_Quince Seeds_, _Quince Pips_; F. _Semences ou Pepins de Coings_; G.
_Quittensamen_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Pirus Cydonia_ L. (_Cydonia vulgaris_ Pers.), the
quince tree, is supposed to be a true native of Western Asia, from
the Caucasian provinces of Russia to the Hindu Kush range in Northern
India. But it is now apparently wild also in many of the countries
which surround the Mediterranean basin.
In a cultivated state, it flourishes throughout temperate Europe,
but is far more productive in southern than in northern regions.
Quinces ripen in the south of England, but not in Scotland, nor in St.
Petersburg, or in Christiana.
=History=—The quince was held in high esteem by the ancients, who
considered it an emblem of happiness and fertility; and, as such, it
was dedicated to Venus, whose temples it was used to decorate. Some
antiquarians maintain that quinces were the _Golden Apples_ of the
Hesperides. The name Cydonia alludes to the town of Kydon, now Canea,
in Creta; in the Talmud quinces are called Cretan apples.
Porcius Cato in his graphic description of the management of a Roman
farmhouse, alludes to the storing of quinces both cultivated and wild;
and there is much other evidence to prove that from an early period the
quince was abundantly grown throughout Italy. Charlemagne, A.D. 812,
enjoined its cultivation in central Europe.[1033] At what period it
was introduced into Britain is not evident, but we have observed that
_Baked Quinces_ are mentioned among the viands served at the famous
installation feast of Nevill, archbishop of York in 1466.[1034]
The use of mucilage of quince seeds has come to us through the
Arabians; it is still met with in Turkestan.
=Description=—The quince is a handsome fruit of a golden yellow, in
shape and size resembling a pear. It has a very agreeable and powerful
smell, but an austere, astringent taste, so that it is not eatable in
the raw state. In structure, it differs from an apple or a pear in
having many seeds in each cell, instead of only two.
[1033] Pertz, _Monumenta Germaniæ historica_, Legum, i. (1835) 187.
[1034] Leland, _De rebus Britannicis Collectanea_, vi. (1774) 5.
The fruit is, like an apple, 5-celled, with each cell containing a
double row of closely-packed seeds, 8 to 14 in number, cohering by a
soft mucilaginous membrane with which each is surrounded. By drying,
they become hard, but remain agglutinated as in the cell. The seeds
have an ovoid or obconic form, rather flattened and 3-sided by mutual
pressure. From the hilum at the lower pointed end, the raphe passes as
a straight ridge to the opposite extremity, which is slightly beaked
and marked with a scar indicating the chalaza. The edge opposite
the raphe is more or less arched according to the position of the
individual seed in the cell. The testa encloses two thick, veined
cotyledons, having a straight radicle directed towards the hilum.
Quince seeds have a mahogany-brown colour, and when unbroken a simply
mucilaginous taste. But the kernels have the odour and taste of bitter
almonds, and evolve hydrocyanic acid when comminuted and mixed with
water.
=Microscopic Structure=—The epidermis of the seed consists of one row
of cylindrical cells, the walls of which swell up in the presence of
water and are dissolved, so as to yield an abundance of mucilage.
This process can easily be observed, if thin sections of the seed are
examined under glycerine, which acts on them but slowly.
=Chemical Composition=—The mucilage of the epidermis is present in such
quantity, that the seed easily coagulates forty times its weight of
water. By complete exhaustion, the seeds afford about 20 per cent. of
dry mucilage, containing considerable quantities of calcium salts and
albuminous matter, of which it is not easily deprived. When treated
with nitric acid, it yields oxalic acid. After a short treatment with
strong sulphuric acid it is coloured blue by iodine. Tollens and
Kirchner (1874) assign to it the formula C₁₈H₂₈O₁₄, regarding it as a
compound of gum, C₁₂H₂₀O₁₀, and cellulose, C₆H₁₀O₅, less one molecule
of water.
Quince mucilage has but little adhesive power, and is not thickened by
borax. That portion of it which is really in a state of solution and
which may be separated by filtration, is precipitable by metallic salts
or by alcohol. The latter precipitate after it has been dried is no
longer dissolved by water either cold or warm. Quince mucilage is, on
the whole, to be regarded as a soluble modification of cellulose.
The seeds on distillation with water afford a little hydrocyanic acid,
and, probably, bitter almond oil.
=Commerce=—Quince seeds reach England from Hamburg; and are frequently
quoted in Hamburg price-currents as _Russian_; they are also brought
from the south of France and from the Cape of Good Hope. They are
largely imported into India from the Persian Gulf, and by land from
Afghanistan.
=Uses=—A decoction of quince seeds is occasionally used as a demulcent
external application in skin complaints. It is also sometimes added to
eye-lotions. Quince seeds are in general use among the natives of India
as a demulcent tonic and restorative. They have been found useful by
Europeans in dysentery.