392 Boyle's Botany, $c., of 'the Himalayan Mountains. 



of the water and vegetation, occasioned by the intense heat of a burning sun. 

 The Indian corn, or maize, is roasted when half ripe, and eaten by the common 

 people; the flour is the real Italian polenta. The Papyrus antiquorum has 

 been long naturalised in Sicily. It was considered by Dioscorides as one of 

 the most useful of all plants. " The different purposes to which it was applied 

 by the ancients, in addition to the making of paper, are these : in medicine, 

 for the cure of fistula; and ulcers ; for food to the natives, who chewed it 

 either raw, boiled, or roasted, for the sake of its sweet juice; and for torches 

 and candles ; boats, sails, mats, garments, coverlets, and ropes were formed 

 of it ; and the roots were used as fuel, and for making cups and other uten- 

 sils." (p. 219.) Mr. Hogg has treated on " vessels made of the papyrus," in 

 our Mag. Nat. Hist., in a paper which excited intense interest at the time of 

 its publication : it is beautifully illustrated by engravings. (See Mag. Nat. 

 Hist., vol. ii. p. 324. to p. 332., and figs. 88. to 92.) " The head of the flower- 

 stem of papyrus, resembling a thyrsus of many grassy filaments, was used to 

 ■crown the statues of the gods, and to adorn the temples in Egypt. The 

 Egyptian priests likewise wore shoes made of it ; and the plant is of frequent 

 occurrence in the ancient hieroglyphics. The papyrus has long been natu- 

 ralised in Sicily; and flourishes in abundance on the banks of the small river 

 which rises in the clear and limpid fountain of Cyane, now called La Pisma, 

 and joins the Anapus a little before it flows into the great port to the south- 

 west of Syracuse. To this spot the papyrus, in all probability, was originally 

 introduced, either from Egypt or Carthage. It is not seen growing sponta- 

 neously in any other river in Sicily. One of the largest heads, gathered in 

 La Pisma on May 31. 1826, measured 19|in. in length; and the number of 

 its umbellulae was 397. It grows to the height of 22 ft. or 25 ft. Paper 

 is sometimes prepared from it, merely as a curiosity, and sold at Syracuse." 

 (p. 221.) This very interesting paper concludes with an enumeration of the 

 plants found by Mr. Hogg, arranged according to the natural system, and 

 amounting to 160 species. 



There are a number of other articles in this part of the Journal of Botany, 

 but they chiefly consist of scientific matter. 



Art. III. Boyle's Illustrations of the Botany and other Branches of the Natura* 

 History of the Himalayan Mountains, and of the Flora of Cashmere, &c. Part 

 III., containing p. xiii. to xx. of the Introduction, and p. 73. to 104 of the 

 Illustrations of the Natural Orders ; with one plate of fossil plants, one of 

 animals, and eight of living plants ; the latter and the animals beautifully 

 coloured. London, folio. 20s, 



We have noticed part ii. of this work in p. 149., and part i. in IX. 691., and 

 •we have now to state that, as it advances, its execution continues to be of 

 first-rate excellence. The introductory matter of the present part relates 

 chiefly to the height of the Himalayan Mountains, of which there are twenty- 

 eight peaks higher than the peak of Chimborazo, which exceeds 20,000 ft. 5 

 while one of the peaks of the Himalayas is 25,000 ft. high- The illustrations 

 of the botany of the Himalayan Mountains commences with the conclusion of 

 the order Capparidese. It appears that as the flower buds of the Capparis 

 spinosa are employed in Europe as a seasoning, so the fruit of C. aphylla is 

 in India formed into a piekle. The flower-buds and seeds of the caper of 

 Mount Sinai (C. sinaica) are also pickled. Under Polygaleas it is stated that 

 P. crotalarioides is employed as a cure against the bites of snakes; as is P. 

 Senega in South America. Under iineae, we are informed that the common 

 flax is cultivated everywhere in India, but only on account of its seed, the 

 mucilage of which is used in medicine, and the oil in the arts. The stalks of 

 the plant, which in other countries are most valued, are in India thrown away; 

 and other plants, such as i/ibiscus cannabinus, and Crotalaria cannabina are 

 cultivated almost in the same field, for the very products that the flax would 



