THE MEDLAE. 



structure the apple and the pear, the core consisting of 

 five cells each, containing usually two pips or seeds, though 

 so hard is the wrinkled shell which takes the place of the 

 leathery coating of other "pips" that these might almost 

 be called stones, the medlar diifers externally from its 

 pomal brethren in being invariably of a dull russet brown 

 colour, and in losing rotundity of form, in consequence 

 of the calyx spreading over the whole top of the fruit, 

 which therefore presents the truncated appearance to 

 which it owes its generic name Mespilus, which is com- 

 posed of two Greek words (mesos pilos) signifying half 

 ball or cap ; its French title neflier, written by purists 

 neffiier, being similarly derived from a Celtic word naff] 

 which means truncated. Its surname Germanica is due 

 to its being both more common and more appreciated in 

 Germany than anywhere else. 



The medlar does not appear to have been known to 

 the ancients, though it is indigenous to various parts of 

 Southern Europe, being common in the woods of Italy 

 and Sicily, where it grows into a good sized tree with a 

 straight stem ; while in England, where, though it is occa- 

 sionally found growing wild, it is generally supposed to 

 be rather naturalized than a native, it becomes more like 

 a shrub than a tree, assuming a low spreading form of 

 very irregular and often even grotesque appearance. The 

 reddish- coloured wood is hard and very durable, but too 

 small to be of much use, except that in France the 

 branches are greatly esteemed for the purpose of making 

 whip-handles. The short-stalked oblong or oval leaves, 

 three or four inches long, and smooth edged or but slightly 

 indented, are in the wild kind often accompanied by 

 thorns, and the white Eosaceous flowers, characterized 

 by five styles and about 20 stamens, grow singly at the 

 end of the branches, which therefore do not admit of 

 being pruned. They appear about June or July, and the 

 fruit is not fit for gathering until after the first autumn 

 frosts, requiring even then to be laid upon straw for some 

 time, until the first stage of decomposition (technically 

 called Wetting) begins, when its previous harshness dis- 

 appears, and it becomes soft and of mild agreeable fla- 



