291 



GEIje CreaSurg of 2Sotanp. 



nutritious, "while others say that they 

 are hitter and purgative. Certainly the 

 dried dark-coloured seeds met with in 

 this country are so ; hut it is stated that 



Citrullus Colocynthis. 



the seeds are used as food at the Cape of. 

 Good Hope. An oil is also extracted from 

 them for burning in lamps. [M. T. M.] 



CITRUS. The Orange, Lemon, Citron, 



and other well-known fruits of a similar 



kind, are included in this genus of Auran- 



tiacece. Its distinguishing characteristics 



are: the presence of a cup-like calyx, 



I numerous stamens irregularly united by 



! their filaments into several bundles, a 



cylindrical style, and a pulpy fruit with a 



spongy- rind. The leaves of these trees are 



! also remarkable inasmuch as they consist 



I of one leaflet, separated from the leaf-like 



stalk supporting it, by a distinct joint. 



The most important species, in a medi- 

 cal or pharmaceutical point of view, are 

 I the Citron, C. medica, which furnishes two 

 ] distinct kinds of oil, used by perfumers, 

 ! the essential oil of citron and the essen- 

 | tial oil of cedra. The Lemon, C. Limo- 

 ! num, is employed in medicine for the sake 

 of its aromatic bitter rind ; its odour is 

 due to the volatile oil in which it abounds. 

 The juice of the Lemon is used as a re- 

 freshing beverage in fevers and scorbutic 

 affections, and as effervescing lemonade 

 to check sickness and nausea. As it is 

 apt to decompose, crystallized citric acid 

 is usually employed in its place as an anti- 

 scorbutic, and with the best effects. Lately 

 it has been recommended in acute rheu- 

 matism. Lime juice is employed for simi- 

 lar purposes. The Seville or Bitter Orange, 

 C. Blgaradia, is used for the sake of its 

 rind and its flowers, which possess a 

 stronger flavour and odour than the sweet 

 orange. The rind is used as a stomachic 

 and tonic, while the flowers yield by distil- 

 lation orange-flower water. [M. T. M.] 



The Citron, Orange, Lemon, Shaddock, 

 and Lime have been referred to various 

 species of Citrus, with regard to which 

 botanists, however, are not agreed. It is 

 even doubtful whether all of them, with 

 their very numerous varieties, have not 

 originated from C. medica. On this point 



the following observations by Dr. Lindley 

 in the Journal of the Horticultural Society 

 (ix. 171), are important. He states that 

 the above-mentioned fruits 'are all of 

 Eastern origin, and mostly introduced 

 into Europe in comparatively modern 

 days, but of very ancient and general 

 cultivation in Asia. The varieties known 

 are very numerous and difficult to reduce 

 according to their species, on the limits 

 of which botanists are much divided in 

 opinion. Those who have bestowed the 

 most pains in the investigation of Indian 

 botany, and in^vhose judgment we should 

 place the most confidence, have come to 

 the conclusion that the Citron, the Orange, 

 the Lemon, the Lime, and their numerous 

 varieties now in circulation, are all de- 

 rived from one botanical species, C. medica, 

 indigenous to, and still found wild in, the 

 mountains of East India. Others, it is 

 true, tell us that the Citron, the Orange, 

 and the Lime are to be found as distinct 

 types in different valleys, even in the wild 

 state ; but these observations do not 

 appear to have been made with that ac- 

 curacy and critical caution which would 

 be necessary in the case of trees so long 

 and so generally cultivated.' 



The Citron, C. medica, is described by 

 Theophrastus as abundant in Media, that 

 is to say, in the north of Persia, Its fruit, 

 according to Professor Decandolle, was 

 carried to Rome in the beginning of the 

 Christian era, or perhaps at an earlier 

 period. The first attempts at its cultiva- 

 tion in Italy proved unsuccessful, and ac- 

 cording to Gallesio, it was not established 

 there till about the third or fourth cen- 

 tury. The Jews cultivated the Citron at 

 the time they were under subjection to 

 the Romans, and used the fruit then, as at 

 the present day, in the Feast of Taber- 

 nacles ; but there is no proof of their hav- 

 ing known this tree in the time of Moses. 

 It is likely they found it at Babylon dur- 

 ing their captivity, and brought it to 

 Palestine on their return. "Whatever may 

 have been the diffusion of the species in 

 "Western Asia at that remote date, there is 

 no evidence of its having been indigenous 

 to Media, norhavemodern travellers found 

 it wild in Persia ; but Dr. Royle found the 

 species in the forests of Northern India. 

 The Citron is cultivated in Cochin China, 

 and in China, but Thunberg does not men- 

 tion it as existing in Japan. Taking all 

 the above facts into consideration, it is 

 evident that the species is originally from 

 the north of India, and as the habitat of 

 every one of the Orange tribe is naturally 

 rather limited, Professor Decandolle does 

 not think that this extended in the case of 

 the Citron, as far as the north of Persia. 

 Probably the Citron was carried in that 

 direction, and also into China at a very 

 early period. In many countries they are 

 easily naturalised. The seeds sow them- 

 selves in several of the colonies : for in- 

 stance, in Jamaica. In its wild state the 

 Citron grows erect with spiny branches. The 

 flowers are purple on the outside and white 

 inside. The fruit is large, oblong or ovate, 



