Note 294 — ARDASHIR AND HAYAT AL-NUFUS.[261] (continued 2)

The same traveller notes a singular property in the Henna-flower that when smelt closely it exhales a “very powerful spermatic odour,” hence it became a favourite with women as the tea-rose with us. He finds it on the nails of mummies, and identifies it with the Kupros of the ancient Greeks (the moderns call it Kene or Kena) and the Βότρυς τῆς κύπρου (Botrus cypri) of Solomon’s Song (i. 14). The Hebr. is “Copher,” a well-known word which the A. V. translates by “a cluster of camphire (?) in the vineyards of En-gedi”; and a note on iv. 13 ineptly adds, “or, cypress.” The Revised Edit. amends it to “a cluster of henna-flowers.” The Solomonic (?) description is very correct; the shrub affects vineyards, and about Bombay forms fine hedges which can be smelt from a distance.