POLYGAMIA. 33 



state, which may perhaps be partly owing to its 

 being dioecious, and the barren and fertile plants hap- 

 pening not to be cultivated together. The wood is 

 hard and the branches of the preceding year termi- 

 nate in stiff thorns. The berries, which are very 

 juicy, acrid, and astringent, are much eaten by the 

 Tartars, and used as an acid sauce by the poorer peo- 

 ple of Sweden and the south of France. They are 

 also the principal food of the pheasants about Mount 

 Caucasus. The fishermen of the Gulph of Bothnia 

 prepare a sauce from them, which imparts a grateful 

 flavour to fresh fish ; the plant is also used for dying 

 yellow. 



ORDER 3. 



No British Plant of this Order. 



CULTIVATED FIG. In strict conformity to trioecia. 

 the data laid down by Linnaeus for this Order, no Different 

 plant has been found ; the structure of the blossoms J^elepi 

 in the Fig being alike in all, but a trifling variation in rate P lants - 

 the calyx has induced subsequent Botanists to con- 

 tinue the Fig-tree here, where Linnaeus originally 

 placed it, though not correctly, according to his own 

 rule, as expressed in the margin. 



The singular structure and ceconomy of this plant 

 deserve particular attention. The fruit, or Fig itself, 

 not only contains the seeds, but is at the same time 

 the receptacle, enclosing and sustaining the flowers 

 within it. 



VOL. III. c 



