446 Mr. Lamsert’s Account of the Galls found on a Species of Oak 
the curiosity to taste a small quantity of the interior of one, I found it the 
strongest of bitters, and that it may truly be said of it, * as bitter as gall." 
The Gall is pear-shaped, with a circle of small sharp-pointed protuberances 
on the upper part of it, which appear to be formed by the insect for air or 
defence, or some other purpose. In each of the Galls there is an aperture 
through which the insect escapes, and in the centre there is a small round 
hole, or nidus, where it has lodged. 
Since writing the above, I find the leaves of the oak to be those of Quercus 
infectoria, which is accurately figured in Olivier's Travels in the Levant, and 
that the Galls are identical with those of commerce. The tree grows abun- 
dantly throughout Syria. The insect has been named by Olivier Diplolepis ; 
and it is also accurately figured by him in the above-mentioned work, but he 
does not appear to have been aware of the Galls being the same with the Mala 
insana. 
The following are extracts from Conder's Modern Traveller: 
“ There yet remains to be noticed, in connexion with this subject, the far- 
famed apples 
“which grew 
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom stood." 
Tacitus and Josephus both mention this fruit as beautiful to the eye, but 
crumbling at the touch to dust and bitter ashes*. Reland, Maundrell and 
Shaw all express themselves as sceptical concerning its existence. But none 
of them explored the borders of the lake sufficiently to entitle them to give à 
decided opinion on the subject, having only seen its northern shore. Pococke 
is inclined to lay more stress on the ancient testimonies ; and he supposes the 
apples to be pomegranates, “which having a tough, hard rind, and being left - 
on the trees two or three years, the inside may be dried to dust, and the out- 
side may remain fair. Hasselquist however, the pupil of Linnzus, pro- 
nounces the Poma sodomitica to be the fruit of the Solanum Melongena, (Egg- 
* Book of Wisdom, chap. x. verse 7.—“ . : . . of whose wickedness even to this day the waste land 
that smoketh is a testimony, and plants bearing fruit that never come to ripeness: and a standing 
pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul." 
+ See also Wisdom x. 7. 
