According to Malte-Brun this line extends from the Pyrenees through the Cevennes, the Alps and the 
Hasmus. And so marked is the difference of climate on either side of this boundary, as shewn by the change 
of vegetation, that, as Barton observes in his admirable essay on the geography of plants, “ a traveller from 
the north crossing this chain of mountains for the first time is surprised and delighted at the new aspect of 
nature. Gigantic plants of the grass tribes (Arundo Donax) are seen rising to the height of twenty feet and 
upwards, the air is perfumed with the blossoms of the orange and lemon trees ; which with the myrtle and 
pomegranate grow wild among the rocks. The American aloe here blooms in the open air, the Chameerops 
affords the first specimen of the magnificent tropical family of palms. It may perhaps be asserted without 
exaggeration that the appearance of vegetation exhibits a less striking change in travelling from Piedmont to 
Lapland, than in crossing the maritime alps from Piedmont to the gulf of Genoa. On the southern side of 
those mountains the vivid green of our meadows and forests is replaced by the dusky tint of the olive and 
the evergreen oak, which might perhaps be termed sombre, if not contrasted with the intensely dark indigo 
colour of a deep and tranquil sea, undisturbed by tides and resting on a rocky bottom. Nor is the olive 
itself by any means destitute of beauty. It has been compared to a willow : it differs however very mate- 
rially in colour, having none of that sickly hue of blueish green which gives such a peculiar coldness to the 
landscapes of some of the Dutch painters. The upper side of the leaf has precisely the tint familiarly known 
as olive ; the under side is of a shining whiteness, and as the foliage is turned up by the lightest breeze, 
its progress over the valleys covered with olive gardens becomes visible in the form of a silver cloud gliding 
across the landscape/’ 
The Tuscans were the first that exported olive oil, and thus it obtained the name of Florence oil. The 
province of Suse, in Morocco, produces great abundance of what is said to equal in quality the best of this 
kind, and of the origin of a large plantation of olive trees in the neighbourhood of Messa, Mr. Jackson gives 
the following singular account. “ I learnt from the Viceroy’s aid-de-camp, who attended me, that one of 
the kings of the dynasty of Saddia, being on his journey to Soudan, encamped here with his army ; that 
the pegs with which the cavalry picketed their horses were cut from the olive trees in the neighbourhood ; 
and that these pegs being left in the ground, on account of some sudden cause of the departure of the army, 
the olive trees in question sprang up from them. I confess, while I acknowledged the ingenuity of the idea 
(for the disposition of the trees exactly resembled the arrangement of cavalry in an encampment,) I treated 
it as fabulous : some time afterwards, however, the following circumstance occurred, which induced me to 
think the story was not only plausible, but very credible. Having occasion to send for some plants for a 
garden which I had at Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, the foula (gardener) brought, amongst other things, a few 
bits of w r ood, without any roots or leaf, about eighteen inches long and three in circumference, which he 
with a large stone, knocked into the ground. Seeing the fellow thus employed, I asked him what he meant 
by trifling in that way, f I am not trifling,’ said he, c but planting your pomegranate trees.’ I began to take 
them out of the ground ; but some persons who were near assuring me that it was the mode in which they 
were always planted, and that they would (with the blessing of God) take root and shoot forth leaves the 
next year, I was at length prevailed on to leave a few in the ground, merely for experiment ; and they cer- 
tainly did take root, and were in a fair -way of becoming good trees when I left Santa Cruz.” 
The fruit in a pickled state, is sent in great quantities from Leghorn, Naples, Genoa, and Marseilles, to 
England ; that from the two latter places is the most esteemed. Pickled olives are prepared from the 
unripe fruit, by repeatedly steeping them in water, to which quick lime or soda is added to shorten the pro- 
cess. Afterwards, they are soaked in pure water, and then taken out and bottled in a solution of common 
table salt with or without an aromatic. They are eaten abroad as a whet before and during the principal 
meals, and in this country chiefly at the dessert. The finest kind of the prepared fruit is called by the 
merchants Picholine, after one Picholini, who first discovered the art of pickling olives. The wood of the 
olive tree is beautifully veined, and has an agreeable smell ; it is in great esteem with cabinet-makers, on 
account of the fine polish of which it is susceptible. 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The best oil comes from Provence ; but that which we 
have in this country is generally from Lucca and Florence. Samos has lately furnished us with some also. 
When recently drawn, virgin oil has a bland, almost mucilaginous taste, with a slight but agreeable flavour. 
It is unctuous to the touch ; will not combine with water ; is inflammable ; and insoluble in alcohol. Its 
specific gravity is 9153 : it boils at about 400°, Fahr., and congeals at 36° or 38°. When exposed to the 
air, in an open vessel, a white fibrous albuminous substance is deposited, and the supernatant oil becomes 
clear, and of a dilute yellow colour : and when this oil is poured off into another vessel, a second deposition 
occurs, and the oil thus obtained, being put into clear glass bottles, may be kept for a convenient time, 
without undergoing any change. But if the oil be allowed to stand on the white matter, it becomes in a few 
weeks very rancid : nor can the common oil, even under proper management, be preserved in casks longer 
than a year or two. The disposition to freeze, renders it improper for lamps, especially in cold countries : 
but by previously exposing it in an open clear glass to the sun, it may be so far amended in this respect, as 
