_Fructus Caricæ_, _Fici_; _Figs_; F. _Figues_; G. _Feigen_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Ficus Carica_ L., a deciduous tree, 15 to 20 feet
in height, with large rough leaves, forming a handsome mass of foliage.
The native country of the fig stretches from the steppes of the Eastern
Aral, along the south and south-west coast of the Caspian Sea (Ghilan,
Mazanderan, and the Caucasus), through Kurdistan, to Asia Minor and
Syria. In these countries the fig-tree ascends into the mountain
region, growing undoubtedly wild in the Taurus at an elevation of 4,800
feet.[2006]
The fig-tree is repeatedly mentioned in the Scriptures, where with the
vine it often stands as the symbol of peace and plenty. The fig was
not known in Greece, the Archipelago, and the neighbouring coasts of
Asia Minor during the Homeric age, though both were very common in the
time of Plato. The fig-tree was early introduced into Italy, whence it
reached Spain and Gaul. In the opinion of palæontologists the fig-tree
was originally indigenous to the last named Mediterranean regions.
Charlemagne, A.D. 812, ordered its cultivation in Central Europe.
It was brought to England in the reign of Henry VIII. by Cardinal
Pole, whose trees still exist in the garden of Lambeth Palace. But
it had certainly been in cultivation at a much earlier period, for
the historian Matthew Paris relates[2007] that the year 1257 was so
inclement that apples and pears were scarce in England, and that
_figs_, cherries, and plums totally failed to ripen.
At the present day the fig-tree is found cultivated in most of the
temperate countries both of the Old and New World.[2008] It is met with
in the plains of north-western India, and in the outer hills of the
north-western Himalaya as high as 5,000 feet; also in the Dekkan, and
in Beluchistan and Afghanistan.
[2006] Ritter, _Erdkunde von Asien_, vii. (1844) 2. 544.
[2007] _Eng. Hist._, Bohn’s ed., iii. (1854) 255.
[2008] Introduced into Mexico by Cortez about A.D. 1560.
=History=—Figs were a valued article of food among the ancient
Hebrews[2009] and Greeks, as they are to the present day in the warmer
countries bordering the Mediterranean.[2010] In the time of Pliny many
varieties were in cultivation. The Latin word _Carica_ was first used
to designate the dried fig of Caria, a strip of country in Asia Minor
opposite Rhodes, an esteemed variety of the fruit corresponding to the
Smyrna fig of modern times.
In a diploma granted by Chilperic II., king of the Franks, to the
monastery of Corbie, A.D. 716, mention is made of “_Karigas_” in
connection with dates, almonds and olives, by which we think dried figs
(_Caricæ_) were intended.[2011] Dried figs were a regular article of
trade during the middle ages, from the southern to the northern parts
of Europe. In 1380 the citizens of Bruges, in regulating the duties
which the “Lombards,” _i.e._ Italians, had to pay for their imports,
quoted also figs from Cyprus and from Marbella, a place south-west of
Malaga.[2012]
In England the average price between A.D. 1264 and 1398 was about
1¾_d._ per lb., raisins and currants being 2¾_d._[2013]
=Description=—A fig consists of a thick, fleshy, hollow receptacle
of a pear-shaped form, on the inner face of which grow a multitude
of minute fruits.[2014] This receptacle, which is provided with an
orifice at the top, is at first green, tough and leathery, exuding when
pricked a milky juice. The orifice is surrounded, and almost closed by
a number of thick, fleshy scales, near which and within the fig, the
male flowers are situated, but they are often wanting or are not fully
developed. The female flowers stand further within the receptacle, in
the body of which they are closely packed; they are stalked, have a
5-leafed perianth and a bipartite stigma. The ovary, which is generally
one-celled, becomes when ripe a minute, dry, hard nut, popularly
regarded as a seed.
[2009] See in particular 1 Sam. xxv. 18 and 1 Chron. xii. 40; where
we read of large supplies of dried figs being provided for the use of
fighting men. Also Num. xx. 5; Jer. xxiv. 2; 2 Reg. xx. 7.
[2010] On the Riviera of Genoa dried figs eaten with bread are a common
winter food of the peasantry.
[2011] Pardessus, _Diplomata_, _Chartæ_, etc., ii. (1849) 309.
[2012] _Recesse und andere Akten der Hansetage_, ii. (Leipzig, 1872)
235.
[2013] Rogers, _Hist. of Agriculture and Prices in England_, i. (1866)
632.
[2014] Albertus Magnus, in allusion to the peculiar growth of the fig,
remarks that the tree “fructum autem profert sine flore.” Page 386 of
the work quoted in the Appendix.
As the fig advances to maturity, the receptacle enlarges, becomes
softer and more juicy, a saccharine fluid replacing the acrid milky
sap. It also acquires a reddish hue, while its exterior becomes purple,
brown, or yellow, though in some varieties it continues green. The
fresh fig has an agreeable and extremely saccharine taste, but it wants
the juiciness and refreshing acidity that characterize many other
fruits.
If fig is not gathered its stalk loses its firmness, the fruit hangs
pendulous from the branch, begins to shrivel and become more and
more saccharine by loss of water, and ultimately, if the climate is
favourable, it assumes the condition of a _dried fig_. On the large
scale however, figs are not dried on the tree, but are gathered and
exposed to the sun and air in light trays till they acquire the proper
degree of dryness. They can only be preserved in those regions where
the summer and autumn are very warm and dry.
Dried figs are termed by the dealers either _natural_ or _pulled_. The
first are those which have not been compressed in the packing, and
still retain their original shape.[2015] The second are those which
after drying have been made supple by squeezing and kneading, and in
that state packed with pressure into drums and boxes.
Smyrna figs, which are the most esteemed sort, are of the latter kind.
They are of irregular, flattened form, tough, translucent, covered
with a saccharine efflorescence; they have a pleasant fruity smell and
luscious taste. Figs of inferior quality, as those called in the market
_Greek Figs_, differ chiefly in being smaller and less pulpy.
=Microscopic Structure=—The outer layer of a dried fig is made up of
small, thick-walled and densely packed cells, so as to form a kind
of skin. The inner lax parenchyme consists of larger thin-walled
cells, traversed by vascular bundles and large, slightly branched,
laticiferous vessels. The latter contain a granular substance not
soluble in water. In the parenchyme, stellate crystals of oxalate of
calcium occur, but in no considerable number.
=Chemical Composition=—The chemical changes which take place in the fig
during maturation are important, but no researches have yet been made
for their elucidation. The chief chemical substance in the ripe fig is
grape sugar, which constitutes from 60 to 70 per cent. of the dried
fruit. Gum and fatty matter appear to be present only in very small
quantity. We have observed that unripe figs are rich in starch.
=Production and Commerce=—Dried figs were imported into the United
Kingdom in 1872 to the amount of 141,847 cwt., of which 91,721 cwt.
were shipped from Asiatic Turkey, the remainder being from Portugal,
Spain, the Austrian territories and other countries. In 1876 the
imports were 163,763 cwt., valued at £318,717.
Kalamata, in the Gulf of Messenia, Greece, and Cosenza in the Italian
province of Calabria citeriore, are also particularly known as
supplying figs to some parts of continental Europe. In 1876 the exports
of Kalamata to Trieste were 9½ millions of kilogrammes.
=Uses=—Dried figs are thought to be slightly laxative, and as such are
occasionally recommended in habitual constipation. They enter into the
composition of _Confectio Sennæ_.
[2015] The word _Eleme_ applied in the London shops to dried figs of
superior quality (“Eleme Figs”) is probably a corruption of the Turkish
_ellémé_, signifying _hand-picked_.