THE BITTER ALMOND. 59 



The first mention made of almonds is in the following 

 verse of Scripture : " And their father Israel said unto them, 

 If it must be so now, do this ; take of the best fruits of 

 the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, 

 a little balm, and a little honey,, spices, and myrrh, nuts, / 

 and almonds," Genesis xliii. 11. They are most probably / 

 natives of Syria and the northern parts of Africa, whence! 

 their cultivation spread over most parts of Asia, and into 

 Greece. It was late before the Romans became acquainted 

 with this fruit, which they at first called " Greek nuts." They 

 are merely used as a dessert fruit and in confectionery. Poole, 

 in his ' Statistics of British Commerce/ shows that the an- 

 nual consumption of this nut in Great Britain averages 

 500 tons, the value of which in round numbers is £48,000 

 sterling. A large quantity of oil may be expressed from the 

 seed, but the value of the sweet almond as a fruit is too 

 great, and the bitter variety is consequently preferred for 

 expression. 



The Bitter Almond. Amygdalus communis, variety a, 

 amara. — This variety is received chiefly from Barbary, where 

 it forms a staple article of commerce. Its principal use is 

 for the expression of the fixed, and distillation of the essen- 

 tial oil ; it is however used in confectionery, for imparting 



