Meteor olooical Constitution of' the Eurth. 315 



are mentioned in it, yet two of them dd not admit of an^ 

 doubt, and these are sufficient for the determination of the 

 climate of Palestine in former times, viz. the date-tree and the 

 vine. 



The date-tree was frequent, and principally in the southern- 

 most part of the country. Jericho was called Palmtown. The 

 people had palm branches in their hands. Deborah's palm-tree 

 is mentioned between Rana and Bethel. Pliny mentions the 

 palm-tree as being frequent in Judea, and principally about 

 Jeridho, in the neighbourhood of which he speaks of palm-trees. 

 Tacitus and Josephus speak likewise of woods of palm-trees, 

 as well as Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Theophrastus. Among 

 the Hebrew coins, those with date-trees are by no means rare, 

 and the tree is easily recognized, as it is figured with its fruit. 



The vine also was one of the plants most cultivated in 

 Palestine, and not merely for the grapes, but really for the 

 preparation of wine. The spies which Moses sent out into 

 Canaan brought back a grape which required two men to 

 carry. The feast of the tabernacle of the Jews was a feast on 

 account of the wine harvest. In many places vineyards are 

 spoken of, and Moses, the prophets, and Christ, took fre- 

 quently their similes from the vine-grapes and wine. From a 

 passage where the cultivation of the vine is mentioned in the 

 valley of Engeddy, it is evident that the vine did not only 

 grow in the northernmost mountainous part of the country, but 

 also in its southern lower part. Strabo and Diodorus also 

 speak frequently of the cultivation of the vine in Palestine ; 

 and grapes are as frequent a symbol even for the whole coun- 

 try on Hebrew coins as the palm-tree is. They occur even to, 

 gether on the same coin. 



The date-tree, in order to bring its fruit to perfection, re. 

 quires a mean temperature of 21° centigrade. Near Palermo, 

 which has a mean temperature a little above 17**, the date- 

 free grows, but its fruit is not eatable. At Catania, where 

 the mean temperature is 18 — 19°, the dates want sweetness, 

 and do not germinate when laid into the earth. On the 

 north coast of Africa, near Algiers, whose mean temperature 

 is ^1°, the dates ripen perfectly; but the best are brought 

 from the interior. Since dates, therefore, ripened perfectly, and 



