S2 6 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April, 13,1872. 
THE PHARMACY OF THE BIBLE 
BY J. T. SLUGG, F.lt.A.S. 
(Concluded from page 805.) 
- Cassia and Cinnamon are no doubt the harks of the 
itrees known hy those names at the- present day. Cinna¬ 
mon is mentioned, as we have seen, hy Moses, which 
is of importance as throwing considerable light on the 
fact that even in the earliest times the products of 
•one country found their way by means of foreign trade 
into distant lands. Cinnamon was not grown nearer to 
Hgypt than India and Ceylon, and the question arises 
Plow this product of the far East found its way thus early 
into the neighbourhood of the Mediterranean ? Dr. 
Kitto thought that this was effected by the Arabians. 
Calamus is generally supposed to be the Calamus aro- 
anaticus, or sweet flag; but this is denied by some scho¬ 
lars, who refer it to the lemon-grass of India and Arabia. 
Camphire is an incorrect rendering of the word cophcr 
In both the places of its mention, the marginal reading 
is “ cypress.” The substance really denoted is the henna 
plant, or Laicsonia alba. It was used as a dye for the 
nails, giving them a deep yellow or orange tinge, which 
was greatly admired. 
Frankincense. —The epithet frank or free was applied 
incense because of the freeness with which it gives 
out its odours and burns. It is not the article known as 
gum thus, but that known as olibanum, a gum produced 
hy a tree known as Bosiocllia, serrata, or B. thurifera. 
It was imported, we learn from Jeremiah, from Arabia. 
Lign Aloe is the eaglewood of India, and has no con¬ 
nection with the drug known as aloes, the name being a 
.corruption of the Arabic alloicat. Of all perfumes, this 
was most highly prized by Eastern nations; the Jews 
believed it grew in the garden of Eden. 
Myrrh is mentioned in our English Bibles as a part of 
The present sent by Jacob to Joseph, and also as one of 
the spices which the Ishmaelite merchants were carrying 
into Egypt. The original word here is Lot; whereas the 
word which is rendered “my^rh” in every other part of 
.scripture is mor. The article called lot was not myrrh, 
hut most probably gum labdanum, inasmuch as myrrh 
was not produced in Palestine, as the passages in Genesis 
speak of it as being exported from Gilead into Egypt. 
It was among the gifts brought by the wise men to the 
infant Jesus, and was highly valued by the Jews and 
other ancient nations. We are told that before Esther 
was presented to the king, “ she was purified six months 
with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours.” 
According to St. Mark, just before our Saviour’s cruci¬ 
fixion, the soldiers offered a draught of “wine mingled 
with myrrh.” It is difficult to understand this passage. 
Commentators agree in assigning as the reason that it 
was intended as a “ pain-killer, presented out of pity.” 
But myrrh is not an anodyne. The other evangelists 
speak of the draught as “ vinegar mingled with gall.” 
As gall stands associated in other places with that which 
is poisonous, the probability is that the draught con¬ 
tained some bitter and anodyne herb ; it may have been 
the poppy, intended to stupefy the sufferer. 
Saffron, there is no doubt, is the correct rendering of 
the Hebrew word. From the earliest times it has been 
in high repute as a perfume. It was used, we are in¬ 
formed, for the same purpose as modern “ pot pourri.” 
Spikenard. —We read that “Mary took a pound of 
ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet 
of Jesus.” One of the disciples was displeased with so 
lavish an expenditure, asking, “ Why was not this oint¬ 
ment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor ?” It 
appears from this that its value was £9. 7s. 6 d. There 
is much difference of opinion as to what really the plant 
was which is rendered “ spikenard.” Sir William Jones, 
one of the most learned Oriental scholars, said of this 
famous perfume, “ I am not of opinion that the nardum 
orf the Romans was merely the essential oil of the plant, 
but am stronelv inclined to believe that it was a generic 
word, meaning what we now call attar or otto of some 
plant ; or the mixed perfume called “abir,” of which the 
principal ingredients were yellow sandal, violets, orange 
flowers, wood of aloes, rose, musk, and true spikenard.” 
