Bosams 
CUCKOO-FLOWER. 
of the nest all the other young or eggs, and thus 
engrosses to itself the whole parental care of the 
bird in whose nest it has been lodged. The col- 
our of the cuckoo’s eggs is extremely variable. 
Some, both in ground and pencilling, very much 
resemble the house-sparrow’s; some are indis- 
tinctly covered with bran-coloured spots; and 
others are marked with lines of black, resem- 
bling in some measure the eggs of the yellow- 
hammer. The cuckoo first appears in England 
about the 17th of April. Its egg is not ready 
for incubation sooner than the middle of May. 
A fortnight is taken up by the sitting bird in 
hatching the egg. The bird generally continues 
three weeks in the nest before it flies. The fos- 
ter parents feed it for more than five weeks after 
this period; so that, if the cuckoo took care of 
its own eggs and young, the newly-hatched bird 
would not be fit to provide for itself before its 
parent would be instinctively directed to seek a 
new residence, and be thus compelled to abandon 
its young one; for the old cuckoos take their 
final leave before the first week in July. The 
| young cuckvos forsake the nest as soon as fully 
fledged, and capable of providing for themselves. 
Their migrations from Europe are thought to be 
| chiefly directed towards Africa; thence they re- 
| gularly return with the spring. 
CUCKOO - FLOWER, — botanically Lychnis 
Flos-cuculi. A beautifully-flowering, indigenous, 
perennial-rooted, herbaceous plant, of the carna- 
tion tribe. It grows wild in the moist meadows 
of both England and Scotland; and has a con- 
siderable resemblance to rose-campion. Its stem 
is usually about 20 inches high; and its flowers 
are pink-coloured, and bloom from June till Sep- 
tember. A very handsome variety of it, with 
double flowers, and only about a foot high, oc- 
curs in bogs, and is worthy of a place in gardens. 
CUCKOO-FLOWER (Meapow),— botanically 
Cardamine Pratensis. A handsomely-flowering, 
indigenous, perennial-rooted, herbaceous plant, 
of the lady’s-smock genus, and cruciferous order. 
Its stem is thick, firm, and about a foot high; 
its radical leaves are winged and spreading; its 
| stem-leaves are small and single; and its flowers 
grow in little clusters, are large in size, have 
white and red colours, and bloom in April and 
May. Two double-flowered varieties, the one 
with white flowers and the other with red flow- 
ers, have long been cultivated in moist shady 
borders of the flower-garden. The fresh leaves 
of the meadow cuckoo-flower are sometimes used 
as spring salads; and, in common with all other 
edible cruciferze, have antiscorbutic properties. 
Expissations and infusions of the leaves were 
formerly regarded as efficient medicines in epi- 
lepsy, spasmodic affections, and diseases of the 
urinary organs; but they have lost nearly all 
their medicinal fame. 
CUCUBALUS. See Campion. 
CUCUMBER,—botanically Cucumis. 
of trailing annual plants, of the gourd tribe. 
A genus 
It 
CUCUMBER. 
911 
is distinguished from other genera of Cucurbita- 
ceze by the three thick split stigmas of its flowers, 
and by the thin margin of its seeds. The fruit 
of all its species is pulpy and many-seeded, and is 
divided, during its early state, into three or six 
cells. All the species are exotics, and in some 
degree tender; and upwards of twenty have been 
introduced to Britain, while several more have 
been scientifically described. 
Two of the principal species form the topics of 
our articles ConocynrH and Mrnon.—tThe citrul, 
pasteque, or water-melon, Cucumis citrullus, was 
introduced to Britain toward the close of the 
16th century. Its stem is usually about two or 
three yards long; its leaves are deeply cut and 
gashed into lobes and segments; and its fruit is 
round, has a spotted rind, and consists of a cold, 
watery, pinkish or white pulp, containing a num- 
ber of black seeds. This species, on account of 
the juiciness and cooling properties of its fruit, 
is very extensively cultivated in most of the hot 
countries of the northern hemisphere, whether 
in Asia, Europe, Africa, or America; but it has 
not sufficient delicacy of flavour to recommend 
it for cultivation in the gardens of the cooler 
parts of the world. 
The muricate cucumber, Cucumis muricatus, is 
a native of India, and was introduced to Britain 
in 1817. Its stem usually attains about two- 
thirds of the length of that of the citrul; and its 
fructification has a later habit of maturing. Its 
fruit is extensively used by the people of India: 
for curries and other dishes.—The dudaim, or 
apple-shaped cucumber, or Queen Anne’s pocket- 
melon, Cucumis dudaim, is a native of the Le- 
vant, and was introduced to Britain about the 
beginning of the 18th century. But though 
sometimes grown in British gardens, it is re- 
garded as a mere curiosity—The Jamaica cu- 
cumber, Cucumis jamaicensis, was introduced to 
Britain from Jamaica, upwards of 20 years ago, 
and is a cultivated species——The acute-angled 
cucumber, Cucumis acuiangulus, has an angularly- 
shaped fruit, and is cultivated in India, but does 
not seem to have been introduced to Britain. | 
The Hindoos regard it as a favourite and very 
wholesome pot vegetable, and dress it in various 
ways.—The tuberous cucumber, Oucumis tuber- 
osus, is also cultivated in India, but has not been 
introduced to Britain. Only the common people 
among the Hindoos relish it, and they dress it 
principally in the form of curry. 
A species called the most useful, Cucumis util- 
issimus, occurs wild in the higher arable districts 
of India, and is extensively cultivated by the 
Hindoos. Its stems are exactly like those of the 
species commonly cultivated in Britain, but not 
so extensive; its leaves, in general, are more or 
less five-lobed ; the largest of the lobes are gener- 
ally about six inches long and six inches broad; 
and its fruit, when young, is oblong, downy, and 
clouded with different hues of green, and when 
ripe, is perfectly oval, very smooth, variegated 
