[108] These upstanding flowers and stalks form the distinguishing characteristic of the Nelumbo species.
These seeds, which were eaten either green or dried,[109] were called _Egyptian beans_ by the Greek and Latin writers because they were consumed in such vast quantities in the Nile valley.[110] The seeds of the other kinds of nymphæaceæ, which were smaller (Herodotus compares them with those of a poppy), gave, when pounded in a mortar, a flour of which a kind of bread was made. Even the root was not wasted; according to the old historians, it had a sweet and agreeable taste.[111]
[110] For the different species of the lotus and their characteristics see _Description de l'Égypte_, _Hist. Naturelle_, vol. ii. pp. 303-313 and _Atlas_, plates 60 and 61.--In the _Recueil de Travaux_, etc., vol. i. p. 190, there is a note by M. VICTOR LORET upon the Egyptian names for the lotus.
[111] STRABO, xvii. 1, 15.--DIODORUS, i. 34.
The papyrus belongs to the family of _Cyperaceæ_, which is still represented in Egypt by several species, but the famous plant which received the early writings of mankind, the _Papyrus antiquorum_ of the botanist, has also practically disappeared from Egypt, where it is only to be found in a few private gardens. The ancients made it an object of special care. It was cultivated in the Sebennitic nome, its roots being grown in shallow water. Strabo gave a sufficiently accurate idea of its appearance when he described it as a "peeled wand surmounted by a plume of feathers."[112] This green plume or bouquet is by no means without elegance (Fig. 98). According to Theophrastus the plant attained to a height of ten cubits, or about sixteen feet.[113] This may, however, be an exaggeration. The finest plants that I could find in the gardens of Alexandria did not reach ten feet. Their stems were as thick as a stout broom-handle and sharply triangular in section.
[113] Strabo only speaks of ten feet, which would agree better with modern experience.
The reed-brakes which occur so frequently in the paintings consist of different varieties of the papyrus (Fig. 8, Vol. I.). The uses to which the plant could be put were very numerous. The root was used for fuel and other purposes. The lower part of the stalk furnished a sweet and aromatic food substance, which was chewed either raw or boiled, for the sake of the juice.[114] Veils, mats, sandals, &c., were made from the bark; candle and torch wicks from the bark; baskets and even boats from the stalk.[115] As for the processes by which the precious fabric which the Greeks called βίβλος was obtained they will be found fully described in the paper of Dureau de-la-Malle _Sur le Papyrus et la Fabrication du Papier_.[116] Our word _paper_ is derived from _papyrus_, and forms a slight but everlasting monument to the great services rendered to civilization by the inventive genius of the Egyptians. The importation of the papyrus, which followed the establishment of direct relations between Greece and Egypt in the time of the Sait princes,[117] exercised the greatest influence upon the development of Greek thought. It created prose composition, and with it history, philosophy, and science.