38 



bidden fruit. Tlie pear-shaped variety, as the shaddock, possesses 

 most of the sweet principle, and is, on the whole a preferable 

 fruit.' This classification was made by Macfayden nearly sixty 

 years ago, therefore long before these fruits were so widely dis- 

 tributed as now in other parts of tropical America. He was so 

 accurate and sl^ilful an observer that, as far as the new world 

 fruits are concerned, we cannot very well improve upon it. It is 

 doubtful whether the small- fruited sorts he places under C. paradisi 

 really deserve specific rank, but that point does not affect the main 

 question with which we started, namely — what are the differences, 

 if any, existing between the shaddock and the grape fruit ? In 

 summing up the results of the investigation, we may say that all 

 the larger-fruited sorts may be called indifferently either pumelows 

 or shaddocks. These are merely the eastern and western names 

 for the same thing, and are perfectly interchangeable. No dis- 

 tinction appears ever to have been made between them. 

 There are two well-marked varieties, one being globose, with the 

 flesh of a pale-pink colour, and the other pear-shaped, usually with 

 a deep-pink or crimson pulp. As regards the small fruited sorts, 

 these, according to Macfayden may be either globose, when they 

 are called forbidden fruit, or pear-shaped, when grape fruit is the 

 older name. The name forbidden fruit (from a fancied connexion 

 with the Garden of Eden) is tolerably old in the West Indies. 

 Tussac, in the Flores dcs Antilles, published in 1824, gives a good 

 figure of the typical shaddock, which he translates into the French 

 Chadcc. In Vol. Ill, pp. 73-74, he states: ' J'ai eu occasion d' ob- 

 server a la Jamaique, dans le jardin botanique d'East, une espece 

 de Chadec dont les fruits, qui n'excedent pas en grosseur une belle 

 orange sont disposes en grappes : les Anglais de la Jamaique don- 

 nent a ce fruit le nom de " Forbidden-fruit," fruit defendu, ou 

 smaller shaddock.' Later on he refers to the same fruit in the 

 following words : ' C'est une assiette de dessert tres distinguee et 

 fort saine' (p. 74). In the case of the forbidden fruit and grape 

 fruit they are exactly reversed. As usually happens, when a name 

 has become familiar in commerce, it is eventually applied in a 

 much wider sense than the original one. Thus, the term grape 

 fruit has become so general that any moderately large fruit pro- 

 vided the skin is pale-yellow, thin and smooth, and the pulp of a 

 delicate flavour, is designated by it. The fruit commonly called 

 grape-fruit in New York is really the forbidden fruit of the West 

 Indies. The true grape fruit is pear-shaped, and according to Mac- 

 fayden, when obtainable at its best, is preferable to the forbidden 

 fruit. The fruit shipped from the Bahamas as grape fruit is usual- 

 ly round with a polished yellow skin of a silky texture and very 

 heavy. This is probably one of the best of its class, and quite 

 equal to Macfadyen's pear-shaped variety. Next comes some ex- 

 cellent fruit from Jamaica, no doubt that already referred to by 

 Tussac under the name of forbidden fruit, a smaller shaddock. 

 According to the New York estimation, this would be almost a 

 typical grape fruit, supplying ' une assiette de dessert tres distin- 

 guee et fort saine.' 



