950 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



none. Theophrast's explanation of the effects of caprifi- 

 cation is similar to that given by Aristotle. He rejects 

 the theory that the wasps close the eye of the fig and 

 through the prevention of the entrance of the air causes 

 maturity. On the contrary, he maintains that the wasps 

 enlarge the eye of the fig, cause its juices to flow, suck 

 up the superfluous "humors" of the fig, and that the 

 warm and fermentation producing air effects the matur- 

 ing of the figs. The differences between the two races 

 of figs of which one requires caprification and the other 

 not is explained by this author through the influence of 

 soil and climate, as well as by a different nature of the 

 fig, which enables it to ripen its fruit without the aid of 

 the wasp. The circumstance that in Italy no caprification 

 was practiced at his time, he explains by the supposed 

 drier soil and climate of that country, which absorbs the 

 superfluous juices of the fig. The humid climate of 

 Greece, he contends, makes it necessary to employ the 

 aid of the wasps in order to relieve the figs of their super- 

 fluous moisture. 



Pliny, the great Roman naturalist and compilator, 

 follows Theophrast closely (55). He classes the caprifigs 

 as the wild fig, wanting in the juices necessary for the 

 food of the wasps. The latter not finding the necessary 

 food flies to the edible fig and through nibbling enlarges 

 the mouth of the fig, and allows the fertilizing air to enter, 

 which again transforms the milky juices of the fig to sweet 

 honey. Pliny believed that caprification was only prac- 

 ticed in the Archipelago (from which it was later intro- 

 duced to Italy). At the time of Pliny caprification was 

 unknown in Italy. The account given by the great Latin 

 naturalist is evidently only a compilation froni other 

 authors and from hearsay (55^. He appears not to have 

 made any personal investigations or examinations. 



