420 
BOTANICAL EXTRACTS. 
it is still confessed that it belongs to more genial climates to realise the 
ancient description of peace and security, which assigns these best 
blessings of heaven to f every man under his own fig-tree/ 
“ Figs form an important article of Levantine commerce, and 
between 800 and 1000 tons are annually imported into Great Britain 
alone, principally from Turkey. Smyrna is a great fig mart, and 
Madden, in his f Travels,’ gives the following account of the interest 
they there excite:— f In Smyrna, the subject of figs is the fruitful 
theme of conversation. You ask about the gardens of Bournabul, and 
you hear that figs abound there ; you inquire about the curiosities of 
that place, and they lead you to the fig-mart. Solicit information on 
politics, and you are told ‘ figs are low; ’ and when you seek further 
intelligence, you are told f figs are flat.’ In short, go where you will, 
the eternal cry is figs, figs, figs! and the very name, I apprehend, will 
be found engraven on their hearts at their decease.’ 
“ Figs are demulcent and slightly laxative; they have been long 
used in domestic medicine as favourite poultices. This probably arose 
from King Hezekiah’s boil having been cured by a lump of figs, applied 
according to the directions of Isaiah. This was two hundred and sixty 
years before the time of Hippocrates, and is the most ancient cataplasm 
of which history makes mention. In the Canaries, in Portugal, and in 
the Greek Archipelago, a kind of brandy is made from figs. 
“ Corypha innbraculifera.—Th.e majestic Talipot palm of Ceylon is 
described to be as big and tall as a large ship’s mainmast, and very 
straight. The leaves, which are very large—some capacious enough to 
cover from twenty to forty men—are of great use, for, being dried, they 
are very strong and limber ; though very broad when open, they will 
fold close like fans, and are then no bigger than a man’s arm. The 
whole leaf spread is round, but it is cut into triangular pieces for use; 
these the natives lay upon their heads when they travel, with the 
narrow end foremost, to make their way through thickets. The soldiers 
there all carry these umbrellas, not only to shade them from the sun, 
and keep them dry in case of rain on their march, but, when set on end, 
to make tents for them to lie under. A magnificent crown of leaves, as 
is usual with palms, terminates the stately column, one hundred feet in 
height, which is formed by the trunk. The Talipot bears no fruit until 
the last year of its life, and then yellow blossoms, most lovely to behold, 
but very strong-scented, come out on the top, and spread abroad in 
great branches; the fruit is in such abundance, that one palm will 
yield seed enough to stock the whole country; the berries are round 
and hard, the size of our largest cherries, but not good to eat. The 
flowers smell so strongly, that the Ceylonese cut the palms down, when 
