378 



imported from Mogador, and having enlisted the services of his 

 friend Dr. Leared, he ascertained through him the following 



particulars 



Keith 



after the first rains. Its gum is not much shipped to Europe, but 

 a great deal of it is taken by pilgrims to Egypt and Mecca, where 

 it is used as incense. Its chief shipping port is Mazagan ; a little 

 is sent from Mogador, but none from other ports. The Oreatharn 

 Hall, the vessel in which Dr. Leared embarked, took on board 

 25 serons of the gum at Mazagan for Gibraltar, where they were 

 to be reshipped for Alexandria. The shippers call it Fasoy" 

 Dr. Leared also procured rootstocks of the plant for the Botanic 

 Gardens at Kew and Regent's Park, but they did not grow f In 

 his book " Marocco and the Moors " (1876), Leared also mentions 

 (p. dob) the plant, and says that he was informed that the Fashook 

 plant grows at a place two days' journey from Mogador, on the 

 road to the city of Morocco. Referring to this statement 

 bir Joseph Hooker,! however, remarks : "We, on the other hand, 

 were persistently assured that it grew nowhere along that route, 

 nor nearer to it than El Araiche, north of Marocco city. And this 

 is confirmed by information obtained by Mr. R. Drummond Hay 



t ii ™ J at lt J* found near Marocco, and chiefly around 

 JLecUa. The Moors who gave us this information at once recognised 



to LeSed) " J and Call6d the Pknt KUch (Kelth according 



3^? account is of so great interest that it has seemed 



Sb^km^nT^' 1 ? 09 * *? fulL In the second edition of 



« Fasho ni J' P ,' 34 °' he refers t0 the S um as follows : 

 In Z S^T la s P eCieS - Gum ammoniac. Called Fasoy 



bj the European merchants and Keith bv the Moors. Tt. is 



Woled 



and a o^l, T' f ^l ° btained at Mo ^°r was one inch 

 off a Son I diai r eter> ¥° re P artin ^ witb * *e Moor broke 

 Some roo s ?;i ndl f g 'c ! aS he Said ' to ^migate his sore eyes. 

 sCe of oJrl f hj JT°? R ' Elmaleh were of the size and 

 witT^m™^ /* blacklsh - b ™wn colour, and studded over 

 n Vol ^^ • n!f, War *y Projections. When broken they exuded 



drons of Tviiw ^ "'""' 7 _trT J T iVXi °' When broken they exuded 

 ThilslTf lk L 2mce whlch f01 " me d yellowish- white opaque tears. 



acidi tv A s nal g f lm "TK W f Slightl y bittei % ^^h considerable 

 ev denilvlp^f f f™U&e leaf accompanied the roots-it was 

 the taste of tnif ° f " umb f lifer ous plant. It was found that 

 African Ammo dT resin differed &om that of a specimen of 

 Socie a v Ammomacu T ni in the museum of the Pharmaceutical 

 Ammoniaonm'ia ;„ i ^.T 8 P roba We, therefore, that African 

 ac^ouTol h£ ! K dUC6d by more than one species. ... On 

 Sat The iT'T 8 *? e gum is U8ed b ? the Moors as a 

 glutinous is used when *eated over a tire until it becomes 



mmSc m f fi l t ^cation in skin diseases. Very little 



Mazagan to GihrX t ^1°^ U is chiefl y shi PP ed from 

 - ^oialtar for reshipment to Alexandria : a little is 



Mograd 



The 



* Hanbury, Science Papers, 1 c d 377 



* aooker & Ball, Matoeco and the Great Atlae, 1 878, p. 386. 



