THE CALAMBAC OR EAGLE-WOOD 



AQUILARIA 



AOALLOCHA 



Agar 



MEDICINE as a febrifuge and anti-dysenteric. [Cf. Horsfield, Plantce Javanicce 

 rariores, 1852, 52-62.] 



D.E.P., ANTIMONIUM OP ANTIMONY ; Ball, Man. Econ. Geol. Ind., 



i., 270-1. 163-7 ; Holland, Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., xxxii., 97. The surma, surmah-i- 

 Antimony. l s f a hani, anjan, anjanak-kallu, anjanam, ismad, etc. A black ore of 



antimony or tersulphide. 



Antimony-sulphide (stibnite) occurs at Shigri in Lahoul, also in the Jhelum 

 Type-metal. district of the Panjab, and in Tenasserim of Burma. Large quantities of the ore, 



containing gold, have also been discovered in the Amherst district of Burma. 



Natives do not seem to utilise this metal as an alloy. Its chief use is in the 

 Cosmetic. manufacture of type-metal. It is employed by the ladies as a cosmetic, but 



much of the antimony sold for that purpose is really galona imported from Kabul 



and Bokhara, which is often confused with antimony. 



D.E.P. APIUM GRAVEOLENS, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 679 ; UMBELLI- 



i., 271-2. FER^:. Celery, ajmud, chanu, ajwan-kaputa, karafs, etc. ; commonly called 

 e ery ' saleri in Indian bazars. 



A glabrous herb native of England and other parts of Europe, and widely 

 distributed e.g. to North Africa and the shores of New Zealand. It is cultivated 

 in different parts of India during the cold weather, chiefly in gardens near towns 

 for the use of the European population. It is also cultivated in Bengal for its 



Medicine. seed and in the Panjab for its root. In MEDICINE the officinal root is considered 



alterative and diuretic, and the seeds are given as stimulant and cordial. Cooked 



Pood. celery is said to be useful in rheumatism. The seed is eaten as a SPICE by the 



Natives, and the blanched stems and leaf -stalks by Europeans. In the wild state 

 it is, to a certain degree, poisonous. [Cf. Forster, PI. Esc., 1786, 67; Paulus 

 Mgineta (Adams, Comment.), iii., 106; Pharmacog. Ind., ii, 122-4 ; Queensland Agri. 

 Journ., 1903, xiii., 257 ; U.S. Dept. Agri., Farmer's Bull., 1902, No. 148.] 



D.E.P., AQUILARIA AGALLOCHA, Koxb. ; Fl. Br. Ind., v., 199-200 ; 



i., 278 82. Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 579 ; Pharmacog. Ind., iii., 217 ; Brandis, 



Eagle- ^nd. Trees, 546 ; THYMEL.EACEJE. Calambac, Aloe- or Eagle-wood, the Aloes 



or Lignum Aloes of the Scriptures, agar, ugur, ugal, ud, sasi, akyau, kayu, 

 garu, etc. The Sanskrit agaru (a privative, and garu heavy a name 

 given to it from the circumstance that it does not float on water) is the 

 root from which most of its vernacular names have been derived. Laghu 

 or lauha, another Sanskrit and Pali synonym, is supposed by some to 

 be the origin of the expression Aloes-wood and might therefore be 

 accepted as denoting a light form that would float on water. 



Habitat. It is a large evergreen tree of the Bhutan Himalaya, Assam, Khasia 



hills, Eastern Bengal and Martaban hills (Burma). It attains a height of 

 60 or 70 or 100 feet and a girth of 5 to 8 feet. It is fit to be cut down 

 for agar collecting at 20 years, but some authors consider it is not mature 

 until 50 or 60 years. Another species, A. inalftccensis, Lamk., is 

 supposed to be the Eagle-wood of Malacca and of Tenasserim. 



Perfumery. A review of the recent information collected by the Reporter on Economic 

 Products (written by Hooper) will be found in The Agricultural Ledger (1904. 



Timber. No. 1). The wood in its ordinary state is not of much value, being pale in colour, light 



and inodorous. But under certain conditions a change takes place in both trunk 



Fragrant Eesin. and branches, the wood becoming gorged with a dark resinous, aromatic juice, 

 which gives it a greater specific gravity. The portions thus impregnated are 

 collected and constitute the drug called agar, which is esteemed in proportion 

 as it abounds in resinous matter. In no other part of the tree is this fragrant 

 resin deposited. There is no external mark by which to recognise good from 

 bad trees ; they have to be cut down to discover the resin, which is only rich in 

 one out of twelve. The average yield of a mature tree is 6 to 8 lb., and an 

 exceptionally good tree may afford as much as Rs. 300 worth of agar. It is 



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