"Charge! Stanley, charge! On! Stanley, on!
Were the last words of Marmion.
If _I_ had been in Stanley's place
When Marmion urged him to the chase,
In me you quickly would descry
What draws a tear from many an eye."
For chilblains apply onions with salt pounded together, and for
inflamed or protruding piles, raw Onion pulp, made by bruising the
bulb, if kept bound to the parts by a compress, and renewed as
needed, will afford certain relief.
The Garlic (_Allium sativum_), Skorodon of the Greeks, which was
first cultivated in English gardens in 1540, takes its name, from
_gar_, a spear; and _leac_, a plant, either because of its sharp
tapering leaves, or perhaps as "the war plant," by reason of its
nutritive and stimulating qualities for those who do battle. It is
known also [215] to many as "Poor-man's Treacle," or "Churls
Treacle," from being regarded by rustics as a treacle, or antidote to
the bite of any venomous reptile.
The bulb, consisting of several combined cloves, is stimulating,
antispasmodic, expectorant, and diuretic. Its active properties
depend on an essential oil which may be readily obtained by
distillation. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) with spirit of wine, of
which from ten to twenty drops may be taken in water several times
a day. Garlic proves useful in asthma, whooping-cough, and other
spasmodic affections of the chest. For all adult, one or more cloves
may be eaten at a time. The odour of the bulb is very diffusible,
even when it is applied to the soles of the feet its odour is exhaled
by the lungs.
When bruised and mixed with lard, it makes a most useful opbdeldoc
to be rubbed in for irritable spines of indolent scrofulous
tumours or gout, until the skin surface becomes red and glowing. If
employed thus over the chest (back and front) of a child with
whooping-cough, it proves eminently helpful.
Raw Garlic, when applied to the skin, reddens it, and the odour
sniffed into the nostrils will revive an hysterical sufferer. It formed
the principal ingredient in the "Four thieves' vinegar," which was
adopted so successfully at Marseilles for protection against the
plague, when prevailing there. This originated with four thieves,
who confessed that, whilst protected by the liberal use of aromatic
vinegar during the plague, they plundered the dead bodies of its
victims with complete security. Or, according to another
explanation of the name, an old tract, printed in 1749, testifies that
one, Richard Forthave, who lived in Bishopsgate Street, invented
and sold a vinegar which had such a run that [216] he soon grew
famous, and that his surname became thus corrupted in the course of
time.
But long before the plague at Marseilles (1722) vinegar was
employed as a disinfectant. With Cardinal Wolsey it was a constant
custom to carry in his hand an orange emptied of its pulp, and
containing a sponge soaked in vinegar made aromatic with spices,
so as to protect himself from infection when passing through the
crowds which his splendour and his office attracted.
It is related that during a former outbreak of infectious fever in
Somer's Town and St. Giles's, the French priests, who constantly used
Garlic in all their dishes, visited the worst cases in the dirtiest
hovels with impunity, while the English clergy, who were similarly
engaged, but who did not eat onions in like fashion, caught the
infection in many instances, and fell victims to the disease.
For toothache and earache, a clove of Garlic stripped of its skin, and
cut in the form of a suppository, if thrust in the ear of the aching
side, will soon assuage the pain. If introduced into the lower bowel,
it will help to destroy thread worms, and when swallowed it
abolishes round worms.
As a condiment, Garlic undoubtedly aids digestion by stimulating
the circulation, with a consequent increase of saliva and gastric
juice. The juice from the bulbs can be employed for cementing
broken glass or china, by means of its mucilage.
Dr. Bowles, a noted English physician of former times, made use of
Garlic with much success as a secret remedy for asthma. He
concocted a preserve from the boiled cloves with vinegar and sugar,
to be kept in an earthen jar. The dose was a bulb or two with some
of the syrup, each morning when fasting. [217] The pain of
rheumatic parts may be much relieved by simply rubbing them with
cut Garlic.
Garlic emits the most acrimonious smell of all the onion tribe.
When leprosy prevailed in this country, Garlic was a prime specific
for its relief, and as the victims had to "pil," or peel their own
garlic, they were nicknamed "Pil Garlics," and hence it came about that
anyone shunned like a leper had this epithet applied to him. Stow
says, concerning a man growing old: "He will soon be a peeled
garlic like myself."
The strong penetrating odour and taste of this plant, though
offensive to most English palates, are much relished by Russians,
Poles, and Spaniards, and especially by the Jews. But the Greeks
detested Garlic. It is true the Attic husbandmen ate it from remote
times, probably in part to drive away by its odour venomous
creatures from assailing them; but persons who partook of it were
not allowed to enter the temples of Cybele, says Athenaeus; and so
hated was garlic, that to have to eat it was a punishment for those
that had committed the most horrid crimes; Horace, among the
Romans, was made ill by eating garlic at the table of Maecenas; and
afterwards (in his third _Epode_) he reviled the plant as, _Cicutis
allium nocentius_, "Garlic more poisonous than hemlock." Sir
Theodore Martin has thus spiritedly translated the passage:--
"If his old father's throat any impious sinner,
Has cut with unnatural hand to the bone:
Give him garlick--more noxious than hemlock--at dinner;
Ye gods! what strong stomachs the reapers must own!"
