LILY.

MATTHEW vi. 28.

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

"Our attention was particularly directed to the plant of which Burckhardt says, "The plain was covered with the wild artichoke; it bears a thorny, violet-coloured flower, in the shape of an artichoke, upon a stem five feet in height.' It is very common in the Holy Land, particularly in the valley of Esdraelon, and was now in its fullest blow. The predominant colour of the flower is not violet, but blue. Mr. Smith was inclined to consider it the plant alluded to by our Lord when he said, 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' The wild flowers of the country, which are remarkable for their exquisite beauty, however, are so numerous, that the species referred to by our Lord will probably never be identified."-WILSON's Lands of the Bible.

LOCUST, OR CAROB-TREE.

LUKE XV. 16.

"He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat."

"The fruit of a species of locust-tree is here gathered. We rested under the shade of a beautiful large tree of this description, bearing a flower of a deep crimson

colour; a yellow jessamine, with a delicious odour, was creeping around it."-Discoveries in Africa.

"At this place we had our choice of three large and spreading trees under which to breakfast,-a fig-tree, an oak, and a carob. This tree is common in Syria, Egypt, Greece, and all the southern parts of Europe, and sometimes growing very large. The tree produces slender pods, shaped like a horn or sickle, containing a sweetish pulp, and several small shining seeds. These pods are sometimes eight or ten inches long, and a finger broad. They are eaten with relish by the common people; and are used extensively by them as an article of sustenance. We had them dry on board of our boat on the Nile in January; steeped in water they afforded a pleasant drink."-ROBINSON's Researches, vol. iii. p. 58.

MALLOWS.

JOB XXX. 4.

"Who cut up mallows by the bushes."

A traveller in 1600, when on his way towards Jerusalem from Aleppo in Syria, stopped at a village, and walking into the fields, "Saw many poor people gathering mallows and three-leaved grass, and asked them what they did with it; and they answered that it was all their food, and that they boiled it, and did eat it. Then we took pity on them, and gave them bread, which they received very joyfully, and blessed God that there was bread in the world, for they had not seen bread the space of many months."

MANDRAKE.

GENESIS XXX. 14.

"Reuben went in the days of wheat-harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah."

CANTICLES Vii. 13.

"The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits."

The mandrake grows plentifully in Galilee. It has a long taper root, shaped like a parsnip, and almost of the same colour, but a little darker. This root runs three or four feet deep in the ground. This is often divided into two or three branches. Immediately from the crown of this root rises a circle of leaves, as in the lettuce, which, indeed, they greatly resemble, except in the colour, which is of a darker green. This tuft of leaves is at first erect, but when they attain their full growth, they spread open, and lie upon the ground.

They are more than a foot in length, and in the middle are four inches broad, growing narrow towards both ends. Among these come out the blossoms, which are of a purple colour in Palestine, but in this country of a greenish white. The fruit, when full grown, is not, in their country, larger than a nutmeg, of a yellowish-green colour when ripe, and full of pulp. Here the whole plant is reputed to be poisonous, and has a most unpleasant smell. In small doses, however, it has been used as an opiate. But in Palestine the fruit attains the size, and is of the colour of a small apple, ruddy, and of a most agreeable smell. It is valued as soothing, and inclining to sleep,-though when first taken it is exciting to the spirits. The most absurd stories used

to be told about the mandrake. It was said that the root resembled the human form, and that it uttered dreadful shrieks and groans when dug up, so that the usual mode of procuring it was by tying a dog to the plant, whose struggles tore up the root, which, it was declared, immediately killed the dog with one of its shrieks. Many such like absurdities were related and firmly believed for centuries."-See Pictorial History of

Palestine.

MANNA SHRUBS.

TAMARISK.-CAMEL'S THORN.

JOB xxx. 7.

"Under the nettles (camel's thorn) they were gathered together." [ZEPHANIAH ii. 9.]

sup

It is expressly said of the food called manna, which s plied the wants of the Israelites, that it was from heaven. It was, therefore, a different thing from the substance now called manna by the Arabs, and which is obtained from the tamarisk and other shrubs, but in such small quantities that it never could have furnished a large company with food. It is, however, so curious a production, that it will not be out of place to mention it here, particu

larly as the Israelites in the desert where it is produced may often have partaken of it, as the Arabs still do, as a dainty. "In the month of June it drops from the thorns of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, leaves, and thorns, cover the ground beneath that tree in the the manna is collected before sunrise,

which always

natural state;

when it is coagulated, but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. The Arabs clean away the leaves, dirt, &c., which adhere to it, boil it, strain it through a piece of cloth, and put it into leathern skins; in way they preserve it till the following year, and use

coarse

this