FIG.-FICUS.-CARICA. 



Natural Order, Scabridce. In Botany, a Ge- 

 nus of the Polygamia Tricecia Class. 



THE fig-tree is evidently a native of that part 

 of Asia, where the garden of Eden is gene- 

 rally said to have been situated, as it is the 

 only tree particularly named in those pas- 

 sages of the Bible which relate to the creation 

 and fall of man. " And they sewed fig- 

 leaves together, and made themselves aprons/' 

 It is a fruit that appears to have been highly 

 esteemed by the Israelites, who brought figs 

 out of the land of Canaan, when they were 

 sent by Moses to ascertain the produce and 

 strength of that country. 



The fig-tree is often mentioned, both in 

 the Old and New Testament, in a manner 

 to induce us to conclude that it formed a 

 principal part of the food of the Syrian nation. 

 In the 25th chapter of the first book of 



