BOTTLE GOURD. WATER MELON. 209 
when ground with water, they aftbrd a cooling and nu- 
tritious kind of milk. 
226. The BOTTLE GOURD is an American fruit with 
woody rind, and of very various shape., belonging to the same 
tribe as the pumpkin, and produced by a creeping plant (Cu- 
curbita lagenaria) with somewhat angular and downy leaves, 
each haling two. glands at the base underneath. 
This fruit is at first green, but when ripe, it assumes 
a dull yellow colour ; and the flesh is spongy and very 
white. Its size and shape are so varied, that it would 
be impossible to describe them; sometimes it has along 
slender part next the stalk, like the neck of a bottle; 
sometimes it is swollen, and sometimes of great length, 
and of form so curved as to be shaped almost like a 
bugle horn, or the musical instrument called a serpent. 
80 hard and strong is the rind of the bottle-gourd, 
that this, when freed from the pulp, is frequently con- 
verted by the Americans, as well as the inhabitants of 
the West Indies, into drinking cups, flagons, bottles, 
and other domestic utensils ; but, on being first used, it 
communicates a disagreeable taste to the juices con- 
tained in it. The pulp, boiled with vinegar, is some- 
times eaten. 
22T. The WATER MELON (Cucurbita citrullus) is a 
roundish or oblong species of gourd) with thin smooth rind, 
marked zc-ith star-like spots, the leaves deeply divided into lobes, 
and the flowers somewhat resembling those of the cucumber. 
Persons who have visited hot climates know well how 
to appreciate the grateful coolness and delicious flavour 
of the water melon, the flesh of which is so succu- 
lent that it melts in the mouth; and the central pulp of 
which is fluid, like that of the cocoa-nut, and may be 
sucked, or poured out through a hole in the rind, and 
thus made to afford a most refreshing beverage. 
To the inhabitants of Egypt, China, the East Indies, 
and other countries, where they are cultivated to a 
great extent, wa er melons are extremely valuable, 
