126 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
and palatable, but when more advanced they are rough and pungent. Some years ago 
the administration of White Mustard seeds whole in large quantities as a medicine was 
a frequent practice. It was considered by some practitioners as a good remedy for 
disorders of the digestion ; but the effects were so frequently the reverse of beneficial, 
having in many cases caused inflammation owing to their retention in the bowels, that 
they are now seldom if ever prescribed. The Mustard seed is peculiarly quick in vege- 
tation. It will begin to shoot in a few hours, and with the barest possible surface to 
root upon. The moist surface of a piece of flannel is sufficient to nourish its vitality, 
and we have seen crops of green salad thus grown in a surprisingly short time. This 
property is made use of on board ship in order to secure the refreshment of a green and 
fresh salad when far from land and vegetation. Among theological writers a consider- 
able difference of opinion has arisen as to the nature of the Mustard seed mentioned by 
our Lord in his discourse with his Apostles. It is, however, quite certain that the 
oriental plant of which he spoke was neither the Sinapis alba or nigra; and Dr. Kitto, 
who writes on the subject in his “ Pictorial Bible,” quotes a Mr. Frost, who concludes 
from evidence which he carefully weighs that it was undoubtedly the Phytolacca dode- 
candia, a tree growing abundantly in Palestine, having the smallest seed of any tree in 
that country, and attaining as great an altitude as any. The analogy between the two 
genera Sinapis and Phytolacca is, he says, very considerable in their properties, their 
seeds being used for similar purposes, and he was informed that the tree is called by 
the natives Wild Mustard. Other authors, among them Dr. Kitto himself, incline to 
the belief that the Mustard of Scripture was probably a species of Sinapis, rendered 
much larger and powerful in size and strength by the influence of climate and situation. 
He quotes from Alonzo de Boallo’s “Travels in Chili” to prove how large a size is 
attained by many European vegetables under an Eastern sky. He says, “the Mustard 
plant thrives so rapidly that it is as big as one’s arm, and so high and thick that it 
looks like a tree,’—an account to be received “ cum grano salis.” 
SPECIES III—BRASSICA NIGRA. Koch. 
Puate LXXXV.* 
Sinapis nigra, Linn. Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. II. Zetr. Tab, LXX XVIII. 
Fig. 4427. 
Brassica nigra, Benth. Handbook Brit. Fl. p. 92. 
Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. et Helv. ed. ii. p. 59. Gr. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 77. 
Coss. Fl. des Environs de Paris, ed. ii. p. 119. 
Sinapis nigra, Awct. Plur. 
Lower leaves lyrate, sinuated, or toothed; the uppermost ones 
lanceolate or narrowly elliptical, entire, all stalked. Pods adpressed, 
nearly glabrous, somewhat 4-sided, beaded; valves acuminated at 
the apex, each with 1 prominent rib; beak persistent, subulate, 
prismatic, about equal in length to one of the beads of the pod. 
Seeds 2 to 4.in each cell, dark brown, punctured (to the naked eye). 
On cliffs by the sea-coast, apparently wild; also a weed in 
* The Plate is E. B. 969, unaltered. 
