ONION. 201 



cause the bulb never throws out any offsets ; and 

 from that word the English name onion is deduced. 



The common onion owes its chief qualities to 

 cultivation and climate. It is supposed to be a 

 native of Spain ; though,, as Neill observes, neither 

 its native country, nor the date of its introduction 

 into this country, is correctly known. 



No plant has been so much exposed to the caprice 

 of fashion and the disputes of physicians as the 

 onion. It has been the common seasoning for meats 

 of most nations from the earliest period to the pre- 

 sent, and has in every age graced at once the table 

 of royalty and of the peasant. 



Of all the flavouring substances used in cookery, 

 the onion is the most important ; for, besides im- 

 parting a fragrant, savoury, and delicious taste to 

 every culinary preparation into which it enters as 

 an ingredient, it affords considerable nutriment ; 

 and possesses medical properties of no little value. 

 When improperly applied, however, it loses its 

 virtues, and becomes unwholesome and indigestible. 



The lower classes in England, and generally in 

 most countries of the civilised world, are much 

 addicted to the use of the onion in its crude state. 

 In Spain and Portugal it is of a more benignant 

 nature than that produced under our more northern 

 climate, which is so indigestible that it very often 

 remains in the stomach two days, or more, before 

 being dissolved by the gastric juice. During this 

 time it causes eructations of the most distressing 

 kind, and often spasms, which, by the ignorant, are 

 attributed to wind. 



Onions, when used as an article of diet, are most 



