ctober 



PAPYRUS 



|N object of much pleasure to me in my 

 hot-house is a fine specimen of the 

 Egyptian papyrus reed, with stems 

 fully eight feet high, growing with 

 remarkable luxuriance and beauty. I never look 

 upon its graceful flowering plumes without being 

 reminded of a chain of interesting associations. 



The infant Moses was laid amongst these so- 

 called 'bulrushes/ which then grew along the 

 margin of the Nile. The ' ark ' in which the child 

 was laid was formed of papyrus stems, and the 

 small cradle would be readily concealed amongst 

 'the flags by the river's brink.' 



This plant is now wholly extinct in Egypt, 

 although it still grows abundantly in the marshes 

 of the White Nile in Nubia. A verse in Isaiah, 

 in the revised edition (chapter xviii. 2) shows 

 that in ancient days even boats were made of 

 papyrus, and a modern traveller speaks of the plant 

 being still used by the Abyssinians for the same 

 purpose. 



It has lately been discovered that mummy cases 

 were sometimes constructed of old papyrus rolls, 

 and many very ancient and valuable writings have 



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