54 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



among the high rank grass, which principally covers these desolate regions. In this 

 situation it usually builds its nest, or in the fork of some low shrub. Its notes are 

 loud, and consist of tweedle three times repeated. It is said to be a very pugna- 

 cious bird, fighting with great violence during the amorous season. The female is 

 destitute of the black under the eye. 



Fig. 9. The Yellow-throat Warbler (5'. fiavicoUis) remains in the United States 

 for nine months of the year, quitting them during the three winter months. It is 

 principally to be met with among Pine trees, ranging after Insects with much 

 nimhleness, both spirally and perpendicularly, in the manner of a Titmouse. Every 

 three or four minutes it utters its song, which is pretty loud, and somewhat resem- 

 bhng the notes of the Indigo bird. 



On the Spine at the extremity of the Lion's Tail. — It has been observed 

 by Homer and many other ancient poets, that the enraged Lion stimulates himself 

 with blows of his tail. Pliny calls the tail the index of the Lion's mind, for, says 

 he, " When the tail is at rest, the animal is quiet, gentle, and seems pleased, which 

 is seldom, however, the case; and anger is much more frequent with him, in the 

 -commencement of which he lashes the ground, but as it increases, his sides, as if with 

 the view of rousing it to a higher pitch." Again, we find among the Problemata of 

 Alexander Aphrodisaeus the following query: — " Why, since the moving of the tail 

 is, in most animals, a sign of their recognition of "friends, does the Lion lash his sides 

 ■when enraged, and the Bull in the same manner ? 



Didymus Alesandrinus, the ancient commentator of Homer, has a note upon that 

 passage of the Iliad where the Lion's rage is mentioned — 



" Such the Lion's rage, 



Lash'd by his tail, his heaving sides resound. 

 He calls up all his rage." Book xx. line 199, 



§-c. 



He asserts, " that the Lion has a blacTc prickle on his tail among the hair, like a 

 ■horn, when punctured with which, it is still more irritated by the pain. This 

 opinion was by many looked upon as a mere fiction, the more so, as no anatomist, 

 "who possessed an opportunity of dissecting a Lion, had hitherto made mention of a 

 ^pine of this kind. But the matter was put beyond a doubt, some years ago, by 

 Professor Blumenbach, to whom a friend had presented a Lioness, which died a few 

 days previous. He determined to satisfy himself regarding the assertion of the 

 Greek Scholiast. He commenced his dissection, and discovered, on the very tip of 

 tthe tail, a small dark-coloured prickle, as hard as a piece of horn, and surrounded at 

 its base with an annular fold of the skin; and on cautiously dissecting the hide in 

 .-this place, he discovered a singular follicle of a glandular appeai;ance, to which the 

 jprickle formerly adhered, as represented beneath. 



All these parts, however, vpere so minute, and the little horny apex so buried 

 ■among the tufted hairs of the tail, that the use assigned by the ancient Scholiasts 

 :Cannot be regarded as any thing else than imaginary; but the structure of the organ 

 is so elegant, and, its form so singular, that it cannot possibly be considered as for- 

 txiitous, or what is commonly called a lusus naturcn. This simple fact, however-, 

 , ^eems to prove that the ancients were better acquainted with some departments of 

 ■anatomy than could have been supposed. 



Tormentors of the Rein-Deer. — WTiale Island, during the summer months, 

 is never without three or four families of Laplanders (Fieldfinner), with their herds 

 of Rein-Deer. The causes that induce, nay even compel these people to undertake 

 their long and annual migrations from the interior parts of Lapland to its coast, 

 though they may appear singular, are sufficiently powerful. It is well known from 

 the account of those travellers who have visited Lapland during the summer months, 

 that the interior pai'ts of it, particularly its boundless forests, are so infested by 

