The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09

they bear fruits which are edible without
being cooked, and that they all grow spon-
taneously in the vicinity of the. Mediter-
ranean sea. Homer's account of the ex-
perienee Of Ulysses and bis companions
while in the land of the Lotophagi, as well
as that given by Tennyson, should lead one
to locate the home of this very peculiar
people in the forest near the sea, rather
than along the margin of a low, fiat river.
OTHER CLAIMANTS.
But there is another class of plants which
are said to have furnished the food of
this mysterious people. Theophrastus, Di-
ascorides and Plinius all refer 20 the Gus
rem of the people along the Nile and in
East India and China ps eating the
bulbs, tubers and seeds of the
water lilies. The name lotus is applied to,
at least, two distinct water plants. The
first is the Egyptian lotus Nymphoea To-
tus, Ii 1t has very much the appearance
and habit of our common white pond lilies.
except that the borders of the leaves are
coarsely serate and the flowers a bright
purplish pink color. 1t bears tubers, deep
in the soft mud, which are about the size
and shape of a hen egg; these are COM
posed largely Of starch and are edible, and
when cooked have the appearance of egg
yellow. But the difficulty of obtaining the
tubers and their small size have prevented
them from becoming useful to man as a
food. Yet there are many persons who be-
lieve that it is the plant of the lotus
eaters.
The Sacred Bean, or False lotus NE
Jumbo Indica, Pers.) is another plant
named by the authors last referred to. Its
underground stems and tubers also grow
deep in the mud, in still waters, and it is
found in Egypt, East India, China and
Japan. 1t propagates by the acorn-like
seeds which are produced in large top
shaped pods, and by underground stems,
which send up leaf and flower stalks.
These underground stems also bear
starchy tubers of the size and form
of bananas; from these tubers new plants
are developed, the same as from potatoes.
The acorns and tubers are rich in starch,
and are used extensively for food. The
leaves stand on a stem. usually several feet
above water, are circular and as much as
three feet in diameter. The flowers are
often nine inches in diameter, of a purplish
pink color. This plant is held in great ven
Grafton by many of the Eastern nations.
It is regarded as sacred to Osiris and Isis;
and in Egyptian delineations it signifies the
creating of the world. BY the Hindus its
red color is tabled to be derived from the
blood of silva when Kamadiva or Cupid
wounded him with her love-arrow. Brahma
is said to have come forth from this bios
som; and Buddha to have first appeared
floating on this mystic flower. Many other
of the Hindu deities are said to be fond of
resting on it's leaves.
The Chinese deity Lakshmi is called the
lotus-born, from having ascended from the
ocean on it's flower; it is also considered
sacred to their god PIAZZA.
But while these aquatic plants were held
in such sacred esteem it is not at all prob
able that they were in any way connected
with the story of the Lotophagi, which is
a fanciful episode in Grecian mythology,
while these beautiful water plants hold
a sacred relation to Eastern theology and
should be considered in that light. A care
ful investigation leaves little doubt but
that there was a people who lived
principally on the fruit of a tree, or of sew
eral trees, which were known as the lotus
trees, and the people as lotus-eaters; but
which of the four trees mentioned is en-
titled to this distinction will probably never
be certainly known.
The Lotophagi were exceedingly fortu-
nate in having a Homer and a Tennyson to
immortalize them. Had our Western digger
Indians similar poets-laureate they would
be handed down to future nations of the
earth with a more savory history than they
are likely to be with the present accounts
of them. Yet it is very probable that they
serve their guests with as good food and
with as much refinement as the Lotophagi
did theirs. j. SCHNECK, NJ. d.
Mt. Carmel, Ill.