154 LILY OF THE NILE. LIME. 



The yellow Water-lily, Nymphse'a lu'tea, is also a 

 very beautiful flower, though much smaller ; it 

 grows in the same situations as the white, in ponds 

 and slow-running rivers. 



Nymphse'a Nelum'bo, the Sacred Bean of India, 

 is celebrated by the Chinese poets. The flowers, 

 which resemble tulips, are composed of numerous 

 petals, tinged with a delicate pink ; and they are 

 very splendid. The seed is like a small acorn 

 without its cup ; it is eaten green, and often pre- 

 served as a sweet-meat; and the root also is used 

 as food. 



The Egyptian Lotus, or Lily of the Nile, is 

 another species, the Nymphee'a Lo'tus. 



The common Lime, or Linden-tree, Til'ia Eu- 

 ropse'a (Polyandria Monogynia), is a native of 

 England. The wood is preferred by carvers to 

 every other, on account of its delicate colour, and 

 of its not being liable to split or to be injured by 

 worms. The beautiful festoons of fruit and flowers 

 at Windsor Castle, and some of the ornaments of 

 the choir of St. Paul's church in London, which 

 were carved by Gibbons in the time of Charles the 

 Second, are of this wood, and are still in perfect 

 preservation. The leaves of the Lime-tree are 

 dried as winter-food for sheep and goats ; and the 

 bark is sometimes made into ropes and fishing- 

 nets. Sugar is prepared in some countries from 

 the sap; and the flowers, which are delightfully 



