142 MR. H. A. hurst's LIST OF DESERT-PLANTS 



sprinkled over with well-built villa residences, to which 

 English, Greek, Italian, and other residents of Alexandria 

 resort during the warmer months of the year, some even 

 making it their permanent abode. The dwelling-houses 

 cease entirely about six miles from Alexandria, where un- 

 inhabited desert is reached. Botanically speaking, the 

 district may be divided into three portions — the sea-coast, 

 the desert, and the irrigated margins of Lake Maadieh. 

 The plants, of which the following is a list, were collected 

 in the two former districts. I hope, on a future occasion, 

 to bring before you those found on the irrigated land in 

 the vicinity of Ramleh and Alexandria generally. 



It is stated that the migratory birds pass from Europe to 

 Africa and Asia by three routes, the most westerly being 

 by Gibraltar, the central by Malta, and the most easterly 

 by Greece, Crete, and Egypt. I am inclined to think 

 that the point for which these last birds direct their course 

 is Ramleh, the coast being comparatively conspicuous, both 

 from its height and from the waves generally breaking on 

 its shores. This may possibly account for some of the 

 plants there found. 



According to Boissier, one of the most ancient botanical 

 explorations was that of Prosper Alpinus, in the sixteenth 

 century ; Lippi also travelled in the country at the com- 

 mencement of the eighteenth century ; but although it 

 may be true that 



" Vixere fortes ante Agaraemnona," 



still it is from Linnaeus and his followers that we, in the 

 present age, date our knowledge. 



Forskahl (a pupil of Linnaeus) arrived, in 1 761, in Egypt; 

 and it was from his ' Flora ^gyptiaco-Arabica ■* that 

 Europe first became acquainted with the Egyptian flora. 

 He appears to have been a most extraordinary man. He 

 was robbed and ill-treated, and, it is reported, sold as a 



