Jan. 31, 1884J 



NA TURK 



315 



cultivation is the presence among the ancient capsules of 

 numerous seed-vessels of a species of mustard which is 

 still the commonest and inost flourishing weed in every 

 tlax field in Egypt. The pods of mustard are almost 

 spherical in shape with a long point, and are seated on 

 pedicels a little less than half the lengih of the whole pod. 

 Judging from the shape describe"', the pods must belong 

 to one of ihe two varieties, common in Eg>pt, of Sinapis 

 an'ensis, I.inn., namely, 5. Allionii, Jacq., and 5. turgida, 

 Del., for the common form of this species is distinguished 

 by elongated pods. .As the two varieties named can only 

 be distinguished from each other with certainty by the 

 degree of rutt ng cf the leave~, it would be difficult 

 to decide to which of the two the pods of the twelfth 

 dynasty belong were it not for the circumstance that as 6'. 

 Allionii, Jacq. (characterised by the long-pointed much- 

 divided leaves), is the prevailing form at the present time in 

 Middle Egypt,a probability offersitself that theancient pods 

 belong to this form. On the other hand Sinapis arvensis, 

 Linn., var. turgida, Linn., affects the winter cornfields. 



It may be assumed that this species of wild or colonised 

 mustard answers to the Sinapis to which Pliny refers (lib. 

 xi.v. 54 [8]), as a plant commonly met with under such 

 conditions, and of which he asserts that the Egyptian was 

 the best for yii Hing oil, and that the .Athenians called it 

 Napy, others Thapsi, and others again Saurion. 



Lentils, as far as I kr.ow, have not hitherto been 

 authenticated fr. m the ancient graves. Hiny (lib. xviii. 

 31) mentions them as a product of Egypt, where two 

 kinds of them were cultivated. The lentils of the twelfth 

 dynasty appear in consequence of boiling and subsequent 

 shrivelling to have lost a considerable part of their bulk. 

 They are 3i mm. in diameter, while the recent ones 

 average 4*. 



From Ceruatiii pratensis, a characteristic composita of 

 the banks of the Nile, which has hitherto only been found 

 in Nubia and Egypt, the ancients made those hard hand 

 brooms, still met with in every part of Egypt, and used 

 for sweeping out the houses and espei ially the privies ; 

 for which purposes they are offered for sale in all the 

 markets. The Egyptian department of the [British Museum 

 contains a similar specimen. 



Furthermore, the two pine cones [Finns Pima) noted 

 belong to a species not previously known from the ancient 

 Egyptian relics. Like Parnielia furfuracca and the 

 juniper berries [yiiniperus p/iiznictits), they point to the 

 commercial relations that existed between Egypt and 

 Greece, Asia Minor and Syria. The pine cones which 

 were found in a large basket filled with numerous kinds 

 of fine liren thread, fruits of the Doum palm ar d a 

 smaU calabash of Lagenaria, are small and unripe, the 

 scales clinging close together. It is evident that only 

 such of these rare norihern exotic fruits as were unsuit- 

 able for the table were put in the offerings. 



Atnong objects not previously authenticated from an- 

 cient Egypt are the legumes Faba vulgaris and Cajanus 

 indictis. linger' suggests that the broad bean {Faba) 

 was probably not found in the tombs because it was re- 

 garded as unclean.- The two seeds in question were 

 found amongst dried grape-skins and matters of that 

 kind. In shape and relative size they fully correspond to 

 the vr.riety cultivated on a large scale in Egypt at the 

 present day. They are smaller, rounder, and thicker 

 thn the European brjad bean.'' The dimensions of the 

 ancient beans are 10, S, and 6i mm. 



Pliny (lib. xviii. 12 [30]) says of the broad bean that 

 it was used in funeral solemnities ; hence the priests ate 

 none, &c. Perhaps the presence of the broad bean in 

 the offerings of the twelfth dynasty had a meaning similar 

 to that which it had for the Romans. 



' Silzmigsl'erichte ilcr A'ais. Akade7inc Jcr ll'iss., Hieii., 1859, Eand 



^ Comrare " Herodotus," ii. p. 37. 



