290 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE FIR TREE. 



THIS tree is a beautiful evergreen (Hos. xiv. 8), whose lofty height 

 and dense foliage afforded a habitation for the birds of heaven 

 (Psa. civ, 17), and a convenient shelter to the weary traveller, 2 

 Kings xix. 23; Isa. Iv. 13 ; Ezek. xxxi. 8. Its wood was anciently- 

 used in finishing the interior of sumptuous buildings (1 Kings vi. 

 15, 34 ; 2 Chron. iii. 5 ; Cant. i. 17), and also in the construction of 

 ships, Ezek. xxvii. 5. In 2 Sam. vi. 5, it is said, that ' David and all 

 the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instru- 

 ments made of fir wood,' &c. Mr. Taylor inclines to think that the 

 word beroshim, in this passage, may express some instrument of mu- 

 sic, rather than the wood of which such instrument was made ; but, 

 with his usual candor, he gives the following passage from Dr. Bur- 

 ney's history of music : 'This species of wood, so soft in its nature 

 and sonorous in its effects, seems to have been preferred by the an- 

 cients, as vrell as the moderns, to every other kind, for the construc- 

 tion of mr.:.-ical instruments, particularly the bellies of them, on 

 which their tone chiefly depends. Those of the harp, lute, guitar, 

 harpsichord, and violin, in present use are constantly made of fir 

 wood.' 



THE POPLAR. 



THIS tree, which is mentioned only in Gen. xxx. 37, and Hos. 

 iv. 13, is thought to obtain its name, lebneh, from the whiteness of 

 its leaves, bark, and wood. In both passages the Vulgate interprets 

 it l poplar ;' in the latter, the LXX. and Aquila render ti white ; i. e. 

 poplar. 



THE WILLOW. 



THE Willow is a common tree, growing in marshy places (Lev. 

 xxiii. 40 ; Ps. cxxxvii. 2 ; Isa. xliv. 4), and possessing a leaf like that 

 of the olive. It is out of doubt, says Mr. Taylor, that the word 

 ore&im, signifies willows ; all interpreters agree in it. The weeping 

 willow is a native of the Levant. It runs to a considerable height, 

 and no tree can be more graceful on the margin of a lake or stream. 

 Its twigs are extensively used in the making of baskets. 



