and other Countries in ancient times. 95 



says (Hist. Plant, iii. 10.) , rj fiev irehivr] (twv Karlvcov) hafyvrjv 

 e^ei Kal /xvpplvrjy Kal b^vnv 6av/jLaomjv. The 6£va of Theo- 

 phrastus appears clearly from his description to have been the 

 beech ; and o^va is still the name of that tree in modern 

 Greece, according to Sibthorp. (Schneider in TkeopJirast., 

 vol. v. Indie, in voce 6%va.) That the plain of Rome should 

 have produced, together with laurels and myrtles, beeches of 

 wonderful size, is an extraordinary botanical fact, and one of 

 the highest importance for the purposes of the present inquiry. 

 For if we confine ourselves to the circumstances connected with 

 the vegetation of the beech, we should be led to fix the mean 

 temperature of ancient Rome at 3° or 4° centigrade lower than 

 at present * ; a temperature by no means suitable to the 

 laurels and myrtles, and equally at variance with other phe- 

 nomena, as I shall proceed to s'jow. 



It is important to be noticed, as bearing on the question of 

 temperature, that Pliny (xvi. 59.) asserts that the chestnut 

 would hardly grow in the immediate vicinity of Rome : " Juxta 

 Romam ipsam castaneae cerasique segre proveniunt," — doubt- 

 less on account of the heat. In the present day the region 

 of the chestnut in southern Italy is placed by Tenore (p. 58.) 

 at from 150 to 400 toises above the level of the sea. In the 

 Abruzzi, the same region is placed by Schouw (Pflanzen- 

 Geographie, p. 475.) at from 200 to 600 toises. Now the 

 highest of the seven hills of Rome does not reach 50 toises; 

 and Monte Mario, the most conspicuous summit in the neigh- 

 bourhood, only attains 74. (Brocchi Suolo di Roma, p. 213.) 

 Consequently Rome does not lie within the existing region of 

 the chestnut, and that tree, if planted near it, would probably 

 grow but " segre." 



That the climate of Italy was not very much colder in an- 

 cient times than at present, may, I think, also be inferred from 

 the fact of the date-palm growing there (in the cultivated state), 

 though then, as now, it remained sterile. (Pliny, xiii. 6.) In 

 Italy at present, if we except the garden of a convent at Rome 

 (a very sheltered spot), and also a small tract of coast between 

 Nice and Genoa, which from local causes enjoys a very high 

 temperature, the northern limit of the date is at Terracina. Now 

 the mean temperature of Rome is 15°'5 C, of Naples 17° C. 

 Terracina, lying nearly half-way between them, certainly has 

 more than 16° mean temperature. At Nice the temperature 

 is 15 0, 5 ; at Genoa 15 0, 9. At neither of these places will the 



* The lower limit of the beech appears to have ascended from less than 

 50 to 400 toises above the level of the sea. We may assume, approxi- 

 mately, a decrement of 1° C. in the mean temperature for every 100 toises 

 of elevation. 



