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HORSERADISH (Ger. Meerrettig ; Fr. ra...

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 738 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HORSERADISH (Ger. Meerrettig ; Fr. raifort = See also:ravine forte, crap de Bretagne ; Swed. See also:Pepper-rot ; Russ. chren) , known botanically as Cochlearia Armoracia, a perennial plant of the natural See also:order See also:Cruciferae, having a stout cylindrical rootstock from the See also:crown of which See also:spring large See also:radical leaves on See also:long stalks, 4 to 6 in. broad, and about a See also:foot in length with a deeply crenate margin, and coarsely veined; the See also:stem-leaves are See also:short-stalked or sessile, elongated and tapering to their See also:attachment, the See also:lower ones often deeply toothed. The See also:flowers, which appear in May and See also:June, are in. in width, in See also:flat-topped panicles, with purplish sepals and See also:white petals; the See also:fruit is a small silicula, which does not ripen in the See also:climate of See also:England. The See also:horse-See also:radish is indigenous to eastern See also:Europe. Into western Europe and See also:Great See also:Britain, where it is to be met with on See also:waste ground, it was probably introduced. It was See also:wild in various parts of England in See also:Gerard's See also:time. The See also:root, the armoraciae radix of See also:pharmacy, is - to 2 in. or more in See also:diameter, and commonly 1 ft., sometimes 3 ft. in length; the upper See also:part is enlarged into a crown, which is annulated with the scars of fallen leaves; and from the numerous irregular lateral branches are produced See also:vertical stolons, and also See also:adventitious buds, which latter render the plant very difficult of extirpation. From the root of See also:Aconite (q.v.), which has occasionally been mistaken for it, horseradish root differs in being More or less cylindrical from a little below the crown, and in its See also:pale yellowish (or brownish) white See also:hue externally, acrid and penetrating odour when scraped or bruised, and xrll. 24 II pungent and either sweetish or See also:bitter See also:taste. Under the See also:influence of a ferment which it contains, the fresh root yields on See also:distillation with See also:water about •o5 % of a volatile oil, butyl sulphocyanide, C4H9CNS. After drying, the root has been found to afford 11.15 % of ash.

Horseradish root is an ingredient in the spiritus armoraciae compositus (dose 1-2 drachms) of the See also:

British See also:Pharmacopoeia. It is an agreeable flavouring See also:agent. In See also:common with other See also:species of Cochlearia, the horseradish was formerly in high repute as an antiscorbutic. The root was, as well as the leaves, taken with See also:food by the Germans in the See also:middle ages, whence the old See also:French name for it, moutarde See also:des Allemands; and Coles, See also:writing in 1657, mentions its use with See also:meat in England, where it is still chiefly employed as a condiment with See also:beef. For the successful cultivation of the horseradish, a See also:light and friable See also:damp See also:soil is the most suitable; this having been trenched 3 ft. deep in autumn, and the See also:surface turned down with a liberal See also:supply of See also:farm-yard manure, a second dressing of decomposed manure should in the ensuing spring be dug in 2 ft. deep, and pieces of the root 6 in. in length may then be planted a foot apart in narrow trenches. During summer the ground requires to be kept See also:free of weeds; and the application of liquid manure twice or thrice in sufficient quantity to reach the lowest roots is an See also:advantage. When dug the root may be long preserved in See also:good See also:condition by placing it in See also:sand. See Gerard, Herball, p. 240, ed. See also:Johnson (1636) ; Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 71 (2nd ed., 1879); See also:Bentley and Trimen, Med. Pl., i.

21 (188o). HORSE-SHOES. The horny casing of the foot of the horse and other Solidungulates, while quite sufficient to protect the extremity of the See also:

limb under natural conditions, is found to See also:wear away and break, especially in moist climates, when the See also:animal is subjected to hard See also:work of any See also:kind. This, however, can be obviated by the See also:simple See also:device of attaching to the hoof a rim of See also:iron, adjusted to the shape of the hoof. The animal itself has been in a very marked manner modified by shoeing, for without this we could have had neither the See also:fleet racers nor the heavy and powerful See also:cart-horses of the See also:present See also:day. Though the ancients were sufficiently impressed by the damage done to horses' hoofs to devise certain forms of covering for them (in the shape of socks or sandals), the practice of nailing iron plates or rim-shoes to the hoof does not appear to have been introduced earlier than the 2nd See also:century B.C., and was not commonly known till the See also:close of the 5th century A.D., or in See also:regular use till the middle ages. The See also:evidence for the earlier date depends on the doubtful interpretations of designs on coins, &c. As time went on, how-ever, the profession of the See also:farrier and the See also:art of the shoesmith gradually See also:grew in importance. It was only in the loth century that horse-shoeing was introduced in See also:Japan, where the former practice was to attach to the horse's feet slippers of See also:straw, which were renewed when necessary, a See also:custom which may indicate the usage of See also:early peoples. In See also:modern times much See also:attention has been devoted to horse-shoeing by veterinary See also:science, with the result of showing that methods formerly adopted caused cruel injury to horses and serious loss to their owners. The evils resulted from (1) paring the See also:sole and See also:frog; (2) applying shoes too heavy and of faulty shape; (3) employing too many and too large nails; (4) applying shoes too small and removing the See also:wall of the hoof to make the feet See also:fit the shoes, and (5) rasping the front of the hoof. In rural districts, where the art of the farrier is combined with See also:general blacksmith work, too little attention is See also:apt to be given to considerations which have an important bearing on the comfort, usefulness and See also:life of the horse.

According to modern principles (1) shoes should be as light as compatible with the wear demanded of them; (2) the ground See also:

face of the See also:shoe should be See also:concave, and the face applied to the foot See also:plain; (3) heavy See also:draught horses alone should have toe and See also:heel calks on their shoes to increase foothold; (4) the excess growth of the wall or See also:outer portion of horny See also:matter should only be re-moved in re-shoeing, care being taken to keep both sides of the hoof of equal height; (5) the shoe should fit accurately to the circumference of the hoof, and project slightly beyond the heel; (6) the shoes should be fixed with as few nails as possible, six orseven in fore-shoes and eight in See also:hind-shoes, and (7) the nails should take a short thick hold of the wall, so that old See also:nail-holes may be removed with the natural growth and paring of the horny matter. Horse-shoes and nails are now made with great See also:economy by machinery, and See also:special forms of shoe or See also:plate are made for See also:race-horses and trotters, or to suit abnormalities of the hoof.

End of Article: HORSERADISH (Ger. Meerrettig ; Fr. raifort = ravine forte, crap de Bretagne ; Swed. Pepper-rot ; Russ. chren)

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