THE COASTS OF SICILY. 7 



sometimes by tall, shrub-like Solanaceae*, in the 

 midst of which rose the smooth stems of the gigantic 

 Agavef, which were often upwards of twenty feet 

 in height. Long-tendrilled vines encircled, with 

 their indented leaves, the trunks of the flowering 

 Cactus, and blended their light and graceful garlands 

 with the strangely twisted branches of these un- 



which we here refer is the one generally cultivated in our gardens. 

 It grows wild along the brooks and streams of almost all the 

 districts skirting the Mediterranean, and hence its abundant 

 occurrence on the shores of the Eurotas was not an exceptional 

 case. Botanists designate the shrub under the name of Nerium 

 oleander. 



* The family of the Solanacece is very remarkable on account of 

 its including plants, some of which are thoroughly impregnated 

 with the most deadly poisons, whilst others, on the contrary, yield 

 substances which are alike nutrient and agreeable to the taste. 

 Among the former, we may instance Belladonna (Atropa belladonna), 

 the Mandragora (Atropa. mandragora), Henbane (Hyoscyamus 

 niger), Stramonium (Datura stramonium), Common Night-shade 

 (Solanum nigrum), Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). All these plants 

 owe their poisonous properties to special principles, which che- 

 mists have succeeded in isolating, and which they have ^called, in 

 accordance with their various sources of origin, Atropine, Hyoscy- 

 amine, Daturine, Solanine, Nicotine, &c. Among the edible plants 

 of this family we may mention the Pimento (Capsicum annuum), 

 the Tomato (Li/coper sicum esculentum), the Egg-apple (Solanum 

 melonyena), and more especially the Potato (Solanum tuberosum), 

 whose history we have already briefly sketched in a preceding 

 note. 



f This species, which is incorrectly designated under the name of 

 Aloe, belongs to another genus, and is the Agave americana, a 

 native of South America. This Agave was imported into Europe 

 in 1561, and is thoroughly naturalised in most of the countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean. In Sicily it grows wild among 

 the rocks, and it is planted round fields to form hedges, which are 

 rendered absolutely impenetrable by its enormous leaves, bristling 

 with thorns. 



B 4 



