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Story  of  the  Pap  aw. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1901. 
ing  a  papaw  tree,  and  if  the  time  of  the  papaw  has  quite  come, 
beneath  the  tree  will  be  assembled  a  half  dozen  negroes. 
The  ripe  fruit  is  eaten  as  we  eat  melons.  Salt  enhances  the 
flavor,  and  some  users  add  sugar.  The  melons  must  be  perfectly 
ripe  when  eaten  raw,  as  the  green  fruit  contains  a  strongly  marked 
acrid  principle.  The  color  of  the  ripe  fruit  is  more  or  less  that  of 
our  very  yellow  muskmelon.  The  sweetness  of  its  resinous,  pulpy 
juice  clings  to  the  tongue  and  remains  prevalent  for  some  hours. 
The  natives  enjoy  the  flavor,  while  the  stranger  has  to  acquire  the 
liking.  Excellent  preserves  are  made  of  the  ripe  frnit,  which,  for 
this  purpose,  is  boiled  down  in  sugar  and  candied  (like  citron). 
At  the  sugarhouses  slices  of  the  papaw  are  often  seen  seething 
in  hot  syrup.  The  slices  of  melon  combined  with  some  acid  fruit  is 
made  into  native  tarts,  which  articles  correspond  more  or  less  to 
what  we  call  "  pies."  The  fruit  is  also  stewed  and  served  on  the 
table.  The  green  fruit  is  made  into  plain  and  spiced  pickles,  which 
are  highly  esteemed. 
The  fruit,  just  before  ripening,  is  peeled  and  sliced,  macerated  in 
cold  water,  with  frequent  changes  of  the  water  for  some  hours  ;  the 
then  macerated  fruit  is  dropped  into  boiling  water,  boiled  sharply 
and  then  served  as  a  vegetable. 
In  every  tropical  village  one  will  find  a  market  place  set  apart 
where  the  native  products  are  bought  and  sold,  and  in  such  a  place 
by  the  roadside,  under  the  shade,  are  the  market  women  in  their 
quaint  baskets  or  bowls,  the  traveller  finds  an  astonishing  and  puz- 
zling variety  of  green  and  yellow  colored  fruits  and  vegetables. 
The  papaw  is  always  there  in  abundance,  and  a  most  frequent  cry 
of  the  sellers  is,  "  Aqui  estan  las  Mameo,"  or  "  Ca  qui  ule  papaya 
ca  qui  ule.'' 
As  an  article  of  food  one  finds  the  papaw  prepared  in  a  score  of 
ways,  making  a  variety  of  edible  dishes,  which,  from  the  native 
standpoint,  would  be  expressed  in  our  language  as  "  wondrous  and 
nutritious  delicacies." 
A  plant  so  universally  distributed  and  possessed  with  such  varied 
properties,  naturally  takes  an  important  place  in  the  native  materia 
medica.    In  the  native  parlance,  "  It  makes  him  much  well." 
The  seeds  are  reputed  as  anthelmintic1  and  emmenagogue;  they 
are  also  used  as  a  thirst  quencher,  form  component  parts  of  a  drink 
used  in  fevers,  as  well  as  being  used  as  a  carminative.  Syrups, 
