all the honey from the nectarium, of which there is so great a quantity as to become, in this foggy climate, a principal obstacle to the plant's perfecting its seeds; the germen, and indeed the whole contents of the corolla, generally turning mouldy. The stamina and style are so very perfect, that by this means, I think, we may perhaps get a few seeds, which its cousin-germans, the Hemanthi, produce with us very readily.

I remain,

With a great deal of respect,

Dr. Lettsom's most obedient servant,

From the infinite pains that

you have bestowed in endeavouring to make known the merits of the Mangel Wurzel, I have no doubt but that you would, with equal satisfaction, lay before the public any similar discovery. It is from this consideration, Sir, that I now take the liberty of sending you a few specimens of a vegetable which I have cultivated with the greatest success. Without en

deavouring to draw any comparison between this vegetable and the Mangel Wurzel, I will venture to say that it has, at least, one evident superiority; and this is, that it will grow where the other will not, as the place, of all others, where it will thrive most, is a common dunghill; no other care being required than that of fencing it off from cattle. You will at once see, Sir, by the specimens that I send you, that the vegetable in question is a gourd, though, as to its specific name, I must leave that to you to discover.

As I had formerly eaten it in different parts of Turkey, I was willing to try how far its propagation might be rendered useful in this country. I therefore wrote for some seeds, and can, with infinite satisfaction, assure you that its utility has surpassed my most sanguine expectations. I have now tried it for three years successively; and I find that its culture may be more depended on than that of any other vegetable whatsoever. In order to bring the fruit as forward as possible, the plant should be raised in a common hot-bed, as a cucumber; though my gardener tells me, and from my own observation I find he is right, that it is of a far more hardy, and consequently of a much less precarious nature. When the plants are of a proper size, they must be transplanted, either, as I before observed, on a dunghill, or any other piece of waste ground, if not too moist. This is all the culture they require, except cutting off a few leaves, if the plant be too luxuriant. Three or four

plants will be sufficient to cover a bed of about three yards by eight or ten; and these will, I will venture to assert, produce as much vegetable substance for at least three months, as half a dozen, or more, persons can consume; besides supplying no inconsiderable quantity for pigs; as during the greater parts of July and August, some hundreds weight of the fruit will be found to spare. In Turkey they are eaten very small; but I seldom use them myself, except in the very beginning, till they are of the bigness of a middling cucumber, and from this again till they attain their full growth, when I suppose they will weigh nine or ten pounds. They may be dressed in a variety of ways; but, for general use, I find plain boiling to be the best. When small, and whilst the skin is tender, they require nothing more than being put at once into the pot; but as they grow larger it will become requisite to scrape them, and take out their seeds. The plant will continue putting forth its fruit till pinched by an autumnal frost. At this period, or perhaps rather earlier, all the large fruit should be gathered and hung up in a dry place, which will preserve them in a perfect state great part of the winter, and perhaps through the whole of it, if properly managed. At this time, as few families would wish to consume an entire fruit in one day, a part may be cut off, and the remainder be dressed a day or two after, when it will be found equally good.

They are rather of a watery nature, and, at first, somewhat insipid in taste; but though I eat them at least four days in a week during the season, I never have found them occasion the slightest flatulency, though many other vegetables give me this complaint. If eat with butter, pepper, and salt, as an artichoke, they will be found greatly to resemble in taste that vegetable.

You will readily, Sir, suppose that I can have no other motive in offering you this address, than an anxious wish to make known, what I think may prove highly beneficial to that class of people who have only a few yards of garden. If, therefore, Sir, you should feel inclined to second this measure by any experiments which you may first think proper to make yourself, (and which, from your known philanthropy, I trust will be the case,) I will with pleasure supply you with any quantity of seeds that you may require.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient and

very humble servant,

W. WALDEGrave.

LETTER CCXVIII.

Dr. LETTSOM to Lady ANN ERSkine.

Dear Lady Ann,

June 18, 1791.

I deeply sympathize with thee, and all the family in Christ, in the removal of that evangelic woman so lately among us, the Countess of Huntingdon. Your souls were so united, and your affections so endeared together, that I cannot but feel in a particular manner on thy account, lest the mournful state of thy mind may undermine thy constitution, and endanger a life spent in mitigating the painful sufferings of body of our deceased friend whilst living. Her advanced age and debilitated frame had long prepared my mind for an event which has at length deprived the world of its brightest ornament. How often have we, when sitting by her sick bed, witnessed the faithful composure with which she has viewed this awful change! not with the fearful prospect of doubt, not with the dreadful apprehension of the judgment of an offended Creator: her's was all peace within; a tranquillity and cheerfulness which conscious acceptance alone would convey. How often have we seen her elevated above the earth and earthly things, uttering this language: My work is done, I have nothing to do but to go to my Heavenly Father."