THE ORANGE GENUS. 331 



The Citron. 



The Citron, when growing wild, is a thorny tree, 

 about eight feet high, with leaves of a pale green : 

 the flowers are white, and have a very agreeable 

 odour. The fruit is oblong, five or six inches long, 

 with a rough yellow rind ; the outer part of it con- 

 tains (as is the case with most of the family) a con- 

 siderable quantity of highly aromatic and inflam- 

 mable oil : the pulp is white and edible, but very acid, 

 and preferred when prepared as a sweetmeat. Of a 

 particular variety of the citron a conserve is made 

 which is in great demand by the Jews, who use it 

 in their Feast of Tabernacles. With a little artificial 

 heat in winter, the citron comes to as much perfection 

 in England as in Spain or Italy. There are two 

 varieties noticed the common and the sweet, but 

 whether they have been produced by natural difference 

 or culture is not known. 



The Lemon grows naturally in that part of India 

 which is situated beyond the Ganges ; but its trans- 

 migration to Europe belongs to the invasion of the 

 West by those mighty caliphs, who, from the heart of 

 Southern Asia, extended their conquests to the foot 



