_Baccæ Mori_, _Mora_; _Mulberries_; F. _Mûres_; G. _Maulbeeren_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Morus nigra_ L., a handsome bushy tree, about 30
feet in height, growing wild in Northern Asia Minor, Armenia, and the
southern Caucasian regions as far as Persia. In Italy, it was employed
for feeding the silkworm until about the year 1434, when _M. alba_ L.
was introduced from the Levant,[2016] and has ever since been commonly
preferred. Yet in Greece, in many of the Greek islands, Calabria and
Corsica, the species planted for the silkworm is still _M. nigra_.
The mulberry tree is now cultivated throughout Europe, yet, excepting
in the regions named, by no means abundantly. It ripens its fruit in
England, as well as in Southern Sweden and Gottland, and in Christiania
(Schübeler).
=History=—The mulberry tree is mentioned in the Old Testament,[2017]
and by most of the early Greek and Roman writers. Among the large
number of useful plants ordered by Charlemagne (A.D. 812) to be
cultivated on the imperial farms, the mulberry tree (_Morarius_) did
not escape notice.[2018] We meet with it also in a plan sketched A.D.
820, for the gardens of the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland.[2019]
The cultivation of the mulberry in Spain is implied by a reference
to the preparation of _Syrup of Mulberries_ in the Calendar of
Cordova,[2020] which dates from the year 961.
A curious reference to mulberries, proving them to have been far more
esteemed in ancient times than at present, occurs in the statutes
of the abbey of Corbie of Normandy, in which we find a _Brevis de
Melle_, showing how much _honey_ the tenants of the monastic lands were
required to pay annually, followed by a statement of the quantity of
_Mulberries_ which each farm was expected to supply.[2021]
=Description=—The tree bears unisexual catkins; the female, of an ovoid
form, consists of numerous flowers with green four-lobed perianths and
two linear stigmas. The lobes of the perianth overlapping each other
become fleshy, and by their lateral aggregation form the spurious
berry, which is shortly stalked, oblong, an inch in length, and, when
ripe, of an intense purple. By detaching a single fruit, the lobes of
the former perianth may be still discerned. Each fruit encloses a hard
lenticular nucule, covering a pendulous seed with curved embryo and
fleshy albumen.
Mulberries are extremely juicy and have a refreshing, subacid,
saccharine taste; but they are devoid of the fine aroma that
distinguishes many fruits of the order _Rosaceæ_.
=Chemical Composition=—In an analysis made by H. van Hees (1857) 100
parts of mulberries yielded the following constituents:—
Glucose and uncrystallizable sugar 9·19
Free acid (supposed to be _malic_) 1·86
Albuminous matter 0·39
Pectic matter, fat, salts, and gum 2·03
Ash 0·57
Insoluble matters (the seeds, pectose, cellulose, &c.) 1·25
Water 84·71
[2016] A. De Candolle, _Géogr. botanique_, ii. (1855) 856.
[2017] 2 Sam. v. 23, 24.
[2018] Pertz, _Monumenta Germaniæ historica_, Leges, iii. (1835)
181.—Consult also Hehn, _Kulturpflanzen_, 1877.
[2019] F. Keller, _Bauriss des Klosters S. Gallen_, facsimile, Zürich,
1844.
[2020] _Le Calendrier de Cordoue de l’année_ 961, publié par R. Dozy,
Leyde, 1873. 67.
[2021] Guérard, _Polyptique de l’Abbé Irminon_, Paris, ii. 335.
With regard to the results of researches on other edible fruits, made
about the same time in the laboratory of Fresenius, it would appear
that the mulberry is one of the most saccharine, being only surpassed
by the cherry (10·79 of sugar) and grape (10·6 to 19·0).[2022] It is
richer in sugar than the following, namely:—
Raspberries, yielding 4 per cent. of sugar and 1·48 of (malic) acid.
Strawberries ” 5·7 ” ” 1·31 ” ”
Whortleberries ” 5·8 ” ” 1·34 ” ”
Currants ” 6·1 ” ” 2·04 ” ”
The amount of free acid in the mulberry is not small, nor is it
excessive. The small proportion of insoluble matters is worthy of
notice in comparison, for instance with the whortleberry, which
contains no less than 13 per cent. The colouring matter of the mulberry
has not been examined. The acid is probably not simply malic, but in
part tartaric.
=Uses=—The sole use in medicine of mulberries is for the preparation
of a syrup employed to flavour or colour any other medicines. In
Greece, the fruit is submitted to fermentation, thereby furnishing an
inebriating beverage.