THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CUEEANT. 139 



formed of exactly the same number of parts, disposed in 

 an exactly similar manner. Linnaeus attempted to trace 

 a distinction in the presence or absence of hair on the 

 fruit; and were all gooseberries like the little red Esau 

 selected by housekeepers as making the best preserve, the 

 difference from the currant would be obvious enough; 

 but among the former family are to be found Jacobs also, 

 as smooth-skinned as the subtle supplanter of old, and 

 trust in this characteristic would therefore by no means 

 prevent confusion of the tribes, but, on the contrary, only 

 prove as misleading as it did in the days of the patriarch. 

 At a loss, then, for some better family cognizance, Tourne- 

 fort speaks only of thorny and thornless " Groseilles" 

 and modern science has been unable to improve on the 

 classification. 



The thornless gooseberries, then, if so we must desig- 

 nate our currant friends, are a widely nourishing race, 

 native to many parts of Europe, venturing in America to 

 the very borders of the Arctic circle, and calling up a 

 vision of cooler climes amid Oriental surroundings in many 

 places in Asia. There is no evidence of the ancients having 

 been acquainted with any of the tribe, but Loudon thinks 

 it hardly probable that they could have been unknown, 

 though we may be unable to identify them with any of the 

 plants mentioned by the Greeks and Eomans. It is not 

 noticed, however, by our own oldest botanical writer, 

 Grerard, nor does its title imply any very ancient origin, 

 for it derives the name "currant" from its resemblance 

 to the imported dried fruit which our forefathers called 

 Corinthes, or currants, because they were brought from, 

 Greece, and with which, therefore, they must have been 

 familiar before making acquaintance with their now natu- 

 ralized namesake. 



Foremost of this branch of the family stands the univer- 

 sally admired Hibes rubrum, or Red Currant, the flowers* 

 and fruit of which grow in racemes, i.e., on little stalklets 

 proceeding from the main stalk, and each supporting but 

 a single berry, instead of branching so as to bear several, 



* See Plate III., fig. 3. 



