FIGS. Figs belong to the Ficus genus of plants. The number of species of ficus is very considerable, perhaps as great as that of any arborescent genus. They are all either tropi cal or inhabitants of warm countries. Some are small plants creeping upon the surface of rocks and walls, or clinging to the trunks of trees like ivy ; others are among the largest trees in the forest. They abound in a milky juice containing caoutchouc; and there is every reason to believe that the specimens of this substance which come from Java are ex. elusively procured by tapping different species of Ficus. The best known on the continent of 'Pas is yielded by Ficus elaslica, Although the fruit of Ficus carica (the com mon fig) and some others is eatable, yet the whole genus abounds in an acrid, highly dan gerous principle, diffused among the milky se cretion. This is perceptible even in the com mon fig, whose milk produces a burning sen sation on the tongue and throat ; but, when the fruit of that species is ripe, the acridity is estroyed by the chemical elements entering into new combinations. The common fig is a
small tree, naturally inhabiting the temperate parts of Asia, and now commonly cultivated in Europe for the sake of its fruit. In the fertile islands of the Mediterranean, in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and even so far north as the south of France, the fruit is so well ripened as to form a valuable article of exportation in a dried state. The fruit is grown with some success even in the southern and milder parts of England, but it is seldom found in the northern parts or in Scotland, except under glass. The fig-tree is very apt to throw off its fruit before it ripens, and various methods have been suggested to prevent this. In the Levant, to insure a crop, the process of caprification is resorted to. [C,tratnet Tfox.] The figs imported in 1849 amounted to 39,616 cwts.; and in 1850, to 33,904 cwts.