NARDOSTACHYS 



JATAMANSI 



THE SPIKENARD 



Medicine. 



Trade. 



Exports. 



Imports. 



Be-exports. 



In MEDICINE, nutmeg is an aromatic stimulant, carminative, and in large 

 doses narcotic. The widespread use of both nutmeg and mace in European 

 cookery is well known. 



Trade. As regards trade, the EXPORTS of Indian merchandise for the six years 

 1901-7 were as follows: In 1901-2, 170 lb., valued at Rs. 106; in 1902-3, 

 5,287 lb., valued at Rs. 2,683 ; in 1903-4, 2,596 lb., valued at Rs. 1,169 ; in 

 1904-5, 5,086 lb., valued at Rs. 2,586 ; in 1905-6, 560 lb., valued at Rs. 194 ; 

 and in 1906-7, 793 lb., valued at Rs. 691. 



The IMPORTS for the same years were as follows : In 1901-2, 589,295 lb., valued 

 at Rs. 2,54,259 ; in 1902-3, 626,871 lb., valued at Rs. 2,32,325 ; in 1903-4, 

 571,118 lb., valued at Rs. 2,17,870 ; in 1904-5, 854,818 lb., valued at Rs. 3,10,071; 

 in 1905-6, 671,445 lb., valued at Rs. 2,15,137 ; and in 1906-7, 715,018 lb., valued 

 at Rs. 2,28,453. Almost the whole of the imports come from the Straits Settle- 

 ments, viz. in 1906-7, 706,366 lb. There is, moreover, a RE-EXPORT trade, 

 which shows the following returns: In 1901-2, 19,130 lb., valued at Rs. 7,940 ; 

 in 1902-3, 69,975 lb., valued at Rs. 44,549 ; in 1903-4, 16,050 lb., valued at 

 Rs. 9,667 ; in 1904-5, 21,677 lb., valued at Rs. 10,026 ; in 1905-6, 15,217 lb., 

 valued at Rs. 8,392 ; and in 1906-7, 21,287 lb., valued at' Rs. 10,542. The 

 United Kingdom receives the largest share of the re-exports, while British East 

 Africa, Aden, Turkey-in-Asia, and in some years France and Egypt, also take 

 considerable quantities. 



\Cf. Varthema, Travels, 1510 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 241, 243 ; Garcia de Orta, 1563, 

 Coll., xxxii. ; Acosta, Tract, de las Drogas, 1578, 36 ; Linschoten, Voy. E. 2nd., 

 1598 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), ii., 84-6 ; Pyrard, Voy. E. Ind., etc., 1601 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 

 ii., 167, 169, 357 ; Mandelslo, Travels, in Olearius, Hist. Muscovy, etc., 1638, 160 ; 

 Piso, Mant. Arom., in Piso, Ind. Utri. re Nat. et Med., 1658, 173-5 ; Tavernier, 

 Travels, 1676 (ed. Ball), ii., 14, 18 ; W. Hedges, Diary, 1681 (ed. Hakl. Soc.), ii., 

 cccxxx. ; Thevenot, Travels in Levant, Indostan, etc., 1687, pt. iii., 109 ; Ovington, 

 Voy. to Suratt, 1689, 225 ; Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, ii., 393 ; Paulus JEgineta 

 (Adams, Comment.), 1847, iii., 436-8 ; Collingwood, Ramb. of a Nat., 1868, 261- 

 6 ; Pharmacog. Ind., 1893, iii., 192-6 ; Schneider, Compar. Study of True and 

 Wild Mace, in Journ. Pharmacol., March 1891 ; Heuze, Les PI. Indust., 1894, iii., 

 303-9 ; Hooper, in Agri. Ledg., 1900, No. 5 ; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 224, 

 300 ; Kept. Cent. Indig. Drugs Comm., 1901, i., 121, 127.] 



N 



D.E.P., NARDOSTACHYS JATAMANSI, DC. ; Fl Br. Ind., iii., 



v., 338-41. 211 ; VALERIANACE^E. Spikenard, jatamdnsi, Mlu-char, bekh-kurphus, 



Spikenard, haswa, pampe, mdsi, Wiutt-jatt, bala-charea, etc. A perennial herb of the 



alpine Himalaya, which extends eastwards from Garhwal and ascends 



to 17,000 feet in Sikkim. 



Perfume. Through the researches of Sir W. Jones (As. Res., 1790, ii., 405-17) this per- 



fume was first identified with the spikenard of the ancients. In The Bower 

 Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.) numerous references are made to mamsi and nalada, 

 which the translator regards as the present plant. The manuscript in question 

 dates from the 8th century and was found at Kucha in Khotan. Garcia de 

 Orta (Coll., 1.) gives an account of the spikenard, but as he speaks of it as procured 

 from Mandu, Chitor and parts of Bengal bordering the Ganges, it seems likely 

 that he confused Ci/mttojtotfon with wnrdostachys. The drug consists of a 

 portion of the rhizome, about as thick as the little finger, surmounted by a 

 bundle of reddish-brown fibres, the remains of the radical leaves. It is aromatic 

 Essential Oil. and bitter, and yields on distillation an essential oil. In India it is largely used 

 as an aromatic adjunct in the preparation of medicinal oils, and is popularly 

 believed to increase the growth and blackness of the hair. [(?/. Pliny, Nat. Hist., 

 bk. xii.,ch. xii. (Holland, transl.), 364; Paulus ^gineta (Adams transl.), iii., 264; 

 Amatus, Comment, on Dioscorides, 1558, 12-5 ; Acosta, Tract, de las Drogas, 

 1578, 173-81 ; Celsius, Hierobot., 1747, ii., 1-11 ; Roxburgh, As. Res., 1795, iv., 

 433-6 ; Lambert, Genus Cinchona, etc., 1821, 177-80 ; Taleef Shereef (Playfair, 

 13 ' 67 ; p fa rm cg- Ind -> 18 9!> ii-, 233-8 ; Dutt, Mat, Med, Hind., 



792 



