is the very life and renovation of his reawakened im- mortality, his "soul thirsteth for God, the living (iod ;" and with great joy it is fliat he draws water from tlie wells of salvation. If true to his privileges, if planted by the river and consfantly resorting to God and the word of his grace, the inner life will be vigorous and abundant. Still " fat and full of sap. and ever flourish- ing," through the much fruit which he bears, the world shall be the better, the Eather shall be glorifled. See
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A'INE OE SODOM (2np -ZlJ. f/epJien Sedum ; Sept. (iHTTiXoc SoCd//(ijv; Vulg. vinea Sodomoriim) occurs only in Dent, xxxii, 32, where of the wicked it is said, " their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of (iomorrali." It is generally supposed that this passage alludes to the celebrated apples of Sodom, of which Jo- sephns ( War, iv, 8, 4) speaks, and to which, apparently, Tacitus (/Jut, V, G) alludes. Much has been written on this curious subject, and various trees have been con- jectured to be that which produced those
"Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye, But turu to ashes on the lips,"
of which IMoore and Byron sing. The following is the account of these fruits as given by Josephus: Speaking of Sodom (lit Slip.), he says, " It was of old a happy land, lioth in respect of its fruits and the abundance of its cities; but now it is all burned up. I\Ien say that, on account of the wickedness of its inhabitants, it was de- stroyed by lightning. At any rate, there are still to be seen remains of the divine fire and traces of fine cities: and, moreover, ashes produced in the fruits, which in- deed resemble edible fruit in color, but, on being pluck- ed by the hand, arc dissolved into smoke and ashes." Tacitus {lit sup.) is more general, and speaks of all the herbs and flowers, whether growing wild or planted, turning black and crumbling into ashes.
Some travellers, as jMaundrell {Early Trar. in rales- tine [Bohn, 18-18], p. 454), regard the whole story as a fiction, being unable either to see or hear of any fruit that would answer the required description. I'ococke supposed the apples of Sodom to be pomegranates, "wliich, having a tough, hard rind, and being left on the trees two or three years, may be dried to dust inside, and the outside may remain fair." Hasselquist {Trar, p. 287) seeks to identify the apples in question with the egg-shaped fruit of the Solamnn melonr/ena when at- tacked by some species o( tenthredo, which converts the whole of the inside into dust, while the rind remains entire and keeps its color. Seetzen, in bis letters to baron Zach {Monat. Correspond. xviii,442), thought he had discovered the apples of Sodom in the fruit of a kind of cotton-tree, which grew in the plain of El-Glior, and was known by the name o( Aoschar. The cotton is contained in the fruit, which is like a pomegranate, but has no pulp. Chateaubriand concludes the long- sought fruit to be that of a thorny shrub with small ta- per leaves, which, in size and color, is exactly like the liftle Egyptian lemon; when dried, this fruit yields a blackish seed, which may be compared to ashes, and which, in taste, resembles bitter pepper. Burckhardt {Trarels in Sijriii, p. 392) and Irby and Mangles believe that the free which |iroduces these celebrated apples is one which they saw abundantly in the (ilior to the east of the Dead Sea, known by the vernacular name of asheyr, or oshar. This tree bears a fruit of a reddish- yellow color, about three inches in diameter, w hich con- tains a white substance resembling the finest silk, and enveloping some seeds. This silk is collected by the Arabs and twisted into matches for their firelocks. Dr. Kobinson {Jyihl. lies, i, 523), when at 'Ain Jidy, without knowing at tlie moment whether it had been observed by former travellers or not, instantly pronounced in fa- vor of the 'dsher fruit being the apples of Sodom. Mr. Walter Elliot, in an article "on the Poma Sodamiliai, or Dead Sea apples" {Trans, of the Entoviol. Soc, 1837-' 40, ii, 14), endeavors to show that the apples in question
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