Allium.
ALLIUM, L. Wild Garlic. Landlauch. Several species, A. canadense most common, give a bad taste to the milk and butter of cows feeding on them. The tincture used for gravel. The Cherokees use them in cookery. Many species cultivated in gardens and fields. A. sativum or common Garlick, is a well known condiment, highly medical, externally as a stimulant, rubefacient, and blistering, internally as a diffusible stimulant, diuretic, expectorant, sudorific, &c. useful in diseases of a languid character and interrupted secretion, catarrhal disorders, and chronic cough, pituitous and spasmodic asthma, flatulent cholics, hysterical and dropsical complaints, intermittent and typhoid fevers, retention of urine, &c. It is also a powerful vermifuge, and has expelled the tenia. It is given in substance, conserve, milk, wine, &c. Properties residing in a yellow, thick, acrid oil. Applied to the sole of the feet as an excellent revulsion from disorders of the head. Ointment or poultice repellent, discutient, diuretic, and cures deafness produced by atony or rheumatism. The excessive use of garlick in cookery, may produce head-ache, flatulence, fetid breath, thirst, inflammations, fevers, and bloody piles. Parsley and celery correct partly its strong smell and taste, and also that of onions.
ALLIUM CEPA, L. or Cepa vulgaris, Tt. Onions. Have the same properties as garlick, but weaker. Very useful as food in dropsies and suppressed urine. Onions correct the taste of fish, and can cure the bad effects produced by bad fish, salt, smoked, or putrid. They promote secretions and excite appetite. Their excess produces flatulence, thirst, head-ache, bad dreams, and may derange the central functions. Externally, they form good cataplasms for suppurating tumors. Raw onions can only suit strong stomachs, they render the breath offensive. When boiled or stewed, they are palatable and healthy. The ancients thought that onions and garlic could cure or prevent the plague. The A. porrum or Leeks, have the same qualities and uses, they are still milder than onions: both roots and leaves used.
