69 



ORANGE. 



ORANGE, LEMON, LIME. 



But the circumstance that may thus be made available for the 

 purposes of poetical ornament, happens unfortunately to be contrary 

 to fact. It appears from the edicts of the emperors Theodosius, 

 Gratian, and Valentinian, that oracles existed, and were occasionally 

 at least consulted, till so late as A.D. 358. About that period they 

 entirely ceased, though for several centuries previous they had sunk 

 very low in public esteem. So few resorted to them, that it was no 

 longer a matter of interest to maintain them. Towards this consum- 

 mation Christianity powerfully contributed, by the superior enlighten- 

 ment which it carried along with it wherever it was introduced, and by 

 the display which it made of the falsehood and folly of the superstitions 

 which it was destined to overthrow. 



ORANGE. In the article CITRUS, in NAT. HIST. Drv., the different 

 species of this genus have been described, as well as the more remark- 

 able varieties of the orange. Being a native of warm southern latitudes, 

 the orange is a remarkable instance of a fruit which gives employment 

 and forms even an article of commerce from the southern to the more 

 northern European nations. Thus, it is exported from Italy and Malta, 

 as well as from the south of Spain and from Portugal, but in very 

 large quantities from the Azores. Its cultivation is profitable not only 

 on account of the esteem in which the fruit is held, but also from the 

 extreme prolificness of the tree, so that the fruit is sold even in Eng- 

 land at a price not much above and sometimes even for lees than our 

 own apples and pears. 



Orangt* are imported, as well as lemons, packed in boxes, and 

 wrapped up separately in paper. The entries for home consumption, 

 in 1859, amounted to 984,901 bushels. 



The citron is considered to have been first cultivated in Italy by 

 Palladius, in the 2nd century, but the orange not until the 14th cen- 

 tury; it is probable, from the name, that it was introduced by the 

 Arabs into Spain. Oranges bear the open air also at Nice, Genoa, and 

 N|jli;s, but at Florence and Milan, and oftn at Rome, they require the 

 temporary protection of a shed. They are usually planted in boxes, and 

 removed from the conservatory into the open air in summer, in France 

 as well as in England ; but since the introduction of the great variety 

 of flowers from all countries, orangeries and fine specimens of orange and 

 citron trees have been less in fashion, though none are more desirable 

 on account of the combination of elegant verdure, the grateful odour 

 of the flower*, and the rich appearance of the fruit. They have been 

 cultivated in England since 1 492 : and Mr. Loudon states that at the 

 Wilderness, Kent, there are three trees in boxes, not surpassed by any 

 trees so grown in Europe ; and that at Saltcombe, in Devonshire, there 

 are in a few gardens orange-trees which have withstood the winter in 

 the open air for upwards of a hundred years. They are propagated 

 either by seeds, by cuttings, by layers, by grafting, or inoculation ; 

 and the orange thrives best when grafted on the lemon. The plant* 

 grown from seeds require so long to come to perfection, that they are 

 seldom so propagated in England. The most regular and garden-like 

 culture is in the orange orchards at Nervi, Monaco, and other places in 

 the neighbourhood of Genoa. At the former are the orange nurseries 

 which may be said to supply all Europe with trees, though the culti- 

 vation is of a very indifferent character, but the fine climate, strong 

 clayey soil, and abundant manurings supply the place of more skilful 

 treatment. Budding and grafting are performed in England at the 

 usual season for such operations, but they may be performed at any 

 time when the sap is in motion. In budding Mr. Macintosh recom- 

 mends that the cross cut should be made at the bottom of the slit in 

 the bark instead of the top. Mr. Henderson, of Woodhall, one of 

 the most successful growers of the Citrus tribe, has given a full 

 description of the practices he adopts (' Caled. Hort. Mem.,' iii. ; 

 and London's ' EucycL of Gardening ') ; he considers cuttings as the 

 quickest mode of getting plants. At Genoa and Florence the trees 

 ire grown in a strong yellow clay which is richly manured. The 

 French, in preparing a compost, compensate for quantity by richness 

 of manure. Henderson takes one part of light brown mould from a 

 piece of ground that has not been cropped or manured for mauy years, 

 one part of peat earth such as is used for growing heath, two parts of 

 river-sand, or pit-sand, if it be free from mineral substances, and one 

 part of rotted hot-bed dung, with one part of rotted leaves of trees, 

 and mixes them all well together, so as to form a compact soil of 

 uniform quality. The blood of animals is found to be valuable as a 

 manure, and is improved by being mixed with mineral superphosphate 

 of lime. Charcoal, not too finely broken, adds much to the health of 

 the tree when mixed with the soil. 



Orange-trees grow exceedingly well in pots and boxes, but they 

 should be raised from the floor and well drained. The temperature of 

 the soil required for producing fruit in perfection, ia from a maximum 

 of 85 to a i- f 68. In England the soil seldom reaches 66, 



and often sinks to 36 ; therefore, except in forcing-houses nothing can 

 be expected from the plant but its flowers, the fruit if formed being 

 small and tasteless. Yet the tree is hardy, and will live through an 

 -h winter if kept in the dark and dry. After the flowering, 

 instead of allowing the wood to grow, continental gardeners clip them 

 round into perfect globes with the hedge-shears. To use the knife 

 would be better, but the practice is right ; it rids the trees of super- 

 matters, insures the maturing of the buds on the hoi t branches 

 left, the sap is thrown back into the buds, and thus elaborated into 

 perfect flower-buds for the ensuing season. Trees so treated, and kept 



pretty dry from November till March, remain perfectly safe under an 

 opaque roof. With us, the growing season is not favourable enough 

 to ripen the wood without the aid of covering ; and that, to insure 

 health and abundance of bloom (the only thing to be sought for), must 

 be transparent. These remarks apply to the lemon aa well as to the 

 orange. 



