i 
HOW TO DESCRIBE FIGS. 205 
openness. The eye may be ‘‘sunk” if below the surface of the fig; it 
may be on a level with that surface, or it may be ‘‘protruding.” In 
such cases it is generally surrounded by an elevated ridge, like a 
erater. The ‘‘iris” is a colored zone surrounding the scales of the 
eye, situated between them and the elevated ridge. It is not iden- 
tical with the ridge itself. Some writers refer to the eye as the 
*‘mouth” of the fig or the ‘‘ostiolum.” (See fig. 54.) 
Scales.—The seales closing the eye are either ‘‘few” or ‘‘many,” 
“broad” or ‘‘narrow,” ‘‘colored” or ‘‘pale,” ‘‘margined” or ‘‘uni- 
form” in color. They are ‘‘flat,” or they may stand out upright, or 
may even greatly protrude. 
Skin.—The skin is ‘‘smooth,” ‘‘ warty,” ‘‘rough,” ‘‘hairy” or 
“downy,” ‘‘glossy,” ‘‘ waxy,” etc., all these expressions being readily 
Stalk 
b) 
Fic. 34.—Brunswick fig. Dlustrating the various parts of a fig. 
understood. It may be dotted over with light specks or large spots. 
It may be ‘‘thick” or ‘‘thin,” adhering to the meat or readily sepa- 
rated. The skin may also be ‘‘tough” or ‘‘ tender,” and finally it 
may crack at maturity in longitudinal or in transverse lines, deep 
enough to show the meat underneath. This cracking of the skin 
must, of course, not be confounded with the cracking or splitting open 
of the fig under unfavorable conditions. 
Color.—The color should be given, separately, if necessary, both 
for neck, body, and apex, eye, iris, scales, for shaded side or for the 
side exposed to the sun. The fig varies considerably in color. For 
instance, the Adriatics grown in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay 
always retain a green or bluish-green color, while in the interior they 
