131 



but whoever purchases them, should be care- 

 ful to get them free from any substance that 

 may have been used to colour them. 



Lunan, in his account of the sativus, or cul- 

 tivated cucumber, says, " although cucumbers 

 are neither sweet nor acid, they are consi- 

 derably acescent, and so produce flatulency, 

 cholera, diarrhoea/' &c. Their coldness and 

 flatulency may be likewise in part attributed 

 to the firmness of their texture. 



They have been discharged, with little 

 change, from the stomach, after having been 

 detained there for forty-eight hours. By this 

 means, therefore, their acidity is greatly in- 

 creased; hence oil and pepper, the condi- 

 ments commonly employed, are very useful 

 to check their fermentation. Another condi- 

 ment is sometimes used; viz. it's skin, which is 

 bitter, and may therefore supply the place of 

 aromatics ; but it should only be used when 

 young. 



Brookes states, that the cucumber is unfit 

 for nourishment, and is generally offensive to 

 the stomach, especially if not corrected with 

 a good deal of pepper as well as vinegar. 

 The seeds, he states, are reckoned among the 

 four greater cold seeds, therefore emulsions 

 of them have been prescribed in burning 

 fevers, &c. 



K 2 