 ■various species of gnats and other insects, that no animal can escape their incessant 

 persecutions. Large fires are kindled, in the smoke of which the cattle hold their 

 heads, to escape the attack of their enemies; and even the natives themselves are 

 compelled to smear their faces with tar, as the only certain protection against their 

 stings. No creature, however, suffers more than the Rein-Deer from the larger 

 species (^(Estrus tarandi), as it not only torments it incessEmtly by its sting, but even 

 deposits its egg in the wound it makes in the hide. The poor animal is thus tor- 

 Toented to such a degree, that the Laplander, if he were to remain in the forests 

 during the months of June, July, and August, would run the risk of losing the 

 •greater part of his herd, either by actual sickness, or from the Deer fleeing of their 

 own accord to mountainous situations from the gad-fly. From these causes the Lap- 

 lander is driven from the forests to the mountains that overhang the Norway and Lap- 

 land coasts, the elevated situations of which, and the cool breezes from the ocean, are 

 unfavourable to the existence of these troublesome insects, whichj though found on 

 the coast, are in far less considerable numbers there, and do not quit the valleys, 

 so that the Deer by ascending the high lands can avoid them. — J)e Brakes Travels 

 An Lapland. 



BOTANY AND HORTICULTURE. 



BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS Ii^ EGYPT, THE THREE ARABIAS, PALESTINE, AND 

 SYRIA. NO. I. 



EV N. BOVE, LATELY CONDUCTOR OF FARMING OPERATIONS AT CAIRO TO HIS 

 HIGHNESS IBRAHIM-PACHA. 



Arrival in Lower Egypt — Review of the vegetation and cultivation of the country 

 • — Visit to Fuyoum. 



On the 10th April 1829, I disembarked at Alexandria, and spent six hours in travers- 

 ing the city and its environs ; but the excessive heat of the weather had already 

 parched up most of the annuals. The harvest was now over. I found nothing 

 else to do here but to visit some gardens where I had remarked several trees from 

 different foreign countries, but perfectly naturalized in this place. Among those trees 

 which seemed to me to thrive best were the following : — the Apricot, Quince, Fig, 

 Pomegranate, Orange, Citron, Olive, Mulberry, Peach, and Vine. Some of our 

 common fruit trees, such as the Apple, Pear, Plum, and Cherry, vegetate very 

 feebly in this place. Among the ornamental plants were the common Bead-tree 

 (Melia Azedarach), the Sponge-tree (^Acacia Farncsiana), the Pomegranate with 

 double flowers, the Rose Laurel, the large flowered Jessamine, the Rose with a hun- 

 dred leaves, the common Carnation, and several varieties of Thyme. 



On the 17th April, I set out for Cairo, and remarked on the banks of the Nile the 

 Egyptian Reed {Arundo JEgyptiaca), the Egyptian Sugar-cane, the Sea Ambrosia, 

 thickets of the Gum Arabic tree (Acacia Arabica}, and here and there some isolated 

 tufts of Acacia Lebbek. The Cotton tree, the Mulberry, the Rlaize, and many species 

 and varieties of the Cucurbitaceas, were cultivated in the open fields. 



I arrived at Cairo on the 25th April, and resided there continually during nineteen 

 months. The same plants were cultivated in the fields and gardens as at Alexandria ; 

 but I also observed, especially in the gardens of the prince, many species, which seemed 

 to have been introduced from the interior of Africa, and other distant countries. 



The luxuriant vegetation of some plants in Egypt is truly surprising, for it is no 

 uncommon thing to see annual shoots which are four or five metres long (from 13 

 to 16^ feet), especially with the Gleditschia, Cassia fistula, and some others. 



