THE CLASSICAL PLANTS OF SICILY. PPS 
flesh, —éyer 72» à: Chore yruneiay opodz2n xa? jõðerav—In Sicilian the 
Peach-tree is named Persicu, and the fruit Pérsica, or Pésca. 
43. A. communis.—Common Almond-tree. 
Mandorlu: In Sicily, both the bitter Almond, la mandorla 
amara, and the sweet, la mandorla dolce, are much cultivated. 
Auvyón*? Diosc. lib. i. cap. 111. where both sorts are men- 
tioned, A. c/xzx, and A. yAwxéim,— Dioscorides describes the 
way of making oil of almonds—Awuyddrwov £o, lib. i. cap. 
39.— Ausydarns "Theoph. lib. i. cap. 18.—Pomegranate, peach, 
almond, apricot, and a variety of other fruit-trees grow 
luxuriantly in. the lower or fertile region of Mount Etna. 
In ascending this region, called also Regione Piédemontana, 
and with reference to the climate, the /orrid zone, the tra- 
veller is amazed with the continued succession of vineyards, 
orchards and gardens for at least ten miles. This district 
of beautiful vegetation is only interrupted here and there, 
where the later streams of lava have flowed, and are not yet 
decomposed. The second, or middle region, Regione selvosa, 
abounds in large woods of oak, fir, and other forest-trees. 
Hence, Theocritus properly names the mountain, & roAudévdge0¢ 
Afris (Idyl. xi. v. 41.) ‘This is the temperate zone., 
The upper, or snowy region, Regione nevosa answers to 
frozen zone. Here vegetation ceases, and — 
Stat glacies iners 
Menses per omnes, 
But even the snow and ice of this perpetual winter have 
their value and their charms, for they are sent not only to 
different places in the island, but also to Italy, to the con- 
fectioners for iceing creams, fruit and water, &c., during the 
summer; the latter, the Syracusan poet has called a heavenly 
drink, —à-; Puxe Udae Asuxüg 8x ysdvog, rordy AuPz6or0v.—Ldyl. 
Xi. v. 47, 48. Confer. Sil. Ital. lib. xiv. v. 64—10. 
Mount Etna is only known to the natives by the name 
Mon Gibellu, which is corrupted from the Arabic word 
Gibel, or Djebel, a mountain: so Gibraltar, or Gibelterra 
signifies mountain-land. The Moors were long in possession 
