258 NYMPH^ACE^. [part ii. 



and bottle-like appearance ; and the torus, 

 when they are taken out of it, looks like a 

 piece of honey-comb. The rhizoma is white 

 and fleshy. The stalks of the flowers and leaves 

 rise considerably above the water; and thus 

 the flowers have not the graceful appearance of 

 those of the Nymphsea, which seem to repose 

 on the surface. The leaf is very large, being 

 sometimes one or two feet in diameter ; and it 

 is always peltate, with the stalk exactly in 

 the centre. There is only one seed in each 

 carpel of the Nelumbium ; and this seed, which 

 has no thick leathery skin, is of about the size 

 and shape of an acorn. It is very good to eat, 

 having a sweet milky flavour, and in botanical 

 construction it resembles the common bean, 

 having no albumen, but a very large embryo. 

 This is probably the reason why it has been 

 supposed to be the bean of Pythagoras, and why 

 it is called the Sacred Bean of India. One of 

 the Hindoo fables represents the god Bramah 

 as first appearing in the form of a child, cradled 

 on a Lotos leaf, and floating on the waste of 

 waters. 



There are several kinds of Nelumbium, one 

 of which, a native of America, has double 

 3^ellow flowers ; and they all require a stove in 

 England. 



