TUAGACANTH AND HOG-GUMS 



ATROPA 



BELLADONNA 



The average recorded yearly production in India would seem to be insig- 

 oant. ii.ini.-ly about 5 to cwt., valued at KB. 40 to 48, but the great increase 

 tiu d.-mund i'.>r fireproof material lias resulted in effort* being made to di- 

 :i.-w ami mom |>rofitablo sources of supply (Min. Rev., 1896-7). Recent 

 riea m utral India and Rajputana seem likely to prove of value. 

 a November 1890 two samples of asbestos found in the Jobat State, Central 

 In. ha ALVIII-V, \\ere Hmt to the Imperial Institute, London, for analysis and 

 i he Director replied that both samples consisted of soft friable asbestos 

 t-liieily of very short staple. They were of inferior colour, even the so-called 

 whin- variety being grey and impure. A commercial expert was of opinion that 

 it \\ould not pay to bring it to Europe, but that it might be found useful 

 Iv for ti reproof packing, decorative work, etc. [Cf. Yates, Tex. Antiq., 

 05; Textile Mercury, April 11, 1896; Hanausek, Micro. Tech. Prod. 

 aton <k Barber, transl.), 1907, 156-7.] 



ASTRAGALUS HERATENSIS, Jitinf/v; Pharmacog. Ind., i., 

 Aitchison, Trans. Linn.Soc. (Bot. ser. 2), 1888, iii., 49, pi. vi.; Edinb. 

 Trans. Bot. Soc., 1891, xviii., 17 ; Heuze, Les. PL Indust., 1895, iv., 267-8 ; 

 MINOSJE. Indian Tragacanth, katira, gabina, kom, kon, kum, etc. 

 A Persian shrub, very common in the stony soil of the Harirud valley and 

 Khurasan, at an altitude of 3,000 feet. 



From this and perhaps several other species is obtained a GUM called katira 

 jr gabina which exudes from fissures in the bark. This is known in Indian com- 

 nerce as Tragacanth. It is further said that on the stem being cut across, the 

 v'uiiuny substance shoots out of the medullary cavity in the form of pipe-Tra- 

 ith. Aitchison observes: "This is collected in large quantities near Bezd 

 in Khorasan for exportation in all directions to India, Persia and Turkestan 

 to be chiefly employed in the stiffening, glazing, and facing of local fabrics. 

 lost of the gum sold in India as katira is this and not the product of any 

 idian plant." Possibly another species (.1 . tHu-rwniia, Dymoch ; anzerut, anzrud, 

 ti/or, guzhad, etc.) is the drug which was known as aarcocolla to Pliny, Dios- 

 corides, Avicenna, etc. It is hardly, if ever, met with in Europe at the present 

 day, although still used in the East. The gum is imported into India, and is one 

 of the principal ingredients in the lip (plaster) employed by Parsis to set frac- 

 tured bones, etc. The average value is said to be about Rs. 3 per maund of 

 37J Ib. Aitchison is of opinion that without further knowledge of the plant 

 than was derived from finding the fruit of an Antrnanitns amongst the gum and 

 from an experiment with the seed, it would have been better not to identify 

 this as a new species, since in all probability it will be found to be a form 



already described by Bunge. The drug consists of pale-yellow irregular grains 

 not unlike crushed resin, and is said to be collected by being shaken off the 

 tree on to a cloth. Eaten by ladies to improve their appearance and to give the 

 skin a gloss. 

 Astragalus (Tragacanth) Substitutes : the Bassora or Hog-gums of India. 

 This is a group of gums resembling Tragacanth, but much inferior, the colour 

 being most objectionable. The collective name in commerce is BASSORA 

 GUM, given because the gum of this class which first attracted attention is 

 supposed to have been exported from Bassora. In India these gums are 

 collectively known as katira, though Aitchison observes that most of the katira 

 gums are non-Indian in origin. Chemically Tragacanthin and Bassorin are probably 

 identical. The Indian Bassoras or Hog-gums are as follows : 



Ailanthus excelsa. 

 Bombax malabaricum. 

 Cochlospermum Gossypium. 

 Moringa pterygospenna. 



Primus Amygdalus. 

 Saccopetalum tomentosum. 

 Sterculia urens. 

 Stereospermum suaveolens. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 347-0; 

 vi., pt. iv., 

 71. 



Traga- 

 canth. 



Gum. 



Ltp. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 416. 

 Bassora or 

 Hog-gums. 



ATROPA BELLADONNA, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., iv., 241 ; SOLA- D.E.P., 

 E^E. Deadly Nightshade, sangangur, angur-shefa, suchi, girbuti, * 351-3. 

 ustrung, yebraj, luckmuna. A coarse glabrous herb native of the Western Belladonna - 

 Himalaya from Simla to Kashmir at altitudes of 6,000 to 12,000 feet ; 

 Distributed to Europe and North Persia. 



95 



