4 



THE ORANGE; 



ange originated in Southern Asia, and in 

 that portion of the East Indies lying be- 

 yond the Ganges. Up to and including 

 the earlier centuries of the Empire of the 

 Cfesars, these fruits had not been brought 

 from those climates where they were in- 

 digenous. They grew without culture in 

 the native groves, the hand of man not 

 liaving yet appropriated them as orna- 

 ments for his garden. The fruit was even 

 unknown to the Romans, a people who in 

 the age of their triumph sought out every 

 luxury which ihe world of their conquest 

 afforded. Pliny, in the account of his In- 

 dian voyage, makes no mention of either 

 orange or citron. Other writers on this re- 

 gion, such as Nearchus, one of Alexander's 

 captains, and Arianus and lambolus are 

 equally silent on the subject of citrus 

 fruits. 



To tbe Arabs who, under the leadership 

 of Mohammed, extended their conquests 

 into Asia and Africa much faster than any 

 people before them, belongs the credit of 

 first disseminating the orange. They ac- 

 climatized tbe trees in Syria, Africa, Spain 

 and some European islands. Occupying 

 a position advantageous and favorable to 

 the commercial spirit and love of luxury 

 which succeeded the fury of conquest, the 

 Arabs naturally learned of and appreci- 

 ated many exotic plants peculiar to tlie 

 regions they had conquered or to adjoin- 

 ing countries. They were fond of medi- 

 cine and agriculture, in which they espe- 

 cially- excelled. To them we owe the 

 knowledge of many plants, perfumes and 

 Oriental aromatics, such as musk, nut- 

 megs, mace and cloves. In their medi- 

 cines we for the first time hear of the 

 chemical change known as distillation, 

 which appears to have originated in the 

 desire to steal from nature the perfumes 

 of flowers and aroma of fruits. It is cer- 

 tain that the orange was known to their 

 physicians from the commencement of 

 the fourth century of the Hegira. The 

 Damascene has given in his Antidotary a 

 recipe for making oil of oranges and their 

 seeds (oleum de citrangala et oleum de cit- 

 ranoulorum seminibus). Another Arabian 

 physician, Avicenna, employed the juice 

 of the bigarade (bitter orange) in a medi- 

 cinal syrup which he called alkedere. 

 The orange was from the first valued not 



alone for the beauty of its foliage and 

 quality of its fruit and for its- medicinal 

 uses, but also for the aroma of its fl.owers, 

 of which essences were made. 



Abd-Allatif, an Arabian writer of th& 

 twelfth century of our era, says: " Th& 

 round citron {otrodj modaivar) was brought 

 from India since the year 300 of the Hegira 

 (A. D. 922). It was first sowed in Oman 

 (part of Arabia), from thence carried to 

 Irok (part of old Persia) and Syria, be- 

 coming very common m the houses of 

 Tarsus and other frontier cities of Syria, 

 at Antioch, upon the coasts of Syria, in 

 Palestine and in Egypt. One knew it not 

 before, but it lost much of its sweet odor 

 and fine color which it had in India, be- 

 cause it had not the same climate, soil and 

 all that which is peculiar to that country." 



The lemon appeared perhaps a little la- 

 ter in these different countries, for we see 

 no mention of it either in the Damascene 

 or in Ayicenna, but its description meets 

 the eye in works of Arabian writers of the 

 twelfth century, especially Ebn Beitar,. 

 who gave it an article in his dictionary of 

 simple remedies. 



The Arabs invaded Sicily about the be- 

 ginning of the ninth century, and planted 

 the orange tree in that island. The citrine 

 apples of Leon d'Ostia date from 1002, and 

 were regarded as objects rare and precious 

 enough to be offered as gifts to princes. 

 Nicolas Special is, in his history of Sicily,, 

 written in the fourteenth century, recount- 

 ing the devastation by the army of the Duke 

 of Calabria, in 1383, in the vicinity of Paler- 

 mo, says that it did not spare even the 

 trees of sour apples {pommes acides), 

 called by the people arangi, which had 

 adorned, since old time, the royal palace 

 of Cubba. 



After the Arabians, the Crusaders were 

 the next agency for the extension of citrus 

 culture. They entered Asia Minor as con- 

 querors, and thence spread themselves as 

 traders into all parts of Asia. They were 

 not mere soldiers, but brave men drawn 

 from their families by religious enthusi- 

 asm, and who, in consequence, would 

 hold fast to their country and their homes. 

 They could not see without coveting these 

 charming trees which embellish the vicin- 

 ity of Jerusalem, with whose exquisite 



