533 



LOTUS. 



LOUGH DIVER. 



634 



nearly to the caudal ; the posterior portion the most elevated ; vent 

 in a line with the eighth or ninth ray of the second dorsal fin ; the fin 

 immediately behind it is long, resembling the second dorsal fin, and 

 terminating on the same line with it ; caudal rounded at the extremity. 

 The back and sides are gray, inclining to olive ; sometimes cinereous 

 without the olivaceous tint ; belly silvery ; ventrals white ; dorsal 

 and anal edged with white ; caudal marked near the end with a 

 transverse black bar ; the extreme tip white. 



L. vv.lga.ris, the Burbolt, or Eel -Pout, is the only British species of this 

 numerous family of fishes that lives permanently in fresh water, and 

 prefers in this country slow running rivers ; but it is neither so gene- 

 rally known, nor so much esteemed and encouraged, as from the good- 

 ness of its flesh it deserves. It is said to be found in various parts of 

 the north of Europe, Siberia, Asia, and India. In this country it is 

 rather local. It occurs in the Cam, and in some of the rivers of Norfolk 

 and Lincolnshire. The Trent produces it, and Nottingham market is 

 occasionally supplied with samples for sale. The Burbolt is not unlike 

 the eel in some of its habits, concealing itself under stones, waiting 

 and watching for its prey, which consists of aquatic insects and young 

 fishes, under arches and near eddies, into which such small and weak 

 auimaJa are likely to be brought by the current of the water. It 

 feeds principally during the night, and like the eel is most frequently 

 caught by trimmers and night-lines. The Burbolt is sometimes called 

 the Coney Fish, from its habit of lurking and hiding itself in holes like 

 a rabbit. It spawns in February and March, is very tenacious of life, 

 and is said to have lived a considerable time in a cold and damp 

 situation, fed on small fishes and raw meat. In this country it has 

 been known to attain the weight of 4 i Ibs., but a common weight is 

 about 2 Ibs. The flesh is firm, white, and of good flavour, and is by 

 some considered superior to that of the eel. As the Burbolt is 

 extremely hardy, it might be increased in any quantity, while 

 the value of the fish would amply rqpay the trouble and cost 

 of the experiment. It would thrive well and multiply in large lakes. 

 The length of the fish is from one to two feet ; the head depressed, 

 smooth ; jaws equal ; chin with one barbule ; the gape large, with 

 small teeth above and below ; eyes of moderate size ; gill-opening 

 large; the length of the head as compared to that of the body as one 

 to four ; the form of the body cylindrical, compressed posteriorly ; 

 the first dorsal fin is small and rounded, the second elongated, reaching 

 nearly to the tail ; both dorsal fins nearly uniform in height ; ventral 

 fins placed very forward, narrow, and pointed ; the ' pectoral fins 

 large and rounded ; the anal fin begins on a line behind the com- 

 mencement of the second dorsal fin, but ends very nearly on the same 

 plane ; the tail oval and slightly pointed ; the colour of the body 

 yellowish-brown, clouded and spotted with darker brown, and covered 

 with a mucous secretion; the under parts lighter; the lateral line 

 indistinct and straight ; scales small ; the fins partaking of the colour 

 of the part of the body from which they emanate, those of the lower 

 surface being much the lightest. 



(Yarrell, British FMes). 



LOTUS, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Legumi- 

 noKe. It has a calyx with 5 nearly equal teeth ; keel ascending with 

 a narrowed point ; the wings are connivent at their upper margin ; 

 longer filaments dilated upwards ; stylj kneed at the base, filiform, 

 subulate ; pod linear, many-seeded, 2-valved, imperfectly divided by 

 transverse partitions. 



