314 PLINY* S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XV. 



CHAP. 22. (20.) — THREE VARIETIES OP THE MEDLAR. 



The medlar and the sorb " ought in propriety to be ranked 

 under the head of the apple and the pear. Of the medlar 1 

 there are three varieties, the anthedon, 2 the setania, 3 and a 

 third of inferior quality., which bears a stronger resemblance 

 to the anthedon, and is known as the Gallic 4 kind. The seta- 

 nia is the largest fruit, and the palest in colour ; the woody seed 

 in the inside of it is softer, too, than in the others, which are of 

 smaller size than the setania, but superior to it in the fragrance 

 of their smell, and in being better keepers. The tree itself is 

 one of very ample 5 dimensions : the leaves turn red before they 

 fall : the roots are numerous, and penetrate remarkably deep, 

 which renders it almost impossible to grub it up. This tree 6 

 did not exist in Italy in Cato's time. 



CHAP. 23. (21). — FOUR VARIETIES OF THE SORB. 



There are four varieties of the sorb : there being some that 

 have all the roundness " of the apple, while others are conical 

 like the pear, 8 and a third sort are of an oval 9 shape, like 

 some of the apples : these last, however, are apt to be remark- 

 ably acid. The round kind is the best for fragrance and 

 sweetness, the others having a vinous flavour; the finest, 

 however, are those which have the stalk surrounded with 

 tender leaves. A fourth kind is known by the name of " tor- 

 minalis :" 10 it is only employed, however, for remedial pur- 



09 The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists. 

 1 The Mespilus germanica of the botanists. 



3 The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii folio 

 laciniato of C. Bauhin. 



3 The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrato of C. Bauhin, the Mespilus 

 cotoneaster of J. Bauhin. 



4 Its identity is matter of uncertainty ; but it has been thought to be the 

 Crataegus oxyacantha of modern botanists. _ 



5 By " amplissimus," he must mean that it spreads out very much in pro- 

 portion to its height, as it is merely a shrub. 



6 Fee thinks it a tree indigenous to the north. 



7 The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists. 

 6 The sorb-pear. 



9 Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus domes- 

 tica of Linnaeus. 



10 Fee is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of Lamarck. 

 Anguillara thinks that it is the Crataegus of Theophrastus, considered by 



