f

part of the question. Again, Dr. Post might give us some information
as to whether the articles which are of the greatest value, such as wheat,
maize, and so on, are in that part of the world being increasingly
produced for commercial purposes?
If he would answer these

questions he would add to the value of his paper by affording
utilitarian information that might be of service, not only to the
afflicted in mind or body, but to the wants of the trading, and also
of the general, community.

Mr. T. CHRISTY, F.L.S.-I was about to ask the same questions as have just been put. With regard to the Cannabis Indica, no doubt this was much used for allaying pain in crucifixions, some of it being put on a sponge and passed into the mouth of the sufferer when nailed to the cross. A considerable effect was then produced on the nerves and muscles. As it was sometimes put forward as a grievance that the crucified persons escaped in consequence, the practice of mutilating their bodies was resorted to in order to prevent their friends taking them away for the purpose of restoring them to life. There are many other drugs used by the natives, opium being one. Of course, in many of these Eastern countries they cannot exist without these drugs. I would add that when we have regard to the great variety of trees and plants in Palestine and Syria, we must not forget the numerous wars that have been waged there; for it is well known that war was always a cause of bringing into the country in which it took place a considerable number of plants and seeds, these being carried by the invading troops and dropped about in places where they became fertilised. Beyond this the birds carry about the seed, a fact which may also help to account for the "enormous flora" of the districts described. With regard to the perfumed woods and gums, they are often very carefully collected, and any one who sees the gums and resins that are brought to this country to be used as incense knows that they are full of seeds, so that when they are broken and pounded the seeds will fall out; and in this way there might be seeds from India, Persia, and elsewhere thus liberated, and thereby accounting for the varieties that have been noticed. I hope this paper is only the first of many whereby Dr. Post will be able to add to the extremely interesting particulars he has already given ; because, being on the spot, he is able to collect all the information he requires, feeling, doubtless, as he is doing so, that it is one of the great charms of travelled life to be able to bring together the different connecting links in nature. Moreover, those who come here and

listen to these things have supplied to them food for weeks and weeks of thought. It has certainly been a great treat to hear so interesting a paper, and I must again express a hope that it will ere long be followed by others.

Captain FRANCIS PETRIE, F.G.S. (Honorary Secretary).-I am sure many will regard Dr. Post's paper as one of the most valuable contributions we have had this session. In him we have one who is an undoubted authority, upon the botany of the East, as evidenced by the importance attached by the British Museum to his contributions to our national collections. The fulness of detail in the paper is also an advantage, for this makes it at once a book of reference the subject, and one which will be much appreciated and valued, especially by Bible students. Since the days of Dr. Colenso we have often heard dissertations and questions in regard to so called misstatements on botanical matters in the Scriptures; and, therefore, a paper like this is a decided step in the right direction, for it will tend to prevent erroneous conclusions.

upon

The following communication has been received in regard to the paper :

“Dr. Post mentions in his most valuable paper that Globe Artichokes are cultivated in Palestine. This is the case at Jerusalem, especially in the gardens of the King's Dale at Siloam. But they are also indigenous on the great Plain of Sharon, where I was so fortunate as to see them growing in July, 1859, by millions, north of Ras el Ain (identified, by Consul Finn, with Antipatris in 1849). The stately plants, many of them six feet and more high, were full of blossom, the rich purple of which glowed over the plain for leagues. The name 'artichoke' is adopted by us from the native appellation (Ard-i-shok), 'thorn of the ground.' This name leads one to think that the Globe Artichoke, as well as many others of our vegetables and flowers, was brought to this country from Palestine by the Crusaders and pilgrims. Seeing these forests of artichokes was one of many instances in which we learned how easily the usual traveller may be unaware of the products of the country which he sees only at the particular season of his journey, perhaps in early spring, before many of the plants are in flower, or in autumn when the summer heats have ripened and dried up the greater part. None but residents can become fully acquainted with the botany of any country. And in Syria, where, as Dr. Post has shown, and as we constantly observed,

