THE CAEOB. 



49 



kegs, and are much used in making tarts, for which they are 

 well adapted. The American cranberries are of a slightly 

 oval shape and a bright red colour ; they somewhat resemble 

 red currants, but are more than twice as large, and have no 

 remains of the calyx at the top of the berry. About 4000 

 gallons are annually consumed in England. 



The Caeob, Locust, or St. John^s Bread, — the Alga- 

 roba of the Spaniards and Moorish nations, and the Johan- 

 nisbrod of the Germans, — is the ripe legume of Ceratonia 

 Siliqua, (Nat. Ord. Legwninosce,) 



It is a long flat pod, often six or eight inches long, and 

 nearly an inch in breadth, but not exceeding a quarter of an 

 inch in thickness ; the produce of a small, but handsome 

 tree, growing very generally and plentifully in the south of 

 Europe, parts of Germany, France, and the Northern States 

 of Africa. The seeds, which are flat, hard, reddish-brown^ 

 and about the size of a lentil, are, like those of the tama- 

 rind, enveloped in a pulp. The pulp of the carob is however 

 free from fibres, and is of a very sweet, rather sickly, taste. 

 In times of scarcity it serves as food, and is believed to be 

 the Wild Locust upon which St. John fed. It rarely comes 

 to England, and then only as food for horses, which is its 

 principal use elsewhere. 



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