280 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



by the neiijroes and lower classes of Arabs for anointinfr their 

 bodies. The natives of India prefer strong perfumes for this 

 purpose, and use oil of santal and oil of patchouli. 



The principal use of spikenard at the present time, in the East, 

 is for making hair washes and ointment; the popular opinion being 

 that it promotes the growth and blackness of the hair. 



Two Valerians are natives of this country. V. officinalis, Lin., 



is the most common ; it has erect stems two to four feet high, 

 irregularly pinnated leaveS; and small white or pink flowers in 

 broad, terminal corymbs. It is nsually found in moist hedge-rows 

 or on the banks of ditches and streams.* V. dioica is a native of 

 bogs and marshes, has stems not attaining to a height of 

 more than six or eight inches ; the lower leaves are ovate-entire, 

 the upper ones pinnate, with one large segment at the end ; the 

 flowers are small, unisexual. V. pyrenaica, occasionally found 

 \vild, is a larger plant than the common Valerian, from which also 

 it may be known by its heart-shaped, toothed leaves. Several 

 other species are grown in gardens, many of them handsome, 

 flowering plants. 



The roots of freshly-gathered V. officinalis are inodorous, but on 

 drying they acquire a characteristic peculiar odour, penetrating 

 and fetid, somewhat terebinthinate and camphoraceous. Its taste 

 is bitter and aromatic. The dried root contains 0-50 to 2 per 

 cent of volatile oil ; this variation is partly attributable to the 

 influence of the soil in which the plant was grown ; a dry, stony 

 soil produces roots which are richer in essential oil than roots grown 

 in a humid fertile soil. 



Mexican Valerian. This variety is describedt by K. 

 McLauglin as a beautiful herbaceous plant, common in the woods 

 and damp places of Eastern Mexico. The roots as found in the 

 Mexican Markets, occur in slices or fleshy discs from half to one 

 and a half inch in diameter, or sometimes in entire tubers. These 

 are very large, greyish externally, yellowish internally, hard and 

 tough. They have a granular fracture when dry, and possess an 

 unpleasant odour and bitter taste. On analysis a specimen was 

 found to yield volatile oil, 3-33 per cent. ; oleo-resin, 4-30 ; wax 



* For figure of the plant see Bentley and Trimen's Med. Plants., t. 146. 

 t Am. Journ. Pharm., Ixv., p. 829. 



