THE MELON. 285 



I 



one are enumerated in the Fruit Catalog:ue of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society. The Cantaloupe is one of the best. 

 It obtains its name from a seat belonging to the 

 Pope, not far from Rome, where it was probably 

 first cultivated in £uro]ie, and whence it has spread 

 into most couutries. The Cantaloupe is of a mid- 

 dling: size, nearly round in form, and remarkably 

 roug'h and irre2:ular in the surface. The colours, 

 both of the surface and the flesh, vary, — the former 

 from oranije mottled with j^reen, to green mottled 

 with black ; and the latter from white, or nearly so, 

 to orang-e tinged with rose colour. The flesh of 

 some varieties is greenish, but these are inferior to 

 the others. When melons of this sort are equally 

 ripened, it may be considered as a general rule, that 

 those which are darkest on the outside, most richly 

 tinted in the flesh, and of a moderate size, have the 

 most high and musky flavour. 



There is also a small African or Egyptian melon, 

 the flesh of which is green, of particular excellence. 

 Frederick the Great was passionately fond of these 

 melons ; and Zimmerman, who attended him in his 

 last illness, finding him very ill from indigestion, dis- 

 covered that he ate three or four of them daily for 

 breakfast. On remonstrating with the king, the only 

 answer that the physician could get was, that the 

 king would send him some of the fruit to taste the 

 next day, — as if its excellence would be a sufficient 

 apology for the habitual indiscretion *. 



The Romana is also a fine melon ; and it ripens 

 earlier than the Cantaloupe. The surface is often 

 netted. It is of an oval shape, highly flavoured, and 

 when good, very heavy and solid. 



I The Salonica, which has been but recently intro- 



duced into this country, is a beautiful melon. It is 



* ZimmermaD's Conversations with the King of Prussia. 



2 G 



