Abstract
THE present Colonial and Indian Exhibition has developed interest in tropical fruits to an extent not previously known in England; and whatever may be the individual merits of many of the fruits displayed in the colonial market attached to the Exhibition, no one can deny that they afford proof of numerous undeveloped resources of our colonial possessions in a direction hitherto very much undervalued or entirely overlooked. Sir Joseph Hooker, in one of his journals, has remarked that “most tropical fruits are edible, but few are worth eating” But, after all, the merits of many fruits like those of certain wines are only properly appreciated under a concourse of local circumstances which materially affect our verdict. In the tropics the desire for refreshment and for something cooling and piquant is met by a fruit which, at the moment, completely answers the purpose. Transferred to a cooler climate, the same fruit may be entirely out of place, and indeed may be condemned as valueless. As a case in point, the water of a young cocoa-nut, when clear and fresh, taken from the fruit after a long ride in the sun, is most refreshing and wholesome. The same thing tried in the climate of England, and with fruit imported from the tropics, would be nauseous and wholly unpalatable. Similar remarks would apply to the fruit of the mango-steen, the durian, and many others where it is necessary that the fruit should be eaten when just ripe, and where a long journey affects the quality and impairs the delicacy—both being of an evanescent character.
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MORRIS, D. Tropical Fruits 1 . Nature 34, 316–318 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/034316a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/034316a0