1885.] Kitchen Garden Esculents of American Origin. 659 
Varthema, 1503-8, migntions a ‘ruit called camo/ango in India, 
which is unquestionably Benincasa cerifera Savi, as “ resembling 
a pumpkin.” Now asa matter of fact this cucurbit, as grown at 
the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, resembled a 
watermelon so perfectly that it was plugged by thieving boys, 
and until its waxy coating was acquired, could deceive visitors 
who did not notice the leaf. Early voyagers to America, as Gray 
states 2 “ Wrote cucurbita. calabaza, courge or zucca as a name 
for any gourd or pumpkin, and occasionally for a calabash which 
was not even a cucurbit;” and translators have been equally as 
indefinite in their interpretation of the original word used by their 
authors. It seems useless, therefore, to add the testimony of trav- 
elers of the sixteenth century, and which are not quoted by De 
Candolle? and by Gray and Trumbull,‘ for to those who would 
deny the accuracy of the vernacular names used, such transcripts 
would not be convincing. A most valuable argument, however, 
is the absence of certain identification of this class of plants with 
the names used by authors preceding the discovery of America,’ 
1Travels, Hak. Soc., V, 32. 
2 Am. Jour. of Sc., May, 1883, 371. 
3 Geog. Bot. and Origine des Cult. Pl. 
4Am. Jour. of Si., May, 1883. . 
5 The Cucurbita of the ancients was either Cücürbita, or Lagenaria, or Benincasa 
of modern botanies, a proposition to which all investigators will agree. The authors 
which I have at hand are Columella, Pliny and Palladius, covering the first and third 
century of the Christian era, From their writings we can infer two propositions, 
First, it could be a Lagenaria; second, it could not be Cucurbita maxima. 
Columella lays especial stress upon the “neck” (lib. x, V, 380-389); in verse 
234 he uses “ fragili cucurbita col/o” as a distinguishing term; in verse 380 he uses 
young, in the manner of a squash, but is usually grown for ornament. These char- 
acters, as given by Columella, all apply to Lagenaria vulgaris, and not to Cucurbita 
maxima. Palladius (lib. 1v, C. 9) describes the zeck or bottle form, and the uses as 
utensils, and does not indicate their use as food. Pliny (lib. XTX, C. 23) describes a 
fruit called melopepo, shaped like a quince and of recent introduction. His refer. 
ence to color, odor, and their dropping from the stalk when ripe, would seem to in- 
dicate our melon. In lib. xIx, C. 24, he speaks of the climbing habit of the Cucur- 
bita of one kind, and the weight of the fruit so heavy that the wind does not move 
it, and yet attached to a small stalk; of variable shape, sometimes long like a ser- 
