298 



each pedicel, minute, subulate. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 4, 

 previous to expansion tinged with violet. Filaments subu- 

 late, more or less united, in 2 ranks; the inner a line shorter 

 than the outer; 30-35 in number. The Fruit ovoid, 

 mammillose at the apex, v^\i\i the pulp arranged in 9-11 cells, 

 the parenchyme which contains it adhering firmly to the rind* 

 This, as well as those species of the genus which still re- 

 main to be noticed, was unknown to the ancients. We seek 

 in vain for any notice of it in the writings of antiquity. It 

 might, at first sight, be supposed that the Golden Apples of 

 the Hesperides had some reference to them. These islands 

 are, at the present day, known by the name of the Canaries or 

 Fortunate Islands, and are situated off the western coast of 

 Africa. But no voyager has noticed Oranges or Lemons as 

 growing there, till within a recent date; and those which are 

 now found, bear evident marks of having been introduced, 

 and are only met with in the neighbourhood of Europaean 

 settlements. 



As the Orange, the Lemon, and the other species, therefore, 

 (with the exception of the Citron,) were unknown to the 

 Greeks and Romans, we have reason for inferring that they 

 are natives of a country into which the arms of these vic- 

 torious nations did not penetrate. As they never extended 

 their conquests beyond the Ganges, we are probably not far 

 from the truth when we consider China and the adjacent 

 countries as the regions to which these fruits are indigenous ; 

 the objects of cultivation to a people who can date their 

 civilization from a remote period. 



It was not till the aera of the Crusades that these fruits 

 became known to the inhabitants of Europe. The Arabs, 

 under the influence of fanaticism, had spread their conquests 

 over the greater part of Asia. In their progress, they met 

 with many exotic plants, and, amongst others, with those 

 under consideration, which their love of luxury, as well as 

 their fondness for medicine and agriculture, soon prompted 

 them to transplant into the districts whence they had come. 

 According to Abd-Allatif, an Arabian traveller, the first seeds 

 of these fruits were brought from India in the 300th year of 



