4 
4.30 ASCLEPIADEA. 
the Arka tree, after which he may take a fourth human wife. 
The object of this seems to be to transfer the man’s ill-luck to 
the plant, The ancient Arab tribes appear to have held super- 
stitious notions about Calotropis, probably connected, with 
Sun-worship. C. procera was first described by Abu Hanifeh 
circa 270 A.H.in his Book of Plants... From the Ké4musand the 
T4j-el-aris we learn that Ushar was used by the Arabs in the 
Time of Ignorance along with gl (salaa),in the practice called 
@s'3 (tasliaa) which was observed in time of drought or barren- 
ness of the earth. It.consisted in tying the dried plants to the 
tails of wild bulls, setting fire to them, and driving the animals 
down from the mountains, seeking to obtain rain by the flame 
of fire, which was likened to the gleaming of lightning. The, 
Salaa from. Abu Hanifeh’s description appears to have been, 
a kind of Cuscuta. - According to the Burhan, »*¢ (ushr) is.a 
Persian name for all plants having a milky juice, and especially 
for the plant known in Hindustan as Ak. It would therefore 
seem that-Ushar is not an Arabic word, as. generally stated, in 
the Dictionaries, but of Arian origin, and perhaps connected 
with the Sanskrit verb 3q to burn.. The wood is considered to 
taake the best charcoal for the preparation of. gunpowder, and 
Ushar silk @_»* is used to stuff cushions by the Arabs, and also 
to make tinder (makhad), called by the Tartars y4lish, Ibn 
Sina notices Ushar, and an exudation obtained from it called 
Sakar-el-ushar ; he also mentions a superstitious notion that it is 
fatal to sit under the tree. The author of the Minhdj describes 
Sakar-el-ushar as a gum which exudes from the inflorescence 
‘df fhe plant and gradually hardens. (Ho remarks that people 
say that it is a dew which falls upon the plant and concretes 
like manna.) Some medical writers confound it with Sakar- 
el-tigh4l. Abu Hanifeh and the author of the Ob&b describe 
it as an exudation from the flowering parts of the plant. The 
pest, authorities describe its properties as similar to those of the 
juice of the pleut would therefore seem to be nothing more, 
than an exudation of the jaices of the plant which naturally 
contain some sugar. | Calotropis is not mentioned by Greekor 
Roman writers, but some Mahometaus give Hejakiyus as ite 
