362 



have taken to it. By report, (adds this au- 

 thor,) those who eat of it, are free from all 

 diseases of the stomach. 



Those lotuses were accounted the best that 

 had no kernels within; for there is a kind, 

 says Pliny, that has a kernel as hard as a bone. 

 From this fruit was pressed a wine similar to 

 mead, which he states, on the authority of 

 Nepos, would not keep above ten days. The 

 Lotophagi pressed the berries of this fruit, 

 with wheat or frumenty, into a paste ; and so 

 put it up in great barrels or vessels for food. 

 We have heard, says Pliny, that whole armies 

 passing to and fro through Africa have fed 

 upon it, having no other food. 



The wood of the lotus-tree, according to 

 the account of Pliny, was of a black colour, 

 and was, says he, much sought after for 

 making musical pipes. Shafts of daggers 

 and knives, &c. were made of the roots. 

 This author says, " it is growing in Italy, but 

 with the change of soil it has changed it's 

 nature;" but in his I6th book, chap. 30th, 

 he says, " the lotus-tree is planted about the 

 finest houses in the court-yards, because the 

 boughs spread so large. Although the body 

 is short and small, it affords much shade; yet 

 there is not a tree that gives shade for so short 

 a time, as the loaves fall at the approach of 



