Chap. 32.] 



THE LOTUS. 199 



to honied wine ; according to Nepos, however, it will not last 

 above ten days ; he states also that the berries are chopped up 

 with alica, 70 and then put away in casks for the table. In- 

 deed, we read that armies have been fed upon this food whan 

 marching to and fro through the territory of Africa. The 

 wood is of a black colour, and is held in high esteem for making 

 flutes ; from the root also they manufacture handles for knives, 

 and various other small articles. 



Such is the nature of the tree that is so called in Africa ; the 

 same name being also given to a certain 71 herb, and to a stalk" 

 that grows in Egypt belonging to the marsh plants. This last 

 plant springs up when the waters of the Nile have retired after 

 its overflow : its stalk is similar to that of the bean, and its 

 leaves are numerous and grow in thick clusters, but are shorter 

 and more slender than those of the bean. The fruit grows on 

 the head of the plant, and is similar in appearance to a poppy 

 in its indentations 73 and all its other characteristics ; withm 

 there are small grains, similar to those of millet. 74 The in- 

 habitants lay these heads in large heaps, and there let them 

 rot, after which they separate the grain from the residue by 

 washing, and then dry it; when this is done they pound it, 

 and then use it as flour for making a kind of bread. What is 

 stated in addition to these particulars, is a very singular 75 fact ; 

 it is said that when the sun sets, these poppy-heads shut and 

 cover themselves in the leaves, and at sun-rise they open 

 again ; an alternation which continues until the fruit is per- 

 fectly ripe, and the flower, which is white, falls off. 



(18.) Even more than this, of the lotus of the Euphrates, 76 

 it is said that the head and flower of the plant, at nightfall, 

 sink into the water, and there remain till midnight, so deep m 

 the water, that on thrusting in one's arm, the head cannot be 

 reached : after midnight it commences to return upwards, and 

 gradually becomes more and more erect till- sunrise, when it 



w A kind of grain diet. See B. xviii. c. 29, and B. xxii. c. 61. 



« The Melilotus officinalis of Linnaeus. 



72 The Nymphaea Nelumbo of Linnaeus, or Egyptian bean. 



« He speaks of the indentations on the surface of the poppy-head. 



74 See B. xxii. c. 28. ^ 



75 Fee remarks that there is nothing singular about it, the sun more or 

 less exercising a similar influence on all plants. 



76 The same as the Nymphaaa Nelumbo of the Nile, according to Uee. 



