Fruits, that may not only be read through, 

 but referred to, with some amusement; in it 

 to blend entertainment with useful informa- 

 tion, as much as the subject would allow; 

 to combine and compare the accounts of 

 the ancients with those of the moderns which 

 are more improved ; and, in short, to treat 

 on each species of fruit generally ; for to 

 have descended into varieties, would have 

 filled volumes with names alone, since he 

 finds one individual possessing 400 kinds of 

 strawberries, and others as great a variety 

 of gooseberries, while the kinds of apples, 

 pears, plums, &c. have been still more nu- 

 merously multiplied. 



And kinds are less material to his theme ; 

 Which who would learn, as soon may tell the sands 

 Driv'n by the western wind on Libyan lands, 

 Or number, when the blust'ring Eurus roars, 

 The billows beating on Ionian shores. 



Dryden's VirgiL 



