GAD (''U) occurs in two places in Scripture, in both of which it is translated coriander, viz., Exod. xvi. 31, Num. xi. 7. The manna which fell in the desert, and on which the Israelites were fed during their sojourn there, is usually described, from a collation of the different passages, in which it is mentioned as white, round, and like sad', which last has almost universally been considered to mean coriander' seed, though some prefer other seeds. The chief and indeed only proof of gad signify ing the coriander, has been adduced by Celsius (IIierobot. vol. ii. p. St): PotS, quod Africanis coriandrum est, ut docet auctor ignotus sed utilissimus, qui Dioscoridem synonymis exoticis auxit et illustravit. Ai-yinrrum, inquit, ktov, 'AeOpoi coriandrum rEgyptii achion appel lant, Afri svid."This passage Sprengel incorpo rates with the text of Dioscorides as well as the other synonyms, which are supposed by others, as above, to be additions by another but unknown ancient author. Rosenmiiller, referring to this passage, observes: the Africans, e. Cartha ginians, whose language, the Punic, was cognate with the Hebrew called the coriander PoiS, which word is not at all' different from the Hebrew gad.' Celsius states that the coriander is frequently men tioned in the Talmud. It was known to and used
medicinally by Hippocrates : it is mentioned by Theophrastus, as well as Dioscorides, under the name of Koptov or Koplavvov; and the Arabs, in their works on Materia Medica, give korion as the Greek synonym of coriander, which they call kuzeereh, the Persians kushneez, and the natives of India dhunya. lt is known throughout all these countries, in all of which it is cultivated, being universally employed as a grateful spice, and as one of the ingredients of currie-powder. It is also common in Egypt (Prosper Alpinus, De Plantis rEgypti, c. xlii. p. fit). Pliny also, long before, mentioned coriandrum in 'Egypt() prxci puum.' It is 11ONV very common in the south of Europe, and also in this country, being cultivated, especially in Essex, on account of its seeds. The coriander is an umbelliferous plant, the Corian drum sativum of botanists. The fruit, commonly called seeds, is globular, greyish-coloured, about the size of peppercorn, having its surface marked with fine stri. Both its taste and smell are agree able, depending on the presence of a volatile oil, which is separated by distillation.—j. F. R.