THE FIG. 



" THE fig of our gardens is the Ficus Carica of botanists, 

 The name Ficus, applied to this very anciently known 

 fruit, is most probably derived from Feg, its Hebrew 

 name ; that of Carica is from Caria, in Asia Minor, 

 where fine varieties of it have long existed. Accord- 

 ing to various authors, it is a native of Western Africa, 

 Northern Africa, and the south of Europe, including 

 Greece and Italy. It is certainly indigenous to Asia 

 Minor, but it may have been then introduced and 

 naturalised in the islands of the Mediterranean and 

 the countries near its shores, both in Europe and 

 Africa. 



" Figs have been used in the East as an article of 

 food from time immemorial. They were amongst the 

 fruits brought back from Canaan by the Israelites sent 

 by Moses to report on the productions of the land. 

 We read of a present having been made to David of 

 200 cakes of figs. They were probably used chiefly 

 in the dried state. The drying is easily effected in a 

 warm climate by exposure to the sun's rays, in the 

 same way as those grapes are dried which are called 

 from that circumstance raisins of the sun. Like the 



