460 [Assembly 



the " Must Quince," and the " Orange Quince." Pliny mentions 

 many kinds, some growing wild in Italy, and others in cultivation, 

 so large that they weighed the boughs on which they grew, down to 

 the ground. He also states that some were of a green, and others 

 of a golden color, the latter of which were called Chrysomela. 

 The only kind that was eaten raw, he states to have been raised by 

 grafting the large quince upon the stock of a small variety, called 

 Struthla, 



The Gooseberry. 



The common Gooseberry [Ribes grossularia,) occurs truly wild in 

 France, Germany, and Switzerland; and on the authority of Mr. 

 Royle, a species nearly allied to it, is found on the Himalayas, near 

 the most inaccessible sources of the Ganges. It has become natural- 

 ized both in Britain and in North America, where it grows in hedg- 

 es, near old w-alls, and sometimes in pastures and woods. According 

 to some, it is thought to be indigenous to the last named country, but 

 is known to botanists under various names. 



The gooseberry does not appear to have been known to the an* 

 cients, and it is uncertain at what period it began to be cultivated 

 in gardens; the earliest notice of it appears to be by Mathiolus, in 

 his Commentaries published at Venice, in 1558, who states that it is 

 a wild fruit, which may be used medicinally. 



The Currant. 



The common Red Currant (^Ribes rubrtim,) or some allied specieS) 

 is found indigenous in many parts of Europe, in the north and west 

 of Asia, and in North America, in the region of the arctic circle. 

 There is no positive evidence that the ancients cultivated this fruit 

 any more than that they did the gooseberry; although it is probable, 

 that they were acquainted with both, and modern botanists have not 

 been able to identify them among the plants mentioned by the Greek 

 and Roman authors. On the authority of Joan, de Cuba, a Dutch 

 botanist, who wrote in 1471, a very curious medical treatise on plants, 

 animals, and stones, entitled " Ortus Sanitatis," the currant was acta* 

 ally described before his time by Isaac Benares, a Jew, as growing 

 wild on the snowy mountains of Syria. The fruit then, as now, was 

 regarded as styptic and refrigerating in its properties, and was employ* 

 ed in making rob or jellies. 



