January 30, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



6r 



of a sweet flavor, accompanieJ vvith a slight acidity, and an odor 

 resembling the raspberry. It is the produce of Oarcinia man- 

 gostana, and is one of the most delicious and famoui of the fruits 

 of the Indian Archipelago, ranking with the pineapple. Presents 

 of baskets of it are sent from Singapore to India and China. It 

 is a pleasant fruit, with a delicate but characteristic flavor, partak- 

 ing of the strawberry, grape, pineapple, and peach. The happy 

 mixture of tart and sweet in the pulp renders it no less salutary 

 than pleasant ; and it is the only fruit which sick people are 

 allowed to eat without scruple. In Cochin China they sell at from 

 a doUar to a dollar and a quarter the hundred. 



The pomalo ( Citrus decumana) is a lai'ge fruit of the orange 

 family, with an acid flavor, frequently bitter. The pulp and thick 

 rind, crystallized with sugar, are eatable, but lose much of their 

 natui-al flavor. It it better known as the shaddock, and the fruit 

 will exceptionally attain a weight of twenty pounds. 



The mammea apple {Mammea Americana) is abundant in the 

 West Indies. The pulp is of a sweet aromatic smell, and of a 

 peculiar yet delicious flavor. It is sometimes sliced, and eaten 

 with sugar or wine, and also makes a very good jam by being pre- 

 served in sugar. Another tropical fruit, the Mammea sapota, is 

 known as American marmalade, from the similarity of the flavor 

 of the pulp to the marmalade made from quinces. 



The succulent fruits of Cicca disticlia have an acid, sweet flavor, 

 and are eaten cooked or made into preserve. 



The gi-een, fleshy, gratefully acid fruits of Averrhoa bilimbe and 

 A. carambola are preserved, and used for tarts and for flavoring 

 various dishes. 



An excellent preserve is made from the sweet peel and acid 

 pulp of the comquat or kumquat {Citrus japonica), a curious, small, 

 nutmeg-shaped oran'T;e in China and Japan. 



The red berries of Carissa carandas furnish a well-known 

 substitute for red-currant jelly, in India and China. 



The Peruvian cherimoyer (Anona clierimolia) is a highly 

 esteemed succulent fruit, of a most luscious flavor, containing a 

 soft, sweet mucilage resembling strawberries and cream. It is 

 often called the " queen of fruits." 



The mango, the mangosteen, the custard-apple, and the durian 

 are known by repute only to the people of this country; but, 

 while they might easily be frozen and brought here in admirable 

 condition, ^dishes fit for the gods, — no attempt is made to utilize 

 these luscious fruits of India in their fresh state, nor is very much 

 done in preserving them. 



The durian {Durio zibethinus), although it has a strong offensive 

 smell, is eaten greedily by the Burmese, and as many as 40,000 

 are annually sent to Upper Burmah. 



The mango (Mangifera indica) is the best fruit in India, as 

 highly valued as the peach with us, and forms a considerable 

 portion of the food of large classes of the native inhabitants. The 

 varieties cultivated are about as numerous as are those of the 

 apple. An Indian gentleman has made colored illustrations of 

 more than two hundred varieties of this fruit. The quality is 

 difficult to judge of from external appearance. There are large 

 and small, elongated and abbreviated, bright orange-colored and 

 green. They vary much in taste, some being of the flavor of 

 boney. some of pineapple, some of orange, while others have dis- 

 tinct flavors of their own. A good mango should be as little 

 stringy as possible, and should not have too much of the turpen- 

 tine flavor towards where it is attached to the foot-stalk : a mod- 

 erately aromatic savor thei'e is by no means objectionable. 



The young unripe fruits are largely consumed in India in tarts, 

 etc., and mango-fool there takes the place of gooseberry-fool. 

 The half-ripe fruits are also made into a marmalade which re- 

 sembles much that of apples. 



So lai'ge is the consumption of this fruit in India, that wagon- 

 loads, bringing collectively twenty tons of the fruit, have entered 

 the Island of Bombay in a single day. The fruit of the finest 

 mangoes have a rich, sweet-perfumed flavor, accompanied by a 

 grateful acidity. 



The thick juice is by the natives of India squeezed out, spread 

 on plates, and allowed to dry, in order to form the thin cakes 

 known as amsatta. The green fruit is sliced and cooked in curry ; 

 is made into pickle with salt, mustard, oil, and chillies; and also 



into preserves and jams by being boiled and cooked in sirup. 

