49 
M O R U S. 
Mr. Town fend Inforjns n«, they prefer the white mul¬ 
berry in Valencia, and the black, in Granada. The 
Perfians generally make ufe of the latter; and Mr. Miller 
was allured by a gentleman who had made trial of both 
lorts of leaves, that the worms fed with the black mul¬ 
berry produced much the bell filk; but that the leaves of 
the black Ihould never be given to the worms after they 
have eaten for feme time of the white, lell they fhould burit. 
Sir George Staunton fays, that the trees he obferved 
in China did not appear to differ from the common mul¬ 
berry-trees of Europe; that fome of them \Vere faid to 
bear white, and fome red or black, fruit, but that often 
they bore none; and that the tender leaves growing on 
the young Ihoots of the black mulberry are fuppofed to be 
the moll l'ucculent. Evelyn remarks, that the leaves of 
the white mulberry are far more tender than thofe of the 
black, and fooner produced by at lead a fortnight. Nor 
is this tree lefs beautiful to the eye than the fairell elm, 
very proper for walks and avenues. The timber wall 
lall in water as w r ell as the mod fo!id--oak, and the bark 
makes good and tough bad-ropes. 
2. Morus nigra, or common mulberry-tree: leaves cor¬ 
date, rugged. The did’erence which Linnaeus lets down 
between the black mulberry and the white is, that in the 
former the leaves are fubquinquelobate, bluntilh, and 
rugged, in the latter undivided and fhining; the fruc¬ 
tification of the former dicecous, of the latter monoecous. 
Thefe didindlions however are not exafit. The black 
mulberry is a larger ltronger tree ; and the fruit is dark 
blackifh red, and more acid. Mr Miller's account is, 
that the black mulberry has generally male flowers or 
catkins on the fame tree with the fruit, but it often hap¬ 
pens that lome of the trees which are raifed from feeds 
have moftly male flowers and produce no fruit; and that 
he has obferved fome trees which produced only catkins 
for many years after they were planted, and afterwards 
have become fruitful. This latter obfervation agrees with 
a general remark on moncecous trees, that whilfl they 
are young they bear male flowers chiefly and very little 
fruit. Mulberry-trees of a certain age are not only more 
fruitful than young ones, but their fruit is much larger 
and better flavoured. This tree grows naturally in Perfia, 
whence it was fird brought to the fouthern parts of 
Europe. It is now become common in every part of 
our continent, where the winters are not very levere. 
In the northern parts of Sweden it will not live in the 
open air; and in feveral parts of Germany it is planted 
againd walls, and treated in the fame way as peaches and 
other tender fruits are here. 
It was cultivated here in 1596, by Gerard. In fome 
of the old kitchen-gardens near London there are trees 
of a very great age, which are very healthy and fruitful, 
and their fruit is larger and better-flavoured than thofe 
of younger trees. Bradley fays, that mod of thefe were 
planted in the time of king James I. when there was a 
project of fetting up a fdk-manufafiture in England ; but, 
though even a recommendation from the crown could 
not bring about the planting thefe trees in fufticient 
number for the purpol'e, yet the trees have been found to 
flourifli every-wliere with us when properly planted, and 
the worms teed very kindly and work very well with us. 
When this manufafilure was fird attempted, the people 
of many parts of England, nay, and in fome parts of the 
damped places in Ireland, tried it, and always with fuc- 
cel's. The only thing that dopped the progrefs of fo 
valuable a thing at that time, was the want of a fuflicient 
quantity of mulberry-trees; and the fcheme has been 
neglefiled ever iince. 
The tree was always edeemed by the ancients for its 
delicious fruit, long before the ule of its leaves was 
found out. The Romans, in the height of their luxury, 
preferred it before all the foreign fruits 5 and Columella 
and the other ancients are very exprel’s in the methods 
of propagating it. 
Vol.XVI. No. 1093. 
