542 ARTOCARPACE^, 



leaf-scars that mark the upper hranches of the latter; it is reputed to 

 be somewhat less acrid than mezereon bark. The mezereon bark of 

 English trade is now mostly imported from Germany, and seems to be 

 derived from D. Mezereum. 



In France, use is made of the stem-bark of D. GnicUum L., a shrub 

 growing throughout the whole Mediterranean region as far as Morocco. 

 The bark is dark grey or brown, marked with numerous whitish leaf- 

 scars, which display a very regular spiral arrangement. The leaves 

 themselves, some of which are occasionally met with in the druo-, are 

 sharply mucronate and very narrow. As to structural peculiarities, 

 the bark of D. Gnidntm has the medullary rays more obvious and 

 more loaded with tannic matters than those of V). Mezereum; but the 

 middle cortical layer is less developed. The bark, which is called 

 Ecovce de Gaoru, is employed as an epispastic. 



IRTOCARPACE^, 



CARICiE. 



Fritctus Caricce, Fid; Figs; F. Figues ; G. Feigen. 



Botanical Origin — Ficiis Carica L., a deciduous tree, 15 to 20 feet 

 in height, with large rough leaves, forming a handsome mass of foliage. 



The native country of the fig stretches from the stej)pes of the 

 Eastern Aral, along the south and south-west coast of the Caspian Sea 

 (Ghilan, Mazanderan, and the Caucasus), through Kurdistan, to Asia 

 Minor and Syria. In these countries the fig-tree ascends into tbe 

 mountain region, growing undoubtedly wild in the Taurus at an 

 elevation of 4,800 feet.' 



The fig-tree is repeatedly mentioned in the Scriptures, where with 

 the vine it often stands as the symbol of peace and plenty. The % 

 was not known in Greece, the Archipelago, and the neighbouring coasts 

 of Asia Minor during the Homeric age, though both were very common 

 in the time of Plato. The fig-tree was early introduced into Italy, 

 whence it reached Spain and Gaul. In the opinion of paheontologists 

 the fig-tree was originally indigenous to the last-named Mediterranean 



regions. 



Charlemagne, a.d. 812, ordered its cultivation in Central Europe. 

 It was brought to England in the reign of Henry VIII. by Cardiiiivl 

 Pole, whose trees still exist in the garden of Lambeth Palace. But it 

 had certainly been in cultivation at a much earlier period, for tbe 

 historian Matthew Paris relates' that the year 1257 was so inclement 



and plums totally failed to ripen 



o 



h' 



. i^iuiiio i/utciii_y laiieu lo ripen. » ,i 



At the present day the fig-tree is found cultivated in most ot tn 

 u^iixperate countries both of the Old and New World.' It is m^^/'/J 

 in the plains of north-western India, and in the outer ^i^^'l^ot tn 

 north-western Himalaya as high as 5,000 feet ; also in the Pekka , 

 and in Beluchistan and Afghanistan. 



ibout 

 s»en, vii. (1844) " ' '' ' "' ^- ""■•""-'■ 



A.D. 15G0. 



Bohn's ed.. iii IM<r-,d.\ o^-. 



2. 544. 



I 



» lutrocluced into Mexico by Cortez a 



