ON THE CAPRIFICATION OF THE FIG. 203 



suspicion arose from observing in stores of apples and pears that 

 any rotten ones amongst them readily communicated their decay 

 to the sound. In applying this to our case, I did not intend 

 to put forth any theory on the subject, as the science has not 

 as yet any means of determining what it is that brings on the 

 decay of any particular fruit, nor its effect on others around it : 

 but what cannot be known by direct experiment, may frequently 

 be admitted or presumed by analogy and comparison ; and as to 

 the present question, as we have proved that the caprifig does 

 not hasten the maturity of figs, it follows that such a discussion 

 is idle. Nevertheless it may not be wholly useless, I think, to 

 take the opportunity of relating an experiment I made for the 

 purpose of ascertaining what I have alluded to. 



Oranges, when they decay, produce mould and emit an offen- 

 sive smell. On that account, and by reason of their temperature 

 being probably affected during the change, I suspected that 

 decayed oranges might on the tree cause the healthy ones around 

 them to rot ; I therefore gathered several oranges with their 

 stalks and laid them by, and ai? some began to rot I hung them 

 by a bit of twine close to others which were perfectly sound. 

 The experiment lasted about a fortnight, by which time the 

 mouldy orange had dried up ; but none of the others, not even a 

 single one, caught the disease, and all remained sound a long 

 time after. It then occurred to me, that if the mould touched 

 the skin of the healthy orange it might produce the decay ; I 

 therefore scattered the dust (or otherwise the seeds or spores) of 

 the mould in great quantities on some oranges, and on others I 

 introduced it under the skin, as a contagious disorder is inocu- 

 lated. But nothing of what might have been predicted hap- 

 pened ; the wound, instead of festering, dried up ; and in one 

 orange, which after some time began to decay, the rot appeared 

 on the opposite side to that of the wound. From this experi- 

 ment, I should say, that if oranges when mouldy and exhaling 

 an offensive smell, do not communicate the disease to healthy 

 ones on the tree, and if the mould only propagates on oranges 

 already decaying, is it credible that ripe figs of the caprifig 

 beginning to decompose should produce such an effect on the 

 young domestic figs ? 



§ 12, Examination of fallen figs. 



If the insect has penetrated into the fig it can be known at 

 once by opening it, and sometimes even that is not necessary 

 when the insect is entangled and suffocated amongst the first 

 scales of the mouth, leaving outside its wings and the posterior 

 parts of its body. If, however, it reaches the inside of the fig 

 below the scales, it does not easily decay, but remains nearly 

 entire till the fig begins to show signs of maturity; then it 



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