42 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1899. 



Two varieties of egg-plant are grown, one similar to our own, 

 and the other bearing a round, rich, dark {>urple fruit, called 

 the apple of Sodom, because it is sometimes punctured by a 

 minute insect, a species of cynips, which gangrenes the fruit 

 and converts the inside into dry ashes while the outside preserves 

 its plump and beautiful aspect. 



The Cicei' arietinum or chick pea, contrary to the other plants 

 of the pea family, is distinguished by its serrated leaflets. The 

 pea is of a bright yellow, half again the size of a large marrow- 

 fat. It is cooked with rice or other dishes, or is simply parched 

 and sold in the streets to be eaten as we do peanuts. When 

 freshly parched it has a peculiarly crisp, pleasant flavor. It is 

 claimed to be the parched pulse mentioned in Scripture. 



A dozen or more different species of gourd are grown for 

 cooking purposes, but I will onl}^ speak of the Oucurbila clavi- 

 for7nis, which reaches a length of seven or eight feet. It grows 

 so rapidly when well watered that in an incredibly short space 

 of time it forms a dense, shady arbor, under which the people 

 sit and smoke. When young, not more than six inches in 

 length, it is boiled and then stuffed with force-meat and rice. 

 This dish and meat-balls wrapped in tender grape leaves and 

 covered with a white sauce are exceedingly palatable. Owing 

 to its rapid growth it has been thought to be the gourd of 

 Jonah. 



In opening this lecture, I brought before you a picture of the 

 most striking objects of nature as you approached the great 

 city of the East, and now as I close let me leave with you the 

 impression that lingers still with me after the lapse of forty-three 

 years as I sailed away into the unknown West. Behind me lay 

 the city of Constantinople, each minaret and dome blazing with 

 light as though shot with purest gold. To the east rose the 

 majestic, snow-capped peak of Mt. Olympus, its pure white 

 crimsoned with the ruddy glow of the sun's last rays. From 

 the mainland drifted over the spicy perfume of the heather and 

 the thyme. The porpoises were gently sporting in the blue 

 waters of the Marmora. As we steamed past the little islands 



