G book

Pg 521

Squashes
It is now time to arrange the cartilaginous plants by the tiles of our garden; as are the gourds, cucumbers, & other similar ones. The Greeks call the squash уэ^жил>^а ,г&шЛ , & ^Лежи^та, in Latin Cucurbita, a concuruatù, so that for little prevention it has, it is easily bent. The Greeks, as Ruel says, have named the Courges *зМхш,ш on the reverse, as if it were a small and short lived; in the place where there is a tree and a grass which bears fat fruit. Euthydemis with the Squash, Cucumerem Indicum, Cocombre d'indie; because the seed was brought from India. Menodorus says, that there are two kinds of gourds, one of the Indies, which is called in Greek cnx¿«, that is to say, Cocombre; and the other called xs^SKiwin. Those of Gallipoli call long squash qiwj&a; & Cucumres, the rounds. Now there is so great affinity between the Courge, Cocombre , Pompons, and Melons, that the Greeks confuse their names, and proprietors. It is also an instrument, by means of which one draws the blood of the body, which we call in Francis Ventoufes, is called in Greek 7ixCx; & in Latin Cucurbitula, which is the diminutive of Cucurbita. From the beginning we would have for these effects round gourds dried up; now we make the Ventoufes of brass, horn, or glass. Besides, there are two principal species of squash; to cultivate the cultivated squash, or garden, called in Latin Cucurbita fatiua, or Hortenfis; in Greek vsïsxxwQa г/аепц©*, that is to say, Squash good to eat: in Arabic Haraba, Hara, or Charba: in Italian Zucca: in Spanish Calabazza: in German Knrbß. And the other who is Sauvage, whom we will talk about afterwards. In Latin, the long and the round are called by the same name. And indeed, how different they are in the figure, they have the same property. For they can be made to take whatever form they want, as we shall call them, but the Herbalists content themselves with many species, according to the diversity of their form, and the places in which they grow. Pline puts two species of squash; the one which is spreading through the walls to the roofs of the houses, where she loves to go up high, and yet she can not help herself to herself, and she grows very lightly, so that she herself is able to cover the vines & the tons. From the moment it is called the Trellis Gourd. The other is Common Squash, which crawls on the ground. As for the trellis gourds, it is gleeful to see the fat there, that for wind it does not move, and yet it is supported by a tail very loosely. We also have the shape that we want at the squash, put it in little baskets of Ozier incontinent it is defleurie: because it takes the shape that you want, until take the form of a dragon twisted. Nevertheless, those of the Treilles, who are at liberty, grow magnificently large; for they have seen such things as nine feet long. Thus, it appears that the species of gourds put by the Herbalists, for the reason of their fruit, are a species of squash of the vines, and of the commune, for they put a large one in the other, and a small one. The great is so called because of the flowers and fruits that make great: and the little one on the contrary. As for the third, they call it because its fruit is long. Matthiol also puts three kinds, the long, roundness & the flat. The long squash is long, in the form of branches, tender, angular, and goes to rest on the ground like the vine, except that it finds some support, to which it is easy to catch, and attaches to it by the means of his watch, of which there is one at each party, by which it also climbs on the trees, and on the vines, and is entangled there.

Pg 522

She throws her tails to one by some intervals, tied to a tail, which are round, but at the end there are certain acute angles, bluish, soft to the touch, a little hairy, and very large. pretty good to those of the Cabaret. The flowers appear near the white and white foliage of the figure of the fleurs-de-lys, or they are divided into five small fuchsia-like foliage, hairy from within, which are partly fertile, and partly sterile. Now the steriles are graded in that they have threads in the middle, and are more velvety, and have no pimple beneath the tail, which is the beginning of the fruit. But the fertile ones have three little forked nets, and do not attach themselves to the tail at once: for there is a small, intertwined, somewhat hairy pimple, which is the beginning of the squash, which is going down to the tail. And as the flower comes to spread, this button gradually grows. In the end, having become very large and long, he comes to die. And that's what's called Squash. This fruit in the beginning is green and hairy, having a tender skin, flesh or white pulp, sweet in taste. When he dies, he becomes yellow. Its skin is hardened, and its flesh is spongy, and full of seed, which is uniform, flat, pointed by one of the ends, to which there are two horns; on the other side it is wide. Its bark is like white wood, in which there is a soft core. The root is white, being diluted in several other small ones. As to the great or flat trellis gourd, it is as susceptible to the preceding as to the plagues, the leaves, the flowers, and the seed; but it is different as to fruit, for it is round, fat and broad. The small or round trellis gourd, which is fertile for this purpose, is only the more mundane seed, and the fruit is short-lived, with a long neck. However, these diversities of figure in the case of gourds may be forged by the industry of the gardeners; for the seed which is near the neck of the gourd, makes the squash long, and that of the bottom; but not so much. The middle one makes them round. The one on the sides makes them big and short. But whoever wants to have big squashes, you have to take the seed from the middle of the squash, and plant it against the bottom. On the other hand, there are gourds, like barrels to hold wine, and other things, and all the pilgrims and travelers make their way to drink. Those which are to be kept for seed, must be removed from the plant in the winter, and afterwards dried in the sun, or in the smoke, lest the seed be decayed. There are, however, other kinds of foreign gourds, which are said to have been brought from the Indes Occidentales. There are some who call them Courge d'Inde; which are different in size, figure, and color. However, they all approach the figure of Melons.

