the papaw; a genus of the decandra order, belonging to the dioecia class of plants.

Species. 1. The papaya rises with a thick, soft, herbaceous stem, to the height of 18 or 20 feet, na- ked till within two or three feet of the top. The leaves come out on every side, upon very long foot-stalks. Those which are situated undermost are almost hori- zontal, but those on the top are erect; these leaves in full grown plants are very large, and divided into many lobes deeply sinuated. The stem of the plant, and also the footstalks of the leaves, are hollow; and the whole abounds with a milky acid juice. The flowers of the male plant are produced from between the leaves, on the upper part of the plant. They have footstalks near two feet long; at the end of which the flowers stand in loose clusters, each having a separate short foot-stalk: these are of a pure white, and have an agreeable odour. The flowers of the female papaya also come out from between the leaves towards the upper part of the plant, upon very short footstalks, fitting close to the stem: they are large, and bell-shaped, composed of five petals, and are commonly yellow; when these fall away, the germ swells to a large fleshy fruit, of the size of a small melon. These fruits are of different forms: some angular, and compressed at both ends; others oval, or globular; and some pyramidal: the fruit also abounds with the same acid and milky juice as the plants.

2. The prosoposa, differs from the other in having a branching stalk, the lobes of the leaves entire, the flower of a rose colour, and the fruit shaped like a pear.

Culture, &c. These plants being natives of hot coun- tries, cannot be preserved in Britain unless constantly kept in a warm house, which should be of a proper height to contain them. They are easily propagated by seeds, which are annually brought in plenty from the West Indies, though the seeds of the European plants ripen well. The seeds should be sown in a hot- bed early in the spring; when the plants are near two inches high, they should be removed into separate small pots, and each plunged into a hot-bed of tanners bark, carefully shading them from the sun till they have taken root; after which, they are to be treated in the same manner as other tender exotics. When they are remo- ved into other pots, care must be taken as much as pos- sible to preserve the ball of earth about them, because wherever their roots are laid bare they seldom survive. When they are grown to a large size, they make a noble appearance with their strong upright stems, garnished on every side near the top with large shining leaves,

spreading out near three feet all round the stem: the flowers of the male sort coming out in clusters on every side, and the fruit of the female growing round the stalks between the leaves, are so different from any thing of European production, as well to entitle these plants to a place in the gardens of the curious. The fruit of the first species is by the inhabitants of the Caribbee islands eaten with pepper and sugar as melons, but is much inferior to a melon in its native country; but those which have ripened in Britain were detectable, the only use to which Mr Miller says he has known them put, was, when they were about half grown, to soak them in salt water to get out the acid juice, and then pickle them for oranges, to which they are a good substitute.