80 LETTER V. 



drils ; its leaves have a netted arrangement of the 

 veins ; its flowers have a calyx which is like petals in 

 colour ; its stamens grow into a central column ; its 

 ovary has only one cavity, with the seeds attached to 

 three lines which pass up its sides; its ripe fruit is 

 succulent in the inside ; and its seeds have a sweet 

 nutty taste. All this reads as if I were really talking 

 of a Passion-flower ; it is these numerous points of 

 resemblance, in important points of structure, which 

 constitute the affinity between the tribes of the Pas- 

 sion-flower and Gourd. In other respects they are 

 materially different. 



The Cucumber has very rough leaves ; it has no 

 petals ; its stamens grow in one flower, and its pistil 

 in another ; the ovary is inferior ; and there is no 

 trace of the beautiful rays of the Passion-flower. All 

 the Gourd tribe participates in these differences, which 

 thus become the essential characters of that natural 

 order. 



The Passion-flowers are all harmless, and the fruit 

 of many of them is eaten. Here we have another 

 similarity, you will exclaim. Not quite so fast, if 

 you please ; I would not advise you to adopt that 

 idea practically, for if you do you may share the 

 fate of the poor sailor, who lately perished, as the 

 newspapers tell us, from drinking out of a gourd- 

 shell. In some countries there are Gourds with a 

 very singular figure ; they resemble a Florence flask, 

 such as oil comes home in, and have a hard rind 

 filled with soft pulp. Very useful bottles are pre- 

 pared from such fruit, by cutting off the end of the 



