140 



570. AMOMUM XANTHIOIDES, Wall. 



a. Fruit, preserved wet. (Xanthioid Cardamoms.) 



b. Pericarps, deprived of seeds. (Sha-jin-ko.) 



c. Seeds. (Bastard Cardamoms, Cardamom Seeds.) 

 Note. The seeds of this species are minutely pitted. The taste is 



powerfully camphoraceous. The fruit is covered with longer spines than 

 in A. villosum. This drug is the produce of Laos and Cambodia. The 

 specimen was presented by Mr. D. Hanbury. For fig. see P. J. [1] , vol. 

 xiv., pp. 417, 418, fig. 67. Pharmacographia, p. 587. 



571. ELETTARIA CARDAMOMUM, Mat. 



a. Fruit. (Malabar Cardamoms.) B. d;Tr.,Med. PL, tab. 267. 



b. Seeds. (Ditto.) 



c. Fruit. (Ditto), shorts. 



d. Seeds. (Ditto), short-shorts. 



e. Fruit. (Ditto), short-longs. 

 /. Fruit. (Ditto), long-longs. 



g. Ditto. (Ditto), ditto. Presented by Prof. 



h. Seeds. (Ditto), ditto. [Guibourt. 



Note. The Malabar cardamoms are the most esteemed. Those which 



are obtuse at the ends are known as " shorts," and those which are 



tapering as " short-longs." Madras cardamoms are paler, and are 



usually " short-longs" only. Aleppy cardamoms are "shorts," and have 



a peculiar greenish tint. Good samples yield three-quarters of their 



weight of seeds. " Long-longs " are rarely imported. 



572. ELETTARIA MAJOR, Smith. 



a. Fruit. (Ceylon Cardamoms, Ensal.) 



I. Seeds. 



Note. This plant is only known to occur in Ceylon. It is now con- 

 sidered to be only a variety ef E. cardamomum. The seeds and fruit 

 have however a very distinct odour and taste, resembling mace or elemi. 

 They are said by Pereira to be chiefly used on the Continent. The fruits 

 are long, narrow, and of a dirty white colour. Pharmacographia, pp. 

 583-5. For fig. see Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. i., p. 263, fig. 131. 



573. CURCUMA ANGUSTIFOLIA, Roxb. 



a. Starch. (Curcuma Starch, East Indian Arrowroot, Tikor 



or Tikhar.) 



Note. According to Hanbury this starch is not known as. a special 

 kind in the English market, the East Indian arrowroot of the London 

 drug sales being the starch of a maranta. Pharmacographia, pp. 574-5. 

 Curcuma starch is figured in Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. ii., frontispiece, 

 fig. 12. It is distinguished from all other starches (except plantain 

 starch, fig. 2, I. c., which fs rarely quite white) by its flatness, and by 

 having the hilum at the small end. See Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. i. , p. 242. 

 574 CURCUMA LONGA, L. 



a. Rhizome, preserved wet. 



b. Chinese turmeric, fine. 



c. Madras ditto, fine. 



d. Bengal ditto, fine. 



