THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CUBEANT. 141 



by cultivation, and offering no further peculiarity than 

 the colour of the fruit, for the flavour varies according to 

 the situation in which it is grown, sometimes being less, 

 sometimes more, acid than its ruddy relative. A pink 

 variety is also sometimes grown, and there is a sort cul- 

 tivated in Austria which is marked with alternate stripes 

 of white and red. The Black Currant is much more de- 

 cidedly distinct. It has the same geographical range as 

 the Red, but is more abundant than the latter in the 

 north, and comparatively scarcer in southern latitudes, 

 though a few species of Ribes even in India and South 

 America have black fruit ; and though sometimes found 

 in British woods and hedges, is not known to be truly in- 

 digenous to this country. The taste for it, too, seems to 

 be developed progressively northwards. Du Hamel speaks 

 of it as simply medicinal, though the virtues he enumerates 

 as appertaining to it might well induce his countrymen 

 to endeavour to acquire a relish for it ; and the most recent 

 Bon Jardinier still only specifies its being used to make 

 ratifia, without mentioning any possibility of its being 

 eaten at the dessert. Among ourselves, though one of 

 our old botanists spoke of the fruit as being " of a stinking 

 and somewhat loathing savour," and many still dislike it, 

 this is, perhaps, compensated for by its,, friends being 

 usually passionately fond of it, for it is one of those 

 strongly marked characters which can hardly be regarded 

 with indifference. It is a significant fact, too, that it 

 usually fetches a higher price in the London market than 

 currants of any other colour. In Scotland it is yet more 

 esteemed than with us, and the jelly is considered there 

 to give an additional charm to whisky and water, as lemon 

 is added to their grog by South Britons. In the north of 

 Russia, where it grows wild abundantly, the love for it is 

 shared by even the bears, who devour it greedily, large 

 quantities being also gathered by the inhabitants, and 

 dried in the sun or in ovens to preserve it for winter use, 

 either in tarts or medicinally. On reaching the utmost 

 extremity of its Pole-pointing tendency in Siberia, it sup- 

 plies drink as well as food, the berries being fermented with 

 honey, and a powerful spirit distilled from them, while the 



