<J^ 



Linnaan Society, 459 



all the trees growing near the road are generally well searched by 

 the Arabs, who collect the gum as an article of food for themselves. 

 I could never find the eating of gum-arabic much to my taste. Most 

 of this article is brought by the Tuariks, and seems to grow be- 

 tween Dgerma and Ghat. 



" According to Sir W. Hooker, in the Admiralty ' Manual of Scien- 

 tific Inquiry' of 1851, the plant producing the senna of commerce is 

 still unknown botanically. I collected it in Wadi Cherbi, near 

 Dgerma, west of Mourzouk, where it grew wild under date palms ; 

 it is found in enormous masses in Ahir, to the south of this place ; 

 but it is now-a-days gathered in very small quantities, as senna- 

 leaves, on account of their trifling value (half- a- crown the cwt.), 

 are not sufficiently remunerative to bear the cost of the transport, 

 and the 24 per cent, transit duty levied upon them here. I have 

 also sent seeds of the Sudan cotton-plant, in case I should not go 

 far enough west to collect them in their native country. In the 

 materia medica of the Arabs, Peganum Harmala, vernacularly termed 

 Harmel, occupies a prominent place. It is celebrated as a preventa- 

 tive against ophthalmia. For that purpose the immature seed-vessels 

 are recommended ; every Arab swallows in the spring of the year 

 about a dozen of them, fancying that in doing so he will be exempt 

 from all diseases of the eyes. I have not been able to ascertain 

 whether the seed-vessels purify the blood or act as a purgative. 

 Peganum Harmala ranges from the north coast of this continent to 

 Fezzan, and is very common ; as is also the Cucurbitacea, known by 

 the name of Colocynth, the fruits of which are eaten by the ostriches. 

 This Cucurbitacea covers the valleys of the Black Mountains ; in the 

 Wadi Cherbi and Wadi Scherzi, the most fertile districts of Fezzan, 

 it is a most troublesome weed. The Tibus are very fond of the 

 seeds ; they roast them in the manner the Germans occasionally do 

 those of the pumpkin, after they have previously been soaked twelve 

 hours in water to deprive them of their bitter taste. The fruit itself 

 is used against urinary complaints and diseases of the sexual organs, 

 which are very comrtion in these parts ; it is placed in a basin of 

 milk, and after remaining in it about twelve hours, the fluid is drank. 

 Ricinus communis is common in the neighbourhood of Tripoli, and 

 the oil of it might become an article of export, if they would only 

 take the trouble of gathering the seeds. I met here, in Fezzan, an 

 old acquaintance, in the shape of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus), 

 which, growing to the height of about 9 feet, is the only ornament 

 of the small cottage gardens ; its seeds are eaten. I was also very 

 glad to find Tulipa sylvestris, a great ornament of the Targona moun- 

 tains. I have been unable to collect more than a single specimen ; 

 for although the \ lint occurs in the locality mentioned in enormous 

 quantities, I arrived too early (end of March) to see it in flower. In 

 my collection there are specimens of a plant resembling in foliage 

 the thorn, and I have mentioned on the slip of paper accompanying 

 it, that the bark of its root is used by the Arabs for tanning leather 

 and dyeing red. (A small parcel of this drug is for Sir W. Hooker.) 

 I have omitted to add, that the charcoal of this shrub is used in 



