e alluded to is evidently the date palm (_Phoenix
dactylifera_). This is pre-eminently the palm-tree of the Bible, and was
in ancient times abundant in the Holy Land, though, curiously enough, it
is now comparatively rare. Jericho was known as "the city of palm-trees"
in the time of Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 3). It is alluded to again in the
times of the Judges (Judges i. 11; iii. 13), and it bore the same title
in the days of Ahaz (2 Chron. xxviii. 15). Josephus speaks of it as
still famous for its palm-groves in his day, but it is said that a few
years ago only one tree remained, which is now gone.

It was under a palm that Deborah the prophetess sat when all Israel came
up to her for judgment; and to an audience under the shadow of this
tree, which bore her name, that she summoned Barak out of
Kedesh-naphtali. Bethany means "the House of Dates," and the branches of
palm which the crowd cut down to strew before our Lord as He rode into
Jerusalem were no doubt of this particular species.

Women--as well as places--were often named after the Princes of
Vegetation, whose graceful and stately forms approved them to lovers and
poets as fit types of feminine beauty.

Usefulness, however, even more than ornament, is the marked
characteristic of the tribe. "From this order (_Palmae_)," says one
writer, "are obtained wine, oil, wax, flour, sugar, salt, thread,
utensils, weapons, habitations, and food"--a goodly list of the
necessaries of life, to which one may add many smaller uses, such as
that of "vegetable ivory" for a variety of purposes, and the materials
for walking-sticks, canework, marine soap, &c., &c.

The Princes of Vegetation are to be found in all parts of the world
where the climate is adapted to the tropical tastes of their Royal
Highnesses.

They have come into our art, our literature, and our familiar knowledge
from the East; but they abound in the tropics of the West, and some
species are now common in South America whose original home was in
India.

The cocoa-nut palm (_Cocos nucifera_) is an Indian and South Sea Islands
Prince; but his sway extends now over all tropical countries. The
cocoa-nut palm begins to bear fruit in from seven to eight years after
planting, and it bears on for no less than seventy to eighty years.

Length of days, you see, as well as beauty and beneficence, mark this
royal race which Linnaeus placed alone!

Cocoa-nuts are useful in many ways. The milk is pleasant, and in hot
and