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Onion

diminished. I would, therefore, suggest to those in charge of sanatoria the advisability of combining a daily run on a good motor-car, at a pace fully up to the legal limit, with the ordinary open-air treatment. The patients should be placed in front of the car, so as to avoid inspiring dust which may be thrown up by the wheels." This may be taken to represent the gestation of Celsus, up to date." Sydney Smith declared about the Scotch friends who visited him in Somersetshire, and found its climate enervating, that "they were but Northern barbarians after all, who like to breathe their air raw; we civilized people of the South prefer it cooked." 66 ONION. (See GARLIC).

THE chemical constituents of an Onion-bulb are an acrid volatile oil, sulphur, phosphorus, alkaline earthy salts, phosphoric and acetic acids, phosphate, and citrate of lime, starch, sugar, and cellulose. Onion juice becomes of a rose-red colour when exposed to the air; it contains sugar, and will therefore ferment, even until yielding alcohol; the outer harder coats contain oxalate of lime. The Onion was long believed to specifically prevent the intoxicating effects of alcoholic drink, and to dispel its evil consequences. The large Spanish Onion is rich enough in nutrients to be regarded as a food. American growers have developed the same into the big, silvery-looking, gleaming white Onions on sale in the markets, which are still called Spanish, though they have in fact been no nearer Spain than the New England States, or New Jersey. These Onions are so mild and tender, that anyone can eat them when boiled, or stewed, without ill-effects; they are said to induce a pleasant desire for sleep. A labourer in Spain will munch an Onion just as an English rustic does an apple. The Spanish Onion, grown largely in Portugal, cannot be acclimatized in England: it soon degenerates with us. Dishes which contain Onions in any quantity, or are strongly flavoured therewith, are said to be cooked " a la Soubise;" the name being supposed to come from Prince Charles Soubise (1750), who was a famous epicure Field-marshal during the reign of Louis the Fourteenth of France. Another classical appellation of the Onion is "Cepe;" which schoolboys take advantage of for their puzzle line, "Sæpe cepi cepe, sub sepe."

Onions are helpful against constipation, by reason mainly of their abundant cellulose, which gives intestinal momentum. Many persons are led to think that these, in common with the leek, and garlic, are of service against fatigue from such prolonged exercise as is entailed by hunting, shooting, etc., and subsequent feasting. For bronchitis it has proved of use to apply repeatedly over the chest a good-sized Onion, beaten into pulp, within a flannel bag, each application being for four hours. A syrup made from the fresh juice of raw Onions, with honey, is an excellent medicine for old persons troubled with phlegm in cold weather, when the air passages are stuffed, and free breathing is hindered. Raw Onions increase the flow of urine, and promote free perspiration, insomuch that a diet of them with bread has many a time dispersed dropsical effusions caused by a chill, with arrested circulation in the kidneys, and skin surface. The volatile principle which benefits in this stimulating manner is sulphide of allyl, an acrid salt. The chief internal effects of these, and their kindred bulbs, are increase of warmth, and of circulatory vigour; so that they are better adapted for patients of a cold temperament, and sluggish energies, than when the system is feverish, and the constitution ardently excitable. "Vous tous qui etes gros, et gras, et lymphatiques, avec l'estomac paresseux, mangez l'oignon cru ; c'est pour vous que le bon Dieu la fait."

A jorum (or earthen bowl) of hot Onion broth taken at bedtime will serve admirably to mollify the air passages, and to open the skin-pores, after the first feverish stage of catarrh, or influenza, has passed by. To make this, peel a large Spanish Onion, and divide it into four parts; put them into a saucepan with half a saltspoonful of salt, and two ounces of butter, also a pint of cold water; let them simmer gently until quite tender; next pour all into a bowl which has been made hot, dredging a little pepper over; and let the broth be taken as hot as it can be borne. The allyl, and sulphur in the bulbs, together with their mucilage, relieve the sore, raw mucous membranes, and exercise a specific medicinal virtue which they possess for cure, as has been conclusively shown by experimental provings. Onion gruel is similarly an excellent, and delicious posset for a catarrhal patient, this being made of either water, or milk, and proving smooth enough for any palate if patent groats are used. The Onion should be three-parts cooked in the water, and finished in the gruel. For a full-flavoured gruel English Onions should be used; or, for a mild gruel, Portugal, or Egyptian Onions. Some persons prefer to boil them the whole time in the liquid for the gruel, thus retaining certain properties which are anti-asthmatic If butter is liked, add a morsel of the , off the fire, or a spoonful of cream instead. Onion milk is a time-honoured remedy for a similar purpose, and is to be prepared in the same way, adding a clove, a morsel of mace, or a little whole allspice, to simmer in the milk; this beverage to be served quite hot. But, after all, cold-catching can be prevented beforehand, which is far better than having necessary recourse subsequently to these palliative measures.

