Discussion on the Origin of Varieties. 217 



Malay archipelago in his days. He says, "It does 

 not occur in all the islands of maritime India. More- 

 over in Java, Baleya, and Celebes, this orange is 

 unknown. In Amboyna it is more plentiful, but in 

 Ternate and Banda they are rarely met with. It was 

 mainly used for cleaning copper ware, and for washing 

 the head. The wood was used for handles of imple- 

 ments, and the fruit was sometimes used as an 

 ingredient in a sort of rustic punch" 



Unless allowed to run wild, there was no good 

 reason for the Seville orange becoming common in the 

 Malay archipelago. It was not good to eat, and its 

 strong seedlings were not used as stock because the 

 art of budding or grafting was not known there in the 

 time of Rumphius. Moreover they had the Portugal 

 sweet orange, and also the suntara orange, the kaghzi 

 nimboo, and a variety of citrons and lemons ; neverthe- 

 less the Seville orange was there, and rather plentiful in 

 Amboyna. 



Loureiro, in his " Flora of Cochin China," gives 

 citrus fusca as similar to that of tab. 33, Aurantium 

 acidum of Rumphius the Seville orange. He further 

 says that it is very widely spread in Cochin China, and 

 more rare in China. 



I think we have come here near the birthplace of 

 the Seville orange, but the whole argument of course 

 rests only on a strong probability. 



The following is probably the course the Seville 

 orange took : It commenced in China or Cochin 

 China, and found its way to the Malay archipelago. In 

 the time of Rumphius there was a great number of 

 Chinese residing in those islands. From the archi- 

 pelago, at some very distant time, it found its way to 

 South India by means of traders, where it became 

 naturalised, and got the name of nartun on account of 



