94 GOURD. 



the ricinus communis. The Arab version of the Scriptures 

 makes the ricinus the gourd of Jonah, and with good reason ; 

 for the present Arab name of that plant is of the same form 

 with the word translated &quot;gourd&quot; in the book of Jonah. At 

 the present day it furnishes oil for lamps : we burned it at Sarepta 

 and at other places during our travels in the Holy Land.* The 

 oil expressed from the seeds was used anciently for the same pur 

 pose and for other domestic uses, but, so far as we can ascertain, 

 was not used medicinally as at present. The Jews in London 

 burn it as one of the five kinds of oil which their tradition 

 permits to be used for their Sabbath lamps, and the name given 

 it is the u oil of kik.&quot; The Hebrew name kikayou is preserved 

 in form by Pliny, who calls the plant Tdld, (the same as cici,) 

 and describes it as the castor-oil. The plant grows to perfec 

 tion in Palestine, bearing broad and pleasant green leaves, 

 very shady, and is liable to wilt and shrink on slight in 

 juries. All these circumstances point plainly to the ricinus as 

 the gourd of Jonah. 



It was early maintained that this gourd of Jonah was the 

 ivy; and from so small a cause as a disagreement on this point 

 a large portion of the early Christian Church was involved in 

 bitter quarrels, to such an extent that St. Jerome and Rufinus 

 of Aquila excommunicated each other before the vexatious 

 question was settled. 



* Said to be eaten: see &quot;Palestine Past and Present,&quot; page 109. 



