FRUCTUS LIMONIS. 115 



History — The name of the lemon in Sanskrit is Ximhuka; in Hin- 

 dustani, Limbu, Liraih, or Ninhu. It is probably originally a Cash- 

 mere word, which was transferred to the Sanskrit in comparatively 

 modem times, not in the antiquity.^ From these sounds the Arabians 

 formed the word Limun, which has passed into the languages of 

 Europe. 



The lemon was imknoA\Ti to the inhabitants of ancient Greece and 

 Rome; but it is mentioned in the Book of Nabathaean Agriculture,^ 

 which is supposed to date from the 3rd or 4th century of our era. The 

 introduction of the tree to Europe is due to the Arabians, yet at what 

 precise period is somewhat doubtful. A ranee and Livione are men- 

 tioned by an Arabic poet li\'ing in the 11th century, in Sicily, quoted 

 by Falcando.^ The geographer Edrisi,* who resided at the court of 

 Roger II., king of Sicily, in the middle of the 12th century, mentions 

 the lemon (limonna) as a very sour fruit of the size of an apple which 

 was one of the productions of Mansouria on the Mahran or Indus; and 

 he speaks of it in a manner that leads one to infer it was not then 

 known in Europe. This is the more probable from the fact that there 

 is no mention either of lemon or orange in a letter written A.D. 1239 

 concerning the cultivation of the lands of the Emperor Frederick II. at 

 Palermo,' a locality in which these fruits are now produced in large 

 quantity. 



On the other hand the lemon is noticed at great length by Ibn 

 Baj-tar of Malaga, who flourished in the first half of the 13th century, 

 but of its cultivation in Spain at that period there is no actual mention.* 

 In 1369 at least citron trees, " arbores citrononim," were planted in 

 Genoa," and there is evidence that also the lemon-tree was grown on 

 the Ri^-iera di Ponente about the middle of the 15th century, since 

 LimoTies and also Citri are mentioned in the manuscript Livre 

 cV Administration of the city of Savona, under date 1486.^ The lemon 

 was cultivated as early as 1494 in the Azores, whence the fruit used 

 to be largely shipped to England; but since the year 1838 the exporta- 

 tion has totally ceased.* 



Description — The fruit of Citrus Limonu7)i as found in the shops" 

 is from about 2 to 4 inches in length, egg-shaped with a nipple more or 

 less prominent at the apex; its surface, of a pale yellow, is even or 

 rugged, covered with a polished epidermis. The parenchyme within 

 the latter abounds in large cells filled with fragrant essential oil. The 

 roughness of the surface of the rind is due to the oil-cells. The peel, 

 which varies considerably in thickness but is never so thick as that of 

 the citron, is internally white and fibrous, and is adherent to the pale- 

 yellow pulp. The latter is divided into 10 or 12 segments each contain- 



' Dr. Eice in Xew Remedies, 1878, 263 ; " Belgrano, Vita privata dei Genovesi, 



also private information. Genova (1875) 158. 



- Meyer, Geschichte der BotaniJ:, ul {\S56) » Gallesio, Trait4 du Citrus (1811) 89, 



68. 10.3. 



■^ Amari, Storia dei Musulmani di SicHia, ' Consul Small wood, in Consular Beports, 



ii. (1858) 444. Aug. 1873. 986. 



* Geographic d'Edrisi, tradnite par Jan- ^^ There are many kinds of lemon as well 

 bert, i (1836) 162. as of orange which are never seen in com- 



' Huillard-Breholles, Historia diploma- merce. Risso and. Poiteau enumerate 25 



//>a Friderici secundi, Paris, v. (1857) 571. varieties of the former and 30 of the lat- 



* Heil- und ^'ahruiigsmiiiel von Ehn Bai- ter. See also Alfonso, Coltit-azione degli 

 ^^r, ubersetzt von Sontheimer.ii. (1842)452. Agrtimi, Palermo, 2nd edition, 1875. 



