158 PLINT's IfATITEAL HISTOET. [Book XIX. 



length.^ It is only of late, too, that a cucumber of entirely- 

 new shape has been produced in Campania, it having ju^t the 

 form of a quince.''^ It was quite by accident, I am told, that 

 the first one acquired this shape in growing, and it was from 

 the seed of this that all the others have been reproduced. 

 The name given to this variety is ''melopepo.'* These last do 

 not grow hanging, but assume their round shape as they lie 

 on the ground. A thing that is very remarkable in them, in 

 addition to their shape, colour, and smell, is the fact that, 

 when ripe, although they do not hang from the stem, they 

 separate from it at the stalk. 



Columella '^'^ has given us a plan of his, by which we may 

 have cucumbers the whole year round : the largest bramble- 

 bush that can be procured is transplanted to a warm, sunny 

 spot, and then cut down, about the time of the vernal equinox, 

 to within a couple of fingers of the ground ; a cucumber-seed 

 is then inserted in the pith of the bramble, and the roots are 

 well moulded up with fine earth and manure, to withstand the 

 cold. According to the Greeks, there are three kinds of cu- 

 cumbers, the Laconian, the Scytalic, and the Boeotian,^^ the 

 Laconian being the only one among them that is fond^ of the 

 water. 



There are some persons who recommend steeping the seed of 

 the cucumber in the juice of the herb known as the *' culix ;"^^ 

 the produce, they say, will be sure to grow without seeds. 



CHAP. 24. — GOURDS. 



Gourds resemble the cucumber in nature, at least in their 

 manner of growing ; they manifest an equal aversion to the 

 winter, too, while they require constant watering and manure. 



^° This is conformable with modern experience. * 



^' Fee says that this is the melon, the Cucumis melo of Linnaeiis. 



^2 B. xi. c. 3. Columella professes to borrow it from the people of 

 Mendes in Egypt, 



«3 Theophrastus enumerates these varieties, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 4. 



^ Theophrastus only says that the Laconian cucumber thrives better 

 with watering than the others, 



65 It is impossible to identify this plant, as no ancient writer has given 

 any description of it : it has been suggested, however, that it may have 

 been the Plantago Psyllium, or else the Inula pulicaria of Linnaeus. Of 

 course there is no truth in the story here told of the effects of its juice 

 upon the cucumber. 



