ORIGIN AND HISTOBY OF OUR GARDEN VEGETABLES. 525 



OEIGIN AND HISTOBY OF OUB GAEDEN VEGETABLES 

 AND THEIE DIETETIC VALUES.- 



By Bev. Peofessor Geo. Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., V.M.H. 

 VI. — Kitchen Herbs. 

 Angelica. 



This is not our EnglisH Angelica sylvestris, L., But an allied species, 

 A. ArcJiangelica, L. , an occasional outcast of gardens, and a native 

 of Iceland and Norway (Gerard), as well as other European regions. 

 Gerard says it was very common in gardens in his time (1597). Like 

 other strongly scented plants it was regarded as a preventive against 

 the plague. He says it was eaten, except by Icelanders, in times of 

 scarcity. At the present day ring-like sections of the green stem are 

 preserved in sugar and used to adorn cakes, &c. The leaves have been 

 eaten like celery as a vegetable, and the fruits are employed in flavour- 

 ing some cordials, as Chartreuse. 



Anise. 



Anise {Anison of Dioscorides and Anisuvi of Pliny) was well known 

 to the ancients. It is said to have been found wild in Candye, the 

 best, and the next in Egypt." (Turner, 1548.) It is now known 

 botanically as Pimpmella Anisum, L. Besides its sixty-one remedies 



f l:eferred to by Pliny — " being taken in wine, either raw or boiled for 

 the stings of scorpions. . . . Both green and dried it is held in high 

 repute as an ingredient in all seasonings and sauces, and is also placed 

 beneath the undercrust of bread." The leaves are now occasionally 



! used for seasoning, and for flavouring cordials, as the fruit contains 



' about 2 per cent, of an essential oil (Church). 



Balm. 



The botanical name of balm is Melissa officinalis, L., from the 

 Greek word for a bee — doubtless in reference to its honey. It is a 

 native of Middle and South Europe and West Asia, but only naturalized 

 in England. It smells strongly of lemon, is carminative and 

 stomachic. The leaves have been employed in claret-cup and " balm 

 wine." It is also used in certain liqueurs and perfumes. It was 

 well known as a drug-plant in the sixteenth century and called Bawme, 

 ji and in Italian Cedronella, from the citron-like smell. Dodoens 

 (1578) observed, If a man put Bawme into Bee-hives, or else if the 

 i: hives be rubbed therewithal, it keepeth Bees together, and causeth 

 r other Bees to resort to their company." 



* Previous articles in this series have appeared as follows : — Vol. xxxiv. 

 pp. 15-23, vol. xxxvi. pp. 115-126, 345-357, 590-595, and vol. xxxvii. 

 ' pp. 108-114 and pp. 313-320. 



