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.
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 1¾d. per lb., raisins and currants being 2¾d.[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.
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.