FRUITS. 85 



FEUITS. 



FRANKLIN. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



THE ANTIQUITY OP THE APPLE. 



That the forbidden fruit of Paradise was an apple, we think 

 is commonly believed, but as the belief rests upon no certain 

 evidence, other valuable fruits, such as the fig, the peach and 

 the pomegranate, have each found their advocates as the kind 

 of fruit that had the honor — or dishonor — of being the instru- 

 ment of the introduction of evil into our world. 



Whatever the truth may be in this matter, the apple is fre- 

 quently mentioned in Scripture and in ancient history. Alex- 

 ander the Great, we are informed, was exceedingly fond of this 

 fruit, and found in the country around Babylon the finest apples 

 he had ever seen. 



The apple was held in sucli high esteem with the ancient 

 Greeks, that in some of their celebrated games, apples consti- 

 tuted the only prize awarded to the victor. What would be 

 thought of a committee of award in our agricultural society 

 that should award as a premium for the best article exhibited a 

 bushel of apples ? 



Among some of the ancients the gift of an apple had a tender 

 signification, being a symbol of affection. The historian Gibbon 

 relates that the Emperor Theodosius caused one of his distin- 

 guished subjects to be put to death for receiving an apple from 

 his Empress Eudocia. 



The apple has acquired great celebrity in some of its historical 

 associations. The thrillhig story of William Tell shooting an 

 apple from off the top of the head of his son, has often been 

 recited as an interesting incident in the history of the republic 

 of Switzerland ; and the fact that Sir Isaac Newton, the 

 renowned English philosopher, in seeing so common an occur- 

 rence as an apple falling from its branch to the ground, was led 

 to give the matter such attention as to discover from it the great 

 law of gravitation, has often been narrated. 



