UETWACEJ^. 343 



fruit v;raH a necessary offering to the god. In the early Chris- 

 tian mythology this phallic tree became accursed, the tree of 

 Judas, &C-, and was supposed to be haunted by evil spirits, and 

 the early Italian missionaries in India gave the name of alhero 

 del diavoh to the Indian fig-tree. For a full account of the 

 myths and superstitions connected with the fig, we must refer 

 the reader to De Gubernatis. {Myth, des Plant., ii., 137 — 143.) 

 The fig appears to have been known to the Arabs and Persians 

 from prehistoric times. Aitchison ( Botany of the Afghan Delimit 

 tat Ion Commission J Trans. Lin. Soe.) gives an interesting account 

 of the wild fig-tree of Eastern Persia, and Abu Hanifeh, author 

 of the Book of Plants, describes the fig as wild in the Sarah, 

 and commonly eaten by the people in its fresh state, and also 

 dried and stored. In the chapter of the Koran entitled " The 

 fig'^ (^^-y I), it is mentioned along with the olive. God, say 

 the commentators, swears by these two fruits, because of their 

 great uses and virtues, for the fig is wholesome and easy of 

 digestion, and medicinally good to carry off phlegm, and gravel 

 in the kidneys or bladder, and to remove obstructions of the 

 liver and spleen, and it cures piles and the gout, &c. 



The cultivation of this tree in India was introduced by the 

 Mahometans, and is now carried on by both Mahometans and 

 Hindus in many parts of the country ; caprification is not 

 practised, and all the fruit which we have seen is much inferior 

 to that grown in Europe. Two varieties, the purple and ihe 

 green, are cultivated in the Bombay Presidency, where the 

 area under fig cultivation is about 300 acres ; the Hindus are 

 fond of the fruit, which they consider to be cooling and 

 nutrient ; they also use the unripe fruit as a vegetable. The 

 fruit of F. Pouburghil m grown at Alipore, near Calcutta, attains 

 a large size, and when ripe is of a bright red; it is not unpalat- 

 able. 



Dried figs 



Arabia 



long before the tree was cultivated in the country, by the early 

 Arab traders to the "Western Coast, and overland from Persia ; 

 they are of a small kind, pressed flat and strung upon a string 

 made of camels' hair ; when well washed and stewed in syrup 



