GARLIC, A/lium, sativum„ see At,mum, a bulbous-rdoted plant, a native of the east, cultivated from the earliest.ages. The stern rises to the height of about 2 ft., unbranched. and bearing at top an umbel of a few whitish flowers, mixed with many small bulbs, The upper part of the stem before flowering is rolled 4ogether into a-ring. The leaves are. grass-like, obscurely keeled, and not fistulous like those of the onion. Three alter nate stamens are 3-pointed, the middle point bearing the anther. The bulb consists of about 12 to 15 ovate-oblong cloves or subordinate bulbs, which are axillary buds of its scales thus developed; it contains a viscid juice, which is sometimes used as a cement for porcelain, and has a penetrating and powerful alliaceous Odor, which indeed pervades the whole plant, with a pungent aromatic taste. It is in general use as a condiment with other articles of food, and to many it is in this way very agreeable; to others, it is dis gusting. It is much more largely used in many other countries than in Britain: in Spain, it enters into the composition of almost every dish. Garlic, or its fresh juice, is also
used in medicine. It is stimulant, tonic, and promotes digestion; it has also diuretic and sudorific properties, and is•a good expectorant, promoting all the excretions. Applied externally, it is a rubefacient, and is used -to stimulate indolent tumors. A liniment of oil and garlic juice is sometimes applied to the chest in infantile convulsions. In some cases of deafness, much benefit is obtained from a clove of garlic or a few drops of the juice put into the ear. Garlic is also used as an anthchnintic. It owes its properties chiefly to oil of garlic (see following art.). Garlic abounds also in mucilage. The cult': vatiou of garlic is extremely easy; it is generally propagated by its eloves.—Many of the species of allium. are popUlarlY called "gai.U, with)aa4dch.stinetiNVhddition. A. olera , edam is sometimes called wild garlic in England, and its young and tender leaves are used as a pot-herb. Its leaves are semi-cylindrical, and grooved on the upper side. The stamens are all simple.