THE FIG. 247 



of its supposed indestructibility ; but this is now proved 

 to have been an error. 



The fig-tree chiefly spoken of in the New Testament, 

 sometimes under the name of the " sycamore," was the 

 JFicus sycomoris, the trunk of which, according to Nor- 

 den, shoots out little sprigs, at the end of which grows 

 the clustered fruit. This tree is always green, and bears 

 fruit several times in the year without observing any 

 certain seasons, which accounts for the Saviour visiting 

 the one by the roadside, " lest haply He might find fruit 

 thereon," notwithstanding " the time of figs was not yet." 

 The sweet yellow produce of this tree in shape and smell 

 resembles the fig of the carica, but in taste is far inferior. 

 It is the kind most prevalent in Egypt, where it often 

 forms the entire food of the common people, and where 

 the fruit is made to ripen in half the natural time, with- 

 out diminution of size or flavour, by means of cutting a 

 slice off the end, when it has attained a third of its growth, 

 deep enough to remove all the stamens of the male flowers 

 before they have had time to mature their pollen, a pro- 

 cess by the adoption of which the annual produce is con- 

 siderably increased. 



The fig, being nearly allied to the mulberry, which 

 bears also a compound or aggregate fruit, is included with 

 it in the Natural System of Botany, under the title of 

 Moracece, or Morads ; but it has many kindred, which, 

 sharing yet more closely in its nature, partake with it 

 the common family name, one of the most remarkable 

 being the Ficus Indica, or Banyan-tree.* It is to this 

 tree that Milton assigns the honour of having been the 

 clothing emporium of Paradise : 



"Both together went 



Into the thickest shade; there soon they chose 

 The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned, 

 But such as at this day, to Indians known, 

 In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms, > 

 Branching so broad and long that in the ground 

 The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 

 About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade 

 High over-arched, and echoing walks between." 



But the poet offers no reason for endeavouring thus to 



* See Plate VI., fig. 5. 



