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132 BOTANY. 
species is wholesome and pleasant. The melon, cucumber, water-melon, 
and vegetable marrow are particularly esteemed. Some kinds of gourd ~ 
and pumpkin attain a very large size, and are an important article of 
food in many countries—The Cactacee, from Latin cactus, the artichoke, 
are a large and remarkable order of succulent plants, all natives of 
America. Most of them have no leaves, the green surface of their stems 
and branches serving the purposes of leaves. Their stems assume many 
remarkable forms ; they are often very spiny, and are employed in some 
countries for hedges. Some of them are very common in hot-houses 
in Britain, being cultivated not only on account of their curious 
appearance, but of the great beauty of their flowers. The fruits of 
some are eatable, particularly that of the prickly pear, which is now 
common in the south of Europe. It is on a plant of this order that 
the cochineal insect lives, and the plant is cultivated for the sake of the 
fine dye-stuff which the msect yields—Allied to the order Cactacea, 
although very different in appearance, is the order Grossulariacee, from 
Latin grossus, an unripe fig, which consists of shrubs found in the 
temperate parts of the world. The gooseberry and currant are examples. 
The order Umbellifere |Latin, ‘umbel-bearers’] is a very large one, 
peculiar in its characters, and remarkable for its prevalent properties. 
It consists almost entirely of herbaceous plants, some of which are of very 
large size, and many of them of coarse appearance. The flowers are pro- 
duced in wmbels, and are generally very small, although the umbels are 
often large, and consist of a great number of flowers. The fruit is formed of 
two carpels, each producing one seed. The plants of this order very often 
have a strong smell, which in some is aromatic and agreeable, in others 
very disgusting. Many species are poisonous, of which hemlock may be 
mentioned as an example. Some of the poisonous species, however, yield 
useful medicines. The leaves and leaf-stalks of a few species areusedas 
salads and pot-herbs, being valued chiefly on account of their flavour,as 
| 

celery: and parsley... The roots of some umbelliferous plants, as the 
carrot and parsnip, become large and fleshy in favourable circumstances, 
particularly under cultivation, and are valuable articles of food. The 
seeds of some, as caraway and coriander, are aromatic and agreeable. 
A large order, containing trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, mostly 
natives of warm countries, is called Cinchonacee ;} they have generally 
very beautiful foliage, and some of them have beautiful flowers. The 
coffee-tree belongs to this order; it is a native of Arabia, but is now 
extensively cultivated in many warm countries. The coffee-bean is its 
seed. Certain trees of this order, belonging to the genus Cinchona, yield 
the substance called Peruvian bark, from which quinine, one of the most 
1 From the Cinchona, so called after the Countess del Cinchon at Lima, who was cured by its 
use in 1638, 
