78 THE EEV, F. A. WALKER^ D.D., F.L.S., ON 



that the native injmpho'a Lotus was carved in periods long 

 anterior to the introduction of nymplicea nelumho at all, and 

 also subsequently to its disappearance. The form of an 

 indigenous plant Avould obviously be more familiar, more 

 universally present to the eye, and for a longer period than 

 that of a foreign species introduced. And no nation Avas 

 more given than that of the Egyptians to representing 

 creatures of the animal, bird, and reptile Avorld, or species 

 of plant life, whether through gratitude for benefits, or to 

 deprecate noxious and baneful influences. 



"O sacrosancti, quibus lia;c nascuntur in liortis Numina," 

 scornfully exclaims Juvenal. So we behold multitudinous 

 delineations of the jackal, the baboon, the hippopotamus, 

 the owl, the vulture, the ibis, the crocodile, the cobra, the 

 lotus, the papyrus, the palm, every-day objects for the 

 beholder, always at hand for the artist, and esteemed and 

 reverenced by the common people, and in many cases 

 deified. Thus in Baalbec I have seen carved in stone on 

 the lintels and above the porches of the Temple of the 

 Sun in gratitude to the Avarming and maturing powers of 

 the God of Day, a perfect flower garden and orchard of 

 the rose, the poppy, the tulip, grapes, figs, gourds, pome- 

 granates, &c., but all representative of the locality. 



Account of the three species of Egyptian lotus {two natire, and 

 one introduced), in Bcaolinsoit s '■'■Ancient Egypt,^' Vol. I, 

 pp. 56, 57, 58. 



I. — The nyniphcm lotus, which nearly resembles our white 

 water lily, grows freely in the lowlands of the Delta during 

 the time of the inundations, being found at that period in 

 ponds and channels which are ordinarily dry. In ancient 

 times the peasants collected and dried the seed vessels of 

 this plant, which they crushed and made into cakes that 

 served them for bread. They also ate the rest of the plant, 

 which was considered to have a pleasant sweet taste, and 

 was eaten either raw, baked, or boiled. A recent Avriter 

 compares the flavour to that of a bad truffle, and complains 

 that the taste is exceeding insipid, but it seems to have 

 connnended itself to the Egyptian palate, Avhich was pi-o- 

 bably less fastidious than that of modern Europeans. 



11. — The Lotus co^ridea is scarcely more than a variety of 

 the nymp)ha>a. Its blossoms, which are of a pale blue colour, 

 have fewer petals than those of the ordinary plant; its 



