distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the
"tar-tree," and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk
beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but
the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so
that unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree,
which belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and
there are those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in
other parts of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a
valuable means to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. A
tree that is ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty
and strange fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, is
not to be condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character.

An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when roasted
is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail or
promotion nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially
indigestible unless eaten in immoderate quantity.

One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family
exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer
fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion
arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of
varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable
inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to
credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while
individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral lobes,
with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal forms
tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. There
seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches
exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are,