t 9 o 



CUCURBITACE^E 



drils, and fruit, though somewhat smaller, are so similar to those 

 of the garden cucumber {Ciicumis sativus) that it might easily 

 happen that the man sent out by the disciples of the prophet took 

 them for a harmless plant and prepared a meal of them. The 

 bitter taste made the disciples at once fear that it was poisonous, 

 such a taste being generally believed by the Hebrews to indicate 

 poison, (See Rev. viii. 10, ix.) The Colocynth may also be 



the vine of Sodom of 

 A dr> Deuteronomy xxxii. 32. 



The Squirting Cucum- 

 bers {Ecbd/ium), the 

 fruit of which, when ripe, 

 detaches itself from its 

 stalk, squirting its juice 

 and seeds backwards, is 

 also a very powerful 

 drug known as Elate- 

 rium. A case is even 

 Oy^^CJ^t^^ \ \ recorded of a person 



.xtJ*" i^\^v\ 1^ being taken dangerously 



ill from having merely 

 carried a specimen in his 

 hat. Many species of 

 the Order, however, pro- 

 duce edible fruit, as, for 

 instance, the numerous 

 varieties of the Cucum- 

 ber {Ciicumis sativus), 

 Melon {Ciicumis Meld), 

 and Water Melon {Ciicu- 

 mis Citriillus), and one 

 of our finest vegetables, 

 the Vegetable Marrow 

 ( Cucurbita oviferd). The 

 only British member of 

 the Order, the White Bryony {Bryonia dibica), partakes of the 

 properties of Colocynth, and its root is used in medicine. It is 

 said that its tender shoots may be eaten boiled, and resembles 

 Asparagus in flavour ; but the shoots of the Black Bryony ( Tdmus 

 communis), a widely different plant, belonging to another Order, 

 may have been meant ; and, in either case, the experiment is a 

 dangerous one. 



BRy6kia dioica (White Bryony). 



i. Bry6nia (White Bryony). — Slender climbing herbs, with 



