KIKAYON (1j+jrp) occurs only in Jonah iv where it is several times mentioned, as in ver. 6, 7, I 9, to. It is translated gourd in our A. V., pro bably from the of the Sept., often ren dered cucurbita. In the margin of thc English Bible, Pahnerist is given. In the Vulg. kikayon is translated hea'era, ivy.' Neither the gourd nor ivy is considered by modem writers to indicate the plant intended ; which is remarkable for having given rise to somc fierce controversies in the early ages of the Church. The difficulties here, however, do not appear to be so great as in many other in stances. But before considering these, it is desir able to ascertain what are the characteristics of the plant as required by the text. We are told, The Lord God prepared a gourd (kika_von), and made it to come over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head,' etc. (ver. 6). L'ut God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered' (ver. 7). And in ver. ro it is said of the gourd that it came up in a night, and perished in a night.' Hence it ap pears that the growth of the kikayon was miracu lous, but that it was probably a plant of the country, being named specifically ; also that it was capable of affording shade, and might be easily de stroyed. There does not appear anything in this account to warrant us in considering it to be the ivy, which is a plant of slow growth, cannot sup port itself, and is, moreover, not likely to be found in the hot and arid country of ancient Nine veh, though we have ourselves found it in more southern latitudes, but only in the temperate cli mate of the Himalayan Mountains. The ivy was adduced probably only from the resemblance of its Greek name, Ktoo-bsi, to kikayon. That the kikayon was thought to be a gourd, seems to have arisen from the kiki of the Egyptians being the c _4_, kherwa, of the Arabs, often incorrectly written keroa, that is, without the aspirate, which makes it very similar to c kura, when wiitten Ro -i--Z" man characters ; which last in the East is applied to the gourd or pumpkin (Avicenna, c. 622), and is probably the Lagenariavulgaris. Many modern authors mistake the one for the other. To this plant, no doubt, the following passages refer : The Christians and Jews of Mosul (Nineveh) say it was not the keroa whose shadow refreshed Jonah, but a. sort of gourd, el-kera, which has very large leaves, very large frnit, and lasts but about four months' (Niebuhr, Arable, as quoted by Dr. Har ris). So Volney : Whoever has travelled to Cairo or Rosetta knows that the species of gourd called kerra will, in twenty-four hours, send out shoots near four inches long' (Tray. i. 71).
The Hebrew name kikayon is so similar to the kthi of Dioscorides, that it was early thought to in dicate the same plant. Dioscorides (iv. 164, rept KiKews) states that the kiki, or croton, is called wild sesamum by some autem nomen accepit a similitudine est Mins semini cum ricino ani mali. Arbuscula est parv ficus altitudine, foliis platani, truncis ramisque cavis in calami modum, semine in nvis asperis. Ex eo claim kikinum ex primitur, cibis quidem ineptum ; sed alias et ad lucernas et etnplastra utile.' Thus giving in a few
words a graphic description of Ricinus C01711111tillS, or castor-oil plant, of which the seeds have some resemblance to the insect commonly called tick in English, and which is found on dogs and other animals. It has also been called Pentadactylus and Palma Christi, from the palmate division of its leaves. It was known at much earlier times, as Hippocrates employed it in medicine ; and Hero dotus mentions it by the name of coMuct'ir ploy (ii. 94) when speaking of Egypt. That it has been known there from the earliest times is evident from Caillaud having, found castor-oil seeds in some very ancient sarcophagi. That the Arabs considered their c, Norm, to be the sante plant, is evident from Avicenna on this article, or kkhuma of the translation of Plempins (p. 3ot):— Plantum hoc, scribit Dioscorides, quidam crotona appellant, hoc est ricinuuz, a similitudine qmie est illius 'semini cum rhino animali.' So Serapion (iii. c. 79):—` Cherva sive kerua, sicuti ejus oleum, oleum kichas.' This oil was not only employed by the Greeks, but also by the Jews, being the inv p+p, kik-oil of the Talmudists, prepared from the seeds of the riCilfla (Roseminfiller, p. 127). Lady Calcott states that the modern Jews of London use this oil, by the name of oil of kik, for their Sab bath lamps, it being one of the five kinds of oil which their traditions allow them to employ.
Having ascertained that the kiki of the Greeks is what is now called Ricinus commons, we shall find that its characters correspond with everything that is required, except the rapidity of growth, which must be granted was miraculous. Dr. Harris indeed states that the passage means, Son of the night it was, and as a son of the night it died ;' and that, therefore, we are not compelled to believe that it grew in a single night, but rather, by a strong Oriental figure, that it was of rapid growth. This, there is no doubt, it is highly sus ceptible of in warm countries where there is some moisture. It attains a considerable size itt one season ; and though in Europe it is only known as a herb, in India it frequently may be seen, espe cially at the margins of fields, the size of a tree. So at Basra Niebuhr saw an el-keroa which had the form and appearance of a tree. The stems are erect, round, and hollow ; the leaves broad, pal mate, 5 to 8 or to lobed, peltate, supported on long foot-stalks. The flowers in terminal panicles; the lower, male ; the upper, female. Capsule tri coccous, covered with spines. The seeds are ob long, oval, externally of a greyish colour, but mottled with darker-coloured spots and stripes. From the erect habit, and the breadth of its foliage, this plant throws an ample shade, especially when young. From the softness and little substance of its stem, it may easily be destroyed by insects, which Rumphius describes as sometimes being the case. It would then necessarily dry up rapidly. As it is well suited to the country, and to the pur pose indicated in the text, and as its name kikz is so similar to kikayon, it is doubtless the plant which the sacred penman had in view.—J. F. R.