2~i l l Mr. Konig's Observations on the Durion, 



fruit tree, &c. : the flowers are situate on the thicker branches, in 

 bunches supported by a common stalk; the partial stalks are 

 2 — 3 inches long, roundish, covered like the calyx with minute 

 scales, and inserted in the common peduncle by means of a 

 joint. 



There are several varieties of the Durion specified by Rumpf, 

 only differing from each other by the shape and size of the fruit. 

 The Durion is represented by those who were in the habit of eat- 

 ing it, as the most delicious of all the fruits of India. The eatable 

 part of it is that aril-like substance which contains the kernels, 

 and which most resembles cream or the blanc-manger of our 

 tables ; but a considerable drawback from the extreme gratifica- 

 tion it procures to the palate of the epicurean is its intolerable 

 stench : even the rinds emit such offensive effluvia, that at Am- 

 boyna, as Rumpf and Valentin state, it is forbidden by the law 

 to throw them out near any public path. Some compare this 

 smell to that of putrid animal substances, others to that of rotten 

 onions ; but all agree that, if the first repugnance is once over- 

 come, no fruit is more enticing than the Durion. These qualities 

 are so very well known, that I was surprised to find it mentioned 

 in the Histoire deVoyages, and copied from thence by Lamarck in 

 his Encyclopedic, that the fruit of the Durion diffuses an excellent 

 odour, but that its taste is rather unpleasant, it being that of 

 tried onions *. There arc besides other errors in this description ; 

 for instance, that the fruit opens in four places, and so forth. 



* " II n'est bon a manger que lorsque l'ecorce s'ouvre par le haut; le dedans^ qui 

 est alors parfaitement mur, donne une odeur excellence. — L'habitudc y fait trouver un 

 gout exquisj rnais ceux qui en mangent rarementou pour la premiere foiSj lui trouvent 

 d'abord un gout d'oignon roti, qui ne leur paroit pas fort agreable." 



EXPLA- 



