164 Brigade- Surgeon J. E. T. Aitchison's Notes on Prodv/is 



northern slopes of the hills, at an altitude of 3000 feet and 

 above, considered excellent fodder for goats and sheep. 



Prosopis Stephaniana, Spreng. LEGUMiNosiE. 



Chigak, chogak, Ididr, khar-i-jinjak ; the fruit, or galled fruit, 

 kecM, kcchl, jinjak, jing-jing-hanu ; the seeds, tukhm-i-jinjak ; 

 the dye, zang-o-wach. A somewhat woody shrub, usually 

 about 4 feet in height, occasionally up to 12 feet (I never 

 saw it more), forms a more or less dense scrub, and is 

 extremely common from Quetta to Bala-Morghab, over the 

 whole district traversed to an altitude of a little over 2000 

 feet. Is a nasty weed in cultivation. It gives excellent 

 browsing to camels, goats, and sheep, who all feed greedily 

 on it. The pods are commonly affected by a gall, which 

 distorts them greatly, making them bloated and irregular in 

 form, and causing them to take on a red copper colour. 

 These are collected both for local use and for exportation 

 to be employed in dyeing and tanning; they yield a light 

 yellow dye. The seeds are employed in local medicine. 



Prune — Dried Plums, the dried fruit of Prunus 

 species. 



Prunus Amygdalus, Baill. Rosacea. 



The Almond, hdddrii, hcddm. At Meshad the Almond 

 was cultivated freely in the gardens, but nowhere else did I 

 meet with more than one or two bushes at a time. The 

 great place whence almonds are imported into these parts, to 

 be further exported, is Shakh-i-shai-mardan, and from Anar- 

 dara. Around Herat, the shrub is cultivated, but not in 

 sufficiency for the large export of fruit that takes place. 

 The sweet kernels of a variety of the Nectarine are often 

 employed as a substitute for the Sweet Almond. Throughout 

 Afghanistan, not so noticeable in Persia, the priests carry a 

 rod or staff of the almond as a sort of emblem ; these rods, 

 with those of the Tamarisk, are made into handles or hafts 

 for whips, as a protection against snakes. 



Prunus Armeniaca, Linn. Rosacea. 



The Apricot, zard-dlu ; the dried flesh, astak, ashtak, kishta, 

 kashta, khobani, kJmham ; dried unripe apricots, dkhkuk ; 

 grafted, zard-dlu-pcwandi ; the gum, sliilim-i-zard-dht ; the 



