THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
101 
sees no need of it so long as his food can be had for nothing. 
This fruit diet is not without its effects upon the bodies of the 
people; the children especially, usually measure much more 
around the abdomen than anywhere else. The mango is like a 
plum in appearance with a thin yellowish or reddish skin and 
salmon colored flesh. It is most delicious stewed, but is usually 
peeled and eaten raw. The flesh is soft and juicy and the 
novice seldom handles it with becoming dexterity. There is 
a saying that one must take a bath after eating it. The diffi- 
culty in handling it is increased by a single large seed in the 
center, covered with long hairs that ramify through the pulp, 
rendering eating it very much like sucking a bunch of cotton. 
Since the mango grows wild, there are all sorts and con- 
ditions of fruit from the turpentine mango, which is all its 
name indicates, to the famous ''No. 11." The latter is the 
ne plus ultra of mangoes but a very fugacious object, and some 
doubt whether such a thing really exists. One is always in- 
formed that a particularly fine fruit "looks like a No. 11" or is 
"nearly as good as a No. 11," but few if any have seen the 
real thing. There is so much difference of opinion that the 
skeptical are inclined to consider it a sort of mythical standard 
of excellence. The better class of mangoes are agreeably 
flavored, stand transportation well, and would no doubt, find 
a ready sale in America if better known. 
After the mango comes the star apple in point of value. 
It is a round smooth fruit the size of a large apple and con- 
structed very much like the persimmon of our Southern States. 
So nearly alike are the two, that to judge from the fruit alone, 
one would be inclined to call this a new sort of persimmon. 
The skin is sometimes green, but usually is of a deep purple 
color like that of the common egg-plant of the gardens. In 
the center are several seeds enclosed in half-gristly envelopes 
and surrounded by an agreeable, soft, milky, white or purple 
pulp. When the fruit is cut across, the arrangement of the 
