AMYGDALUS. 
494 
culated With furrows, and dotted with fmall holes.— EJJ'cn- 
tial Char afar. Calyx quinquefid, inferior; petals five; 
drupe having a fltell perforated with pores ; (kin pubefeent. 
Specjcs. i. Amygdalus perfica : all the ferratures of the 
leaves acute, the flowers fellile and folitary. The peach, 
in its natural (fate of growth, is a fmall tree, with fpread- 
in< r branches; the leaves larger than thofe of the almond. 
The fruit is roundilh, abounding with a grateful fweet- 
acid juice; the outlide is of a pale greenifh colour, with a 
blu(It or tawny rednefs frequently towards the fun, and the 
Ikin is lanuginofe or woolly; the (lone is very thick and 
hard, full of deep irregular furrows, and inclofes a bitter 
kernel. The wood of this tree is of a reddith brown co¬ 
lour, darker towards the middle, and is fit for the ufe of 
the turner. It is of quick growth, and not of very long 
duration. The original country of its nativity is not 
known. The Latin name of miitus pcrjica indicates no more 
than that it came to the Romans from Perlia.. It has been 
cultivated time immemorial in moftpartsof Ada, has been 
adopted by almofl every nation of Europe, and now flou- 
rilhes abundantly in America, wherever it has been Intro¬ 
duced by the Europeans. We have no exaift tradition 
concerning the time of its firft introduction into Greece or 
Italy. Before we proceed to the varieties of the fruit, for 
which the peach-tree is principally cultivated, it may be 
proper to obferve, that there are few trees more ornamen¬ 
tal in plantations, flirubberies, and wildernefs quarters, 
particularly within view of the hou-fe, and in flieltered (i- 
tuations, where they will' difplay their beautiful blofloms 
early in the fpring, about the beginning of April; when 
flowers, efpecially on trees, are particularly valuable. The 
variety with double flowers is highly ornamental for the 
fame purpofe, and is certainly one of the mod beautiful 
flowering trees that will admit of cultivation in our cli¬ 
mate, in the open air. It will produce fome fruit, not- 
withflanding the flow'ers are double, but it is of no value 
\tnlefs the trees be trained again ft walls. The blofloms 
appear about three weeks later than the common peach. 
Parkinfon mentions twenty-one forts of peach cultivated 
in his time for the fruit. 
Mr. Ray, (ixty years after Parkinfon, gives a lift of 
eighteen different forts of peaches then in moftefteem. 
Mr. Miller enumerates thirty-one forts as the principal 
known in his time in England; and which in his opinion 
are fufficient for any gentleman to have a collection con¬ 
tinuing through the whole feafon of fruit. 
A good peach ought to have a firm fleflt; tire (kin fltould 
be thin, of a deep or bright red colour next the fun, and 
of a yellowifli call next the wall. The flefti (hould be of 
a yellowifli colour, full of juice, which fliould be high- 
flavoured ; the done fmall, and the pulp or flefti very 
thick. When a peach has all thefe qualities, it may be 
efteemed a valuable fruit. 
The nectarine is deemed by botanifts to be a variety on¬ 
ly of the peach-tree. It is certainly not eafy for a common 
eve to diftinguifh thefe trees, when they are not in a (late 
of fruftificaticn, nor are their differences finch as to war¬ 
rant our confidering them as fpecifically feparate. The 
nectarine is commonly a (mailer tree than the peach ; the 
trunk and larger branches covered with a lighter bark ; 
the fmaller branches or twigs more tender and inclining 
to red; the flowers are lefs than thofe of the peach, and 
of a darker red colour. Thefe differences however are 
frequently trifling, and by no means conftant. The prin¬ 
cipal diftinftion certainly is in the fruit, which is fmaller 
and rounder, without any lateral cleft; the flefti or pulp 
firmer than in the peach, and the rind perfedtly (inooth. 
