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1 The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.
2 From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called "melicotones."
3 Or "golden apple." The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an emblem of love.
4 Apparently meaning the "sparrow quince." Dioscorides, Galen, and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?
5 "Early ripener."
6 Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the pear is.
7 Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.
8 Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.
9 We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.
10 The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of modern botanists.
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