50 NtJTRlTlVE PLANTS. 



autumn it will be eligible to protect their tops in time of hard frost, 

 the first winter, with an} kind of small loose litter. 



That part of the history of the fig-tree, which for many ages was 

 so enigmatical, namely, the caprification, as it is called, is parti- 

 cularly worthy of attention, not only as a singular phenomenon in 

 itself, but as it has furnished one of the most convincing proofs of 

 the reality of the sexes in plants. In brief it is this : the flowers of 

 the fig-tree are situated within a pulpy receptacle, which we call the 

 fig or fruit ; of these receptacles, in the wild fig-tree, some have 

 male flowers only, and others have male and female, both distinct, 

 though placed in the same receptacle. In the cultivated fig, these 

 are found to contain only female flowers, which are fecundated by 

 means of a kind of gnat bred in the fruit of the wild fig-trees, 

 which pierces that of the cultivated, in order to deposit its eggs 

 within ; at the same time diffusing within the receptacle the farina 

 of the male flowers. Without this operation the fruit may ripen, 

 but no effective seeds are produced. Hence the garden fig can 

 only be propagated by layers and cuttings in those countries where 

 the wild fig is not known. The process of thus ripening the fruit, in 

 the Oriental countries, is not left to nature, but is managed with 

 great art, and different degrees of dexterity, so as to reward the 

 skilful husbandman with a much larger increase of fruit tfcan would 

 otherwise be produced. A tree of the same size which in Provence, 

 where caprification is not practised, may produce about 25 pounds 

 of fruit, will by that art, in the Grecian islands, bring ten times that 

 quantity. 



Figs are a considerable article in the materia medica, chiefly em- 

 ployed in emollient cataplasms and pectoral decoctions. The 

 best are those which come from Turkey. Many are also brought 

 from the south of France, where they prepare them in the follow- 

 ing manner. The fruit is first dipped in scalding-hot ley made of 

 the ashes of the fig-tree, and then dried in the sun. Hence these 

 figs stick to the hands, and scour them like Iixivial salts ; and for 

 the same reason they purge gently, without griping. They are mo- 

 derately nutrimental, grateful to the stomach, and easier to digest 

 than any other of the sweet fruits. They have been said to pro- 

 duce lice when eaten as a common food ; but this seems to be en- 

 tirely without foundation. The reason of this supposition seems 