3 The .Tuthor most likely alludes to the variety called "field " or " hoise- 

 bean '• in this country.— W. B. H. 



Among the funeral offerings of the ancient Egyptians 

 often occur mes-es of a pap of roughly cut or coarsely 

 ground grain of barley. They are in small earthen bowls, 

 placed on the floor of the vault like the other offerings. 

 In Prof Maspero's opinion these messes of barley, which 

 are in no way suitable for human nourishment, answer to 

 the Mola {Mola salsa) offerings of the Romans of earlier 

 epochs ; and I would h-^izard an explanation of the pre- 

 sence of the broad beans in the offerings of the twelfth 

 dynasty as an example of a possible analogy between 

 ancient Rome and ancient Egypt. For, supposing the 

 correctness of Hcrodotus's account that the ancient 

 Egyptians regarded the broad bean as unclean, that they 

 ate it in no shape or form, and that iheir priests could 

 not bear the sight of it, some explan.ition for its presence 

 must be found. The single seed of Cajanus indicus found 

 with the broad beans in no way differs from the Upper 

 Egyptian variety with yellow flowers. The plant, which 

 is cultivated and wild all over India, as well as in all 

 parts of tropical Africa, is nowhere cultivated in Egypt, 

 though it occurs here and there in a wild state in Upper 

 Egypt. It is certainly one of the oldest cultivated plants 

 in the world, a fact further attested by its discovery ia 

 the ancient tombs. G. Schweinfurth 



METAMORPHISM AMOXG DEVONIAN ROCKS 

 'T^HE tract of Devonian rocks which stretches through 

 -'- the north of France and Belgium, and across Rhenish 

 Prussia into Westphalia and Nassau, has furnished ample 

 materi.ils for geological disquisition. Among the problems 

 which it presents to the observer, not tVe least important 

 is the remarkable metamorphism of certain bands or 

 areas of its component strata. Dumont first called atten- 

 tion to this feature in the Belgian Ardennes. It was sub- 

 sequently shown by Lessen to be extensively developed 

 in the Taunus. More recently the question has been 

 attacked anew with all the appliances of modern petro- 

 graphy. M. Renard has subjected some of Dumont's 

 original localities to a critical revision, which has resulted 

 in a confirmation of the accuracy of that remarkable 

 geologist's observations. The latest contribution to the 

 literature of the subject is a paper {Annals Soc. G^ol. 

 du Noui, vol. X. p. 194) by Prof. Gosselet, who at first 

 refused to admit the metamorphism contended for by 

 Dumont and corroborated by M. Renard, but who now 

 comes forward with independent evidence in its support, 

 from another locality. He describes the arkose of Haybes 

 and of Franc- Bois de Vdlerzies on the frontier of Belgium 

 as having undergone such a metamorphi.-m as to be no 

 longer recognisable. M. Barrois reports that on examin- 

 ing microscopically some sections of the altered rocks, he 

 found among them bi-p)ramidal crystals of quartz with 

 liquid inclusions and movable bubbles, as in the quartz of 

 peg'i-atite. These crystals have been broken in silu, with 

 conchoid; 1 fractures, and the surrounding paste appears 

 as if injeited into them. This paste is composed of small 

 irregular quartz-grains like those of schists, and is co'oured 

 by fibrous chlorite, so arranged ; s to impart a more or 

 less schist like structure. The chlorite, arising from 

 alteration of biolite, is predominant in some specimens, 

 while the quar. z-grains prepmderate in others. M. 

 Barrois compares this altered arkoie with some porphy- 

 roids and some granitic veins in Briitany recently studied 

 by him. Prof Gosselet shows that these crystalline inter- 

 calations are portions of the true Deior.ian strata, and 

 he accounts for their highly altered condition by what he 

 terms a metamorphism by friction. .A portion of the 

 Devonian rocks has slipped down between two faults and 

 has undergone gre.-.t lateral pressure, ai d has in conse- 

 quence been heated sufficiently that me:amori.hism has 

 been determined in it. The extent of change has been 

 proportionate to the degree of pressure. The metamor- 



