55 



lant, producing, when swallowed, a sense of heat in the stomach 

 and a general glow over the body without narcotic effects. It is 

 much employed as a condiment, and proves useful in aiding diges- 

 tion. In India it has been used from time immemorial, and from a 

 passage in Pliny it appears that it has been known to the Romans. 

 As a medicine, it is useful in cases of enfeebled and languid stomach, 

 ami is occasionally prescribed in dyspepsia. Applied externally, it 

 is an excellent rubefacient in local rheumatism. It acts speedily 

 without producing vesication. 



The Ground Nut (Arachis hypogcea) is indigenous in Africa and 

 South America. It is cultivated on a large scale near Wilmington, 

 North Carolina. A remarkable property of the peanut is that its 

 pods penetrate the soil in the progress of their growth, and that the 

 fruit ripens under the surface of the ground. The seeds constitute 

 the well known ground nuts in our markets. These when roasted 

 form an agreeable article of food. A fixed oil is expressed from 

 them which is used for lubricating purposes, and which renders it a 

 valuable article of commerce. 



The Bean (Phaseolus lunatus and P. nanus) is cultivated in the 

 garden as well as in the field for the use of its large nutritious seed. 

 The bean is mentioned in all the ancient classical works in which 

 reference to agriculture is made. It was esteemed more than any 

 other kind of leguminous vegetable, both by the ancient Greeks and 

 early Romans. The Athenians used sodden beans in their religious 

 festivals in honor of Apollo, and the Romans presented beans as a 

 sacrificial offering in honor of Carna the wife of Janus. In Egypt 

 it appears to have been regarded as typical of some of the mysteries 

 which the priests endeavored to conceal from the knowledge of the 

 uninitiated, and it was therefore shunned by them as too sacred for 

 ordinary observation. Pythagoras, who studied philosophy on the 

 banks of the Nile, and lived exclusively on vegetable food, forbade 

 the use of the bean. Beans were employed by the Romans in taking 

 the vote of the people and they used them in the election of magis- 

 trates. The meal or flour made of them was thought to possess the 

 property of removing wrinkles and giving a fair complexion to the 

 skin. 



The bean is indigenous in Egypt, Barbary and Morocco. The 

 lima bean and the string bean are the principal varieties cultivated. 

 A rich, strong loam is best for their successful cultivation, and if 