The singular property is attributed to Garlic, that if a morsel of the
bulb is chewed by a man running a race, it will prevent his
competitors from getting ahead of him. Hungarian jockeys sometimes
fasten a clove of [218] garlic to the bits of their racers; and
it is said that the horses which run against those thus baited, fall
back the moment they smell the offensive odour. If a leg of mutton,
before being roasted, has a small clove of Garlic inserted into the
knuckle, and the joint is afterwards served with haricot beans
(soaked for twenty-four hours before being boiled), it is rendered
doubly delicious. In Greece snails dressed with Garlic are now a
favourite dish.
A well known _chef_ is said to have chewed a small clove of Garlic
when he wished to impart its delicate flavour to a choice _plat_,
over which he then breathed lightly. Dumas relates that the whole
atmosphere of Provence is impregnated with the perfume of Garlic,
and is exceedingly wholesome to inhale.
As an instance of lunar influences (which undoubtedly affect our
bodily welfare), it is remarkable that if Garlic is planted when the
moon is in the full, the bulb will be round like an onion, instead of
being composed, as it usually is, of several distinct cloves.
Homer says it was to the virtues of the Yellow Garlic (Moly?)
Ulysses owed his escape from being changed by Circe into a pig,
like each of his companions.
The Crow Garlic, _vineale_, and the purple striped, _oleraceum_,
grow wild in this country. When the former of these is eaten by
birds it so stupefies them that they may be taken with the hand.
Concerning the cure of nervous headache by Garlic (and its kindred
medicinal herb _Asafoetida_), an old charm reads thus:--
"Give onyons to Saynt Cutlake,
And Garlycke to Saynt Cyryake;
If ye will shun the headake,
Ye shall have them at Queenhyth."
The Asafoetida (_Ferula Asafoetida_) grows in Western Thibet, and
exudes a gum which is used medicinally, coming as a milky juice
from the incised root and soon coagulating; it is then exported,
having a very powerful odour of garlic which may be perceived a
long distance away. Phosphorus and sulphur are among its
constituent elements, and, because of the latter, says Dr. Garrod
after much observation, he regards Asafoetida as one of the most
valuable remedies known to the physician. From three to five grains
of the gum in a pill, or half-a-teaspoonful of the tincture, with a
small wineglassful of warm milk, may be given for a dose.
Some of the older writers esteemed it highly as an aromatic
flavouring spice, and termed it _cibus deorum_, food of the gods.
John Evelyn says (in his _Acetaria_) "the ancient Silphium thought
by many to be none other than the fetid asa, was so highly prized for
its taste and virtues, that it was dedicated to Apollo at Delphi, and
stamped upon African coins as a sacred plant."
Aristophanes extolled its juice as a restorer of masculine vigour, and
the Indians at this day sauce their viands with it. Nor are some of
our skilful cooks ignorant how to condite it, with the applause of
those who are unaware of the secret. The Silphium, or _laserpitium_
of the Romans, yielded what was a famous restorative, the
"Cyrenaic juice." Pareira tells us he was assured by a noted gourmet
that the finest relish which a beef steak can possess, may be
communicated to it by rubbing the gridiron on which the steak is to
be cooked, with Asafoetida.
The gum when given in moderate doses, acts on all parts of the
body as a wholesome stimulant, leading among other good results,
to improvement of the vision, [220] and enlivening the spirits. But
its use is apt to produce eructations smacking of garlic, which may
persist for several hours; and, if it be given in over doses, the
effects are headache and giddiness. When suitably administered, it
quickens the appetite and improves the digestion, chiefly with those
of a cold temperament, and languid habit. Smollet says the Romans
stuffed their fowls for the table with Asafoetida. In Germany,
Sweden, and Italy, it is known as "Devil's Dung."
The Leek (_Allium porrium_) bears an Anglo-Saxon name corrupted
from Porleac, and it is also called the Porret, having been
the Prason of the Greeks. It was first made use of in England during
1562. This was a food of the poor in ancient Egypt, as is shown by
an inscription on one of the Pyramids, whence was derived the
phrase, "to eat the Leek"; and its loss was bewailed by the Israelites
in their journey through the Desert. It was said by the Romans to be
prolific of virtue, because Latona, the mother of Apollo, longed
after leeks. The Welsh, who take them much, are observed to be
very fruitful. They dedicate these plants to St. David, on whose day,
March 1st, in 640, the Britons (who were known to each other by
displaying in their caps, at the inspiration of St. David, some leeks,
"the fairest emblym that is worne," plucked in a garden near the
field of action) gained a complete victory over the Saxons.
