544 HORACES. 



can only be preserved in those regions where the summer and autumn 



are very warm and dry. 



Dried figs are termed by the dealers either natural or indled. The 

 first are those whicl) have not been compressed in the packing, and still 

 retain their original shape.^ The second are those which after drying 

 have been made supple by squeezing and kneadhig, and in that state 

 packed with pressure into drums and boxes. 



Smyrna figs, which are the most esteemed sort^ are of the latter kind. 

 They are of irregular, flattened form, tough, translucent, covered with a 

 saccharine efflorescence; they have a pleasant fruity smell and luscious 

 taste. Figs of inferior quality, as those called in the market Greel- Figs, 

 differ chietly in being smaller and less pulpy. 



Microscopic Structure — The outer layer of a dried fig is made up 

 of small, thick-walled and densely packed cells, so as to form a kind of 

 skin. The inner lax parenchyrae consists of larger thin-walled cells, 

 traversed by vascular bundles and large, slightly branched, laticiferous 

 vessels. The latter contain a granular substance not soluble in water. 

 In the parenchyme, stellate crystals of oxalate of calcium occur, but in 

 no considerable number. 



Chemical Composition— The chemical changes which take place 

 in the fig during maturation are important, but no researches have 

 yet been made for their elucidation. The chief chemical substance m 

 the ripe fig is grape sugar, which constitutes from GO to 70 per cent. 

 of the dried fruit. Gum and fatt}^ matter appear to be present only in 

 very small quantity. We have observed that unripe figs are rich in 

 starch. 



Production and Commerce — Dried figs were imported into the 

 United Kincjdom in 1872 to the amount of 141,847 cwt., of which 



91,721 cwt. were shipped from Asiatic Turkey, the remainder being from 

 Portugal, Spain, the Austrian territories and other countries. In 1^^^ 

 the imports were 103,763 cwt., valued at £318,717. , , 



Kalamata, in the Gulf of Messcnia, Greece, and Cosenza m the 

 Italian province of Calabria citeriore, are also particularly knojAai as 

 supplying figs to some parts of continental Europe. In 1^70 tne 

 exports of Kalamata to Trieste were 9^ millions of kilogrammes. 



Uses— Dried figs are thought to be slightly laxative, and as such are 

 occasionally recommended in habitual constipation. They enter mto 

 composition of Confedio Sennce. 



MORACE^. 



FRUCTUS MORL 



Baccce Mori, Mom; Mulberries; F. Mures; G. Maulhcereih 



Botanical Origin— Morns nigra L., a handsome bushy tree, a ou^ 

 30 feet in height, growing wild in Northern Asia Minor, Armenia, 

 the southern Caucasian regions as far as Persia. In Italy, it was 



1 The word Eleme applied in the London ( * ' Elenie Figs ") is probably n ^^^S'SU 

 shops to dried figs of superior quality the Turkish e^/^m^ sigiufynig ^^^" I 



