BOOK XV. XXXIV. 111-114 



XXXIV. And so much for the various classes and Variotu 

 kinds of fruits. Their structures call for closer ^SS^^Si 

 examination. Some fruits are characterized by *^'??"'' ^'^'"'^ 

 their pods, which are themselves sweet and which 

 enclose a seed that is bitter, since whereas in fairly 

 many plants the seeds are agreeable, seeds con- 

 tained in a pod are not approved of. Others are 

 characterized by berries which have a hard kernel 

 inside and flesh outside, for instance ohves and 

 cherries. Some have the berries inside and a hard 

 shell outside, as is the case with the fruit we spoke 

 of that grows in Egypt. Fruits of the apple kind xiii. 60. 

 have the same structure as the berries : some have 

 flesh inside and a hard case outside, as in the case 

 of nuts ; while others have flesh outside and a 

 hard stone inside, as is the case with peaches and 

 plums, which thus have the refuse part wrapped 

 round with the fruit, whereas in other cases the fruit 

 is shiekled by the refuse part. Nuts are enclosed in a 

 shell, chestnuts in a skin ; with chestnuts the skin is 

 removed, but in the case of medlars it is eaten. 

 Acorns are covered with a hard shell, grapes with a 

 skin, pomegranates with an outer skin and an inner 

 skin. Mulberries consist of flesh and juice, cherries 

 of skin and juice. Some fruits separate from their 

 woody part at once, for instance nuts and dates, but 

 some adhere to it, for instance oUves and laurel- 

 berries ; and one group has both properties, for 

 example peaches, inasmuch as in the hard peach 

 or nectarine the flesh adhcres and cannot be torn 

 away from the stone, wliereas in all the other 

 sorts it is easily separated. Some fruits have no 

 stone inside and no shell outside, for instance the 

 date class. Of some kinds the hard part itself is 



365 



