Leguminous Fruits, ^5^ 
wild from that which grows in the gardens, and adds, 
that the latter is milder, and better for eating. We may well 
suspect that a seasoning plant, as Thymian satureia, or some 
similar plant, is meant ; but, from the scanty notices of the an- 
cients, it is difficult to determine it. 
From the earliest times, the Leek species has been used as 
a seasoning for food. The Homeric heroes eat nothing but 
flesh ; only as a seasoning to their drink, Hecameda presents to 
old Nestor }c^ofi^vov ttotS (^II. a. 629-) K^o^f-cvov is the onion, 
(Allium cepa), according to all opinions ; and what Theophras- 
tus says respecting its propagation, (Hist PI. 1. vii. c. 4. § 10.), 
namely, that one onion has no other accessory ones attached to it, 
points it out distinctly. There were formerly, as there are nowj^ 
many varieties, which were named after the places where they were 
chiefly cultivated. Respecting the places of their origin, there is 
not even a suspicion. aTKccXancc are by no means our 
Shallot, (Allium Ascalonicum), as is generally supposed, but 
probably a variety of the onion. For Theophrastus says, 
(a. a. O. § 8.), this species is propagated by seed, and in no 
other way, which is quite the ' reverse of the manner in which 
shallots are propagated. According to Linnaeus, shallots are 
used in Palestine, and he quotes Hasselquist as an evidence. 
In his Travels, I And only that he found Allium pallens and 
veroneiise on the Hill of Zion. The are that va- 
riety of the onion, or perhaps that particular species, which sends 
out young bulbs, and is propagated by means of them. It i® 
the Cepa Jissilis of the old botanists ; but the word Jissilis must 
not be misunderstood. — (See Schneider’s Anmerlcungen on this 
passage). Fi^B-vovy or, as Schneider uses the word, yi^rsiov, is the 
winter onion, (Allium Jistulosum). It has nothing like A. cepa^ 
except a long neck : the leaves are often cut at the top, as in 
(Theophr. 1. c. § 10.) Hence it is sowed, and not plant- 
ed. All this agrees exactly with our winter onion, and by no 
means with the Cepa Jissilis, which is propagated, not by seed, 
but by bulbs. Therefore Diodes Carystius in Athenaeus, says 
rightly, (1. ii. c. 78.) ka-KccXmia and were species of x^o^^vov. 
It is also said there to be like the Ampeloprasus. The of 
the ancients is not A. porrum, but A. ampeloprasum of the 
older botanists ; for it is sdd of the onion (Theophr. loc. cit. 
