353 



feed, and affixed to a common receptacle. It 



4 ' 



obtufe perfiftent Segments : there is no corolla: the germen is roundifh 



and fupports two rough ftyles, fupplied with fimple fligmata : th( 

 fruit is a large fucculent berry, compofed of a number of fmaller berries 

 each containing an oval 



flowers in June, and its fruit ripens in September 



_ The Mulberry-tree^ is a native of Italy, and is now cultivated ii 

 moft parts of Europe," not only for the grateful fruit which it affords 

 but in many places for the more lucrative purpofe of fupplyin^- Silk 

 worms with its leaves, upon which they fee ' 



The ripe fruit abounds with a deep violet-coloured juice, which 

 in its general qualities agrees with that of the other acido-dulces, 

 allaying thirft, partly by refrigerating, and partly by exciting an 



of mucus from the mouth and fauces : a fimilar effed 



IS 



alfo produced in the ftomach, where, by correding putrefcency, a 

 powerful caufe of thirft is removed/ This is more efpecially the 

 cafe with all thofe fruits in which the acid much prevails over the 

 faccharine part, as the currant, which we; have already noticed;** and 

 to which the medicinal qualities of this fruit may be referred ; but 

 both thefe, and moft of the other fummer fruits, are to be confidered 

 rather as articles of diet than of medicine. The London College 

 direds a fyrupus mori, which is an agreeable vehicle for various 

 medicines. 



' The bark of the root of the Mulberry-tree has an acrid bitter tafte, 

 and poflefTes a cathartic power. It has been fuccefsfully ufed as an 

 anthelmintic, particularly in cafes of T^nia/ The dofe is half a 

 dram of the powder. 



\ 



Gerard is the firft who Is known to have cultivated It In Eng 



but In 



* The leaves of the white Mulberry are preferred for this purpofe in Europe ; 

 China, where the bell filk is made, the filk worms are fed with thofe of the Moru 

 tartarica.^ (Forfter, in a letter to Profeffor Murray. See Jpp. Med. vol h. />. 597 

 dated 1787.) From the bark of another fpecies of Mulberry, (M. papyrifera) th 

 Japanefe make paper, and the inhabitants of fome of the iflands of the South fea make 



kind 



See Cullen's account of the fru<^us acido-dulces. Mat. Med. vol i. />. 242 



* Page 207- See alfo Rubus and Citrus. 



' Vide, Andry, de la generation des versy ^c. p. 172* 



FICUS CARICA. 



