320 JOURNAL ft. A. & (CEYLON). [Vol. Ill* 



Iii reference to Solomon as a Botanist, I may just mention, 

 that a genus of small plants has been dedicated to his memory 

 in these words : — 



" Salamonia, in honour of Solomon, king of the Jews, the 

 first botanist, flourished about 1,000 years before Christ." 

 We have two species of this genus in Ceylon, one of which 

 found in the bogs near Colombo, and elsewhere, is a plant 

 from two to three inches in height, often much branched, 

 and having long spikes of rose-colored flowers. 



Almond, Pistachia, Hazel. 



k< Israel said unto his sons, take of the best fruits in the 

 land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a 

 little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and 

 almonds." (Gen. xliii. 11.) 



It is admitted, that the plant now known as the Almond 

 tree is indentical with the one of the Bible. It is a native of 

 Syria and Palestine, and although I saw some plants of it 

 growing in the Pasha's gardens both at Alexandria and Cairo, 

 it is not likely that it grew in Egypt at the time referred to; 

 hence the reason for its being included in Jacob's present. 

 You will all see the coincidence between this passage and the 

 habit of the Sinhalese of bringing presents of fruits to those 

 from whom they expect favors. It is common to all orientals. 



The Peach, which has been grown on the mountains of 

 Ceylon for many years past, is a species of the same genus to 

 which the Almond tree belongs, but you must not confound 

 the Almond with what is known here as the country Almond 

 ( ©>s*>©GS), hottamba), which belongs to a distinct natural 

 order. 



Some trees which were in flower, but not in leaf, at 

 Gibraltar in January 1858, were so profusely covered with 

 rose-colored flowers, that they were conspicuously seen a 

 long way out at sea. The Almond is one of that important 



