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olppahis spinosa. 
It is used iu describing the wisdom of Solomon, 
SACRED BOTANY. — TUE HYSSOP. 
mtis. Sktm];! — (KIjb ItfMnp. 
Few of tlie plants mentioned in the sacred text have given rise to more conjectm'es, in modern attempts 
at then- identification, than the Hyssop. About a score of different plants have been set down by 
different writers on this subject, all of which are set 
aside by the more recent researches of Dr. Roj'le, 
who appears to have sho^vii satisfactorily that the 
Hyssop, or esobh (esob or esof), is the Capparis spi- 
nosa, or the Caper plant, represented in our woodcut. 
The supposed Hyssops of the Bible, just alluded to, 
include several labiate plants, as the modern Hyssop, 
the Rosemarj', some flints and Marjorams, the La- 
vender, common Thyme, &c. ; a species of Phytolacca ; 
some composite plants, as the Southernwood, and an 
allied species ; ferns, as the Maidenhair, and the 
Wall-rue ; and the common Hair-moss, or Polj'- 
trichum. 
The allusions to the Hyssop are widely dispersed 
through the sacred writing-s. The name occurs seve- 
ral times in connection with the ceremonial institu- 
tions of the Israehtes, at the time of their Egyjjtian 
bondage and subsequent wanderings in the wilderness, 
(Exod. xii. 22 ; Levit. xiv. 4 ; Numb. xix. 6). King- 
David also mentions it in his penitential psalm : — 
" Pm-ge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash 
me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm, li. 7.) 
who " spake of trees, from the Cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the Hyssoji that springeth out 
of the wall" (1 Kings, iv. 33). And it again occm's in connection with the crucifixion of our Savioiu' : 
" They filled a sponge vpith vinegar, and put it upon Hyssop" (John, xix. 29). An allusion to the 
Hyssop, in connection with ceremonial institutions, is quoted by St. Paul (Heb. ix. 19). 
We shall, as far as om' space will admit, follow Dr. Royle in his summary of the facts involved in 
the allusions of these texts, and then notice how far the Caper plant corresponds with the facts thus 
elicited. 
At the institution of the Passover, Closes directed the elders of Israel to take a bunch of Hyssop, 
dip it in the blood of the paschal lamb, and strike the lintel and two side-posts of the doors of their 
houses with the blood (Exod. xii. 22). Therefore, the plant must have been indigenous in Lower 
Egj'pt, and sufficiently large and leafy for the act of sprinkling which is enjoined. In the ceremonial 
institutions which were appointed during the jom-neyiugs of the people between Egypt and Palestine, 
fi-equent mention is made of Hyssop in connection with acts of sprinlvHng and pm-ification. Therefore, 
it must have been procm'able on the outskirts of Palestine. David's allusion seems to apply to a deter- 
gent quality inherent iu the plant ; though this is sometimes explained symbolically, as referring to 
the ceremonial sprinkling with a bunch of Hyssop dipped m the " water of separation." But it is 
suggested, in reference to this ceremonial application of Hyssop, that it may have been selected 
originally from the fact of its being known to possess cleansing properties. The only certain fact, in 
coimectiou with this subject, to be gathered fi-om the description of Solomon's acquii-ements in natural 
history, is, that the Hyssop does sometimes grow fr'om a wall or rocky sm-face ; it is not necessarily the 
smallest of plants, as a contrast with the Cedai-, as some have inferred. The use assigned to the 
Hyssop at the crucifixion shows it to be a native of Judea and of the immediate environs of Jerusalem. 
It seems also to have been used as a stick to which the sponge was fixed. These conditions are more 
fully met by the Cappaxis spinosa than by any other of the plants that have been suggested as the 
sacred Hyssop, as we must now briefly indicate. 
1. As to its geoc/rajihy. — The Caper plant is found in Lower Egypt, and Forskal mentions it as 
gro'wing wild " out of a wall" in the neighboui'hood of Alexandi-ia. It is also found generally on the 
islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. Dr. Falconer mentions, that the rocks at Aden are covered 
with the common, or a closely-related species of Caper plant. Dr. Clarke met vith the Caper plant at 
Cyprus and in the Holy Land (Jaffa). Bove, enteruig Palestine fi-om Egypt, fomid it at Gaza, and 
also in the desert of Sinai and among the ruins near Jerusalem. Belon and Rauwolf also found it in 
