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 

 similarname, 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 com- 

 monly cultivated in England as food for animals : much differ- 

 ence of opinion exists as to the plant intended where the word 

 'fitches ' occurs. If it be the same as we call vetches, it cer- 

 tainly 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 fla- 

 vor, 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 