L. corniciiiatui, Common Bird's-Foot Trefoil, is found in pastures 

 and on dry banks in Great Britain. The claw of the standard is 

 obovate, transversely vaulted ; calyx-teeth straight in the bud, subu- 

 late from a triangular base, the points of the two upper ones con- 

 verging; heads 5-10-flowered. The plant is glabrous or slightly 

 hairy ; stem ascending ; leaflets obovate ; stipules ovate ; angle 

 between the two upper calyx-teeth rounded. 



L. major has the claw of the standard linear ; calyx-teeth spreading 

 like a star in the bud, subulate from a triangular base, two upper 

 ones diverging; heads 8-12-flowered; leaflets obovate; stipules 

 roundish-ovate. 



L. anyuttissimus is found in the south of England, near the sea. 

 It has the claw of the standard linear; calyx-teeth straight in the bud, 

 subulate ; pod linear, eight times longer tlian the calyx; beak straight; 

 head about 2-flowered. 



L. hifpidui is found near the sea in Devonshire and Cornwall. It 

 has the claw of the standard subulate ; calyx-teeth straight in the bud, 

 subulate; pod rugose, terete, twice as long as the calyx; beak elongate, 

 Kotaceous, bent downwards ; heads few-flowered ; leaflets obovate-lauceo- 

 late ; stipules half cordate; stem procumbent. There are many other 

 European species of this genus, none of which are of any importance. 



(Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



LOTUS of the Ancientt. The plant or plants referred to by classical 

 author* under the name of Lotus is a subject which has engaged the 

 attention of numerous commentators as well as of botanists. To the 

 difficulty of ascertaining the identity of a plant but imperfectly 

 described has in this case been added that of the same name having 

 been applied to several very distinct plants. Fde, the latest author 

 (' Flore de Virgile '), enumerates no less than eleven to which the name 

 iMut was applied : it is unnecessary here to enumerate more than the 

 most remarkable. Of these some are herbaceous, others perennial 

 Among the former are the L. saliva and L. eyjreitris of Dioscorides : 



the first, he states, is also called L. trifolium ; it is supposed by some 

 botanists to be Mdilotus officinalis, and by others to be M. cwulea. 

 Dr. Sibthorp has fixed upon M. Messanensis as the plant. 



The L. lylvestrit of Dioscorides, also called L. Libyan, a native of 

 Libya, and about two feet high, with leaves like those of L. trifolium, 

 and fruit like that of Fenugreek, is thought to be the Tritjondla elatior 

 of Sibthorp, which he found in Asia Minor and in Cyprus. Both kinda 

 are described by the Arabs under the name of Handachocha, or Hund- 

 kookee, with Garch and Thusf as other Arabic names. From the 

 great number of similar plants of the tribe of Lotece, which are em- 

 ployed by Asiatics as articles of diet or as medicines it is impossible, 

 without specimens, to identify either of the above, but they are 

 probably allied to the Melilotus. 



L. jEgyptica, or the Egyptian Lotus, is no doubt one of the Nym- 

 phceacece, being described as springing up in Egypt in fields inundated 

 by the river, with a stem like that of the Kvafios, or Egyptian Bean 

 (Nelitmbium speciosum), and a white liliaceous flower, which rises out 

 of the water at sunrise and sinks down again at its setting ; a capsule 

 like that of the poppy,iu which are contained seeds which the Egyptians 

 roast and make into bread ; with a root which is likewise eaten, both 

 in a dressed and undressed state. The plant is no doubt the Nymplxea 

 Lotus of botanists; but as in the most ancient monuments a blue- 

 coloured lotus is likewise represented, there is no doubt that the 

 Egyptians were also acquainted with the Nymphcea, carulea. At the 

 present day the seeds of several Nymphffias roasted in sand are eaten 

 by the natives of India, as are likewise the stalks and the rootstocks, 

 which is said to have been the case with the Egyptian species. As 

 the flowers of the Nymphaacece are so highly esteemed by the Hindoos, 

 and notices respecting them constantly occur in their poetry and my- 

 thology, it is possible that an Eastern legend may have given origin to 

 the transformation of the nymph Lotis flying from Priapus into the 

 'aquatica lotos.' (Ovid, ' Metamorph.,' ix. 341.) 



