180 • LEGUMINOS^. 



by Piero de' Crescenzi ^ of Bologna, who lived in the 13th century. The 

 cultivation of the plant in the north of England existed at the close 

 of the 16th century, but hov/ much earlier we have not been able 

 to trace. 



As a medicine the drug was well known in Germany in the 11th 

 century, and an extensive cultivation of the plant was carried on near 

 Bamberg, Bavaria, in the 16th century, so that in many of the numerous 

 pharmaceutical tariffs of those times in Germany not only Glycyrrhizas 

 succus creticus, sen candiacus, seu venetus is quoted, but also expressly 

 that of Bamberg." 



The word Liquiritia, whence is derived the English name Liquorice 

 (Lycorys in the 13th century), is a corruption of Glycyrrhiza, as shown 

 in the transitional mediaeval form Gliquiricia. The Italian Regolizia, 

 the German Lacrisse or Lakriz, the Welsh Lacris^ and the French 

 Reglisse (anciently Requelice or Recolice) have the same origin. 



Cultivation, and habit of growth — The liquorice plant is culti- 

 vated in England at Mitcham and in Yorkshire, but not on a very 

 extensive scale. The plants, which require a good deep soil, well 

 enriched by manure, are set in rows, attain a height of 4 to 5 feet and 

 produce flowers but not seeds. The root is dug up at the beginning of 

 winter, when the plant is at least 3 or 4 years old. The latter has then 

 a crown dividing into several aerial stems. Below the crown is a prin- 

 cipal root about 6 inches in length, which divides into several (3 to 5) 

 rather straight roots, running without much branching, though beset 

 with slender wiry rootlets, to a depth of 3, 4 or more feet.^ Besides 

 these downward-running roots, the principal roots emit horizontal 

 runners or stolons, which grow at some distance below the surface and 

 attain a length of many feet. These runners are furnished with leaf 

 buds and throw up stems in their second year. 



Every portion of the subterraneous part of the plant is carefully 

 saved ; the roots proper are washed, trimmed, and assorted, and either 

 sold fresh in their entire state, or cut into short lengths and dried, the 

 cortical layer being sometimes first scraped off. The older runners dis- 

 tinguished at Mitcham as "liard" are sorted out and sold separately; 

 the young, called " soft" are reserved for propagation. 



In Calabria, the singular practice prevails of growing the liquorice 

 among the wheat in the cornfields. 



Description — Fresh liquorice (English) when washed is externally 

 of a bright yellowish brown. It is very flexible, easily cut with a 

 knife, exhibiting a light yellow, juicy, internal substance which con- 

 sists of a thick bark surrounding a woody column. Both bark and 

 wood are extremely tough, readily tearing into long, fibrous strips. 

 The root has a peculiar earthy odour, and a strong and characteristic 

 sweet taste. 



^ Lihro delta Ayrkolfura, Venet. 1511. century, Llandovery, 18G1, p. 159. 355 (it 



lib. vi. c. 62. is written there Licras). 



- Gesuer, Valcrii Cordi Hist, xtirp. Argen- * This form of root, which reminds one of 



torati, 1561. 164. — Fluckiger, Documente, a whip with three or four lashes and a very 



zur Otscliiclite der Pliarmacic, Halle, 1876. short handle, is probably due to the 



39. 46. method of propagating adopted at Mitcham, 



* Inthe"MeddygonMyddvai"of thel3th where a short stick or runner \fi planted 



upright in the ground. 



