32 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSII. 



Spencer's " Principles of Biology ;" Semper's " Ex- 

 ternal Conditions of Existence as they affect Animal 

 Life;" Wallace's "Darwinism," "Contributions to 

 the Theory of Natural Selection," "Island Life;" 

 Weisman's " Studies in Descent," " Essays on 

 Heredity;'' Lubbock's "Senses of Animals;" 

 Romanes' " Mental Evolution," " Animal Intelli- 

 gence;" Argyle's "Reign of Law;" Huxley's 

 " Place of Man in Nature." 



Atlases and Books with Coloured Plates. 



Sowerby's "English Botany;" Wilson's "Bryo- 

 logia Britannica ; " Cooke's " Handbook of British 

 Fungi ; " Croall's " Nature Printed British Sea- 

 weeds ;" Morris' "History of British Birds," " Nests 

 and Eggs of British Birds," "British Butterflies," 

 "British Moths;" Couch's "History of the Fishes 

 of the British Isles." 



Biography. 



"Life of Charles Darwin," by his son, or by 

 Grant Allen or Bettany; "Life of Robert Dick," 

 "Life of Thomas Edward," by Smiles; "English 

 Men of Science," by F. Galton. 



H. Roberts. 



JOTTINGS CONCERNING CERTAIN FRUIT 

 TREES. 



By Mary B. Morris. 



Part V.— The Peach Tree. 



THIS now much-prized denizen of our gardens 

 and orchard houses, whose botanical name, 

 Amygdalus Persica, at once reminds us of the fact 

 that it is closely allied to the almond tree and points 

 to its geographical origin, is reputed to have been 

 brought from the East, by Alexander the Great, about 

 the year 325 B.C., or perhaps as early as the Retreat 

 of the Ten Thousand, 401 B.C., a supposition which 

 is confirmed by the fact that the learned Theophrastus 

 knew the tree and wrote of it as " Persica." 



It appears to have been somewhat later in reaching 

 Italy, for we do not read of it as known to the 

 Romans until about the time of the Christian era. 

 If it were unknown in the West until the period 

 named, it had, nevertheless, found its way very much 

 earlier to the far East, where, in fact, it dates back to 

 a very remote antiquity. Proofs of this are met with 

 in the mention made of the tree in the books of 

 Confucius in the fifth century B.C., and, in a still 

 more ancient Chinese work of the tenth century B.C., 

 it is spoken of as well known and much esteemed 

 there at a period at least 2000 years before its 

 introduction into Europe ; the writer referred to 

 almost regarded it as an indigenous production. 

 From China (or the West, as they express it) the 

 Japanese state that they received it amongst the 



earliest imported orchard trees. The fact of its 

 having been thus early distributed to the east of its 

 native habitat, Persia, makes its comparatively recent 

 introduction into India appear rather singular, a 

 circumstance the proof of which is evident in the 

 fact that there is neither any Sanscrit nor native 

 Indian name for the tree, it being known either 

 under its Persian or Arabic designation. There are 

 many varieties grown in the northern parts of India, 

 but it is only by dint of great care in the cultivation 

 that it can be made to thrive in the N.E. of India. 

 The early cultivators of this fruit tree seem to have 

 been acquainted with many species, and there were 

 almost as many superstitions and legends attaching 

 to the fruit as there were kinds in cultivation. Thus, 

 one variety which grew to a long point, and was of a 

 brilliant red on one side, was regarded as the symbol 

 of long life, and hence was introduced "extensively 

 into all personal ornaments, as well as into paintings 

 and sculpture, and, above all, into presents made on 

 occasions of congratulation. Another kind was 

 supposed to have the power of preventing death, but, 

 should it be found impossible to eat the fruit in time 

 to procure the desired immunity, it was believed that 

 at least it would preserve the body from corruption 

 to the end of the world. The peach, too, was one of 

 the fruits of immortality which were supposed to be 

 cradled with those emperors who pretended to this 

 climax. 



Whatever may have been the value set on the 

 peach by ancient superstition, we find from Pliny 

 that, as a marketable production, they fetched a 

 high price in his time, especially such kinds as were 

 considered choice. He writes thus on the subject : 

 "They ripen at the end of autumn, though some of 

 the early kinds are ripe in summer ; it is only within 

 the last thirty years that these last have been 

 introduced ; originally, they were sold at the price 

 of a denarius apiece .... This is a very harmless 

 fruit and a great favourite with invalids ; some, in 

 fact, have sold before this as high as thirty sesterces 

 apiece, a price that has never been exceeded by any 

 other fruit. This, too, is the more to be wondered 

 at, as there is none that is a worse keeper, for when 

 once it is plucked, the longest time it will keep is a 

 couple of days ; and so, sold it must be, fetch what 

 it may." Our author considered the peach a very 

 wholesome fruit, " much more wholesome than 

 plums ; indeed," says he, " what known fruit is more 

 wholesome as an aliment than this ? " He dis- 

 tinguishes between the varieties by giving the palm 

 to what he calls the " duraceous," referring, it is 

 supposed, to the hardness of the flesh, or, as is 

 generally thought, to the nectarine, which is usually 

 regarded as only a sport from the peach. 



Gerarde, in his Herbal, speaks of it as a kind of 

 peach " which some call Nucipersica or Nectorins." 

 His description of it is this : " The fruit or peaches 

 be round and of a red colour on the outside, the 



