CUCURBITACEjE. 



clustered. Anthers with their connective covered by oblong ovate 

 acute papillae. Fruit downy, smooth, tapered into a long slender stalk 

 above the insertion of the calyx. In the wild state this plant pro- 

 duces poisonous fruit. Some sailors died at one of our outports a few 

 years since from drinking beer that had been standing in a flask made 

 of a bottle gourd. Dr. Royle says that he learned from a very respect- 

 able and intelligent native doctor attached to the gaol hospital at Sa- 

 harumpore that he had seen a case of poisoning from eating of the 

 bitter pulp, in which the symptoms were those of cholera. 



CUCUMIS. 



Flowers monoecious. Calyx tubular-campanulate, with subu- 

 late segments scarcely the length of the tube. Petals scarcely 

 adhering to each other. $ . Stamens 5, triadelphous. 

 $ . Stigmas 3, thick, 2-parted. Fruit 3-6- celled : seeds com- 

 pressed, ovate, not tumid at the edge. 



170. C. utilissimus Roxb.fi. ind. iii. 721. Higher cultivated 

 lands of Bengal. 



An annual. Stems exactly as in the common cucumber, but not 

 quite so extensive. Tendrils simple. Leaves broad-cordate, generally 

 more or less 5-lobed ; lobes rounded, toothletted ; above pretty smooth, 

 below scabrous, the largest generally about 6 inches each way. Floral 

 leaves of the female flowers sessile, and very small. Male flowers 

 axillary, peduncled, crowded, but opening in succession. Female flow- 

 ers axillary, peduncled, solitary ; both sorts yellow, about an inch or an 

 inch and a half in diameter. Fruit fleshy, generally a very perfect oval; 

 when young, downy and clouded with lighterand darker green ; when 

 ripe, perfectly smooth, variegated with deeper and lighter yellow ; from 

 4 to 6 inches long, and from 3 to 4 in diameter. The powder of the 

 toasted seeds is said to be a powerful diuretic, and serviceable in pro- 

 moting the passage of sand or gravel. Roxb. 



171. C. Colocynthis Linn, sp.pl 1435. DC. prodr. iii. 302. 

 Woodv. t. 175. S. and C. iii. t. 1 38. KoXcurov&f Diosc. 

 Common on the sandy lands of Coromandel, in Egypt, Palestine, 

 Turkey, and all the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. 



Stem prostrate, hispid. Leaves cordate, ovate, many-lobed, white 

 with hairs beneath : the lobes obtuse ; petioles as long as the lamina. 

 Tendrils short. Flowers axillary, solitary stalked ; females, with the 

 tube of the calyx globose, and somewhat hispid, the limb campanulate 

 with narrow segments. Petals small. Fruit globose, smooth, size of 

 an orange, yellow when ripe, with a thin solid rind, and a very bitter 

 flesh. The fruit contains the intensely bitter resinoid called Colo- 

 cynthin; it is very acrid, and a considerable number of severe cases of 

 poisoning have occurred in the human subject. Nevertheless in com- 

 bination with other substances, the extract is one of the commonest of 

 cathartics. 



172. C. Hardwickii Royle Illustr. 220. t. 47. f. 3. a. 

 Foot of the Himalaya, and called " Puharee indrayun " or hill 

 colocynth. 



84 



