412 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



in the waters of the Nile. Nor could the Egyptian do without his hom- 

 iny, using Lupines, (Lupinus Thermis) soaked in salt water, like we 

 do Indian corn. 



The honey of Hymettus, famous for its flavor, owes its fame in 

 part to the rich fields of clover, that abounded hi the pastures of ancient 

 Hellas and brought from there to Italy, it found gradually its way 

 across the Alps. Following the train of civilization it has long since 

 departed from the parched shores of Salamis and the depauperated 

 fields of Argos, once the feeder of horses 



All the cultivated species are indigenous to the Mediterranean region. 

 The Peanut, however, (Arachis hypogcea), as palatable to our taste, 

 as its herbage to cattle, is a denizen of two continents, for it is indigen- 

 ous on the Senegal and in the West India islands. In the warmer 

 climates, under favorable circumstances for ripening, like in India, this 

 nut is very rich in a fine oil which is used there like olive oil, and is 

 said to be even superior. It keeps a long time without becoming ran- 

 cid. In its more Northern range it produces less oil. An occasion to 

 say more about this curious plant will recur in the botanical description 

 of the Leguminosae. 



A related genus, the Voandzeia subterranea, or Bambarra ground 

 nut, of similar habits and like value with the former, is not known in 

 the United States, a native of the Western coast of Africa, and its cul- 

 tivation is confined to tropical countries. 



Very little knowledge of useful leguminous plants has descended to 

 us from the native Indian. The scarcity of bread-giving cereals on one 

 hand and the absence on the Northern continent of those larger animals 

 which are fit for domestication, have rescinded his disposition to cling 

 to a homestead as tiller of the soil ; nor could he follow his flocks as a 

 wande-ing and peaceable nomade. The abundance of nutritious her- 

 baceous food favoring the multiplication and variation of the less fero- 

 cious herbivores, enabled man to gain ascendency and to initiate the most 

 primitive government over submissive, social animals. For these rea- 

 sons have the Mediterranean regions and Central Asia become the birth- 

 place of civilization, while the North American continent continued to 

 be the hunting domain of the roving Indian. The mild and benign 

 manner of the sheperd and herdsman to notice the wants of the flocks^ 

 to distinguish the kinds of food which they would prefer, and to lead 



