April 13, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
827 
By Brimstone, no doubt is intended the substance 
known to us under the same name. 
Bdellium is named in the Bible as early as the second 
chapter of Genesis, where it is associated with gold and 
onyx stone as one of the productions of the land of Ha- 
vilah. In Numbers, the colour of manna is likened to 
bdellium ; but it is very doubtful if the word translated 
bdellium be a mineral or animal production, or a vege¬ 
table exudation. There is a kind of myrrh, the product 
of the Amyris commifera, known as Indian bdellium, 
which is very odoriferous, diffusing a grateful fragrance 
to a considerable distance. Whether this be the same 
.article or not is uncertain. 
Coriander seeds are, no doubt, the same as now pass under 
that name. They are only mentioned twice in the Bible. 
The Colocy)ith plant is referred to, though not by its 
name, but is called the “wild vine.” In the Book of 
Kings we are told that some of this plant was gathered 
and used by mistake as a potherb, being shred into a 
,pot of pottage of which the sons of the prophets partook. 
Figs. —The trees bearing this fruit are very common 
in Palestine. There arc many interesting references to 
■them in Scripture. 
Gar lick is mentioned once in Numbers, in connection 
with fish, cucumbers, leeks, melons and onions, as the 
food of the Israelites in Egypt, after which they longed 
when feeding on manna in the desert. 
Gall, Hemlock and Wormwood .—There is occasional re¬ 
ference to wormwood in the Bible, which is always me- 
“ nether ” translated 
The substance dc- 
sh. In Proverbs the 
heavy heart is com- 
vinegar 
Mustard Seed. —The tree named in the New Testament 
has been the subject of much dispute. Great difficulty 
has been experienced in fixing on a tree on whose 
“ branches the birds can lodge.” The Salvadora persica, 
however, afiswers this description. 
Natron and Soap .—The word 
nitre, undoubtedly means natron. 
noted cannot be our nitrate of pot a 
incongruity of singing songs to a 
pared with the reaction which takes place when 
is applied to natron. In Jeremiah we have the same 
word again wrongly translated, “ Though thou wash 
thee with nitre and take thee much sopc,” etc.; evidently 
natron is intended. The word bbrith, translated “ soap,” 
is a general term for any substance of cleansing quali¬ 
ties. We may understand the natron to represent a 
mineral alkali, and soap a vegetable one, probably some 
kind of potash. Numerous plants, capable of yielding 
alkali, exist in Palestine and the surrounding district. 
Olive Oil. —This is one of the oldest drugs known. 
Jacob consecrated the stone pillar which he set up by 
pouring oil on its top. It was produced in large quan¬ 
tities in Palestine, and was exported thence into Egypt 
and other countries,—King Solomon giving 170,000 
gallons yearly to the Tyrian hewers of wood. It was 
used in religious services, in making perfumed ointments, 
as an article of food and medicinally. Celsus frequently 
speaks of the use of oil, especially old oil, applied exter¬ 
nally, with friction, in fevers, and in other cases. Josc- 
taphorical as indicating that which is bitter, and, in this phus tells us that amongst the remedies employed in the 
.sense, it is sometimes associated with gall; as, for in-' case of Herod, who “was eaten up of worms,” ho was 
stance, “ lest there should be among you a root that 
bcareth wormwood and gall.” Hemlock occurs twice in 
the Old Testament, but the Hebrew rosh, which in these 
■two places is rendered hemlock, is elsewhere translated 
“ gall,” denoting anything bitter. Whether hemlock is 
the best rendering of rash is doubtful. The Hebrew word 
.means head ; and it is more probable that, as Gesenius 
.supposes, the capsules of the poppy are intended 
put into a bath of olive oil. 
Onycha has been supposed by some to have been the 
gum of a tree. It is now, however, generally believed 
that it was the shell of a species of mussel, found on the 
shores of the Red Sea, which, when burnt, emits a smell 
not unlike that of musk. 
Balm. —Although this tree was so well known by the 
Jews, and its products are so numerous, excepting its 
The Galbannum of the Bible, Bishop Patrick tells us, 1 syrup called honey, there is no clear allusion to any ot 
must not be confounded with the common galbanum them in the Bible, 
used in medicine, but that it was a superior sort found The word Bomcgranate is derived ivom. 11 pomum grana- 
on Mount Arnonus, in Syria. turn,” “grained apple,” The beauty ot its flowers hns 
Honey is another article of pharmacy often mentioned furnished Solomon with several allusions. The estima- 
in Scripture. It abounded in Palestine. The word I tion in which it was held by the Israelites may be in- 
translated honey also applies to a decoction of the juice of ferred from its being specified as one of the luxuries they 
the grape, which forms an article of commerce in the enjoyed in Egypt It was oncot the three kinds ot fruit 
brought by the spies from Eschol. 
Bid mis, the castor oil plant, was known in very early 
times. Some of its seeds have been found in Egyptian 
sarcophagi supposed to have been 4000 years old. This 
is the plant which, in the book of Jonah, our translators 
have rendered gourd, and which we are told “ was pre¬ 
pared by the Lord to come up over Jonah, that it might 
be a shadow over his head.” 
Sponge is only mentioned in the New Testament—in 
connection with the crucifixion. The commercial value 
of it was known, however, from the earliest times. 
The word Stacte signifies an odorous distillation from 
some plant. It was most probably the gum of the 
storax-tree. 
Vermilion is mentioned twice in the Old Testament. 
The original word means simply “redness,” and may 
refer to anv kind of red paint. Cinnabar, however, 
lias been found in the colouring-matter of the old 
Egyptian tombs. 
Vinegar is mentioned by Moses 1490 years b.c. By 
this term is sometimes meant the common sour wine ot 
the country,—the ordinary beverage ot the people ; at 
others it indicates a liquid made from grapes, which had 
undergone the acetous fermentation. _ 
7 Vax. —Honey having been so abundant in Judea, we 
East. It was this, and not bee-honey, that Jacob sent 
to Joseph. A third kind of honey has been described by 
some writers as vegetable-honey, by wdiich is meant the 
•exudations of certain trees. There is a fourth kind, men¬ 
tioned by Josephus, produced from the juice of the 
•date. 
Hyssop. —Perhaps no plant mentioned in the Bible 
has given rise to greater difference of opinion than this. 
Bochart thinks that marjoram, or some plant like it, is 
indicated. Dr. Royle arrived at the conclusion that it is 
no other than the caper plant. 
Lime and the mode of obtaining it by burning the car¬ 
bonate were known in the most remote periods of anti¬ 
quity. It was used by Hippocrates in medicine. 11 is 
mentioned only three times in the Bible, in one instance 
being translated plaister, showing it was used then as 
now, for cementing stones, etc. There is a still more 
curious reference to it in Amos, where we read, “Be¬ 
cause he burned the bones of the Kings of Edom into 
lime.” This expression indicates a knowledge of chemis¬ 
try as to the constitution of bones 800 years b.c. 
By Mallow, no doubt is meant “ purslane,” which was 
used as a potherb. 
The Manna of the Bible is certainly not the same as 
the manna of our shops, and has no relation to it. 
There 
Millet is probably a correct translation; and by it is naturally conclude wax also would be known, 
meant the Sorghum vulgarc, used in the time of Ezekiel, ; are a few allusions to it in the Old testament s 
.and at the present day in many countries of Europe, for its nronerties to have been well understood.. e 
making an infer’or bread. 
its properties to 
psaknist speaks of his heart as bciiu 
“ melted like wax. 
