270 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



beautiful prayer he made after being rebuked 

 by Nathan's parable : " Purge me with hys- 

 sop, and I shall be clean."* 



St. John informs us, that at the crucifix- 

 ion of our Saviour, " there was set a vessel 

 full of vinegar : and they filled a spunge 

 with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and 

 put it to his mouth/'-t' 



From these customs of the Hebrews we 

 may conclude, that hyssop grew naturally 

 both in Egypt and in Syria. 



Some authors have surmised, that the hys- 

 sop of scripture is the shrub we call Winter 

 Savory ; but Pliny has not only described the 

 savory distinctly, but he says also, that the 

 best hyssop grows on Mount Taurus in 

 Cilicia, and next to that is the hyssop of 

 Pamphylia, both in Asia Minor. It grew also 

 in Smyrna. 



This author says, it is an herb not 

 friendly to the stomach. The Romans used 

 it with figs as a purgative, and with honey as 

 an emetic ; and a plaster was formed of it 

 for the sting of serpents. 



Pliny gives the following simple receipt, 

 as an excellent drink to discharge the chest 



* Psalm li. 7. f Chap. xix. 29. 



