2 9 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE " AMILBEDS " AND THE PUMMELOS. 



REGARDING the amilbed, all that the Emperor Baber 

 said about it in his memoirs is this : " I have seen it 

 first during this present year (I suppose he refers to 

 the year in which he was writing his memoirs). They 

 say that if a needle be thrust into the heart of it, the 

 needle melts away. Perhaps this may proceed from 

 its extreme acidity, or from some other of its properties. 

 Its acidity may be about equal to that of the orange 

 and lime." 



It should here be observed that the words " orange 

 and lime " are the translator's words, and as these have 

 been often abused, and ,given to totally different 

 varieties, it is not easy to tell what they may mean. 

 Anyhow, we have in Baber's time, an extremely acid 

 citrus called amilbed* It appears to have been then 

 far from common, that is about 300 years ago, other- 

 wise he would have hardly troubled himself to write, 

 " I have seen it first during the present year." 



With regard to the pummelo, Baber's memoirs make 

 no mention whatever of this citrus. Had it been 

 known in Hindostan in his time, it is not likely that 

 so large and striking a citrus would not have been 

 presented to him. It is therefore reasonable to infer 

 that in Baber's time, or about 300 years ago, the 



* Vide Appendix, No. i (/). 



