By Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. 



133 



Nuts. They had Hazle-nuts and Filberds ; (has quoque 

 mollis protegit barba) /. 15. sect. 24 ; they 

 roasted these nuts. 



Pears. Of these they had many sorts, both summer and 

 winter fruit, melting and hard, they had more 

 than thirty-six kinds, some were called Libralia. 

 We have our Pound Pear. 



Plums. They had a multiplicity of sorts (ingens turba 

 Prunorum), black, white, and variegated, one 

 sort was called Asinina, from its cheapness ; 

 another Damascena, this had much stone and 

 little flesh ; from Martial's Epigram, xiii. 29, 

 we may conclude that it was what we now call 

 Prunes. 



Quinces. They had three sorts, one was called Chrysomela, 

 from its yellow flesh; they boiled them with 

 honey, as we make marmalade. See Martial, 

 xiii. 24. 



Services. They had, the Apple-shaped, the Pear-shaped, 

 and a small kind, probably the same as we 

 gather wild, possibly the Azarole. 



Strawberries. They had, but do not appear to have prized 

 them. The climate of Italy is too warm to produce 

 this fruit in perfection, unless in the hills. 



Vines. They had a multiplicity of these, both thick 

 skinned (Duracind) and thin skinned : one Vine 

 growing at Rome produced twelve amphora? of 

 juice, eighty-four gallons. They had round ber- 

 ried, and long berried sorts, one so long that it 

 was called Dactylides, the grapes being like the 



