476 FICUS CARICA. 



Insects, AccUlrtits, (iml Disc'isfs. Tho fiu'-trop, in hot countnos, and in dry 

 seasons, espcciallv wliiMi at a distance from the sea, is apt to have its leaves and 

 fruit scorched and shrivelled up hy the sun. It is scarcely suhject to any diseases ; 

 but is liable to the attacks of several species of the coccidie, as the cochineal, 

 the kermes, i5cc. In Uritish gardens, it is very seldom injured by insects, in the 

 open air; but it is very liable to the attacks of the red spider, the coccus, and the 

 honey dew, under glass. An abundance of water, and a moist atmosphere, like 

 that of its indigenous habitat, the s<!a-shore, are perhaps the best preventives. 



Properties and Uses. 'V\\c sap-wood of the fig-tree, which is extremely light 

 and tender, and of a white colour, is used in France, for making whetstones, 

 from its facility of receiving and retaining the emery and the oil that are 

 employed in sharpening smith's tools. The heart-wood, which is yellow, loses a 

 great deal of its weight in drying; but, by that process, it acquires so much 

 strength and elasticity, that the screws of wine-presses are made of it. ^V'hea 

 used as fuel, it does not afford a very intense heat; but its charcoal has the val- 

 uable property of consuming very slowly. The leaves and bark ftbonnd in a 

 milky, acrid juice, which may be applied as a rennet, for raising blisters, and 

 for destroying warts. From this milky juice, which contains caoutchouc, India 

 rubber might be made if desirable; and, on account of the same property, the 

 very tenderest of the young leaves might be given as food to the larvae of the 

 silk-moth. The fruit of the fig-tree, as has already been observed, serves as an 

 article of food for a great part of the inhabitants of the regions where it abounds. 

 In the northern parts of Europe and of America, it also enters into the desert, 

 either fresh or dried. Medicinally, it is considered demulcent and laxative, and 

 has long been used for emollient cataplasms, and for restoring persons debilitated 

 by fevers, ifcc. In Portugal, the Grecian Archipelago, and the Canary Islands, a 

 kind of brandy is distilled from fermented figs. All the species of the genus 

 ficus, and also of the allied genus carica, are said to have the singular property 

 of rendering raw meat tender, when hung beneath their shade. On what chem- 

 ical principle this depends, we are ignorant, but the fact seems undoubted. 



As a fruit tree, the fig is valuable for growing and ripening fruit in situations 

 unfavourable in regard to light, air, and soil ; such as against walls, in court-yards, 

 the walls of houses in crowded cities, on the back-walls of green-houses and forc- 

 ing-houses, comparatively in the shade, &c. It also bears better than any other 

 fruit tree whatever, in pots; and, with an abundance of liquid manure and heat, 

 this tree will produce under glass, three, and sometimes even four crops in a year. 



