NAT. ORDER. NYMPHIACE-E. 49 



proper Lotos, has obtained a relig-'ious revei-ence. It is remarkable 

 that neither Herodotus nor Theophrastus, the most ancient wi-iters by 

 which it is described, have attributed any sacred character to it, but 

 speak of it as only used as food by the Eg-yjitians. Both root and 

 seeds are esculent, sapid and wholesome. They are accounted cool- 

 ing and strengthening, and to be of service in extreme thirst, diarrhcEa, 

 tenesmus, vomiting and too gi-eat internal heat. In China it is called 

 Lienwlw, and the seeds and slices of the hairy root, with the kernels 

 of apricots and walnuts, and alternate layers of ice were frequently 

 presented to the British Ambassador and his suite at breakfasts given 

 by some of the principal Mandarins. The roots are laid up by the 

 Chinese in salt and vinegar for winter use. Sir George Staunton re- 

 marks that the leaf, besides its common uses, has from its structure, 

 gi'owing entirely round the stalk, the advantage of defending the 

 flower and fruit arising from its centre from contact with the water, 

 which might injure them. He also remarks that the stem never fails 

 to ascend in the water, let the depth be ever so great, unless in a case 

 of sudden inundation, until it attains the surface, when its leaf expands, 

 rests upon it and often rises above it. Many varieties of this plant 

 are distinguished by the Chinese ; one of them with pure-white flow- 

 ers, and another having about an hundred petals white or rose-colored. 

 From the root of the JVclumbo, Sir George Staunton says, the Egyp- 

 tians are supposed to have prepared their Colocasia, but as the plant 

 is no longer to be found wild in that country, from which circumstance 

 some naturalists infer that it never was indigenous there, but culti- 

 vated by the inhabitants with extreme care. The ancient Romans 

 made repeated efforts to raise it from seeds brought out of Egypt. Dr. 

 Patrick Browne is of the opinion that the ancients confounded two 

 plants under the name of Lotos or Egyptian-bean, and that under these 

 titles they described the upper parts of the JVelumbium and the roots 

 of Caladium Colocasia, now commonly called Coccos, in Jamaica. 

 Thunberg says that it is considered as a sacred plant in Japan, and 

 pleasing to their deities, and that the images of their idols were often 



