68 
OLEA ELROPGiA. 
with erect antheiae ; the germen is round, and supports a simple 
short style, furnished with a bifid stigma, each divisioa notched at 
the apex; the pericarpium is a fruit of the drupons kind, of 
an oblong or oval shape, (about the size of a sparrow's egg) and 
containing a nut of the same form. The olive, as observed, is a 
native of the South of Europe, and the North of Africa, where it 
flowers from June until August, it is cultivated with much care in 
France, Spain, and Italy, for the sake of its fruit, and the oil ex- 
pressed from that part. 
This tree has been greatly celebrated and held in high estimation 
from the earliest ages, as a bounteous gift of heaven, and in 
gratitude to the Diety it was formerly exhibited in the religious 
ceremonies of the Jews. By the Greeks and Romans the olive 
branch was a symbol of peace, and the emblem has descended 
even to the present day. 
Sensible Properties. Fresh olives have an acrid, bitter, 
and very disagreeable taste, not altogether unlike that of the outer 
rind of the green walnut : to make them palatable, and prepare them 
as an article of luxury for the table, they are first steeped for several 
days in water, or more generally in a ley of wood ashes, by which a 
considerable portion of the bitter matter is extracted ;* after this, 
they are washed and preserved in a strong pickle of common salt 
and water. In this way they form an important branch of export 
from the countries that produce them, and a necessary part of every 
fashionable dessert : the flavour of olives when thus prepared is 
bland, slightly but agreeably bitter, heightening the gout for wine, 
and tending to prevent its inebriating effects, which latter property 
is owing to the oil they contain. The small round French olive is 
the most esteemed for the purposes of the table,, and bears a higher 
price than the Spanish, (which is larger and of an oval form) or even 
the Italian, though the latter yields the purest oil. The olive for 
pickling must be pulled some time before it has arrived at maturity. 
The fruit of the olive tree yields by expression a considerable 
quantity of a bland, scentless oil, well known in commerce. To 
procure this oil, the olives are gathered when fully ripe, but the 
after mode of preparation varies in diff'erent countries, and perhaps 
it is to this circumstance, as much as to the different quality of the 
fruit, that we may ascribe the various qualities of the'oilwhich is sold 
under the name of olive oil. As the tree is not a native of these 
* When water only is used, the steeping must be continued much longer. Ed. 
