59 



adopted as the symbol of fertility, in which point of 

 view it has, from the remotest antiquity, been con- 

 sidered with religious veneration in India, and makes 

 a conspicuous figure in the mythology of that ancient 

 country. 



Of the beans the Egyptians make bread j but they 

 were prohibited to be eaten by their priests, and also 

 by the disciples of Pythagoras. In the works of Sir 

 William Jones there are innumerable illustrations re- 

 specting this plant as connected with the poetry and 

 the religion of the Hindoos : and I have no doubt this 

 is the herb Lotus referred to in the works of Homer 

 and Virgil. There was also a tree Lotus among the 

 ancients, which produced a fruit in shape and size re- 

 sembling an olive, and had a sweet taste like honey, 

 from which a cordial spirit was extracted that was said 

 to make men forget their cares, 



THE END OF VOL. I. 



