PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FRUITS. 253 



latter which correspond to the forms of Melopepo of early 

 botanists. They attribute no distinct common name to 

 Cucurbita maxima. 



Finally, without placing implicit faith in the indi- 

 genous character of the plant on the banks of the Niger, 

 based upon the assertion of a single traveller, I still 

 believe that the species is a native of the old world, and 

 introduced into America by Europeans. 



[The testimony of early travellers touching the ex- 

 istence of Cucurbita maxima in America before the 

 arrival of Europeans has been collected and supplemented 

 by Messrs. Asa Gray and Trumbull (American Journal 

 of Science, 1883, p. 372). They confirm the fact already 

 known, that the natives cultivated species of Cucurbita 

 under American names, of which some remain in the 

 modern idiom of the United States. None of these early 

 travellers has noted the botanical characters by which 

 Naudin established the distinction between C. maxima 

 and C. Pepo, and consequently it is still doubtful to 

 which species they referred. For various reasons I had 

 already admitted that C. Pepo was of American origin, 

 but I retain my doubts about C. maxima. After a more 

 attentive perusal of Tragus and Matthiolo than I had 

 bestowed upon them, Asa Gray and Trumbull notice that 

 they call Indian whatever came from America. But if 

 these two botanists did not confound the East and West 

 Indies, several others, and the public in general, did make 

 this confusion, which occasioned errors touching the 

 origin of species which botanists were liable to repeat. 

 A further indication in favour of the American origin of 

 C. maxima is communicated by M. Wittmack, who in- 

 forms me that seeds, certified by M. Naudin to belong to 

 this species, have been found in the tombs of Ancon. 

 This would be conclusive if the date of the latest burials 

 at Ancon were certain. See on this head the article on 

 Phaseolus vulgaris. AUTHOR'S NOTE, 1884.] 



Pumpkin Cucurbita Pepo and C. Melopepo, Linnaeus. 

 Modern authors include under the head of Cucurbita 

 Pepo most of the varieties which Linnaeus designated by 

 this name, and also those which he called C. Melopepo. 



