H YSSO'PUS ORIENTA'LIS. 
ORIENTAL HYSSOP. 
Class. Order. 
DIDYNAMIA. G YMNOSPERMIA. 
Natural Order. 
LABIATiE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Caucasus. 
2 feet. 
June, Sept. 
Perennial. 
in 1816. 
No. 466. 
The systematic name, Hyssopus, is deduced from 
the Hebrew, ezob, signifying a herb for sacred 
uses. Some authors have stated that the original 
word was compounded from the Greek, to signify 
“showering on the countenance,” in allusion to a 
custom of that people, who, in their religious cere- 
monies, used powdered Hyssop to sprinkle on the 
heads of worshippers. They either believed that it 
purified those on whom it was showered; or, they 
used it as typical of purification. Whether the hys- 
sop of holy writ has any connexion with our present 
subject is not easy to ascertain. There is not, that 
we are aware of, in the works of old writers, any dis- 
tinct evidence to guide such enquiry. 
The first scriptural notice of Hyssop, is a re- 
markable one — the institution of the passover, stat- 
ed in the book of Exodus. It is also referred to 
in several other passages, clearly showing the es- 
timation in which it was held as a plant of puri- 
fication; both literally and emblematically. 
St.John says, they filled a sponge with vinegar, 
and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 
The other evangelists say, “ put it on a reed.” Hence 
