THE CLASSICAL PLANTS OF SICILY. EES 
Oygéc, Theoph. lib. viii. cap. 3. Now called in Greece &uyos. 
Sibth. Frequent in corn-fields. 
39. Lathyrus sativus.— Blue Chickling Vetch. 
Aadizo¢.— "Theoph. lib. viii. cap. 10. It is named in the 
Sicilian dialect Cicerchia. 
40. Ceratonia Siliqua.— Caroub-tree. St. John's Bread, 
or Locust-tree. 
Kswu. Theoph. lib. i. cap. 18. The pods are named by 
Dioscorides, Jib. i. cap. 159, xeguria, from their resemblance 
to small horns. In Romaic they are called fudcxegurid, or 
wood-horns; but in Cyprus they retain their ancient name, 
asparia, Sibth.—In Arabic, Kharoob; in Italian, Carrube; in 
French, Carrubes. Pliny thus very accurately describes 
them,— Przdulces siliquae digitorum bominis longitudo 
illis, et interim falcata pollicari latitudine.—( Lib. xv. cap. 
24.)—The pods being filled with a saccharine pulp are 
eaten both green and when dry; they were a favourite food 
with the ancients. I observed some in the Museum at 
Naples, which had been found in a house at Pompeii. They 
are also given to cattle. In Sicily a spirit and a syrup are 
prepared from them. ‘The Caroub-tree is very handsome; 
the largest I saw were near Augusta, andat Syracuse. A 
Syracusan gentleman informed me that bees are extremely 
fond of the flowers, and that he attributed the excellence 
and flavour of the Hyblzan honey to them. 
It has received the name of St. John’s Bread, or Locust- 
tree, because some authors interpret the /ocusts, on which St. 
John fed, to be these pods. But there is no reason why the 
Baptist should not have eaten real locusts, as some nations 
are wont to do, both in ancient and modern times. Hero- 
dotus relates that the Nassamones, a people of Libya, caught 
locusts, and having dried them in the sun, ground them to a 
_ powder, mixed them with milk, and drank them,—Nascudirec 
s re arrensBoug ividy Ongevousi, Gufivayrsg webs vi) HAtor, xururlovol, xci 
Tuta dx) yára éximdooovres, Tivouon —Melpom. cap. 112.— And 
. Belzoni says that the Egyptians at the present day, **eat 
them when fried, considering them a dainty repast,”—(Vol. 
Secon Srates, P 
