POMEGRANATE. 133 



and Japan, and has been introduced into the East and West 

 Indies. No plant seems to thrive and reward so well a careful 

 cultivation as the pomegranate, especially in moderately warm 

 climates. Farther north it fails to bear fruit, but the flowers 

 increase in the brilliancy of the scarlet, especially where the 

 plant receives proper attention. Not many years after Pliny s 

 time, the Moors introduced the manufacture of leather into 

 Spain; and their finest moroccos were tanned with the rind of 

 this fruit. The fine leather manufactured at Cordova at one 

 time supplied all Europe; whence the term &quot;cordwainer,&quot; or 

 worker in Cordovan leather, which was formerly given to shoe 

 makers. Even at present morocco maintains its superiority, 

 though, after the expulsion of the Moors, it was supposed that 

 Northern Africa was the source of a better manufacture than 

 that of Spain. Eoyle, in his &quot; Himalaya Mountains,&quot; speaks 

 of a wild variety much sought after for its superior tanning 

 qualities and the medicinal properties of its roots. 



This shrub is most cheering and refreshing in the rich and 

 shaded green of the leaves, the luscious and cooling juice of the 

 fruit, and the intense brilliancy of the flowers. The &quot;spiced 

 wine&quot; of Solomon s Song, (viii. 2,) said to have been made from 

 the pomegranate, may be understood literally as the product of 

 the juice; for wine is still made from it in Persia, as was the 

 case formerly, when great quantities were produced both for 

 exportation and for use at home. 



Several places in Scripture seem to have been called Rim- 

 mon, or the &quot;pomegranate;&quot; and in one place En-Rimmori 

 (Neh. xi. 29) is spoken of, which means the &quot; spring of the 



