118 FAMILIAR TREES 



does not become sweet as in the Bullaoe and Plum, 

 it loses the bloom of its youth and beauty, and the 

 smooth round balls, pleasing to birds and schoolboys, 

 though contorting the faces of most of their unwary 

 devourers by their astringency, become of a dull 

 blackish-purple. Still they are not black. Soaked 

 in gin, they form a valuable liqueur. 



At the present day the green-fruited variety of 

 the BuUace (P. insititia) is commonly called a 

 Damson ; but there can be little doubt that origin- 

 ally this name belonged to some cultivated variety, 

 the fruit of which was worth eating, and which came 

 from the east, nominally from Damascus. 



As has been already suggested, the Plum properly 

 so-called may in all probability be the artificial pro- 

 duct of cultivation, rather than a variety existing 

 anywhere in a truly wild state, and was probably 

 introduced by the Romans, by whom it was un- 

 doubtedly cultivated on a large scale. Its name in 

 most modern languages is, therefore, as might be 

 expected, derived from the Latin Prunus. Just as 

 th"e name "Currant" has been extended fi-om the 

 small dried Grapes of Corinth to the black-, red-, 

 and white-fruited Ri'bes of our kitchen -gardens, so 

 the name " Plum " has been extended from the fruits 

 of Prunus to those of other Grapes, more properly 

 known as Raisins. This extension has probably 

 originated in the long-practised custom of drying 

 both kinds of fruit in the sun. This manufacture,, 

 though carried on to a considerable extent in the. 

 South of France, from which fact we know the dried , 

 fruit mainly as " French Plums," is also a staple 



