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ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED FRUITS 283 
2. The watermelon (Citrudlus vulgaris). For once there is 
no doubt of nativity. The watermelon is a characteristic contri- 
bution of the dark continent, and our colored brother evidently 
comes honestly by his natural appetite for this luscious fruit, 
It belongs to central Africa on both sides of the equator, where 
Livingstone “ saw districts literally covered with it, and the sav- 
ages and several kinds of wild 
animals eagerly devoured the 
wild fruit,’! which is some- 
times, but not generally, bitter. 
This fruit was certainly culti- 
vated by the ancient Egyptians, 
but there is no proof of antiquity, 
either botanical or philological, 
except in northern Africa. 
It would be interesting, in- 
deed, to follow the futures of 
other wildlings under civiliza- 
tion, such as the cucumber, the 
pumpkin, and the squash, but 
it is a long story and would 
lead us far afield. Inasmuch 
as our chief purpose here is to 
indicate rather than to exhaust 
a field, we must content our 
selves with a hasty glance at what is really a fascinating prospect. 
Miscellaneous fruits. There are, however, a number that 
merit further study. The gooseberry and the currant, both in- 
troduced from Europe, and both also wild over extensive areas 
of our own country,” and which have furnished cultivated varie- 
ties, are other examples of the fact that many species are 
Fic. 49. The huckleberry — good 
enough in the wild 
1“ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 263. 
2 The writer as a boy knew two kinds of wild gooseberry, the “ prickly” 
and the plain, both growing freely in the woods of Michigan. The latter was 
often brought into the gardens of the pioneers and successfully cultivated, 
furnishing, in some cases, the principal fruit of the pioneers. 
