THE FIG. 



355 



Paris it will not bear exposure in the open air 

 in eaiiy spring. Some of the pomegranate and 

 orange trees at Versailles, Risso states to be be- 

 tween two and three hundred years old. 



Before the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot, 

 liad travelled fi:om Persia to the more western 

 coimtries on the borders of the Red sea, the pome- 

 granate was there assiduously cultivated, and held 

 in the greatest esteem. In the wilderness, when 

 the children of Israel murmured for the fruits of 

 Egypt, they exclaimed, " It is no place of seed, 

 or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates." On 

 the borders of the promised land, Moses described 

 it as " a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and 

 fig trees, and pomegranates ; a land of oil-olive 

 and honey." In the Canticles, Solomon speaks 

 of " an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasaxat 

 fruits." A tree, therefore, which partakes of 

 the antiquity of the vine, the fig, and the olive, 

 and which, in point of utility, is numbered with 

 the grain-bearing plants, and with honey, all 

 constituting the principal food of the nations of 

 antiquity in their early stages of civilization, 

 must possess' a considerable historical interest. 

 It is probable that the pomegranate, differing 

 from the stone fruits, travelled from the West to 

 the East. Pliny says that it is a native of Car- 

 thage, as its name (purAca granatum) imports. 

 Yet as it is found wild in the same botanical re- 

 gions of Europe, that is, in countries having the 

 same temperature as the northern coasts of 

 Africa, it is probably indigenous there also. It 

 is still common in Barbary (where, according to 

 Shaw, the fruit often weighs a pound, and is 

 three or four inches in diameter), in the south 

 of France, in Italy, in Spain, and throughout 

 the East. The Jews employ the fruit in their 

 religious ceremonials ; and it has entered into the 

 heathen mythology — for in the isle of Euboea 

 there was formerlj' a statue of Juno, holding in 

 one hand a sceptre, and in the other a pomegra- 

 nate. 



The single flowering sorts may be raised from 

 seed, and all the varieties by cuttings, suckers, 

 or layers, or by inoculation or grafting on the 

 wild sort. The tree thrives best in a strong rich 

 soil. 



The pomegranate is common in Syria and 

 Palestine, particularly in all the gardens of 

 Aleppo. The ripe fruit is in abundance in Au- 

 gust, and is then laid up for a winter stock. 

 There are three sorts, a sour kind, a moderately 

 sweet kind, and a very sweet kind. The juice 

 of the first is used instead of verjuice, or the 

 juice of the unripe grapes; the others are eaten 

 at table, after being cut open, the seeds taken 

 out, strewed with sugar, sprinkled with rose 

 water, and served up on little plates. The pome- 

 granates, on account of their round and graceful 

 figure, formed a frequent ornament on the chapi- 

 ters of the building of the temple. " And tire 



chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates 

 also above, over against the net- work ; and the 

 pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round 

 about." They were also embroidered upon the 

 hem of the high-priest's ephod. A wine is 

 sometimes extracted from these fruits, and pro- 

 bably was so by the ancient Jews, as may be in- 

 ferred from the word " Gath Rimmon," signify- 

 ing the press of pomegranates. The seeds, ac- 

 cording to Russel, constitute an important culi- 

 nary article in the manufacture of conserves and 

 syrups. We must not judge of the pomegranate 

 from the stunted specimens to be found in this 

 country. In warm climates it grows to a con- 

 siderable size; and several towns and places 

 have derived the name of Rimmon from the 

 abundance or excellence of this tree. The bark 

 has been used in dyeing; and it is this which 

 gives the colour to yellow Morocco leather. 



The Fia, (ficuscarica). Natural order Urti- 

 cacece. Polt/gamia dicecia of Linnaeus. 



132. 



The I'ig. 



The fig is a native of Asia, Africa, and the 

 south of Europe, and has been cultivated from 

 remote antiquity in the countries surrounding 

 the Mediterranean, where it forms a principal 

 article of food in many places. The stem is from 

 fifteen to twenty-five feet liigb, with a trunk 

 sometimes two feet in diameter, giving out a 

 great number of long, twisted, pliant branches, 

 which are grayish and rough when young ; the 

 leaves are deciduous, of the size of the hand, 

 having three to five rounded lobes ; the flowers 

 are very small, unisexual, contained in great 

 numbers in a common receptacle, which is fleshy 

 and connivent at the summit, where it is almost 

 closed by a series of little teeth ; tlie male 

 flowers occupy tlie superior part of this recepta- 

 cle, and the female, which are the most numer- 

 ous, the bottom, and all the remaining part of 

 the cavity ; each ovary becomes a seed, sur- 

 rounded with a pulp, which, together with the 

 receptacle, forms the fruit. The fruit is soli- 

 tary, generally of a purplish colour, has a soft", 

 sweet, fragrant pulp, and is much esteemed, be- 

 ing constantly brought upon the table, during 

 five months of the year, in the south of Europe. 

 The gi'eater part of the flowers prove abortive, both 

 with and without the process of caprification'. 