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There are large, small, and mediocre ones, and others that are round, as we see in the present, look good, like Longs, which are very strong. Fuchse put it under the name of Cocombre of Turkey. There are even different colors. They have leaves much larger than our Common Gourds, firmer, sweeter, and approaching those of the Vine, attached to a strong tail at the branches, which are like large branches, quarries, afpres, & velues, which spread far off the ground, and, supported by poles or other supports, they ascend well over the vines and shade them. Their flowers are large in lilies, and golden in color. They gather their fruit in autumn, which keeps all winter at the fireplace. They have a large seed, made in the manner of a kernel of Almond, in which there is a soft and good kernel. These squashes are not inferior to those of ours. Dalechamp also adorns with them another kind of gourds, which he calls in Latin Cucurbita verrucofa, a squash full of warts, which have the root, the leaves, the flowers, and vine* as the others. But there is a difference as to the fruit, which has a smooth, smooth texture to the others, as much as those of Indie are lined with new and more expensive coffers. But these are all covered with dimples* and little knots in the manner of warts. In which we can see how nature works to distinguish things. He calls it Cucurbita laciniata, a fringed squash, the one that Dodon disguised under the name of Pepo latus, from which the fruit is flat, round, and broad, covered with a thin, tender, and fringed effusion around it. It is made as a shield, has a white seed inside that is as good as that of the Cocombre, but it is no longer so rich. It is commonly called Ears. "There is a lot," says Pline, "Savage Squashes, which the Greeks call Somphos. They are hollow, for that is where they came from: They are no bigger than a finger, and grow among the rocks. The juice drawn from this squash by mashing is singular to the stomach.

Pg 524

Some believe, that it is the Courge marine. Once again, it is very different from the Colocynth, which is called Courge Fauuage. This Squash, which Pliny calls Somphos, is, according to the opinion of the most learned Simplicities, the plant which is otherwise called Momordica, in Francais de Merueilles. Now the squash likes the manure marvelously, and to be stuck, and does not grow if it is not planted. It benefits wonderfully wet place. If she has water to command, she does not need to be much grown. When it is hot, it is more dead than cold. Pliny says that the longer the gourds are long and grainy, the better they taste, and that those who grow hung in the air are healthier. They have less seed, but the duration of the seed makes them good for food. There has been a great deal of invention* to keep the squash whole and juicy, as is done with the Cocombres by putting them in compost. However, there are some who say that they will keep green, if we put sand in a hut in a dark place, on which we then put the gourds and squashes, covering them with dry hay, and finally with earth over. This is what Pline says. Today the Genoese cut the squash very gently in long strips, which they dry up in the sun, and keep them dry all the year long. They are so sweet that they are said to be candied with sugar. What is easy for them to do, because the country is hot there. They are thus eaten in soup, and they go to five pounds a pound. As to the raw squash, it is ill-pleasing to eat, as Galen says, in the stomach, and is difficult to digest; so much so that, although he is obliged to eat other meat for want of other meat, he will give birth to a great cold child in his stomach, which will make him all faint, and will have vomited, which is the best means of cooking these. accidents there. For this reason it has been accustomed to eat the gourds, as several other fruits which do not keep, after having boiled, or fricassees, or roasted. Now the boiled squash has no magnificent favor, giving the body a cold and moist food, for which it gives very little, but it is slightly slippery, because of its slippery effect, and because all meats that are wet without any affection, make this natural there. It is not very hard to digest, because it is not corrupted in the stomach, as happens when it is badly done, or when there are bad moods in the stomach; sometimes as long as it goes to the stomach too long, as it does with all the other moist fruits which do not keep watch: for they are corrupted in the stomach, but they are only slightly descended. from the bottom. All the same, then, that the Courge de Foy gives a nourishment to the body, which has no quality of which we may perceive to taste, and, as well as the mimicking* things*, or salt, it assumes their quality. Since it is roasted* or fricassee, it loses much of its natural moisture, and what remains is of no magnificient quality, nor when it is simply boiled. In order to restore its natural moisture it will be very good to scare Oregano among: because it is necessary to mingle among all such meats something acre, aspre, sour, or salty, if we want them to make good gouft, & they do not provoke vomiting. As for the use of squash in medicine, Galen says that it is cold and damp in the second degree. For the juice of scrapes incorporated with rosato oil is good for ear pain when there is inflammation. If it is applied to the whole heat, it cools the hot abscess. Whilst it was eaten moist and dry, it was said that the squash, which is good to eat, being eaten raw, and applied to the swelling and puffs, appeals to them. The scrapes of this are good against the inflammation of the brain of little children, and are applied to the rest of the body. They are good for refreshing the inflammation of the eyes, and the gout* of the feet. The juice extracted from these scrapers distilled alone in the ears, or else with rosato oil, is singular against the pain of these. Being applied on the skin it is good to appease its ardor during the burning flowers. The juice drawn by the expression of the boiled squash, put in drink with a little honey and nitre, smooths the belly gently. The wine put in a newly crushed squash, if it is held in the iron, will lighten the belly and be taken in drink. This last claufule is thus with the Greek, k¡ « щ wA&vat тут «uîjy , iy%¡ et ç те o/vov , it, t^puÓecáffaí , к&&с<гсц тв тли ЩК > /&~ .jfá. «mA<>W Çe

