. ■ GHAMINEJ^. 563 



r 



Roman meretrices whom lie speaks of as Sclicenkukv or Schoeno 

 delihiitce, Scribonius Largus {Comp., 167) mentions Sclioenus, 

 i.e., Junci odorati floras, as an ingredient in a theriace used as an 

 antidote to snake-bites, and Pliny also mentions it (12, 48) in 

 his chapter on the sweet-scented Calamus. We are of opinion 

 that the whole of this chapter refers to this grass, and that 

 the substance like a cobweb, icJiich is generally Jcnoicn hj the name of 

 the "flower" and which he calls the pith, is really the cottony 

 calyx of the plant which the Arabs call y>^h'&\^^'^ (f ukkah el 

 idkhir) or the " flower of the Idkhir," and use as an haemostatic. 

 Other Arabic names for A. laniger are Kilal-el-Mdmun " Ma- 

 mun's toothpick," * Tibu-el-makah '* Mecca grass," and Tib-el- 

 Arab "the Arab's perfume." In Persia it is known as Gdr- 

 giyah, and the author of the Biirhdn states that it bears this 

 name because the onager or wild ass (Grur) is particularly fond 

 of it ; he describes it as a grass, which, when chewed, has a 



taste of cloves and mastich, and which is called by the Arabs 

 Idkhir, 



Abd-Han{feh Ed-D{nawarf, author of the Book of Plants, 

 tas the following description of the plant :— " It has a root 

 bidden in the ground, slender, pungent in odour, and is like the 

 straight stalks of the e)V (Kaulan or papyrus plant), save 

 fctat it is wider, and smaller in the ^j*^ (ku'oub, internodal 

 spaces), and it has a fruit resembling the blooms of reeds, but 

 fiore slender, and smaller ; it is ground, and is an ingredient 

 ^n perfumes ; it grows in rugged and in smooth grounds ; but 

 seldom does more than one °grow in the same spot ; when it 

 dries becomes white." 



The Arabian and Persian physicians describe Idkhir as hot 

 ^^^ dry, lithontriptie, diuretic, emmenagogue, and carminative ; 

 *tey recommend it to be boiled in wine as a diuretic ; ground 

 ^^ a paste it is said to be a good application to abdominal 

 swelUngs ; added to purgatives it is administered in rheu- 

 l^atism ; the flowers (calyxes) are used as an haemostatic. They 

 identify it with the Schcenus of the Greeks. 



Ra 



