osses, &c.

Cucumber, though rather in request, was supposed to be an unwholesome
vegetable, because it was said that the inhabitants of Forez, who ate much
of it, were subject to periodical fevers, which might really have been
caused by noxious emanation from the ponds with which that country
abounded. Lentils, now considered so wholesome, were also long looked upon
as a doubtful vegetable; according to Liebault, they were difficult to
digest and otherwise injurious; they inflamed the inside, affected the
sight, and brought on the nightmare, &c. On the other hand, small fresh
beans, especially those sold at Landit fair, were used in the most
delicate repasts; peas passed as a royal dish in the sixteenth century,
when the custom was to eat them with salt pork.

Turnips were also most esteemed by the Parisians. "This vegetable is to
them," says Charles Estienne, "what large radishes are to the Limousins."
The best were supposed to come from Maisons, Vaugirard, and Aubervilliers.
Lastly, there were four kinds of lettuces grown in France, according to
Liebault, in 1574: the small, the common, the curled, and the Roman: the
seed of the last-named was sent to France by Francois Rabelais when he was
in Rome with Cardinal du Bellay in 1537; and the salad made from it
consequently received the name of Roman salad, which it has ever since
retained. In fact, our ancestors much appreciated salads, for there was
not a banquet without at least three or four different kinds.

Fruits.--Western Europe was originally very poor in fruits, and it only
improved by foreign importations, mostly from Asia by the Romans. The
apricot came from Armenia, the pistachio-nuts and plums from Syria, the
peach and nut from Persia, the cherry from Cerasus, the lemon from Media,
the filbert from the Hellespont, and chestnuts from Castana, a town of
Magnesia. We are also indebted to Asia for almonds; the pomegranate,
according to some, came from Africa, to others from Cyprus; the quince
from Cydon in Crete; the olive, fig, pear, and apple, from Greece.

The statutes of Charlemagne show us that almost all these fruits were
reared in his gardens, and that some of them were of several kinds or
varieties.

A considerable period, however, elapsed before the finest and more
luscious productions of the garden became as it were almost forced on
nature by artificial means. Thus in the sixteenth century we find
Rabelais, Charles Estienne, and La Framboisiere, p