234 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
the Emperor Tiberius for Melons, and detail the contri- 
vances by which they were procured for him at all seasons. 
Stoves appear to have been used in this process; so that 
forcing-houses were not unknown to the Romans. The 
Melon has certainly been generally cultivated in England 
since about the middle of the sixteenth century; how much 
earlier is not known. It is highly probable that those 
ecclesiastics who paid such attention to the other fruits 
grown in Italy and France, would not neglect one so de- 
licious as the Melon; and it is distinctly said by a writer 
on British Topography, Gough, that the cultivation of the 
Melon in England preceded the wars of York and Lan- 
caster, but that it was destroyed in the times of civil 
trouble that succeeded. It is probable, however, that the 
Melon was confounded with the pumpkin by the earlier 
writers whom Gough consulted. While in France, and 
in England, Melons are grown as an article of luxury, in 
some parts of the east they are used as a chief necessary 
of life. Niebuhr, the celebrated traveller, says, “Of 
pumpkins and Melons, several sorts grow naturally in the 
woods, and serve for feeding camels; but the proper 
Melons are planted in the fields, where a great variety 
of them is to be found, and in such abundance, that the 
Arabians of all ranks use them, for some part of the year, 
as their principal article of food. They afford a very 
agreeable liquor. When its fruit is nearly ripe, a hole is 
pierced into the pulp; this hole is then stopped with wax, 
and the Melon left upon the stalk. Within a few days the 
pulp is, in consequence of this process, converted into a 
delicious liquor.” Mr. Southey has alluded to this cir- 
cumstance in the following passage: — 
“ Whither is gone the boy 1 
He had pierced the Melon’s palp, 
And clothed with wax the wound ; 
And he had duly gone at morn 
And watched its ripening rind ; 
And now all joyfully he brings 
The treasure, now matured.”* 
Although the Melon is a very delicious fruit, it is not 
one of the most wholesome; more especially in cold cli- 
mates, where, if eaten in any considerable quantity, it is 
apt to derange the stomach, unless corrected by warm and 
stimulating ingredients; and the same remark may be ap- 
plied to the cucumber. 
Small Melons are, when equally ripe, more highly fla- 
voured than large ones. In general, however, the fruit 
is chosen as much for show as for use, and thus the large 
ones are preferred. Indeed, in almost all the cultivated 
* Thalaba, book ii. 
fruits and vegetables, quality is very apt to be sacrificed 
to appearance; as in the markets the articles are bought 
by the judgment of the eye, and not by that of the palate. 
To obtain the large size, a ranker manuring, and higher 
culture, must be resorted to than are altogether consist- 
ent with the natural development of the juices of the 
plant. 
Of the Melon there are many varieties, and the number 
of them is constantly increasing. The Cantaloupe is one 
of the best. It obtains its name from a seat belonging to 
the Pope, not far from Rome, where it was probably first 
cultivated in Europe, and whence it has spread into most 
countries. The Cantaloupe is of a middling size, nearly 
round in form, and remarkably rough and irregular in the 
surface. The colours, both of the surface and the flesh, 
vary — the former from orange mottled with green, to 
green mottled with black; and the latter from white, or 
nearly so, to orange tinged with rose colour. The flesh 
of some varieties is greenish, but these are inferior to the 
others. When Melons of this sort are equally ripened, it 
may be considered as a general rule, that those which are 
darkest on the outside, most richly tinted in the flesh, 
and of a moderate size, have the most high and musky 
flavour. 
There is also a small African or Egyptian Melon, the 
flesh of which is green, of particular excellence. Frederick 
the Great was passionately fond of these Melons; and 
Zimmerman, who attended him in his last illness, finding 
him very ill from indigestion, discovered that he ate three 
or four of them daily for breakfast. On remonstrating with 
the king, the only answer that the physician could get was, 
that the king would send him some of the fruit to taste the 
next day — as if its excellence would be a sufficient apo- 
logy for the habitual indiscretion.* 
The Romana is also a fine Melon; and it ripens earlier 
than the Cantaloupe. The surface is often netted. It is 
of an oval shape, highly flavoured, and when good, very 
heavy and solid. 
The Salonica, which has been but recently introduced 
into this country, is a beautiful Melon. It is spherical, 
smooth, and of a fine golden colour. The flesh is white, 
very sweet, and in consistency resembling the Water- 
Melon. The Salonica preserves its qualities, though it is 
very large; and with good culture specimens may be had 
weighing seven or eight pounds. 
The small Portugal is a very early and productive 
Melon, but not remarkable for flavour. The Rock-Melons 
are thickly set with knobs; they are of various colours, 
and some of them of very fine flavour. The oblong ribbed 
* Zimmerman's Conversations with the King' of Prussia. 
