and with a jerk, attended with a slight noise, ejects a number of seeds and a liquid, often striking the unwary toucher in the face, and making him start with surprise. The juice is of a highly poisonous nature, but useful in medicine. There is nothing tempting in the appearance or smell of the fruit; it is, therefore, not at all probable that this formed the poison in the pot.

VINE OF SODOM.

"Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.”—Deut. xxxii., 32; 1451 B.C.

Much difference of opinion prevails as to what the plant is, spoken of in the above verse, the fruit of which has been by some writers termed the apples of Sodom. Of this, Josephus says, "which fruits have a colour as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes." All speak of it as the fruit of a plant growing in the region of the Dead Sea. Canon Tristram says, "Observation of the relative abundance, and of the geographical distribution of the plants of the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, would lead me to the conclusion that the simile of the Vine of Sodom is taken from the fruit of the

Colocynth (Citrullus Colocynthis), which has long, straggling tendrils or runners like the vine, with a fruit fair to look at, but nauseous beyond description to the taste, and, when fully ripe, merely a quantity of dusty powder with the seeds, inside its beautiful orange rind."

Solanum sodomeum is also put forward as bearing those "Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye, but turn to ashes on the lips." It is abundant in the lower Jordan, and the region of the Dead Sea, especially near the remains of, what Josephus calls, the cities of Sodom. It is a rudegrowing, stiff-branched shrub; its branches and leaves being furnished with spines of a red colour. It grows to the height of four to five, or more, feet. Its flowers are like those of the potato ; the fruit is about the size of a small apple, and, when ripe, of a yellowish colour, fair to look at. The fruit is at first pulpy inside, but when ripe this pulp is dried up. On being pressed, the fruit emits what appears to be dust and ashes, or as Josephus says, "smoke and ashes," the supposed ashes being its seeds.

Another plant, Calotropis procera, has, by some observers, been considered to be the plant alluded to in the above verse. This appears, to us, to have less claim than either of the preceding, as it is not a vine, but a small tree, seldom exceeding the height of fifteen feet, having a corky

bark, stiff branches, and large, oval, opposite leaves, the whole being full of milky juice It forms thickets in the region of the Dead Sea, and is common in India and Eastern Africa. It belongs to the family Asclepiadaceae. Its fruit is about the size of an apple, of a soft texture. When ripe, it opens on one side by a slit, and is completely filled with fine, silky hairs, to which the seeds are attached. They expand like wool, and certainly cannot be called dust and ashes.

CUMMIN (Heb., Cammoin).

"Doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin?" "For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin." -Isa. xxviii., 25, 27; 725 B.C. "Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin."-Matt. xxiii., 23; 33 A.D.

Cummin, Cuminum sativum, is an annual plant of the Umbel family. It is said to be a native of Egypt, but has been long cultivated in the South of Europe for the sake of its aromatic fruits, generally known as seeds, which are similar to carraway seeds, but larger. They are, however, not so agreeable in flavour, and consequently not are much used in this country. In Palestine, they are used as spice in many ways, and even mixed with meal for making bread.

CORIANDER (Heb., gad).

"And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna; and it was like coriander seed, white."-Exod. xvi., 31; 1491 B.C.

Coriandrum sativum is an annual plant of the Umbelliferous family, allied to Carraway and Dill, but differing from both in its fruit, called seeds, being globular. It is cultivated in this country for its aromatic fruits, which are principally used in confectionery; also in the South of Europe, Egypt, and Palestine.

ANISE (Greek, Anethon).

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law."-Matt. xxiii., 23; 33 A.D.

The Greek word, Anethon, in the text, has been translated anise, which our early English botanists have given to a plant now known as Pimpinella Anisum. There is every reason to believe, however, that it was not the plant of which tithe was paid, that being Anethum graveolens, well known in this country as dill. It is a weedy, annual plant of the Umbelliferous family, having some resemblance to parsley. It is cultivated for the sake of its seeds, which are aromatic and carminative, similar to carraways.