THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF OUR GARDEN VEGETABLES. 591 



localities recorded of its being wild, De Candolle's conclusion is that the 

 origin is not known. The Greeks of old called it kimmon. It was found 

 in the excavations of Troy ; and ' ' it was an ancient Eoman rite to 

 put beans in the sacrifices to the goddess Carna, whence the name 

 Fabariae Calendae." A small bean has been found in the remains 

 of the Swiss lake dwellings of the Bronze Age. It resembles 

 a variety still cultivated in Spain. It was well known in Egypt; but 

 Herodotus says, The Egyptians never sow the bean in their land, 

 and if it grows they do not eat it either cooked or raw. The priests 

 cannot even endure the sight of it: they imagine that it is unclean." 

 The explanation probably is that it was only cultivated by the poorer 

 classes as the bean existed then in Egypt. 



In II Samuel xvh. 28 and Ezek. iv. 9 the word " pol " occurs, and 

 is translated "bean," as the Talmud maintains it to be this, the 

 Arabic word fol still signifying the bean. 



De Candolle suggests that Vicia narhonensis , wild in the Mediter- 

 ranean basin, north of Persia, and Mesopotamia, may have been the 

 origin of oui cultivated plant, as it most nearly resmbles it. The reader 

 is referred to the kidney, French, or haricot bean for the dietetic values 

 of these plants, as Professor Church does not specify that of the common 

 or broad bean. 



Kidney or Feench Bean. 

 Phaseolus vulgaris, L. var. nanus (sp. L.), if not the dwarf kidney 

 bean, is something like it, and was cultivated by the ancient Greeks. 

 Dioscorides describes it, a figure being added to a manuscript of the fifth 

 century now at Vienna under the Greek name, ' ' Phasioli ' ' ; Dr. 

 Daubeny pronounces the illustration to be " very good." According 

 to Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, Aristophanes (fifth century b.c.) is 

 quoted as referring to it; and a light boat was also called " phaselus," 

 ' ' probably from its likeness to the pod. ' ' From this we might infer 

 a long history of the kidney bean in Greece. But was it not a species 

 of Dolichos? 



Bentham and Hooker place Dolichos the sixth in position from 

 Phaseolus in the tribe Phaseoleae. " The leaves in both are three- 

 foUate. The pods are linear or falcate, the flowers various in colour. 

 Pliny observes: " In the case of the kidney bean, it is usual to eat 

 the pod together with the seed." Turner (1548) says of " Phasiolus 

 otherwise called Dolichos; it may be called in Englishe, 'Large peasen 

 or favelles.' It is in great plentie about Pauia in Italy." 



Dodoens (1559) gives a figure of the dwarf bean, the pods hanging 

 from the axils of leaves immediately above the root. This he called 

 Phaseolos and Dolichos (Greek), Smilax hortensis (Latin). 



Matthiolus, in his commentary on Dioscorides, gives a good figure, 

 observing: Phasioli are common in Italy in gardens and frequently 

 in fields. There are many kinds, distinguished by their various colours, 

 white, reddish, black, and spotted " — evidently referring to the seeds. 



Gerard (1597) illustrated four kinds of Phaseolus and two of Smilax ; 

 but it, is difficult to recognize our P. vulgaris. Johnson in his edition 

 of Gerard (1636), adds others from Clusius, such as P. peregrinus, 



