daffodil, the French honeysuckle, the cherry tree in blossom, the damascene and plum trees in blossom, 
the white thorn in leaf, the lilac tree.” Bacon’s Essays. Of Gardens. 
Of the Almond we have two sorts, the sweet and bitter, which are the produce of mere varieties of the 
same species, although the fruits themselves differ so much in their sensible properties. The kinds of 
Almond chiefly cultivated for their fruit are, the common sweet Almond; the tender shelled; hard shelled ; 
sweet Jordan ; and bitter Almond. 
Sweet Almonds are imported in mats, casks, and cases : the bitter, which come chiefly from Moga- 
dore, arrive in boxes. When the Almond is not well preserved, it is preyed on by an insect that eats out 
the internal part; or, if this does not happen, the oil it contains is apt to become rancid. 
Mr. Burnett says, “The genus Amygdalus is now very properly restrained to the several species of al- 
mond, of which there are only six or seven at present known. Amygdalus communis, the common almond, 
is the most important of these, and of it there are several varieties, such as the bitter, the sweet, the sultana, 
and others. The A. persicoides is believed to be a hybrid, arising from the flowers of the almond having 
been fertilized by the pollen of the peach. This peach almond is thought by some persons to be the one 
said to have been sent as a poison by the Persians to the Egyptians; but the tale has probably arisen from 
the circumstance of the climate of Egypt being unfavorable to the growth of peach trees, and the develop- 
ment of the fruit. The almond is indigenous to the northern parts of Africa and Asia, and is mentioned in 
Scripture as one of the choice fruits of Canaan, but although now cultivated commonly throughout Italy, 
France and Spain, it does not seem to have been introduced so early as the peach; for in the time of Cato., 
almonds were called f Greek nuts.’ Almonds form a very nutritious but not easily digestible food. They 
are imported in large quantities into this country from Spain, Barbary, and the Levant.” 
Burnett’s Outlines of Botany. 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The kernel of the fruit of the Sweet Almond is in- 
odorous, and farinaceous, and contains a large proportion of oil, which is more pure, and less rancid, than 
olive oil.* 
M. Boullay’s analysis is as follows : 
KJLl 
Albumen 
. 24 
Sugar (fluid) . . . 
. 6 
Fibre 
4 
Gum 
. 3 
Pellicles 
Water . . . . . 
. 3.5 
Acetic Acid and loss . 
5 
100 
Bitter Almonds yield less fixed oil (30 — 35 per cent.) and more albumen. 
The bitter almond is also inodorous when entire, but when triturated with water, has the odour of the 
fresh blossom ; and the taste is the pleasant bitter of the peach kernel. 
M. Vogel, in his experiments on, and analysis of the bitter almonds, gives the following proportions of 
the substances in 100 parts : 
Peelings 8.5 
Fixed oil 28 
Albumen 30 
Sugar 6.5 
Gum 3 
Parenchyma 5 
Essential oil and prussic acid 1 9 
* It is on account of this property that the oil of almonds is much used in perfumery, and in the composition of nostrums foT the 
hair : thus Macassar oil consists merely of oil of almonds coloured red with alkanet root, and flavoured with oil of cassia : Russia oil is oil 
of almonds, rendered milky by the addition of a small portion of ammonia or potash, and scented, we believe, with oil of roses. 
