"At one time, when a sacrifice was necessary, the river Asopus had so inundated the country that it was impossible to take a sheep across it for the purpose, when some youths, recollecting that the Greek word _melon_ signified both sheep and an apple, stuck wooden pegs into the fruit to represent legs, and brought this vegetable quadruped as a substitute for the usual offering. After this date, the apple was considered as especially devoted to Hercules." In ancient times, Greece produced most excellent apples. They were the favorite dessert of Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great, the latter causing them to be served at all meals. Doubtless they came to be used to excess; for it is recorded of the Athenian lawgiver, Solon, that he made a decree prohibiting a bridegroom from partaking of more than one at his marriage banquet, a law which was zealously kept by the Greeks, and finally adopted by the Persians. In Homer's time the apple was regarded as one of the precious fruits. It was extensively cultivated by the Romans, who gave to new varieties the names of many eminent citizens, and after the conquest of Gaul, introduced its culture into Southwestern Europe, whence it has come to be widely diffused throughout all parts of the temperate zone. Apples were introduced into the United States by the early settlers, and the first trees were planted on an island in Boston Harbor, which still retains the name of Apple Island. The wild crab tree is the parent of most of the cultivated varieties. THE PEAR.--The origin of the pear, like that of the apple, is shrouded in obscurity, though Egypt, Greece, and Palestine dispute for the honor of having given birth to the tree which bears this prince of fruits. Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher of the fourth century, speaks of the pear in terms of highest praise; and Galen, the father of medical science, mentions the pear in his writings as possessing "qualities which benefit the stomach." The pear tree is one of the most hardy of all fruit trees, and has been known to live several hundred years. THE QUINCE.--This fruit appears to have been a native of Crete, from whence it was introduced into ancient Greece; and was largely cultivated by both Greeks and Romans. In Persia, the fruit is edible in its raw state; but in this country it never ripens sufficiently to be palatable without being cooked. The fruit is highly fragrant and exceedingly acid, and for these reasons it is largely employed to flavor other fruits.