SPIKEXAED AND VALERIAN. 269 



should be instituted with this promising drug, which can be 

 procured at a small cost in almost all the bazaars throughout 

 India (h Ee. per pound). Care should be taken to select good 

 specimens for trial, as the central portion of the root is often 

 destroyed by insects." 



The drug, as brought from the mountainous districts of Xorthern 

 India, consists of a short portion of rhizome, about as thick as the 

 little finger, of a dark grey colour, surmounted by a bundle of fine 

 reddish-brown fibres, the whole forming an object of peculiar 

 bristly appearance, not unlike the tail of a sable or marten. The 

 fibres are produced by an accumulation of the fibrous tissue of 

 former leaves, and are matted together, forming a kind of network; 

 amongst them the remains of flower-stalks may be found. The 

 odour of the drug is heavy and peculiar, like a mixture of valerian 

 and patchouli, although more agreeable than either ; the taste is 

 bitter and aromatic. When the central portion is removed and 

 cut across, it is seen to consist of a thin cortical portion connected 

 with the central woody column by four medullary bands, between 

 which are situated large canals, which contain the fibrovascular 

 bundles. The central woody column is of a red-brown colour, 

 angular and jointed, having a certain amount of resemblance to 

 the vertebrae in the tail of an animal. 



The lyrodud " Spikenard," discussed by Sir William Jones (As. 

 Ees., ii., p. 405), was doubtless derived from Xardostachys, but the 

 plant described and figured as Valeriana Jatamansi is Valeriana 

 Wcdlicliii, D.C. The mistake arose from the fact that he was 

 supplied, either accidentally or by design, with the wrong plant 

 from Bhutan, and this at a time when it was not possible to detect 

 the imposture, as it was long before we had free access to the hills. 

 The same mistake seems to have been made by Eoxburgh, in the 

 Asiatic Eesearches, iv., p. 433, and was subsequently corrected by 

 Wallich and Eoyle independently. The name V. Jatamansi is 

 hence to be suppressed. 



Jatamansi was investigated by Kemp in 1884, wuth the 

 result that* 56 lbs. of the root yielded, on distillation, three fluid 

 ounces of oil. Its optical power was — 19^ 5' in 100 m. m. tube. 

 Its sp. gr. at 82 Fahr. was 0'9748. One hundred pounds of the 



* Dymock, Pliarmacographia Indica, ii., p. 237. 



