LKOrMTXOSJF. 



101 



Iliiidnstan. It escapos from cultivation ;v4i<l horomos a troublesome weed, and 

 it has been suggested that it was the plant mentioned in the parable of the 

 Tares. 



Eti/mo/ofji/. — Letis, the generic name, is the old Latin name of the plant, the 

 signification of which is very obscure. Earjilenta is Latin for " eatable," hence 

 eatable Ions or lontil. Lentil, the common name, is from the Latin lenticula, 

 a little lens. 



Ilistorij. — When or where this food plant was first cultivated it is very 

 dirticult to determine. It is believed by the best authorities to have been 

 grown in western Asia, and along the shores of the Mediterranean, as far west 

 as Italy, in prehistoric times, and tlience introduced into Kgyj>t, after whicli 

 it spread over Europe, and crept eastward into India. It is spoken of by 

 the ancient writers on Botany, ami was uo doubt the material employed by 

 Jacob to prepare his pottage 

 with which he ])urchased his 

 brother's birthright. It is at 

 the present day an important 

 food in Palestine. It is occa- 

 sionally cultivated in the east- 

 ern United States, but is not 

 very profitable. It is to be 

 found on sale in the Italian 

 and German groceries of our 

 large cities. 



Use, — It is prepared as beans 

 are, boiled with or without 

 meat ; it is also baked with pork 

 or mutton, and is made into 

 soups, and used to thicken gra- 

 vies. It is largely used by the 

 Arabs in a parched state, while 

 on their marches. It was in 

 early times the only food of 

 large armies while on the 

 march, l)ut is greatly inferior in 

 ([uality and delicacy to either 

 the pea or the bean. Its meal 

 is sold a-s a food for invalids 

 under the name " Revalcnta." 



PISTJM, L. (IVa.) Calyx ^^i^um sativum (Ganlen Pea). 



witli leafy scgineiit.s, o in 



nuiiiher, 2 upper ones shorter. I'ctajs .l, n].iu'r ojic l.ioad and tunuMl 

 I>aek. Stamens and 1. Style flattened and ridged, velvety on the 

 upper edge. Pod oblong ; seeds globular, from 5 to 10 in a pod. 

 Annual herl), 



1. P. sativum. (Garden TVa.) Stem 1 to 4 feet high, terete, smooth, and 

 weak, climbing by tendril.-^. Leaves composed of 2 to ;} pairs of elliptical, 

 obtuse, entire, mucronate leaflet.^, an inch to two inches long: the common 

 leaf .stalk .'Strong, terete, terminating in a lone: branched tendril. Stipules 

 large. t)vatc, somewhat sagittate, crenute, dentate at tiie base, riuwer-stalks 



