232 OPJGIX OF CULTIVATED PLAXTS. 



origin of some of these names, and of the German Birn ; 

 I merely note their number and diversity as an indica- 

 tion of the very ancient existence of the species from the 

 Caspian Sea to the Atlantic. The Aryans certainly did 

 not carry pears nor pear pips with them in their wander- 

 ings westward ; but if they found in Europe a fruit they 

 knew, they would have given it the name or names they 

 were accustomed to use, while other earlier names may 

 have survived in some countries. As an example of the 

 latter case, I may mention two Basque names, udarea and 

 madaria^ which have no analogy with any known 

 European or Asiatic name. The Basques being probably 

 the descendants of the conquered Iberians who were 

 driven back to the Pyrenees by the Kelts, the antiquity 

 of their language is very great, and it is clear that their 

 names for the species in question were not derived from 

 Keltic or Latin. 



The modern area of the pear extending from the 

 north of Persia to the western coast of temperate Europe, 

 principally in mountainous regions, may therefore be con- 

 sidered as prehistoric, and anterior to all cultivation. It 

 must be added, however, that in the north of Europe and 

 in the British Isles an extensive cultivation must have 

 extended and multiplied naturalizations in comparatively 

 modern times which can scarcely be now distinguished. 



I cannot accept Godron's hypothesis that the 

 numerous cultivated varieties come from an unknown 

 Asiatic species.^ It seems that they may be ranked, as 

 Decaisne says, either with P. comimunis or P. nivalis of 

 which I am about to speak, taking into account the 

 effect of accidental crossing-, of cultivation, and of lonsr- 

 continued selection. Besides, Western Asia has been 

 explored so thoroughly that it is probable it contains 

 no other species than those already described. 



Snow Pear — Pyrus nivalis, Jacquin. 



This variety of pear is cultivated in Austria, in the 

 north of Italy, and in several departments of the east and 



^ From a list of plant-names sent by M. d'Abadie to Professor Clos, 

 of Toulouse. 



2 Godron, uhi supra, p. 28. 



