BORITH (7p13) occurs in two passages of Scripture, Jer. ii. 22, and Malachi iii. 2. From neither of these passages does it distinctly appear whether the substance referred to by the name of borith (A. V. sape'), was obtained from the mineral or from the vegetable kingdom. But it is evident that it was possessed of cleansing pro perties; and this is confirmed by the origin And signification of the word, which is thus illustrated by Celsius : verbo Barar, purijicavit, qnrn vox etiam aped Chaldteos, Syros, Arabes in usu fuit, descendit nomen Bar, pzeritas' (Ilierobot. i. p. 449). So Maimonides, on the Talmud, tract Shemillah, Species ablutionibus aptae, uti sunt Borith et Ahal.' The word borith is very similar to the boruk of the Arabs, written baterakk in the Latin transla tions of Serapion and Avicenna ; and translated nitrum—that is, natron, or carbonate of soda. Boruk appears, however, to have been used in a generic rather than in a specific sense, as in the Persian works on Materia Medica, derived chiefly from the Arabic, which we have collated, we find that no less than six different kinds of boruk (Persian booreh) are enumerated ; of which some are natural, as the Armenian, the African, etc. ; others artificial, as that obtained from burning the wood of the poplar ; also that employed in the preparation of glass. Of these it is evident that the two last are, chemically, nearly the same, being both carbonates of alkalis ; the incineration of most plants, as well as of the poplar, yields the carbonate of potash (commonly called potash, or pearlash); while carbonate of soda, or barilla, is the alkali used in the preparation of glass. Pre vious to the composition of bodies having been definitely ascertained by correct chemical analysis, dissimilar substances were often grouped together under one general term ; while others, although similar in composition, were separated on account of some unimportant character, as difference of colour or of origin, etc. It is unnecessary for our present purpose to ascertain the other sub stances included by the Arabs under the general term of boruk, and which may have been also included under the nitrum of the Greeks. It is evident that both the carbonate of soda and of potash were comprehended under one name by the former. It would be difficult, therefore, to distinguish the one from the other, unless some circumstances were added in addition to the mere name. Thus, in the above passage of Jeremiah we have teeter (nitre) and borith (sope) indicated as being both employed for washing, or possessed of some cleansing properties; and yet, from occur ring in the same passage, they must have differed in some respects. The term natron we know was, in later times, confined to the salt obtained chiefly from the natron-lakes of Egypt, and neter may also have been so in earlier times. Since, therefore,
the natural carbonate of soda is mentioned in one part of the verse, it is very probable that the artificial carbonates may be alluded to in the other, as both were in early times employed by Asiatic nations for the purposes of washing. The carbonate of potash, obtained from the burning of most plants growing at a distance from the sea or a saline soil, might not have been distinguished from the carbonate of soda, produced from the ashes of plants growing on the shores of the sea or of salt-water lakes.
Hence it is probable that the ashes of plants, called boruk and boreh by Asiatic nations, may be alluded to under the name of borith, as there is no proof that soap is intended, though it may have been known to the same people at very early periods. Still less is it probable that borax is meant, as has been supposed by some authors, apparently from the mere similarity of name.
Supposing that the ashes of plants are intended by the word borith, the next point of inquiry is, whether it is to be restricted to those of any par ticular plants. The ashes of the poplar are men tioned by Arabian authors, and of the vine by Dioscorides ; those of the plantain and of the Ezelea frondosa by Sanscrit authors : thus indicat ing that the plants which were most common, 01 which were used for fuel, or other purposes, in tin different countries, had also their ashes, that is, impure carbonate of potash, employed for washing, etc. Usually the ashes only of plants growing on the sea-shore have been thought to be intended. All these, as before mentioned, would yield barilla, or carbonate of soda. Many of them have been burnt, for the soda they yield, on the coasts of India, of the Red Sea, and of the Mediterranean. They belong chiefly to the natural family of the Chenopodem and to that of the Mesembryanthe mums. In Arabic authors, the plant yielding soda is said to be called ishnan, and its Persian name is stated to be ghasool, both words signifying the washer' or washing-herb.' Rauwolf points out two plants in Syria and Palestine which yield alkaline salts. Hasselquist considered one of them to be a Mesembryanthemum. Forskal has enu merated several plants as being burned for the barilla or soda which they afford : as Mesembiy anthemzem genic:datum and nodifiorzem, both of which are called ghasool. Salsola kali, and his Sutuda monoica, called asul, are other plants, especially those last named, which yield sal-alkali. So on the coasts of the Indian Peninsula, Sali cornia Indica and Salsola moliflom yield banlla in great abundance and purity, as do Salsola sativa, Kali, Soda, and Tragus ; and also Sali cornia annua, on the coasts of Spain and of the South of France.—J. F. R.