55S ORAMINEJU. 



Mahometan writers upon Indian Materia Medica confound 

 A. Schcenanthus with. Izkhir [A. laniger), and Mir Muhammad 

 Husain gives Rus as an Indian name for Izkhir; he also men- 

 tions several other Indian names, such as Gandhis, Gandhbel, 

 &c., showing that he was well acquainted with Rdsa grass. 

 The author of the Tukfat-el-miiminin mentions a distilled water 

 prepared from Izkhir, and also an oil made by macerating the 



grass m sweet oil exposed to the sun ; it is therefore probable 

 that in his time (1669) the essential oil was not made from 

 A. SckcBnanfhus. The industry probably commenced in the 

 18th century whilst Khandesh was in a flourishing condition 

 under its Mahometan rulers- 



A. SchcBnanihm was first brought to tte notice of Europeans 

 by General Martin, who collected the seeds in the Balaghat, 

 during the war with Tippu Sultan, and cultivated the plant at 

 Lucknow, whence he sent seeds to Roxburgh, in Calcutta. The 

 first mention of the oil is by Maxwell in 1825 {Calcutta Med. 

 Phys. Trans., i., p. 367) ; it was afterwards described by Forsyth, 

 1827 {Ibid., iii., p. 233). The A. Nardus of Ainslie, which he 

 calls ginger or spice grass, is doubtless the same plant ; he notices 

 its use in infusion as a stomachic, and states that an essential oil 

 is prepared from it which is useful in rheumatism. 



Preparation of the oe7.~The oil distillers in Khandesh caU the 

 grass Motiya, when the inflorescence is young and of a bluish- 

 white colour ; after it has ripened and become red, it is called 

 Sonfiya.* The oil obtained from it in the first condition has a 

 more delicate odour than that obtained from the ripened grass. 

 The Motiya oil is usually mixed with the second kind, which 



The 



in 



seat 



sides in West Khandesh, especially in Akrani. The original 



of the manufacture was Pimpalner, but as the oil is in 

 great demand, the manufacture has of late spread to Nandurb^r, 

 Shahada, and Taloda. The makers are Musalmans, who, at the 



* We are inaebted to Mr. A. Lucas, Assistant Collector. Khandesh. for 

 ^"'Bena of the Motiya and Sonfiya grasses from tbe distilUng district!. 



