Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-12-24
FRUIT AS MEDICINE.
Lemon, Lime, Banana, Apple and PomJ-
granate and Their Value.

granato and Their Value.
Now that the dietetic value Of fruits Is
no universally recognized tho matter Of
their cultivation is receiving increasing at
tention and is worthy Of more than n pass
ing interest.
The lemon, from the Arabic word Iimun,
which up to the fifteenth century was
found only in India, now grows through
out the countries bordering on the Medi-
terranean and in the Azores, the Canaries
md most tropical lands of the new world
The tree is very sensitive to cold, and
warm, sheltered ground, with constant ir-
rigation in summer and winter, is indis-
pensable to its hardy growth.
There is most remarkable specimen Of
the lemon tree in quarry go feet deep
near Syracuse, Sicily, which is said by the
inhabitants of that isle to be nearly 600
years Of age.
Probably no fruit contains the valuable
properties possessed by the lemon. The
juice, the rind and the oil all subserve uses
full purposes in connection with food, medi
cine and perfumery.
A fruit very similar to the lemon is the
lime, more intensely acid. The finest lime
gardens in the world are on the little is
land of Montserrat,a British colony. When
ripe, the best lines are selected and cut
into slices by machinery; the juice is then
extracted by the means of heavy presses,
and after 1t is strained it is conveyed in
casks to England, where it is bottled for
export to other countries.
The refuse from the presses and the in
| ferior fruit are, by other treatment, made
to yield citrio acid, which is as useful in
the arts as is the juice for other purposes.
In this country the fruit Is seldom seen
except in its picked form. 1t is, however,
much moro toothsome preserved. The fruit
is gathered while green for preserving pur-
poses, in order that the rind's exquisite
aroma may not be lost, is boiled with
sugar and spice, or sometimes the pulp is
removed, and the fragrant rind is incrusted
with sugar, thus making most delicious
confection.
Another fruit with delicious possibilities
Is the pomegranate, which, since the time
of the patriarchs, has furnished its Juice
for the assuaging Of thirst, and in most
delightful fashion, too, does it answer this
| purpose Scented with rosewater and
cooled with snow from the mountains, this
| juice forms the delicious sherbet of the
Levant. The fruit is a native of Persia,
but became known in Europe at very
early date and now hourishes in all the
subtropical countries of both hemispheres.
India made priceless present to the in
habitants Of the tropics in sending the
banana across the Arabian sea. This fruit
is the daily bread of many thousands of
people all the year round. No other plant
| provides man spontaneously with SO lavish
an abundance of food.
| The great naturalist Humboldt calou-
lated that given space of ground planted
with bananas would produce 1873 times as
much food substance as the same area
| sowed with wheat
The apple Is such q common frnit that
| very few people are familiar with its, re-
markably efficacious medicinal properties.
| and yet 1t should be. matter of common
| knowledge that the very best thing one
can do Is to eat apples before retiring for
the night. 1t is excellent brain food be-
cause it has more phosphoric acid in easily
digested shape than other fruits 1t ex-
cites the action of the liver and promotes
sound and healthy sleep. The apple not
only obviates indigestion and prevents dis
eases of the throat, but is a most efficacious
remedy in obstinate cases of rheumatism.
1t seems that our forefathers appreciated
the virtues of the apple even though they
could not give the why's and wherefores
from scientific standpoint. They had an
old saw which was something like this,
"Eat an apple on going to bed and the
doctor will have to beg his bread. "-Epi-