544 HORACES. 



can only be preserved in those regions where the summer and autumn 

 are very warm and dry. 



Dried figs are termed by the dealers either natural or pulled. The 

 first are those which have not been compressed in the packing, and still 

 retain their original shape/ The second are those which after drying 

 have been made supple by squeezing and kneading, and in that state 

 packed with pressure into drums and boxes. 



Smyrna figs, which are the most esteemed sort, are of the latter kind. 

 They are of irregular, flattened form, tough, translucent, covered with a 

 saccharine efilorescence; they have a pleasant fruity smell and luscious 

 taste. Figs of inferior quality, as those called in the market Greek Figs, 

 dififer chiefi}' in being smaller and less pulpy. 



Microscopic Structure — The outer layer of a dried fig is made up 

 of small, tliick-walled and densely packed cells, so as to form a kind of 

 skin. The inner lax parenchyme consists of larger thin-walled cells, 

 traversed by vascular bundles and large, slightly branched, laticiferous 

 vessels. The latter contain a granular substance not soluble in water. 

 In the parenchjnne, stellate crystals of oxalate of calcium occur, but in 

 no considerable number. 



Chemical Composition — The chemical changes which take place 

 in the fig during maturation are important, but no researches have 

 yet been made for their elucidation. The chief chemical substance in 

 the ripe fig is grape sugar, which constitutes from GO to 70 per cent, 

 of the dried fruit. Gum and fatty matter appear to be present only in 

 very small quantity. We have observed that unripe figs are rich in 

 starch. 



Production and Commerce — Dried figs were imported into the 

 United Kingdom in 1872 to the amount of 141,847 cwt., of which 

 91,721 cwt. were shipped from Asiatic Turkey, the remainder being from 

 Portugal, Spain, the Austrian territories and other countries. In 1876 

 the imports were 163,763 cwt., valued at £318,717. 



Kalamata, in the Gulf of Messenia, Greece, and Cosenza in the 

 Italian province of Calabria citeriore, are also particularly known as 

 supplying figs to some parts of continental Europe. In 1876 the 

 exports of Kalamata to Trieste were 9|- millions of kilogrammes. 



Uses — Dried figs are thought to be slightly laxative, and as such are 

 occasionally recommended in habitual constipation. They enter into the 

 composition of Confectio Seniiw. 



MORACE^. 



FRUCTUS MORI. 



Baccce Mori, Mora; Mulbernes; F. Mures; G. Maulbeeren. 



Botanical Origin — Morus nigra L., a handsome bushy tree, about 

 30 feet in height, growing wild in Northern Asia Minor, Armenia, and 

 the southern Caucasian regions as far as Persia. In Italy, it was em- 



1 The word Eleme applied in the London (" Eleme Figs") is probably a corruiJtion of 

 shops to dried figs of superior quality the Turkish dlem6, signifying hand-picked. 



