Chap. 24.] TARTETIES OP THE NTJT. 317 
covering, similar to that of the walnut, but thinner, with a 
second coat in the shape of a shell. The kernel, however, is 
unlike that of the walnut, in respect of its broad, flat shape, 
its firmness, and the superior tastiness of its flavour. It is a 
matter of doubt whether this tree was in existence in Italy in 
the time of Cato ; we flnd him speaking of Greek nuts,^^ but 
there are some persons who think that these belong to the 
walnut class. He makes mention, also, of the hazel-nut, the 
calva,^^ and the Praenestine^^ nut, which last he praises beyond 
all others, and says^^ that, put in pots, they may be kept fresh 
and green by burying them in the earth. 
At the present day, the almonds of Thasos and those of 
Alba are held in the highest esteem, as also two kinds that 
are grown at Tarentum, one with a thin,^"* brittle shell, and the 
other with a harder^^ one : these last are remarkably large, 
and of an oblong shape. There is the almond known as 
the " mollusca,"^^' also, which breaks the shell of itself. There 
are some who would concede a highly honourable interpreta- 
tion to the name given to the walnut, and say that " juglans" 
means the glans," or acorn of Jove." It is only very lately 
that I heard a man of consular rank declare, that he then 
had in his possession walnut-trees that bore two^^ crops in 
the year. 
Of the pistachio, which belongs also to the nut class, we 
have already spoken^^ in its appropriate place : Yitellius intro- 
duced this tree into Italy at the same time as the others that 
"0 De Re Rust. c. 8. Some think that this was the hitter almond ; and 
the word " acriore," used hy Pliny, would almost seem to imply that such 
is the ease. 
31 Apparently the ^* smooth" or "bald" nut. May not a variety some- 
thing like the hickory nut of America be meant ? 
32 Festus says that a kind of nut was so called, because the Prsenestines, 
when besieged by Hannibal at Casilinum, subsisted upon them. See 
Livy, B. xxiii. Fee considers it only another name for the common hazel 
nut. 33 De Re Rust c. 145. 
3^ The soft-shelled almond, or princess almond of the French : the 
Amygdalus communis fragilis of naturalists. 
35 This last variety does not seem to have been identified : the hard- 
shell almonds do not appear to be larger than the others. 
Or ''soft*' almond, a variety only of the Amygdalus fragilis. 
3"^ There is little doubt that Fee is right in his assertion, that this great 
personage imposed on our author ; as no trees of this family are known to 
bear two crops. 38 j^^ xiii. c. 10. 
