21), is rendered by Dr. Geddes and some other critics, Naphtali is a spreading terebinth producing beautiful branches.' The reasons adduced against this interpretation may be seen in pages 110, 111,

ante.

We have already noticed the religious veneration in which some kind of trees were held, by the heathen nations of antiquity: among these th eoak stood in a pre-eminent rank. Ye shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have planted,' says Isaiah, to the idolatrous Israelites, chap. i. 29. In Gaul and Britain we find that the highest religious regard was paid to the same tree and its mistletoe, under the directions of the Druids; that is, the oak-prophets or priests. Few are ignorant that the mistletoe, or missaldine, is indeed a very extraordinary plant, not to be cultivated in the earth, but always growing upon some other tree, as upon the oak, apple, &c. The Druids says Pliny, hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it is produced, provided it be the oak. They make choice of groves of oak on their own account, nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of those trees, so that one may suppose that they are for this reason called by a Greek etymology, Druids. And whatever mistletoe grows on the oak, they think it sent from Heaven, and as a sign of God himself having chosen that tree. This, however, is very rarely found, but when discovered is treated with great ceremony. They call it by a name which in their language signifies the curer of all ills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time tied. The priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden pruning-hook cuts off the mistletoe, which is received in a white sagum or sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it.

Is it possible for a Christian to read this account, says Parkhurst, from whom we have transcribed the passages, without thinking of Him who was the desire of all nations: of the man whose name was the BRANCH, who had indeed no father on earth, but came down from heaven; was given to heal all our ills, and after being cut off through the divine counsel, was wrapped in fine linen, and laid in the sepulchre, for our sakes! I cannot forbear adding, he continues, that the mistletoe was a sacred emblem to other Celtic nations, as for instance, to the ancient inhabitants of Italy.

THE FIR TREE.

THIS tree is a beautiful evergreen (Hos. xiv. 8), whose lofty height and dense foliage afforded a habitation for the birds of heaven (Psa. civ. 17), and a convenient shelter to the weary traveller, 2 Kings xix. 23; Isa. lv. 13; Ezek. xxxi. 8. Its wood was anciently used in finishing the interior of sumptuous buildings (1 Kings vi. 15, 34; 2 Chron. iii. 5; Cant. i. 17), and also in the construction of ships. Ezek. xxvii. 5. In 2 Sam. vi. 5, it is said, that 'David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments inade of fir wood,' &c. Mr. Taylor inclines to think that the word beroshim, in this passage, may express some instrument of music, rather than the wood of which such instrument was made; but, with his usual candor, he gives the following passage from Dr. Burney's history of music: This species of wood, so soft in its nature and sonorous in its effects, seems to have been preferred by the ancients, as well as the moderns, to every other kind, for the construction of musical instruments, particularly the bellies of them, on which their tone chiefly depends. Those of the harp, lute, guitar, harpsichord, and violin, in present use are constantly made of fir wood.'

THE POPLAR.

THIS tree, which is mentioned only in Gen. xxx. 37, and Hos. iv. 13, is thought to obtain its name, lebneh, from the whiteness of its leaves, bark, and wood. In both passages the Vulgate interprets it 'poplar;' in the latter, the LXX. and Aquila render ti white; i. e. poplar.

THE WILLOW.

THE Willow is a common tree, growing in marshy places (Lev. xxiii. 40; Ps. cxxxvii. 2; Isa. xliv. 4), and possessing a leaf like that of the olive. It is out of doubt, says Mr. Taylor, that the word orebim, signifies willows; all interpreters agree in it. The weeping willow is a native of the Levant. It runs to a considerable height, and no tree can be more graceful on the margin of a lake or stream. Its twigs are extensively used in the making of baskets.

THE MUSTARD TREE.

THE description which our Lord has given of the sinapi, or mustard tree, in Matt. xiii. 31, 32, and the parallel passages, has induced much speculation and conjecture among learned men. His words are, 'A grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.' In order to account for the discrepancy which exists between this representation and the character of the sinapis nigra, or common mustard plant, it has been supposed that this may, in the more favorable climates of the East, exceed by far in its dimensions and strength that which is found in these colder counties. Lightfoot cites a passage from the Talmud, in which a mustard tree is said to have been possessed of branches sufficiently large to cover a tent; and Scheuchzer describes and represents a species of the plant several feet high, and possessing a tree-like appearance.

In support of this conjecture, Dr. Clarke remarks, 'some soils being more luxuriant than others, and the climate much warmer, raise the same plant to a size and perfection far beyond what a poorer soil, or a colder climate, can possibly do. Herodotus says, he has seen wheat and barley, in the country of Babylon, which carried a blade full four fingers in breadth, and that the millet and sesamum grew to an incredible size.' The doctor states, that he has himself seen a field of common cabbages in one of the Norman Isles, each of which was from seven to nine feet in height; and one, in the garden of a friend, which grew beside an apple tree, though the latitude of the place was only about 48° 18' north, was fifteen feet high. These facts and several others, which might be adduced, Dr. Clarke thinks fully confirm the possibility of what our Lord says of the mustard tree, however incredible such things may appear to those who are acquainted only with the productions of the northern regions and cold climates.

