Linnæan class and order, Monandria MONOGYNIA. Exodus, xxx. 23. Proverbs, vii. 17. Song of Solomon, iv. 14. Revelation, xviii. 13. ONE of the principal spices which composed the precious ointment for the tabernacle, and always highly valued for its perfume. The necessity for strong and sweet perfumes must have been imperious, where sacrifices of blood were performed in the very temples. Had it not been for the burning of incense and sweet spices, neither the Temple of Jerusalem, nor those erected by the heathen to their superior gods, could have escaped the odour of a slaughterhouse. Hence the value set upon fragrant gums and spices, and probably the custom of adorning the victims, as well as the votaries, with flowers and fragrant evergreens. The Cinnamon tree, or rather shrub, is a native of Ceylon, and other islands near the equator. Neither the leaves nor flowers emit any smell; and the pleasure of a walk through Cinnamon gardens owes little to the fragrance of the plant itself, until the season for gathering the spice arrives. Then it is charming; and the busy groups of Cingalese, peeling the twigs, which are cut annually, add interest to the beauty of the gardens. The bark is peeled off with astonishing quickness and dexterity, by means of a small sharp iron instrument, and laid in the sun, where it curls up into the shape of the Cinnamon sticks of the shops. When Herodotus wrote, the western world was supplied with Cinnamon by the Phoenicians, who procured it from the Arabian merchants. These merchants professed not to know whence it came; and asserted that they procured it by means of certain large birds, who had stores of it in their nests. They found the means, they said, to decoy the birds to a distance, and robbed the nests before they had time to return. This story proves both the very ancient use of the spice, and the great jealousy with which the Arabs, or Ismaelites, guarded the secrets of their commerce. The Dutch, in succeeding to the spice trade of the ancient Arabs, did not fall behind them in cunning. When the Cinnamon crops were over-abundant, whole stacks of the fragrant bark were burned on the seashore, that the price of spice in Europe might be kept up: and, at that season of the year, the ships sailing the Indian seas were regaled with the spicy odours; "And many a league Cheer'd with the grateful smell, old Ocean smiled." CITRON. Lev. xxiii. 40. THE text in Leviticus translated in our version, "And ye shall take you, on the first day, the boughs of goodly trees," is, as I learn from Celsius, rendered Citron trees by Onkelos; and this reading is confirmed by Rabbi Salomon and other Hebrew critics. It is certain that from an early period Citrons were offered at the Feast of Tabernacles, as emblems of fruitfulness; and that, in such numbers, that when King Alexander Jannæus, in one of his freaks of tyranny, attacked the people while engaged in their religious duties during the feast, he and his party were repelled by the worshippers, who, having no other weapons, pelted them with citrons, so that the king narrowly escaped with his life. * The modern Jews continue the practice of offering Citrons at the Feast of Tabernacles. In London, considerable sums of money are expended in importing them of the best kind, for the purpose. They must be * About 100 years before Christ.-Josephus. |