176 



THE FIG. 



" The fig of our gardens is the Ficus Carica of botanists. 

 The name Ficus, applied to this very anciently known 

 fruit, is most probably derived from Feg, its Hebrew 

 name ; that of Carica is from Caria, in Asia Minor, where 

 fine varieties of it have long existed. According to 

 various authors, it is a native of Western Africa, Northern 

 Africa, and the south of Europe, including Greece and 

 Italy. It is certainly indigenous to Asia Minor, but it 

 may have been then introduced and naturalised in the 

 islands of the Mediterranean and the countries near its 

 shores, both in Europe and Africa. 



" Figs have been used in the East as an article of food 

 from time immemorial. They were amongst the fruits 

 brought back from Canaan by the Israelites sent by 

 Moses to report on the productions of the land. We 

 read of a present having been made to David of 200 

 cakes of figs. They were probably used chiefly in the 

 dried state. The drying is easily effected in a warm 

 climate by exposure to the sun's rays, in the same way 

 as those grapes are dried which are called from that 

 circumstance raisins of the sun. Like the grape, the 

 substance of the fig abounds in what is termed grape- 



