CARIC^ 543 



History — Figs were a valued article of food among the ancient 

 Hebrews ^ and Greeks, as they are to the present day in the warmer 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean." In the time of Pliny many 

 varieties were in cultivation The Latin word Carica was first used to 

 designate the dried fig of Caria, a strip of country in Asia Minor 

 opposite Rhodes, an esteemed variety of the fruit corresponding to the 

 Smyi'na fig of modern times. 



In a diploma granted by Chilperic XL, king of the Franks, to the 

 monastery of Corbie, a.d. 716, mention is made of " Karigas" in con- 

 nection with dates, almonds and olives, by which we think dried figs 

 (Carica:) were intended.^ Dried figs were a regular article of trade 

 during the middle ages, from the southern to the northern parts of 

 Europe. In 1380 the citizens of Bruges, in regulating the duties 

 which the " Lombards," i.e. Italians, had to pay for their imports, 

 quoted also figs from Cyprus and from Marbella, a place south-west of 

 Malaga.* 



In England the average price between a.d. 1264 and 1398 was 

 about \\d. per lb., raisins and currants being 2fc?.* 



Description — A fig consists of a thick, fleshy, hollow receptacle of 

 a pear-shaped form, on the inner face of which grow a multitude of 

 minute fruits." This receptacle, which is provided with an orifice at 

 the top, is at fii-st green, tough and leathery, exuding when pricked a 

 milky juice. The orifice is surrounded, and almost closed hy a number 

 of thick, fleshy scales, near which and within the fig, the male flowers 

 are situated, but they are often wanting or are not fully developed. 

 The female flowers stand further within the receptacle, in the body of 

 which they are closely packed ; they are stalked, have a 5-leafed 

 perianth and a bipartite stigma. The ovary, which is generally one- 

 celled, becomes when ripe a minute, dry, hard nut, popularly regarded 

 as a seed. 



As the fig advances to maturity, the receptacle enlarges, becomes 

 softer and more juicy, a saccharine fluid replacing the acrid milky 

 sap. It also acquires a reddish hue, while its exterior becomes 

 purple, brown, or yellow, though in some varieties it continues 

 green. The fresh fig has an agreeable and extremely saccharine taste, 

 but it wants the juiciness and refreshing acidity that characterize 

 many other fruits. 



If a fig is not gathered its stalk loses its firmness, the fruit hangs 

 pendulous from the branch, begins to shrivel and become more and more 

 saccharine by loss of water, and ultimately, if the climate is favourable, 

 it assumes the condition of a dried jig. On the large scale however, fios 

 are not dried on the tree, but are gathered arid exposed to the sun and 

 air in light trays till they acquire the proper degree of dryness. They 



'See in particular 1 Sam. xxv. 18 and * Recesse und andere AUen der Hansetage, 



fl Chron. xii. 40 ; where we read of large ii. (Leipzig, 1872) 235. 



•■applies of dried figs being provided for * Rogers, Hist, of Agriculture and Prices 



the use of fighting men. Also Num. xx. 5; in England, i. (1866) 632. 



Jer. xxiv. 2 ; 2 Reg. xx. 7. « Albertus Magnus, in allusion to the 



^On the Riviera of Genoa dried figs peculiar growth of the fig, remarks that 



eaten with bread are a common winter food the tree "fructum autem profert sine 



of the peasantry. flore." Page 386 of the work quoted in 



'Pardessus, Diplomata, Chartce, etc., ii. the Appendix. 

 (1849) 309 



