96 Brigade-Surgeon J. E. T. Aitcliison's Notes on Products 



Gundelia Tournefortii, f^inn. Composit/e. 



Kangar. This is a large thistle-like shruh, growing in 

 gregarious masses, and covering immense tracts of country. 

 In a general way it much resembles the Artichoke, Cynara 

 ScOLYMUS, and hence I believe that the latter, a cultivated 

 plant in gardens, has received its name from this. The 

 young leaves and shoots in early spring are eaten as a vege- 

 table, very much in the same way as we use the Cardoon, 

 Cynara Cardunculus, and is much relished by the Persians. 

 A red dye is said to be obtained from the stems. The whole 

 plant makes excellent fodder, and is largely collected and 

 stacked for winter use, chiefly to feed goats and sheep upon. 

 It is one of those shrubs that in autumn is to be seen being 

 blown hither and thither by the winds across the vast open 

 plains. 



Gunpowder — harud. 



Is manufactured for individual or local use by the 

 inhabitants. This is a coarse slowly exploding compound, 

 which is better fitted for the very ordinary weapons of this 

 country than that manufactured in Europe. It is usually 

 made from the charcoal of the shell of the cotton pod, or 

 from that of the wood of a Salix. Almost every native 

 seems to know how to make gunpowder, and each man has 

 his own special receipt for doing so. 



Gur — -j^ — this is a Hindustani word for solid 



molasses, which is imported in large quantities 



from India. 

 Gur as — Artemisia scoparia. 

 Giirha — *jj.^ — a cat ; gurha-dala — a Marten or wild 



cat. 

 Gur-hdlchor-ak — a trade name for the root-stocks of 



Valeriana Wallichiana. 



I am of opinion that this name is a contraction for gurha- 

 hdlchor-ak [the cat Valeriana]. Balchdr is the root of Nar- 

 dostachys Jatamansi, hdkhor-ak is the little bdlchor, or 

 Valeriana ; the word gur, a contraction for gurba, a cat, no 

 doubt applied to the root from the extraordinary effect it 

 produces upon this animal. " A Kabul trader at Leh told 



