sturtevant's notes on edible plants 457 



and for flavoring confectionen^. Both varieties yield by pressure an odorless, fixed oil 

 which is of an innocent nature. The bitter almond contains a crystalizable substance 

 called amygdalin, which, by the action of the nitrogenous emulsion present, when in con- 

 tact with water, is converted into a fragrant volatile oil, the essential oil of bitter almonds 

 and prussic acid. The sweet almond contains the emulsion but no amygdalin, hence 

 is not harmful as food. When a tree is raised from either variety both bitter and sweet 

 almonds are frequently found borne by the same tree.^ 



P. armeniaca Linn, apricot. 



Caucasus. The native country of the apricot is usually said to be Armenia, Arabia 

 and the higher regions of central Asia. Harlan ^ says the species grows spontaneously 

 in the mountains about Kabul, bearing a yellow, acid and inferior fruit. Erman ' men- 

 tions it as wild in Siberia; Pallas'* saw it in the Caucasus; Grossier ^ in the mountains 

 to the west of Pekin, China; and Regnier and Sickler ^ assign it to a parallel extending 

 between the Niger and the Atlas. Unger ' says that Alexander the Great brought the 

 apricot from Armenia to Greece and Epirus, from which countries it reached Italy. It 

 seems not to have been known to the Greeks in the time of Theophrastus but was the 

 tnela armeniaca of later authors, as Bioscorides. The apricot was referred to under the 

 name Armeniaca by Columella and Pliny. It is said to have been brought to England 

 from Italy in 1524,* but others give its date of introduction 1548.1" Disraeli " says, how- 

 ever, the elder Tradescant in 1620, entered himself on board of a privateer armed against 

 Morocco solely with a view of finding an opportunity of stealing apricots into Britain 

 and it appears that he succeeded. 



In the United States, there is no mention of this fruit earlier than 1720, when they 

 were said to be growing abundantly in Virginia.'^ In 1835, there were 17 varieties in Brit- 

 ain. Downing " names 26 in his edition of American Fruits of 1866 and the American 

 Pomological Society 11 in 1879. In Ladakh, according to Moorcroft,'^ 10 varieties are 

 cultivated, all raised from seed but one, which is propagated by budding. In Kabul, 5 

 sorts are grown, according to Harlan.'^ The apricot is cultivated throughout the entire 

 East even to Cashmere and northern India, in China and Japan, northern Africa and 



Loudon, J. C. Arb. Frut. Brit. 2:676. 1844. 



' Harlan U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 529. 1861. 



' Pumpelly, R. Across Amer., Asia 3^. 1871. 



'Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:517. 1855. 



' Downing, A. J. Fr. Fr. Trees Amer. 235. 1857. 

 Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:517. 1855. 



' Ibid. 



Unger, F. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 340. 1859. 



Thompson, R. Treai. Bo/. 2:932. 1870. 

 "Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:517 . 1855. 

 " Disraeli Curios Lit. 2:329. 1858. 

 Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 21. 1880. 

 " Downing, A. J. Fr. Fr. Trees Amer. 235. 1857. 

 " Darwin, C. Ans. Pis. Domest. 1:366. 1893. 

 " Harlan U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 529. 1861. 



