BOOK XIX. xxii. 63-x.\iii. 66 



of ' fleshy ', for instance the spongy plants that grow 



in water-meadows. As to the tough flesh of funguses, 



we have mentioned it ah-eady in treating thc nature xvi. si, 



of timber and of trees, and in the case of another ^^^-^ssqq 



class. that of trufRes, a short time ago. 



XXIII. Belonging to the class of cartilaginous Caruiagin- 

 plants and growing on the surface of the ground is the taous^^^the 

 cucumber, a dehcacy for which the emperor Tiberius cucumher. 

 had a remarkable partiahty ; in fact tliere was never 

 a day on which he was not supphed with it, as his 

 kitchen-gardeners had cucumber beds mounted on 

 whccls which thev moved out into the sun and then 

 on wintry days withdrew under the cover of frames 

 glazed Avith transparent stone. Moreover it is 

 actually stated in the writings of early Greek authors 

 that cucumber seed should be soaked for two days in 

 milk mixed with honey before it is sown, in order to 

 niake the cucumbers sweeter. They grow in any 

 shape they are forced to take ; in Italy green ones of 

 the smallest possible size are popular, but the 

 provinces Hke the largest ones possible, and of the 

 colour of wax or else dark. African cucumbers are 

 the most prohfic, and those of Moesia the largest. 

 When they are exceplionally big they are called 

 pumpkins. Cucumbers when swallowed remain in 

 the stomach till the next day and cannot be digested 

 with the rest of one's food, but nevertheless they are 

 not extremely unwholesome. They have by nature 

 a remarkable repugnance for oil, and an equal 

 fondness for water ; even when they have been cut 

 from the stem, they creep towards water a moderate 

 distance away, but on the contrary they reti-eat 

 from oil, or if something is in their way or if they are 

 hanging up, they grow curved and twisted. This 



463 



