FIGS.

"In the name of the Prophet 'Figs'" was the pompous utterance

ascribed to Dr. Johnson, whose solemn magniloquent style was

simulated as Eastern cant applied to common business in _Rejected

Addresses_, by the clever humorists, Horace and James Smith,

1812. The tree which produces this fruit belongs to the history of

mankind. In Paradise Adam partook of figs, and covered his

nakedness with the leaves.

Though indigenous to Western Asia, Figs have been cultivated in

most countries from a remote period, and will ripen in England

during a warm summer if screened from north-east winds. The fig

tree flourishes best with [195] us on our sea coasts, bathed by the

English Channel, by reason of the salt-laden atmosphere. Near

Gosport, and at Fig Valleys, in the neighbourhood of Worthing,

there are orchards of figtrees; but they remain barren in this country

as far as affording seed to be raised anew from the ripened fruit. The

first figtrees introduced into England are still alive and productive

in the gardens of the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth, having

been planted there by Cardinal Pole in the time of Henry the Eighth.

We call the Sunday before Easter "Fig Sunday," probably because

of our Saviour's quest of the fruit when going from Bethany the next

day.

By the Jews a want of blossom on the Fig tree was considered a

grievous calamity. On the Saturday preceding Palm Sunday (says

Miss Baker), the market at Northampton is abundantly supplied

with figs, and more of the fruit is purchased at this time than

throughout the rest of the year. Even charity children are regaled in

some parts with figs on the said Sunday; whilst in Lancashire fig

pies made of dried figs with sugar and treacle are eaten beforehand

in Lent.

In order to become fertilised, figs (of which the sexual apparatus lies

within the fruit) must have their outer skin perforated by certain

gnats of the Cynips tribe, which then penetrate to the interior whilst

carrying with them the fertilising pollen; but these gnats are not

found in this country. Producers of the fruit abroad bearing the said

fact in view tie some of the wild fruit when tenanted by the Culex

fly to the young cultivated figs.

Foreign figs are dried in the oven so as to destroy the larvae of the

Cynips insect, and are then compressed into small boxes. They

consist in this state almost exclusively of mucilage and sugar.

[196] Only one kind of Fig comes to ripeness with us in England,

the great blue Fig, as large as a Catherine pear. "It should be

grown," says Gerard, "under a hot wall, and eaten when newly

gathered, with bread, pepper, and salt; or it is excellent in tarts."

This fruit is soft, easily digested, and corrective of strumous

disease. Dried Turkey Figs, as imported, contain glucose (sugar),

starch, fat, pectose, gum, albumen, mineral matter, collulose, and

water. They are used by our druggists as an ingredient in confection

of senna for a gentle laxative effect. When split open, and applied

as hot as they can be borne against gumboils, and similar suppurative

gatherings, they afford ease, and promote maturation of the abscess;

and likewise they will help raw, unhealthy sores to heal. The first

poultice of Figs on record is that employed by King Hezekiah 260

years before Christ, at the instance of the prophet Isaiah, who

ordered to "take a lump of Figs; and they took it, and laid it on the

boil, and the King recovered" (2 Kings xx. 7).

The Fig is said to have been the first fruit, eaten as food by man.

Among the Greeks it formed part of the ordinary Spartan fare, and

the Athenians forbade exportation of the best Figs, which were

highly valued at table. Informers against those who offended in this

respect were called _Suko phantai_, or Fig discoverers--our

_Sycophants_.

Bacchus was thought to have acquired his vigour and corpulency

from eating Figs, such as the Romans gave to professed wrestlers

and champions for strength and good sustenance.

Dodonoeus said concerning Figs, _Alimentum amplius quam coeteri

proebent_; and Pliny spoke of them as the best restorative

for those brought low by languishing [197] disease, with loss of

their colour. It was under the Perpul tree (_Ficus religiosa_) Buddha

attained Nirvada.

The botanical name _ficus_ has been derived from the Greek verb

_phuo_ to generate, and the husbandry of Figs was called by the

Latins "caprification." The little fig-bird of the Roman Campagna

pays a yearly visit in September to the fig orchards on our Sussex

coast.

