208 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



tatties. In the Sirsa Settlement Report it is stated that the roots 

 are dug up by the villagers, who sometimes pay the owner of the 

 ground a small fee of 4 annas per digger, and that they are sold at 

 about a rupee a maund to banyas, who send them to Lahore and 

 Ferozepur. In the Jhang Settlement Report mention is made of the 

 tough roots being used for making rope, and also the brushes used 

 by the weavers for arranging the threads of the web. The brushes 

 of the Saharampur and Dehra Dun weavers are of the same material. 

 Baskets are made of the steins (sink) which are sometimes dyed. At 

 Bhira, in Oudh, a perfume called itar is extracted, and used 

 medicinally under the name of uraiya. 



It is well-known that the roots of this grass, when dry, and then 

 gently moistened, emit a pleasant kind of fragrance, they are 

 employed to make large fans commonly called Vissaries and also 

 screens which are placed before windows and doors, which, being 

 kept moist during the hot winds, render the air that passes through 

 them both cool and fragrant, Rox. Id. Lid. I. p. 266. Small fans 

 are also made of the roots, and these dried and put into almirahs are 

 useful in many respects. " Inscriptions on copper plates lately 

 discovered in the district of Etawah, south-east of Agra, and dating 

 from A. D. 1103 to 1174, record grants of villages to Brahmins by 

 the Kings of Kananj, and enumerate the imposts that were to be 

 levied. These include taxes on mines, salt pits, and the trade in 

 precious metals, also on Mahwah ( Ectasia) and Mango trees, and on 

 Cuscus grass. Pro. Asiatic Society of Bengal, August, 1873, p. 161. 

 See Fergusson, Roxburg, and Duthie. 



A. carico&us, Linn. Sp. ; A. serratus, Rctz. Obs. V. 21 ; Trin. Sp. 

 Gram, plate 329 ; Heteropogon concinnus, Thwait, Enum, PL 

 Zeyl. 368. 



Ver. Telia, Jetara, Chaoria, Patang, Maricel (the latter name 

 is common to more than one sp. of grass). 



Specimens received from Lanowli, Shapur, and Khardi in Thana, 

 Tapti valley, Callian ; grows also in Central and North-Western 

 Provinces, also in Ceylon and China. It is esteemed as a good fodder 

 grass ; eaten by cattle. 



A. mollicomits, Kunt. Revis. Gram. Plate 96 ; Dalz. and Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. 301. 



