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CHAP. 10. (5.)—THE TREES OF SYRIA: THE PISTACIA, THE COT- TANA, THE DAMASCENA, AND THE MYXA.

In addition to the palm, Syria has several trees that are pe- culiar to itself. Among the nut-trees there is the pistacia,1 well known among us. It is said that, taken either in food or drink, the kernel of this nut is a specific against the bite of serpents. Among figs, too, there are those known as "ca- ricæ,"2 together with some smaller ones of a similar kind, the name of which is "cottana." There is a plum, too, which grows upon Mount Damascus,3 as also that known as the "myxa;"4 these last two are, however, now naturalized in Italy. In Egypt, too, they make a kind of wine from the myxa.

1 The Pistacia vera of Linnæus. It was introduced into Rome in the reign of Tiberius. The kernel is of no use whatever in a medical point of view, and what Pliny says about its curing the bite of serpents is per- fectly fabulous.

2 See B. xv. c. 19. The "carica was properly the "Carian" fig. "Ficus carica" is, however, the name given to the common fig by the modern botanists.

3 The parent of our Damascenes, or damsons. See B. xv. c. 13.

4 Supposed to be the Corda myxa of Linnæus. See B. xv. c. 15.

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    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MEMPHIS
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