70 
SWEET SCENTED WATER LILY. 
their gods and kings, but the seeds also served as food to the people 
in times of scarcity. The Sacred Lotus (Nelumbium speciosum) was 
an object itself of religious veneration to the ancient Egyptians. 
The Chinese, in some places of that over-populated country, 
grow the Water Lilies upon their lakes for the sake of the nourish¬ 
ment yielded by the roots and seeds. 
“Lotus-eaters,” says that valuable writer on the Medical Botany 
of America, Dr. Charles Lee, “not only abound in Egypt, but all 
over the East.” “The large fleshy roots of the Nelumbium luteum, 
or great Yellow Water Lily, found in our North American lakes, 
resembles the Sweet Potato (Batatas edulis ), and by some of the 
natives are esteemed equally agreeable and wholesome,” observes 
the same author, “ being used as food by the Indians, as well as some 
of the Tartar tribes.” 
As yet little value has been attached to this charming plant the 
White Pond Lily, because its uses have been unknown. It is one of 
the privileges of the botanist and naturalist to lay open the vegetable 
treasures that are so lavishly bestowed upon us by the bountiful 
hand of the Great Creator. 
