HOPS 127 



exportation, and are considered the best. ' Pressed ' or ' layered ' 

 figs are those which have been flattened by the pressure used in the 

 packing. 



Description. The ordinary fig is too well known to need much 

 description. The fruit, which is sometimes called a syconus, is a 

 collective fruit formed from the enlarged, succulent, hollow, recep- 

 tacle which bears on its inner wall very numerous, minute, one- 

 seeded true fruits (achenes), commonly called the seeds. 



Constituents. The principal constituent of figs is sugar (dextrose), 

 of which they may contain upwards of 50 per cent. 



Varieties. Eleme : exported from Smyrna either ' pulled ' or 

 ' layered,' or in wooden drums or barrels ; they are distinguished by 

 their thin skins and soft luscious pulp. 



Spanish : from Malaga and Valencia, either ' layered ' packed 

 in boxes, or ' natural ' packed in mats. 



Greek : generally of small size and threaded on strings or packed in 

 barrels ; they have thicker, tougher skins, and less abundant pulp. 



Uses. Dried figs have agreeable demulcent, nutritive, and 

 laxative properties, and are therefore sometimes prescribed as an 

 article of diet in habitual constipation. They form one of the in- 

 gredients in confection of senna. 



HOPS 



(Lupulus 3 Humulus, Strobili Lupuli) 



Source, &c. The hop, Humulus Lupulus, Linne (N.O. Urticacece), is 

 a scabrous climbing plant with perennial root, widely diffused over 

 the whole of Europe and common in England, growing in hedges 

 and thickets. It is largely cultivated in England, Germany, Russia, 

 California, &c. 



The hop is dioecious, but the pistillate plant only is cultivated, 

 since from that alone the fruits (hops) can be obtained ; these are 

 preferred with undeveloped seeds, to ensure which the staminate 

 plants are usually excluded. 



The fruit is a cone-like collective fruit (strobile) consisting of leafy 

 stipules and bracts borne on a zigzag axis. These are picked from 

 the plant when fully developed, and dried ; they are frequently ex- 

 posed to fumes of burning sulphur (sulphur dioxide), by which the 

 colour is preserved and change in the aroma is said to be hindered. 

 They are sometimes dried loorse, but usually they are pressed into 

 compact bales known as ' pockets.' 



Description. The strobile of the hop averages about 3' 5 cm. in 

 length and is ovoid or rounded in shape, the most conspicuous part 



