192 CITRON, LIME, AND LEMON. 
where it is left to cool and congeal, that it may the more 
easily be separated. This, which is called butter of cacao, 
is without smell, and, when fresh, has a very mild taste. 
Its principal use is as an ingredient in pomatums. From 
the nuts, when slightly roasted, an oil is sometimes 
obtained by pressure, which is occasionally used in 
medicine. 
ICOSANDRIA. 
207. The CITRON, LIME, and LEMON, are different varie- 
ties of the fruit of a small evergreen shrub, the original or parent 
stock of which (Citrus meclica) was imported from Asia into the 
southern parts of Europe. 
The citron is oblong, with a very thick rind ; the lemon is oblong 
with a small lump or protuberance at the end; and the lime has 
no protuberance, has a very thin rind, and is about the size of a small 
egg. These are the principal marks of discrimination betwixt these 
fruits, but they are not quite constant. 
The lemon shrub (Fig. 56) has large and slightly indented shining 
leaves, of somewhat oval shape, but pointed ; and on the footstalks of 
the leaves there is no remarkable appendage. The flowers are large 
and white, but purplish on the outside of the petals. 
It is generally supposed that the citron-tree was first 
introduced from Assyria and Media into Greece, and 
thence into the Southern parts of Europe, where it is 
now cultivated to considerable extent. It is also grown 
in the islands of the West Indies. The fruit, partaking 
of the same quality as the lemon, with the exception 
of being somewhat less acid, is seldom eaten mw ; 
but, preserved in sugar as a sweetmeat, it is much used 
by confectioners and others. The principal consumption 
of citron is on the Continent, where it is also occa- 
sionally employed in medicine. 
The lemon-tree is a native of Upper Asia, whence, 
like the citron, it was brought into Greece, and after- 
wards transplanted into Italy. The juice, which is one 
of the sharpest and most agreeable of all acids, is used in 
cookery, confectionary, medicine, and in various other 
ways. By calico-printers it is very extensively em- 
ployed, as a discharger of colour, to produce, with 
