es, grown in
Greece at Zante, near Corinth, and termed Corinthians; then they
became Corantes, and eventually Currants. But, as an old Roman
proverb pertinently said: _Non cuivis homini contingit adire
Corinthum_, "It was not for everyone to visit fashionable
Corinth." And therefore the name of Currants became transferred
in the Epirus to certain small fruit of the Gooseberry order which
closely resembled the grapes of Zante, but were identical rather
with the Currants of our modern kitchen gardens, such as we now
use for making puddings, pies, jams, and jellies. The bushes which
produce this fruit grow wild in the Northern part, of Great Britain,
and belong to the Saxifrage order of plants. The wild Red Currant
bears small berries which are intensely acid. In modern Italy
basketsful are gathered in the woods of the Apennines, and the
Alps.

Currants are not mentioned in former Greek or Roman literature,
nor do they seem to have been cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, or
the Normans. Our several sorts [138] of Currants afford a striking
illustration of the mode which their parent bushes have learnt to
adopt so as to attract by their highly coloured fruits the birds
which shall disperse their seeds. These colours are not developed
until the seed is ripe for germination; because if birds devoured
them prematurely the seed would fall inert. But simultaneously
come the ripeness and the soft sweet pulp, and the rich colouring,
so that the birds may be attracted to eat the fruit, and spread the
seed in their droppings. Zeuxis, a famous Sicilian painter four
hundred years before Christ, depicted currants and grapes with
such fidelity that birds came and tried to peck them out from his
canvas.

White Currants are the most simple in kind; and the Red are a step
in advance. If equal parts of either fruit and of sugar are put over
the fire, the liquid which separates spontaneously will make a very
agreeable jelly because of the "pectin" with which it is chemically
furnished. Nitric acid will convert this pectin into oxalic acid, or
salts of sorrel. The juice of Red Currants also contains malic and
citric acids, which are cooling and wholesome. In the Northern
counties this red Currant is called Wineberry, or Garnetberry, from
its rich ruddy colour, and transparency. Its sweetened juice is a
favourable drink in Paris, being preferred there to the syrup of
_orgeat _(almonds). When made into a jelly with sugar the juice of
red Curr