whatsoever, insomuch, that in the Delphic temple
there was a Radish of solid gold, _raphanus ex auro dicatus_: and
Moschinus wrote a whole volume in their praise; but Hippocrates
condemned them as _vitiosas, innatantes, acoegre concoctiles._

Among the oblations offered to Apollo in his temple at Delphi,
turnips were dedicated in lead, beet in silver, and radishes in
wrought gold. The wild Radish is _Raphanus raphanistrum_. The
garden Radish was not grown in England before 1548.

Later on John Evelyn wrote in his _Acetaria_: "And indeed (besides
that they decay the teeth) experience tells us that, as the Prince of
Physicians writes, it is hard of digestion, inimicous to the stomach,
causing nauseous eructations, and sometimes vomiting, though
[456] otherwise diuretic, and thought to repel the vapours of wine
when the wits were at their genial club." "The Radish," says Gerard,
"provoketh urine, and dissolveth cluttered sand."

The roots, which are the edible part, consist of a watery fibrous
pulp, which is comparatively bland, and of an external skin
furnished with a pungent volatile aromatic oil which acts as a
condiment to the phlegmatic pulp. "Radishes are eaten with salt
alone as carrying their pepper in them." The oil contained in the
roots, and likewise in the seeds, is sulphuretted, and disagrees with
persons of weak digestion. A young Radish, which is quickly grown
and tender, will suit most stomachs, especially if some of the leaves
are masticated together with the root; but a Radish which is tough,
strong, and hollow, "_fait penser a l'ile d'Elbe: il revient_."

The pulp is chemically composed chiefly of nitrogenous substance,
being fibrous and tough unless when the roots are young and
quickly grown. On this account they should not be eaten when at all
old and hard by persons of slow digestion, because apt to lodge in
the intestines, and to become entangled in their caecal pouch, or in
its appendix. But boiled Radishes are almost equal to asparagus
when served at table, provided they have been cooked long enough
to become tender, that is, for almost an hour. The syrup of radishes
is excellent for hoarseness, bronchial difficulty of breathing,
whooping cough, and other complaints of the chest.

For the cure of corns, if after the feet have been bathed, and the
corns cut, a drop or two of juice be squeezed over the corn from the
fresh pulp of a radish on several consecutive days, this will wither
and [457]