FRUCTUS BELM. 129 



In A.D. 1003 it was much grown at Salerno near Naples, whence its 

 fruits were sent as presents to the Norman princes.* 



At the present day, the citron appears to be nowhere cultivated 

 extensively, the more prolific lemon tree having generally taken its 

 place. It is however scattered along the Western Ri\4era, and is also 

 grown on a small scale about Pizzo and Paola on the western coast of 

 Calabria, in Sicily, Corsica, and Azores. Its fruits, which often weigh 

 several pounds, are chiefly sold for being candied. For this purpose 

 the peel, which is excessively thick, is salted and in that state shipped 

 to England and Holland. The fruit has a very scanty pulp.2 



Essence of Cedrat which is quoted in some price-lists may be pre- 

 pared from the scarcely ripe fruit by the sponge-process ; but as it is 

 more profitable to export the fruit salted, it is very rarely manufactured, 

 and that which bears its name is for the most part fictitious. 



FRUCTUS BELiE. 

 Beta; Bad Fruit, Indian Bad, Bengal Quince. 



Botanical Origin — jEgle Mai^melos^ Correa (Cratceva Mai'mdos L.), 

 a tree found in most parts of the Indian peninsula, which is often 

 planted in the neighbourhood of temples, being esteemed sacred by the 

 Hindus. It is truly wild in the forests of the Coromandel Ghats and 

 of the Western Himalaya, ascending often to 4,000 feet and growing 

 ofregarious when wild. 



It attains a height of 30-40 feet, is usually armed with strong sharp 

 thorns and has trifid leaves, the central leaflet being petiolate and 

 larger than the lateral. The fruit is a large berry, 2 to 4 inches in diameter, 

 variable in shape, being spherical or somewhat flattened like an orange, 

 ovoid, or pyriform,* having a smooth hard shell ; the interior divided 

 into 10-15 cells each containing several woolly seeds, consists of a 

 mucilaginous pulp, which becomes very hard in drying. In the 

 fresh state the fruit is very aromatic, and the juicy pulp which it 

 contains has an agreeable flavour, so that when mixed with water and 

 sweetened, it forms a palatable refrigerant drink. The fruit is never 

 eaten as dessert, though its pulp is sometimes made into a preserve 

 with sugar. 



The fruit of the wild tree is described as small, hard, and flavourless, 

 remaining long on the tree. The bark of the stem and root, the 

 flowers and the expressed juice of the leaves are used in medicine by 

 the natives of India. 



History — The tree under the name of Bilva^ is constantly alluded 

 to as an emblem of increase and fertility in ancient Sanskrit poems, 



J' Gallesio, TraiU du Citrus, 1811. 222. * In the Botanical Garden of Buitenzorg 



- Oribasius accurately describes the in Java, three varieties are grown, namely — 



citron as a fruit consisting of three parts, fructibus ohlonrjis, fructibus subglobosis, and 



namely a central acid pulp, a thick and macrocarpa. 



neshy zest and an aromatic outer coat. — ^ We are indebted to Professor Monier 



Medkinalia coUecta, lib. i. c. 64. Williams of Oxford for pointing out to us 



^gle, one of the Hesperides. — Mar- many references to Bilva in the Sanskrit 



meloes from the Portuguese marmelo, a writings. 



quince. — Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, part 



