Fictor

[Lat., from fingere, to form. See SUPRA.] One who models statues and reliefs in any plastic substance. Fi'cus, n. [Lat., a fig.] ( Bot. ) A genus of plants, order Moracea. They are trees or shrubs, distinguished by having the flowers-male and female mixed-withir an almost closed, top-shaped, fleshy receptacle, which than Philadelphia. The fig is a low, deciduous tree of shrub, with large, deeply-lobed leaves, which are rough above, and downy beneath. The branches are clothed with short hairs, and the bark is greenish. The fruit. termed Syconus , is produced singly in the axils of the leaves, is pear-shaped, and has a very short stalk; the color in some varieties is bluish-black; in others red, purple, yellow, green, or white. The varieties in cultivation are numerous. In warm climates, the fig yields two crops in the year - cue from the older wood (midsummer shoots of the preceding year), and a second from the young wood (spring shoots of the same year); but in colder regions the latter never comes to perfection. Fig-trees are propagated by seed, by suckers, .; very frequently by layers or by cuttings. Dried figs form an important article of food in the Levant; in more northern regions they are used for de ert, or for medicinal purposes, being applied to gum-boils and other sores, and also administered in pulmonary and nephritic affections, and to relieve habitual constipation. The pulp contains about 62 per cent. of a kind of sugar called Sugar of Figs . Figs are either dried in the sun or in ovens built for the purpose. The best are mostly brought from Smyrna, and are known as Turkey figs , of which those called Eleme or Elemi are most highly esteemed. In the Levant and Portugal, a spirit is distilled from fermented figs. Though subjected to a very high duty ad valorem , figs are an important item of importation in this country. The total value of importation for the year 1868 was $242,455, for which the Customs received the large sum of $205,705. - The milky juice of some species is bland and abundant, as of F. Sau ureana. In others it is acrid. That of the Common Fig produces a burning sensation on the tongue. That of F. toxic aria , a native of the Malayan Islands, is used for poisoning arrows. Lac is gathered from some species. The leaves of F. po litoria are so rough that they are used for polishing wood and ivory in India.