RADISH. 107 



and sweeter than any other in the world, for 

 there they are bedewed and sprinkled with 

 nitre. This author gives us an account of 

 the radishes known in Rome in his time, 

 which was about the period when St. Paul 

 preached in that celebrated city. " We have," 

 says Pliny, " a kind of radish called Algi- 

 clense, so called from the place of that name." 

 These he describes as being so clear and 

 transparent, that one may see through them. 

 A second sort he describes like the rape or 

 turnip root ; those were called Syriaca, "and 

 are," says he, " the tenderest and sweetest, 

 and best able to endure the frost and winter 

 weather." He adds, " the most esteemed are 

 those that have been raised from seeds lately 

 brought out of Syria." He informs us, that 

 this variety continues good through the win- 

 ter. He mentions, also, a wild kind ; and 

 adds, that radishes thrive well in cold coun- 

 tries, and that in Germany they have the 

 roots to a very great size. It is stated by 

 some of the Roman authors, that, if a hole 

 be made in the ground with a large stick, 

 and then filled up with chaff six fingers 

 deep, and a seed be placed on it and covered 

 with dung and mould, the root will grow 

 so large as to fill up the hole. Both Pliny 



