1Rat>fsh. 
(1) When a’ was naked, he was, for all the world, like a fork’d Radish. 
2 nd Henry IV, iii. 2, 333. 
(2) If I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of Radish. 
1 st Henry IV, ii. 4, 205. 
ADISH was so named because it was considered 
by the Romans, for some reason unknown to 
us, the root par excellence. It was used by 
them, as by us, “ as a stimulus before meat, 
giving an appetite thereunto ”— 
“ Acria circum 
Rapula, lactucoe, radices, qualia lassum 
Pervellunt stomachum. ”— Horace. 
But it was cultivated, or allowed to grow, to a much larger 
size than we now think desirable. Pliny speaks of Radishes 
weighing 40 lbs. each, and others speak even of 60 lbs. and 
100 lbs. But in Shakespeare’s time the Radish was very 
much what it is now, a pleasant salad vegetable, but of no 
great value. We read, however, of Radishes being put to 
strange uses. Lupton, a writer of Shakespeare’s day, says : 
“ If you would kill snakes and adders strike them with a large 
Radish, and to handle adders and snakes without harm, wash 
your hands in the juice of Radishes, and you may do without 
harm” (“Notable Things,” 1586). We read also of great 
attempts being made to procure oil from the seed, but to no 
great effect. 
The Radish is not a native of Britain, but was probably 
introduced by the Romans, and was well known to the Anglo- 
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