326 Mr. Waitcrstoiis Address before the 



the Athenians used the bean, and the Romans had a festi- 

 val called Fabaria, from beans being oflered as an oblation 

 in their sacrifices. Lempriere states, that bacon was added 

 to beans, in their offerings to Carna, the wife of Janus, to 

 represent the simplicity of their ancestors. The family of 

 the Fabii are said to have derived tlieir name from some 

 of their ancestors having cultivated the bean. Pythagoras 

 expressly prohibited the eating of beans to his disciples, 

 because he believed that they sprung from the same putrid 

 matter as that of which man was formed, and it was the 

 belief of the Romans that departed souls dwelt in beans, 

 and therefore were eaten at funerals. Cicero thought that 

 the use of beans produced disorders of the mind, and it 

 was considered a crime, among the Egyptians, even to 

 look at them. They were used among the ancients in 

 the election of their magistrates. A white bean signified 

 absolution, and a black one condemnation, and Phillips 

 thinks that from this circumstance has originated the prac- 

 tice of black-balling candidates for admission into Socie- 

 ties, &c. The IMacedonians and Thebans used them as a 

 manure, as we do clover, by ploughing them into the 

 ground when they began to bloom. Its expansibility is 

 wonderful. While growing, it has been known to raise a 

 plug clogged with a hundred pounds' weight. Dr. James 

 thinks that young beans are wholesome aliment, and gen- 

 erate good juice, though the general opinion is that they 

 are flatulent and coarse. The cabbage^ Mr. W. described 

 as being among the oldest vegetables used by man. The 

 Greeks called it rcqihanos. from the resemblance of the seed 

 to those of the radish ; by later writers kramhe or koram- 

 ble^ it being thought injurious to the sight. From the good- 

 ness of its stalks it was also called cmdls, hence the name 

 of cole or colewort. The cabbage is constituted by the 

 folding or turning in of the leaves close over each other, 

 and from this circumstance, according to Phillips, arose 

 the term cabbaging, applied to tailors, who, while at work 

 at the private houses of their employers, were often accused 

 of cabbaging, or rolUnfr up pieces of cloth^ instead of the 

 list and shreds which they claim as their due. The Greeks 

 believed that the cabbage sprang from the sweat of Jupiter, 

 while laboring to explain two contradictory oracles. 7^he 

 Romans, after having expelled their physicians, used it as 

 their only medicine, for every disease, for the space of six 



