is rooted out whenever it appears. "Wherefore," exclaims the holy seer," when I looked that my vineyard should bring forth grapes, brought it forth poisonous night-shade ?”*

The author just named, describes the "balsam of Aaron" as a very fine oil, which emits no scent or smell, and is very proper for preparing odoriferous ointments. It is obtained from a tree called behen, which grows in Mount Sinai and Upper Egypt, and, it is presumed, in certain parts of the Holy Land. Travellers assert that it is the very perfume with which the ancient high-priest of the Jews, with whose name it is connected, was wont to anoint his beard, and which the Psalmist extols so much on account of its rich dour and mollifying qualities,—the emblem of domestic harmony and brotherly love.

There still exists a thorn in Palestine known among botanists by the name of the "spina Christi," or thorn of Christ, and supposed to be the shrub which afforded the crown worn by our Saviour before his crucifixion. It must have been very fit for the purpose, for it has many small sharp prickles, well adapted to give pain; and as the leaves greatly resemble those of ivy, it is not improbable that the enemies of the Messiah chose it from its similarity to the plant with which emperors and generals were accustomed to be crowned; and hence that there might be calumny, insult, and derision, meditated in the very act of punishment.* † Voyages and Travels in the Le ant, p. 288.

* Isaiah v. 4.

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