672 GBA31INEM 



to build tlieir houses in a place where the Virana and Kusa 

 were abundant, and on some copper-plate inscriptions dis- 

 covered near Etawah, dated A.D. 1103 and 1174, this plant is 

 mentioned as one of the articles upon which the kings of Kanauj 



levied imports {Proc. As. 8oc, Bengal, 1873, p, 161). Externally 

 it is used in a variety of ways ; a paste of the root is rubbed on 

 the skin to relieve oppressive heat or burning of the bodj' ; an 

 aromatic cooling bath is prepared by adding to a tub of water 

 the root in fine powder^ together with the root of Pavonia 

 odomta, red sandalwood and the wood of Pnmus Puddum. The 

 same ingredients are applied in the form of a thin paste to the 

 skin, [Chakradatta.) 



All over India the roots are made into aromatic scented 

 mats, hung in door- way s^ and kept wet to cool and perfume 

 the atmosphere during the hot season; they are also much 

 used for making fans, ornamental baskets, and other smaU 

 articles. When distilled with water, the roots yield a fragrant 

 oil, which is used as a perfume and for flavouring sherbet. 

 Mir Muhammad Husain, in the Makhzan-el-Aduiya, describes 

 Mas as a kind of Izkhir used in India, known as Izkhir-i- Jami 

 and called by the Persians Bikh-i-wala. European physicians 

 in India have used the root as a diaphoretic, and Pereira 



Med 



Hambur 



bei 



hung up in rooms and burnt as a fumigatory. In 1837 it was 

 recommended by Foy in rheumatism and gout. At the present 

 time tne root is distilled in Europe to obtain the oil, which 

 commands a high price, being used in the composition of many 

 favourite perfumes, as " Mousseline des Indes," '' 3Iarechal," 

 " Bouquet du Roi," &c. 



Description. — A. muricatus has an erect compressed 

 culm, 5 to 6 feet high, with smooth nodes and linear-narrow 

 sub-bifarious rigid elongated leaves ; the panicle is verticelled ; 

 the branches are very numerous, simple and spreading; the 

 joints of the rachis are smooth ; the glumes are minutely 

 prickly on both sides, sub-equal, muricated. The radicles are 