The true spikenard, the “nardus indica” was highly 
esteemed as a perfume and as a stimulant medicine. 
By Aloes we are, of course, not to understand the me¬ 
dical drug of that name, but either the Lign aloes or, 
what is quite probable, some kind of odoriferous cedar. 
Aniseed is mentioned in connection with mint and 
cummin , which are represented as three of the smallest 
and most insignificant plants. No doubt mint and cum¬ 
min are rightly translated, but the word translated 
anise Dr. Boyle thinks should be called dill , as the ane- 
thurn is more especially a genus of Eastern cultivation 
than the other plant. There is also an allusion to cum¬ 
min in Isaiah, where the mode of separating the seeds 
from the plant is mentioned as being accomplished, not 
with a cart wheel turned on them, but by being beaten 
with a rod. Which of the mints is referred to 1 am un¬ 
able to say. The ancient Greeks employed a herb which 
they called menthos, also termed “cduosmon,” or the 
sweet-smelling herb. This is thought to be the ‘ ‘ pipertia.’ ’ 
I he Almond- tree, being a native of Asia, was well 
known to the Jews. “ Luz,” translated hazel in Genesis, 
was another word for almond, and should have been so 
rendered. 
Sulphuret of Antimony was known in most ancient 
times as a black pigment, and was used by both Greek 
and Asiatic ladies as a paint for their eyebrows. Mr. 
Eimmel, in his admirable ‘ Book of Perfumes,’ says, 
“ Jewish women were mostly adorned with great physi¬ 
cal beauty. Not content, however, with their natural 
personal attractions, they tried to enhance them with 
various cosmetiques.” They were addicted to the prac¬ 
tice of “painting - ” quite as much as the ladies of our 
own day. W e are told that when Jezebel expected Jehu 
“ she painted her face.” Mr. Rimmel and Pereira both 
think it was her eyes to which she gave that dark hue, 
which was thought so fascinating - . Ezekiel refers more 
directly to this practice in the words, “Thou didst wash 
thyself, paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with 
ornaments.” Pereira informs us it was the sulphuret 
of antimony which was thus used. 
Balm of Gilead was supposed to have a medicinal 
virtue, to which there is direct reference in the question 
asked by the prophet Jeremiah, “Is there no balm in 
Gilead r Is there no physician there ? Why, then, is 
not the health of the daughter of my people healed ?” 
In another place it is said, “ Take balm for her pain ; if 
so be, she may be healed.” And again, “ Go into 
Gilead, and take balm; in vain shalt thou use many 
medicines, for thou shalt not be cured.” It was an 
article of commerce at a very early period; for we read 
that the company of Ishmaelites to whom Joseph was 
sold by his brethren came from Gilead with their camels, 
bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, to carry it down 
to Egypt.” We learn the value placed upon it from the 
fact that when Jacob sent his sons the second time to 
the ruler of Egypt, desiring to propitiate him, he bid 
them “take a present, a little balm, a little honejq” etc. 
Pliny says, “ To all other odours whatever, the balsam is 
preferred.” It was esteemed so precious a rarity that 
both Pompey and Titus carried a specimen to Rome in 
triumph. “ A small piece of the resin,” says Theophras¬ 
tus, “ was so odoriferous, that it filled a large space with 
its perfume.” He adds, that in his time only two en¬ 
closures of small extent were known to produce this tree. 
It was obtained from the Balsamodendron Gileadense , or 
opobalsamum. Pereira says it is a whitish, turbid, thick, 
very odorous liquid, which resinifies and becomes yellow 
by keeping. Its physiological effects are believed to 
be similar to balsam copaiba and the liquid turpentines. 
The most wonderful properties were formerly ascribed 
to it. It is rarely employed by Europeans, but it is 
adapted to the same cases as the terebinthinates. 
