4 8 SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



and would die out here were they not to a certain extent 

 under the care of ownership. 



The so-called " mimosa," so abundant here, with its 

 pretty, sweet-scented, yellow blossom, is an Australian 

 acacia, only introduced some sixty years ago ; whilst the 

 eucalyptus a most picturesque and effective addition to 

 the landscape is a still later introduction from Australia. 

 The cypress, that darkest and most shapely of conifers, 

 long lines of which proclaim to the traveller as he passes 

 Avignon his arrival in the true " South," is not a native of 

 these parts, although it flourishes in suitable situations. 

 It was introduced in mediaeval times from the East. 

 So, too, the palms, though some have been cultivated 

 for centuries, have been largely imported from extra 

 European localities in the last century. There is a native 

 European palm. It is a kind of fan-palm, and grows 

 here. I have gathered it in Sicily. It does not " rear its 

 stately head " more than a foot from the ground, and is 

 known to botanists as Chamoerops humilis. The gigantic 

 Mexican agave and the prickly-pear cactus were introduced 

 in the seventeenth century from the New World, though, 

 according to Sir Herbert Tree's scenery, they were growing 

 at Cape Miseno in the time of Antony and Cleopatra ! 

 Bamboos of many kinds have been introduced here from 

 the Far East, and flourish exceedingly. 



The orange tree was brought from India (whither it 

 was carried from China) and established in Southern 

 Europe in mediaeval times, though known to the ancient 

 Greeks and Romans. There are as many as 120 different 

 varieties of the orange tree now cultivated on the shores 

 of the Mediterranean, including, besides those which are 

 valued for their sweet juicy pulp, those which furnish 

 bergamot oil and similar aromatic products. The "issue 

 pea" of old apothecaries, which was bound into a cut 

 made in a patient's flesh for the purpose of producing 



