ed the morals of men, followed the popular manner of speaking; thus wisely accommodating himself to their harmless opinion, in order to avoid giving them unnecessary offence. The passage may be thus paraphrased: The bread from heaven, the true celestial bread, Moses did not bestow on your forefathers; he procured only bread fit to satiate the corporeal appetite, and appertaining only to this fleeting, transitory life. (See verse 49). But my Father bestoweth on you, by me, bread which may, in the complete sense, be termed bread from heaven; such as is adapted to nourish the soul, and will confer eternal salvation,' verse 33. Jesus calls himself the true celestial bread, inasmuch as, having descended from heaven, he bestows on men the nourishment of the soul, namely, the divine and saving truths of his gospel. (Kuinoel.) Since they supposed that the manna was bread from heaven in the proper sense, Jesus corrects their erroneous notion, by hinting that the true heaven is there used per catachresin for the air, or sky; as when it is said, the fowls of heaven, i. e. the air: q. d. As that descending from on high, nourished those who partook of it, so do I also. But that was from the air; I from the real heaven. That nourished the bodies; but I support and strengthen the souls of men.' Our Lord's declaration imports, as Mr. Bloomfield imagines, that it is in a subordinate sense only, that what dropped from the clouds, and was sent for the nourishment of the body, still mortal, could be called the bread of heaven, being but a type of that which hath descended from the heaven of heavens, for nourishing the immortal soul unto eternal life, and which is, therefore, in the most sublime sense, the bread of heaven.

CHAPTER V.

VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES.

SEC. I.-WOODS.

THYINE.

THIS Wood is mentioned, in Rev. xviii. 12, among the various árticles of luxury imported into the modern Babylon.

Theophrastus says, that the thyon or thya-tree grows near the temple of Jupiter Ammon (in Africa), in the Cyrenaica, that it is like the cypress in its boughs, leaves, stalk, and fruit, and that its wood never rots. It was in high esteem among the heathen, who' often made the doors of their temples and the images of their gods of this wood.

CASSIA.

IN Exodus xxx. 24, Cassia is prescribed as one of the ingredients for composing the holy anointing oil. It is the bark of a tree of the bay tribe, which now grows chiefly in the East Indies. This bark was made known to the ancients, and highly esteemed by them; but, since the use of cinnamon has been generally adopted, the Cassia bark has fallen into disrepute, on account of its inferiority. It is thicker and more coarse than cinnamon, of weaker quality, and abounds more with a viscid mucilaginous matter. For many purposes, however, Cassia, as being much less expensive, is substituted for cinnamon, but more particularly for the preparation of what is called oil of cinnamon.

Cassia was one of the articles of merchandize in the markets of Tyre, Ezek. xxvii. 19. The Cassia mentioned in Psalm xlv. 8, is thought to have been an extract, or essential oil, from the bark.

ish coat; it is then cut longitudinally, stripped from the trees, and dried in sand, till it becomes fit for the market, when it is of a reddish yellow, or a pale rusty iron color, very light, thin, and curling up into quills or canes, which are somewhat tough, and of a fibrous texture. It is frequently mixed with cassia, which is distinguished from the cinnamon by its taste being remarkably slimy. This bark is one of the most grateful of the aromatics; of a very fragrant smell, and a moderately pungent, glowing, but not fiery taste, accompanied with considerable sweetness, and some degree of astringency.