374 CONIFERS. 



mannaj cardamoms, cinnamon, and sugar, and is used in the 



abovementioned diseases. The author of the Burhan, the 

 oldest Persian Dictionary, which contains a large collection of 

 Pahlavi words, mentions the same drug under the name of 

 Talisfar, and states thiat this name was applied by the Greeks to 

 the leaf of the Indian Olive, or, according to some, to its root- 

 bark. Ibn Sina speaks of it as an Indian bark, and describes 

 its properties in the same manner as the Sanskrit writers; he 

 states that Galen considers it to be possessed of hot and cold 

 properties in equal proportion, but that others say it is hot and 

 dry. Yahia bin Isa, the author of the Minhaj, considers Talisfar 

 to be tbe leaf of the Indian Olive ; Ibn Baitar thinks that it 

 is Mace. Haji Zein-el-attar identifies it with the m"*^^/^ of the 

 Greeks, and says it is the root-bark of the Indian Olive, a bark 

 thicker tban China cinnamon and harder and of a darker colour, 

 very astringent and slightly aromatic. The author of the 

 Makhzan-ehAdwiya mentions the drug in two places, and 

 identifies it incorrectly with the Zarnah of the Arabs ; he also 

 appears to confound it with Ilydrocotyle asiatica. Speaking of 

 Zarnab, he says, "it is also called Bifl-el-jardd (locust's foot). In 

 Hind 

 Mandup 



called 



leaves, wbicb are tbe same as Zarnab, are called Talispati\ It 

 is a plant with leaves broader than those of Sdfar-i-barif of a 

 yellowish colour, and scented like a citron ; the flower is yellow, 

 and the plant is less tban a cubit in height, with a quadrangular 

 hollow stem ; it has a pimgent taste, and retains its properties 

 four years. It grows in the hills of Fars, and is called Sarv-i- 

 Turkistani; it is also found in Hindustan and Bengal, * 

 It is hot and dry in the second degree, and has stimulant, 

 astringent, stomachic, pectoral and digestive properties similar 



A 4 A 



.nn 



, mixed 



roses or violets and introduced into the ear it cures cold headache. 

 Substitutes, double the quantity of cinnamon, cubebs, cassia, or 

 cardamoms/** **^ Again, speaking of Talisfar* an article 



* Under this name Royle obtained the leaves of Rhododendron lepidotum» 

 which are highly aromatic. {Antiq, oj Hind, Med., p. 91.) 



