giz Of the Hiftorie of Plants. Li b.i. 
I Pcpomaior fyluejlris. 2 Pepo miner fpluejiris. 
The great wilde Pompion. The fmall wilde Pompion. 
The Place. 
Thefe Melons'do grow wilde in Barbarie, Africa, and mod parts of the Eaft and Weft Indies^ 
They grow not in thefe parts except they be fowne. 
^ The Time. . 
Their time of flouring and flourifh ing anfwereth that of the garden Pompion. 
The Names. 
Although the Antient Phyfitionshaue made no mention of thefe plants, yet the thing it felfe 
doth (hew, that there be fucb,and ought to be called in Greeke : in Latine, Ptptnes fpltte- 
fters : in Englifh, wilde Melons or Pompions. 
The Temperature. 
Like as thefe wilde Melons be altogether of their owne nature very bitter, fo be they alfo of tem- 
perature hoc and drie,and that in the later end of the fecond degree. They haue likewife a clenfing 
facultie, not inferior to the wilde Cucumbers. 
The yertues. 
A The wine, which when the pithand feed is taken forth, is powred into the rinde, and hath remai- 
ned fo long therein till fuch time as it becommeth bitter, doth purge the belly, and bringeth forth 
flegmaticke and cholerick humors .To be briefe,the iuice hereof is of the fame operation that the 
wilde Cucumber is of ; and being dried it may bevfed in (lead of Elatcrittm , which is the dried 
iuiceofthe wilde Cucumber. 
Chap. 347. Of (jour ds . 
The Kindcs. 
T Here be diners forts of Gourds, forne wilde, and others tame of the gardeiijfome bringing forth 
fruit like vnto a bottle ; others long, bigger at the end,keeping no certaine formeor fafhion; 
fome greater.others lelfer.jf I will onely figure and defcribe two or three of the chiefeft, and fo 
paife ouerthereft, becaufe each one vpon the firft fight of them knowcs to whatkindetoreferre 
them . | 
f Tht 
