Note 20 — CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE.

This is called “The Virgin’s Tree.” The sycamore, or gimmis, bears a coarse kind of fig, and is therefore sometimes spoken of as a fig-tree. The trunk of the tree grows to the dimensions of twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and its wood is remarkable for its durability; hence it was used for the construction of mummy-cases, and also for that of gun-carriages and water-wheels.—McCoan.