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



rns), anciently so common in Egypt, is not now found within 

 the Hmits of the countiy. It is a tall smooth flag or reed, 

 with a large triangular stalk, inside of which is contained 

 the pith from which the Egyptians made their paper. The 

 paper was manufactured by cutting the pith into strips, 

 arranging them horizontally, and then placing across them 

 another layer of strips, uniting the two layers by a paste, 

 and subjecting the whole to a heavy pressure. The upper 

 and middle portions of the reed were employed for this pur- 

 pose ; the lower portion, together with the root, was esteemed 

 a delicacy, and was eaten after it had been baked in a close 

 vessel. The papyrus needed a moist soil, and was carefully 

 cultivated in the shallow lakes and marshes, more especially 

 those of the Sebennytic nome in the central part of the Delta. 

 There was a second coarser kind, probably the Cyperus dives 

 of botanists, which was employed in the construction of 

 boats, of sails, of mats, baskets, sandals, and the like. 



Extinction of the papi/rns foretold hy Isaiah, xix, 7. — " The 

 paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the bi'ooks, and 

 everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven 

 away, and be no more." 



Habitat of the papyrus. — Theophrastus is correct in saying 

 it grew in shallow water, or in marshes, according to Pliny, 

 and this is represented on the monuments, where it is placed 

 at the side of a stream or in irrigated lands. 



Present localities of the papyrus. — The famous papyrus of 

 Egypt, which formerly grew like a forest on the banks of the 

 Nile, is now extinct in Egypt, though still found in the marshes 

 of Nubia. It grows luxuriantly in a swamp at the north 

 end of the plain of Gennesaret, and covers acres of marsh by 

 ihki water of IMerom, but exists nowhere else in Asia. It is 

 called by the Arabs babeer. i.e., papyrus. It has a triangular 

 stem eight to ten feet high, with bushy top. 



My own observation of the papyrus. — The only place where 

 I ever saw papyrus growing in the East Avas the small 

 garden iii front of Maurice Bey's house in Cairo. The said 

 residence was decorated and furnished in the Persian style, 

 and is a perfect museum of art treasures. The papyrus was 

 growing by the edge of a small basin of water, and if not 

 actually the famous species, was at any rate a species closely 

 allied to it. 



Confusion betioeen the Cyperi. — It is evident that other 

 cyperi, and particularly the Cyperus dives, were sometimes 

 confounded with the Cyperus papyi'us, the papyrus or byhlus 



