172 ARTOCARPjE. [parti. 



the seeds are ripe, dividing at the orifice into 

 four equal parts, like the valves of a capsule ; 

 and even when this is not the case, tlie figs, when 

 the receptacle becomes pulpy and soft from 

 ripeness, crack and burst at the sides, so as to 

 allow of the escape of the seeds. 



As the fig is not fit to eat till the seeds are 

 ripe, various expedients have been devised to 

 transmit the pollen from the male flowers which 

 lie near the opening or eye, to the female flowers 

 which lie nearer the stalk. In Italy this is 

 called caprification, and is done by insects ; but 

 in the neighbourhood of Paris, a very small 

 quantity of oil is dropped on the eye of the fruit 

 as soon as it has nearly attained its full size. 



There are several species of Ficus, though 

 none of them will bear the open air in England 

 except the common kind ; and only two produce 

 eatable frilit ; viz., F.Carica^ and F. Sycamorus^ 

 — the Sycamore tree of Holy Writ, which pro- 

 duces its small roundish fruit in clusters on 

 the trunk and old branches, and not on the 

 young wood, as is always the case witli the com- 

 mon fig. 



The other most remarkable species are the 

 Banyan tree {F. indica), the figs of which grow 

 in pairs, and are about the size and colour of a 

 cherry ; and the branches of which send down 

 roots, which soon become equal in size to the 



