36 



CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



terres, this plant which nourished the an- 

 cients, and the verses in which it is cele- 

 brated by the poets, would have been equally 

 forgotten. 



The origin of this vegetable is traced in 

 fabulous history to that memorable apple, 

 which Discord threw into the assembly of the 

 gods who attended the nuptials of Peleus 

 and Thetis, as a prize for the fairest of the 

 goddesses. The decision of Paris in favour 

 of Venus is said to have offended Juno and 

 Minerva so highly, that they endeavoured to 

 break the beavitiful crook which Pan had given 

 to the shepherd of Ida, but which was saved 

 by its turning into the blossom of a yellow as- 

 phodel, so much resembling a royal sceptre. 



From this fable we conclude, that the 

 ancients considered the asphodel a native of 

 Mount Ida; and as modern botanists agree 

 that the plant is indigenous to that neigh- 

 bourhood, we will not dispute whether it 

 first sprang up in the valley or on the hill, 

 but will turn to the instructive pages of 

 Pliny, who calls it one of the most sovereign 

 and renowned herbs that the world pro- 

 duces ; and says, that the roots boiled with 

 husked barley are certainly the most restora- 

 tive diet that can be taken by consumptive 



