OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 475 



Xeranthemum annuum of the Mediterranean countries and middle Asia. The IMMORTALIS- 

 AM ARAN TVS of Columella a. 175 — is referred here by Sprengel : X. annuum was observed by 

 Sibthorp in Greece, in dry stony mountainous situations frequent ; by Gmelin, in Siberia. Westward, 

 is described by Morison vi. pi. 21 ; is termed " x. flore simplici purpureo majore " by Tournefort inst. 

 499 ; and is known to grow in Italy and as far as France (Jacq. austr. pi. 388, Lam. fl. fr., and Pers.). 

 According to Sprengel, the flowers have no pungent odour. 



Artemisia palmata of Western Europe. The SANTONICVM of Columella vi. 25, — and Pliny 

 xxvii. 28, " sandonica herba" of Scribonius Largus 141, or " triton apsinthiou " growing according to 

 Dioscorides mostly in Gaul beyond the Alps, and called after the district producing it " santonion," 

 mentioned also by Galen fac. simpl. vi. p. 804, is referred here by Lobel obs. p. 436, and Sprengel: 

 A. palmata is known to grow in Southern France and Spain, its seeds being the officinal "seminis 

 santonici" (W., and Pers.). 



Mentha gentilis of Europe and the adjoining portion of Asia. A species of mint called in 

 Greece "agrioethuosmos"- (Sibth.) : the N EP ETA -SY LVESTR I S of Columella vii. 5. 18 — may be 

 compared with the "nSpStan " of the Romans identified by Dioscorides with the "StSra kalaminthe " 

 called "agrian glehdna " from resembling the " glehdni " even in odour, and referred here by Fraas : 

 M. gentilis is distinctly described by Linnajus 805 ; is known to grow in wet places and among rub- 

 bish throughout middle Europe as far as Britain (Sm. brit. ii. p. 621, Sole pi. 18, and Pers.); was 

 observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, not rare in Greece, among stubble late in the autumn. 



Salix praecox of middle Europe. The G AL LI C A • S A L I X of Columella iv. 30. 4 — is referred 

 here by Sprengel : S. praecox is described by Hoppe, Hoffmann, Villars, and Host (Steud.) ; is 

 known to grow on river-banks in middle Europe as far as Britain (J. E. Smith), a tree with branches 

 " fragilissimis " (Pers ). 



Sorghum vulgare of Tropical Eastern Asia. Called in Greece " kSghri " or " kalampoki," in 

 Italy " sorgo " or " saggina " or " melica " (Targ., and Lenz), in which we recognize the M ELI C A E- 

 GALLINAE, a term applied by Columella to the MELEAGRIS Guinea fowl, about this time first 

 served upon the tables of the Romans : a kind of " milium " brought within ten years from India to 

 Italy — is further mentioned by Pliny x. 38 and xviii. 10 as having a very large reedy stem seven 

 feet high and called " lobas," cultivated in moist places and the most productive of all grains, a single 

 seed yielding " terni sextarii : " the "melica" is also mentioned by Palladius (Fraas p. 312) ; speci- 

 mens of a kind of grain called " meliga " were brought from Natolia to Incisa in Piedmont in 

 "August 1204," the price of " meliga " or "melya" is mentioned by Uberto de Lucerna "in 1298," 

 the mode of cultivating " milica" is described by Crescenzio, the " milica " is identified with the 

 " sorghum " by Cardanus, with the " saggina " by C. Bauhin, and the " sorgo " is also mentioned by 

 Matthioli (A. Dec. p. 943). Eastward and Southward, S. vulgare was observed by Fraas under culti- 

 vation in Greece ; stems intermingled with those of Papyrus were observed by myself in a bundle 

 exhumed at Sakara, the "dhorra" continued in the days of Abd-allatif almost unknown in Egypt, 

 but is at present one of the principal objects of cultivation (Alpin., Forsk., Del., and Clot-Bey) ; is 

 called in Nubia "mareh " (Del.), in Southern Arabia "taam" or " habb " (Forsk.), in Hindustan 

 "jondla" or " jowaree " (Graham) ; in which we recognize the "jawars" of Ebn Masah, Abu Hanifa, 

 Rhazes, and Ebn Baitar ; was observed by myself both in Arabia and in Equatorial Africa at Zanzi- 

 bar, and through the Interior had reached Senegal on the Atlantic prior to the visit of Cadamosto ; 

 was observed in Hindustan by Apollonius of Tyana (according to Philostratus, and Btckmann), and 

 continues to be extensively cultivated there, as witnessed by Rumphius v. pi. 75, Roxburgh, Graham, 

 and myself. Farther East, was observed by Mason " exotic " in Burmah and called " pyoung ; " and 

 by Kaempfer, and Thunberg, under cultivation in Japan, and called " sioku " or usually " kibi." By 

 European colonists, a slender-stemmed variety has been recently brought " from China " to Northeast 

 America, and continues to be cultivated along the Ohio and Mississippi for the sugar procured from 

 the stems. 



Morchella esculenta of Europe. An edible mushroom called in Britain " morel," in France 

 "morille" (Prior), in Italy " spugnolo " or "spongiole" (Lenz), in which we recognize the SPON 

 GIOLI of Columella, — Pliny, and Apicius, described as a spongy ball on trees: M. esculenta is 

 known to grow also in middle Europe. 



Mucor mucedo of all climates ? The MVCORof Columella xii. 4 and 17, — and Pliny xiv. 26, 

 is referred by writers to this minute fungus, called in English mould. 



" 19 A. D." (Tacit., and Clint.), visit to Egypt of Germanicus ; and his death on his way thence 

 in Syria. At this time, a comet observed by L. Seneca nat. qu. i. I (Clint, iv. p. 45). 



" The same year " (Tacit., and Clint.), at Rome, the religious rites of the Egyptians and Jews 

 prohibited ; and all persons following them banished from Italy. 



"20 A. D. = ist year of the 'ti-hoang' of the usurping Sin-mang" or Wang-mang — (Chinese 

 chron. table). 



