Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Lemon-tree

LEMON-TREE, or Citrus Lima, L. an elegant evergreen, indigenous in Persia, rising from 5 to 10 feet in height, producing beautiful large leaves, with a profusion of sweet flowers in the spring and early summer; which are generally succeeded by an abundance of fruit, that sometimes arrives at tolerable perfection even in Britain.

The culture of this plant is, in all respects, similar to that of the Citron; for an account of which we refer to the 2d volume.

Lemon-juice, an agreeable acid, obtained from the fruit of the lemon-tree. This juice, as well as that of the citron and orange, is of considerable utility in medicine. Sir John Pringle highly praises its efficacy in the sea-scurvy; it is also frequently used for neutralizing alkaline salts in the preparation of saline draughts.—The yellow peel of lemons has a more concentrated aromatic flavour than that of the orange; and, like that of the citron, is often candied, and sold under the name of sweet-meat. The dried peel is a good stomachic, promotes the appetite, and imparts warmth to the whole frame; but it should not be combined with spirituous liquors in a fresh state, as it renders the punch or negus still more heating and hurtful, by its highly inflammable oil; which is, therefore, employed chiefly by perfumers.—The juice, as well as the oil of lemons, may be usefully combined with the saccharine and tartaric acids, in the form of laxative powder, by the following easy process: Half a pound of refined sugar should be rubbed on the peels of two lemons, till the yellow part is entirely consumed; then the sugar is to be triturated in a glass or marble mortar; the juice of the same lemons dropped on the mass, and the whole suffered to stand in a glazed vessel, till it become sufficiently dry to be again reduced to powder. Eight ounces of pulverized crystals of tartar are now to be incorporated with the former: a few small tea-spoonfuls of this mixture, in half a tea-cupful of spring water, taken at night, or an ounce of the powder given in divided doses through the day, generally produce a mild laxative effect, in costive habits.

Lemon-juice is one of the most cooling and antiseptic vegetable productions: it ought to form an article of the side-board, as well as the medicine-chest; for it improves the taste, and corrects the putrid tendency of animal food in the summer. Hence lemonade affords a grateful and cooling beverage for febrile patients; but it should be remarked, that the acid of lemons must never be freely given to persons, whose breast or respiration is affected.