THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION. 
125 
1841 .] 
The Department of Natural History reported upon a communica¬ 
tion from Mr. Norman, that inasmuch as the tree (bois d’arc, or Os- 
sage apple) referred to in it has been lately sufficiently described by 
Mr. Nuttall, and others, it deems it unnecessary to institute further 
inquiry into its history, &c. 
The Corresponding Secretary reported the following Letters and 
Communications:— 
From Mr. Vail, Charge d’Affaires, Madrid: 
Madrid, August 12, 1841. 
My Dear Sir : Confined as I am by my public duties to the city of Madrid, a 
point not very fertile in objects interesting to the arts and sciences, and, withal, 
sufficiently occupied by subjects of more immediate concern, I have but little 
leisure to listen to my desire of contributing my mite to the labors of the National 
Institution. Seeing, however, that agriculture is one of the branches of industry 
which the Institution is endeavoring to promote, I cannot resist the temptation of 
presenting to it a few ears, herewith transmitted for that purpose, of a curious look, 
ing kind of wheat, which I picked up in a late excursion into Andalusia, and which 
I have nowhere else seen or ever heard of. You must not take its dark bluish color 
for the effect of accident. I saw many very extensive fields of that color, which, 
with the unusually long and heavy beard, gave to the abundant crops the appear¬ 
ance of beautiful blue fur. I am not able to assure you that the grain itself pos¬ 
sesses any marked advantage over other kinds; indeed, I was told that richer and 
better is raised in this country. But you will perceive that the kernel is largo, 
though it might not have acquired its full development when I gathered it stand¬ 
ing in the first days of June. I was induced to take a specimen of it more on ac¬ 
count of the place where it grew than from any other cause. That place was no 
other than the vast arena of the magnificent Roman amphitheatre of the ancient 
and sumptuous city of Italica, the birth-place of the Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, 
and Theodosius, and of the Roman poet, Silius Italicus. Founded by Scipio Afri- 
canus, Italica became the capital of the rich and fertile Province of Boetica, now 
Andalusia, and, judging from what is left of it, must have been, indeed, a fit place 
to cradle such mighty spirits. It stood on the right bank of the Guadalquiver, one 
league above the present site of the city of Seville, with which it is connected by 
a fine Roman road, still used, and in good preservation. The lazy, indolent Anda¬ 
lusian, is content to sow and reap his corn on the now level and deserted soil, and 
allows a few feet of earth to hide numberless remains of magnificent works of art. 
The eighty thousand marble columns which sustain the private dwellings, even the 
humblest in Seville, were dug out of the ruins of Italica ; and numberless fragments 
of statuary, of the most exquisite workmanship, may be seen in the possession of 
private individuals, and in some public establishments, while others are left to moul¬ 
der on the surface of the earth, and beautiful mosaic pavements suffered to bo washed 
away with the common soil. It is strange that nothing certain is known of the fate 
of Italica, and we might be utterly ignorant of the cause of the destruction of that 
splendid city, did not the fragments of statuary, and other productions of art, found 
