it was the peculiar tree of the first recorded Buddha, of whom Gautama was supposed by his disciples to be an incarnation. Both of these trees belong to the genus _ficus_, and it is curious that, although probably in consequence of Semitic influence, the _ficus sycamorus_ was the sacred tree in ancient Egypt, of which it was the symbol, its place appears ultimately to have been taken by the banyan (_ficus indica_),[27] so highly venerated in other parts of Africa. Now, what is the explanation of the peculiar character ascribed to these trees by peoples who must, on any hypothesis, have been separated for thousands of years? The bo-tree of the Buddhists itself derived a more sacred character from its encircling the palm—the Palmyra Palm being the _kalpa-tree_, or “tree of life,” of the Hindu paradise.[28] The Buddhists term this connection “the bo-tree united in marriage with the palm.” The Phallic significance of the palm is well known, and in its connection with the bo-tree we have the perfect idea of generative activity, the combining of the male and female organs, a combination intended by the Hebrew legend when it speaks of the tree of life, and also of “the knowledge of good and evil.”[29] “The palm-tree,” says Dr. Inman, “is figured on ancient coins alone, or associated with some feminine emblem. It typified the male creator, who was represented as an upright stone, a pillar, a round tower, a tree stump, an oak-tree, a pine-tree, a maypole, a spire, an obelisk, a minaret, and the like.”[30] As we have just seen, the Palmyra Palm is the _kalpa-tree_, or the “tree of life” of the Hindu paradise, and this was not the only kind of tree with which the idea of life was thus associated.