DRUPACEjE. 285 



A. communis, Linn. — Leaves oblong-lanceolate, serrulate. Flowers solitary. Calyx 

 campanulate. Fruit ovoid, compressed, tomentose. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 677; Stokes, Med. Bot. iii. 101 ; Woodville, ii. 230; Stc 

 phenson and Churchill, i. 43. 

 Common Name. — Almond tree. 

 Foreign Names. — Amandier, Fr.; Mandarlo, It.; Mandelbaum, Gr. 



There are several varieties, five being admitted by De Candolle, but they 

 are far more numerous ; the only kinds that deserve notice as presenting 

 important peculiarities are the Siveet and Bitter, which differ so much from 

 each other, especially in their sensible properties, as to render it probable that 

 they may be specifically distinct; the differences between them are thus 

 noticed by De Candolle. 



a. Amara. — Styles nearly as long as the stamens, tomentose below. Seeds bitter; 

 petals white, rosaceous at base. Shell of nut hard or soft. 



b. Dulcis. — Leaves ash-green. Flowers earlier. Styles much longer than the sta- 

 mens. Fruit ovate, compressed, acuminate. Seeds sweet. Shell hard. 



The Almond is a native of most of the warm parts of Asia, and perhaps of 

 the Barbary Coast. It was very early cultivated in Europe, though there is 

 no evidence of the time at which it was introduced ; from the fact that Cato 

 speaks of almonds as Nuces Grcecce, it is probable that it came to Italy by way 

 of Greece, but was derived originally from Asia Minor or Persia. They 

 were known in very ancient times, as they are mentioned in Genesis ; and 

 Hippocrates employed both the sweet and bitter kinds, and the oil from them. 

 They are cultivated to a large extent in Southern Europe, and would succeed 

 perfectly well in many parts of the United States, as they are by no means 

 as liable to be injured by frost as the orange. They are imported from the 

 South of Europe. 



There are several varieties or qualities of both the bitter and sweet almond, 

 depending on the thickness or thinness of the shell, the flavour and form of 

 the kernel, &c. The best of the sweet kind come from Malaga. The kernel 

 of the sweet almond is inodorous, farinaceous, of an agreeable taste, and con- 

 tains a large proportion of oil. That of the bitter is also inodorous when 

 entire; but when triturated with water, has the odour of prussic acid, and the 

 taste resembles that of the peach kernel ; the expressed oil is like that 

 from the sweet kind. Previously to being used, almonds are decorticated, or 

 blanched, by putting in hot water, which detaches the seed coat from the 

 cotyledons. 



Many analyses of both the sweet and the bitter almond have been made ; 

 that of the first, by Boullay, shows it to contain about one-half of fixed oil, 

 about a fourth of emulsin or vegetable albumen, and a small quantity of 

 sugar, gum, woody fibre, &c. Vogel's examination of the bitter kind gave 

 the following results : less than a third of fixed oil, about a fifth of essential 

 oil and hydrocyanic acid, nearly a third of emulsin, and small proportions of 

 gum, sugar, dec. 



The fixed oil of almonds is obtained from both varieties, though generally 

 procured from the bitter, from the cheapness of them, and the greater value 

 of the residue ; it is inodorous, and has a bland, oleaginous taste ; it congeals 

 less readily than olive oil ; a hundred-weight of almonds affords from forty- 

 eight to fifty-two pounds of it. 



The volatile oil is a very peculiar product, not being procurable by expres- 

 sion, or, in other words, not existing in a formed state in the kernel. It is 

 obtained by distilling the powdered almond, or the marc left after the expres- 



