VEGETABLE SUBSTITUTES FOR SOAP 



Missouri Gourd and in California as ^Inck Orange. 

 Botanically it is Ciicurhifd forfidissima, TIIM\, and 

 the rank, garlicky odor given off ])y the crushed 

 leaves makes the specific appellation very apropos. 

 It is a coarse, creeping vine with solitary, showy, 

 vellow flowers and robust, triangular leaves that 

 have a fashion of standing upright in liot wcatlier, 

 like ears; and it spreads so industriously tliat at the 

 summer's end its tip may be as nuich as twenty-five 

 feet away from the starting point, which is tlie crown 

 of a deep-seated, woody, perennial root shaped like 

 a carrot. In the autumn the shriveling leaves reveal 

 numerous, round, yellow gourds, which conspicu- 

 ously dot the ground and are likely at first glance 

 to deceive one into thinking them spilled oranges — a 

 fact that accounts for one popular name. These 

 gourds are pithy, but such pulp as they contain, as 

 w^ell as in the roots, is saponaceous, and crushed in 

 water both fruit and root yield a cleansing lather. 

 It is, however, apt to leave the skin with a harsh 

 feehng for a few moments, not altogether pleasant. 

 There appears to be saponin in the vine also, since 

 Doctor Edward Palmer has stated that in northern 

 Mexico a Cucurbita, that is undoubtedly this species, 

 has been extensively used by laundresses who mash 

 up the vines with the gourds and add all to their 



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