218 CORIANDER. 



they are pleasant and aromatic. In some countries they are 

 eaten in soups and salads, and the inhabitants of Peru are ex- 

 cessively fond of the flavour. Alpinus * states that the Egypt- 

 ians use the herb freely in soups ; it is eaten also in Spain and 

 esteemed cordial, but Hoffman -f relates, on the authority of a 

 monk, instances of fatuity produced by it. Murray J asks whe- 

 ther the virus is dispersed by boiling. Dioscorides likewise 

 attributed deleterious properties to the seed, but Dr. Withering 

 has known six drachms taken at once without any remarkable 

 effect. 



Coriander seeds enter into the composition of several liquors, 

 and form an ingredient in curry powder. When incrusted with 

 sugar, they are sold by the confectioners under the name of 

 coriander comfits. 



The virtues of the seeds are completely extracted by rectified 

 spirit, but only partially by water. In distillation with water 

 they yield a yellowish essential oil, of a very aromatic and 

 powerful odour. 



Culture.—" The seeds are sown on a rich, light soil in Sep- 

 tember; twenty pounds will sow an acre. When the plants 

 come up, thin them to six or eight inches' distance every way, 

 and next spring stir the soil with a pronged hoe. In August 

 the seed will be ripe, and if care be not used, the greater part of 

 it will be lost. To prevent this, women and children are em- 

 ployed to cut, plant by plant, and to put it immediately into 

 cloths, in which it is carried to some convenient part of the field, 

 and then threshed upon a sail cloth. A few strokes of the flail 

 get the seeds clean out, and the threshers are ready for another 

 bundle in a few minutes. The produce is from 10 to 14 cwt. 

 per acre." § 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The energetic qualities 

 of this plant led the ancient physicians to consider it very poi- 

 sonous ; the juice of the leaves they considered nearly as dele- 

 terious as that of hemlock. Gerard, who probably derived his 



* De Plant. /Egypt, p, 131. 

 t Med. Off. p. 241. 

 X App. Med. vol. i. p. 406. 

 § Miller's Diet, by Don. 



