GALLESIO'S TREATISE ON THE CITRUS FAMILY. 



59 



by JVI. de Sacy.) This last observation, remark- 

 able in a writer ignorant of the sexual system of 

 plants, is a sure indication that these new races 

 were formed in Egypt. It is certainly difficult 

 to connect these varieties with those known to 

 us. Some varieties, perhaps, have passed from 

 Egypt into Spain, and thence into the rest of Eu- 

 rope, but they have surely disappeared in great 

 part, with time and want of culture, and have 

 no connection with ours, or only vague resem- 

 blances, classing them in the same rank upon the 

 chain of varieties, yet not permitting us to re- 

 gard them as identical. 



I have always been astonished by the difficulty 

 experienced in all the genera, when attempting 

 to-connect to our varieties those of the ancients; 

 but since I have become persuaded of the true na- 

 ture of these races, and of the laws ruling their 

 existence and propagation, my astonishment has 

 ceased, and I am convinced of the impossibility 

 of attaining to this end. 



A variety has a precarious existence, due to an 

 accidental combination, and which cannot be 

 perpetuated, except by art. Thus it disappears 

 whenever the action of art is suspended by the 

 effect of some crisis, re-appearing often under 

 forms very analogous, but never identical ; forms 

 never complete, having always differences impos- 

 sible to reconcile. 



Because of this, one occupies himself without 

 success, seeking in our orchards the varieties of 

 the olive, the apple, the pear, &c., of which 

 Pliny and Latin writers upon agriculture give 

 us descriptions. These varieties perpetuated 

 themselves then only by culture. This art suf- 

 fered in Europe by the invasion of the Barba- 

 rians, causing these varieties to disappear, and 

 on the return of culture new forms appeared, re- 

 sembling the old, yet which can never corre- 

 spond exactly to them. 



Perhaps for the same reason we seek in vain, in 

 modern Egypt, ihepersea of Theophrastus, and the 

 baumier of the ancients. These two vegetables- 

 regarded by some asjtwo species, the one lost en- 

 tirely, and the other disappeared from that coun- 

 try were, perhaps, but two varieties ; and from 

 want of care they have submitted to their natu- 

 ral fate. Yet they exist still in their type, and 

 one could obtain them anew, if one could attain 

 to naturalizing this type in au agricultural coun- 

 try, and on a grand scale. 



Curious passages of several writers relative to 

 the balm tree, all collected by M. de Sacy in his 

 translation of the Description of Egypt by Abd- 

 Allatif , furnish me with proof of this fact. 



I will commence by transcribing these pas- 

 sages, and afterwards give my reflections : 



1. Abd-Allatif, in speaking of the balm tree, 

 expresses himself in the following manner : 

 " The tree which furnishes the balsam bears no 

 fruit ; they take cuttings of the tree, which, plant- 

 ed in the mouth of Schobal, take root and grow." 

 Abd-Allatiff, p. 22. 



2. " The wild male balm tree 1ms u fructifica- 

 tion, but yields no balsam. It is found in Nedjd 

 (interior of Arabia, Trans.} ; in Tehama (on the 

 coast, T.) ; in the deserts of Arabia, the maritime 

 countries of Yemen, and in Persia; it is known 

 under the name of bascham" Abd-All, p. 2~. 



3. Prosper Alpin speaks of it thus : "Oninm . . . . 

 >mo ore affirmant propc Mecchnm ct Medinam, in 



montibus, plants, ciiilis atque incaltis locis, iiinu- 

 meras balsam i, plantas sponte natas spectari, pluri- 

 masque etiam m arenotsis sterilibusque locis, quo, 

 tamen vel nihil vel minimum sucoi producebant. 

 Mnlta tamen semina ferunt" PROSP. ALP. of 

 Bals. dial. chap. 12, p. 14. DE SACY, p. 93. 



4. A Spanish Arab author, speaking of Mecca, 

 says : " Some persons say that the bascham 

 (balm tree) has not flower and fruit with their 

 parts. The truth is, however, quite the con- 

 trary. At least, if there are districts where such 

 is the case, there are others in which it is not 

 true. The same may be said of the sorbier (ser- 

 vice tree, Trans.) the papyrus, &c." ABOUL- 

 ABBAS NEBATI. Man. Ar. of the Imp. Lib. No. 

 1,071. DESACY, p. 94. 



5. The author of the Garaib aladiaib says : 

 " One finds in Egypt, in Matareeyah (anc. Heli- 

 opolis, Trans.) balm pits, from whence water -is 

 taken to sprinkle the bushes of balm, which fur- 

 nish a precious oil. It is to the pits that 

 this quality is due, for there the Mes- 

 siah was washed. There is not in all the 

 world another place where the balm tree 

 will grow. Almelic-Alcamel asked permission 

 of his father Adel to sow the seed elsewhere. 

 Having obtained it, he planted, but his bushes 

 did not succeed, and one could draw no oil from 

 them. Almelic-Alcamel demanded, and ob- 

 tained still of his father, permission to conduct 

 to his plant the water of Matareeyah, but he had 

 no better success." Ar. MSS. of the Imp. Lib. 

 791. DE SACY, p. 90. 



6. Mandeville'reports the following: Hos ar- 

 bores&eu arbusta balsami fecit quondam qmdam de 

 caliphis ^Egypti de loco Eugaddi, inter marc 

 Mortuum et Jerico, ubi domino wienie excreverat, 

 eradicari, et in agro prcedicto ( Cayr) plantari. Eat 

 tamen hoc mirandum, quod ubicumque alibi, size 

 prope me remote plantantur, quamvis forte mreant 

 et exurgant, tamen nonfructifieant. MAND. Chap. 

 8, p, 31. In Haktuy's collection,' 1,589. M. de 

 Sacy, p. 87. 



From these passages result the following facts : 

 The balm, or balsam tree (a.myris opobalsamum, 

 L.) in a wild state fruits, and reproduces itself 

 by seed, and gives none, or very little, of this 

 sap called balm. (Nos. 2 and 3.) 



In a state of culture it does not fruit, but 

 gives, upon incision, a large quantity of balm. 

 (No. 1.) But it does not suffice to take wild trees 

 in the woods and cultivate them in order to 

 obtain this change. The difference is due to the 

 nature of the individual, which has one of the 

 different properties. Even vyhen a tree is found 

 uniting the two properties, its descendants pre- 

 serve not the property of their father. They 

 fruit, but do not yield balm. (No. 5.) The tree 

 which fruits is multiplied by seed ; that which 

 bears no fruit is multiplied by cuttings. The 

 first (1 and 2) is never in gardens, because we 

 pull it up as soon as it appears; the second is 

 ordinarily only in cultivated places, as it requires 

 the hand of man for multiplying itself; yet we 

 sometimes find it among the wild ones; then it 

 is taken to the garden and cultivated. (No. 6.) 



Because of these accidents, which contradict 

 common experience, fables have been created on 

 the subject, and one attributes the power of 

 yielding balm to the quality of the soil, an- 

 other lo miraculous causes. (No. 5.) 