A whitehaired old travelling tinker, hardy and hearty, testifies thus, for instance: "Sometimes one of the Deacons says to me when he sees me outside o' th' Chapel i' th' yard, athowt Aw wish aw could stand i' th' wind an' rain athowt mi hat on, athowt catchin' cowld, Sam, as yo' can.' An' says aw to him, 'Th' mon as wears flannel next his skin, an' as dips his yed under cowld water three times every mornin', doesno catch much cowld; aw've seen eighty-two buthdays, and, thank the Lord, aw hanno' got a pain, or a ache about me."

If employed as a poultice for ear-ache, or for broken chilblains, the Onion should be plainly roasted, so as to modify its acrid Onion should be plainly roasted, so as to modify its acrid oil. When there is a running fetid discharge from the ear, or when an abscess is first threatened, with pain, heat, and swelling, the hot poultice of roasted Onion will be found very soothing, and will do much to mitigate the pain; or, a clove of Garlic, stripped of the outer skin, and cut in the form of a , if thrust gently into the ear of the aching side, will quickly assuage the pain. "Onyon juice," saith an old maxim, "anoynted on the bald head in the sun, bringeth the haire againe very speedilie ." For inflamed, and protruding piles, the raw Onion pulp of a bruised bulb will, if kept bound close against the part by a compress, and renewed as needed, afford certain relief. Small Onions eaten at night by those persons who are not prone to feverishness, will promote sleep, and induce a gentle perspiration.

The late Frank Buckland said: "I am sure the essential oil of Onions has specific powers; in my own case it never fails ; if I am much pressed with work, and feel that I am not disposed to sleep, I eat two or three small Onions, and their effect is magical."

The juice of a sliced raw Onion, being alkaline, will quickly antidote by its application over any part, the acid venom from the sting of a wasp, or bee, and will afford speedy relief. The Onion has a very sensitive organism, and serves to absorb all morbid matter that comes in its way. It has been found that during an epidemic of cholera, a string of Onions hanging in a house amid other houses which were all infected, became unintelligibly diseased, and black, but proving thereby protective to the inmates of that particular house.

Culpeper tells about Onions: "They have gotten this quality, to draw corruption unto them, for, if you pill (peel) one, and lay it on a dunghill, you shall finde him rotten in half a day, by drawing putrefaction to it; then being bruised, and applied to a plaguesore, it is very probable it will do the like." The volatile principle of the bulbs, which is sulphide of allyl, is powerfully antiseptic whilst they are raw, but when boiled they lose their odorous essential oil in a great measure, on which the antiputrefying virtues depend, and which escape by the heat. A favourite Devonshire pie whereof the predominant flavour is that of the savoury Onion, is made thus (being best adapted for the "dura ilia messorum") : "Take as ingredients three pounds of mutton, a pork cutlet, six large apples (sliced), plenty of finely chopped Onions, two ounces of sifted sugar, half a pint of mutton broth, with pepper and salt to taste. Place these in layers within a deep dish; cover with rich paste, and bake for an hour and a half; or place the whole in a crock, and stew for an hour and a half; serve piping hot. Sometimes clotted cream is eaten with this light, wholesome delicacy." "As to fair Italy, all the social atmosphere of that delightful land is laden with the fragrance of the Onion; its odour is a practical democracy. In the Churches all are alike: there is one faith , one smell ! The entrance of Victor Emmanuel into Rome was only the pompous proclamation of a unity which garlic had already accomplished; (and yet we who boast openly of our democracy eat Onions in secret)."

