WE usually sell two Sorts of Almonds, to wit, the sweet and the bitter. The Trees which produce these are so common, I did not think it proper to give any Description of them, contenting myself only to say that both Sorts of Almonds come from several Parts, as Province, Languedoc, Barbary, and Chinon in Touraine; but the most valued of all, are those that grow about Avignon, because they are usually large, of a high Colour, that is to say, reddish without, and white within, of a sweet pleasant Taste, which is contrary to those of Chinon and Barbary, that are small and half round. As to the Use of the sweet Almond, it is so considerable, and so well known throughout the World, it wou'd be needless to mention it. I shall only treat of the Oil, as being a Commodity of great Consequence, considering the vast Consumption that is made of it. There are some of the sweet Almonds sold in the Shell, the best of which are reckon'd those that break easily under the Thumb. These are of scarce any other Use than to furnish Gentlemens Tables as part of the Desert.
Amygdala or the Almond, is the Fruit of a Tree call'd in Latin Amygdalus, or the Almond - Tree, which is cultivated in our Gardens. The Leaves are long, narrow, and ending in a sharp Point, of a bitter grateful Taste; they resemble the Peach Leaves, and are hardly to be distinguish'd from them when pluck'd from the Trees, except that they are tougher or more pliant. The Flower is also very like that of the Peach, but much whiter, and less purgative. It is succeeded by a hard woody Fruit, oblong, cover'd with a hairy greenish Husk that is fleshy. It contains within it an oblong flat Almond, which all the World knows. There are two kinds of Almonds, [as said by Pomet;] the first whereof, or the sweet, are pleasant to eat, of good Nourishment and proper against Lasks and the Bloody-Flux; they are pectoral and opening, good against Coughs, Cold, Asthma's and Consumptions. An Emulsion or Milk made of them with Barley-Water, is a good Drink in Fevers, Diarrhoeas and Dysenteries. The Virtues of the Oil will be mention'd under that Head.