And of cassia five hundred [shekels]
Or two hundred and fifty ounces:
after the shekel of the sanctuary;
according to the standard weight kept there. This "cassia" was
not the "cassia solutiva", which is of a purgative nature, and
now in use in physic, but the "cassia odorata", or the sweet
smelling "cassia": which, Pancirollus F19 says,
some take to be the nard, out of which a most sweet oil is
pressed; and Servius
and of oil
olive an hin;
containing twelve logs: according to Godwin F25, it
was of our measure three quarts; but, as Bishop Cumberland has
more exactly calculated it, it held a wine gallon, a quart, and a
little more: this was the purest and best of oil, and most fit
and proper to be a part of this holy anointing oil.
F19 Ut supra, (Rer. Memorab. sive Deperd.
par. 1.) tit. 11. p. 30.
F20 In Virgil. Bucol. Eclog. 2.
F21 Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 12.) c.
19.
F23 Apud Dalechamp in Plin. ib.
F24 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.
F25 Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.