316 SYLVA FLOKIFEKA. [ADDEND. 



good quantity of ladanum, with musk and 

 amber. The ancients steeped the flowers of 

 the cistus in their wines that had become tart, 

 to correct the effects of their acidity; and 

 this resinous union, nauseous as it may appear 

 to us, is still liked by the natives throughout 

 the Peloponnesus, who continue to mix resin 

 to correct the newness of their wine, and 

 render it fit for immediate consumption. 



The dedication of the cone of the pine-tree 

 to Bacchus is traced by Chateaubriand, with 

 some plausibility, to this custom. 



At what period the gum cistus was first 

 cultivated in England is uncertain. In 1568, 

 Turner says, " I haue sene it in Italy in cer- 

 taine gardines, and ones in Englande, in my 

 lordes gardine at Sion." 



It grows spontaneously on the hills in 

 Spain and Portugal ; but they do not collect 

 the ladanum in these countries. 



The gum cistus flourishes best in a shel- 

 tered and warm situation, and thrives well on 

 the sea coast, when not too much exposed to 

 the cutting winds. It is propagated by seeds, 

 and also from cuttings. 



