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The tree being so like a bays or laurel, the 

 slow or dull taste of the apple, the virtue of it 

 against poison, seem to describe the citron : the 

 perfume of the flowers and virtues of them, to 

 cure ill scents of mouth or breath, or shortness 

 of wind in pursy old men, seem to agree most 

 with the orange : if flos apprima tenax mean 

 only the excellence of the flower above all 

 others, it may be intended for the orange : if it 

 signifies the flowers growing most upon the 

 tops of the trees, it may be rather the citron ; 

 for I have been so curious as to bring up a 

 citron from a kernel, which at twelve years of 

 age began to flower ; and I observed all the 

 flowers to grow upon the top branches of the 

 tree, but to be nothing so high or sweet-scented 

 as the orange. On the other side, I have always 

 heard oranges to pass for a cordial juice, and a 

 very great preservative against the plague, 

 which is a sort of venom ; so that I know not to 

 which of these we are to ascribe this lovely 

 picture of the happy apple ; but I am satisfied 

 by it, that neither of them was at all common, 

 if at all known in Italy, at that time, or long 

 after, though the fruit be now so frequent there 

 in fields (at least in some parts) and make so 

 common and delicious a part of gardening, 

 even in these northern climates. 



