Separate Accounts have not been published. 401 



into our gardens : the D. Litchi, and D. Longan. They 

 are both natives of the southern part of China, where they 

 are known as the Li-tchi, and the Long-yen, and much cul- 

 tivated ; they have also been transferred thence to different 

 places in the East Indies. The present is believed to be the 

 only instance of the fruit having been brought to maturity, 

 in Europe; and persons who were well acquainted with 

 it in its native places of growth, pronounced these 

 specimens quite as good, as those grown within, or 

 near the tropics. The Li-tchi is most esteemed by Eu- 

 ropeans : the Chinese prefer the Long-yen, considering it 

 to possess medicinal properties as a stomachic. Both 

 species are trees, and many varieties of each are cultivated 

 in China, differing in the quality of the flesh, the time of 

 ripening, and in the shape of the fruit, some being nearly 

 globular, some heart-shaped, and others oblong, but not 

 varying much in size. The Li-tchi fruits are, however, 

 generally the largest, and are of a red colour, when ripe, 

 excepting in one variety, in which the coat remains green. 

 The small scutiform processes, on the coat of the fruit, in 

 the Li-tchi, are more sharp, or pointed, than those of the 

 Long-yen. The fruit of the latter is uniformly of a light 

 brown colour. In both species the pulp is surrounded with 

 a tough, thin, leathery coat ; it is a colourless semi-transpa- 

 rent substance, in the centre of which is a dark brown seed, 

 of different sizes, in the different varieties. The flavour of 

 the pulp is slightly sweet, subacid, and particularly plea- 

 sant to the taste, in a warm climate. The fruit of the 

 Li-tchi, dried either in the sun, or by fire heat, is fre- 

 quently brought to England by the ships from China. 



