100 



FLORA OF THE 



In my opinion there is sufficient evidence to show 

 that these two decorative motives (the date tree and the 

 lotus) had their origin separately — the one in Assyria 

 and the other in Egypt — and then through the inter- 

 course of these two nations a sort of hybridism ensued, 

 and now the difficulty is to find out the real origin of 

 so many decorative motives we see everywhere. 



Mr. Goodyear, in his ' Grammar of the Lotus ' p. 28, 

 gives a seed-vessel of the Lotus — " the ovary bulb of 

 the Lotus gone to seed." I have given an outline of 

 the ripe seed-vessel of NynipJioea alba} in fig. 38, to show 



Fig. 38 — Seed vessel of Nymphcea alba : (r?) is a side view ; {i) a top 

 view ; the scars of the fallen petals are seen on the side. The star 

 on the top is deeply pitted in the centre. 



that it is not unlike a poppy head, and certainly the 

 two spherical bodies on the altar of ' Hapi,' in fig. 39, 

 are like poppy heads. Moreover, the long stalks, by 



1 Mr. W. Watson, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, courteously sent me a ripe 

 seed-vessel of Nymphcea alba. 



