70 SWEET SCENTED WATER LILY. 



ami kinjj^s, hut tlic seeds also served as food to the peoj)le in times 

 of scarcity. The Sacred Lotus {ycfumhium spcciosum) was an ohject 

 itself of religious veneration to the ancient Egyptians. 



The Chinese, in soujc places of that over-})opulated country, 

 grow the Water Lilies upon their lakes for the sake of the nourish- 

 ment vichlcd bv the roots and seeds. 



"Lotus-eaters," says that valua])le writer on the Medical Botany 

 of America, Dr. Charles Lee, "not only abound in Egypt, but all 

 over the East." " The large fleshy roots of the Nelumhium lutemn^ 

 or cTcat Yellow Water Lilv, found in our Xorth American lakes, 

 resembles the Sweet Potato (JJatafas ednl/s), and by some of the 

 natives are esteemed equally agreeable and wholesome," observes 

 the same author, " being used as food by the Lidians, as well as some 

 of the Tartar tribes." 



As yet little value has been attached to this charming plant, the 

 White Pond Lilv, because its uses have been unknown. It is one of 

 the privileges of the botanist and natuialist to lay open the vegetable 

 treasures that are so lavishly bestowed upon us by the bountiful 

 hand of the Great Creator. 



