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CHAPTEE XI. 



' ; L'uliva quanto piu pende piu rende."* 



THE FORMATION OF THE OLIVE AND ITS FATTY SUBSTANCE. 



Dr. A. Funaro, of Pisa, from some very interesting experiments 

 conducted by him at that place in 1878, has been able to prove 

 that the nut is the first part of the fruit to form. The olives ex- 

 perimented upon were gathered from a farm near Pisa, at intervals 

 from July 10th to February 25th, and carefully analyzed, with the 

 object of studying the formation of the fatty material This fact 

 had already been stated by Prof. A. Roussille. 



On the 25th of July the nut itself was not perfectly formed, but 

 on the 10th of August it was quite perfect, though tender, and 

 could not be detached from the fleshy part. 



On the 25th of September it had reached its full develoj)ment. 

 Then commenced the increase of size and weight of the pulp, and 

 the rapid increase of the fatty matter, while the quantity of water 

 diminished slowly, oscillating according to the atmospheric condi- 

 tions of the days when the olives were gathered. These, after the 

 10th of August, increased gradually until the 10th of September. 

 Between the 10th and 25th of September they almost doubled in 

 weight. One hundred olives which on Sej)teniber 10th weighed 

 75.94 grams, on the 25th of that month weighed 144.22 grams. 

 After this period the increase of weight was gradual, but only 

 slight, up to the 25th of October; after that date a progressive and 

 slow decrease set in. 



*The longer the olive hangs, the more it renders. 



