192 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 
branches fifteen feet long, instead of its puny shrub-like dimen- 
sions on the shores of the Dead Sea. It was probably introduced 
here intentionally, and cultivated as a plant of domestic value, 
from Midian or Nubia by wandering tribes ; or its seed may have 
been transported accidentally to this region during the frequent 
communications that existed in ancient times by this route with 
the far south. Quite close to the shore of the Dead Sea there 
was a perfect jungle of aquatic plants, more or less familiar to 
us in our own country. The luxuriance and great height which 
they attained were remarkable. Juncus maritimus, var. arabica, 
was nearly 7 feet high; Jnula crithmoides, a yellow-flowered 
groundsel-like plant, 5 feet; Lycopus ewropeus, 6 feet; while 
Lythrum Salicaria reached the gigantic height of 14 feet. In 
swampy places Arwndo donax formed almost impenetrable brakes. 
This little group of distinct and wide-spread maritime plants owe 
their presence in this spot to the visits of aquatic birds, and the 
semi-tropical climate causes them to flourish exceedingly. 
Taking a general view of the Palestine flora, one is struck with 
the large number of thorny plants, the evidence of a wasted soil 
and a desiccated climate. The fields in Galilee especially were 
covered with thickets of the white-bleached skeletons of monstrous 
Thistles as tall as a man, through which it was often difficult to 
force our way. Their appearance was remarkably picturesque, 
and in some cases classically graceful, as befitted a family claiming 
relationship with the Corinthian Acanthus. The waste places 
everywhere were covered with gigantic Asphodels, white and 
yellow. Masses of a gigantic Umbelliferous plant, the Ferula 
communis, 6 or 7 feet high, with huge stems and broad fine- 
leaved fronds of foliage, exceedingly graceful and effective, grew 
in the utmost profusion in the uplands of Galilee, looking at a 
distance in some places like young plantations of Pine Trees. In 
company with them were Hollyhocks, Knapweeds, and that 
curious woolly Labiate, with its tall stems and long spikes of 
flowers, the Lrimostachys lanciniata. Saponarias, Malvas of 
various species, blue Anchusa, Grape Hyacinth, Star of Bethlehem, 
several kinds of Linum of different colours, were weeds in the 
corn-fields; while Tulips, Cyclamens, Amaryllises, and Irises 
found shelter and moisture for their bulbous roots under the vast 
quantities of stones that strewed the cultivated ground. This ex- 
