606 Mr. Don on the Plant which yields the Gum Ammoniacum. 
plant, which abounds in the mountains in the south of Persia, 
particularly in the province of Lar.’” 
The gum is collected about the middle of June; a tenth is 
remitted as tribute to the Government; the rest is sent to 
Bushire on the Persian Gulf, and thence to Europe. Part 
of that imported to this country came from the Levant; but 
Mr. S. F. Gray, F.L.S. informs me that the largest quantity 
and the best comes by way of India. 
For the following particulars I am indebted to Major Wil- 
lock, who has visited the districts where the plant grows wild. 
** The Ooshak or gum Ammoniacum plant grows in great abun- 
dance over the arid plains in the vicinity of the town of Jezud 
Khast, on the borders of the provinces of Fars and Irak. Jezud 
Khast is a district appertaining to the Government of Ispahan. 
The plant is perennial, and throws up from the root a cluster of 
leaves, and one or more strong vigorous naked stems, of three 
or four feet in height, divided into joints of five or six inches 
long, throwing out various branches of equal length. "The 
white juice which forms the gum pervades the whole plant, 
but exudes chiefly from the principal stems. It either remains 
on them in lumps, or, falling to the ground, is gathered by 
the villagers in the autumn, and is sold by them. The Ooshak 
plant is to be met with nowhere but in the province of Irak, 
growing in very dry plains, gravelly soils, and exposed to an 
ardent sun." | 
XXXIV. On 
