THE LIME, 333 



The Lime. 



The Lime, or sour lemon, is a small and shrubby- 

 tree, the fruit of which is much smaller than that of 

 the citron or lemon, being only about an inch, or an 

 inch and a half in diameter. The lime is not much 

 cultivated in Europe ; but it is a great favourite in 

 the West Indies, being more acid and cooling than 

 the lemon. In that country there is a sweet lime, 

 intermediate between the lemon and the sour lime; 

 and botanical writers are of opinion that hybrids or 

 mules are produced between all the varieties, and 

 probably also the species, of the citrons. 



The Orange is a taller and more beautiful tree than 

 either the citron or the lemon; but, like them, it has 

 prickly branches when in its native country. The 

 orange was originally brought from India. 



The precise time at which the orange was intro- 

 duced into England is not known with certainty, but 

 probably it may have taken place not long after their 

 introduction into Portugal, which was in the early 

 part of the sixteenth century. 



The first oranges, it is stated, were imported into 



VOL. II. 11 



