In Greece the orange-tree and the lemon blossom in June, Chandler, ii. 238. Footnote 1354: Cf. Chandler, ii. 250. Footnote 1355: In Babylonia the palm-tree was by some thought to be propagated by off-shoots. Theophrast. Hist. Plant. ii. 2. 2. In Greece, the fruit seldom ripened completely. iii. 3. 5. ----- As these gardens were arranged with a view no less to pleasure than to profit, the trees were planted in lines, which, when sufficiently close, formed a series of umbrageous avenues, opening here into the lawn and there into the vineyard, which generally formed part of a Greek gentleman’s grounds. And such an orchard decked in its summer pride with foliage of emerald and fruit, ruddy, purple, and gold, the notes of the thrush, the nightingale,[1356] the tettix, with the “amorous thrill of the green-finch,”[1357] floating through its boughs, and the perfume of the agnus-castus, the myrtle, the rose, and the violet, wafting richly on all sides, was a very paradise. ----- Footnote 1356: Ἔτι δὲ τὸ ἔμπνουν τῆς αὔρας λιγυρὸν ὑπηχεῖ τῷ μουσικῷ τῶν τεττίγων χορῷ δι᾽ ἥν καὶ τὸ πνίγος τῆς μεσημβρίας ἠπιῶτερον ἐγεγόνει ἡδὺ καὶ ἀηδόνει, περὶ πετόμεναι τὰ νάματα, μελωδοῦσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἡδὺ φώνῶν κατηκούομεν ὀρνίθων, ὥσπερ ἐμμελῶς ὁμιλούντων ανθρώποις. Aristænet. Epist. lib. i. Ep. 3. p. 17. Footnote 1357: “The amorous thrill of the green-finch was now heard distinctly. The little owl hooted frequently round the walls of the convent. In the river below, otters were frequently taken. On the sides of the banks were the holes of the river-crabs; and the green-backed lizard was sporting among the grass.” Sibth. in Walp. Trav. p. 76. ----- Not unfrequently, common foot-paths traversed these orchards and vineyards, in which case the passers-by were customarily, if not by law, permitted to pick and eat the fruit,[1358] which seems also from the account of our Saviour to have been the practice in Judæa. The contrary is the case in modern Europe. In Burgundy and Switzerland, where pathways traverse vineyards, it is not uncommon to see the grapes smeared with something resembling white lime which children are assured is a deadly poison. This, while in the country, I regarded as a mere stratagem, intended to protect the vineyards from depredation, though there seems after all to be too much reason to believe the nefarious practice to exist in several localities. At least two children were recently killed at Foix by eating poisoned grapes on the way-side. ----- Footnote 1358: Plat. De Legg. t. viii. p. 107. -----