annual temperature alone as a cause of limitation of species, whereas it is now well known that the distribution of heat at different seasons of the year forms an important element in determining the limits of many plants.

To these considerations, we may add the fresh evidence on the subject arising from our being now in possession of larger data, (3.) as to the meteorological character of Syria, and of Judæa in particular; (4.) as to the general facts and laws of the distribution of plants, and especially of the vine and palm; and, (5.) what has been somewhat unaccountably overlooked by Schouw and Arago, as to the actual occurrence of those plants in Modern Palestine.

I shall in the following pages endeavour to sum up the whole argument (which proves to be confirmatory of the opinion of Schouw as to the invariability of the climate), as it may be gathered both from older and more modern authorities.

In the interesting and laborious work of M. A. Decandolle entitled "Geographie Botanique raisonnée " (1855), we find such ample and conscientiously stated details, as to supersede a reference to any other botanical work in connection with the present inquiry. We there find it clearly laid down, that the Polar limit of the date-palm may be held to have a threefold margin-1st, Where the fruit comes to full maturity, as at Tunis, with a mean annual temperature of 68°·5; 2dly, Where it flowers but only ripens its fruit exceptionally, as at Algiers and Palermo, whose temperatures are nearly alike, and may be stated at 63°7 as a mean; and, 3dly, Where it is cultivated exceptionally, as a merely ornamental tree, as at Nice and Rome, the temperature of both places being about 60°.

Now the climate of Southern Palestine, whether (a) as inferred from the Bible and other ancient testimonies, or (b) from meteorological observations, as collected by Dove, or (c) from the descriptions of modern travellers, seems to be definitely conformable to the view that its more mountainous parts correspond to the second limit of the date tree, and the valleys and coasts to the first-a hypothesis or assumption which reconciles all facts, so far as the palm is concerned.

Shaw, in his Travels (quoted by Kitto in his "Physical Geography of the Holy Land," p. ccxxv.), mentions numerous

coins belonging to the Roman occupation of Judæa, in which the palm tree is represented; in some of these it is figured with the fruit upon it (Schouw). It is more than probable that the association of this tree with Palestine, which caused the Romans to regard it as peculiarly characteristic, was derived from their first impressions of the country on the coasts of Philistia, near Jaffa, where the palm tree ripens its fruit copiously, as Professor Mitchell informs me; "and which there," as Professor Stanley remarks (Sinai and Palestine, p. 145), "probably first met the eye of the western world, whether Greek, Roman, or mediaval," giving rise to "the name of Phoenicia, or the Land of Palms."

I may here remark that the climate of the Syrian coast, in the latitude of Jerusalem, corresponds with that most favourable to the perfect development of the date tree. Beyrout, which is nearly 2° of latitude farther north than Jerusalem, has a temperature of 69°4 (Dove), or nearly a degree of Fahrenheit higher than that of Tunis, and is intermediate in temperature between Tunis and the Canary Islands, both being places where the date ripens perfectly.

Jaffa and Gaza being to the south of Beyrout, must therefore be considerably warmer; and the isothermal line of 70° (at the level of the sea) must pass, according to Dove's maps, close to the geographical place of Jerusalem, though, in consequence of the elevation of that city (2200 feet, Stanley), it has a temperature far lower; in fact only of 62°6, according to a single year's observation by an American missionary, quoted by Dove. But when allowance is made for the effect of elevation at the rate of about 300 feet for 1° Fahrenheit, this single year's result gives a temperature of almost exactly 70° for the parallel of Jerusalem. It is very probably rather higher, as Schouw had, from still more incomplete data, estimated it. From all this we conclude, that while the climate of Palestine at the level of the sea is perfectly adapted for the cultivation of the date palm, Jerusalem itself corresponds in temperature closely to Palermo, and is therefore, as already shown, only warm enough to enable it to produce flowers, but not to ripen the fruit, unless in exceptional seasons.

This inference from general meteorological facts is entirely

confirmed by the testimony of modern travellers as to the conditions under which the palm, where it does occur, is found in Palestine. But it will be best to inquire, first, as to the exact localities mentioned in Scripture as characterised by the growth of the palm. This is evidently rendered necessary by the great variety of climate which Palestine presents, owing to its varied elevation. The effect is so considerable, that even if we confine ourselves to the narrow limits of Judæa Proper, it must be held to be equivalent to a range of temperature of about 13° of latitude, and that without including heights greater than that of Jerusalem itself.*