When eaten raw, dried Figs prove somewhat aperient, and they are

apt to make the mouth sore whilst masticating them. Their seeds

operate mechanically against constipation, though sometimes

irritating the lining membrane of the stomach and bowels. Grocers

prepare from the pulp of these foreign dried figs, when mixed with

honey, a jam called "figuine," which is wholesome, and will prevent

costiveness if eaten at breakfast with bread.

The pulp of Turkey Figs is mucilaginous, and has been long

esteemed as a pectoral emollient for coughs: also when stewed and,

added to ptisans, for catarrhal troubles of the air passages, and of

other mucous canals.

In its fresh green state the fruit secretes a mildly acrid juice, which

will destroy warts; this afterwards becomes saccharine and oily. The

dried Figs of the shops give no idea of the fresh fruit as enjoyed in

Italy at breakfast, which then seem indeed a fruit of paradise, and

which contain a considerable quantity of grape sugar. In the

_Regimen of the School of Salerno_ (eleventh century) we read:--

"Scrofa, tumor, glandes, ficus cataplasma sedet,

Swines' evil, swellings, kernels, a plaster of figs will heal."

Barley water boiled with dried Figs (split open), liquorice root, and

raisins, forms the compound decoction of barley prescribed by

doctors as a capital demulcent; [198] and an admirable gargle for

inflamed sore throat may be made by boiling two ounces of the Figs

in half-a-pint of water, which is to be strained when cool. Figs

cooked in milk make an excellent drink for costive persons.

In the French codex a favourite pectoral medicine is composed of

Figs, stoned dates, raisins, and jujubes.

Formerly the poisoned Fig was used in Spain as a secret means for

getting rid of an enemy. The fruit was so common there that to say

"a fig for you!" and "I give you the fig" became proverbial

expressions of contempt. _In fiocchi_ (in gala costome), is an Italian

phrase which we now render as "in full fig."

The _Water Figwort_, a common English plant which grows by the

sides of ditches, and belongs to the scrofula-curing order, has

acquired its name because supposed to heal sores in the fundament

when applied like figs as a poultice. It further bears the name of

_Water Betony_ (_page_ 50), under which title its curative

excellence against piles, and for scrofulous glands in the neck has

been already described. The whole plant, yielding its juice, may be

blended with lard to be used as an ointment; and an infusion of the

roots, made with boiling water, an ounce to a pint, may be taken as a

medicine--a wineglassful three times in the day.

In Ireland it is known as "Rose noble," also as Kernelwort, because

the kernels, or tubers attached to the roots have been thought to

resemble scrofulous glands in the neck. "Divers do rashly teach that

if it be hanged about the necke, or else carried about one it keepeth a

man in health." In France the sobriquet _herbe du seige_, given to

this plant, is said to have been derived from its famous use in

healing all sorts of wounds during the long siege of Rochelle under

Louis XIII.

[199] The Water Figwort may be readily known by the winged

corners of its stems, which, though hollow and succulent, are rigid

when dead, and prove very troublesome to anglers. The flowers are

much frequented by wasps: and the leaves are employed to correct

the taste of senna.

FLAG (Common).

Our English water Flags are true whigs of the old school, and get

their generic name because hanging out their banners respectively of

dark blue and yellow.

Each is also called Iris, as resembling the rainbow in beauty of

colour. The land Flag (_Iris versicolor_) is well known as growing

in swamps and moist meadows, with sword-shaped leaves, and large

purple heads of flowers, bearing petals chiefly dark blue, and veined

with green, yellow, or white. The water Flag (_Iris pseudacorus_) is

similar of growth, and equally well known by its brilliant heads of

yellow flowers, with blade-like leaves, being found in wet places

and water courses. The root of the Blue Flag, "Dragon Flower," or

"Dagger Flower," contains chemically an "oleo-resin," which is

purgative to the liver in material doses, and specially alleviative

against bilious sickness when taken of much reduced strength by reason

of its acting as a similar. The official dose of this "iridin" is

from one to three grains. A liability to the formation of gall stones

may be remedied by giving one grain of the oleoresin (iridin) every

night for twelve nights.

