COMMCN FIG-TREE. 471 
ous, and fill the remainder of the hollow space within. The greater part of the 
latter prove abortive, either with, or without, the process of caprification. The 
fig, in warm, temperate climates, as in many parts of the east, unlike almoct 
every other tree, bears two, and sometimes three successive crops of fruit in the 
same year, each crop being generally produced on a distinct set of shoots. 
Varieties. The varieties of this species are very numerous. Besides the com- 
mon wild fig, (Caprificus,) there are noticed in the " Nouveau Du Hamel," 
thirty-six choice kinds, several of which are figured. In nurserymen's cata- 
logues there are enumerated upwards of one hundred sorts, exclusively of syno- 
nymes. The following are a few of those most celebrated : 
1. F. c. Candida. White-fruited or Marseilles Fig; Figuier blanc, of the 
French. The leaves of this variety are very large, but not very deeply lobed. 
It produces an excellent fruit, known in commerce by the name of figues mar- 
seillaises. It forms a very desirable tree, when treated as a standard, and is 
well adapted for the climate of London, and of the southern parts of the United 
States. 
2. F. c. lutea. Yellow -fruited Fig; Figuier jaune, of the French. The 
fruit of this variety is known in France, by the names of figues angeliques, or 
figues grasses. 
3. F. c. pyriformis. Pear-shaped Fig; Figuier pyr if or me, of the French, 
producing the figues de Bordeaux. 
4. F. c. violacea. Violet-coloured-fruited Fig ; Figuier violet, of the French. 
Geography and History. The common fig is indigenous to the west of Asia, 
and the shores of the Mediterranean, both in Europe and in Africa. In no coun- 
try is it found at a great distance from the sea, and rarely in very elevated situa- 
tions. Hence its abundance in the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, the Azores, 
Madeira, and the Canary Isles, and on the adjacent continent. 
According to the traditions of the Greeks, the origin of the fig may be traced 
back to the remotest antiquity. It was probably known to the people of the 
east before the cerealia, and stood in the same relation to the primitive inhab- 
itants of society, as the banana does to some of the present tribes of Africa, or the 
Indians of South America. With little trouble of cultivation, it supplied their 
principal necessities; and afforded, not only an article of occasional luxury, but 
of constant food, either in a fresh or in a dried state. As we proceed to a more 
advanced stage of civilization, we still find the fig an object of general attention. 
It is often mentioned both in the Old and in the New Testament, in a manner to 
induce us to conclude that it formed a principal part of the food of the Syrian 
nation. The want of a blossom on the fig-tree was considered as one of the most 
grevious calamities of the Jews. It is also a fruit that appears to have been 
highly esteemed by the Israelites, who brought figs out of the land of Canaan, 
when they were sent by Moses to ascertain the produce of that country. Cakes 
}f figs were included in the presents of provisions by which Abigail, the wife of 
Nabal, appeased the wrath of David. King Hezekiah's boil was cured by a 
lump or poultice of figs, applied according to the direction of Isaiah, and which, 
a learned doctor observes, is the first poultice we read of in history. 
Among the Greeks, we find, by the laws of Lycurgus, that figs formed a pari 
of the ordinary food of the Spartans. It would seem that the Athenians were so 
choice of their figs, that they did not allow them to be exported ; for, by a law of 
Solon, no production of the Attican lands, except oil, was allowed to be sold to 
strangers; and therefore, it is not improbable, what some affirm, that the expor- 
tation of figs was forbidden, and that the informers againsl the delinquents were 
called sukophantai (from the Greek sukon, a fig, and phaino, to show, or eiv< 
proof of) ; and as they sometimes gave malicious information, the term was alter- 
