272 
Mr. Konig's Observations on the Durion, 
fruit tree, &c.: the flowers are situate on the thicker branches, in 
bunches supported by a common stalk; the* partial stalks are 
2 — 3 inches long, roundish, covered like the calyx with minute 
scales, and inserted in the common peduncle by means of a 
joint. 
There are several varieties of the Durion specified by Rumpf, 
only differing from each other by the shape and size of the fruit. 
The Durion is represented by those who were in the habit of eat- 
ing it, as the most delicious of all the fruits of India. The eatable 
part of it is that aril-like substance which contains the kernels, 
and which most resembles cream or the blanc-manger of our 
tables ; but a considerable drawback from the extreme gratifica- 
tion it procures to the palate of the epicurean is its intolerable 
stench : even the rinds emit such offensive effluvia, that at Am- 
bo} T na, as Rumpf and Valentin state, it is forbidden by the law 
to throw them out near any public path. Some compare this 
smell to that of putrid animal substances, others to that of rotten 
onions ; but all agree that, if the first repugnance is once over- 
come, no fruit is more enticing than the Durion. These qualities 
are so very Avell known, that I was surprised to find it mentioned 
in the Histoire de Voyages, and copied from thence by Lamarck in 
his EncyclopSdie, that the fruit of the Durion diffuses an excellent 
odour, but that its taste is rather unpleasant, it being that of 
fried onions *. There are besides other errors in this description ; 
for instance, that the fruit opens in four places, and so forth. 
* " II n'est bon a manger que lorsque Pecorce s'ouvre par le haut ; le dedans, qui 
est alors parfaiteruent mur, donne une odeur excellente. — L'habitude y fait trouver un 
gout exquis; mais ceux qui en mangent rarement ou pour la premiere fois, lui trouvent 
d'abord un gout d'oignon roti, qui ne leur paroit pas fort agreable." 
EXPLA- 
