58 GARDEN flo\\t:rs. 



geraniums, which preside there. These are 

 those curious species, the ice plants, which 

 even on the warm summer day, seem as if 

 winter had condensed his icicles on their suc- 

 culent stems and leaves. One of these, the 

 ice plant {^Mesemhryanthemum crystalliniim) is 

 a biennial plant. The common frozen plant 

 {Mesembryantliemum glaciale) is an annual. 

 They have both white flowers, but it is for the 

 beauty of the crystallization on their foliage, 

 that they deserve culture. They were brought 

 into our gardens from Greece. 



The leaves of several species of this plant 

 contain soda. One kind especially, the knot- 

 flowered fig-marigold, which is a native of 

 some of the dry plains of Egypt, is burned for 

 the great quantity of potash to be found in its 

 ashes. This plant, as well as another species, 

 burned for the barilla or soda which they con- 

 tain, are, by the Arabic writers, comprehended 

 under the general name of ghasool, signifying 

 the washer or washing herb, and they are 

 common not only in the deserts of Arabia, but 

 also in various parts of Syria. The ashes of 

 this and a similar species, yielding alkaline 

 substances, are supposed to be referred to in 

 Scripture under the word translated " soap" in 

 our version. " Though thou wash thee with 

 nitre, and take thee much soap," said the 

 prophet Jeremiah, "yet thine iniquity is 

 marked before me, saith the Lord God." For 

 the evil heart of Israel had led him astray 

 from God, so that he had become polluted in 



