THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 9 
them the Tarentine, the Signina, which others from their color call Testacea 
(like tiles, or brick-colored), like the Onychina (onyx) and Purpurea (purple). 
From their odor are named the Myrapia (myrrh-pear), Laurea (laurel), 
Nardina (nard); from their season the Hordearia (barley, at the barley- 
harvest); from the shape of their neck the Ampullacea (flask). The 
Coriolana. and Bruttia have family-names (Coriolanus, Brutus); the 
Cucurbitina (gourd-pears) are so called from their bitter taste. The origin 
of the name is unknown in the case of the Barbarica and the Veneria which 
they call colored; the Regia, which are attached to a very short stalk; 
the Patricia; the Voconia, which are green and oblong. Virgil mentions 
also the Volema, taken from Cato, who names also the Sementiva and the 
Mustea.?”’ 
It is pertinent to inquire, now, as to what types of pears the ancients 
had. Such an inquiry leads up to another and much more important 
question: Have new characters appeared in pears since Pliny wrote? 
If so, it may be possible that we shall be forced to assume that man’s dom- 
inacy over this fruit has produced the new characters, in which case search 
might be made for the key to unlock more new characters. For the present, 
however, only the first question can be considered, before going into which it 
is necessary to know what the most prominent characters of the pear are. 
Only those of the fruit need be named. 
There are twenty outstanding characters which differentiate the 
varieties of pears now cultivated, not taking account of those introduced 
by the hybridization of P. communis with P. serotina which has given 
pomology the Kieffer-like varieties. These characters are: Smooth or 
russet skin; red, yellow, or green color; large or small size; early or late 
season; long or short stem; round, oblate, ovate, and pyriform shapes; 
granular, buttery, or breaking flesh; sweet or acid flavor. In the pears 
described by Pliny so many of these characters are mentioned or may be 
assumed to be present from inference, that the conclusion is forced that in 
the many new pure-bred pears of P. communis which have come into 
existence since Pliny’s time, showing a great shuffling of characters in 
pear-breeding, it is doubtful whether new characters have come into being 
in 2000 years. This, in turn, forces the conclusion that if this fruit is to be 
greatly changed, the change must come about through hybridization with 
other species. 
Another quotation from Pliny shows that the Romans valued pears 
1Pliny Nat, Hist. KV: 15. From a translation made for the writer by Professor H. H. Yeames, 
Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. 
