In the first place it is a perennial— if not in actual fact, at least in thegreengrocer's shop. On the days when dessert is a name given to ahandful of chocolates and a little preserved ginger, when macedo ine defruits is the title bestowed on two prunes and a piece of rhubarbs, thenthe orange, however sour, comes nobly to the rescue; and on those otherdays of plenty when cherries and strawberries and raspberries, andgooseberries riot together upon the table, the orange, sweeter than ever,is still there to hold its own. Bread and butter, beef and mutton, eggs andbacon, are not more necessary to an order existence than the orange.It is well that the commonest fruit should be also the best. Of the virtuesof the orange I have not room fully to speak. It has properties of healthgiving, as that it cures influenza and establishes the complexion. It is