GOURDS. 289 



One sort, the Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo}, is occa- 

 sionally eaten, but always in a baked state, and com- 

 bined with other substances of higher flavour. In 

 warm situations, and ^vhen highly manured, it grows 

 luxuriantly in the open air; and villagers sometimes 

 grow it, and when ripe, convert it into a sort of pie, 

 by cutting a hole in the side, extracting the seeds and 

 filaments, stuffing the cavity with apples and spices, 

 and baking the whole. The pumpkin seems to have 

 been earlier introduced into general culture than either 

 the cucumber or the melon: the pumpkin is, in fact, 

 the melon of the old English writers, the true melon 

 being then styled the musk melon. The pumpkic 

 or gourd enters more into the cookery of the southern 

 nations on the Continent, than into those of Britain. 



The Squash ( Cucurbita melopepo) is little culti- 

 vated or eaten in this country, though it is often 

 used in the southern parts of Europe, and in North 

 America. It is said to be a native of the Levant, but 

 probably it is found in many other places. It is 

 better adapted for boiling or stewing in a green 

 state than any other gourd. At Versailles, the 

 people esteem it so much for this purpose that they 

 call it a " livre de beurre." The orange fruited gourd 

 ( Cucurbita aurantia} is a native of the East Indies. 

 It is a very handsome variety, but cultivated only as 

 a curiosity. The calabash, or bottle gourd ( Cucurbita 

 lagenaria), is similar to the other in quality, and 

 gets its trivial name* as well from its form as from 

 the use of which the hard and tough rind is applied. 

 It is a native both of the East and the West Indies; 

 and the humbler inhabitants employ these gourds as 

 ready made bowls and other vessels. In some parts 



* Trivial is a term used by botanists for a name descriptive 

 of the species only as distinguished from other names which 

 point out a genus. 



VOL. H. 7* 



