534 ONION, HYACINTH. 



and the account of the traveller Hasselquist shows that there is 

 good reason for the superior value there set on them. " Who- 

 ever," he says, "has tasted onions in Egypt will allow that none 

 better can be had in any part of the universe. Here they are 

 sweet, in other countries they are nauseous and strong ; here 

 they are soft, whereas in the northern and other parts they are 

 hard, and their coats are so compact that they are difficult of 

 digestion. Hence they cannot in any place be eaten with less 

 prejudice and more satisfaction than in Egypt." The onions of 

 Spain and Portugal, and even those of the South of France, are 

 for the same reason very superior to the common onion of our 

 gardens, being of a much larger size, and more mild and succu- 

 lent ; yet the latter is looked upon, by the rustic inhabitant of 

 many parts of Britain, as his chief vegetable dainty ; and the 

 garlic, which is too strong for most people in this country, is 

 equally relished by the poorer classes on the Continent as an 

 adjunct to their black bread, and even by the rich as an in- 

 gredient in their dishes. 



712. The common Hyacinth deserves especial mention, on 

 account of the interest taken in it for the s'ake of its beautiful 

 flowers, and the numberless varieties of these which cultivation 

 has induced, rather than for any particular service of which it is 

 capable. The Dutch florists, who have particularly attended to 

 this tribe, had at one time upwards of two thousand varieties of 

 one species ; and although the mania for speculating in Hyacinth 

 and Tulip bulbs has now long since passed, these still form a 

 branch of Dutch commerce by no means unimportant. The 

 Squill bulb, preparations of which are much employed in medi- 

 cine, as emetics, expectorants, &c., is acrid, bitter, and nauseous 

 to the taste ; it is a native of the South of Europe, growing 

 freely on the sandy shores of Spain, Italy, and Greece ; it some- 

 times attains the size of a man's head. The Asphodels also 

 contain a bitter principle, which is removed, however, by boil- 

 ing ; one species, which covers immense tracts of land in Apulia, 

 affords abundance of nutritious fodder for sheep ; and pigs are 

 said to be so fond of the bulbs, that they will unearth the roots 

 to devour them. 



