The Medlar. 49 



of these are ripe, in the genuine sense of the word, as 

 soon as the seed is mature, capable of vegetating, how- 

 ever hard and solid the fleshy part may be. Softening, 

 in every one of them, is a stage beyond ripeness, and 

 the sign, rather, of incipient decay. A capital jelly may 

 be prepared from medlars, resembling that made of the 

 guava. To this end they should be bruised, then boiled 

 in a large stew-pan, with plenty of water, for half an hour. 

 The semi-fluid product must then be strained through a 

 flannel bag, and after adding a pound of lump sugar to 

 every pint of the clear escape, boiled again for twenty- 

 five minutes. The medlars may be thus employed while 

 still hard, but it is better to wait till they have begun to 

 soften. 



The medlar remains attached to the branch until very 

 late in the autumn. It is by no means apt to fall, and is 

 best not gathered till the leaves begin to drop. There 

 are three distinct varieties, the Dutch, large but some- 

 what coarse, the Royal, and the Nottingham, the last 

 named the best and the fittest for dessert. 



The etymology of the name is very curious. It occurs 

 first in the old Greek herbalists as mespile, then in Latin 

 as mespilus, which in Norman French became meslier. 

 After the same manner the Low-Latin misculare, to 

 mix, became in French mesler, whence the English 

 to "meddle," or interfere in other people's affairs, and 

 the substantive a "meddler." No wonder that before 

 orthography was fixed meslier followed suit, and became 

 medlar. 

 H 