1

there is such immense difference between the climates of the various localities and of the various seasons, even a resident has but small chance of an accurate acquaintance with the plants, unless he is able to visit each locality again and again at the various seasons of the year, so as to find the plants which, utterly insignificant at other times, come into prominence, each at its own proper season. But for the fact that we passed our summers out in tents near Jerusalem, I should probably never have observed the blue Larkspur, which blossoms in some places of the neighbourhood in early June, or the Red Everlasting, the Yellow Stock, the Great Iris, the Hollyhock, the variety of salvias and of cistrus, or the Yellow Mullein, with its spreading branches like the great candlestick of the Temple. The sea-shore lily, near Tyre, and many other flowers are never seen by passing travellers. It flowers in summer. Major Conder, whose knowledge of Palestine is extensive, yet failed to observe the rose, and tells us in his Tent Life that the rose is not a product of Palestine. Yet I have a Dog-rose blossom gathered in the Lebanon, and have seen the Dog-rose flourishing between Jerusalem and Nabloos and elsewhere. The yellow roses, of Baalbek are celebrated. Dr. Post includes the rose among the native plants of Syria. Perhaps I may be allowed to add a word as to the magnificence, and variety of the thistles of Palestine. They testify by their luxuriant growth to the fertility of the soil, and are in themselves a most interesting set of plants, and the fragrance of some kinds of thistles is also remarkable in this country where, as Dr. Post well observes, the land is clothed and covered with sweet-smelling flowers and foliage from year's end to year's end, 'even as a field which the Lord hath blessed.' Not only wild thyme, and varieties of mint, rosemary, rose, and others, but also many kinds of salvia and cistus, and various shrubs, all add their fragrance, even in the hottest of the summer, to the perfumes brought out by the dews and wafted on every breeze. The Poterium spinosum abounds all over the Samaria and Judæan districts. It is there also still used as 'thorns for the burning of lime' (see Isaiah xxxiii. 12), and it has furnished not only the allusion to "thorns" growing in the path of the Sower in our Lord's parable, but also, I think, a remarkable emblem in the use of the Hebrew word vol in Jeremiah v. 10, translated nettesh-battlements,'-which is, no doubt, its meaning. The Poterium spinosum (called Beilân in the North) is, in the Jerusalem district, called nettsh,-a word identical with that used

by Jeremiah for battlements. The link between the two seemed to me to be this. The Shepherds in Judæa use this thorny plant and pile it up as battlements for defence upon the loose stone walls of their open-air sheepfolds. And here we have another instance of the persistence of local phraseology and custom. Doubtless, nettsh was thus used by shepherds in ancient times, and hence the name was afterwards applied to stone-built battlements.". E. A. FINN, Member of the Royal Asiatic Society.

THE AUTHOR.—To reply fully to all that has been said to-night would take up so much time, that I should prefer to deal with it at some future opportunity in a paper on the economic and therapeutic products of Syria and Palestine, rather than to offer, on the spur of the moment, a few desultory remarks that would vanish into thin air. At some future period, when I return to Syria and get settled, obtain the leisure to finish a paper on that subject.

I may
The meeting was then adjourned.

NOTES BY THE REV. F. A. WALKER, D.D., F.L.S.

During the whole of my visit to the East, I noticed very few fernsPteris longifolia at Beyrout and the Nahr el Kelb, and Adiantum capillus veneris at Beyrout, and also at Mount Sipylus, Asia Minor; Equisetum arvense, common horsetail; also at the Nahr el Kelb. The common bracken (Pteris aquilina) I noticed near the reputed tomb of S. Luke at Ephesus, for the first time since quitting England.

P. 260.

"Sisymbrium officinale, three species of Sinapis and Anagallis arvensis are recorded.

I gathered Sisymbrium Iris from off the tomb of St. George at Damascus a species of Sinapis at the fountain of Calirrhoe, Athens, and Anagallis arvensis, blue pimpernel, at the seashore, Jaffa.

P. 262.

Papaver Rhaas."-Probably the same as Papaver Syriacum, which I found by the shore at Jaffa, and at the village of Mezi, Damascus. It is somewhat larger than our field poppy, and has more black in the centre. P. 263.

“Chrysanthemum segetum."—Our corn marigold, abundant on plain of

Jericho.

“Gladiolus Illyricus."—Common in neighbourhood of Beyrout, Alexandretta, towards Issus.

“Asphodelus microcarpus."-I found both Asphodelus albus and lutens at Ephesus; ditto ramosus on Areiopagus, and Lycabettus, Athens. Calycotome villosa."-Between Jaffa and Latroon.

"Elæagnus hortensis.”—Pass of Daphne and Bay of Eleusis, also on line of rail between Smyrna and Ephesus-Lisifa tree.

"Amygdalus orientalis."-Amygdalus, on plain of Litany.

P. 266.

“Marrubium faucidens.”—Found species of marrubium in valley of Jehoshaphat.

P. 267.

“Ferula meifolia."-I find this plant in my list from Philadelphia and Ephesus, as Ferala tingitana.

P. 268.

"Clematis vitalba."-In Corfu.