He ate
them, and died. It was generally believed that a poultice of peeled
onions laid on the stomach, or underneath the armpits, would cure any
one who had taken poison. My mother would never use onions which had
lain for any length of time with their skins off.
So lately as 1849, Mr. J.B. Wolff, in the _Scientific American_, states
that he had charge of one hundred men on shipboard, cholera raging among
them; they had onions on board, which a number of the men freely ate,
and these were soon attacked by the cholera and nearly all died. As soon
as this discovery was made, the eating of the onions was forbidden. Mr.
Wolff came to the conclusion that onions should never be eaten during an
epidemic; he remarks, "After many years experience, I have found that
onions placed in a room where there is small-pox, will blister and
decompose with great rapidity,--not only so, but will prevent the spread
of disease;" and he thinks that, as a disinfectant, they have no equal,
only keep them out of the stomach.
It was believed that, when peeling onions, if an onion were stuck on the
point of the knife which was being used, it would prevent the eyes being
affected.
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