The author of My Summer in a Garden says: "I am quite ashamed to take friends into my garden, and have them notice the absence of Onions: it is so marked. In 'Onion is strength,' and a garden without it lacks flavour. The Onion in its satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables, and it is the only one which represents the essence of things; it can almost be said to have a soul. You take off coat after coat, and the Onion is still there; and when the last one is removed, who dare say that the Onion itself is destroyed? though you can cry over its departed spirit! If there is any one thing on this fallen earth that the angels in heaven weep over more than another, it is the Onion. I know that there is supposed to be a prejudice against the Onion, but I think there is rather a cowardice regarding it. I doubt not that all men and women really love the Onion, but few dare to confess their love; the affection for it is concealed; good New Englanders are as shy of owning it as they are of talking about religion. Some persons have fixed days on which they eat Onions, what you might call 'retreats, or their 'Thursdays'; the act is in the nature of a mystic ceremony, an Eleusinian rite; not a breath of it must get abroad; on that day they see no company; they deny the kiss of greeting to the dearest friend; they retire within themselves, and hold communion with one of the most pungent and penetrating manifestations of the moral vegetable world. Happy is said to be the family which can eat Onions together; they are for the time being separate from the world, and have a harmony of aspiration." "Let the reformers then become apostles of the Onion : let them eat it, and preach it to their fellows, and circulate tracts of it in the form of seeds! In the Onion is the hope of universal brotherhood. If all men will eat Onions at all times, they will come into a universal sympathy." Again, in the eloquent words of another writer : "The fragrance of this wine-scented esculent not only whets the appetite, but abounds in associations glad, and picturesque. All Italy is in the fine penetrating smell, and all Provence, and all Spain. An Onion or garlic-perfumed atmosphere hovers alike over the narrow Calli of Venice, the cool Courts of Cordova and the thronged Amphitheatre of Naples. It is the only æther breathed by the Latin people of the South, so that ever must it suggest blue skies, and endless sunshine, cypress groves, and olive orchards. For the traveller it is interwoven with memories of the golden canvases of Titian, the song of Dante, the music of Mascagni. The Violet may not work a sweeter spell, nor the Carnation yield a more intoxicating fragrance. Sometimes even yet when I enter a London restaurant, however pretentious, an aroma arises of the Allium sativum, from a sauce, and I am back straightway on the Isle Sainte Marguerite, listening to the music of the leaping waves, feasting my eyes on the tempting fruit; and then once more the golden Aioli advances with its shining waters. I am lost! the summer is manqué; the many delights of the cuisine Provençal are blotted out of memory by the swift inhaling of an evanescent sauce. The French leg of mutton of la cuisine bourgeoise is always Piquée à l'Ail. Thereby, amidst the resinous groves of the Isle Sainte Marguerite, opposite Cannes, I was introduced to the potent virtues of savoury garlic." Beau Brummell, when asked whether a gentleman might eat Onions immediately before going into the company of gentlewomen, remarked sententiously, "No man is so well looking, and fascinating, that on entering a ball-room he can afford to handicap himself with a stink."

Leeks (Allium porrium) contain sulphur, and possess expectorant properties. Their juice will purify the blood at springtime. "Now Leeks are in season, for pottage full good, That spareth the milch cow, and purgeth the blood."

TUSSER, Husbandry for March.

Furthermore, they stimulate the kidneys, and will dissolve earthy phosphates in the bladder. "Eat Leeks in Lide, and ransoms in May, Then all the year after physicians can play."

For chilblains, or chapped hands, Leek juice with cream is an efficient salve. The Emperor Nero, (Porrophagus), ate Leeks with oil for several days together so as to clear his voice. When meat savour is withheld from soups, a flavouring by Leeks will satisfy any ordinary craving for condimentary taste; but if a stronger desire prevails, then the most acceptable flavouring vegetable is the Onion. Hence among persons who are not fastidious, or soon offended by powerful, even vulgar, odours, strongly-flavoured meals are thought highly palatable, though they surround the eaters thereof with an atmosphere of garlic, and cause them to be given a wide berth by sensitive neighbours. "We have known a whole suite of most æsthetically fresh apartments, the drawing-room being scented by a fragrant wealth of natural flowers, literally penetrated for the entire evening with the oniony exhalations of a single guest who had made his mid-day meal on a collation of unmitigated coarseness. Such feeding is only fit for those who remain in quarantine, or in the open air, and its results should never be inflicted on delicate noses. The soups, and vegetable dishes consisting mainly of Onions, should be so mitigated as to bear the test of polite intercourse, and should fall into the rank of civilized cookery, be it au gras, or au maigre, for days of rejoicing, or abstinence."