The Sycamore Fig (Ficus Sycomorus), the trunk of which is from three to four 

 metres broad (10 to 13 feet), and about twenty metres high (65^ feet), may give a 

 still greater notion of the luxuriance of vegetation in Egypt. The branches of this 

 tree, numerous and extensive, form a shade as dense as it is durable ; for the leaves 

 are persistent, and always of a beautiful verdure. The fruit is very nearly the size 

 of the common figs, but flattened, and of a yellowish orange colour, approaching to 

 brown. Their taste is more insipid, and not so sweet as that of the common Fig. This 

 tree produces three crops of fruit every year. The latter grows on the branches de- 

 prived of leaves, and ends in forming tufts, which might be mistaken at a distance for 

 our Misletoe. To quicken the ripening of the Figs, the Egyptians nip or cut off their 

 upper extremity with a knife. Three or four days afterwards, the fruit acquires a 

 fine golden colour, and a sweet taste, when it is considered as sufficiently ripe. Tha 

 •wood of the Sycamore Fig has the name of being indestructible, or at least of under- 

 going scarcely any alteration in water. After this maceration, it is susceptible of a 

 very fine polish. The greater number of the wooden amulets of the ancient Egyp- 

 ■tians appear to have been formed of it; and at present it is employed with advantage 

 for Kydrauhc works. 



While visiting the country residences of Ibrahim-Pacha, one of his Inspectors 

 pointed out to me, near the village of Kouba, a stump of St John's Bread Tree 

 ( Ceratonia Siliqua), which he said had been planted under the reign of a Sultan who 

 governed Egypt three hundred' years ago. This Tree had been cut down by the 

 French during their expedition in Egypt. Its roots remained in the earth, without 

 giving any signs of vegetation, until his Higluiess Ibrahim having cleared the surround- 

 ing earth in 1826, and having sunk a well, the moisture occasioned three branches 

 to shoot, which in three years acquired the height of three or four metres (10 to 13 

 feet), and their base was three decimetres in circumference. Some flower-buds 

 seemed even to show themselves on the branches. Thus, this stump had remained 

 buried in the earth for nearly thirty years, without perishing, and probably without 

 ceasing to increase in size. This fact appears still more sm-prising than that related 

 by M. Dutrochet, of a species of Pine. — (See Arch, de Botan. 1833, t. 2, p. 231, and 

 Ann. des Scien. Nat. 1833, t. 29, p. 300). 



In my Botanical Excursions round Cairo, 1 found some beautiful and remarkable 

 kinds of Grasses, such as the Paaicum ohtusifoUum of Delile, Poa ^gyptiaca of 

 Linnaeus, and several others. The untilled lands are much infested with the Poa 

 cynosuroides. Its roots spread to the depth of more than a metre (about 3 feet\. 

 The stalk rises to two metres, and furnishes the material for ropes to the inhabitants, 

 as well as fuel for their ovens, brick fields, and potteries. The Saccharum cylindricum 

 serves for the same purposes. 



The Lotus {Nymphaza Lotus) grows about two leagues from Cairo, in a ditch 

 which contains no water, except when the Nile overflows. In summer this ditch \s 

 completely dry, and serves as a public road during seven months of the year, from 

 February to September. At this time, the Nile overflowing fills the ditch, which is 

 covered two months after with Lotus flowers of the purest white. 



In the moist sands of the desert, I found among other plants the Tribidus terrestris, 

 and Alhagi Maurorum^ or Manna Tree. 



It is in the month of November, after the inundation, that a dehghtful verdure 

 begins every where to appear. But before this period, the country is completely 

 parched up, and shows the saddest aspect, which contrasts strangely with a cloudless 

 sky. In order to enjoy the splendid prospect which the vegetation occasions, when in 

 its vigour, it must be viewed from some neighbouring height. I witnessed the en- 

 semble of this beautiful country, partly wild and partly cultivated, from the moun- 

 tains Mokadam and Achraar, on the east of the city. An immense horizon, extend- 

 ing over the whole plain of Lower Egypt, presented to the eye villages one beyond the 

 other, surrounded with fruit-trees, and thickets of Dates and the Gum Arabic Tree. 

 Lebbeks and Sycamore Figs were scattered over this plain. Finally, the entire scene 



