142 CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



cultivated from Italy throughout middle Europe, and has besides become naturalized in certain locali- 

 ties in France and England (Engl. bot. pi. 67, Pers., Wats., and A. Dec). Eastward from the Black 

 Sea, was observed by Szovitz " in the corn fields of Tartary " (Lindl.) : is called in Hindustanee 

 "kothmir" or "dhaniya" (D'roz.) ; was observed by Graham " in gardens " in the environs of Bom- 

 bay, the seeds " much used by Musselmen in their curries ; " by Roxburgh, in other parts of Hindus- 

 tan : by Mason p. 495, " exotic " and called " nan-nan " in Burmah, often cultivated by the natives 

 who use the seeds " as a condiment for curries as well as for medicine." By European colonists, 

 was carried prior to 1670 to New England (Josselyn rar. . .), where as throughout our Northern and 

 Middle States it continues in gardens. Its fruits according to Lindley are " carminative and aro- 

 matic." (The English word "virtue" as pronounced " virtshu " maybe compared with the above 

 Egyptian names). 



" In the third month " after leaving Egypt (ex. xix. 1 to xx. 17), the Ten commandments deliv- 

 ered on Mount Sinai. 



Moses was of course familiar with Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, and a modification in which 

 figures of animals and other external objects (the human form excepted) are avoided, — has been 

 discovered in Palestine : the language not ascertained, but possibly Hebrew. 



The " argmn " to be brought as an offering (ex. xxv. 4) — is admitted to be sea-purple , a dye 

 procured from Murcx trunculns (Wilde in Kitt. cycl. bibl.) and other marine univalve shells of the 

 Mediterranean. The "argmn" and garments dyed with it, are also mentioned in Ex. xxvi. to xxxix. 

 29, Judg. viii. 26, Prov. xxxi. 22, Jer. x. 9, and Ezek. xxvii. 7 ; the " aliporphuros," by Homer od. vi. 

 54; the "porphura thalassia," in 1 Mace. iv. 23, Diodorus iii. 68, and Josephus bell. Jud. v. 5 ; and 

 the " dibapha Tyria " or Tyrian dye, by Horace, Pliny, and others. This dye continued to be man- 

 ufactured in the " Twelfth century " at Thebes in Greece, but its use has now become obsolete. 



Balsaiiwdindron myrrha of Abyssinia. The imported product is called in Britain myrrh, in 

 France " myrrhe " (Nugent), in Germany " myrrhe " or " mirrhe " (Grieb), in Latin "myrrha," in 

 Greek sometimes "murra" (Gesen.), in Egypt " mur " (Forsk.), in Egyptian " tshal " (transl. Sept. 

 and N. Test.) or "val" (Plut. is. and osir.), in Sanscrit " bola " (Royle) and in Hindustanee " bol " 

 or "mur" (D'roz.), in which we recognize the " mr " in the anointing oil enjoined through Moses ex. 

 xxx. 23 : — "mur" is mentioned also in Prov. vii. 17, Cant. v. 5, Psalm xlv. 8, and Esther ii. 12: 

 "smurria" by Herodotus iii. 107, the Hippocratic writings, Theophrastus, ix. 4, Nicander, and Op- 

 pian; "myrra" by Plautus, Virgil, and Ovid am. i. 288; and of myrrh brought to Egypt, a portion 

 according to Forskal mat. med. comes from Arabia, but the best from Abyssinia. The myrrh tree as 

 seen under cultivation in Tropical Arabia was described to Theophrastus ix. 4. 3 ; is mentioned as 

 growing along the Sabaean or opposite African coast by Artemidorus, Strabo, the Erythraean peri- 

 plus, and Pliny xii. 33: was ascertained by Ehrenberg and Hemprich to be the " kataf " found by 

 Forskal p. 80 cultivated at Beit el fakih ; and I learned at Mocha that a portion of the myrrh of com- 

 merce is really produced in Arabia, the main supply coming from the opposite Somali country, where 

 the tree was observed by Bruce, and Johnson. Eastward, myrrh has long been imported into Hin- 

 dustan, and is generally known there under the above name " bol " (Royle in Kitt. bibl. cycl.). The 

 "bdellium " seen in Egypt by Forskal mat. med. was ascertained by him to be only imperfect myrrh. 

 (See Amyris commiphora, and Borassus dichotomus). 



Pandanus odoratissimus of the seashore of Hindustan. The fragrant xrewpine is called from 

 Cutch to Bombay " keura " (Forsk., and Graham), in Malabar " kaida " (Rheede), in Yemen "kadi" 

 (Forsk.), in which we recognize the " kth£ " in the anointing oil, — and sold according to Ezekiel 

 xxvii. 19 at Tyre: oil scented with the " kadsi " of Yemen is mentioned by Abu Hanifa, Rhazes, 

 Serapion, and Ebn Baitar ; P. odoratissimus was observed by Forskal p. 172 under cultivation among 

 the mountains of Yemen, and I found its fragrant flowers in the Mocha market, but is a maritime 

 plant, and from the character of the coast so far as examined by myself can hardly be indigenous in 

 Arabia. Eastward, was observed by Rheede ii. pi. 1 to 8 in Malabar ; by Graham, in the environs 

 of Bombay, its flowers " very sweet scented " and " generally sold in the bazars ; " by myself, wild 

 in the same neighbourhood around Elephanta; by Roxburgh, on the Coromandel coast; is described 

 also by Rumphius iv. pi. 74 ; and was observed by Mason " exotic " in Burmah and called " hsat- 

 ta-phu." 



Acorns calamus of Northern Climates. Called in Britain sweet fag (Prior), in Germany " kal- 

 mus " (Grieb), in Italy " calamo aromatico " or " acoro " or " acoro vero " (Lenz), in Greek " akoros " 

 (Sibth.), in Egyptian " ok£ " (ms Borg.) or " akS " (Zoeg.) ; in which we recognize the " kn£ bshm " 

 in the anointing oil, — or "kn£" of Cant. iv. 14, Isaiah xliii. 24, "from a far country" according to 

 Jeremiah vi. 20, and according to Ezekiel xxvii. 19 imported and sold at Tyre ; also, the "kalamos " 

 in the " kuphi " incense mentioned by Manetho (Plut. is. and osir.) ; the "kalamos murepsikos" of 

 2 Mul. morb. 651 ; the "kalamds euSthes " of Theophrastus iv. 8. 4 to odor. 34, growing around a 

 lake in Syria and scentless while fresh, its root marked with interstices ; the " calamus alexandrinus " 



