Carrot
Our garden Carrot, or Dauke, is a cultivated variety of the
Dalucus sylvestris, or wild carrot, an umbelliferous plant, which
groweth of itself in untoiled places, and is called philtron,
because it serveth for love matters. This wild Carrot may be found
abundantly in our fields and on the sea shore; the term Carrot
being Celtic, and signifying red of colour, or perhaps derived
from caro, flesh, because this is a flesh
vegetable. Daucus is from
the Greek daio, to burn, on account of the pungent and
stimulating qualities. It is common also on our roadsides, being
popularly known as Bee's nest, because the stems of its
flowering head, or umbel, form a concave semi-circle, or nest,
which bees, when belated from the hive will use as a dormitory.
The small purple flower which grows in the middle of the umbel
has been found beneficial for the cure of epilepsy. The juice of the
Carrot contains carotine in red crystals; also pectin, albumen,
and a particular volatile oil, on which the medicinal properties of
the root depend. The seeds are warm and aromatic to the taste,
whilst they are slightly diuretic. A tea made from the whole plant,
and taken each night and morning, is excellent when the lithic
acid, or gouty disposition prevails, with the deposit of a brick-dust
sediment in the urine on its becoming cool.
The chief virtues of Carrots lie in the strong antiseptic qualities
they possess, which prevent all putrescent [89] changes within the
body. In Suffolk they were given long since as a secret specific for
preserving and restoring the wind of horses, but cows if fed long
on them will make bloody urine. Wild Carrots are superior
medicinally to those of the cultivated kind. Carrot sugar got from
the inspissated juice of the roots may be used at table, and is good
for the coughs of consumptive children. The seeds of the wild
Carrot were formerly esteemed as a specific remedy for jaundice;
and in Savoy the peasants now give an infusion of the roots for the
same purpose; whilst this infusion has served to prevent stone in
the bladder throughout several years when the patient had been
previously subject to frequent attacks.
Carrots boiled sufficiently, and mashed into a pulp, when applied
directly to a putrid, indolent sore, will sweeten and heal it. The
Carrot poultice was first used by Sulzer for mitigating the pain,
and correcting the stench of foul ulcers. Raw scraped Carrot is
an excellent plaster for chapped nipples. At Vichy, where
derangements of the liver and of the biliary digestion are
particularly treated, Carrots in one or another form are served at
every meal, whether in soup, or as a vegetable; and considerable
efficacy of cure is attributed to them. In the time of Parkinson
(1640) the leaves of the Carrot were thought to be so ornamental
that ladies wore them as a head-dress instead of feathers. A good
British wine may be brewed from the roots of the Carrot; and very
tolerable bread may be prepared for travellers from these roots
when dried and powdered. Pectic acid can be extracted by the
chemist from Carrots, which will solidify plain sugared water into
a wholesome appetising jelly. One part of this pectic acid
dissolved in a little hot water, and added to make three hundred
parts of warm water, [90] is soon converted into a mass of
trembling jelly. The yellow core of the Carrot is the part which is
difficult of digestion with some persons, not the outer red layer.
Before the French Revolution the sale of Carrots and oranges was
prohibited in the Dutch markets, because of the unpopular
aristocratic colour of these commodities. In one thousand parts of
a Carrot there are ninety-five of sugar, and (according to some
chemists) only three of starch. In country districts raw Carrots are
sometimes given to children for expelling worms, probably
because the vegetable matter passes mechanically through the
body unchanged, and scours it. Remember, William, says Sir
Hugh Evans in the Merry Wives of Windsor, Focative is
Caret, and that replies Mrs. Quickly, is a good root.
The man in the moon drinks claret,
But he is a dull Jack-a-dandy;
Would he know a sheep's head from a Carrot
He should learn to drink cider and brandy.
Song of Mad Tom in Midsummer Night's Dream.