76 THE EEV. F. A. WALKER, D.D., E.L.S., ON 



decoration of the columnar capital of the Egyptian 

 shrine. 



(2) The Lotos as an article of food. 



Its seeds, and likewise its roots and stalks, served 

 as an article of food. 



(3) The Lotos as used for garlands on festive occasions. 



It is connected with the season of festivity, as 

 the Lotos flower was always presented to guests 

 at an Egyptian party, and garlands were put round 

 their heads and necks. 



"Multfeque in fronte coi-ona.'." 



(4) The Lotos furnishes a wreath for the departed. 



It was constantly used in the hour of sorrow, and 

 in connection with the departed, as it was thought 

 to be a flower of Hades or Amenti, the unseen realm, 

 and I can personally testify to having seen dried 

 wreaths of the buds and tendrils of this plant that 

 were placed centuries since round the necks of the 

 deceased, exposed to view along with the royal 

 mummy so decorated, in the Boulak Museum. 

 (.")) Tlie Lotos. Its mystic symbolism and mythology. 



There is a great deal of mystic symbolism and 

 mythology connected with the Lotos, and in tJie 

 cult of more than one nation, moreover, probably 

 such as can never fully, or in every instance be 

 now comprehended, and both the Latin and tlio 

 Arabic names of the water lily genus are full (jf 

 significance. 



Certain facts, however, are alike beyond the region of 

 fancy or possibility of doubt, and therefore may be appro- 

 priately adverted to here. 



The Lotos. The time of its appearance. — As regards the 

 time of the appearance of the Lotos, Herodotus informs us 

 that it corresponds with the annual inundation of the Nile. 

 In a note on page 127 of Vol. II of Rawlinson's Herodotus 

 we read, " This Nymplia'a Lotus grows in ponds and small 

 channels in the Delta during tlie inundation, Avhich are dry 

 during the rest of the year ; but it is not found in the Nile 

 itself." It is nearly the same as our Avhite water lily. 



Two varieties of the Egyptian I^otos. — There are two 

 varieties, the Avhite, and that Avith a bluish tinge, or the 

 Nymphcea Ca'vulea. 



My own testimony as to the time of its apjyearance, and as to 



