There are numerous varieties of the palm-tree. In Assyria, and throughout the whole of Persis, the barren kinds are made use of for carpenters’ work, and the various appliances of luxury. There are whole forests also of palm-trees adapted for cutting,[800] and which, after they are cut, shoot again from the root; the pith of them towards the top, which is usually called the brain[801] of the tree, is sweet to the taste, and the tree will live even after it has been extracted, which is the case with no other kind. The name of this tree is “chamæreps;”[802] it has a broader and softer leaf than the others, which is extremely useful for various kinds of wickerwork;[803] these trees are very numerous in Crete, and even more so in Sicily. The wood of the palm-tree, when ignited, burns both brightly and slowly.[804] In some of those that bear fruit,[805] the seed of the fruit is shorter than in others, while in some, again, it is longer; in some it is softer than in others, and in some harder; in some it is osseous and crescent-shaped; polished with a tooth, superstition employs the stone as an antidote against charms and fascination. This stone is enclosed in several coats, more or less in number; sometimes they are of a thick texture, and sometimes very thin. Hence it is that we find nine and forty different kinds of palm-trees, if any one will be at the trouble of enumerating all their various barbarous names, and the different wines that are extracted from them. The most famous of all, are those which, for the sake of distinction, have received the name of “royal” palms, because they were preserved solely by the kings of Persia; these used to grow nowhere but at Babylon, and there only in the garden of Bagoüs,[806] that being the Persian for an eunuch, several of whom have even reigned over that country! This garden was always carefully retained within[807] the precincts of the royal court.