The Egyptian Lotus however is not so celebrated as another less- 

 known tree, to which exaggerated description has assigned a fruit of 

 the most delicious kind, upon which the Lotophagi lived, and which, 

 when strangers had once tasted, they ceased to wish to return to 

 their native country. This is specially described as a tree, but there 

 is no doubt that several have been confounded under this name. One 

 is described both by Dioscorides and Pliny as a native of Italy of great 

 size, forming excellent wood, with fruit about the size of pepper and 

 resembling that of the cherry. This description applies very closely 

 to the Cektis auslralis, or European Lote or Nettle-Tree, which is one 

 of the largest timber-trees of the south of Europe, with wood of con- 

 siderable hardness and toughness. It produces berries about the size 

 of small cherries, and with long stalks like them, eaten both by birds 

 and children. 



This however comes far short of the character of the Lotus of the 

 Lotophagi, of which the best description, according to Sprengel, 

 is that of Polybius, who states that it was a moderate-sized thorny 

 tree, with leaves like those of Rhamnus, but broader ; that the fruit 

 at first was like the white berries of myrtle, but became as large as an 

 olive, of a reddish colour, and containing a small nut ; taste sweetish, 

 resembling that of figs or dates ; and that a wine was prepared from 

 it. That this tree was a native of Africa we know from the Loto- 

 phagi, who employed the fruit as their chief food, being a people of 

 the African coast near the Syrtes. (Herod., iv. 177.) Arabian authors, 

 in their translation of the works of the Greeks, give the synonyms iu 

 both languages, and we have, in the chapter of Serapion, retranslated 

 into Latin, 'De Loto Arbore,' the name Sidr, or Sidar, given as the 

 Arabic name of the tree, and Nabach, Nibuk, or Nabk as that of its 

 fruit. This name has been long known as that of a species of Zizy- 

 phus, and has been applied by botanists to one species, Z. Napeca. 

 Dr. Shaw, in his ' Travels in Barbary,' figures a species of Zizyphus, 

 which he calls ' Seedra Arabum, qua; et Lotus Verterum.' It is a 

 prickly branching shrub, with fruit of the size of a wild plum, and of 

 a sweetish taste and saffron colour. He found it sold in the markets, 

 cattle fed with it, and a liquor drawn from it. Desfontaines also 

 found this Z. Lotus on the same coast, and has fully described it. 

 Mungo Park found a species of Zizyphua in the interior of Africa, 

 which forms a large tree with yellow farinaceous berries of a delicious 

 taste. The natives, he says, convert them into a sort of bread, by 

 exposing them some days to the sun, and afterwards pounding them 

 gently in a mortar until the farinaceous part is separated from the 

 stone. This meal is then mixed with a little water and formed into 

 cakes, which when dried in the sun resemble the sweetest gingerbread. 

 It may be added, that the fruit of several species of Zizyphus is eaten 

 in India. One kind, commonly known by the name Eer, forms a 

 moderate-sized tree in a cultivated state, with oval fruit of a yellowish 

 or reddish colour, and about the size or somewhat smaller than a com- 

 mon plum, which is much esteemed. The taste is mild and sweet, 

 with a slight degree of acidity, probably coming nearer to the taste of 

 dates than any other fruit. In Persian works Berree andjharree aro 

 given as its Hindustanee, Kinar and Khial as its Persian, and Sidr as 

 its Arabic name, with Nebbe for the fruit. The fruit of the wild kind 

 is dried and powdered, as was done with the Lotus of the Lotophagi. 

 This powder, in Arabic, is called Savikoon-Nebbek ; in Persian, Arud- 

 i-Kinar ; and in Hindoo, Ber-Choonee. 



LOUGH DIVER, a name for Meryiis albellui. [DUCKS.] 