Pg 525

It would be better to translate it thus: if having crushed the raw squash wine is put in it, and that it is sifted to the iron, then that having soaked it with water, it will be warmed to it, it will gently relieve* the belly. But instead of what there is in common examples [script], there is to the old, that is to say [script], that it is boiled at once. Pliny puts the same remedies as Dioscorides touching squash; but he adds much more. The juice drawn from the squash, scraped or peeled, is placed in the ears in pain. The flesh from within the seed, is singular to the calluses and gallons that come to the feet, and to the open abscess. The juice of the squash, cooked whole with its skin, firms up the teeth which shake, and gives you pain. The decoction of the boiled squash is good for repressing the ardent defluxions that fall on the eyes. Stacked & applied leaves with cypress leaves are good at healing the wounds. As much in fact the squash cooked in clay & incorporated with the fat of Oye. His peels also refresh the drops[gout*] that are just beginning, and the ardor of the head, especially small children. Applied, they fuse well with the fire S. Antoine, like their seed. The juice of squash, reduced to liniment with rosato oil, and vinegar, moderates the ardor of fever. The ashes of the boiled wild squashes well cure the burns. Chrysippus, a doctor, was forbidden to eat squash. Nevertheless, they are all in good health, they are good to the stomach, to the ulcers of the senses, and to the health. Now where Pliny says; the ardor of the head, singularly children; Dioscorides says, "o-e t&tùoi wcuJioiç", That is to say, children who endure inflammation of the parts which surround the brain, and its membranes. For Paulus says: Siriasis is the inflammation of the parts which surround the circle of little children and their membranes. And a little later he orders the scrapers of squash for Siriase. Pliny in another place calls this malady Adustio infantium, saying; Ofsbus in canino fimo inuentis adustio infantium, that vocatur Siriafis, adalligatis emendalur; that is to say; The bones which are found in the droppings of dogs, are tied to the necks of little children, and cure the ardor of the dogs, which is called Siriasis. In another place he calls it infantium, distilling; infantium distillationibus, quod Siriafin vocant illita medentur. Sometimes it is simply the Greek word Siriafis; as when he says, Siriafefque infantium fpongia humida cerebro humefacfo, rana inuerfa allegata efficacifism fanat: quam aridam inneniri affirmant, that is to say: As for the Siriafis of the little children, it is good after having moistened the brain with a wet sponge mife no need to apply a frog to it, and say that in a few hours it will be fined. As for the word Strigmenta, of which it is, or ramenta, that is what Dioscorides calls ^ сслава, that is to say scrapings; that their juice moderates the ardor of fever. What Dioscorides says: Applied in liniment, he treads the ardor of the skin to the ardent fever, or as Cornarius has translated it, it is clean, being applied in liniment to the skin that fires on fire during hot fever.