In the class of ferulaceous plants we must include hemp[950] also. There are some plants, again, to which we must give the appellation of “fleshy;”[951] such as those spongy[952] productions which are found growing in damp meadows. As to the fungus, with a hard, tough flesh, we have already[953] made mention of it when speaking of wood and trees; and of truffles, which form another variety, we have but very recently given a description.[954] CHAP. 23. (5.)—VEGETABLES OF A CARTILAGINOUS NATURE—CUCUMBERS. PEPONES. The cucumber[955] belongs to the cartilaginous class of plants, and grows above the ground. It was a wonderful favourite with the Emperor Tiberius, and, indeed, he was never without it; for he had raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun; while, in winter, they were withdrawn, and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-stone.[956] We find it stated, also, by the ancient Greek writers, that the cucumber ought to be propagated from seed that has been steeped[957] a couple of days in milk and honey, this method having the effect of rendering them all the sweeter to the taste. The cucumber, while growing, may be trained to take any form that may be wished: in Italy the cucumbers are green[958] and very small, while those grown in some of the provinces are remarkably large, and of a wax colour or black.[959] Those of Africa, which are also remarkably prolific, are held in high esteem; the same, too, with the cucumbers of Mœsia, which are by far the largest of all. When the cucumber acquires a very considerable volume, it is known to us as the “pepo.”[960] Cucumbers when eaten remain on the stomach till the following day, and are very difficult[961] of digestion; still, for all that, in general they are not considered very unwholesome. By nature they have a wonderful hatred to oil, and no less affection for water, and this after they have been cut from the stem even.[962] If water is within a moderate distance of them, they will creep towards it, while from oil, on the other hand, they will shrink away; if any obstacle, too, should happen to arrest their progress, or if they are left to hang, they will grow curved and crooked. Of these facts we may be satisfactorily convinced in a single night even, for if a vessel filled with water is placed at four fingers’ distance from a cucumber, it will be found to have descended to it by the following morning; but if the same is done with oil, it will have assumed the curved form of a hook by the next day. If hung in a tube while in blossom, the cucumber will grow to a most surprising length.[963] It is only of late, too, that a cucumber of entirely new shape has been produced in Campania, it having just the form of a quince.[964] It was quite by accident, I am told, that the first one acquired this shape in growing, and it was from the seed of this that all the others have been reproduced.