Chap. 32.] 
THE LOTUS. 
199 
to honied wine ; according to I^epos, however, it will not last 
above ten days ; he states also that the berries are chopped up 
with alica,"^^ and then put away in casks for the table. In- 
deed, we read that armies have been fed upon this food when 
marching to and fro through the territory of Africa, The 
wood is of a black colour, and is held in high esteem for making 
flutes ; from the root also they manufacture handles for knives, 
and various other small articles. 
Such is the nature of the tree that is so called in Africa ; the 
same name being also given to a certain herb, and to a stalk"^^ 
that grows in Egypt belonging to the marsh plants. This last 
plant springs up when the waters of the Mle have retired after 
its overflow : its stalk is similar to that of the bean, and its 
leaves are numerous and grow in thick clusters, but are shorter 
and more slender than those of the bean. The fruit grows on 
the head of the plant, and is similar in appearance to a poppy 
in its indentations'''^ and all its other characteristics ; within 
there are small grains, similar to those of millet. "^^ The in- 
habitants lay these heads in large heaps, and there let them 
rot, after which they separate the grain from the residue by 
washing, and then dry it ; when this is done they pound it, 
and then use it as flour for making a kind of bread. What is 
stated in addition to these particulars, is a very singular "^^ fact ; 
it is said that when the sun sets, these poppy-heads shut and 
cover themselves in the leaves, and at sun-rise they open 
again ; an alternation which continues until the fruit is per- 
fectly ripe, and the flower, which is white, falls off. 
(18.) Even more than this, of the lotus of the Euphrates,*^^ 
it is said that the head and flower of the plant, at nightfall, 
sink into the water, and there remain till midnight, so deep in 
the water, that on thrusting in one's arm, the head cannot be 
reached : after midnight it commences to return upwards, and 
gradually becomes more and more erect till sunrise, when it 
''^ A kind of grain diet. See B. xviii. c. 29, and B. xxii. c. 61. 
"^^ The MeHlotus officinaHs of Linnaeus. 
■^2 The Nymphsea Nelumbo of Linnaeus, or Egyptian bean. 
He speaks of the indentations on the surface of the poppy-head. 
74 See B. xxii. c. 28. 
Fee remarks that there is nothing singular about it, the sun more or 
less exercising a similar influence on all plants. 
The same as the Nymphsea Nelumbo of the Xile, according to Fee. 
