THE FIG-TREE. 269 



fuid that bears on its steep summit the village of St. 

 Agne.se ; for a wilder, more romantic and fantastic picture 

 could hardly be seen anY^\liere. 



CHAPTER TT. 



Recent publications containing new discoveries and 

 facts about the singular habit of the Fig-tree induced 

 me to tiH'n m\' attention to it more closeh'. It was just 

 sprouting, and bore on its twigs the }'Oung fruits which 

 had been on the tree all ^vinter. 



The cultiveition of the Fig-tree dates so far back 

 that in this respect it ma\' rank with the Olive ancl the 

 Vine. 



In the poetical and metaphorical language of the 

 ancients the Fig-tree was called the "brother of the 

 ^'ine". Formerly Attica boasted that, next to Sik\on, 

 she produced the best ligs. In Greece wine and ligs 

 were common necessaries of life for both poor and rich, 

 and an Attic idler would be quite content to loiter through 

 the da\", lying in the sun or shade according to the 

 season of the year, if he had a few dried figs, /^^ciis 

 J\/iiiiiiiaIis, the tree under which Romulus and Remus 

 were suckled h\ the she-\\'olf, shows how ancient was the 

 tradition of the Fig-tree on Italian soil. According to 

 Count zu Solms-Laubach's researches, the Italian Fig-tree 

 was not introduced from Greece, nor can its cultivation 

 in (ireece and Rome have had the same origin. Palae- 

 ontological discoveries prove that Ficus Carica, the 

 primitive plant from which the cultivated species are 

 deri\'ed. was wideh' spread in the Quaternary- epoch 



