446 
Tropical  Fruits. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Sept.,  1886. 
the  value  of  nearly  £200,000  per  annum,  and  is  capable  of  growing- 
fully  three  times  the  quantity  now  exported  without  any  diminution  in 
the  larger  staples. 
The  pine-apple  {Ananas  sativa)  is  no  doubt  indigenous  in  Jamaica, 
where  an  inferior  kind,  known  as  the  "  Cowboy  macca,"  is  still  found 
wild.  The  pine-apple  is  incorporated  in  the  arms  of  Jamaica,  and 
certainly  nowhere,  except  perhaps  at  Pernambuco,  can  pine-apples  of 
such  size  and  delicacy  be  grown  as  in  some  parts  of  this  island.  An- 
tigua is  noted  for  its  pine-apples  ;  the  pitch-lake  pine  of  Trinidad  has 
at  least  a  local  reputation ;  but  the  Bahamas  export  more  pine-apples 
in  the  fresh  and  cured  state  than  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The 
chief  supply  of  pine-apples  for  the  English  market  at  present  comes 
from  Madeira,  the  Canary  Islands  and  the  Azores.  Should  the  inter- 
esting experiments  now  being  carried  on  by  Messrs.  Scrutton  and  Sons, 
who  have  fitted  up  one  of  their  ships  with  a  refrigerating  chamber,  be 
successful,  we  shall  before  long  have  large  supplies  of  pine-apples  di- 
rect from  the  West  Indies,  and  at  a  very  moderate  cost. 
The  West  Indian  lime  ( Citrus  medica,  var.  acida)  is  a  fruit  which  is 
not  much  known  in  England.  It  is  possibly  little  grown  anywhere 
else  except  in  the  West  Indies,  where  a  large  industry  is  arising  in 
connection  with  the  preparation  of  raw  and  concentrated  lime-juice  for 
the  manufacture  of  citric  acid. 
The  mango  (JIangifera  indica)  is  the  "  apple  "  of  the  Tropics,  and 
is  a  most  nutritious  and  wholesome  food  as  well  as  a  dessert  fruit 
Originally  an  East  Indian  tree,  the  mango  has  become  thoroughly 
naturalized  in  the  West  Indies,  and  is  forming  large  groves  in  waste 
places  in  Jamaica,  where  negroes,  horses,  pigs  and  fowls  feed  upon  the 
fruits  for  nearly  four  months  of  the  year.  The  West  has  given  to  the 
East  the  Anona  fruits,  known  as  sour-sop  (A.  muricata),  the  custard 
apple  (A.  reticulata),  sweet-sop  (^4.  squamosa),  and  the  cherimoyer  (A. 
Cherimolia),  but  practically  only  the  second  and  third  appear  to  have 
become  established  in  the  new  home.  The  guava  fruits  (Psidiuni 
Guayava)  are  very  common  everywhere,  and  utilized  chiefly  for  mak- 
ing the  well-known  guava  jelly,  and  for  flavoring  cordials  and  syrups. 
The  litchi,  rambutan  and  longan  of  the  East  Indies  are  co-related  by 
the  genip  (Jlelicocca  bijuga)  of  the  West  Indies,  all  of 
which  belong  to  the  Sapindacea?.  The  fruit  of  the  spine-armed 
Zizyphus  Jvjuba,  allied  to  the  "  seductive  sweet  fruit,"  the  lotus  of 
the  ancient  Lotophagi,  has  become  cosmopolitan  in  its  distribution, 
