564 ROSACEZ.. 
speak of ‘nuwz amara,’ ‘the bitter almond’; almonds were also 
ealled Avellane Greece and Nuces Greece by Latin writers. 
Much interesting information having regard to the ancient 
history of almonds in Europe may be found in the Pharmaco- 
graphia. In India the almond, though probably indigenous 
to Cashmere and the Himalayas, does not appear to have 
attracted the same attention as in Europe. In some Sanskrit 
works it is mentioned under the name of Badama, the same 
name which it bears in Persia, where the tree is very 
common and the fruit much used. When the Mahometans 
settled in India, almonds were probably for the first time 
introduced into the southern and central parts of the country 
as an article of commerce from Persia and Afghanistan. 
Arabic and Persian writers on Materia Medica discuss their 
properties at considerable length. The uses to which they put 
sweet almonds are essentially the same as with us. Almonds 
are chiefly cultivated in the districts of Yezd and Kirman in 
Persia and the more temperate parts of Afchanistan. 
The author of the Makhzan-el-adwiya mentions two kinds 
of sweet almond, the thick-shelled and the thin or Kaghazi 
(Amandes des dames or Amandes S$ ultanes, F’r.). He describes 
the method of extracting the perfumes of flowers by means of 
almonds placed in contact with them, and says that the oil 
being afterwards expressed retains the ‘perfume. He also 
notices the use of the burnt shells as tooth powder, and of 
the unripe fruit ( Chugala) as an astringent application to 
the gums and mouth. Bitter ‘almonds (Louz-el-murr) are 
- described by Mahometan writers as attenuant and detergent ; 
they are recommended both internally and externally for a 
variety of purposes. As a plaster made with vinegar they are 
used to relieve neuralgic pains; as a collyrium, to strengthen 
the sight; in emulsion with starch and peppermint, to allay 
cough. They are also considered to be lithontriptic and diu- 
retic, and of use for removing obstructions of the liver and — 
spleen ; applied to the head they kill lice ; as a suppository they — 
relieve pain in difficult menstruation; as a poultice they are a 
valuable application to irritable sores and skin eruptions. The — 
