80 SPIKENARD. 



or tendril, and thus the required support is obtained. 

 The liquid is secreted by the plant itself, and is re- 

 markably pure, though it grows in a muddy and un- 

 wholesome marsh. 



The costly and delicious odor, known in ancient 

 times as Spikenard, has been assigned by various au- 

 thors as the product of different plants, and it has 

 not been until recently that any satisfactory infor- 

 mation has been gained respecting it. There now 

 appears, however, to be but little doubt that it is a 

 species of Valerian, which grows in the colder parts 

 of the mountains of India. The plant must have 

 been comparatively rare, as it is always spoken of in 

 Scripture as being very precious Or costly. When 

 Mary anointed the head of Jesus with this sweet 

 perfume, Judas took occasion to murmur at the waste, 

 saying, that " this ointment might have been sold for 

 more than three hundred pence, and given to the 

 poor." It was usually imported in boxes of alabaster, 

 and when the master of a house received his guests, 

 it was customary for him not only to crown them with 

 flowers, but also to bring forth the box of precious 

 ointment, and break the seal which prevented the 

 volatile perfume from escaping, and anoint them with 

 it. So sweet was its fragrance, and so much esteemed, 

 that Horace, speaking of it, says, " that a small onyx 

 box full was equal in value to a large vessel of wine." 

 Its costliness was probably owing in part to the great 

 distance from which it was brought. 



In reading over the books of the Old Testament, 

 one cannot fail to be struck with the fact that per- 



