No. 129.] 569 



distinguished botanist Lindley on the subject. In 1834 Col- 

 quhoun, of the Royal artillery, communicated to the Society of 

 Arts of London many siJecimens of bananas gathered on the warm 

 plains of Mexico, called Tierra Caliente^ and dried for keeping. 

 The cities of Jalisco and Mechoacan do quite a business in it. 

 They gather tlie fruit when perfectly ripe and expose it to the 

 sun on bamboo riddles. When they begin to wrinkle they peal 

 them, and then, in a few days, the banana is dry. During the 

 operation the bananas become covered with a sugary effervescence 

 like the figs of the South when dried in the same way. The 

 bananas are then baled or boxed up, either in their own leaves 

 or something else. They are pressed into packages of about an 

 hundred pounds weight. Thus prepared they are in the same 

 condition as figs, dates, raisins of commerce. On account of their 

 sugary character they keep a considerable length of time. 



The specimen deposited in the Crystal Palace was a portion of 

 that which was presented by Colonel Colquhoun in 1834, at which 

 time the fruit was two years old. On examination by members 

 of the Society of Arts, it was found to be of a proper consistence, 

 neither too soft nor too dry, and a very agreeable peculiar taste, 

 something between that of date and fig without any trace of acid- 

 ity. They have no seeds and so become entire for consumption 

 without any deduction. It was deposited in a Magazine of Wool- 

 wich, where it remained until taken out for the exhibition in the 

 Crystal Palace; it is, therefore, now nineteen years old — an in- 

 teresting circumstance testing its great durability. This old fruit 

 was subject to the examination of the Horticultural Society of 

 London, of the Society of Arts, Naturalists, and of merchants, 

 and pronounced to be in the same state as in 1834, except being 

 dryer. No acid — the same taste — no insect had touched them. 



What dried fruit have we, says Dr. Lindley, that can compare 

 with this? Our raisins, figs, and dates would be completely lost 

 in so long a time as nineteen years ; if not destroyed by time, 

 they certainly would be by insects. 



This remarkable fact raises, says Dr. Lindley, the very import- 

 ant question of extensive commerce in dried bananas. British 

 Guiana, Jamaica, &c., can produce unlimited quantities. The 



