SUBSTANCES USED AS INCENSE IN THE EAST. 409 



&c. ; it was applied locally to remove opacities of the cornea and 

 improve the sight, also to cure toothache ; according to Paulun 

 ^Egineta it was considered to be laxative. I think there can be no 

 doubt that this substance was the Kankahan, Kaikahar, or Kaigha- 

 man of the Arabians, a kind of resin which they describe as having 

 exactly the same properties as those attributed to Cancamum by Dios- 

 corides. Haji Zein (A. D. 1368) describes it as having the appear- 

 ance of Copal, and the Indian Mahometan writers on Materia Medica 

 identify it with the Bala or Dhuna of India, which is Shorea resin, 

 and which is used throughout the East as an incense. Pliny men- 

 tions Cancamum and Tarum (aloe wood) as coming from the country 

 which produces cinnamon and cassia, and states that it was brought 

 to Europe by the Nabatgean Troglodyte, a colony of the Nabatsei. 

 Another species of Shorea, 8. Talura, Roxb., yields the Sambrdni 

 incense of the Wynaad, and Vateria indica, Linn., belonging to the 

 same family, the Vellai Kungiliyam incense of the Tamils, which 

 burns with a clear steady light, giving off a pleasant smell and very 

 little smoke. The Gokal-dhup of the hill tribes of Sikkim is obtained 

 from Ganarium bengalense, Roxb., an immense forest tree ; it is a 

 clear, amber-coloured resin, having something of the qualities of 

 Elemi, a fragrant resin obtained from Manilla, the botanical source 

 of which has not yet been satisfactorily determined. 



Qalhannm, the Chelbenah of the Jews, was an ingredient of the 

 incense used by the ancient Israelites (Exod., xxx. 34), and it is 

 now used in the Irvingite churches in London. It is brought to 

 Bombay from Persia and is known in the bazar as Jawdshir, an 

 Arabic corruption of the Persian name Gaoshir, " cow's milk." Its 

 odour is by no means agreeable, and when burnt decidedly offensive, 

 so that it is difficult to understand its being used as an incense. In 

 Persia it is used to keep evil spirits from the houses of parturient 

 women, and the Greeks and Romans used it to drive away noxious 

 animals. Virgil in his third Georgic, speaking of the diseases of 

 sheep, says : — 



"Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum, 

 Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros." 



( '* Learn also to burn the fragrant Juniper in the folds, and to 

 drive away the fetid Chelydrus with the fumes of galbanum. ,; ) 



