402 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



Dhnpa or incense. Frankincense is more generally used than any- 

 other kind of incense, and together with benzoin, storax, myrrh, and 

 cascarilla bark forms the incense now in use in Europe. 



Tlie exudation of the Indian olibanum tree appears to have been 

 formerly used in this country, under the name of Guggalu, as an 

 incense to a considerable extent; but, owing to the facilities for 

 communication which are now afforded, it has been ousted by the 

 commercial article, and is no longer collected. It differs from true 

 olibanum in containing a much larger proportion of gam, and there- 

 fore does not burn so well, and is less fragrant.- When collected by 

 cutting the trees in the cold weather, it is a semi-fluid substance 

 like Canada-balsam, but the specimen I now show of the natural 

 exudation collected in May. last bears a considerable resemblance to 

 commercial olibanum of inferior quality. 



Aloe or Eagle ivood. — The use of this precious wood as a perfume 

 and incense is of great antiquity. Together with myrrh, cassia, and 

 other products of the East it is mentioned in the sacred writings of 

 the Jews (Num., xxiv. 6 ; Psalms, xlv. 8 ; Prov. vii. 1 7 ; Cantic. iv. 

 14) under the name of Ahalot or Ahalim. It is the Agallochon of the 

 ancient Greeks which is described by Dioscorides as a wood brought 

 from India and Arabia. Later writers from iEtius' time call it 

 Zulaloe or " aloe wood," the name by which it is still known in Europe. 

 The same substance is the Agaru of the Hindus, the Garu of the 

 Malays, and the Chin-lieang of the Chinese. In Sanskrit medical 

 works it bears the synonyms of Rajarha, iC worthy of a prince'; 

 Visva-rupa, " taking all forms" ; Krimi-ja, " produced by worms"; 

 Anarya-ja, " produced in a non-aryan country" ; Kanaka, " golden" ; 

 Ealiya, " black," &c. As aloe wood bears the Sanskrit name of 

 Anarya-ja, it is probable that it was used by the aborigines of Eastern 

 Asia before it became known to the Hindus, but that at a very early 

 date it was carried overland to Central Asia, India, and Persia, and 

 from thence reached Arabia and Europe. The eai'ly Arab travellers 

 appear to have collected a good deal of information concerning the 

 commerce and sources of supply of the wood. Yohanna bin Sei'apion 

 mentions four kinds — Hindi, Mandali, Sainfi, and Kamdri; and Ibn 

 Sma, after enumerating a number of varieties of the commei'cial article, 

 remarks, " the tree is said to be buried to promote the formation of 



