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naturalised in England, and was known here in Shakespeare's time,
who mentions it in the second part of _Henry IV_. thus: "Come,
cousin Silence! we will eat a pippin of last year's graffing, with a
dish of Caraways; and then to bed!" The seeds grow numerously
in the small flat flowers placed thickly together on each floral
plateau, or umbel, and are best known to us in seed cake, and in
Caraway comfits. They are really the dried fruit, and possess,
when rubbed in a mortar, a warm aromatic taste, with a fragrant
spicy smell. Caraway comfits consist of these fruits encrusted with
white sugar; but why the wife of a comfit maker should be given
to swearing, as Shakespeare avers, it is not easy to see. The young
roots of Caraway plants may be sent to table like parsnips; they
warm and stimulate a cold languid stomach. These mixed with
milk and made into bread, formed the _chara_ of Julius Caesar,
eaten by the soldiers of Valerius. Chemically the volatile
oil obtained from Caraway seeds consists of "carvol," and a
hydro-carbon, "carvene," which is a sort of "camphor." Dioscorides
long ago advised the oil for pale-faced girls; and modern ladies
have not disregarded the counsel.

From six pounds of the unbruised seeds, four ounces of the pure
essential oil can be expressed. In Germany the peasants flavour
their cheese, soups, and household [83] bread--jager--with the
Caraway; and this is not a modern custom, for an old Latin author
says: _Semina carui satis communiter adhibentur ad condiendum
panem; et rustica nostrates estant jusculum e pane, seminibus
carui, et cerevisa coctum_.

The Russians and Germans make from Caraways a favourite
liqueur "Kummel," and the Germans add them as a flavouring
condiment to their sawerkraut. In France Caraways enter into the
composition of _l'huile de Venus_, and of other renowned
cordials.

An ounce of the bruised seeds infused for six hours in a pint of
cold water makes a good Caraway julep for infants, from one to
three teaspoonfuls for a dose, It "consumeth winde, and is
delightful to the stomack; the powdered seed put into a poultice
taketh away blacke and blew spots of blows and bruises." "The oil,
or seeds of Caraway do sharpen vision, and promote the secretion
of milk." Therefore dimsighted men and nursing mothers may
courageously indulge in seed cake!

The name Caraway comes from the Gaelic _Caroh_, a ship, because
of the shape which the fruit takes. By cultivation the root