PLATE XXVI. 
[Syn : Beau Present ; Belle Vierge ; Beurre de Paris; Chopine ; Cueillette ; Jipargne ; De 
Fosse; Grosse Cuisse Madame; Mouille Bouche P Ete; Sweet Summer ; St. Lambert; St. Samson; 
De la Table des Princesi] 
The origin of this favourite old Pear is nowhere given, and it is not known at what period 
it was first introduced into this country. The first mention we have of it is by Switzer. It has been 
figured by Lindley in his Pornologia Britannica , PL 108, and in many other works. 
Lindley states, that the name Jargonelle is derived, according to Menage and Duchat from 
Jargon , anciently Gergon, in Italian Gergo , in Spanish Gericon^a , all corruptions of Groecum ; 
whence Merlet infers that the Jargonelle was the Pyrum Tarentinum of Cato and Columella ; the 
Numidianum Grcecum of Pliny, and the Grcecum of Macrobius. If this conjecture be well founded, 
the kind to which the name belongs will be one of the most ancient in cultivation. It was certainly 
brought from France to England, though the French Jargonelle is not ours. 
Description. —Fruit : large and pyriform. Skin : smooth greenish yellow, with a tinge of 
