of Westeim Afghanistan ami North-Eastern Persia. 55 



gardens. As an escape in fields it is couinion, but I never 

 met with it here, as I have in the upper parts of the Kuram 

 Valley and Kashmir, where I would certainly consider it an 

 indigenous plant. 



Dawd — l^j — (plural adwla — ^^.^1) — medicine, a 



remedy. 

 Dey — ^jl) — a large iron pot or mortar. 



Delphinium Zalil, Aitch. et Hemsley. Ranunculace^. 



Yellow Larkspur, asharg, asvxirg, isharg, isbarag, isparak, 

 sparak, spang, jalll, zalll ; the flowers gul-i-zalll, gul-i-jalll. 

 A perennial herb, with a thick short woody root-stock, from 

 which several annual shoots spring ; these are from one to 

 two feet in height, each usually bearing a terminal spike of 

 exquisite yellow flowers. When the flowers are at their best, 

 the annual shoots bearing the spike of inflorescence is broken 

 otf close to the root ; these are collected together, and then 

 laid in heaps, usually on the roofs of the houses, to dry. In 

 two or three days they are sufficiently dr}', when the twigs 

 are shaken over a sheet ; on this all the flowers tumble oft', 

 and are now collected, either for local use, or exportation. 

 The petals are of commercial importance, yielding a valuable 

 yellow dye for silk, and are exported for this purpose in 

 large quantities to Persia, Turkistan, Afghanistan, and even 

 to India. The dye is easily obtained by simply boiling the 

 flowers in water ; in this decoction the silk is dipped. The 

 dried stems also yield a dye upon being boiled, but this is 

 poor in comparison with that yielded by the flowers. In 

 India the petals are also employed in medicine. The plant 

 has been raised from seed, and has flowered, both in England 

 (at Kew) and in Germany since I collected it. It ought to 

 succeed well in Southern Europe, both in France and Italy, 

 and miglit prove useful as a dye. 



Desert — jangal, dashl, he-dhdn, makldn. 

 Dewdna, dlwdna — n^^^i.^ — imbecile, insane, foolish. 

 Dhaturd — r,^x(b^ — Hindustani for Datura species. 

 Diminutive — the letter k — ^ or the syllable cha — 



*=>, added to a word in Persian, gives the 



diminutive of it. 



