PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SEEDS. 327 



Egyptian Lupin — Lupimts termis, Forskal. 



This species of lupin, so nearly allied to L. alhus that 

 it has sometimes been proposed to unite them/ is largely 

 cultivated in Egypt and even in Crete. The most 

 obvious difference is that the upper part o£ the flowers 

 of L. teTr}iis is blue. The stem is taller than that of 

 X. alhus. The seeds are used like those of the common 

 lupin, after they have been steeped to get rid of their 

 bitterness. 



L. termis is wild in sandy soil and mountainous dis- 

 tricts, in Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica ; ^ in Syria and 

 Egypt, according to Boissier ; ^ but Schweinf urth and As- 

 cherson * say that it is only cultivated in Egypt. Hart- 

 mann saw it wild in Upper Egypt.^ linger^ mentions 

 it among the cultivated specimens o£ the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, but he gives neither specimen nor drawing. Wil- 

 kinson "^ says only that it has been found in the tombs. 



No lupin is grown in India, nor is there any Sanskrit 

 name ; its seeds are sold in bazaars under the name 

 touTonus (Royle, III., p. 194). 



The Arabic name, termis or term^us, is also that of the 

 Greek lupin, termos. It may be inferred that the Greeks 

 had it from the Egyptians. As the species was known 

 to the ancient Egyptians, it seems strange that it has no 

 Hebrew name ; ^ but it may have been introduced into 

 Egypt after the departure of the Israelites. 



Field-Pea — Pismn arvense, Linnaeus. 



This pea is grown on a large scale for the seed, and 

 also sometimes for fodder. Although its appearance and 

 botanical characters allow of its being easily distinguished 

 from the garden-pea, Greek and Roman authors con- 

 founded them, or are not explicit about them. Their 

 writings do not prove that it was cultivated in their 

 time. It has not been found in the lake-dwellings of 



^ Caruel, Fl. Tosc, p. 136. 



2 Gnssone, Fl. Sic. Syn., ii. p. 267 ; Moris, Fl. Sardoa, i. p. 596. 



^ Boissier, Fl. Orient., ii. p. 29. * Aufzixhlung, etc., p. 257. 



* Scliweinfurtli, PlantcB Nilot. a Hartmom Coll., p. 6. 



® Unger, Pflanzen d. Alt. Mgyp., p. 65. 



^ Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, ii. p. 403. 



® Eosenmiiller, Bihl. Alterth., vol. i. 



