74 FLOWERS AND FRUITS. 



The same tree produces both bitter and sweet almonds. The 

 sweet, though pleasant in the mouth, are bitter in the stomach, and 

 their agreeable taste and appearance does not prevent the unpleas- 

 ant consequences that arise from their use. When thoroughly 

 chewed they are not so liable to injure. Many a person has gone 

 the rounds of the market endeavoring in vain to select a digestible 

 dinner, little thinking that a few almonds were the real cause of 

 his weak stomach. 



It has been beautifully described as an ornamental tree, the delicate 

 flowers of which, varying in color from the fine blush of the apple 

 blossom to a snowy whiteness, and opening so early in the year entitle 

 it to our admiration. It is this haste to bloom even before a leaf is 

 visible, that has made this tree so symbolical of scripture truth, and its 

 Hebrew name, derived from a verb signifying to watch or waken, is 

 strikingly characteristic of this property. When covered with 

 flowers it presents one of the finest sights in nature, these are moved 

 with every breath of air, and often they are in full glory and the next 

 moment the breeze best knows where. It is this property that has 

 made it the emblem of indiscretion, and not as some have supposed 

 its being the first to answer to the call of spring. 



The late frosts sometimes destroy the too precocious germs of 

 its fruits, but only add to the beauty and brilliancy of its flowers. 

 An avenue of these trees, white in the evening and stricken in this 

 way during the night, has been seen of a rose hue the following 

 morning, and retained this color over a month, the flower never 

 falling off until the tree is covered with verdue. Its early appear- 

 ance is a good omen to the farmer. Dryden says : 



Mark well the flowering almond in the wood, 

 If odorous blooms the bearing branches load, 

 The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign, 

 Great heats will follow and large crops of grain. 



