THE Calamus Aromaticus, or sweet-scented cane, grows in Egypt, in Judea, and in several parts of Syria, but the best kind is found in Arabia and India. It was probably among the number of those plants that the Queen of Sheba presented to Solomon. So powerful is its fragrance, that the air is said to be filled with a strong aromatic smell, even while it is growing (see Cant. iv. 13, 14); and when dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the richest perfumes. It was used for this purpose by the Jews, Exodus xxx. 23; Isaiah xliii. 24.

Jeremiah (ch. vi. 20), speaks of the 'rich aromatic reed,' as coming from a 'far country,' whence it would hardly have been fetched, could it have been procured near home. It is most probable, as Dr. Harris suggests, that this reed, as well as the frankincense spoken of in connexion with it, came to them from Saba, where it grew. Saba, we know, was situated towards the southern peninsula of Arabia; so that it was, indeed, with respect to Judea, 'a far country,' as it also is said to be in Joel iii. 8. And our Saviour, speaking of its queen, whom he calls the queen of the south,' says that she came from the extreme parts of the earth,' Matthew xii. 42. In the book of Exodus, also, the calamus is said to come from a far country.'

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THERE are two words in the Hebrew, sometimes translated 'flag,' in our Bibles; though in Genesis xli. 2, 18, the one is rendered meadow, and in Jonah ii. 5, the other, weeds.' It probably denotes the sedge or long grass, which grows in the meadows of the Nile.

SECTION III.

PULSE.

THE term Pulse is applied to leguminous plants, or those grains or seeds that grow in pods. In 2 Samuel xvii. 28, the word occurs twice; once being joined with barley and meal, it is rightly explained in our translation by 'parched corn;' in the other case, following beans and lentils, it is properly understood of 'parched pulse." Both these still make part of the food of the eastern people. "Roasted ears of wheat,' are an ancient dish in the east,' of which mention is made in the Book of Ruth, i. 22. As to the parched pulse of 2 Sam. xvii. 28, Dr. Shaw informs us, that the cicer or chich peas, are in the greatest repute after they are parched in pans or ovens, then assuming the name of leblebby. This, he adds, seems to be of the greatest antiquity; for Plautus speaks of it as a thing very common in his time. The leblebby of those times may probably be the 'parched pulse,' of the holy Scriptures.

LENTILS.

THESE are a sort of pulse which grow plentifully in Egypt, and are much used as food. They were little esteemed by the Romans, who ranked them below that species of grain from which they made a kind of beer, the alica. But Dr. Shaw states, that in Barbary, they form, next to beans, a part of the principal food of the inhabitants. They are dressed in the same manner with beans, that is, boiled and stewed with oil and garlic, dissolving easily into a mass, and making a pottage of a chocolate color. This, was perhaps the red pottage,' which Esau, from thence called Edom, exchanged for his birth-right, Gen. xxv. 30, 34.

BEANS.

BEANS are enumerated among the provisions brought to David at Mahanaim (2 Samuel xvii. 28), and also among the ingredients with which the prophet Ezekiel was to make his bread, ch. iv. 9. These passages may be illustrated by what Dr. Shaw says about the modern diet of the people of Barbary: 'Beans, after they are boiled and stewed with garlick, are the principal food of persons of all distinctions.'

SECTION IV.

WEEDS.

IN Jonah ii. 6, the Hebrew word suph is translated weeds, and it is the only passage in the English Bible in which it is so rendered. Parkhurst says, as a collective noun, it means plants or weeds which grow on the border of a river or sea, and are continually swept or brushed by the waves. Plants of this description certainly well agree with the passage in Jonah.

COCKLE.

THE Hebrew word, which we render cockle, occurs only in Job xxxi. 40, and is variously translated by the versions. In Isaiah v. 2, 4, the prophet mentions a plant or a fruit under a very similar name, but in the English version 'wild grapes.' Michaelis maintains, that both words denote the aconite, a poisonous plant, growing spontaneously and luxuriantly on sunny hills, such as are used for vineyards.

FITCHES.

THERE are two words in the Hebrew Bible which the English translators have rendered fitches or vetches, a kind of tare commonly cultivated in England as food for animals:-much difference of opinion exists as to the plant intended where the word 'fitches' occurs. If it be the same as we call vetches, it certainly has its place among leguminous or pod-bearing plants;but, on the whole, there appears a greater probability that the nigella, or some similar plant bearing seeds of an aromatic flavor, is intended. Ausonius says, the gith is 'pungent as pepper;' and Pliny adds, that its seed is good for seasoning food. He also states it to be of great use in the bake-house, and that it affords a

grateful seasoning to bread; perhaps by sprinkling it upon it, as we do caraway and other small seeds.

Mr. Parkhurst thinks the gith to have been the same as our fennel; and he quotes Ballester, who says, 'gith is commonly met with in gardens; it grows a cubit in height, sometimes more. The leaves are small, like those of fennel, the flower blue, which, disappearing, the ovary shows itself on the top, like those of a poppy, furnished with little horns, oblong, divided by membranes into several partitions and cells, in which are inclosed seeds of a very black color, not unlike those of a leek, but very fragrant.' But, as Mr. Taylor justly suggests, the circumstance of Ballester comparing the gith to the fennel is decisive against the notion of Parkhurst, that it was this particular plant. That it classes with the fennel may be readily admitted; but not that it is the same.

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PLANTS AND SHRUBS.

In this chapter the reader will find some things which he will probably think ought to have been placed in the former one, in accordance with the remarks which were offered on the Mosaic distribution of the vegetable kingdom. But the difficulty of adopting such a classification as would have included them under that division, must plead our apology for departing from the order which it was natural to expect would be followed in this part of the work.

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