. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . white, and have a very agreeableodour. The fruit is oblong, five or six inches long,with a rough yellow rind; the outer part of it con-tains (as is the case with most of the family) a con-siderable quantity of highly aromatic and inflam-mable oil; the pulp is white and edible, but very acid,and preferred when prepared as a sweetmeat. Of aparticular variety of the citron a conserve is madewhich is in great demand by the Jews, who use itin their Feast of Tabernacles. With a little artificialheat in w
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . white, and have a very agreeableodour. The fruit is oblong, five or six inches long,with a rough yellow rind; the outer part of it con-tains (as is the case with most of the family) a con-siderable quantity of highly aromatic and inflam-mable oil; the pulp is white and edible, but very acid,and preferred when prepared as a sweetmeat. Of aparticular variety of the citron a conserve is madewhich is in great demand by the Jews, who use itin their Feast of Tabernacles. With a little artificialheat in winter, the citron comes to as much perfectionin England as in Spain or Italy. There are twovarieties noticed—the common and the sweet, butwhether they have been produced by natural difibrenceor culture is not known. The Lemon grows naturally in that part of Indiawhich is situated beyond the CJanges; but its trans-migration to Europe belongs to the invasion of theWest by those mighty caliphs, who, from the heart ofSouthern Asia, extended their conquests to the foot 332 VEGETABLE The Lemon. of the PjTenees, leaving everywhere traces of theirpower and of their knowledge. The lemon, thustransported by the Arabs into every part of their vastempire where it would f^row, was found by the cru-saders in Syria and Palestine towards the end of theeleventh century. By them it wa§ introduced intoSicily and Italy; though it is probable that at thesame period it was already multiplied in Africa andSpain *. Arabic writers of the twelfth century speakof the lemon-tree as then cultivated in Egypt andmany other places. Matthew Silvaticus, a writer ofthat time, savs that the lemon was then spread overall Italy. In the southern parts of Europe, where the lemonis abundant, there are many varieties. The rind of the lemon is much smoother thanthat of the citron ; the bark of the tree is less smootii. •■ Risso, p. 7. THE LIME. 333
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