ALOES. 43 



its fragrance is peculiarly pleasant, and unlike that of any other 

 Oriental spice or plant. It must be remembered that aloes 

 was numbered among the healing gums and was early used for 

 that purpose ; and the aloe-tree was therefore considered health 

 ful even in its fragrance. Hence the beauty of the allusion 

 in Ps. xlv. 8, where Christ is referred to, and his garments 

 spoken of as exhaling the perfume of aloes. Not only 

 pleasantness and peace are found in him, but healing for the 

 past and restoration to life and immortality. 



The remaining allusion is to the use of aloes in embalming. 

 Nicodemus brought about one hundred pounds of myrrh mixed 

 with aloes, to be used in wrapping the body of our Saviour before 

 entombment, which was the course generally pursued among 

 the Jews, not so much with the expectation of preserving the 

 body as to render it fragrant and to express affection for the 

 deceased. The amount brought by Nicodemus was significant 

 of his great reverence for the Saviour, as from various circum 

 stances it was much greater than was customary to use on 

 such occasions; especially as the embalming of our Saviour s 

 time was not like that of the Egyptians. The associations, 

 therefore, of the aloe are its beauty, its fragrance, and its pre 

 servative power. Having been a foreign plant, it has almost, 

 if not entirely, disappeared from the Holy Land. Captain 

 Mangles saw the aloe growing in Petra in Edom during the 

 month of May, and describes it as having in some instances 

 &quot; upward of one hundred blossoms in a bunch ;&quot; but north of 

 this it does not seem to flourish. 



