182 CHAPTER XXIV. 



what shall we say of those Dead Sea Apples (species 

 of Solatium) which we see out here ? 



' Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye 

 But turn to ashes on the lips." 



Can anything be more wantonly and offensively 

 aggressive? The Japanese gentleman has his two 

 swords ; the backwoodsman carries a revolver in 

 every pocket, and a bowie knife to boot ; the pirate 

 wields his cutlass and fires off his blunderbuss ; but 

 all these desperadoes have a weak point somewhere. 

 Not so the Dead Sea Apple : the very midribs of the 

 leaves are set with spines an inch and more in length. 

 These Solanums are not uncommon on waste ground. 

 They are particularly abundant by the roadside at 

 Beaulieu. 



Xantliium spinosum is a plant not far behind 

 these others in what an American would call 

 " cussedness." Even the fruit resembles a little 

 pincushion. I well remember how much trouble I 

 had in picking one of these in order to examine it. 

 Xanthium is classed near the Composites. It stands 

 some two or three feet high. I have found it at 

 Antibes, by thg Paillon at St. Pons, and in the 

 Magnan torrent bed, not far from the sea. Bentham 

 says that Xanthium sometimes appears on ballast 

 heaps on our "south coast. I have repeatedly seen the 

 fruits of this plant, together with others unknown to 

 me, adhering to the wool of which mattresses arc 

 made. I conclude that this wool has been brought 

 from some region farther south than the Riviera, 

 where the flora is very different and the Xanthium 

 much commoner. 



Succulent plants, being peculiarly tempting to 



