466 
pltnt's katueal history. [Book XVII. 
shake even towers and walls ! Such is the might, such is the 
power that is displayed by JS'ature. Eut, a marvel that tran- 
scends all the rest, is the fact of a vegetable receiving its birth 
from a tear-like drop, as we shall have occasion to mention*' in 
the appropriate place. 
To resume, however : the tiny balls which contain the seed 
are collected from the female cypress — for the male, as I have 
already stated, is barren. This is done in the months which 
T have previously''^ mentioned, and they are then dried in the 
sun, upon which they soon burst, and the seed drops out, 
a substance of which the ants are remarkably fond ; this fact, 
too, only serves to enhance the marvel, when we reflect that 
an insect so minute is able to destroy the first germ of a tree 
of such gigantic dimensions. The seed is sown in the month 
of April, the ground being first levelled with rollers, or else 
by means of rammers after which the seed is thickly sown, 
and earth is spread upon it with a sieve, about a thumb deep. 
If laid beneath a considerable weight, the seed is unable to 
spring up, and is consequently thrown back again into the 
earth; for which reason it is often trodden only into the 
ground. It is then lightly watered after sunset every three 
days, that it may gradually imbibe the moisture until such 
time as it appears above ground. The young trees are trans- 
planted at the end of a year, when about three-quarters of a 
foot in length, due care being taken to watch for a clear day 
with no wind, such being the best suited for the process of 
transplanting. It is a singular thing, but still it is a fact, that 
if, on the day of transplanting, and only that day, there is the 
slightest drop of rain or the least breeze stirring, it is attended 
with danger^^ to the young trees ; while for the future they 
are quite safe from peril, though at the same time they 
have a great aversion to all humidity. The jujube-tree^^ is 
B. xix. c. 48, and B. xx. c. 11. As Fee reraarks, this is a fabulous 
assertion, which, may still be based upon truth ; as in gum-resin, for in- 
stance, we find occasionally the se^ds of the parent tree accidentally enclosed 
in the tear-like drops. 
^8 In B. xvi. c. 47. In c. 11 of this Book. 
50 u Yolgiolis." This word found nowhere else, and the reading is 
doubtful. ^1 This is, at least, an exaggeration. 
52 See B. xvi. c. 31, and c. 60. 
53 It is propagated at the present day both from seed and suckers, but 
mostly from the latter, as the seed does not germinate for two years. 