 Some varieties of mango have fruits as big as an infant's head, 

 ovate, vvith a golden skin, speckled with carmine, and a green- 

 gage flavor. 



The finest varieties of this almost unequalled fruit seem to thrive 

 in Jamaica, where it was introduced about a century ago as well 

 as in Bombay. It is the popular fruit there with the negroes. 



The Siam mango is a tolerable kind, which sometimes grows to 

 one pound weight. The egg-mango is a small, yellow kind, with 

 too much of the turpentine-flavor, and too acidulous to be much 

 prized. The horse-mango is a very coarse fruit of unpleasant 

 odor, much eaten by the lower classes, and producing cholera, 

 diarrhoea, and dysentery. The Bombay mango, termed " Parsee," 

 is known for its lusciousness and dehcacy of flavor, the absence of 

 fibre, firmness of flesh, thinness of skin, and small size of the stone. 

 It must, however, be admitted that on tasting this delicious fruit 

 for the first time, a slight turpentine flavor is experienced. 



A raw guava, or even a raw mango, may not be, to every 

 Englishman's palate, a satisfactory exchange for a mellow pear or 

 a juicy peach, but preserved mango and guava jelly are things by 

 no means to be despised. Some of these preserved foreign fruits 

 are delicacies only to be obtained at some of the best West-end 

 houses, at prices too high for ordinary consumers; but if large 

 quantities were sent into the market, and the prices consequently 

 lowered, the demand would become greater, and the sale more 

 profitable, and would probably lead to the introduction of new 

 articles, to the mutual benefit both of ourselves and the growers 

 and preservers of the fruits. 



Mango jam is prepared by boiling the mango in sirup, after re- 

 tnoving the skins and stones, and the sour juice squeezed out by 

 the free use of forks, and soaking in fresh water. Two pounds of 

 mango to one pound of sugar is the proportion in which it is pre- 

 pared. 



Bilimbi jam is made by removing nearly three-fourths of the 

 juice of the fruits of Avertkoa bilimbi, and soaking in water, 

 squeezing the fruit and boiling them in su-up. Nelli jam, from 

 the fruit of Phyllaiithus embelica, is made in the same manner, 

 proportion of fruit and sugar same as mango. 



From Natal there have been shown at the various exhibitions 

 amatungula jam, the produce of the fruit of Arduina grandiflora, 

 sometimes called the Natal plum. This jam is firm, nearly like 

 that of the quince, and has a rough acid flavor, but is a curious 

 and agreeable preserve. 



The gooseberry jelly from there is the produce of Physalis 

 pubescens. It is pleasantly sharp, without having the rough, 

 metal-like acid of the amatungula. The guava jelly has the 

 full taste of the West-Indian preserve. The pineapple jam 

 has the rich, almost too luscious taste for which the Natal pines 

 are famed. The loquat is a very sweet and fine preserve, slightiy 

 resembling quince marmalade, but with less pronounced individual 

 flavor. The fruit is very delicious in its unpreserved ripe state, 

 having the flavor of an apple grafted upon the flesh of the melting 

 peach, with large apple-pips taking the place of the stone, and 

 ripening in massive bunches. Like the peach, the fruit is almost 

 too delicate for a preserve. Its most refined and exquisite qualities 

 do not survive the bath of boiling sugar. The rosella is the pre- 

 served fruits or calyces of the Hibiscus sabdariffa, which makes a 

 most estimable substitute for red-currant jelly, particularly 

 relished in hot climates. The grenadUla, the purple fruit of a 

 passion-flower (Passiflora eduUs), is almost without a rival for 

 delicate fragrance- and perfume, has a sweetish acid taste, and 

 makes an excellent preserve. The St. Helena peach resembles, 

 in the preserved state, a very excellent yellow plum. The shad- 

 dock marmalade might also be spoken of as a worthy substitute for 

 the Seville orange marmalade. 



Nature says that the Russian painter Krilof is painting the 

 portraits of typical representatives of the various races included 

 in the Russian Empire. In carrying out his purpose, he has under- 

 taken many long journeys : and he has now a small gallery which 

 ought to be of considerable value from an anthropological as well 

 as from an artistie point of view. 



