292 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



blance to those of the potatoe, only the latter are 

 yellow. The fruit, when ripe, attains the size of a 

 small apple. It is compressed at the crown and 

 base, and furrowed along the sides; the whole is of 

 uniform colour, and smooth and shining. There are 

 some varieties both in the shape and colour of the 

 fruit; bright red and orange are the prevailing colours. 

 The love-apple is used for eating in every stage of 

 its growth. When green, it is pickled or preserved; 

 when ripe, it is employed for soups and sauces, and 

 the juice is made into a kind of ketchup. In this 

 country, however, where the culture requires a good 

 deal of care, except in favourable situations, the 

 love-apple is not in very general use; but in warmer 

 countries it is in much more esteem, so that in Italy 

 whole fields are covered with it, and it is a general 

 article at table. 



Humboldt describes a species of the Solatium, 

 which he conceives indigenous to the isle of Cura, 

 and which is at present cultivated in many parts of 

 South America. The fruit is round and small, but 

 very savoury. 



The Egg-plant belongs to the same family, has 

 the same habits, and requires nearly the same cul- 

 ture as the love-apple. It is found in the warmer 

 parts of Africa, Asia, and America: it is an annual; 

 rises to the height of about two feet; bears light 

 violet flowers, which are followed by large fleshy 

 berries, having the size and shape, and, in the white 

 varieties, very much the colour and resemblance of 

 eggs, whence the common name. The forms 

 of the egg-plant are globe-shaped and oval ; and 

 some of both forms are white, and others purple or 

 mottled. The egg-plant, according to the l Hortus 

 Kewensis,' has been cultivated in England since the 

 year 1596; but it has seldom been made use of as 



