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THE JUNIPER.

Ir is very questionable whether this shrub is mentioned in scripture, though it is found in our translation.

In 1 Kings xix. 4, we read of the prophet sheltering himself under a retem, [Eng. Tr. juniper-tree,] as Jonah was glad to avail himself of the frail covert of a gourd from the oppressive heat of the sun, Jonah iv. 8.

In Job xxx. 3, 4, the afflicted patriarch speaks of those having him in derision,

Who were, yesterday, gnawcrs of the desert,

Of the waste and the wilderness;

Plucking nettles from the bushes,

Or Juniper- [retem] roots for their food.

But this passage will not help us to determine whether the retem be the juniper or the broom; for the roots of neither the one nor the other, nor, indeed, of any other plants in those arid deserts, could furnish a nutritive article of food. The circumstance is mentioned as a proof of their utter destitution, and Parkhurst has shown, from several writers, that the most innutritive substances have been eaten among many people in times and places of scarcity and famine. Dr. Good quotes the following passage in Lucan, as bearing a striking resemblance to the description of Job :

He marks the wretched throng,

Seize food for cattle, crop the prickly brier,
And fell the grove with guawing.

The Psalmist (cxx. 4,) mentions the coals of the juniper as affording the fiercest fire of any combustible matter that he found in the desert, and therefore the fittest punishment for a deceitful tongue: 'What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.' That is, The wrath of God, like a keen and barbed arrow from the bow of the mighty, shall pierce the strongest armor, and strike deep into the hardest heart, and, like the fierce and protracted flame of the juniper, shall torment the liar with unutterable anguish.

SECTION II.

THE CUCUMBER.

THIS is very common fruit amongst us, but is much more so in Egypt, where it is also more agreeable to the taste, and more easy of digestion. Hasselquist supposes the cucumber mentioned in Numb. xi. 5, to be the queen of cucumbers,' which he thus describes: 'It grows in the fertile earth round Cairo, after the inundation of the Nile, and not in any other place in Egypt, nor in any other soil. It ripens with water-melons; its flesh is almost of the same substance, but is not near so cool. The grandees eat it as the most pleasant food they find, and that from which they have least to apprehend. It is the most excellent of this tribe of any yet known.'

Mr. Jowett has the following passage in his 'Christian Researches.' 'Extensive fields of ripe melons and cucumbers adorned the sides of the river [Nile]; they grew in such abundance, that the sailors freely helped themselves. Some guard, however, is placed upon them. Occasionally, but at long and desolate intervals, we may observe a little hut, made of reeds, just capable of containing one man; being, in fact, little more than a fence against a north wind. In these I have observed, sometimes, a poor old man, perhaps lame, feebly protecting the property. It exactly illustrates Isaiah i. 8: And the daughter of Zion is left, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers.' The numbers of these most necessary vegetables bring to mind the murmurs of the Israelites: We remember the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away.'

THE MELON.

MELONS are in the Hebrew scriptures named from the verb which signifies to hang close, cling, &c.; and they are no doubt so named from the manner in which their tendrils cling to whatever they can lay hold on, in order to support themselves. Hasselquist says, the melon is cultivated on the banks of the Nile, in the rich clayey earth, which subsides during the inundation; and in the Island Delta, especially at Burlos, whence the largest and best are

brought. This serves the Egyptians for meat, drink, and physic. The flesh of it is eaten with bread; the juice of it is collected in a hole inade in the melon, and is a most refreshing, but sometimes dangerous drink; and the same juice, mixed with rose-water and a little sugar, is the only medicine used by the common people in burning fevers. This is very comfortable to the patient, for it cools and refreshes him. See Numb. xi. 5.

THE MANDRAKE.

THERE are two sorts of Mandrakes:-the female, which is black, having leaves not unlike lettuce, though smaller and narrower, which spread on the ground, and have a disagreeable smell. It bears berries something like services, pale, of a strong smell, having kernels within, like those of pears. It has two or three very large roots, twisted together, white within, black without, and covered with a thick rind. The other kind, or male mandrake, is called morion, or folly, because it suspends the use of the senses. It produces berries twice the size of those of the female, of a good scent, and of a color approaching towards saffron. Its leaves are white, large, broad, and smooth, like the leaves of the beech tree. Its root resembles that of the female, but is thicker and bigger. This plant stupifies those who use it; sometimes depriving them of understanding; and often causes such vertigoes and lethargies, that, if those who have taken it have not present assistance, they die in convulsions.

