THE BITTEE ALMOND. 



59 



The first mention made of almonds is in the following 

 verse of Scripture : And their father Israel said unto them^ 

 If it must be so now^ do this ; take of the best fruits of 

 the laud in your vessels^ and carry down the man a present, 

 a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, 

 and almonds, Genesis xliii. 11. They are most probably 

 natives of Syria and the northern parts of Africa, w^hence 

 their cultivation spread over most parts of Asia, and into 

 Greece. It was late before the Romans became acquainted 

 with this fruit, which they at first called Greek nuts.^^ They 

 are merely used as a dessert fruit and in confectionery. Poole, 

 in his ^ Statistics of British Commerce,^ shows that the an- 

 nual consumption of this nut in Great Britain averages 

 ^00 tons, the value of which in round numbers is £48,000 

 sterling. A large quantity of oil may be expressed from the 

 seed, but the value of the sweet almond as a fruit is too 

 great, and the bitter variety is consequently preferred for 

 expression . 



The Bitter Almond. Amygclalus comrnvmis, variety a, 

 amara. — This variety is received chiefly from Barbary, where 

 it forms a staple article of commerce. Its principal use is 

 for the expression of the fixed, and distillation of the essen- 

 tial oil j it is however used in confectionery, for imparting 



