.The fifteenth Booke o{ 



o: 



Chap, xvril, 



}^ Of Figs forts of them, 



L F all other fruits which have tender pils or skins, and are called in Latinc^PomajFigs are 

 I ihebiggeft : for fome of ihem are found to be as great as Peares. As touching the Syco- 

 mores of iEgypt and Cypres, and of their admirable fruitjwe have written ynough in rhs 

 treatifeof forraineTrees.ThcIdasan Figs that come from the mQUntainelda,are of colour red, 

 of the bignefle of Olives^onely rounder they be^Si in tatl refemble Medlarsjn the region about 

 Troasneare unto the faid hill Ida, they call that fig-tree Alexandrina. Itisasthicke asa mans 

 armc about at the cubite or clbowjand full of braunches ; the wood thereof is tough and ftron g, |j| 

 howbeit,pliable to wind and bend which way a man would have it.Void of milkie lubftance it is, 

 clad with a grcenebarkCjbearing leaves like thcTillet or Linden tiee,but that they be^oft. One- 

 ftcrim writethjthat the Fig-trees in Hyrcania beare more pleafant fruit than ours in Italie^with- 

 out all comparifon ; alfo that they carie a greater burden jand be far re more plentifullsinfot-nuch , 

 as one of them doth ordinarily yeeld 270 Modij of Figs. We have here alfo in Italie m any Fig- 

 trees brought out of other forraine countries, towit, fromChalcis and Chios: whereof theie 

 be many forts.For both our Lydian Figs which arc of a reddifli purple colourjand alio the Ma- 

 millane or teat-Figs, havearefemblanceof thefaid Chalcidian and Chian Figs, yea, and the 

 Calliftruthion Figs beyond others not a littlcjin goodneffeof taft: and thefe of ail the reft are the 

 coldeft. For as touching the AfPricane Figs,which many men prefer before all others^they hold 

 the name of Affricke^as if it were their native countrey : and yet there is a great quiftion therea- I 

 bout,and I wot not well what to fay thereofjConfidering that it is not long agoe that Affricke be- 

 gun M to have Fig-trees. For the Alexandrine Figs are of theblacke kind, having a wliite rift 

 or chamfre,and are furnamed Delicate. The Rhodian Fig islikewife blacke of hue : and fo is the 

 TiburtinCjwhich alfo is of the haftie kind,and ripe before others. 



Moreover^there be certaine Figges which beare the names of thofe that brought them firft 

 into Italie : namely, the Livian and Pompeian, and fuch are fitteft to bee dried in the Sunne, 

 and fo to be kept all the yeare long for a mans ufe : like as the illfavoured, fooliih, and gaping 

 Figges MarifciE : as alfo thofe that are fpeckled with fpots like the leaves of theLaconian ieed5. 



There are befides the HerculaneanjAlbicerate^andAratian white Figs, which of all other 

 are moft flat and broadeff ,and withall have the kaft taile or fteele whereby they hang. The Per- K 

 phyrite Figs firft (liew upon the tree, and ordinarily are longcft tailed . The fmalleft Figs called 

 the popular Figs,which alfo are of all others the bafeft and of leafl accounr,come next atter and 

 beare the Porphyrites companie. Contrariwife, the Chelidonian Figges be the laft: and ripen 

 againfl Winter, 



Moreover,certaine Figs therebe which areboth early ,3nd alfolateward : nameiy,Uich asbear 

 twice a yeare : and be both blacke and white : for they are ripe firfl in harvefl, and afcerwards, in 

 time of vintage.Late alfo it is before the Duracinse be ripc,fo called of the hard skin which they 

 have. Alfo fome there be of the Chalcidian kind which beare thrice a yeare. At Tarentum there 

 grow none but fuch as are exceeding fwcct3and thofe they call Omas[or rather OenaGas,tafling x 



of wine.] uu r 



Cato in his treatife of Figs writeih thus,The unfavorie Fig dotes, Marifc^, would be lowne m 

 an open, light, and chalkic ground . But the Affricane, Herculane, and the Winter Saguntine 

 Figges, as alfo the Telliane (which are. blacke and long tailed) love a fatter foile, oreife well 



dunged. , 1 • r • 



After this,Figges have chaunged into fo many kinds,and altered their names very otten : in 

 fuchfort, that by this point it is evident, how the world is altered,3nd to what varictie this life is 

 fubjea. In fome provinces,as namely in Moefia,there be winter Figs that hang all Winter long : 

 but they come to be luch,moreby art and cunning,than naturally of therofclves. For fo foone 

 as Autumneispaffedjand Winter approchethjthey ufe to cover with dung certaine little Fig- 

 trees which they bavc,and together with them the greene yongFigs which they find upon them 

 in Winter rand when they have continued fo the fharpe time of dead Winter, fo foone as the 

 weather beginneth to be more warme and temperatc,they difcharge both fruit and tree of their 

 dung : which being thus let out againe(as it were)where they feemed buried, and now commjng 



