictly speaking these are not roots,) or tuberous roots with fibres in 

 like manner as the potato ; and the parasitical roots with fibres not 

 fixed to the earth, but attached to trees or other objects. 



Succulent roots are the beet, turnip, carrot, parsnip, (the two last 

 are umbeliferous,) skirret, mangel wurzel, &c. These are all annual 

 while many other roots are biennial or perennial. Roots have been 

 noticed more particularly in part I. 



The relative proportion of nutriment in these, taking potatoes as 

 the standard, have been stated by Sir H. Davy, as follows, in 1000 

 parts, of each. 



Quantity of soluble or I Mucilage I Saccharine I Gluten or 

 nutritive matter. J I matter. J albumen. 



Potatoes, 260 to 200 200 to 155 20 to 15 30 to 40 



Red beet, 148 14 121 13 



Mangel wurzel, 136 13 119 4 



Common turnip, 42 7 34 1 



Sweedish turnip, 64 9 51 2 



Carrot, 98 3 95 



Parsnip, 99 9 90 



The esculent vegetables which belong to this class constitute a very 

 important part of human and animal food, though not capable of 

 yielding all the nutrition necessary for the support of man. They 

 are the common auxiliaries of the table in almost all countries, and 

 are very palatable and wholesome, cooked in any of the numerous 

 ways in which they usually are served up. Some are also highly im- 

 portant for the purposes to which their juices have been applied as 

 will hereafter appear, especially for the sugar with which they gener- 

 ally abound. We propose to speak of all the edible roots under this 

 head, commencing with the potato, by far the most valuable known. 



POTATO. Salanum tuberosum. C. 5. 0. 1. sp. 79 360. Tr. A. 

 2 ft. This plant is a native of N. and S. America, having innumer- 

 able varieties, and producing a tuberous root of greater dietetical im- 

 portance than any other, esculent root in the vegetable kingdom, and 

 inferior only to the Cerealia. 



The Sweet Potato, papas (Conovolvulus Batata}, was introduced into 

 Ireland from New Granada, by Capt. Sir John Hawkins, in 1545 ; and 

 was cultivated in the South of Europe probably before that time. The 

 common Virginian potato was introduced into England by Sir W. 

 Raleigh and his associates in 1584-6. The first requiring a warmer 

 climate, did not succeed, but the latter was soon brought into use. 

 SirW. first cultivated it in his own garden in Ireland, in 1610; and 

 such has been its progress there, that it has long constituted from 1 to 

 2-3ds of the food of the Irish. 

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