APPENDIX B 



541 



axillary buds specialised for storage and propagation, arc delkient in 

 fats, and contain little proteids. More than four-lifths of the organic 

 substance is in the form of starch. Hence potatoes arc used with 

 meat and fats to make a well-balanced meal. The proteid is largely 

 in the form of cubical crystalloids, located ncc^r to the corky rind, and 

 thus liable to be removed by peeling the potato (Fig. 79, p. no). 



TABLE OF ANALYSES OF ROOTS AND SHOOTS. 



N.B. — Vegetables used in the fresh state have a very liigh water- 

 content. This must be taken fully into account in considering their 

 value as foods. 



The Beet {Beta vulgaris and B. maritiyna, L. Chenopodiaceae) grows 

 wild on sandy shores in the Mediterranean region, extending northwards 

 to our ow^n coasts. Its originally slender root became fleshy from the 

 effects of soil and cultivation, and Vilmorin has shown that it is one of 

 the plants most easily improved by selection. It has been cultivated 

 since before the Christian era. The fleshy root, characterised by 

 repeated cycles of separate vascular strands, as seen in transverse 

 section, contains cane-sugar in its sappy parenchyma. The analysis 

 shows, for garden Beet, over 14 per cent. ; but in specially selected 

 and cultivated sugar-beets the percentage is veiy much higher. It 

 has long been grown as a garden vegetable for winter use ; but latterly 

 it has become the chief European source of Sugar. 



The Parsnip [Pastinaca saliva, L. Umbelliferae) ranks high as a 

 nutritious vegetable. The original type is native in Britain ; it has 

 been cultivated since Roman times. The root, distended by cultivation, 

 is apt to be fibrous on poor soils ; but when well grown it contains a 

 high percentage of digestible carbohydrates. 



The Onion {Allium cepa, L. Liliaceae) was used as a condiment by 

 the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. It appears to have originated 

 from a wild species of the Middle East. The distended leaf-bases 

 form a bulb containing a large deposit of sugar. But it is as n 



