ABSINTHIUM CA1/40os in N. T., while 14111V is that by which Aquila renders the Heb. A.V. wormwooa). This proverbially bitter plant is used in the Hebrew, as in most other languages, metaphorically, to denote the moral bitterness of dis tress and trouble (Dent. xxix. IS ; Prov. v.4 ; Jer. ix. 15 ; xxiii. 15 ; Lam, iii. 15, 19 ; Amos v. 7 ; vi. 12). [Hence the Sept. render it by civci-m, irucpia, 65):477, once by iilizos.] Artemisia is the bo tanical name of the genus of plants in which the different species of wormwoods are found. The plants of this genus are easily recognised by the multitude of fine divisions into which the leaves are usually separated, and the numerous clusters of small, round, drooping, greenish-yellow, or brown ish flower-heads with which the branches are laden. It must be understood that our common worm wood (Artemisia absinthiunz) does not appear to exist in Palestine, and cannot therefore be that specially denoted by the Scriptural term. Indeed it is more than probable that the word is intended to apply to all the plants of this class that grew in Palestine, rather than to any one of them in par ticular. The examples of this genus that have been found in that country are:— 1. Artemisia Jiidaica, which, if a particular species be intended, is probably the Absinthium of Scripture. Rau
wolff found it about Bethlehem, and Shaw in Arabia and the deserts of Numidia plentifully. This plant is erect and shrubby, with stem about eighteen inches high. Its taste is very bitter; and both the leaves and seeds are much used in Eastern medicine, and are reputed to be tonic, stomachic, and anthelmintic. 2. Artemisia Romana, which was found by Hasselquist on Mount Tabor (p. 281). This species is herbaceous, erect, with stem one or two feet high (higher when cultivated in gardens), and nearly upright branches. The plant has a pleasantly aromatic scent; and the bitterness of its taste is so tempered by the aromatic flavour as scarcely to be disagreeable. 3. Artemisia abrotanunz, found in the south of Europe, as well as in Syria and Palestine, and eastward even to China. This a hoary plant, becoming a shrub in warns countries ; and its branches bear loose panicles of nodding yellow flower-heads. It is bitter and aromatic, with a very strong scent. It is not much used in medicine ; but the branches are employed in imparting a yellow dye to wool.