377 





Wadi 



observa 



as 



tions are dated 14th and 15th of November, and 16th of November 

 respectively, the last January 15th to 21st. 



Lindley accepted Sprengel's identification of the plant yielding 

 the gum ammoniac of Morocco. In Flora Medica (1838), p. 46, 

 he says in a note on Ferula orientalis : " What is supposed to be 

 this plant yields in the State of Marocco a gum resin similar to 

 Ammoniacum ; whence it has been thought to be really the 

 origin of that substance, and I think with good reason, so far as 

 the drug of Dioscorides is concerned " ; and in 1846 he repeats 

 this view in his Vegetable Kingdom (ed. I., p. 776) : " Ferula 

 orientalis, which still furnishes a drug of the kind (i.e., of Gumni 

 ammoniac) in the Kingdom of Marocco." The same passage al><> 

 occurs in the third edition of the Vegetable Kingdom, publish* I 

 in 1853 ; but in the same year, Pereira, in his Materia Medici 

 (vol. III., p. 1715) inserted a note by Lindley— here reproduced 

 in which the mother plant of gum ammoniac is referred to 

 Ferula tingitana :—" I am indebted to Dr. Lindley for a 

 fine sample of African Ammoniacum ('A/i/iwi'tfucoV, Diosc). 

 It was sent by W. D. Hay, Esq., the British Consul a 

 Tangier, to the Hon. W. T. Fox Strangways, and is marked, 

 'Gumm Ammoniac or Fusogh, Tangier, 17 June, 1839, 

 J. W. D. H.' It is an oblong piece, about three inches long, 

 and one-and-a-half inches thick, and broad. Its weight is about 

 830 grains. Externally it is irregular and uneven, and has a 

 dirty appearance, similar to what ammoniacum would aequir. 

 from repeated handling and long exposure to the air in a dusty 

 situation. It is partially covered with paper. A few pieces or 

 reddish chalky earth (which effervesces with acids) are lounci 

 sticking to it, thus confirming the account given of it by . Jackson, 

 though the quantity of this on my specimen is not e uttlcienI *» 

 affect in any wav the saleability of it. It appears to be made up 

 of agglutinated tears, like the lump Persian ammoniac urn. 

 Internally it has very much the appearance of lump amnaomacum 

 but is not so white, but has a brownish, reddish, and m some 

 places a faint bluish tint. Its odour is very faint, and not at ail 

 like Persian ammoniacum. Heated on the point of a «" Ie »J 

 distinction from Persian ammoniacum is very o^ ^ ^ " 

 is also much slighter than that of the ^mmercial ammomac um 

 Rubbed with water, it forms an emulsion like the latter, 

 the produce of Ferula tingitana (Lindley). 

 What may have induced Lindley to *fl^*%S& £ 



quite clear, unless he had found ^.^C X tingitana was 

 not a native of North Africa, whilst Fm ula ■ i wy lv 



indigenous in Morocco, and in fact was ^t tha Urn, ^^ 

 species of Ferula known from that conn try ', v 

 figure of the Fashook plant should have ^en sufficient ^ 

 this identification at least highly doubtful. «°* subseq uent 

 be, Lindley's last view has been adopted by most 4 



writers. . received 



Meanwhile Hanbury* had on several occasion ^ ^ 

 samples of Morocco gum ammoniac^soim^___ 



TTTTT^no 741 ; Science Papers 



* Hanbury in Journ. Pharm. So*, March 22nd, 1873, p. 

 pp. 375-379. A 2 



30018 



