Equally delicious and wholesome, these _fruits_ are in the highest estimation in the countries where they are produced. The rind or skin is lined with an apple-like substance, which is used for tarts and other sweet preparations. It is also stewed and eaten with milk; and, in this form, is generally thought better than any other stewed fruit; from the same part a marmalade is made. This rind encloses an agreeable pulp, mixed with innumerable small seeds. The whole fruit is eaten raw, or prepared as a sweetmeat in various ways; the most common form in which we see it is that of a jelly. The _wood_ is used for fuel, and also makes excellent charcoal. 148. _The COMMON MYRTLE_ (Myrtus communis) _is a well-known ornamental evergreen shrub, which is cultivated chiefly in greenhouses in this country, but grows wild in the countries of the South of Europe._ Although this shrub is cultivated with us chiefly for ornament, it is of considerable utility to the inhabitants of the South of Europe. Its _young shoots_ are used for tanning leather; and both its _leaves_ and _berries_ are employed in medicine. From the former a distilled water is obtained, which is sometimes used in gargles. The berries are likewise distilled; and an oil prepared from them has considerable repute as a means of thickening the hair. 149. _ALL-SPICE, or PIMENTO, is the dried berry of a West Indian species of myrtle_ (Myrtus pimenta, Fig. 45.) _This tree grows to the height of twenty feet and upwards, and has somewhat oval leaves about four inches long, of deep shining green colour, and numerous bunches of white flowers, each with four small petals._ In the whole vegetable creation there is scarcely any tree more beautiful or more fragrant than a young pimento about the month of July. Branched on all sides, richly clad with deep green leaves, which are relieved by an exuberance of white and strongly aromatic flowers, it attracts the notice of all who approach it. Pimento trees grow spontaneously, and in great abundance, in many parts of Jamaica; but they cannot be propagated without great difficulty. The usual method of making a new pimento walk, or plantation, is to appropriate for this purpose a piece of woody ground in the neighbourhood of an already existing walk, or in a part of the country where the scattered trees are found in a native state. The other trees are cut down; and, in a year or two, young pimento plants are found to spring up in all parts, supposed to have been produced from berries scattered there by birds, which eagerly devour them. About the month of September, and not long after the blossoms have fallen, the berries are in a fit state to be gathered. At this time, though not quite ripe, they are full grown, and about the size of pepper-corns.