ON THE CAPRIFICATION OF THE FIG. 189 



flowers, and that the males were in the caprifig, and that in the 

 one as in the other the flowers remained enclosed withinside the 

 receptacle, he conceived the beautiful idea that the fecundation 

 of the fig took place by a special provision of nature. This 

 consisted in tlie creation in the caprifig of an insect which, for 

 the purposes of support and propagation, was obliged to penetrate 

 into the domestic fig, and carried with it the prolific humours ; 

 thus fertilised, the embryo was produced, and the greatest number 

 of the receptacles remained on the trees and came to maturity. 

 In reply to tliose who followed the opinion of Camerarius, who 

 said that the seeds of the fig never germinated, as well as to 

 those who alleged on the contrary that fig-trees could be only 

 raised from the seeds of figs of the Greek Archipelago or of Italy, 

 with the remark that the statement of Camerarius was correct in 

 regard to seeds produced in Germany, France, or England, where, 

 tliere being no caprifig, the figs remained necessarily sterile ; 

 whilst, on the contrary, in Greece and Italy, where the caprifig 

 existed, the fig-seeds became fertile, either naturally or artificially 

 by means of caprification — this explanation* appeared so just 

 and natural, that it was generally adopted. 



§ 2. Concise Exposition of the Theory of Cavolitii. — Towards 

 the close of last century Cavolini, who was in natural sciences 

 the pride and ornament, not only of this our city (Naples), but 

 even of the whole of Italy, sent to press a learned treatise on 

 the present subject. He first describes the caprifig and the fig, 

 then observes that they are but individuals of one species, the 

 caprifig being androgynous, and the fig the female plant ; and 

 he proceeds to endeavour to prove the necessity of caprification. 

 The fig, he says, is a receptacle, or " a portion of the branch 

 prolonged for the purpose of fructification, and not a pericarp, 

 which is the external covering of the seed ; the receptacle can 

 support itself and attain its perfection without fecundation, but 

 not so the pericarp, on account of its adherence to the seed by 

 means of its vessels." Nevertheless he afterwards declares, that 

 this theory is not in all cases confirmed by fact, alleging that 

 the receptacle of the strawberry, of the mulberry, of the black- 

 berry, and other plants, does not grow or become succulent till 

 after tlie fecundation of the pistil. And from these data he 

 argues, as to the mode in which caprification works, as follows : 

 that which is commonly called the frvut, is a dilatation of the 

 branch, and bears the flowers ; but being different from the real 

 branch in internal structure, the nutritive fluids meet with diffi- 

 culties in passing from the large direct channels of the branch 



* See Hegard's ' Historia Naturalis et Medica Ficus,' Upsal, 1 744, in 

 Linn. Amoen. Acad. 