From Cant. vii. 13, it appears that the mandrake yielded a remarkable smell at the time when the vines and pomegranates flowered, which in Judea is about the end of April, or beginning of May. It is probable, therefore, that this circumstance of their smell is to be referred to the fruit rather than to the flower, especially as Brookes, who has given a particular description and a print of the plant, expressly observes that the fruit has a strong, nauseous smell, though he says nothing about the scent of a flow

er.

SECTION III.

THORNY SHRUBS AND PLANTS.

In the curse pronounced on the ground (Genesis iii. 17, 18) says Dr. A. Clarke, there is much more implied than generally appears. The amazing fertility of some of the most common thistles and thorns renders them the most proper instruments for the fulfilment of this sentence against man. Thistles multiply enormously: a species called the Carolina silvestris bears ordinarily from twenty to forty heads, each containing from one hundred to one hundred and fifty seeds. Another species, called the Acanthum vulgare, produces above 100 heads, each containing from 300 to 400 seeds. Suppose we say that these thistles produce at a medium, only 80 heads, and that each contains only 300 seeds; the first crop from these would amount to 24,000. Let these be sown, and their crop will amount to 576 millions. Sow these, and their produce will be 13,824,000,000,000, or thirteen billions, eight hundred and twentyfour thousand millions: and a single crop from these, which is only the third year's growth, would amount to 331,776,000,000,000,000, or three hundred and thirty-one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six billions; and the fourth year's growth will amount to 7962,624,000,000,000,000,000, or seven thousand nine hundred and sixty-two trillions, six hundred and twenty-four thousand billions! a progeny more than sufficient to stock not only the surface of the whole world, but of all the planets in the solar system, so that no other plant or vegetable could possibly grow, allowing but the space of one square foot for each plant. The Carduus vulgatissimus viarum, or common hedge-thistle, besides the almost infinite swarms of winged seeds it sends forth, spreads its roots around many yards, and throws up suckers every where, which not only produce seeds in their turn, but extend their roots, and propagate like the parent plant, and stifle and destroy all vegetation but their

own.

As to thorns, the bramble, which occurs so commonly, and is so mischievous, is a sufficient proof how well the means are calculated to secure the end. The genista, or spinosa vulgaris, called by some furze, by others whins, is allowed to be one of the most mischievous shrubs on the face of the earth. Scarcely any thing can grow near it; and it is so thick set with prickles, that it is almost impossible to touch it without being wounded. It is very prolific; almost half the year it is covered with flowers, which produce pods filled with seeds. Besides, it shoots out roots far and wide, from

which suckers and young plants are continually springing up, which produce others in their turn. Where it is permitted to grow, it soon overspreads whole tracts of ground, and it is extremely difficult to clear the land of its roots where once it has got proper footing. Such provision has the just God made to fulfil the curse which he has pronounced on the earth, because of the crimes of its inhabi

tants.

THE THORN.

Or the Thorn there are several sorts, and to designate them the sacred writers employ different terms, which it is by no means easy to discriminate with accuracy and confidence. The late editor of Calmet has enumerated eight different words in the original, rendered 'thorns' or ' briers' in our version, and Dr. Harris has extended the list.

The first time that this description of plants is mentioned, is in the denunciation of punishment on the human race, in Gen. iii. 18, 'thorns and thistles;' Paul uses the same words, in Heb. vi. 8, where the last is rendered 'briers;' they are also found in Hos. x. 8. The word occurs in other places (Exod. xxii. 6; Judges viii. 6; xxviii. 24); but whether it denotes a specific kind of thorn, or is a generic name for all kinds of thorny plants, is uncertain. There is a beautiful apothegm in Prov. xv. 19:-The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is plain.' The beautiful opposition in the original is not discoverable in the English version: The narrow way of the slothful is like perplexed pathways among sharp thorns: whereas, the broad road of the righteous is a high bank' (a causeway); that is, straight-forward, free from obstructions; the direct, conspicuous, open path. Upon this passage Mr. Taylor remarks, 1. The common course of life of these two characters answers to this comparison. 2. Their manner of going about business, or of transacting it, answers to this: an idle man always prefers the most intricate, the most oblique, and eventually, the most thorny measures, to accomplish his purpose: the honest man prefers the most liberal, and straight-forward.

We have already remarked that the word employed in the New Testament for thorns, is akantha. There has been some variety of opinion among critics, as to the nature of the thorn of which our Lord's crown was composed, Matt. xxvii. 29. It was without doubt of some kind of prickly shrub, though what it was cannot now be ascertained,

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