FRUCTUS MORI. 545 



ployed for feeding the silkworm until about the year 1434, when M. aiha 

 L. was introduced from the Levant/ and has ever since been commonly 

 preferred. Yet in Greece, in many of the Greek islands, Calabria and 

 Corsica, the species planted for the silkworm is still M. nigra. 



The mulberry tree is now cultivated throughout Europe, yet, except- 

 ing in the regions named, by no means abundantly. It ripens its fruit 

 in England, as well as in Southern Sweden and Gottland, and in Chris- 

 tiania (Schiibeler). 



History — The mulberry tree is mentioned in the Old Testament,' 

 and by most of the early Greek and Roman writers. Among the large 

 number of useful plants ordered by Charlemagne (a.d. 812) to be 

 cultivated on the imperial farms, the mulberry tree (Morcwius) did not 

 escape notice.^ We meet with it also in a plan sketched A.D. 820, for 

 the gardens of the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland.* The cultiva- 

 tion of the mulberry in Spain is implied by a reference to the prepara- 

 tion of Syrii.j) of Mulbernes in the Calendar of Cordova,* which dates 

 from the year 961. 



A curious reference to mulberries, proving them to have been far 

 more esteemed in ancient times than at present, occurs in the statutes 

 of the abbey of Corbie of Normandy, in which we find a Brevis de Melle, 

 showing how much hwiey the tenants of the monastic lands were 

 required to pay annually, followed by a statement of the quantity of 

 Mulberries which each farm was expected to supply ."^ 



Description — The tree bears unisexual catkins; the female, of an 

 ovoid form, consists of numerous flowers with green four-lobed perianths 

 and two linear stigmas. The lobes of the perianth overlapping each 

 other become fleshy, and by their lateral aggregation form the spurious 

 berry, which is shortly stalked, oblong, an inch in length, and, when 

 ripe, of an intense purple. By detaching a single fniit, the lobes of the 

 former perianth may be still discerned. Each fruit encloses a hard 

 lenticular nucule, covering a pendulous seed with curved embryo and 

 fleshy albumen. 



Mulberries are extremely juicy and have a refreshing, subacid, 

 saccharine taste; but the}^ are devoid of the fine aroma that distin- 

 guishes many fruits of the order Rosacece. 



Chemical Composition — In an analysis made by H. van Hees 

 (1857) 100 parts of mulberries yielded the following constituents: — 



Glucose and uncrystallizable sugar . . . 919 



Free acid (supposed to be malic) .... 1"86 



Albuminous matter ...... 0*39 



Pectic matter, fat, salts, and gum .... 203 



Ash 0-57 



Insoluble matters (the seeds, pectose. cellulose, &c.) 1'25 



Water 84-71 



' A. De Candolle, Giogr. botanique, ii. ■• F. Keller, Bauriss des Kolstera S. 



(1855) 856. Gallen, facsimile, Zurich, 1844. 



* 2 Sam. V. 23, 24. » Le Calendrier dt Cordouede Vannie 961, 



' Pertz, Monumenta Gervianice historica, public par R. Dozy, Leyde, 1873. 67. 



Leges, iii. (1835) 181. — Consult also Hehn, " Gu^rard, Poli/ptiqiie de PAbb^ Irminon, 



KulturpJUtHzen, 1877. Paris, ii. 335. 



2m 



