370 DeCandolle’s Origin of Cultivated Plants. 
-Art. XXXIX.—Review of DeCandolle’s Origin of Cultivated 
Plants; with Annotations upon certain American Species ; by 
Asa Gray and J. HAMMoND TRUMBULL. 
Parr II. 
THE fourth chapter of “Z’ Origine des Plantes Cultivées” relates 
to plants cultivated for their fruits; the fifth to those cultivated 
for their seeds. Our present annotations concern a few species 
or forms of Cucurbitacee, the history of which has been involved . 
ord, in passing, upon the Peach, upon the history of 
which this volume throws some new light. DeCandolle had 
while they had peaches of various sorts long before. Upou 
Pyrus, there is a note relating to botanical orthography, p- 183, 
notes may be put upon record, 
M. 
pumpkin (“potiron”) by English writers, as ‘an example e 
the confusion of popular names and the greater precision © 
scientific names.” Such confusion becomes more perplex!ng 
botanist—complained, in 1640, of ‘our modern writers who 
for some make that Pepo that others call Melopepo, and aire: 
Cucurbita.” (Theater of Planis, p.770.) Scientific names of wae 
16th century are as obsolete as popular names of the peat 
period. They do not help us to distingush Dagenaria ha : 
Cucurbita, or Pepo from Melopepo oe Citrouille” from Citru 
* “LOrthographe Pyrus, adopté par Linné, se trouve dans Pline. Historia, 
1631, p. 301. Quelques botanistes ont voulu raffiner en écrivant Pirus, ety | 
8 $ 
deux endroits, ou risquer de croire que les Poiriers ne sont pas dan a 
En tous cas le nom des anciens est un nom vulgaire, mais le nom vraiment ocrit- 
ique est celui de Linné, fondateur de la nomenclature adoptée, et a 
” s pass 
Pears and Apples were prehistoric in Kurope, both wild and cultivated. 