These are striking specimens, certainly, of the great difference existing among productions of the same species, in different climates and countries; but then, their distinctive character remains the same; whereas the reference in our Lord's parable implies so essential a difference as, on these principles, to convert an herbaceous plant into a tree, and thus destroy the identity of its character.

For the purpose of removing these difficulties, Mr. Frost, a gentleman eminent for his attainments in botanical science, published a work, in which he maintains that the sinapi of the New Testament does not signify any species of the genus we now designate sinapis, but a species of the phytolacca. We shall transcribe some passages from his work, and leave the reader to form his own judgment as to the conclusive nature of his arguments.

'The seed of an herbaceous plant, for such is the sinapis nigra or common mustard, cannot possibly produce a tree: and however great a degree of altitude and circumference the stem of common mustard might attain, yet it could not afford support for 'fowls of the air,' even allowing it grew to the height of eight feet, which it never does.

'Mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds, as the translation implies, because those of foxglove (digitalis purpurea), and tobacco (nicotiana tabacum), are infinitely smaller: these are herbaceous, as well as mustard (sinapis nigra); and even granting, for a moment, that the common mustard seed was intended, the above evidence would annul the validity of the translation. This discordancy has been endeavored to be reconciled by a reference to sinapis erucoides, or shrubby mustard; but even this has not the smallest seed; and allowing, for the sake of argument, that this shrub could, by luxuriance of soil and climate, increase in height and circumference, and throw off large branches, the size of the seed would remain the same, and the smallest of all seeds would not apply.

Among other statements made, as to the size to which the mustard plant will sometimes grow, Mr. Frost notices one writer, who observes that he saw one so large that it became a great bush, and was higher than the tallest man he had ever seen, and that he had raised it from seed. This our author readily conceives to be true but does not consider it at all explanatory of the subject, because an annual plant, such as sinapis nigra is, cannot become even a shrub, much less a tree.

Having thus endeavored to prove that the mustard seed of the New Testament is not procured from sinapis nigra, or any species of that genus, Mr. Frost next proceeds to show the identity that exists between kokkon sinapeos, and phytolacca dodecandra which he believes to be the dendron mega of the scripture. Phytolacca dodecandra grows abundantly in Palestine; it has the smallest seed of any tree, and obtains as great, or even greater, altitude than any oth er in that country, of which it is a native.

Common mustard is both used for culinary and medicinal purposes; so are several species of phytolacca. It is rather remarkable, that the acridity of the latter induced Linnéus to place that genus in the natural order Piperitæ, whilst De Jussieu referred it to the family Atriplices, which certainly bears out its edible and acrid properties. The North Americans calls phytolacca dodecandra (commonly known in our gardens by the name of American pokeweed), wild mustard; Murray, in his Apparatus Medicaminum, enters into a long history of the excellent quality of the young shoots.; but remarks, that when mature, they cannot be eaten with impunity. Linnéus, in his Materia Medica, refers to the same circumstances. Its being edible, may be inferred from the Greek term lackanon, which occurs Matt. xiii. 32, and Mark iv. 32.

'Mustard seed is applied externally, as a stimulant, in the form of a sinapism; and the foliage of phytolacca dodecandra was used as an outward application to cancerous tumors.

"Of the acrid qualities of phytolacca dodecandra there can be no doubt; so that there appears a very strong analogy between the effects and properties of the general sinapis and phytolacca; besides which, I have ascertained the existence of a fourth ultimate chemical element, Nitrogen, in the seed of a species of phytolacca. Nitrogen was said only to exist in plants belonging to the natural orders cruciata and fungi, in the former of which the common mustard, sinapis nigra, is placed.'

Mr. Frost then proceeds to sum up his argument, showing that the phytolacca dodecandra is the tree mentioned in the gospels, from the following circumstances:—

'Because it is one of the largest trees indigenous to the country where the observation was made;--because it has the smallest seed of any tree in that country;-because it is both used as a culinary, vegetable, and medicinal stimulant, which common mustard is also; --because a species of the same genus is well known in the United States, by the term wild mustard;-because the ultimate chemical elements of the seed sinapis nigra and phytolacca dodecandra are the same.'

In conclusion, the author adds the generic characters of the two vegetables, by which they are seen, botanically, to be very distinct families.

Our thanks are due to this scientific gentleman, on account of the attention he has bestowed on the investigation of this subject, for the purpose of elucidating the sacred writings; the study of which he states to be the most interesting employment of the human mind. We take the liberty, however, to suggest, that his 'Remarks' would be rendered much more satisfactory and contributive to the object which he had in view by a proper authentication of the various statements he has made relative to the phytolacca dodecandra, from the writings of accredited Eastern travellers. The absence of this must be strongly felt by every intelligent reader of his work.

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