204 DR. ROXBURGH ON THE GENUS AQUILARIA. 
Remarks by Henry THOMAS COLEBROOKE, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 
The information received from Mr. Dick, concerning the manner of collecting the Aloe- 
wood, corresponds so nearly with other notices on the same subject, as to afford a strong 
confirmation of their general accuracy. 
The following account is by the author of the ' Mekhzen úl adveyeh,’ whose near rela- 
tion to the Nawab Mahammed Reza Khan afforded him opportunities of inquiry, of which 
he diligently availed himself. 
“ Und signifies wood or branch, and emphatieally, the wood called Ud Hindi, or, in 
the Hindi language, Agar. It is obtained from a species of tree found in the mountainous 
country of Jentiya, near Silhet, in the north-east of Bengal*. ’ 
«The tree is very lofty, its trunk and branches are generally crooked and rather soft, 
so that neither clubs and walking staves, nor bowls and platters, can well be made from 
them, by reason of their softness and crookedness. Besides, the tree is in many parts 
- hollow. 
* Until the wood be old and have remained long after being cut down, so that it may 
decay and rot, it does not acquire its proper fragrance. To accelerate this change, the 
wood is buried in moist ground, and being afterwards dug up, so much of it as is dark- 
coloured'and of a glossy unctuous appearance, and found upon trial to sink in water, is 
selected and set apart under the denomination of gharkí. Any remaining portions of 
unmellowed wood are carefully separated from it by means of an iron instrument to 
obtain the gharké in a pure state. Specimens which sink but partially are termed nim- 
gharkt, or semi-mergent. Those which float are called semleh, or dregs, and are the most 
common but least esteemed. ' 
“ This fragrant wood is of various sorts, distinguished by the names of Hindi, Sama- 
dárit, Kumärt, and Mandali. The Hindi is of the darkest colour; the Samadüri has a 
more unctuous appearance than the Indian sort. The Kumart is of a lighter colour. "The 
Hindi (should be Mandalt) is the most fragrant of all. | 
* [t is likewise distinguished as Bari and Jabalf (rustic and mountaihous), the latter 
with black streaks, the former with white; some, however, reverse these characters. 
“The Samadurt is named from the country whence it is brought ; so is the Kumärt!. 
“In medicine, the Hindi from Silhet in Bengal, of the quality called gharkt, being 
bitter, fragrant, unctuous, and a little hard, is preferred$, because the Aloe-wood of other 
places does not equal it in fragrancy and excellence. | 
* In some recipes and prescriptions, it is directed that crude did should be taken ||. 
* The ‘ Tohfet úl muminin ’ says, it is a tree which grows in the islands of China and India. 
+ The ‘ Tohfet úl muminin’ writes this Samandért. 
.l The varieties of this wood are denominated from the countries which produce them, as Samandirt, Hindi, &c.— 
` Tohfet úl muminin. | 
$ The best kind is black, hard, shining, fragrant and bitter, sinking in water. This is the Hindi, and the Kumárí 
is of a lighter colour. The Samandürt is more unctuous. The rustic and mountainous varieties of it have white stripes. 
That which swims in water is bad.—Tohfet úl mumintn. 
| This direction is to be found also in the recipes of the Greek and Arabian physicians, compiled by Nicolaus My- 
repsicus. See Rumphius, ii. 39. 
