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Historical.i ithat there were two varieties. He goes on to mention other " lilies,like roses," with fruit " like a wasp's nest," and edible seeds " of thesize of an olive stone " this is; evidently Nelumbo nucifera. He alsouses the word "lotus" in book iv, par. 177, to designate a tree whosefruit is the food of the Lotophagi (Lotus-eaters) and their neighborsthe Machyles, tribes of Northern Africa. This, the Forgetful Lotus, isa species of Zizyphus.Theophrastus (Bk. 9, ch. 13),in a chapter dealing with various plantsand roots, speaks of some which are " sour, others bitter, others sweet.""The sweet [one] called nymphaea (wfiyaia) is accustomed to grow inpools and marshes, as in the Orchomenian country, and Marathon, andthe island of Crete. The Boeotians call it madonia, and eat the fruit.It bears large leaves upon {supra) the water ;[these] ground and placedon wounds are said to stop blood. It is useful also as a drink forintestinal disorders." This has been generally accepted,I think correctly,to refer to Nymphaea alba, the common white waterlily of Europe.Theophrastus also describes Nelumbo, under the name of xua/xo^.A brief mention of the "lotus " of Egypt, evidently Nymphaea, occursin the Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus, written about the beginningof our era. He says (Bk. I, ch. 3)itgrows in great plenty in the delta ofthe Nile, and is used for bread. He too speaks of Nelumbo, but underthe name" "of xtftmpwv. Celsus gives lotus in a list of therapeuticagents for " cooling the body." The word may not belong to the originalmanuscript, but may have been added in later copies. It is considered tostand for the Egyptian lotus as above.Dioscorides, in his Materia Medica, devotes a chapter (112) in bookiv to " the Egyptian lotus (kwTbt; 6 'at AquTcry j-eww^svoc). which growsin plains flooded by the water " of the "Nile. The stem resembles thatof xua/ioi; [Nelumbo], having a white flower like a lily (xpivov) which,they say, opens at sunrise, and closes at sunset, and the head isaltogether hidden under water, and again emerges at sunrise. The headlike millet,is like a very large poppyin it is seed; (xo/otoc;grand)which the Egyptians dry and beat into bread. It has a root like a quince,which is also eaten both raw and cooked ;when cooked it resembles theyolk of an egg." The identity of this with our Nymphaealotus L. canscarcely be doubted. We find a difficulty in that N lotus is a nightbloomer,and therefore could not possibly be thought by those familiarwith it to sink under water at night. But N caerulea grows with N lotusin Egypt, and is a day-bloomer, closing into a very insignificant bud by