Cyperacea.] THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. . 413 
_of a few species, accompanied in others with a little bitterness, and some aromatic 
principle. On this account the tuberous roots of Cyperus longus, or Sweet Cyperus, a 
native of Europe, have long been employed in medicine, and accounted aromatic and 
stimulant; they are supposed to be the xvmeipov of Hippocrates and Dioscorides, 
though in the present day less employed in medicine, than by perfumers on account of 
their fragrance. It is remarkable that a nearly allied species, C. herastachyus, Rottb., 
is used for the same medicinal purposes in the East ; a correspondence in the employment 
of similar plants, of which we have many other instances, and which we cannot believe 
to be accidental. In C. hevastachyus is now included C. rotundus L, of which the 
tuberous roots are sold in bazars in India, and used in medicine by the name motha and 
nagur-motha ; for these sad.is given as the Arabic, and funarus as the Greek syno- 
nyme ; the former is evidently the sad of Avicenna, chap. 128, and the latter xuze:pos 
of Dioscorides, lib. 1. c.iv., where it is arranged with the other aromatics known to the 
ancients. Both these authors mention an Indian Cyperus, resembling ginger in appear- 
ance, but which turns the saliva yellow, and is therefore most probably Zurmeric, which 
we do not find elsewhere described by Dioscorides. The Indian Cyperus is used in medi- 
cine as a tonic and stimulant, and was employed in the treatment of cholera morbus 
(v. Hardwick); Dr. Roxburgh states that hogs are remarkably fond of the roots, and 
that when dried and powdered, they are used as a perfume at the weddings of the 
natives. Gen. Hardwick (Cal. Med. Trans. 11. p.399) describes the species called 
nagur-motha by the natives in Bengal, C. pertenuis, Roxb., closely allied to C. hexa- 
stachyus, as having its aromatic roots employed for perfuming the hair. The roots of 
Kyllingia monocephala being fragrant and aromatic, are also used as substitutes for those 
of the Cyperus hexastachyus, and are sometimes called by the same name motha, and 
likewise accounted an antidote to poison. The roots called kuseroo of a Cyperaceous 
plant, are considered edible in North-western India, they are probably those of Scirpus 
kysoor, of Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. p. 230. 
The roots of Cyperus stoloniferus, are described by Dr. Ainslie as fragrant, and medi- 
cinal, but the native names adduced are those of Nardostachys Jatamansi, for which it 
may be used as a substitute. The aromatic principle being absent in the tubers of some 
species, while fecula is secreted in larger proportion, they are employed as food, as 
those of C. esculentus, a native of the South of Europe, and of the North of Africa, and 
supposed to be the padiwolaary of Theophrastus. In addition to fecula, these roots 
contain a fixed oil, which enables them to be formed into palatable emulsions, which, 
with the addition of sugar, have been employed as a substitute for coffee and cocoa. The 
roots of S. maritima, also, which are large in some of the varieties, have been ground, 
and used instead of flour in times of scarcity; in India also the roots of some species 
are employed as food by the natives of the southern parts of Peninsular India during 
famines, and when grain is scarce. One, called sheelandie-aresee, was discovered by 
Dr. James Anderson of the Madras Medical Board, in sandy situations near the 
sea, and requiring but little water. This species is the Cyperus bulbosus of Vahl 
(C. jemenicus, 
