256 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
of Ophelias, on his march to Carthage, being short of pro- 
visions, is said to have subsisted for many days on this fruit ” 
(Theophrastus). “ Its fruit at first is like white myrtle-berries, 
both in size and colour, but when it ripens it turns to purple ; 
it is then about the bigness of an olive ; it is round, and, 
when ripe, has a small stone ; it is gathered and bruised among 
bread-corn, put into a vessel, and kept as food for the servants ; 
it is dressed after the same manner for the family, the kernel 
being first taken out ; it has the taste of a fig, or date, but a 
far better scent. Wine is likewise made of it, by steeping, &c. 
Vinegar is also made of it” (Polybius). “It bears a sweet 
fruit larger than pepper ” (Dioscorides). “ Of this Lotos there 
are many varieties, and the varieties are most conspicuous in 
the fruit. This fruit is of the size of a bean, and of a saffron 
colour, but before it is ripe it undergoes many changes, like 
the grape. The fruit is produced in clusters, among branches, 
like myrtle-berries, and not as cherries are with us in Italy. 
The fruit affords so sweet a food that it has given name to a 
people and a district. It is said that those who eat of it are 
not subject to pains in the bowels. The better sort is without 
stone, for there is one kind that has a bony nut. From the 
fruit wine is also expressed ” (Pliny). The whole of these 
agree in describing a sweet pulpy fruit, of variable size, but 
not larger than an olive, with a hard stone (and a stoneless 
variety, from which wine is made). There is no allusion what- 
ever to any peculiar effects resulting from the eating of this 
fruit, of the kind indicated by Homer, so that this portion of 
his story may be eliminated as poetical. It may be a beautiful 
romance in the hands of our Laureate, to write of the “ mild- 
eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters,” and of the 
Branches they bore of that enchanted stem, 
Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave 
To each; but whoso did receive of them, 
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave 
Far far away did seem to mourn and rave 
On alien shores ; and if his fellow spake, 
His voice was thin, as voices from the grave ; 
And deep asleep he seemed, yet all awake, 
And music in his ears his beating heart did make. 
We will accept the romance, and be thankful for the beau- 
tiful, even though it be romance, but the Lotos of the Loto- 
phagi bore only a common-place sort of fruit which satisfied 
hunger, was sweet and pleasant, and could yield wine. 
The next evidence to be adduced is that of modern travellers. 
First of these is Dr. Shaw, who states that the seedra of the 
Arabs “is a shrub very common in the Jereede, and other parts 