Parkinfon gives fix varieties of the nedtarine ; to thefe 
Ray adds fix more; but Mr. Miller has only ten varieties. 
i’. Amygdalus communis, or the almond-tree : the low¬ 
er lerratures of the leaves glandulous; the flowers fellile 
and in couplets. The common almond will grow to the 
height of near twenty feet, with fp reading branches. Th.e 
leaves refemble thofe of the peach very much, but the 
lower ferratures arc glandular; they proceed from buds 
both above and below the flowers, whereas in the peach 
they proceed from the ends of the (hoots above and not 
below the flowers. The form of the flowers is not very 
different, but they come out ufually in pairs, and vary 
more in their colour from the fine blufti of the apple- 
bloffom to a fnowy whitenefs. The chief obvious diftinc- 
tion is in the fruit, which is flatter, w ith a coriaceous co¬ 
vering, inftead of the rich pulp of the peach and nedtarine, 
opening fpontaneoufly when the kernel is ripe. The (hell 
is never (o hard as in the firft fpecies, and is fometimes 
even tender and exceedingly brittle ; it is flatter, fmooth- 
er, and the furrows or holes are more fuperficial. This 
tree is fcarcely worth confidering in England, for the fake 
of the fruit which it produces. It is a great objedt in 
fome parts of Italy, and in the fouth of France, where 
there are vaft plantations of almonds in Provence and 
Dauphine. It is common in China and mod of the eaft- 
ern countries; and in Barbary, where it is a native. It 
feems not to have been cultivated in Italy in the time of 
Cato, who calls the fruit nuces Grazccc, or Greek nuts. 
With us however it is very valuable as an ornamental tree 
in clumps, (hrubberies, &c. within view' of the manfion: 
for it difplays its delicate red-purple bloom in the month 
of March, when few other trees have either leaves or 
flowers. An almond-tree covered with its beautiful 
blofloms is one of the moft elegant objects in nature. In 
a forward fpring they often appear in February, but in 
this cafe the froft generally deftroys them, and they bear 
little or no fruit; whereas, when the trees do not flower 
till March, they feldom fail to bear plenty of fruit, many 
of which will be very fw'eet and fit for the table when green,, 
but they will not keep long. 
Sweet qlmonds ufed in food are difficult of digeftion, 
and afford very little nouriftunent, unlels extremely well 
comminuted. As medicines, they contribute, on account 
of their (oft undtuous quality, to blunt acrimonious hu¬ 
mours in th.e firft palfages,.and thus, fometimes, give pre- 
fent relief-in heart;burns. On expreftion, they yield near 
half their weight of oil, which is more agreeable than 
moft of the common exprefled oils, and is therefore em¬ 
ployed medicinally for obtunding acrid juices, foftening 
and relaxing the folids, in tickling coughs, hoarfenefs, 
Coftivenefs, nephritic pains, &c. On triturating the ah 
mond with water, it unites with the fluid, into an emul- 
fion cr milky liquor, which is preferibed for the fame 
purpofes as the oil itfielf; particularly in heat of urine and 
ftranguaries; as a diluent in acute difeafes; and for fup- 
plying, in fome degree, the place of animal milk, with 
which it has a great analogy. An ounce of almonds forms 
an emulfion of a due confidence with a quart of water. 
Gum arable is an ufeful addition in moft cafes. The pure 
oil triturated with a thick mucilage of gum arabic forms 
a more permanent emulfion : one part of gum, with an 
equal quantity of w ater, is fufficient for four parts of the 
oil. They are alfo an ufeful medicine for uniting fubftan- 
ces with water, which of themfelves are not mifcible with 
it. Camphor, and the purgative and other refins, tritu¬ 
rated with about fix times their quantity of almonds, diflblve 
in water into a milky liquor, and are thus fitted for being 
taken in a liquid form. The oil of bitter almonds is not 
diftinguifliable from the other ; and therefore the colleges 
of London and Edinburgh allow them to be ufed indiferi- 
minately. The matter which remains after the expreflion 
of the oil, retains all the bitternefs. Bitter almonds, and 
emulfions made from them, have been recommended as 
aperients, refolvents, diuretics, and anthelmintics. The 
almonds in fubftance taken freely occafion ficknefs and vo¬ 
miting: to dogs, and fome other animals, they arepoifon- 
ous. A (impie water, ftrongly impregnated with their 
volatile parts by diftillation, has been found alfo poifonous 
to brutes, and there are inffances of cordial fpirits fla¬ 
voured by them being poifonous to man. It is probable, 
that the noxious matter is that in which its bitternefs apd 
flavour refide ; and, that the activity of this matter is in- 
creafed, by its reparation from the grots -oil and farinaceous 
fubftance 
