The "Amilbeds" and the Pummelos. 43 



83 show pummelos with a suspiciously elongated 

 centre, which probably tells a tale of its birth, although 

 its exterior may have lost all trace of its origin. 



Finally Dr. John Shortt, writing from Yercaud, in 

 the Shevaray hills, says " We have the pummelo, which 

 fruits largely, some weighing four or five Ibs., but 

 worthless, as the pulp is acrid, bitter and sour. The 

 pummelo is a most delicious fruit, about the coasts of 

 South India, both the white and the pink varieties ; 

 but plants or seeds, introduced up here, from excellent 

 fruit-bearing trees on the plains, become worthless 

 here. It is apparently the fault of the soil and climate. 

 Our pummelos are not wild kinds, but of the best 

 cultivated varieties. When brought up here, they go 

 like that." This shows how cautious one should be 

 in declaring a citrus wild simply because it happens to 

 be acrid and uneatable ; all fruit trees are liable to 

 variation by change of climate and soil, but there is 

 none perhaps which is more sensitive of change of 

 soil and climate, than the sweet kinds of citrus in 

 cultivation. 



Pis. 59 to 92 give figures of amilbeds and pum- 

 melos. 