The ripe fruit of this tree abounds with a deep violet- 
coloured juice, which in its general qualities agrees with 
that of the other acido-dulces, allaying third, partly by 
refrigerating, and partly by exciting an excretion of 
mucus from the mouth and fauces; a fimilar efrefil is s 
alfo produced in the domach, where, by correfiling putre- 
fcency, a powerful caufe of third is removed. This ii 
more efpecially the cafe with all thofe fruits in which 
the acid much prevails over the faccharine part, as the 
currant, &c. and to which the medicinal qualities of this 
fruit may be referred; but both thefe, and moll of the 
other fummer-fruits, are to be conlidered rather as articles 
of diet than of medicine. The London College direfils a 
fyritpus mori, which is an agreeable vehicle for various 
medicines. 
The bark of the root of the'mulberry-tree has an acrid 
bitter tade, and pofleifes a cathartic pow'er. It has been 
fuccefsfully uled as an anthelmintic, particularly in cafes 
of taenia. The dofe is half a drachm of the powder. 
Woodvilles Med. Bot. 
The more general cultivation of mulberry-trees in' 
England might be of greater ufe than is at prelent fup¬ 
pofed in many refpefils. In Devonlhire they have a way 
of mixing mulberry-juice with their cyder in the mak¬ 
ing, and this produces the very bed of all Englilh vinous 
liquors. 
0 . M. laciniata. Mr. Miller fets down a variety of the 
black mulberry, with palmate or elegantly-cut leaves and 
a fmaller fruit, as a didinfit lpecies. He fays, that it grow* 
naturally in Sicily, w'hence he received a parcel of the 
feeds, and raifed a good number of plants; that all thefe 
were totally diderent in their leaves from the common 
mulberry; and that the tree is of humbler growth, and 
the fruit fmall without any flavour. 
3. Morus papyrifera, or paper mulberry-tree: leaves 
palmate, fruit hifpid. This tree makes very Arong vigo¬ 
rous Ihoots, but feems not to be of tall growth, for it 
fends out many lateral branches from the root upwards. 
The leaves are large, fome of them entire, others deeply 
cut into three or five lobes, efpecially wdiiifl the trees arc 
young ; they are dark green and rough to the touch oil 
the upper furface, but pale green and fomewhat hairy on 
the under fide, falling od" on the fird approach of frod in 
autumn. The fruit is little larger than peafe, iurrounded 
with long purple hairs, when ripe changing to a black- 
purple colour, and full of lweet juice. It is a native of 
Japan and the South Sea iflands; according to Mr. Miller, 
of China alfo, and South Carolina, whence he received 
the feeds. The inhabitants of Japan make paper of the 
bark. They cultivate the trees for this purpofe on the 
■mountains much after the fame manner as oners are cul¬ 
tivated with us, cutting down the young Ihoots in Decern - 
ber, after the leaves are fallen. (See the article Paper.) 
The fined and wliited cloth, W'orn by the principal people 
at Otaheite and in the Sandwich iflands, is made of the 
bark of this tree : and this, when dyed red, takes a better 
colour. The bread-fruit tree makes a cloth inferior in 
whitenefs and foftnefs, worn chiefly by the poorer people. 
Cloth is all’o made of a tree reiembling the wild fig-tree 
of the Well Indies. It is coarle and harfh, the colour of 
the darked brown paper: but it is the mod valuable 
becaufe it relids water. This is perfumed and worn by 
the chiefs as a morning-dred in Otaheite. The juice of 
the paper-mulberry is uled in China as a glue in gilding 
either paper or leather, but not wood. It was cultivated 
before 1759, by Hugh earl (afterwards duke) of North¬ 
umberland, in whole gardens leveral of thele trees were 
raifed from feeds, and one of them was given to Mr, 
Miller. 
4. Morus rubra, or red mulberry-tree : leaves cordate, 
villofe underneath; aments cylindric. The Virginian 
red or large-leaved mulberry-tree with black Ihoots, will 
grow to the height of thirty or forty feet, lending -forth 
many large branches. The leaves are not only larger, 
O but 
