pPant bore, begcl^t)/, dn^ Imijncf, 21 I 



remonies of the Czechs, Almonds are distributed amongst the 



wedding guests. Pliny considered Almonds a most powerful 



remedy against inebriation, and Plutarch relates an anecdote of a 

 notorious wine-bibber, who, by his habitual use of bitter Almonds, 



used to escape being intoxicated. The Almond-tree is under 



Juj)iter, To dream of eating Almonds portends a journey : if they 

 taste sweet, it will be a prosperous one; if bitter, the contrary. 



ALOE. — The Hebrews appear to have entertained a great 

 respect for the Aloe {Ahaloth). In the Bible it is frequently re- 

 ferred to in commendatory terms, and its use as a perfume is of 

 very great antiquity. King David, in the Psalms, says: "All thy 

 garments smell of Myrrh, and Aloes, and Cassia." Solomon, in 

 the Canticles, mentions Aloes as one of the chief spices ; and in 

 Proverbs (vii., 17) refers to it as a scent. Aloes is one of the spices 

 mentioned by St. John as having been brought by Nicodemus to 



embalm the body of our Lord. There are two trees which yield 



this fragrant wood, viz., Aloexylum Agallochuni, a native of the 

 mountains of Hindostan, and Aquilaria Malaccensis, which grows in 

 Malacca : the wood of these aromatic trees forms the principal 

 ingredient in the scented sticks burned by the Hindus and Chinese 

 in their temples. The heart of the Chinese Aloe, or Wood Aloes, 

 is called Calambac, or Tambac-wood, which is reckoned in the 

 Indies more precious than gold itself: it is used as a perfume ; as 

 a specific for persons affected with fainting fits or with the palsy ; 

 and as a setting for the most costly jewels. Both the name and 

 the plant of the aromatic Aloe are of Indian origin, and it must 

 not be confounded with the common Aloes, most of which have 



an offensive smell and a bitter taste. In Wood's Zoography 



we read: "The Mahommedans respect the Aloe as a plant of a 

 superior nature. In Egypt, it may be said to bear some share in 

 their religious ceremonies, since whoever returns from a pilgrimage 

 to Mecca hangs it over his street door as a proof of his having per- 

 formed that holy journey. The superstitious Egyptians believe that 

 this plant hinders evil spirits and apparitions from entering the 

 house, and on this account whoever walks the streets in Cairo will 



find it over the doors of both Christians and Jews." The Arabic 



name of the Aloe, Sahev, signifies patience, and in Mecca at the end 

 of most graves, facing the epitaph, is planted an Aloe, as an 

 allusion to the patience required by those awaiting the arrival of 

 the great day of resurrection. INIost Eastern poets, however, 

 S])eak of the Aloe as the symbol of bitterness ; and the Romans 

 seem to have been well acquainted with this qualification, judging 

 from the allusion to it in Juvenal : — " Plus Aloes qiiam mellis habere." 

 " As bitter as Aloes " is a proverbial saying of considerable anti- 

 quity, derived doubtless from the acrid taste of the medicines 

 obtained from the plant, and made principally from the pulp of 

 the fleshy leaf of the Succotrine Aloe, the leaves of which have a 

 remarkable efficacy in curing scalds and burns. Not only, how- 



