נרד. By this was meant a highly aromatic plant growing in the
Indies, called “nardostachys,” by Dioscorides and Galen; from whence was
made the very valuable extract or unguent, or favourite perfume, used at
the ancient baths and feasts, _unguentum nardinum_, _unguentum nardi
spicatæ_, [the perfume or unction of spikenard,] which it appears from a
passage in Horace, was so valuable, that as much of it as could be
contained in a small box of precious stone, was considered as a sort of
equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a handsome quota for a guest
to contribute at an entertainment, according to the custom of antiquity:
_Nardo vina merebere:
Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum._
“Bring you the odours, and a cask is thine.
Thy little box of ointment shall produce
A mighty cask.”
FRANCIS.
St. Mark, xiv, 3, mentions “ointment of spikenard very precious,” which
is said to be worth more than three hundred denarii; and John, xii, 3,
mentions a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly; the house was
filled with the odour of the ointment; it was worth three hundred
denarii. It is not to be supposed that this was a Syrian production, but
the true “atar” of Indian spikenard; an unguent, containing the very
essence of the plant, and brought at a great expense from a remote
country.
Indies, called “nardostachys,” by Dioscorides and Galen; from whence was
made the very valuable extract or unguent, or favourite perfume, used at
the ancient baths and feasts, _unguentum nardinum_, _unguentum nardi
spicatæ_, [the perfume or unction of spikenard,] which it appears from a
passage in Horace, was so valuable, that as much of it as could be
contained in a small box of precious stone, was considered as a sort of
equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a handsome quota for a guest
to contribute at an entertainment, according to the custom of antiquity:
_Nardo vina merebere:
Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum._
“Bring you the odours, and a cask is thine.
Thy little box of ointment shall produce
A mighty cask.”
FRANCIS.
St. Mark, xiv, 3, mentions “ointment of spikenard very precious,” which
is said to be worth more than three hundred denarii; and John, xii, 3,
mentions a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly; the house was
filled with the odour of the ointment; it was worth three hundred
denarii. It is not to be supposed that this was a Syrian production, but
the true “atar” of Indian spikenard; an unguent, containing the very
essence of the plant, and brought at a great expense from a remote
country.