170 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



During several centuries the Latin authors found 

 themselves embarrassed in designating this fruit, 

 which had no name in that language. The first 

 who spoke of it used a phrase indicating its charac- 

 teristics, accompanying it with the popular name of 

 arangi, Latinized into orenges, arangias, arantium. 



Thus, Jacques de Vitry, who calls the oranges 

 poma citrina, adds, ' ' The Arabs call them orenges. ' ' 

 And Nicolas Specialis designated them as pommes 

 aigres (acripomorum arbor es), observing that the 

 people call them arangias. These have been fol- 

 lowed by Blondus Flavius and many others. 

 Matheus Silvaticus first gave to the orange the name 

 of citrangulum, and this denomination seems to have 

 been followed for a long time by physicians and 

 translators of Arabic works, who have very gen- 

 erally adopted it for rendering the Arabic word 

 arindj. 



Thus, citrangulum was received for more than a 

 century in the language of science. Finally, 

 little by little, were adopted the vulgar Latinized 

 names in use among other writers, such as authors 

 of chronicles, etc., and they have written succes- 

 sively, arangium, arancium, arantium, anarantium, 

 nerantium, aurantium, pomen aureum. The Greeks 

 followed in the same steps. They have either 

 Grecianized the name of narenge, which was in use 

 among Syrian Arabs, or they received it from the 

 Crusaders from the Holy Land, and have adopted 

 it in their language, calling it nerantzion. These 



