320 HISTORY OF FRUITS. 



he, " when eaten raw, if quite ripe, are good for those 

 who spit blood, or are troubled with haemorrhage." The 

 juice of raw quinces, he states to be a sovereign remedy 

 for the swoln spleen, the dropsy, and difficulty of taking 

 breath, particularly to those who cannot draw their breath 

 but in an upright position. The flowers, either fresh or 

 dried, he tells us, are good for the inflammation of the 

 eyes. The root of the tree was used more as a charm 

 than a medicine for those afflicted with the scrofula. 



Quince-trees grow wild on the banks of the Danube, 

 and they are stated to have been brought into this country 

 from the island of Crete, now called Candia. They have 

 long been cultivated in this kingdom, as our earliest au- 

 thors on this subject mention them. Gerard says, they 

 were often planted in hedges and fences to gardens and 

 vineyards in his time. By the Hortus Kewensis it appears, 

 that the quince was first introduced in 4he reign of Henry 

 the Eighth, 1537, which is evidently an error, from the 

 circumstance above related by Gerard, who was then an 

 old man. 



Rea's Pomona notices (in 1665), that we then cultivated 

 in this country, " in addition to the English Quince, the 

 Portugal Apple-Quince, a large yellow quince, which was 

 apt to split, but so tender as to be eaten raw. The Por- 

 tugal Pear-Quince for baking or preserving. 



" The Barberry Quince, which was smaller both in fruit 

 and tree. 



" The Lion's Quince, a large fruit of a deep yellow 

 colour, the sides ribbed with a deep hollow crown. 



" The Brunswick Quince, large and round, but a whiter 

 fruit than any of the others." 



Coles also mentions these varieties in 1657. 



Quinces are used in medicine, being of an astringent 

 and stomachic quality. The expressed juice of this fruit, 

 in small quantities, as a spoonful or two, is of service in 



