[123] Var. α, phase′olus coccin′eus (red-flowered); β, ph. albiflor′us (white flowered).
[124] Var. α, ph. unic′olor (seeds of one colour);—β, ph. fascia′tus (seeds striped) or ZE′BRA-STRIPED BEAN;—γ, ph. variega′tus or SPECK′LED BEAN:—δ, ph. na′nus or DWARF′-BEAN.
Those principally cultivated in our gardens are the small Lis′bon, Sand′wich, Span′ish, Tokay′, Wind′sor, and Maz′agan (from north Africa), with almost innumerable sub-varieties of each. The exquisite perfume of beans in blossom is referred to by the poet Thomson:—
“Arabia cannot boast a sweeter gale.”
Preparations including their fragrant principle are highly prized in modern perfumery.
Qual., &c. The pods eaten in the green state, properly dressed, are regarded as antiscorbutic and wholesome; but are apt to produce flatulence, unless combined with spices. In the dried or ripe state they are rather difficult of digestion, and very apt to distend the stomach and intestines with wind. This objection does not exist, to the same extent, to their use in the form of flour or meal. The amount of nutritious nitrogenous matter in beans rather exceeds that in wheat, and independently of a disposition to produce constipation in some habits, and being rather less easy of digestion, they must be considered nearly as wholesome as that cereal. The London millers and bakers use immense quantities of bean flour to adulterate their flour and bread.
This sophisticant may be detected by the appearance it presents under the microscope. The meshes of cellulin are very much larger than those of the fourth coat of wheat, with which it has been sometimes confounded, and the starch grains present a totally different appearance. They are oval or reniform, or with one end slightly larger; they have no well-defined hilum or rings, but many have a deep central longitudinal cleft running in the longer axis, and occupying two thirds or three fourths the length, but never reaching completely to the end; this cleft is sometimes a line, sometimes a chasm, and occasionally
secondary clefts abut upon it at parts of its course; sometimes, instead of a cleft, there is an irregular-shaped depression. If a little liquor potassæ be added the cellulin is seen more clearly. If the flour be added to a little boiling water, the smell of bean becomes evident.
Green beans (pods or legumes) are cooked by simply throwing them into boiling water, and simmering them until quite tender, taking the precaution of removing the lid of the saucepan, a ‘pinch’ of salt of tartar, or a little common salt, being usually added to preserve their green colour. Young and small ones take from 12 to 18 minutes—large or older ones longer. The first are merely ‘topped and tailed’ with a knife before being dressed; the others require also the ‘side strings’ to be drawn off, and to be cut obliquely into pieces of a lozenge form, or else to be split lengthwise into strips, and then divided once across. Old ones never boil tender. Windsor beans, and other “shelled beans,” take 15 to 30 minutes according to age. These last are sometimes skinned after being dressed. All of them are commonly ‘served up,’ or eaten, with melted butter. Beans, although rich in nitrogenous, are deficient in carbonaceous constituents; hence it is curious to note how almost invariably they are when eaten combined with some substance rich in carbon. The Hindoo, for instance, mixes lentils with rice and ghee or a form of clarified butter. In Yucatan and throughout the whole of central Africa, where a black bean is extensively used as food, they are well boiled in water, and eaten with pepper, salt, and pork. In this country, beans and bacon always appear at table together, and have done so for centuries. See Leguminosæ, Pulse, &c. (also below).