A medicinal tincture (H.) is made which holds this Iris in solution;

and if three or four drops are taken immediately, with a spoonful of

water, and the same dose is repeated in half-an-hour if still

necessary, an attack of bilious vomiting, with sick headache, and a

[200] film before the eyes, will be prevented, or cut short. The

remedy is, under such circumstances, a trustworthy substitute for

calomel, or blue pill. Orris powder, which is so popular in the

nursery, and for the toilet table with ladies, on account of its fresh

"violet" scent, is made from the root of this Iris, being named from

the genitive _ireos_.

Louis VII. of France chose this Blue Flag as his heraldic emblem,

and hence its name, _fleur de lys_, has been subsequently borne on

the arms of France. The flower was said to have been figured on a

shield sent down from heaven to King Louis at Clovis, when

fighting against the Saracens. Fleur de Louis has become corrupted

to _fleur de lys_, or _fleur de lis_.

The Purple Flag was formerly dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A

certain knight more devout than learned could never remember

more than two words of the Latin prayer addressed to the Holy

Mother; these were _Ave Maria_, which the good old man repeated

day and night until he died. Then a plant of the blue Iris sprang up

over his grave, displaying on every flower in golden letters these

words, _Ave Maria_. When the monks opened the tomb they found

the root of the plant resting on the lips of the holy knight whose

body lay buried below.

The Yellow Flag, or Water Flag, is called in the north, "Seggs." Its

flowers afford a beautiful yellow dye; and, its seeds, when roasted,

can be used instead of coffee. The juice of the root is very acrid

when sniffed up the nostrils, and causes a copious flow of water

therefrom, thus giving marked relief for obstinate congestive

headache of a dull, passive sort. The root is very astringent, and will

check diarrhoea by its infusion; also it is of service for making ink.

In the [201] south of England the plant is named "Levers." It

contains much tannin.

The "Stinking Flag," or "Gladdon," or "Roast Beef," because having

the odour of this viand, is another British species of Flag, abundant

in southern England, where it grows in woods and, shady places. Its

leaves, when bruised, emit a strong smell like that of carrion, which

is very loathsome. The plant bears the appellations, _Iris

foetidissima_, _Spatual foetida_, and "Spurgewort," having long,

narrow leaves, which stink when rubbed. Country folk in Somersetshire

purge themselves to good purpose with a decoction made from

the root. The term "glad," or "smooth," refers to the surface

of the leaves, or to their sword-like shape, from _gladiolus_

(a small sword), and the plant bears flowers of a dull, livid purple,

smaller than those of the other flags.

Lastly, there is the Sweet Flag (_Acorus calamus_), though this is

not an Iris, but belongs botanically to the family of _Arums_. It

grows on the edges of lakes and streams allover Europe, as a highly

aromatic, reedy plant, with an erect flowering stem of yellowish

green colour. Its name comes from the Greek, _koree_, or "pupil of

the eye," because of its being used in ailments of that organ.

_Calamus_ was the Roman term for a reed; and formerly this sweet

Flag, by reason of its pleasant odour like that of violets, was freely

strewn on the floor of a cathedral at times of church festivals, and in

many private houses instead of rushes. The root is a powerful cordial

against flatulence, and passive indigestion, with headache. It contains

a volatile oil, and a bitter principle, "acorin;" so that a fluid

extract is made by the chemists, of which from thirty to forty drops

may be given as a dose, with a [202] tablespoonful, of water, every

half-hour for several consecutive times. The candied root is much

employed for like uses in Turkey and India. It is sold as a favourite

medicine in every Indian Bazaar; and Ainslie says it is reckoned so

valuable in the bowel complaints of children, that there is a penalty

incurred by every druggist who will not open his door in the middle

of the night to sell it if demanded.

The root stocks are brought to this country from Germany, being

used by mastication to cleat the urine when it is thick and loaded

with dyspeptic products; also for flavouring beer, and scenting

snuff.

Their ash contains potash, soda, zinc, phosphoric Acid, silica, and

peroxide of iron. In the _Times_ April 24th, 1856, Dr. Graves wrote

commending for the soldiers when landing at Galipoli, and notable

to obtain costly quinine, the Sweet Flag--_acorus calamas_--as their

sheet anchor against ague and allied maladies arising from _marsh

miasmata_. The infusion of the root should be given, or the

powdered root in doses of from ten to sixty grains. (_See_ RUSHES.)