34 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



trates a variety of orange, "Aurantium foemima sive foet- 

 iferum." Of it Ferrari says; "This Aurantium imitates 

 to some extent the fertility of the tree which bears it in 

 that it struggles, though unsuccessfully, to produce the 

 fruit upon itself. * * * On the end of the fruit is 

 another, sometimes with a thin rind investing it, but more 

 frequently naked, so far at least as the pulp (of the larger 

 part) is concerned; this (second fruit) is composed of an 

 inner medulla of about four spikes: the young brood, as 

 it were, of fruits half seen pushing out through the gap- 

 ing umbilicus, which is sometimes more and sometimes 

 less closely compressed." This is a navel orange both by 

 description and illustration. 



There is such a striking resemblance between the il- 

 lustration given by Ferrari and that reproduced by Mr. 

 Lelong from Johnson's work that the writer is compelled 

 to believe that Johnson copied his illustration directly 

 from Ferrari's Hesperides. 



Many writers since the days of Ferrari have referred 

 to the navel orange, notable among whom may be men- 

 tioned Volckamer, who in his Hesperidium Norimbergen- 

 sium, 1713, referred to two varieties of navel oranges, 

 "Aranzo de fior doppio," and Aranzo di fiore Scorza 

 doppio," which he described on pages 201-202 and illus- 

 trated on pages 202b and 202c. 



A closer study of citrus literature may bring to light 

 still earlier references to this interesting type of fniits. 



* Am. Gard. Vol. 23. No. 417, Dec. 20, 1902. 



