Gourd. 
Lagenaria vulgaris. Naturar Orver: Cucurbitacee—Gourd Family. 
NOWN scientifically as Lagenaria, from the Latin /agena, a 
_bottle, the common Bottle Gourd, or Calabash, is familiar to all. 
“It grows like a round ball, gradually extended into a handle. 
“When ripened, a slice is cut from one side, and the seeds are 
removed, thus forming a very convenient vessel for dipping 
(SS water, for which purpose it was used in early times. There 
sai are upward of fifty different kinds of this interesting plant, all of 
2 be them being natives of Drepieal igguntries. Some are large and gro- 
AA tesque, others small, fanciful, delicate, beautiful in shape and color, and 
os [gq worthy of enthusiastic admiration. Hawthorne said they were “worthy 
SorT 
of being wrought in enduring marble.” 
eo A 
m Firtent, 
E who, from zone to zone, 
' Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone 
Will lead my steps aright. —William Cullen Bryant. 
a yet I know past all doubting, truly— And as I walk by the vast, calm river 
A knowledge greater than grief can dim — The awful river so dread to see, 
I know, as he loved, he will love duly, I say, “Thy breadth and thy depth forever 
Yea, better—e’en better than I love him; Are bridged by his thoughts that cross to me.” 
—Fean Ingelow. 
Y wingéd boat, A duplicated golden glow. 
A bird afloat, Far, vague, and dim, 
Swims round the purple peaks remote:— The mountains swim; 
Round purple peaks While on Vesuvius’ misty brim, 
It sails, and seeks With outstretched hands 
Blue inlets and their crystal creeks, The gray smoke stands, 
Where high rocks throw, O’erlooking the volcanic lands. 
—Thomas Buchanan Read. 
Through deeps below, 
ROM the low earth round you, God’s divinest burneth plain 
Reach the heights above you; Through the crystal diaphane 
From the stripes that wound you, Of our loves that love you. 
Seek the loves that love you —Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
147 
