of the Malabar Cardamom, 235 



Moudr'madine. These are taken from idioms of the Amarsinha ; 

 but there is reason for supposing that all of them, except the 

 first, are merely epithets, either allusive to its qualities and vir- 

 tues, or suggested by that wild and extravagant fanc}' which 

 characterizes the genius of Indian fabulists and poets. As Ela 

 signifies leaf in both languages, I have no doubt but the assem- 

 blage of leaves, forming the most obvious and striking ap- 

 pearance of the plant, suggested to the first rude observers the 

 natural and appropriate term. In the other parts of India, they 

 give it names, all more or less similar to the indigenous. The 

 Hindu is Hil-Il, or IlacJii ; the Kanarese, Ela-Ki. These termi- 

 nations are no doubt deduced from the if ai above mentioned, as 

 the first syllable is from that of Ela. 



Of the name KafJa/to/jitw given to it by the Greeks, and Car- 

 damomum by the Romans, neither T, nor those whom I consulted, 

 can find any traces in the dialects of Hindostan. I am therefore 

 inclined to conclude that the spice itself was not introduced 

 among them, till at a late period of their history, and by some 

 very circuitous or irregular channels, which left them to their 

 own ingenuity to adapt a significant epithet: for this they had 

 recourse to analogy. In their own language the Greeks had 

 the word Ka^Saftox to signify cresses, a production that ap- 

 proached to the nature of a spice, as near as to form the founda- 

 tion of a comparison. When they added to this a word of su- 

 perlative emphasis — uj/mi^ov, (literally signifying perfect or fault- 

 less,) they may have conceived that they attained a tolerably 

 clear idea of their new-imported luxury. — Kakele, both in Arabic 

 and Persian, is, without doubt, connected with the indigenous 

 cE/a, or perhaps a compound of it» 



In the medical practice of Europe, the use of Cardamoms is 

 too limited to enable us to form a sufficient estimate of tiieir 



stimulant 



