Nov.5] PROCEEDINGS. [1889.give two baskets of dates for half a bushel of good Swedishapples...
Applesare scarce here; they are brought hitherfromMountSinai,
wherethe Grecian monkshavedelightful orchardsfull of the finest
apple and peartrees"(Letters,p. 424). It is possible suchfruit
may have foundits way fromthe Sinaitic peninsulaor from Lebanon
into Jerusalem.
It seems clearthatthe common HebrewandMishnicnameof
the quince is parish (tP^D),but it is not uncommon to find the
sameobjectdenotedby different wordsor the same wordto stand
for two different things. Thealmond-tree has two names,ICiz and
skd/jed; in the Jerusalem Targumthe peri shinare also said by Rabbi
Jonato be " asparagus." Thewordparishmaydenotethe quince,
fromthe septa or cellular partitionsof the fruit, whiletappuakhmay
haveespecialreferenceto its odour ;* moreover, it does not follow that
becausean Arabic nameof a tree or fruit in the time of the Caliphs
had the special meaningof an apple, the corresponding Hebrew
word should have the same definiteand exclusive meaningin a
poemwrittenmanyhundredyearsbefore. Butapart frometymo
logicalconsiderations,it is certain fromnaturalhistorya fact that the
Pyrusmaluswill not thrive and produceexcellentfruitnearJerusa
lem, the scene of the Canticles, or anywhere else in Palestine proper.
The most recent suggestion is that of Canon Tristram, who
thinksthatthe apricot aloneanswersall the Biblical requirements.
" Everywhere the apricot is common. Perhapsit is, with the single
exceptionof the fig, the most abundantfruitof the country " (Nat,
Histof Bible, p. 335.) Thereis something to be said in favour of
the claim of the apricot to denote the tappuakh of Canticles; it may
havebeen introduced into Palestinein early timesfromArmenia,
but it was unknown in Italy duringthe first centuryof the Roman
Empire. " Neither Cato,Varro,Cicero,or any other author of the
Republicanperiod,nor any poet of the Augustan age,knewanything
aboutthem; and the elder Greeks, so far as their writings are
preserved,werejust as ignorant " ( Wanderings of Plantsand Animals,
Hehnand Stallybrass, p. 320). Thisis true, andwe must allowa
late introduction of the apricot-tree into Greece andItaly,but it may
havebeenintroduced intoPalestinein early times. TheHebrews,
* The rootof niSfi, however,maybe nBfi " to swell out,"" to l>e round,"
"therthanriB3"tobreatheforth,"likethe Aramaic "¥ljnsplucrula,pomum,
luoJ figuramhabttrotundum; from ">tn circuirt, in sc rcdire.
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