500 LTLIAGEM. 



to be a Curcuma, but wliicb is undoubtedly Colchicum Iiiteum^ 

 a plant found in the Punjab, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. 

 C. Masson^ in his narrative of an Excursion into the Hazareh 

 Country in 1832 {Tmns.Bomhaij Geograj)/K Soc, ii.,p. 60), notices 

 a small bulbous root, which the Afghans dug up at Bad Assiar 

 on the banks of the Helmund, and which appeared to be a kind 

 of Colchicum, for the purpose of preparing Ilaran-tutlha, a 

 medicine of great repute among the Afghans, He also re- 

 marks : — '' It is sold in small pieces of a dark-brown colour, and 

 resembles a dry extract." Masson travelled through a great 

 part of Afghanistan on foot, mixing with all classes of the 

 people, and his experience of their manners and customs is 

 very interesting. 



SMILAX CHINA, Li 



Jinn. 



'Fig.—Kmnpfev Ammn., t. 782. China root {Eny.), Squine 



(F>-.). 



Hab. — China. 



SMILAX GLABRA, Boxh. 



Fig.—Seeman, Bot. of the Eemld, tt. 99—100. 



Hab.— Sylhet, Garrow Hills, S. China. The tuberous 



roots. 



r<?r«ffeMfor.-Chob-chini [hid. i?«2ar6'), Too-fuh {Chin.), San- 

 kira {Japan), Cay-khuc-khac {Coch.-C/im.), Paringai-puttai 

 {Tarn.), China-pagu {Mai). 



History, Uses, &C.— This drug was introduced into 

 Goa from China about A.D. 1535 (Garcia) . Previous to this 

 date it is not noticed by any of the Mahometan physicians. 

 The Portuguese, however, appear to ha ve lost no time in carry- 

 ing It to their factories in Persia, as it was mentioned, a few 

 years after its introduction into Goa, by Mir Imad-ed-din Mah- 

 mud of Shiraz, Mirza Kazi of Yezd, and Mir Muhammad 

 Hashim of Teheran. In 1G69 it was described as a well-known 

 drug in the Tuhfat^el-nuunmu under the name of Chiib-chiui 



