140 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



THE POMEGRANATE. 



By Robert W. Hodgson^ University of California, Berlieley. 



HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION. 



The pomegranate is among the fruits of the greatest antiquity. Long 

 before the almond, apricot, peach or nectarine had been disseminated 

 from Persia westward to Asia Minor, the pomegranate was cultivated 

 there and very highly esteemed. At an early date it was taken by the 

 Phoenicians to Northern Africa. In later years the Carthaginians took 

 it to Rome and it received its Latin name. Malum punicum, from this 



Fig. 4S. — A poor type of pomegranate. Note the 

 amount of rag, the thick skin and protruding calyx. The 

 flavor is poor and the seeds are large, bony and inedible. 

 (Original.) 



fact. It undoubtedly was early introduced into Greece, as Theophrastus 

 described it 300 years before the Christian era. The pomegranate is 

 mentioned several times in the Old Testament and was evidently held 

 in high esteem, for Solomon sings of "An orchard of pomegranates with 

 pleasant fruits." The Israelites had become familiar with it in Egypt, 

 for in the wilderness they murmured for "the fruits of Egypt, the fig, 

 the vine, and the pomegranate." Many localities in Palestine took their 



