The Medlar. 47 



the apple, there are passages in which the words point, 

 very significantly, to the quince. Virgil speaks of the 

 mala " whitening" as they become ripe. Quinces, too, are 

 plainly referred to in a celebrated metaphor in Theocritus 

 (xxvii. 48) which no doubt well pleased Boccaccio, for 

 the apple, though smooth, is not downy, whereas the 

 quince, as said above, has a skin that in good examples 

 is quite velvety. This feature of the quince helps also 

 to the understanding of the metaphorical "golden apples" 

 of the Hesperides (p. 19). 



THE MEDLAR ( Mespilus Germanica). 



THE Medlar is a European fruit-tree, occurring wild in 

 woods and thickets in the southern portions of the con- 

 tinent, and extending here and there into the central 

 parts. It is met with also in the southern Caucasus. In 

 England it cannot be considered indigenous, though 

 usually inserted in the Floras. In size and general figure 

 the tree corresponds with an ordinary apple. Few trees, 

 however, present a more rustic, not to say uncouth 

 appearance, the branches making fantastic elbows in all 

 directions. In the wild state it is spinous. The leaves 

 are broadly lanceolate, four or five inches long, serrulate, 

 dark green, more or less pubescent, and deciduous. The 

 flowers, an inch across, are pure white, nearly sessile, 