The place which, beyond all doubt, was most characterised by the presence of the date tree was Jericho, "the city of palm trees" (Deut. xxxiv. 3; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15) which, as Kitto acutely remarks, would hardly have been a distinctive name, had the palm been as frequent in Palestine as it is in Arabia and Egypt. Now Jericho, as is well known, lies not only in a valley, but, being in the valley of the Jordan, not far from the Dead Sea, it is included in that marvellous depression to which the latter belongs, and is itself probably not less than 600 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, or 2800 feet below Jerusalem. Its mean temperature may therefore very probably be as high as 72°, equal to that of Cairo itself. The shores of the Dead Sea are not less than 1300 feet below the Mediterranean, and must consequently have an almost tropical temperature. We are therefore not surprised to find that, next to Jericho, Engeddi, on the western coast of the Dead Sea, and one of the few fertile spots (being well watered†) in that desolate region, is mentioned in Scripture as characterised by the palm, its other name being HazezonTamar, meaning," the felling of palm trees." (See 2 Chron. xx. 2, and Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 14.) The Rabbinical writers, according to Reland and Stanley, describe the palm as a tree of the valleys (Stanley's Palestine, p. 145), no doubt because it grew there in perfection; although it also occurred, perhaps

* According to Humboldt, 1° of latitude in temperate climates raises or lowers the temperature as much as about 270 English feet of change of level would do. (Kosmos, vol. i.)

Stanley, p. 147.

in single trees or small groups, near Ramah (which is intermediate in elevation between Jericho and Jerusalem), Judges iv. 5. Palm trees also grew near Jerusalem, probably on the Mount of Olives (Nehemiah viii. 15; John xii. 13); but, though used to grace processions, there is no evidence of their being numerous, still less of their bearing fruit. It is remarkable that the references to the palm tree in Scripture are almost exclusively confined to its stately and ornamental character, and rarely, if ever, as to its fruit; the vine and fig being the favourite symbols of luxuriance in this respect. Indeed it is more than doubtful whether the date-fruit is ever referred to in the Bible. The marginal reference to it in 2 Chron. xxxi. 5, as Professor Mitchell informs me, is by no means conclusive, and the derivation of the name Bethany may not be "the house of dates," as believed by some high authorities; and even if it be so, the word is regarded by Hebraists as signifying the fruit in a green, not a ripe state, when it was used by the ancients as a condiment. It cannot, therefore, be safely assumed that the date ripened at Bethany.

I have only space to add, that the accounts of modern travellers confirm these inferences. They all agree that the palm is now rare in Palestine; that in the hill country of Judæa these trees occur only two or three together, and rarely, if ever, bring fruit to maturity (Shaw). They also agree that their disappearance in the valley of the Jordan is due not to the unfitness of the soil and climate to support them, but to the depopulation of the country, and to the rough treatment of the Arab tribes. Dean Stanley gives us the interesting information that the palm forest of Jericho was once eight miles long, "of which large remains were still visible in the seventh century and the twelfth, and some even in the seventeenth; and of which relics are still to be seen in the trunks of palms washed up on the shores of the Dead Sea, preserved by the salt with which a long submersion in these strange waters has impregnated them."* There cannot be the smallest doubt, from the meteorological inferences which I have already

* Sinai and Palestine, p. 144. The last standing palm was seen as late as 1838. (Ibid. p. 301.)

made, that the valley of the Jordan is at present unexceptionable, in point of climate, for bringing the fruit of the palm to maturity.

The sum of all this part of our argument is, then, this, that the climate of Southern Palestine cannot have been sensibly colder in ancient times than at present; and that the evidence from the habitudes of the palm tree coincides exactly with the historical proofs of its distribution.

But it may be said that it might have been anciently hotter. This would not, however, be in accordance with what has been inferred, as to the preference given to the deepest valleys as favourable to the palm. But more direct evidence to this effect may be found from the facts of vine culture.

The vine was anciently, and even in modern times, more peculiarly the symbol of Judæa. "It was the emblem of the nation on the coins of the Maccabees, and in the colossal cluster of golden grapes which overhung the porch of the second temple; and the grapes of Judah still mark the tombstones of the Hebrew race in the oldest of their European cemeteries, at Prague. . . . The elevation of the hills and table-lands of Judah is the true climate of the vine; and at Hebron, according to Jewish tradition, was its primeval seat."* It would be waste of time to cite passages of Scripture in proof of what every reader knows-that such was the case anciently, and that no plant can be more characteristic of a climate than the wine-producing vine is of the province of Judæa in particular. In the hot valley of the Jordan, as Kitto remarks, we find no mention of it; it also appears to be less frequent and productive on the low lands adjoining the Mediterranean.

When we come to consider the bearing of these facts upon the question of thermometric climate, the solution is somewhat less precise than in the case of the date palm, which we have been discussing. It is no doubt true that the region of

Sinai and Palestine, p. 162. It is stated, however, by Mr Henfrey (Johnston's Physical Atlas), that the native country of the vine seems to be Imeritia and Mingrelia, at the south foot of the Caucasus, and nearly 10° north of Jerusalem. Considering the elevation of Judæa, both statements may be

correct.