citr] 



Cije Erea^urji of SSfltang. 



292 



sometimes six inches long, the skin 

 covered with protuberances, and of the 

 well-known citron-yellow colour when the 

 fruit is ripe. Of the cultivated varieties, 

 some are oval, others round, and that 

 called the Madras Citron has the form of 

 an oblate sphere. In China there is a 

 variety with its lobes separating into 

 finger-like divisions, and hence called the 

 Fingered Citron. 



The Lemon, C, Limonum, of some bota- 

 nists, G. medica Limonum of others, is, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Royle, who found it 

 growing wild in the North of India, 

 named in Hindostanee Neemoo, Leemoo, 

 Leeboo ; in Arabic Limoun ; and in 

 Italian, Limone. Professor Decandolle 

 states that it was unknown to the ancient 

 Greeks and Romans ; and that its culture 

 only extended into the west with the con- 

 quests of the Arabs. On' their spreading 

 over the vast regions of Asia- and Africa, 

 they carried with them everywhere the 

 Orange and Lemon. The latter was brought 

 by them in the tenth century from the 

 gardens of Oman into Palestine and Egypt. 

 Jacques de Vitry, writing in the thirteenth 

 century, very well describes the Lemon, 

 which he had seen in Palestine ; and doubt- 

 less it was by the crusaders first brought 

 into Italy, but at a date which cannot be 

 exactly ascertained. From the north of 

 India it appears to have passed eastward 

 into Cochin China and China, and westward 

 into Europe, and it has naturalised itself 

 in the West Indies and various parts of 

 America. Fruit oval or ovate, terminated 

 by a small blunt nipple-like point ; skin 

 smooth, rind much thinner than that 

 of the Citron. The varieties are nu- 

 merous. Lemons are chiefly imported for 

 their agreeably acid juice and essential 

 oil, and also for the manufacture of citric 

 acid. 



The Orange, C. Aurantium of those bota- 

 nists who do not consider it to be pro- 

 bably only a variety of G. medica, is asso- 

 ciated with the latter as a native of the 

 north of India. According to Gallesio, in- 

 stead of being found in the north of Africa, 

 Syria, or even in Media, it was not at the 

 time of Alexander the Great in that part of 

 India which he penetrated ; for it is not 

 mentioned by Nearchus among the pro- 

 ductions of the country which is watered 

 by the Indus. But the Arabs, carrying 

 their conquests fui'ther into India than 

 Alexander, found the Orange more in the 

 interior ; and according to Professor Tar- 

 gioni it was brought by them into Arabia 

 in the ninth century. Oranges were un- 

 known in Europe, or at all events in Italy, 

 in the eleventh century, but were shortly 

 afterwards carried westward by the Moors. 

 They were in cultivation at Seville to- 

 wards the end of the twelfth century, and 

 at Palermo in the thirteenth, for it is said 

 that St. Dominic planted an orange for the 

 convent of St. Sabina in Rome, in the 

 year 1200. In the course of the same 

 thirteenth century, the crusaders found 

 Citrons, Oranges, and Lemons, very abun- 

 dant in Palestine : and in the following 



I or fourteenth century, both Oranges and 

 I Lemons became plentiful in several parts 

 of Italy. It appears, however, that the 

 original importation of Oranges from India 

 into Arabia and Syria occurred about a 

 century earlier than that of Lemons. Gal- 

 lesio states that Oranges were brought by 

 the Arabs from India by two routes ; the 

 sweet ones through Persia to Syria, and 

 thence to the shores of Italy and the 

 south of France ; and the bitter, called in 

 commerce Seville Oranges, by Arabia, 

 Egypt, and the north of Africa to Spain. 

 Of the numerous varieties of this esteemed 

 fruit, our limits will only admit of our 

 noticing some of the more important. 



The Sweet Orange has the leaves ovate- 

 oblong, acute, somewhat serrated, with 

 the stalk more or less winged. The flowers 

 are white. The fruit is well known. There 

 are many varieties ; that called the China 

 Orange is the common Orange of the mar- 

 kets. The Blood Red or Malta Orange has 

 the fruit round, rough red or reddish-yellow 

 outside,with a pulp irregularly mottled 

 with crimson. The Saint Michael's Orange 

 has the fruit rather small, pale yellow and 

 seedless, with a thin rind and very sweet 

 pulp; it is one of the most delicious and pro- 

 ductive varieties. The Noble, or Mandarin 

 Orange is small flattened and deep orange, 

 with a thin rind which separates spontane- 

 ously from the pulp, so that when quite ripe 

 the latter may be shaken about inside ; it 

 is exceedingly rich and sweet. In China, 

 where this delicious variety has been 

 raised, the fruit is chiefly consumed in 

 presents to the Mandarins, hence its name. 

 It is now, however, very successfully cul- 

 tivated in Malta and in the Azores. The 

 Sweet-Skinned Orange is the Pomme 

 d'Adam, or ' Forbidden fruit ' of the shops 

 of Paris, but not of London; its skin is 

 smooth, deep yellow, with a thick sweet 

 soft rind. The above are some of the 

 principal sorts of sweet oranges ; but there 

 are many other varieties, many of which 

 possess, however, but little merit. 



The Common Seville, or Bitter Orange, 

 orBigarade, C. Bigaradia, has around dark 

 fruit with an uneven, rugged, extremely 

 bitter rind. This sort is largely im- 

 ported for the manufacture of bitter tinc- 

 ture, and the preparation of the candied 

 orange-peel. To this section are referred 

 the various kinds of Bie-arades, among 

 which may be named the Horned, Curled- 

 leaved, Purple,Double-flowered,and Myrtle- 

 l leaved. These, especially the Horned and 

 I Curled-leaved, are cultivated chiefly for 

 their flowers, which are powerfully fra- 

 grant. 



Of the Bergamot Orange, C. Bergamia, 

 both flowers and fruit possess a peculiar 

 fragrance ; and from each of them an es- 

 sence of a delicious quality is extracted. 



The Lime, C.L imetta, bears ovate or round- 

 ish pale yellow fruit with a boss at the 

 point ; its juice is acid and slightly bitter. 

 There are varieties differing in form and 

 in the thickness of their rind. Among 

 them is one called by the Italians Porno 

 d'Adamo, because they fancy the depres- 



