280 OUE COMMON FKTJITS. 



that were almost peaches, and Mr. Knight produced a 

 tolerable fruit by introducing the pollen from peach 

 anthers into an almond blossom, so it is believed a deeper 

 insight into fructal physiology will one day reunite the 

 divided genera. As Mr. Loudon expresses it, " We have 

 little doubt in our own mind that the Almond, the Peach, 

 and the Nectarine are as much varieties of one species as 

 the different varieties of cabbages are of the wild plant 

 JBrassica oleracea" They all belong to the natural order 

 Hosacece (or Linnaean Icosandria), the blossoms being 

 formed upon the same model as that of the queen of 

 flowers ; therein differing most widely from all our other 

 nut-blooms, every variety of Hazel, Walnut, or Chestnut 

 appearing in the catkin form, with the male and female 

 flowers distinctly apart ; so that the Almond appears to 

 form a sort of link between a nut and a stone-fruit. Prac- 

 tically, however, it is to all intents and purposes a nut, 

 since it appears at our tables in that form, the kernel 

 alone being eaten ; and therefore, however classed by 

 botanists, is likely to retain popularly the name which 

 usage has bestowed, and to justify its being treated of 

 here under that head. 



In 1862 our imports of Almonds amounted to 44,645 

 cwt., valued at 117,940, the best kind, the Jordan as 

 they are called, coming really from Malaga in Spain ; but 

 at the last French International Exhibition no less than 

 50 different varieties of Sweet Almonds were shown. The 

 oil of almonds is largely used for toilet purposes and in 

 medicine. It requires to be purified by fire, being set in 

 a flame, which is suffered to die away of itself, the most 

 greasy particles being thus consumed and its arid qualities 

 wholly destroyed. According to De Candolle it yields 46 

 per cent, of its weight in oil ; the Walnut affording 50 

 and the Hazel 60 per cent. The caked kernels, after the 

 oil has been expressed, are used for washing the skin, 

 which they are considered to soften and beautify indeed, 

 various preparations of the Almond have been in use as 

 cosmetics from the days of theEomans. The Bitter Almond 

 yields also an essential oil, in which indeed its poisonous 

 principle consists rather than in its hydrocyanic acid; but 



