MAY. 95 



journey from Bj san to Adjelouu, we met with 

 the mustard plant growing wild, as high as our 

 horses' heads ; still, being an annual, it did not 

 deseiTe the appellation of a tree ; whereas the 

 other is really such, and birds might easily, 

 and actually do, take shelter under its shadow." 

 Kitto, commenting on this quotation, remarks, 

 " The Jewish writers speak of a mustard-tree 

 common among them, in quite corresponding 

 terms ; seeming to show that a species of the 

 sinapis or some analogous genus, existed in Pa- 

 lestine, with which we are not Avell acquainted ; 

 and which may very probably prove to be that 

 which captain Mangles has pointed out." 



One of our w ild species of mustard, the broad 

 hedge mustard, or London rocket, (Sisi/mbrium 

 trio,) is exceedingly common on waste grounds, 

 in the neighbourhood of the metropolis ; and is 

 remarkable as having sprung up immediately 

 after the great fire of London, in 166G, and 

 quickly covered the ground wliere the city had 

 stood. So profuse was this flower, in a few 

 weeks after the fire, that it was supposed by the 

 botanists of those days, that a greater quantity 

 existed on that one spot, than could have been 

 collected from over the whole surface of Europe ; 

 and it is a singular instance of vegetable growth, 

 for which no naturalist has ever been able to 

 account. 



A peculiar circumstance connected with a 

 flower of this, and the coming month, is, that it 

 has bloomed for centuries on a lone place in the 

 sea, and is almost unknown as a wild flower in 



