_Butter_.


Mercury, _Bonus Henricus_, English Mercury, or _Lapathum Unctuosum_. See
_Blitum_.


37. Melon, _Melo_; to have been reckon'd rather among _Fruits_; and tho'
an usual Ingredient in our _Sallet_; yet for its transcendent delicacy
and flavor, cooling and exhilarating Nature (if sweet, dry, weighty, and
well-fed) not only superior all the _Gourd_-kind, but Paragon with the
noblest Productions of the Garden. _Jos. Scaliger_ and _Casaubon_, think
our _Melon_ unknown to the Ancients, (which others contradict) as yet
under the name of _Cucumers_: But he who reads how artificially they
were Cultivated, rais'd under Glasses, and expos'd to the hot Sun, (for
_Tiberius_) cannot well doubt of their being the same with ours.

There is also a _Winter-Melon_, large and with black Seeds, exceedingly
Cooling, brought us from abroad, and the hotter Climates, where they
drink _Water_ after eating _Melons_; but in the colder (after all
dispute) _Wine_ is judg'd the better: That it has indeed by some been
accus'd as apt to corrupt in the Stomach (as do all things else eaten
in excess) is not deny'd: But a perfect good _Melon_ is certainly as
harmless a Fruit as any whatsoever; and may safely be mingl'd with
_Sallet_, in Pulp or Slices, or more properly eaten by it self, with
a little _Salt_ and _Pepper_; for a _Melon_ which requires _Sugar_ to
commend it, wants of Perfection. _Note_, That this Fruit was very rarely
cultivated in _England_, so as to bring it to Maturity, till Sir _Geo.
Gardner_ came out of _Spain_. I my self remembring, when an ordinary
_Melon_ would have been sold for five or six Shillings. The small unripe