154- THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
the crown of thorns used on that sad and memorable day on 
Calvary 1900 years ago. Various plants have been suggested, 
but by far the most probable is Zizyphus spina-Christi, which 
grows freely about Jerusalem, and has long flexible branches 
bearing sharp thorns. It is the same plant that was used by 
Gideon to chastise the men of Succoth (Jud. 8 ch., 7, 16). 
Calvary Clover. There is an interesting trefoil (Medicago 
maculata) native of the Mediterranean basin, which has a red 
or brown spot on each of the leaves. The legend popularly at- 
tached to it is, that growing at the foot of the cross, drops of 
Christ’s blood fell on the plant, and that ever since then it has 
borne this mark of distinction. The twisted, spiny seed vessel is 
supposed to bear a resemblance to a miniature crown of thorns. 
M. maculata is a common introduced garden weed about Sydney. 
' The Cross. We have no record of the timber used in mak- 
ing the Cross. It is probable that one of the trees growing 
locally would be chosen, either the Cedar or Aleppo pine, pro- 
bably, I think, the latter. There is a very old legend in Britain 
that it was the elder (Sambucus nigra) or as it is called in 
Scotland the “nourtree,” and magic properties were accorded to 
it. An ancient Scottish rhyme is:— 
“Bourtree, bourtree, crooked song, 
Never straight and never strong; 
Ever bush and never tree, 
Since oor Lord was nailed on ye.” 
This tree however is not native to Palestine. 
Saltwort, Soap. In two places only is there mention of 
soap. Jer. 2 ch., 22, says “For though thou wash thee with 
nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked be- 
fore me, saith the Lord God,” and Mal. 3 ch., 2, “for he is like 
a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap”: ‘The first of these refers 
to an herb borith or saltwort (Salsola Kali) which was burnt 
and the alkaline ashes used for cleansing purposes. The re- 
’ ference in Malachi translated ‘‘fuller’s soap’ probably refers to 
an unctuous earth, steatite or “soap-earth.” Jt was probably a 
supply of this substance that was given by Elisha to Naaman 
the leper “two mules burden of earth” (2 Kings 5 ch., 17). 
This earth is still used in the east for softening and cleansing 
the skin. 
Fuller’s earth was used by the Romans for. absorbing the 
grease from cloth woven from raw wool, which was afterwards 
washed to remove the soiled earth. As late as the beginning of 
the 18th century this method was in use in Rome. The first 
real soap appears to have been prepared by boiling goat tallow 
