AmMa°rch,  maim- }       Shaddock  and  Forbidden  Fruit.  1 27 
"  Malum  Assyria  vel  Porno  Adarai.  This  tree  groweth  for  the  most  part  as 
great  as  the  orange  tree,  yet  sometimes  it  is  no  higher  than  the  citron  tree,  and 
spreadeth  fair  great  arms  and  branches,  with  few,  and  those  short,  thorns  upon 
them.  The  leaves  are  fair  and  large,  almost  as  great  as  tbose  of  the  citron  or 
lemon  tree,  pounced  with  holes  in  like  manner.  The  flowers  also  are  not  much 
unlike,  but  the  fruit  that  followeth  is  more  like  unto  an  orange,  yet  two  or 
three  times  bigger,  pale  yellow  rinded,  thick,  rugged  and  uneven,  and  with  some 
rifts  or  chaps  thereon,  as  if  it  had  been  bitten,  from  whence  was  obtruded  that 
fond  opinion  unto  the  vulgar  (for  wise  men  would  be  ashamed  of  so  ridiculous 
an  opinion),  that  it  was  the  fruit  which  Adam  tasted  in  Paradise,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  marks  should  remain  upon  the  whole  kind  forever  after;  thus 
have  we  three  or  four  trees  foisted  into  men's  conceits  by  irreligious  cozeners 
for  Adam's  apple.  A  spongy  substance  is  next  the  skin  of  the  fruit,  which  hath 
an  acid  sweet  juice,  yet  not  so  pleasant  as  the  others,  and  it  hath  round  seeds 
among  it  like  the  citron." 
The  forbidden  fruit  is  said  to  be  used  by  the  Jews  of  all  coun- 
tries at  their  feast  of  the  tabernacles,  and  in  many  parts  of  Italy  it 
was  cultivated  solely  for  that  purpose.16 
The  shaddock  undoubtedly  has  more  decidedly  specific  character- 
istics than  some  others  of  the  Citrus  family,17  some  botanists  even 
going  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  only  distinct  species  in  the  genus 
are  the  shaddock,  on  one  hand,  and  all  the  other  members  on  the 
other.18  Few  persons,  however,  would  be  willing  to  believe  in  the 
identity  of  the  orange  and  lemon  considered  specifically.  The  fruit, 
as  has  been  remarked  before,  is  larger  than  any  other  fruit  of  the 
genus.  It  is  described  by  some  authors  as  sometimes  exceeding 
I  5  pounds  in  weight.19  Linnaeus20  alludes  to  its  large  size  in  the 
following  expressive  manner:  ."  Malus  aurantia  fructu  rotundo 
maximo  pallescente  caput  humanum  excedente." 
At  the  present  time,  the  shaddock  is  successfully  cultivated  in 
most  sub-tropical  countries ;  the  demand  for  the  fruit,  while  not 
large,  is  constant,  and  the  tree  is  a  very  prolific  bearer  of  fruit,  so 
that  it  is  a  source  of  considerable  profit  to  those  persons  who  are 
directly  interested  in  its  cultivation.  Two  illustrations  accom- 
pany this  article,  which  are  from  photographs  of  fruit-bearing  trees. 
The  one  of  the  entire  tree  shows  the  bearing-down  of  the  branches 
16  1885,  Hehn  and  Stallybras,  The  Wanderings  of  Plants  and  Animals. 
17 1880,  Bentley  and  Trimen,  Medicinal  Plants. 
18  1838,  John  Lindley,  Flora  Medica. 
VJ 1 891,  Baron  von  Mueller,  Select  Fxtra-Tropical  Plants. 
20 1763,  Linnaeus,  Species  Plantarum. 