The Cock-a-Leekie soup of Caledonia is graphically described by Sir Walter Scott in The Fortunes of Nigel. This was the favourite clear soup of her late Majesty Queen Victoria when at Balmoral. The Leeks must be young, and small, and well cut (using the white part only) into pieces about half an inch long; these are to be thrown into cold water overnight; in the morning remove just the centre of each piece with a small wooden skewer; next blanch them; cool, and drain, and place the pieces of Leek in a stewpan of the required size, with plenty of clear clarified butter, and a few slices of raw, green ham; in the evening pass the Leeks very slowly indeed over the stove for about fifteen minutes; pour off the butter, and add a good boiling consommé (in which a chicken has been cooked) during the clarification, and boil for half an hour; cut the breast of this chicken into very small white pieces, and put them in the tureen ; remove the ham from the soup; season the latter, and pour it into the tureen, freeing it from all fat with whitey-brown paper. Then the soup is ready. French plums (stoned, and stewed in the consommé) were always served on a soup-plate with this Cock-a-Leekie at the Royal table. The Welsh, who live much upon Leeks, are found to be very fruitful of progeny. products are," writes Evelyn, " of virtue said to be prolifeck; since Latona, the mother of Apollo, longed after them." 66 These Chives (Allium schænoprasum) are an evergreen perennial herb of the Onion tribe, with a milder flavour than the bulbs. Epicures consider this the best seasoning for beef-steaks, either by eating the small bulb, or by rubbing the platter therewith when cut in half.

The Schalot is another variety of this Onion tribe, being called also the Scallion, or Cibol, of a mild flavour, and preferred in pickle-making. As to Chives, these tiny Onion-like plants are as superior in flavour to an Onion as an oyster is to a cockle; they are said to have been introduced into Britain by the Roman soldiers, and accordingly they are found flourishing in plenty near the Roman Wall in Northumberland, and elsewhere. They grow there like thrift, and without any bulb, the stalks being edible at the top, and making a very excellent antiseptic flavouring.

Among herbal simples the "Poor Man's Garlic, or "Jack by the hedge," (Erysimum allium), occurs as a well-known roadside variety of the Onion plant tribe, growing in wild and luxuriant abundance throughout the whole English summer. It is distinguished by brightly green, glossy, heart-shaped leaves, which when bruised emit a strong odour of garlic; also by headpieces of small white flowering bunches. This homely plant has been of popular use as a savoury accompaniment of a poor man's bread and cheese, from quite early times; it also bears the name "Sauce-alone." When gathered fresh, and boiled separately in its own juices, it makes an excellent addition to boiled mutton, and is of antiseptic virtue, with slightly aperient effects which are easy, and not griping. Our forefathers valued the same modest herb highly for its anti-scorbutic usefulness. "The antients," says Evelyn, "employed 'Jack by the hedge' as a succedaneum to their scordium."

OPEN AIR TREATMENT, OF PULMONARY CONSUMPTION, (See OILS- COD-LIVER).

BUT, as says an old adage, "You may lead a horse to the water, yet you cannot make him drink." A clergyman who is in the habit of taking dwellers in London slums down into the country, by fifties, in breaks, for summer holidays about the green fields and gardens, was dismayed on the party drawing up one evening at the entrance to their alley, after one of these outings, to hear one of them say, as if giving voice to the general sentiment, "The country's fine for a 'oliday, mates, but arter all this smells like 'ome." As regards the hereditary bias of tubercular consumption, it cannot be expected that this can be eradicated in one generation even by the recently adopted, and highly efficacious treatment of destroying the microbes which specialize the disease -by high altitudes, open, fresh, cold air, abundant sunlight, and most generous feeding. "Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret, Et mala perrumpet, furtim fastidia victrix."

So says the well-known Horatian maxim; and as yet modern medicine has only modified the "usque to "sæpe." It may دو be well to ask what Koch, the eminent pathologist, means when he pronounces that the tuberculosis of consumption is not inherited. If he means that children of consumptive parents are not born with tubercles ready formed, he is certainly right; they are not so born. But they are born with the potency of both tubercles, and whiskers, for future development as life proceeds. And it is this predisposition which has to be slowly eradicated by the patient sanitation of several successive lifetimes, so that the bacillus of tuberculosis may then no longer find a soil which can support it. Microbes which produce disease are often known to occupy harmlessly an organism immune against their further development. Respecting the pursuance of open-air treatment in England, serious doubts may well be entertained as to whether, or not, this is safely, or hopefully practicable, because of our damp, chilly, changeable climate during nine months of the year. For a cure by open air such air must, as an essential requirement, be dry, pure, and of an equable temperature throughout.