e the same properties and characteristics, though in
varying degrees, and they severally belong to the genus _Allium_,
each containing "allyl," which is a radical rich in sulphur.

The homely Onion may be taken first as the best illustration of the
family. This is named technically _Allium cepa_, from _cep_, a
head (of bunched florets which it bears). Lucilius called it _Flebile
coepe_, because the pungency of its odour will provoke a flow of
tears from the eyes. As Shakespeare says, in _Taming of the
Shrew_:--

"Mine eyes smell onions;
I shall weep anon."

The Egyptians were devoted to Onions, which they ate more than
two thousand years before the time of Christ. They were given to
swear by the Onion and [210] Garlic in their gardens. Herodotus
tells us that during the building of the pyramids nine tons of gold
were spent in buying onions for the workmen. But it is to be noted
that in Egypt the Onion is sweet and soft; whereas, in other
countries it grows hard, and nauseous, and strong.

By the Greeks this bulb was called Krommuon, "_apo tau Meuein
tas koras_," because of shutting the eyes when eating it. In Latin its
name _unio_, signified a single root without offsets.

Raw Onions contain an acrid volatile oil, sulphur, phosphorus,
alkaline earthy salts, phosphoric and acetic acids, with phosphate
and citrate of lime, starch, free uncrystallized sugar, and lignine.
The fresh juice is colourless, but by exposure to the air becomes red.
A syrup made from the juice with honey is an excellent medicine
for old phlegmatic persons in cold weather, when their lungs are
stuffed, and the breathing is hindered.

Raw Onions increase the flow of urine, and promote perspiration,
insomuch, that a diet of them, with bread, has many a time cured
dropsy coming on through a chill at first, or from exposure to cold.
They contain the volatile principle, "sulphide of allyl," which is
acrid and stimulating. If taken in small quantities, Onions quicken
the circulation, and assist digestion; but when eaten more prodigally
they disagree.

In making curative Simples, the Onion (and Garlic) should not be
boiled, else the volatile essential oil, on which its virtues chiefly
depend, will escape during the process.

The principal internal effects of the Onion, the Leek, and Garlic, are
stimulation and warmth, so that they are of more salutary use when
the subject is of a cold [211] temperament, and when the vital
powers are f