Conchology. 165 



ed after scmp; and fhe person who cuts a fig, holds it by the small 

 end, takes a ihin ch'cular slice off the large end, and then peels 

 down the thick skin of the fruit in flakes, making a single bonne 

 houcJLe of the soft interior part. 



For medical purposes, figs are chiefly used in emollient cata- 

 plasms, and pectorial decoctions. 



The wood of the fig tree is of a spongy texture, and, when 

 charged with oil and emery, is much used in France by lock- 

 smiths, gun smiths and other artificers in iron and steel, to polish 

 their work. This wood is considered almost indestructible, and 

 on that account was formerly used in Egypt and other Eastern 

 -Countries, for embalming bodies. The milky sap of this tree 

 may be used as rennet, and for destroying warts. 



We shall conclude our account of the fig tree by the well-known 

 story of Timon of Athens, who was called JWisanthrope^ for his 

 aversion to mankind and to all society. He once went into the 

 public place, where his appearance as an orator, soon collected a 

 large assembly, when he addressed his countrymen by informing 

 them that he had a fig tree in his garden, on which many of the 

 citizens had ended their lives with a halter; and that, as he was 

 going to cut it down, he advised all those that were inclined to 

 leave the world to hasten to his garden and hang themselves. 



CONCHOLOGY 



NO. IV. 



Of the Colors of Shells. The infinite variety of the 

 celors of shells is one of the most striking parts of their history; 

 and it becomes a curious and interesting object of investigation to 

 inquire whether these colors are uniform and constant in the 

 spires, and from what proceeds this regularity and uniformity. 

 The experiments and observations of Reaumur will assist us in 

 this investigation. When a hole is made in a shell, nearly at an 

 equal distance between its tip and opening, the new piece of shell 

 which is formed to shut up the bole, is usually of a white, and 

 often very difl^erent from that of the rest of the shell. It would 

 appear at first that the new piece is of a different nature, and that 

 it is not formed in the same way as the rest of the shell. To 

 meet this difficulty, it will be necessary to explain on what de- 

 pends the regular variety of the colors of certain shells; the same 



