OF FOREST-TREES. 



65 



a house of his in Rome, testifies in what esteem they were had for their CHAP. ill. 

 incomparable beauty and use. v-^-v"^ 



roots will be cut in removing, which will be a great prejudice to the future growth of the 

 trees. 



All the kinds are hardy enough to thrive in the open air in England, after they are be- 

 come strong ; but for the first two winters after they come up from seeds, they require a 

 little protection, especially the third sort, which is tenderer than either of the former.— -The 

 young plants of this kind frequently have variegated leaves. 



The wood of the Lotus-tree was anciently used for flutes and other musical instruments ; 



at horrendo lotos adunca sono, ovid. Fast. 



Mr. Evelyn judges very properly when he supposes that the fruit of the Lotus Arbor 

 could not be the same that was feasted upon by the companions of Ulysses. The enchant- 

 ing fruit, described by the ancients, is produced in Barbary upon a shrub which Linnseus 

 calls Rhamnus (Lotus) aculeis geminatis ; altero recurvo, foliis ovato oblongis. Tournefort 

 calls it Zizyphus Sylvestris, Dr. Shaw, in his Travels into Barbary, had frequent 

 opportunities of examining the shrub in question : he says, " This shrub, which is very 

 " common in the Jereede, and other parts of Barbary, has the leaves, prickles, flower, and 

 " fruit of Zizyphus, or Jubeb ; only with this difference, that the fruit is here round, 

 " smaller, and more luscious, and at the same time, the branches, like those of the Paliurus, 

 ''are neither so much jointed nor crooked. The fruit is in great repute, tastes something 

 " like gingerbread, and is sold in the markets all over the southern districts of these king~ 

 " doms. The Arabs call it Aneb enta el Seedra, or the Jubeb of the Seedra, which Olaus 



Celsius had so high an opinion of, that he has described it as the Dudaim of the Sacred 

 'f Scriptures." This word has occasioned much controversy : in our translation of the Bible, 

 it is rendered Mandrake. Ludovicus thinks it was the Mushroom, and Rudbeckius de-» 

 scribes it as the Rubus Idseus, or Raspberry. But as the Mandrake (Mandragora) was 

 anciently supposed to I'emove barrenness in women, it seems a plant very likely to be 

 anxiously asked for by Rachel, who wanted to have a child. Genesis, ch. xxx. The 

 shrub described by Dr. Shaw is mentioned by Homer. It gave name to a race pf people 

 described in the ninth Odyssey : 



They went, and found an hospitable race ; 

 Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest : 

 They eat, they drink, and Nature gives the feast ; 

 The trees around them all their food produce, 

 Lotus the name — divine, nectareous juice ! 

 (Thence call'd Lotophagi ) which whoso tastes, 

 Insatiate' riots in the sweet repasts ; 

 Nor other home, nor other care intends. 



But quits his house, his country, and his friends, popi. 

 It will be proper to distinguish between the Rhamnus Lotus, and an herh often mentioned 

 by the ancients, under the name of Lotus. Homer speaks of it as being fed upon by the 

 horses of Achilles : and Virgil mentions it as proper for sheep, to increase their milk : 



At cui lactis amor, cytisum. Mosque frequentes 



Ipse manu, falsasque serat prsesepibus herbas. cbo^g. in, 



