Medicinal Value of Celery.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 76

Medicinal Value of Celery.

It' is well known that the difficulty of digesting cheese occurs in the stomachy and that when* it is 1 - passed Snto -the r }nt"estine digestion( proceeds «s easily and' as ' completely' as is the case with meat. Carminatives — aa, for example, certain essential oils — favour muscular * contraction, and, therefore, favour the continuity -of 'the- digestive 'processs. and, the Lancet thinks, there is no ree*a*» why the aromatic oil

present in celery should not be classed with tb.e carminatives. The oil in ooler* is allied to the oil of parsley, or apiol, which is a well-known carminative, stimulant, and diuretic (drugs which increase -kidney action); celery i 6 further reputed : to. be t' 'good for rheumatism." In an old , recipe .<oceurß 'the following rheumatism remedy, ;,T-"The .celery, should, <be.>,-cut into bits and. boiled in -water until soft, .and tho , •walot" should be 'drunk ty ihe patient. ,Put ttew"milk, with a little flour , and nutmeg 'into '-a? saucepan with ihe boileijT*, celery, " serve It' warm with" "pieces of toast, it \vith potatoes, arid the painful ailment' wili yield.:!- This amounts to"? treatment -with • i&lkaime -salts, v^hich -appears -to be- rational. Celery contains, sodium -and-potassium salts, and aigo a , distinct, amount- of iron.- In. spite -of the' presence, of the substances "enumerated "there " can be little doubt that t : many' persons find celery^ at any rate if eaten Taw 1 ,, indigestible, which" is not surprising when -its "strihgy, cellular "character *s borne- in '■ .mind." The 4>est celery, ol course, 1 is that which is crisp' or brittle, -but -eventhen there is fibre present- which cannot be appropriated- by tKe. human -organism. Still, tho fibre of vegetables serves a useful > purpose in promoting a stimulus to intes- , tinal movement. ]