The bulb contains some sulphur, and is, in its raw state, a
stimulating expectorant. Its juice acts energetically on the kidneys,
and dissolves the calculous formations of earthy phosphates which
frequently form in the bladder.
For chilblains, chapped hands, and sore eyes, the juice of a leek
squeezed out, and mixed with cream, [221] has been found curative.
Old Tusser tells us, in his _Husbandry for March_:--
"Now leeks are in season, for pottage full good,
That spareth the milch cow, and purgeth the blood,"
and a trite proverb of former times bids us:--
"Eat leeks in Lide [March] and ramsons in May,
Then all the year after physicians can play."
Ramsons, or the Wild Garlic (_Allium ursinum_), is broad leaved,
and grows abundantly on our moist meadow banks, with a strong smell
of onions when crushed or bruised. It is perennial, having egg-shaped
or lance-like leaves, whilst bearing large, pearly-white
blossoms with acute petals. The name is the plural of "Ramse," or
"Ram," which signifies strong-smelling, or rank. And the plant is
also called "Buck Rams," or "Buck Rampe," in allusion to its spadix
or spathe. "The leaves of Ramsons," says Gerard, "are stamped and
eaten with fish, even as we do eat greene sauce made with sorrell."
This is "Bear's Garlic," and the Star Flower of florists.
Leeks were so highly esteemed by the Emperor Nero, that his
subjects gave him the sobriquet of "Porrophagus." He took them
with oil for several days in each month to clear his voice, eating
no bread on those days. _Un remede d'Empereur (Neron) pour se
debarrasser d'un rhume,--et de commere pour attendre le meme but--
fut envelopper un oignon dans une feuille de chou et le faire cuire
sous la cendre; puis l'ecrasser, le reduire en pulpe, le mettre dans
une tasse de lait, ou une decoction chaude de redisse; se coucher; et
se tenir chaudement, au besoin recidiver matin et soir_.
The Scotch leek is more hardy and pungent than that [222] grown in
England. It was formerly a favourite ingredient in the Cock-a-Leekie
soup of Caledonia, which is so graphically described by Sir
Walter Scott, in the _Fortunes of Nigel_.
A "Herby" pie, peculiar to Cornwall, is made of leeks and pilchards,
or of nettles, pepper cress, parsley, mustard, and spinach, with thin
slices of pork. At the bottom of the Squab pie mentioned before was
a Squab, or young Cormorant, "which diffused," says Charles
Kingsley, "through the pie, and through the ambient air, a delicate
odour of mingled guano and polecat." That "lovers live by love, as
larks by leeks," is an old saying; and in the classic story of Pyramus
and Thisbe, reference is made to the beautiful emerald green which
the leaves of the leek exhibit. "His eyes were as green as leeks."
Among the Welsh farmers, it is a neighbourly custom to attend on a
certain day and plough the land of a poor proprietor whose means
are limited--each bringing with him one or more leeks for making the
soup or broth.
The _Schalot_, or _Eschalotte_, is another variety of the onion tribe,
which was introduced into England by the Crusaders, who found it
growing at Ascalon. And Chives (_Allium schoenoprasum_) are an
ever green perennial herb of the onion tribe, having only a mild,
alliaceous flavour. Epicures consider the Schalot to be the best
seasoning for beef steaks, either by taking the actual bulb, or by
rubbing the plates therewith.
Again, as a most common plant in all our hedgerows, is found the
Poor Man's Garlic, or Sauce-alone (_Erisymum alliaria_), from
_eruo_, to cure, a somewhat coarse and most ordinary member of
the onion tribe, which goes also by the names of "Jack by the
hedge" and "Garlick-wort," and belongs to the cruciferous order
[223] of plants. When bruised, it gives out a strong smell of garlic,
and when eaten by cows it makes their milk taste powerfully of
onions. The Ancients, says John Evelyn, used "Jack by the hedge"
as a succedaneum to their Scordium, or cultivated Garlic.
This herb grows luxuriantly, bearing green, shining, heart-shaped
leaves, and headpieces of small, white-flowering bunches. It was
named "Saucealone," from being eaten in the Springtime with meat,
whilst having so strong a flavour of onions, that it served alone of
itself for sauce. Perhaps (says Dr. Prior) the title "Jack by the
hedge" is derived from "jack," or "jakes," an old English word
denoting a privy, or house of office, and this in allusion to
the fetid smell of the plant, and the usual place of its growth.
When gathered and eaten with boiled mutton, after having been first
separately boiled, it makes an excellent vegetable, if picked as it
approaches the flowering state. Formerly this herb was highly
valued as an antiscorbutic, and was thought a most desirable pot
herb.
(The _Erysimum officinale_ (Hedge Mustard) and the _Vervain_
(Verbena) make Count Mattaei's empirical nostrum _Febrifugo_: but
this _Erysimum_ is not the same plant as the Jack by the hedge.)