SACRED BOTANY.—FLAX. 
does not possess some record of the natural productions of its neighbourhood, and the work before us is only one 
of the many similar to it that we have seen. It is alone by records such as these, than an accurate knowledge 
of the natural history of a country can he obtained; and in Botany especially, we cannot too strongly insist upon 
the importance of such catalogues, in assisting to make us acquainted with the habits of plants, their geographical 
range, and the soils which they affect. While we cannot hut regret we have not many Dr. Holies in England, 
we will relate the plan he has adopted, trusting it will find followers; and briefly premise that the Lake of Con¬ 
stance—better known in Germany as the “ Bodensee ”—and to the classical reader as the “ Lcicus Brigantinus ”—is 
a great expanse of water situated in the north-eastern corner of Switzerland. It is bordered by the territories of 
five states, Baden, Wirtemberg, Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland ; it is about 90 miles long, 9 wide in its broadest 
part, nearly 1000 feet in its greatest depth, and lies 1255 feet above the sea. Its great tributary is the Bhine, 
which enters at its eastern extremity, and flows out beneath the walls of Constance. At its upper end is an ex¬ 
tensive and annually increasing delta. Its hanks are flat or gently undulating, and more distinguished for their 
fertility than their picturesque beauty. Where the great river enters it, however, there are some alpine features, 
and there a glimpse is caught of the snow-capped Borarlberg. Some parts of it thus may he called the garden of 
Switzerland. It is a richly cultivated arable land, waving with com in autumn, and in spring redolent with the 
beauties of the blooming orchards. Nor are its waters less rich. They contain about sixty species of fish—we 
forget the exact number—but we can never forget a gigantic pike (.Esox Lucius ) we once saw from them; it was 
nearly five feet in length, and we doubt not it may even now be seen adorning in its glass case the coffee room of 
the “ Hecht Hotel.” 
We think Dr. Hofle’s plan well worthy of imitation; it is not only a list of plants with their habitats, and time 
of flowering, but a scientific sketch of the vegetation of the district, including notices of its elevation above the 
level of the sea, the distribution of its streams and forests, its geology, state of agriculture, its average temperature, 
humidity, and lastly though not of the least importance, a comparison between its Flora and that of other local¬ 
ities. W r e wish some of our readers would give us their views as to the best form of a Flora. If they do not, we 
may probably ourselves offer a few remarks.—J. S. B. 
iurait 3Gntmn[.—/Iw.—lim 
B OTH the plant Flax, Liiiirm usitatissimum of botanists, and its product, linen, are mentioned 
several times in our bible. There seems, indeed, no doubt whatever, that the Hebrew pishtah, 
translated Flax, is the plant so called. Some proof of this may be gleaned from the passages in which 
the word occurs. Thus, during the Egyptian bondage of the Israelites, in the plague of the hail-storm, 
it is said (Exod ix. 31), that “the Flax (pishtah) and Barley was smitten : for the Barley was in the 
ear, and the Flax was boiled.”—that is, according to Gesenius, in blossom. It is added, “ the Wheat and 
the Bie were not smitten : for they were not grown up.” These statements agree with a practice 
which existed in Egypt, as in India, of sowing these grains, partly in autumn, and partly in spring, 
so that it is easily to be conceived that Wheat might be but little advanced in blade, while the Barley 
and Flax w r ere much more advanced. That the plant must have been cultivated in Egypt there is 
proof; both in the clear and undoubted representations of Flax culture which occur in the paint¬ 
ings of the grotto of El Kab, and in the fact that the mummy-cloth is almost universally found to 
have been made of linen. Linen, moreover, was long one of the staple exports of Egypt; and the 
workers of fine Flax, that is, the manufacturers of fine linen, incidentally alluded to in the history of 
King Solomon—who “ had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn, the king’s merchants receiving 
the yarn at a price” (1 Kings, x. 28)—are expressly mentioned by Isaiah in his denunciation of the 
burden of Egypt, thus : “ Moreover they that work in fine Flax .... shall be confounded” (Isaiah 
xix. 9). Still further evidence of the identity of pishtah and Flax is afforded by that familiar text of 
Isaiah (xlii. 3) : “ the smoking Flax shall he not quench,” which is evidently quoted in the New Testa¬ 
ment (Matt. xii. 20), where linon (linum) is put as the equivalent of pishtah , the term which Isaiah 
employs. 
It has been already mentioned that Flax was extensively cultivated and manufactured in Egypt. 
So it must have been in Palestine ; for, when the spies, were sent from the camp of Israel to Jericho, 
and search was made for them by the men of that city, a woman named Bahab “ brought them to 
the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of Flax, which she had laid in order upon the 
roof” (Josh. ii. 6). In the time of Samson, Flax must have been in common use, and well known 
among the Philistines ; for we read, “ they bound him with two new cords .... the cords that were 
upon his arms became as Flax that was burnt with fire” (Judges xv. 13, 14). At a later period, in 
the days of Solomon, Flax-spinning was still familiar, for it is recorded as one of the characteristics 
of the good and virtuous wife whose “ price is above rubies,” that “ she seeketh wool and Flax, and 
ft’ 
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