Mr. St. John (' Travels in the Valley of the Nile ') says, he saw a 

 tree produced by joining the seed of the citron, the orange, and the 

 lemon. The external coating being removed from one, this was placed 

 between the other two, from which the coating of one side only had 

 been removed. They were then bound together with a fine grass and 

 planted ; the result was a fruit combining beneath one rind, but dis- 

 tinctly marked both internally and externally, the qualities of the three 

 species of which the seeds had been used. 



(See the work of Risso of Nice, aud Poiteaux of Versailles, Histoire 



Naturclle ties Oranges, where lt;9 sorts are described, and 105 of them 



figured ; also that of Gallezio, Traits du i/enus Citrus, who has given au 



account of the 40 different kinds cultivated in Italy ; and Mr. London's 



'ici/d. of Gardening.) 



ORANGE, LEMON, LIME Medical Properties of. These are all 

 species of the genus Citrus. Save the root, wood, and bark, every one 

 of them yields from every part something of use in medioine or per- 

 fumery. Oitrut aurantium, or sweet orange, is too well known to 

 require description. Its leaves and unripe berries yield by distillation 

 a fragrant oil called essence de petit grain. The small green unripe 

 fruits of this species, and also of the Citrus tiyaradia, or bitter orange, 

 have an aromatic odour and bitter taste, and are used to flavour 

 curacoa. " When smoothed by a lathe, they form the issue peas of 

 the shops." The flowers of the sweet, but still more the bitter, orange 

 are distilled to yield orange-flower water, termed aqua Naphae. This 

 contains free acetic acid ; this acid acts upon the lead in the joining of 

 the stills in which it is prepared, or the leaden vessels in which it is 

 imported ; so that orange-flower water often contains a notable quan- 

 tity of acetate or sugar of lead, giving rise to some troublesome 

 decompositions when iodine or several other matters are mixed with it, 

 as first pointed out by Mr. Squire. It is directed to be tested with 

 hydrosulphuric acid, to ascertain its freedom from this contamination. 

 Oil of orange-dowers, called oleum Neroli, is obtained by distillation of 

 the flowers of the sweet and still more of the bitter orange. An 

 inferior sort is got by expression of the grated rind. 



The Citrus medica, or citron, yields two volatile oils, one termed 

 essence or essential oil of citron, the other essence or essential oil of 

 cedrat. This must not be confounded with cedrat, which is a liqueur 

 or compound of the distilled oil of lemons and simple syrup. Neither 

 must it be confounded with citronclle, or eau de Harbades, which is a 

 West Indian distilled spirit of orange, lemon-peel, and aromatios, with 

 proof spirit. Crime des Sarbadet is similar, prepared with rum. 

 Citronella Zeylanica, or oil of lemon-grass, from Ceylon and the 

 Moluccas, is obtained from the Andropoyon 'citratum, a grass, not of 

 the orange tribe. Citrus bergamia yields from the rind of the fruit, 

 by either expression or distillation, the well-known essence or volatile 

 oil of bergamot. This name is also applied to a volatile oil obtained 

 from a mint, the Mentha eilrata (or M. odorata of Sole, in his work on 

 ' British Mints '), called bergamot mint. The volatile oil of the genuine 

 bergamot is said by Liebig to differ, by containing oxygen, from the 

 other oils of this genus, which are mere carburets of hydrogeu. This 

 similarity of chemical composition renders it difficult to distinguish 

 mint oil from that of bergamot ; but in all probability there is a 

 difference in their .polarising power or tendencies. 



As stimulants, carminatives, and antispasmodics, these oils arc occa- 

 sionally used pure, on sugar, but mostly as constituents of tinctures 

 and mixtures. Many of them enter into the composition of eau de 

 Cologne, where ammonia seems the chief solvent. The pure oil of the 

 lemon, either spirted or carefully dropped into the eye, has been used 

 with benefit in chronic inflammation of that organ, whether of rheu- 

 matic or scrofulous origin, particularly where there is a tendency 

 to the formation of specks of the cornea. It acts like the V'inum 

 "j>ir. 



The fresh rind of the sweet orange, rasped, and pounded with three 

 times its weight of loaf sugar till well incorporated, constitutes the 

 la tiuraiitii of the Pharmacopoeia. The rind of the sweet, more 

 frequently of the bitter, orange, occasionally of the citron, and even 

 the lemon, is made into a conserve by having the pulp scooped out, 

 then boiled, and boiled sugar poured over the rind. 



The rind or peel of the sweet, but more frequently of the bitter, 

 orange, and also the citron, are frequently candied and used at dessert, 

 or the last in rich puddings, buns (Scotch), and short-bread. The rind 

 or peel of the bitter orange, from which the soft, white, downy inside 

 lining has been carefully stripped off, constitutes what is termed 

 Platedo aurantii, a wholesome stomachic. The bitter orange, termed 

 Seville, is made in Scotland into a conserve called marmalade. The 

 whole of the fruit, except the pips and inside lining (termed doff) of 

 the peel, is used for this purpose, being boiled till the fruit is made 

 quite tender ; the skin is then to be cut into fine shreds (the finer the 

 better, or rasped), and the whole boiled till it jellies. The flavour is 

 greatly improved by using a few of the more fragrant skinned sweet 

 oranges along with the bitter. When properly prepared, this forms 

 one of the most wholesome conserves at breakfast or dessert. 



