ii PREFACE. 



in the stomach that interfere with digestion, cause bad chyle, and bring on persistent 

 fevers, often due to worms. In my Botanico-Meterological Observations I've reported 

 some well-established facts that absolve fruit of these accusations. Several 

 distinguished physicians have fully cleared it of the blame that instead ought to fall 

 only upon the excesses of those who give themselves up to their appetites and indulge 

 them without moderation. If I were not limited to a preface that has to be very short, I 

 would readily show that this delicious & unique food inherited from our forefathers has 

 become harmful only because there are those who partake of it without restraint. 



Nevertheless, I'm careful not to advise everyone to eat all kinds of fruit 

 indiscriminately. With this food, just as with any other, everyone should decide how to 

 use it, both in terms of quantity as well as quality, based on his own experience. But it 

 likewise would be thoughtless of me to wish to ban all fruit from our tables 

 unconditionally. I appeal for this to those of all ages & groups who have consistently 

 sought after fruit., Even while I was engaged in matters of highest priority - the 

 cultivation of land, storage of grain, reforestation, &c. (*) - the promise of their 

 support, as much as my own relish for good fruit, has led me to collect in our gardens 

 the best species of fruit trees, to describe them, to have them drawn by the most 

 capable artists with a view to creating the work that I now offer to everyone. 



(*) The Elements of Agriculture, 2 vols, w-12; Treatise on Storage of Grain, 2 vols, iw-12, & Treatise on 

 Woods and Forests in 8 vols. in-4°. Available at L.F. DELATOUR. Bookseller, rue St. Jacques. 



