Melons
THE HE national fondness for watermelons, for spicy nutmegs, and their kind is so intense; so inseparable seem our hot summer sun and gorgeously vivid melons, our negro population and gastronomic bliss from national prosperity, from each bit of soil and atmosphere American, that we have long since forgotten that both melon and negro were but adopted and adapted; that they were not as much our own originally as the Indians, as maize, cotton, tobacco, and potatoes. But, with our combined talents for foreign affiliation, amalgamation, and assimilation and our intense patriotism this could not fail to be. The tinge of the tropics which appeals to us in the multi-coloured, formed, and flavoured succulent dainties is entirely typical of our sunny Southern States and they also so richly riot over our broad North-land that it is difficult indeed to remember, even with some unusually concentrated whiff of musky spiciness from the smaller types of melon, that the whole group had an Oriental origin; that India, "the plains of Ispahan," "the floating islands of Cashmere"-all Asia-have presumably first claim. Lucullus is supposed to have introduced the muskmelon and nutmeg into Rome from Armenia, but the British Isles made their earliest acquaintance with this group (the smaller melons) in the sixteenth century, when taken there from Jamaica. It is difficult to state the exact date of the melon's advent into America but it is now so much one with the soil that we may be content to waive claim to its origin and merge exact dates because of present riches. Broadly speaking, there are three classes of melons, to the first belonging the larger, watermelons; to the second the muskmelon, canteloupe, and nutmeg group, and to the third the citron melons. All of them are members of the Cucurbitacea, or Gourd Family, to which, also, the pumpkin, squash, and cucumber belong. The watermelon, Citrullus citrullus, is, in a sense, "a thing apart," being considered a distinct genus. It is in this, with its many varieties, that we particularly revel in America. The Kaukoor (Citrullus utillissimus), is a favourite variety of melon in India. It is rather a small, oval, and yellowmeated melon of which both the flesh and seeds are prized: the former pickled or used in curries, or uncooked. oily seeds, when round, form a farinaceous meal; the oil, extracted, is used for lamp oil; the seeds are also used medicinally. In Egypt and Arabia the favourite melon is the Chate (Citrullus chate) which much resembles the American watermelon.
The Our grandmothers made good use of all three of the types known to the United States. The citron melon was especially esteemed for rich conserves. On the other hand it made the simplest of sauces. The canteloupe group was highly regarded as a basis for pickles and marmalades, and the watermelon as conserves or medicine. This last melon is particularly refreshing, arriving as it does with the greatest heat of the year. Unripe, like the muskmelon, (Cucumis melo) it is apt to produce unpleasant, colicky symptoms, but thoroughly ripe furnishes safety to the system with the carrying away of any feverish tendency. Among many foreign peoples, as formerly in our own country, the fresh simple juice is considered excellent for the liver, kidneys, and bladder, and the seeds, like those of the pumpkin and cucumber, "bruised and rubbed up with water to form an emulsion," are given for catarrhal disorders. The Dispensatory of the United States (Wood and Bache) to-day recognises in its list of "unofficial" remedies, the refreshing and purifying qualities of watermelon seeds and states that an "infusion of two ounces, bruised, to a pint of water, may be taken ad libitum." The freshly expressed, simple juice and a preparation called "watermelon honey,” or “Arbooznyimiod," are in high repute among the peasants of Russia and used in dropsy, chronic congestion of the liver, and intestinal catarrh. The watermelon, though more bulky, and having onetenth per cent. of fat where it is reckoned the muskmelon has none, has less of the richness of the fruit sugars, less ash, protein, and heat producing or energy value and in its very lack of actual food elements is one of the simplest, most wholesome of nature's purifiers. (See tables appended for figures regarding food value of melons.)