_The almond tree_ (Amygdalus communis, Fig. 46) _is usually twelve or fourteen feet high. Its beautiful pink flowers of five petals grow in pairs, and appear early in the spring. The leaves are somewhat oval, pointed, and delicately serrated at the edges._ Our shrubberies contain no tree the flowers of which are more beautiful than those of the almond; and these flowers appear in March and April, a season when few other parts of the vegetable creation have recovered from their wintry state. Though known to the ancients from the most remote periods of antiquity, the almond tree has only been cultivated in England since the year 1562, and this almost wholly on account of the elegant appearance of its flowers; as the climate of Great Britain is not sufficiently warm for the fruit to be perfected with us. The almonds that are consumed in this country are imported, sometimes in the shell, but much more commonly without, from France, Spain, Italy, and the Levant; and they are packed in casks, boxes, and bales. The province of Valencia had formerly great celebrity for its almonds; but the cultivation of the trees in that part of Spain has for several years been much neglected. The chief uses of sweet almonds are in confectionary and cooking. They are also eaten with raisins in desserts after dinner; but they should be well chewed, as every piece that is swallowed entire is indigestible. By pressure, they yield a considerable proportion, sometimes nearly half their weight, of _oil_. Indeed this is so plentiful that it may even be squeezed out of the kernel with the fingers. Some preparations of almonds are used in medicine, particularly that called _milk of almonds_, which is formed of pounded almonds, loaf-sugar, and water, well mixed together. In some parts of the East Indies, it is said that almonds supply the place of small money. 153. _BITTER ALMONDS are in no respect different from sweet almonds, either as to the appearance of the kernels themselves, or the trees which produce them, except somewhat in the size of the flowers and fruit._ Like sweet almonds, they yield a large portion of _oil_. This has no bitterness; but the substance which remains after the pressure is intensely bitter. If these almonds be eaten freely, they occasion sickness and vomiting; and, to many quadrupeds and birds, they are a fatal poison. There was formerly a notion, but it is an erroneous one, that the eating of them would prevent the intoxicating effects of wine. They are frequently used, instead of apricot kernels, in ratafia, and sometimes are employed in making a counterfeit cherry-brandy. The oil and emulsions of bitter almonds are used in medicine: and a powder and paste, for washing the hands is made both from them and from sweet almonds. By confectioners they are much in request for flavouring biscuits and other articles.