MELON. 161 



lie in the seed, which are of a cooling nature, but 

 are seldom used. 



That the melon is somewhat nutritious, has been 

 proved by its furnishing the lower orders in the 

 south of Europe with a principal part of their food. 

 But as the people of that part of the world are not 

 particular in the choice of sorts, little reliance can 

 be placed on the seed which they transmit to us. 

 With them the cucumber, the gourd, or vegetable 

 marrow, the Pompkin melon, &c., most likely grow 

 in one field, where they certainly do harm, by con- 

 taminating each other. 



So far on the native country of the common or 

 cultivated melon, of which more will be said when 

 the most esteemed varieties are described. Pre- 

 viously to the descriptions, a few words will be said 

 on the water melon (Cucurbita citrullus) which is 

 made a species of the gourd. The Botanic name is 

 derived from its growth, and from the watery nature 

 of its fruit, which is in the highest estimation in the 

 warmest parts of the four quarters of the world. 



The water melon is a native of all the quarters 

 above mentioned, and is highly appreciated in 

 Egypt, China, and the East and West Indies, where 

 it is cultivated to a great extent, on account of its 

 grateful coolness and delicious flavour. The flesh 

 is so succulent that it melts in the mouth, and its 

 central pulp is fluid, like the cocoa-nut, and may be 

 sucked or poured out through a hole in the rind, 

 forming a most refreshing beverage to the inhabit- 

 ants of warm countries. In England, the few that 

 are raised, are highly esteemed in very warm seasons, 

 while their admissibility in cases of fever and in- 

 M 



