348 
subsequently adopted by Roxburgh and most other botanists. M ore 
recently,* however, it has been replaced by Andropogon squarroms t 
a name adopted by the younger Linnaeusf for a plant, also com- 
municated by Koenig, who found it " circa Zeylonam natans supra 
etagna profundiora," and entirely distinct from Andropogon 
x --~ The specimen is still in Linnaeus' herbariu 
the Indo-Malayan region. Retzius§ hir 
long ago drew attention to the confusion. ' Zizanioides ' being the 
earliest specific epithet, it will have to be adopted for the < Khas 
Khas,' so that its name under Vetiueria must be V. zizanioides. 
Uses op the Roots.— Koenig, in a note reproduced by Retzius, 
remarks: " Tamulis Woetiwaer. Radices ab indigenis usitat- 
issimae ob gratum odorem quern aqua irroratae spargunt. Ex his 
Flabella praecipue parantur quae pennis Pavonum ornantur." 
This property of the roots of 'Khas Khas' of emitting a 
pleasant odour as often as they are wetted and as long as 
they are wet was also mentioned by Jonesl in 1795. It 
has led from early times to their being woven into screens and 
mats (tatties), which are hung over doors or set in windows ; in 
hot weather, when frequently sprinkled with water, they cool and 
perfume the air. The fans (Tamil, visri) mentioned by Koenig 
act in the same way. The root, in the powdered state, enters into 
the composition of an AUr** or perfumed powder used by the 
Hindus at the IL>li [Vsrival. Such an Al.ir, Ahir /:■/.■■/,/>, is already 
mentioned in the < Ain-i-Akbari/tt thr Annals of the Emperor 
Akbar the appellation 'Izkhir' standing here for < Izkhir-i-Ajami,' 
that is Khas Khas.' The ' Schoenanthus' powd. ,■ ^ !,i,-|, Il.Vb.-rt 
de Jagerft found in use at Golconda in the second half of the 
1/tn century was also most likely 'Khas Khas' powder. For what 
he says is this: "In Golkonda, this Schoenanthus is used in 
powder-form for washing the hands on account of the very pleasant 
odour it imparts very q hut the od(mr ceases 
as soon as the hands are dry." 
mpISi h ° WeVer ' theUSe ofth e roots of Vetiveria zizanioides for 
for *T *T poses and in Perfumery has been universal in India 
writer, iJ ^ ?S P.fiod, 1 have failed to find, among the earlier 
of an An 7 S! te and disputable reference to the extraction 
oi an on rrom them. It is true that Hessler, in his translation 
!WSn&j£2^^ft u p - 160) "^^ muricati 
he renders , as " Andro- 
l j wsic; muricati is 'Mrinala,' which by others, as for instance 
^S^^^ 1889), P. 542. 
wn, Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. (1810) p 
\\ Roxburgh, Fl. Iud v ed. Carey & Wall vol 
:: 
tt fe^ in x Calcutta Review > Oct. 1904 p ' 
th£ t pSi r r b - dG Jager ' in Valenti *. Hiat. sTmpl. 
Simpl. (1732), p. 392, See also \ 
