FOODS, FOOD-STUFFS, AND FOOD-ADJUNCTS. 51 



Darwin to be derived from a wild * crab ' of the 

 Caucasus, and is now, as might be expected, repre- 

 sented by many distinct races. It is eaten raw or 

 cooked, and its juice is largely fermented into cider. 

 It is essentially a tree of temperate latitudes, and we 

 now import the fruit largely from North America. 



The PEAR (Pyrus communis, L.), an allied member 

 of the same genus of Rosaceae, is also represented 

 by several wild and a host of cultivated varieties. 

 Some of the finest are grown in the Channel Islands. 

 Its fermented juice is made into perry. The flavour 

 of pears may be due to iso-amylic acetate, an 

 alcoholic solution of which substance is used as 

 ' Essence of Jargonelle Pears.'* 



SERVICE-BERRIES, the fruits of Pyrus torniinalis, 

 Ehr., known provincially as ' chequers ;' the QUINCE 

 (Cydonia vulgaris, Pers.), used mainly for flavouring ; 

 and the MEDLAR (Mespilus germanica, L.), are fruits 

 of allied trees less largely consumed. 



The ' stone-fruits ' are the ' drupes ' of the sub- 

 order Drupacecz of the Rose tribe, having a stony 

 ' endocarp ' within a fleshy ' epicarp,' enclosing a 

 4 kernel ' or seed. Plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, 

 and almonds, belong to this group ; but in the latter 

 the kernel, not the epicarp, is eaten. PLUMS in all 

 their varieties, including Damsons, Greengages, and 

 the dried * prunes ' (var. Juliana}, or French plums 

 (var. Catharinea), largely imported from France, 

 Germany (vax.prunealina), Bosnia, etc., are forms of 

 Prunus domestica, L. 



* Church, op. cit., p. 115 ; Armstrong, 'Organic Chemistry,' 

 p. 256. 



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