The Arabs call it aneb el dib, i. c. wolf-grapes. The Prophet could not have found a plant more oppofite to the vine than this, for it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them, wherefore they root it out; it likewise resembles a vine by its fhrubby stalk.

Of the Onions of the Ifraelites.

Allium cepa, Onion; by the Arabs called Bafal. That this was one of the fpecies of Onions, for which the Ifraelites longed, we may guefs by the quantity to this day ufed in Egypt, and by their goodness there; whoever has tafted Onions in Egypt, must allow, that none can be had better in any part in the univerfe: here they are fweet, in other countries they are naufeous and ftrong; here they are soft, whereas in the North and other parts they are hard, and the coats fo compact, that they are hard of digeftion. Hence they cannot in any place be eaten with lefs prejudice, and more fatisfaction, than in Egypt. The juft longing of the Ifraelites teaches us, that they were introduced into the kitchen, about the time they left Egypt. They eat them roafted, cut into four pieces, with fome bits of roasted meat, which the Turks, in Egypt, call kebab; and with this difh they are fo delighted, that I have heard them with they might enjoy it in Paradife. They likewife make a foup of them in Egypt, cutting the Onions in small pieces; this I think one of the beft difhes I ever eat.

Allium fativum. Linnæi. Garlick.

Is by the Arabians called Tum. This is also much used; but I am inclined to think, it was not known to the Ifraelites, as it does not grow in

Egypt,

Egypt, but is brought hither from the islands in Archipelago.

Allium porrum. Linnæi. Leeks. Karrat of the

Arabians.

This was certainly one of those desired by the Children of Ifrael, as it has been cultivated from the earliest times to the prefent in Egypt. The feafons for this, are the winter and fpring months the inhabitants are very fond of it, eating it raw as fauce for their roast meat; the poor people eat it raw with bread, efpecially for breakfast, ufing the earth for a table, and would fcarcely exchange their leeks and a bit of bread for a royal dinner.

Leo. The Lion. The Arabs call this Animal Sabbe.

This is not met with in Syria or Palestine; but in great numbers at Babylon, now Bagdad). It is not an inhabitant of Egypt, unless it be on the confines of Lybia, coming from the inland parts of Africa. How is this confiftent with the Bible, where the Lion is mentioned as an animal common to Paleftine and Syria, especially in the hiftory of Sampfon? Where did the fight between Sampfon and the lion happen?

Locuftæ Johannis. St. John's Locufts.

Of these I have already treated.

Petra Mofis.

The Rock which Mofes broke by a miracle, Exod. xvii. 6. and out of which he made the

tables for the Ten Commandments, was a faxum micaceo fpatofum particulis quartzofis paucioribus, in plain terms, a granite, of which Mount Horeb, where the miracle happened, confifts, as does Mount Sinai, where the tables were formed. Mofes had learned the use of this ftone, for infcribing letters and figures, from the Egyptians, as in Egypt hieroglyphick obelisks are made of the fame flone, and are miracles of art.

WHEN the Arabians intend to defcribe a beauty, they make use of several fimilitudes. They compare her face to the moon, &c. &c. Amongst others, the most remarkable and common expreffion of this kind is, when they compare the eyes of a beauty to the eyes of a rock goat, (Capra cervicapra, Linnæi) which is a common animal in Syria and Egypt. I think this comparison remarkable, becaufe Solomon in his Canticles uses comparisons, which are taken from the fame animal; let us compare the Hebrew text to explain his meaning. We have therefore no reafon to doubt, but that the Doe of Solomon was this Rock goat. The beauty of the animal, its being common in the countries where Solomon wrote his books, and finally, the cuftom, which has continued to this day, and is the fame with that of Solomon, are all circumstances which help to confirm us in this opinion.

MATERIA

MATERIA MEDICA.

The Description of the true Balfam of Mecca.

T is of a yellow colour, and pellucid. It has a moft fragrant fmell,, which is refinous, balfamick, and very agreeable. It is very tenacious or glutinous, fticking to the fingers, and may be drawn into long threads. It fcarcely ever becomes fluid or liquid by the heat of the fun in Natolia.

I HAVE feen it at a Turkish furgeon's, who had it immediately from Mecca, defcribed it, and was informed of its virtues, which are: first, that it is the best ftomachick they know, if taken to three grains, to ftrengthen a weak ftomach; fecondly, that it is a moft excellent and capital remedy for curing wounds; for if a few drops of it are applied to the fresh wound, it cures it in a very fhort time.

An Experiment to know whether the Balfam of Mecca be true and not adulterated.

A DROP of the Balfam is dropt into a glass of clear and fresh fpring water; if this drop remains in one place on the furface of the water, the Balfam is of little value; but if it inftantly extends itfelf like a skin or pellicle, over the whole furface, and with a hair, filk or thread, this skin may be taken off the water, which must afterwards be as

clear as at first, it is a fign that the Balfam is of the best kind, and not adulterated. It is admitted, even by the Turks, that it is very difficult to find Balfam which will ftand this proof; for the true Balfam of Mecca is fcarcely to be found any where but in the poffeffion of the Turkish Emperor and the grandees of the kingdom, who get it as a valuable present from fome traveller who hath been at Mecca. In order to make fure of getting this valuable drug unadulterated, it is neceffary either by friendship or money, at the time the caravan goes to Mecca, to gain the intereft of a Turk, who will procure it genuine from the first hand, and then we may be affured of its goodnefs, and that it poffeffes the excellent virtues, which the innumerable experiments made by the inhabitants of the East confirm.

THE 20th of June, I went round the city of Cairo to enquire for Balfam of Mecca, with an intention to buy fome, if I could get any that was good. I faw the manner in which an Italian merchant, who had been thirty years at Cairo, tried it, it was as follows: He dropped fome drops of the Balfam into a little China cup, filled with clear cold water; if these immediately extended themselves in a fkin, and this skin was even and clear, and entirely free from bubbles, he pronounced the Balfam good; but if it was some time before they fpread over the water, and the fkin was dirty, and had feveral bubbles or air bladders, it was a fure fign that the Balfam was adulterated and mixed with other things. If the fkin can be gathered and wound up on a little ftraw, without breaking or leaving any oil on the water, it was likewife good; and on the contrary, if the skin cannot be gathered, but breaks into feveral