248 



AUKELIA AURICULA. 



requires a mean annual temperature of 62. It pro- 

 duces fruit in great abundance. A single orange-tree 

 at St. Michael's has been known to produce 20,000 

 perfect oranges fit for packing. On the same tree 

 we meet with flowers, unripe and ripe fruit. The 

 juice of the orange has an acid taste, and consists of 

 citric acid, mucilage, and syrup. It is used as a re- 

 frigerant in fever and inflammatory complaints, and 

 as a cure for scurvy. The outer rind of the fruit is 

 aromatic and bitter, and contains much essential vola- 

 tile oil. It is used as a tonic to strengthen the sto- 

 mach and promote digestion. The oil was formerly 

 employed in epilepsy and convulsive diseases. The 

 rind of the bitter orange is prepared by confectioners 

 in various ways. When boiled with sugar and dried, 

 it is sold under the name of candied orange peel, and 

 when made into a sort of jelly, it forms the well- 

 known preserve called marmalade. The unripe fruit 

 when dried receives the name of Curacoa oranges, and 

 is used in the manufacture of the rich liquor known 

 by that name. The flowers of the orange are of a 

 beautiful white colour, and diffuse a most fragrant 

 odour. They are used as a perfume and condiment. 

 Orange-flower water is given in large doses to pro- 

 cure sleep. A fragrant red-coloured oil is distilled 

 in Italy from the flowers, and is called oleum or essen- 

 tia neroli. 



AURANTIACE^E. Citrus aurantium. a, Flower; b, stamens, 

 to show the union of the base of the filaments c, pistil nnd 

 perm ; d, transverse section of the ovary , e, ditto of the fruit ; 

 /', seed. 



The Citrus Hmonum, lemon-tree, is also originally 

 from Asia, but is now widely distributed over differ- 

 ent parts of the globe. The fruit of this tree is more 

 acid than the orange. The juice is used as a refrige- 

 rant and antiseptic in febrile diseases and in scurvy ; 

 and along with carbonate of potass or soda forms 

 cooling effervescing draughts, very useful in allay- 

 ing vomiting and thirst. Citric acid is prepared from 

 the juice. The yellow peel or rind is aromatic, and 

 furnishes an essential oil, known by the name of oil 

 or essence of lemons, which is used for perfumery as 

 well as for flavouring lemonade, bailey-sugar, &c. 



The lime resembles the lemon, but is smaller in all 

 its parts, and contains more acid in its unripe state. 

 Many other plants of this order supply edible fruits. 

 The shaddock, a well-known Indian fruit, larger than 

 the orange, is the produce of the Citrus dccumana. 

 The fruit of the Glycosmis citrifolia and Triphasia 

 trifoliata are delicious articles of food. The CooJcia 

 punctata yields a fruit called wampcc, which is highly 

 valued in China and India. The fruit of the Feronia 

 clcphantum, called wood-apple, is eaten by the Indians. 

 From this plant also is procured a gum similar to 

 gum arabic. Its leaves are aromatic and carminative. 

 The fruit of the Mgele marmelos is said to be excel- 



lent, and to possess nutritive as well as laxative qua- 

 lities. The leaves of this plant have been used in 

 asthma, and its root and bark are recommended m 

 Malabar in hypochondriacal complaints and in pal- 

 pitation of the heart. The rind of its fruit yields a 

 perfume. The leaves of the Bergera Koenigii, another 

 plant of this order, arc stomachic and tonic, and are 

 used in a raw state in dysentery. Its bark and root 

 have stimulant virtues. 



AURELIA. A term employed by the older 

 entomologists to designate the pupae of lepidopterous 

 insects, i. e. butterflies and moths. The word is 

 synonymous with chrysalis, and both were adopted, 

 the first by the Romans, and the second by the 

 Greeks, in allusion to the golden colours with which 

 the pupae of many butterflies are adorned, whence, in 

 process of time, these terms were employed generally, 

 although the pupae of the majority of lepidopterous 

 insects have no appearance of gilding. This appear- 

 ance was eagerly seized upon by the alchemists, as an 

 argument in favour of the transmutation of metals ; 

 but the insufficiency of such reasoning was fully 

 proved, both in France and England, by the appli- 

 cation of those principles of investigation by which 

 alone the real cause of natural effects can be 

 ascertained ; Reaumur, in France, having discovered 

 that it is owing simply to the shining white membrane 

 immediately below the outer skin, which being of a 

 transparent yellow, gives a golden tinge to the former ; 

 whilst Lister, in England, imitated the gilding of 

 chrysalises, by putting a small piece of a black gall in 

 a strong decoction of nettles ; this produced a scum, 

 which when left on cap paper will exquisitely gild it, 

 without the application of the real metal. Reaumur 

 also mentions, that for producing this appearance it is 

 essential that the inner membrane be moist, whence 

 may be explained the disappearance of the gilding, so 

 soon as the fluids within the pupa have been absorbed 

 by the formation of the limbs of the butterfly. As 

 the term aurelia is, however, nearly obsolete amongst 

 naturalists, we shall defer our general observations 

 upon the nature of pupae or chrysalides to a future 

 article. 



AURICULA (Linnaeus). The Primula auricula 

 of botanists. This beautiful species of primrose has 

 been, from its native mountains of Switzerland, ad- 

 vanced to one of the first stations in European flower 

 gardens. In these latter, it is now a stage flower ; and 

 as no plant has had more pains bestowed upon it than 

 the auricula, so no other presents the effects of skilful 

 management more decidedly. 



Originally the auricula was diminutive in bulk, with 

 small trusses of flowers of nearly unvaried colour ; but 

 under the treatment of the florist, the whole plant be- 

 comes amplified ; both leaves and flowers are en- 

 larged ; and the latter are not only improved in 

 regularity of form, but diversified with the richest 

 colours in endless variety. * 



The florist's auricula is a child of art. On the stage 

 it loses almost all its original hardihood ; for neither 

 can it bear the winter's frost nor summer's sun. Kept 

 in pots, and pampered on the richest soil, it is pre- 

 served from the extremes of the seasons by having 

 roofed stages erected for its welfare. Here it is de- 

 fended from every unfavourable vicissitude of the 

 weather, and completely under the control of the 

 owner, who gives or withholds water, admits or shuts 

 out air or sunshine, according as his fastidious charge 

 requires. 



