90 
ON CUCUMIS CITRULLUS. 
line, generally five-lobed, sinuate, pinnatifid. Segments all ob- 
tuse; petals two to three inches long, erect. Flowers axillary, on 
hairy peduncles; carollapale greenish-yellow, or ochre colored. 
Fruit, a melon from six inches to a foot in diameter, twelve 
to eighteen or twenty inches long, elliptic, subglobose, smooth, 
with a firm, fleshy rind. When mature, the pulp enclosed is 
tender, watery, saccharine, and pleasant to the taste ; of a 
red color generally, but frequently yellow, and sometimes 
white. 
Observations and General History. — Merat and De 
Lens, in their Dictionnaire Universel, state that the C. ci- 
trullus grows in the Levant, in Egypt, and Italy, along the 
shores of the Mediterranean. The fruit is supposed to come 
to greater perfection in the vicinity of the sea. " Owing to 
their refrigerant quality, the melons are used in tropical cli- 
mates instead of ice." " In Italy," say they, " they are sold 
in the market places under the name Cocomero." . 
Tournefort states, "that in the Levant they are much 
esteemed, and are eaten by the natives in any quantity, with- 
out bad effect, and that they retain their agreeable coolness 
even when exposed to the heat of the sun. 
Molina, in his work on Chili, says that they have a very 
excellent variety, with a rind as thin as paper. 
In Senegal the fruit is called Pompion, and frequently at- 
tains the enormous weight of sixty, or even more pounds. 
Habitat. — This plant is exotic, no native varieties having 
been found in the United States. 
It has been introduced from the warmer climate of the 
south of Europe and Asia, and is now extensively cultivated 
throughout our country, particularly in New Jersey and the 
Carolinas, where the soil seems well suited to the habit of the 
plant, and the fruit comes to the greatest perfection. 
Common Name — Water Melon. 
The seeds being the portion used in medicine, are more par- 
ticularly the subject of this essay. 
Sensible Properties. — The seeds are numerous, obovate, 
raised at their margin, varying greatly in color from white to 
