1859.] ON EARLY ENGLISH NAMES OF PLANTS, 145 



Paul, referring to the bloody sacrifices of the law, says that 

 "Moses took scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the 

 book and the people." From these passages it appears that the 

 plant translated in our version Hyssop, was always used in the 

 application of sjDrinkling in the rites of purifying, etc. ; but I do 

 not see why this in particular should be selected to represent the 

 original Hebrew word Esob ; and the question is, what plant was 

 really used by the Israelites in these sacrifices ? and is our trans- 

 lation correct ? Dr. Kitto, whose note to the verse in Exodus 

 says, " Hyssop {Esob) . — The Hyssop of Sacred Scriptures has 

 opened a wide field for conjecture, but in no instance has any 

 plant been suggested that at the same time had a sufficient length 

 of stem to answer the purpose of a wand or pole, and such deter- 

 gent or cleansing properties as to render it a fit emblem for puri- 

 fication." He then gives a cut of the Phytolacca decandra 

 (Hyssop) , which he says is remarkable in both those respects, 

 and he considers the Hyssop belonged to this genus. The note 

 continues (see ' Pictorial Bible,' vol. i. p. 161) to give a reason 

 for a plant with a long stem, and also with the other properties ; 

 and tells us this contains an enormous quantity of Potash, 100 

 pounds of its ashes giving 42 pounds of pure caustic alkali ; and 

 hence we obtain a striking illustration of the expression in Psalms, 

 " Purge me with hyssop," etc. 



I must confess this note of the Doctor's does not satisfy my 

 mind, and I hope some of your readers who are interested in this 

 subject will be able to give us more satisfactory information, and 

 tell us what the true plant was, and if our Hyssop is a proper 

 representative of the original or not. 



A Reader of the Word, 



ON EAELY ENGLISH NAMES OE PLANTS. 



{From a Correspondent.) 



The following now obsolete names are chiefly taken from our 

 early English poets, from dictionaries, etc. 



Maiden's-blush is a white Rose with a tinge of red. It is a 

 slight variety of the York and Lancaster Rose. It was commonly 

 known in Scotland nearly half a century ago by this name. 



N. S. VOL. III. u 



