48 



cannot on that account remain longer on the tree than it would other- 

 wise. 



Amongst a great number of fallen fruits, some, whether with or with- 

 out the insect, showed a few florets which had grown more than the 

 others, and had had time to form their embryo. 



12. Examination of Permanent Figs. The examination qf the fallen 

 figs was naturally followed by that of those which remain on the tree 

 to ripen, in order to ascertain whether they contained the insect, and 

 whether it induced decay. But in this research a source of error might 

 lie in the mistaking for permanent fruits those which might still fall 

 before they ripen; these, however, although they may appear to hold 

 firmly onto the bough, may be known practically by a peculiar look, 

 by being usually badly formed, imperfectly nourished, of a paler green 

 than the rest, and emitting when pierced a small quantity only of a 

 thinner milky juice than the sound ones. 



On August 1st I cut from a caprified Sarnese fig a branch bearing 

 eight fruits; one ready to fall contained the insect; so did three others 

 of a doubtful kind, that is to say, not showing clearly whether they 

 would come to maturity or fall prematurely, they showed the usual 

 blackening, although slight, of the ovary. The remaining four, inter- 

 mingled with the others, were strongly attached to the bough, had no 

 fly withinside, and showed no sign of alteration. Two days later I cut 

 from the same tree another branch with sixteen fruits, of which one 

 with the blackened styles from the presence of the fly was in the act of 

 falling; two of middling size and firmly attached contained the insect, 

 not in the cavity, but amongst the scales of the mouth, and were little 

 if at all affected; a fourth, the youngest of all, although it contained the 

 insect, appeared to be set, and was not injured. The remaining twelve, 

 all pedagnuoli of middling size, were sound and secure, had neither fly 

 nor any sign of decay. On August 5th I cut a third branch with eleven 

 fruits all set; four contained the insect, the other seven did not. In 

 the district of Portici a branch of the same variety of fig with nine 

 fruits had the insect in two fruits ready to fall and in three permanent 

 ones. At the same time on a Sarnese fig I found, besides a number of 

 fruits ready to fall, with the fly, thirty-seven permanent and large 

 fruits, of which ten had the fly. From a Chiaja fig copiously caprified 

 I detached in the beginning of August forty- three well set figs, of which 

 only thirteen were without the insect, which in the others was either 

 among the scales of the mouth or in the cavity, or in both; but always 

 when among the scales it does little damage. And the following year, 

 among eighty fruits of the same tree thirty-nine only had the fly, which 

 I also found in seventy-four out of one hundred and ninety-four fruits 

 of the White fig. In the first days of July I suspended some caprifig 

 flower-heads to a small tree of the Lardaro which had one hundred and 

 seventy fruits; in the course of the month forty-three had fallen; I 

 gathered on August 14th the remaining one hundred and twenty-seven, 

 which had become consolidated. Having opened them, I found them 

 sound, with good seeds; about thirty only contained the fly, which had 

 done little if any injury to the florets. 



-The facts noted of the Sarnese and Lardaro figs prove clearly that it 

 is not by the effect of the insect that the fruits remain on the tree, as 

 the greater number of those which were the soundest and most vigorous 

 did not contain it. The experiment made the first year on the Chiaja 



