1890.] History of Garden Vegetables. 735 
translation “ pompions, gourds, cucumbers.” ™ In 1586 a French 
name for what appears to be the summer squash is given by Lyte 
as concombre marin. With this class we may interpret Cartier’s 
names into “gros melons” pumpkins, “ concombres” summer 
squashes, and “courge” winter crooknecks, as the shape and 
hard shell of this variety would suggest the gourd or Lagenaria. 
In 1586 Heriot, in Virginia, 5 names “ macokner, according to 
their several forms, called by us pompions, melons, and gourds, 
because they are of the like forms as those kinds in England. 
In Virginia such of several forms are of one taste, and very good, 
and do also spring from one seed. They are of two sorts: one is 
ripe in the space of a month, and the other in two months.” 
Heriot apparently confuses all the forms met with with the ma- 
cock, which, as we have shown in our notes on squashes, appears 
identical with the type of the Perfect Gem Squash, or the Cucu- 
mts marinus of Fuchsius. The larger sorts may be his pompi- 
ons, the round ones his melons, and the cushaw type his gourds, 
for, as we shall observe, the use of the word pompion seems to in- 
clude size, and that of gourd, a hard rind. Acosta"? indeed 
speaks of the Indian pompions in treating of the large-sized 
fruits. Capt. John Smith,” in his Virginia, separates his pumpi- 
ons and macocks, both planted by the Indians amongst their 
corn, and in his description of New England in 1614 speaks of 
pumpions and gourds. This would seem to indicate that he had 
a distinction in his mind, and we may infer that the word pom- 
pion was used for the like productions of the two localities, and 
that the word gourd in New England referred to the hard-rind or 
winter squashes, for Master Graves ™ refers to Indian pompions, 
Rev. Francis Higginson™ to pompions, and Wood™ to pom- 
pions and isquouter-squashes in New England soon after its 
colonization, and Josselyn '? about the same period names also 
M Cartier. Pink. Voy., XII., 656. 
U8 Heriot. Pink. Voy., XII., 596. 
119 Acosta. Nat. and Mie. Hist. of the Indies, 1604, 264. 
120 Smith. Va. Pink. Voy., XIII., 
2n Macs. Hist. Soc. Coll., rst ser., I., 118, 124. 
