STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 69 



foundation in fact, since it is true that meat hung in the shade of fig 

 trees will become tender without decay. As a medicinal agent it has 

 certain uses, to the most valuable of which allusion has already been 

 made. As we obtain the fruit in its dried and pressed state, too 

 free indulgence is apt to be followed by saccharine fermentation in 

 the stomach, causing flatulence, pain and diarrhea ; moderatel}' 

 used, it is a valuable substitute for cathartic remedies. Figs are 

 occasionally' made into a poultice for application to external inflam- 

 mations, we find them to have formed the chief ingredient in that 

 poultice which the prophet Isaiah prescribed for the afflicted Hezekiah 

 when smitten with boils. A pasty mixture of milk and figs is com- 

 monly recommended by empirics as a cure for cancer. It is, per- 

 haps, needless to say, of no avail, and can only act as a source of 

 dangerous delay when timely surgical interference may ward off and 

 assuage the sufferings of a deadly disease. 



The orange, lemon and limes, the latter a variety of the lemon, 

 are fruits. whose virtues, as agreeable, delicious and refreshing addi- 

 tions to our tables, need no additional encomiums ; but no fruits are 

 of more real value than the two last, and solely by reason of the 

 great amount of citric acid afforded by their juice. Allusion has 

 already been made to the manner in which this acid supplies the 

 blood and other tissues certain essential elements, and as the juice 

 itself cannot be successfully preserved for any considerable length 

 of time, it is utilized by extracting the acid in crystalline form. The 

 rind of the lemon contains an essential oil, and is used as a flavoring 

 to certain medicines. The juice of the fruit, for reasons first stated, 

 is cooling, and forms a refreshing draught in fevers. It may be 

 given in the form of lemonade, or with soothing drinks, like the 

 decoctions of barley and flaxseed. The latter combination is of 

 undoubted utility in certain dry. harrassing coughs, attended with 

 the formation of tenacious secretions. The virtues of hot lemonade 

 are familiar in all households for its effect in warding off our cus- 

 tomary winter colds, by reason of its power to stimulate the secre- 

 tion of the kidneys and skin. One of the most beneficial effects of 

 this fruit is in its power to prevent and arrest the disease known as 

 scurvy. 10 which crews of vessels, or other companies of men, long 

 depiived of fresh vegetable food are peculiarly liable. This disease 

 is one of disordered nutrition depending upon the impoverishment of 

 the blood which is deprived of those acids necessary to supply it 

 with its essential salts. This condition is called technically a scor- 



