18 



a Genoese, who had been appointed Professor of 

 Botany in 1805 by Sir Alex. Ball, published with 

 the aid of Drs. Naudi and Zerapha " The Plants of 

 the Islands of Malta, Gozo, and Lampedusa" enu- 

 merating 854 distinct varieties. 



In 1827 and 1831 Dr. S. Zerapha published 

 his admirable "Florae Melitensis Thesaurus" which 

 describes 498 native and 155 exotic plants, and in 

 1853 the "Flora Melitensis" of Dr. Delicata containing 

 an account of 716 plants saw the light. Three 

 years later Dr. Gulia published his valuable " Re- 

 pertorio Botanico " to which the student is referred, 

 and from which many of the foregoing 1 ' particulars 

 have been gathered. See also Dr. Gulia' s " Eepertorio 

 di Storia Naturale," Gussone's "Floras Siculae Syn- 

 opsis" (Naples), and Wood's "Tourists 7 Flora" (Reeves, 

 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden), together with 

 "Malta Past and Present," by the Revd. H. Sed- 

 dall, and Dr. L. Adams' " Notes of a Naturalist 

 in the Nile Valley and Malta, " and the exhaustive 

 Analytical Flora of Dr. Gulia, one third of which 

 has already (1880) seen the light. 



The islands have a general aspect of barrenness, 

 owing to the want of trees, and the absence of 

 shade renders the heats of summer more than 

 usually oppressive. The three necessaries for suc- 

 cessful arboriculture, viz., abundant soil, constant 

 moisture, and shelter, are not always readily attain- 

 able. But where these advantages exist, almost all 



