314 
PLINY' S NATURAL HISTOEY. 
[Book XY. 
CHAP. 22. (20.) — THBKE YARIimES OP THE MEDLAE. 
The medlar and the sorb ought in propriety to be ranked 
under the head of the apple and the pear. Of the medlar^ 
there are three varietieSj the anthedon,^ the setania,' and a 
third of inferior quality, which bears a stronger resemblance 
to the anthedon, and is known as the Gallic^ kind. The seta- 
nia is the largest fruit, and the palest in colour ; the woody seed 
in the inside of it is softer, too, than in the others, which are of 
smaller size than the setania, but superior to it in the fragrance 
of their smell, and in being better keepers. The tree itself is 
one of very ample ^ dimensions : the leaves turn red before they 
fall : the roots are numerous, and penetrate remarkably deep, 
which renders it almost impossible to grab it up. This tree * 
did not exist in Italy in Gate's time. 
CHAP. 23. (21). POPE YAEIETIES OP THE SOEB. 
There are four varieties of the sorb : there being some that 
have all the roundness ^ of the apple, while others are conical 
like the pear,^ and a third sort are of an oval ^ shape, like 
some of the apples : these last, however, are apt to be remark- 
ably acid. The round kind is the best for fragrance and 
sweetness, the others having a vinous flavour ; the finest, 
however, are those which have the stalk surrounded with 
tender leaves. A fourth kind is known by the name of tor- 
minalis it is only employed, however, for remedial pur- 
The sorb belongs to the genus pirus of the naturalists. 
1 The Mespilus germanica of the botanists. 
2 The azarolier, a tree of the south of Europe, the Mespilus apii folio 
laciniato of C. Bauhin. 
3 The Mespilus Italica folio laurino serrate of C. Bauhin, the Mespilus 
cotoneaster of J. Bauhin. 
^ Its identity is matter of uncertainty ; but it has been thought to be the 
Cratcegus oxyacantha of modern botanists. 
s By " amplissimus," he must mean that it spreads out very much in pro- 
portion to its height, as it is merely a shrub. 
^ Fee thinks it a tree indigenous to the north. 
The ordinary sorb-apple of horticulturists. 
8 The sorb-pear. 
9 Varying but little, probably, from the common sorb, the Sorbus domes- 
tica of Linnaeus. 
^0 Fee is inclined to think that it is the Sorbus terminalis of Lamarck. 
Anguillara thinks that it is the Cratsegus of Theophrastus, considered by 
