20 Observations on Jerusalem. 
pect of drought and barrenness. The only green thing which 
remains is the foliage of the scattered fruit-trees, and occasional 
vineyards and fields of millet. The deep green of the broad 
fig-leaves and of the millet, is delightful to the eye in the 
midst of the general aridness; while the foliage of the olive, 
with its dull greyish hue, scarcely deserves the name of verdure. 
The harvest upon the mountains ripens of course later than 
in the plains of the Jordan and the sea-coast. The barley 
harvest precedes the wheat harvest by a week or fortnight. On 
the 4th and 5th of June the people of Hebron were just be- 
ginning to gather their wheat; on the 11th and 12th the 
thrashing-floors on the Mount of Olives were in full operation. 
We had already seen the harvest in the same stage of progress 
on the plains of Gaza on the 19th of May; while at Jericho, 
on the 12th of May, the thrashing-floors had nearly completed 
their work. The first grapes ripen in July ; and from that 
time until November, Jerusalem is abundantly supplied with 
this delicious fruit. The general vintage takes place in Sep- 
tember. We found ripe apricots at Gaza in May; and they 
are probably brought to Jerusalem, though I do not recoliect 
to have seen any there. The fine oranges of Yafa were found 
in abundance both at Jerusalem and Hebron. In autumn the 
whole land has become dry and parched; the cisterns are 
nearly empty ; the few streams and fountains fail ; and all na- 
ture, physical and animal, looks forward with longing to the 
return of the rainy season. Mists and clouds begin to make 
their appearance, and showers occasionally to fall; the hus- 
bandman sows his seed ; and the thirsty earth is soon drenched 
with an abundance of rain. 
On the Apples of Sodom that grow on the shores of the Dead 
Sea I. Mr Lamperr’s Account. II. Dr Roginson’s Ac- 
count. 
I. Some account of the Apples of Sodom, or the Galls found on a 
species of Oak from the shores of the Dead Sea, By AYLMER 
Bourke Lampert, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.L.S., &e. 
Some time ago I had the honour to submit to the Society 
(Linnzan Society) the branch of a shrub from Monte Video, 
