542 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



followed in botanical matters ; thus, when the author states that the 

 Hebrew name of Coriander (gad) is possibly given because of the way the 

 fruit naturally splits, it seems a little improbable because Coriander is one 

 of the few umbelliferous fruits that do not readily split, and usually 

 comes into commerce in the globular form as the author states on p. 117. 

 Nor can one follow the author without some degree of hesitation in his 

 remarks on the spices and drugs of Scripture, especially when he follows 

 Pliny rather than such modern authors as Hanbury. On p. 183 it is 

 stated that Carpobalsamum is Balm of Gilead derived from the fruits, 

 Xylobalsamum from the branches, and Opobalsamum from the trunk. 

 This is certainly a mistake. The balsam (Opobalsamum) and the twigs 

 (Xylobalsamum) and the fruit (Carpobalsamum) each formed a distinct 

 article of materia medica. The fruits are so small that it would be 

 almost impossible to procure balsam from them in any quantity. The 

 chapter on Aloes is not very clear. The Aloes mentioned in connection 

 with Myrrh and Cassia was undoubtedly a perfume, but probably one 

 produced by fumigation, for w T hich purpose the wood of several species of 

 Aquilaria imported from the East was employed, and is still. The 

 Myrrh still exported to China for use in joss sticks and in medicine is 

 the perfumed Myrrh known as Bissabol and Habaghadu in the East, and 

 is used also for perfuming by fumigation. But the Aloes brought by 

 Nicodemus, to the extent of 100 lbs., was m:>re probably the Socotrine 

 Aloes used for embalming, and the Myrrh was probably the true Myrrh. 

 The author seems to think that Cassia should be translated Costus, 

 and quotes Pliny that it has a burning taste in the mouth and most 

 exquisite odour ; but Costus has only a faint violet odour, too often dis- 

 guised by that of camel's hide ; it was more probably the true Cassia to 

 which Pliny's description would apply. If the Hebrew word means to 

 peel off, as the author tells us on p. 190, it would be applicable to a bark, 

 but not to a root, and Costus is a cylindrical root, not a thin bark. It is 

 very doubtful if the Cinnamon of the Bible is that of the present day ; 

 since Cinnamon is not known to have been a product of Ceylon before the 

 end of the thirteenth century a.d., it was probably some other of the barks 

 of species of Cinnamomum imported from the East. Under Galbanum 

 the author says " not having a sweet odour " ; but, as a matter of fact, 

 Galbanum of good quality has a distinctly musky odour by no means 

 unpleasant. Concerning Onycha, the author agrees with most writers 

 that it was the operculum of a shellfish ; but it is difficult to class that 

 with sweet spices, since when burning it gives off a disagreeable odour 

 like burnt horn or burnt feathers. It seems to the reviewer that Benzoin, 

 which has been in use from time immemorial as a chief ingredient in 

 incense, of whicli the tears present a nail-like opacity and colour, might 

 well be intended, the chief argument against it being that Benzoin does 

 not appyar to be described by the old Greek and Roman writers, although 

 it has been found in the tombs of an ancient Greek colony in Egypt. On 

 the other hand, Stacte or liquid Myrrh, of which Moses was instructed to 

 take 500 shekels, must have been a well-known drug at that period, but 

 no liquid Myrrh is known at the present day, unless Balm of Gilead 

 (Balsamodeudron opobalsamum) be so understood. The author states 

 on p. 212 that the fruit of Atropa Mandragora has been described as of 



