6 



hedge buckthorn. The aloe of the apothecaries is an 

 entirely different article, and obtained from a plant of 

 the lily tribe. 



Spikenard, of the Valerian family has a most rare and 

 agreeable perfume. Our garden Heliotrope and the Cen- 

 tranthus are of this order. Several of them yield a fra- 

 grance which intoxicates the cat tribe, and that from 

 one of them is said to be sufficiently powerful to throw 

 even man into convulsions. 



The jSTardostachys Jatamansi^ of the mountains of upper 

 India, seems conclusively proved by Sir William Jones 

 and Dr. Royle, to be the plant which furnished the "Ala- 

 bastar box of Spikenard very precious," with which Mary 

 anointed the feet of Jesus, and which Judas declared 

 might have been sold for three hundred pieces of silver ; 

 which price, among other unguents, is given by Pliny, 

 who remarking on the extravagance of such preparations, 

 says, " We have known the very soles of the feet sprink- 

 led therewith." He also intimates the form of the ala- 

 bastar ointment boxes. . 



"Spikenard and Saffron, Calamus and Cinnamon. — S. of S. 



Saffron is the yellow Stigma of the Crocus sativus, 

 or fall Crocus, belonging to the well known Iris family, 

 very common in cultivation among us. Saffron was and 

 still is used as a perfume, spice, confection, dye and 

 medicine. Its collection required great patience, four 

 thousand flowers yielding but one ounce, and the entire 

 product of an acre for the season averaged but about 

 ten or twelve pounds. It was formerly extensively cul- 

 tivated at Welden in Essex, England, which hence has 

 borne the name of Saffron- Welden. 



A totally different plant, the Carthamus tinctoria, once 

 familiar under the name of Saffron in our gardens, has 

 been successfully used to adulterate the true Safiron. 



