27 



exquisite varieties. It appears that the Dottati figs of the Tuscans, 

 Ottato of the Neapolitans, does not differ from the one which Pliny says 

 was brought by Lucius Vitellius from Soria to his villa at Alba, and 

 which corresponds to the Grascello of Mattioli, to the Binellone of Spezia 

 and of Chiavari, to the Binello or Fico di Napoli (Naples fig) of the 

 Genoese, to the Gentile of Voltri, to the Neapolitano of Finale, to the 

 Datterese or the Calabria of the remaining western Liguria, and lastly, 

 to the fig Delia goccia or Delia goccia d'oro of the hills of the Lombardic 

 Apennines from Voghera to Bologna. 



The demand for Tuscan figs is very small, and for this reason they 

 are mostly reduced into powder to make coffee, as is practiced in some 

 parts of Germany. The variety used in the preparation of dried figs is 

 called Dottati, which they peel (after that they are said mondi, clean) 

 and dry in the sun, then season with a few grains of anise seed, and 

 finally dispose in disks or loaves more or less large, resembling cheese 

 in shape. These figs, besides their very sweet and delicate flavor, pre- 

 serve a whiteness rarely seen in even the best figs imported from Smyrna 

 or other places in Greece and European Turkey. At other times these 

 same Dottati figs are not stripped of their skin, but they are cut in 

 halves and seasoned with anise or fennel seed, and then united again 

 two by two, or, as the Tuscans say, a piccie, or else they are dried, 

 strung on thin branchlets of genet or osier (willow). The black-skinned 

 figs are more common, and they are neither sliced nor seasoned, but 

 they are dried in the sun; and if this is not sufficient they are put into 

 ovens immediately after the confection of the loaf. 



Eleme* is not a variety, as many have been led to suppose. It 

 denotes the method of preparation. Figs called Eleme are those selected 

 of extra large size and fine appearance, and, as such, command higher 

 prices. 



Among the biferous varieties may be mentioned the Fico albo (white 

 fig), very, abundant in Tuscany, and grown also, but under various 

 names, in the territory of Como, in Vogherese, in Piacentino, in Bologna, 

 in Modena, and in Parmigiano; the San Piero fig of the Tuscans, which 

 is the Fico arbicone of the Genoese, the Nero of the Sardinians, Minna 

 di shiaro of the Sicilians, and the Fallogiana or Pitilonga of the Abruz- 

 zese. Beyond the Apennines this fig does not seem to spread much, 

 and, indeed, it is not known by either the Lombards or the Piedmontese. 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 



While a great deal of attention has been given to the fig in this State, 

 it has so far been largely in the line of experimenting, and dried figs 

 have not as yet been produced in any great commercial quantities. 



* Eleme, a name given to Smyrna raisins; the best quality are known as"ElemeV' 

 Raisins of a somewhat inferior quality are known as "Lexias." (Enc. Brit., V1. XX, 

 p. 258.) 



Elemi, a resin, thus termed in modern pharmacy, obtained by incising the trunk of a 

 species of Canarium, found in the Philippine Islands, used chiefly in the 'manufacture of 

 spirit and turpentine varnishes. The word "elemi," like the older term " anirni," appears 

 to have been derived from enhaemon (Greek), the name of a styptic medicine, said by 

 Pliny to contain tears exuded by the olive tree of Arabia. This tree, according to Fluck- 

 iger and Hanbury, is probably to be identified with the Boswellia Frereana, or bird wood, 

 which flourishes in the neighborhood of Bunder Marayah, west of Cape Guardafui. 

 Mexican or Vera Cruz elemi, formerly imported into England, is afforded by the species 

 Amyris elemifera, Royle ; Mauritius elemi by another tree, Colophonia Mauritiana, and 

 Brazilian elemi by several species of Idea. (Enc. Brit., Vol. VIII, p. 122.) 



