DRUGS. 



and Armenia, and far inferior to the Cyrenaic. Pereira, following previous 

 authorities, observes " it is not at all improbable that the Laser of Persia 

 may have been our Asafoetida^ Pereira suspects the formation of Asa 

 from Laser, and quotes the passage in Avicenna "There are two kinds of 

 Assa, one foetid and the other odoriferous" Quasi, Asafoetida and Asadul- 

 cis. It is remarkable that while the Germans call Asafoetida '* Teufels- 

 dreck" or Stercus diaboli, Asiatics have denominated it Cibus deorum, 

 Gods' food. De gustibus non est disputandum. The botany of Asafoetida 

 is not yet properly determined, for although N. Asafoetida certainly 

 yields the drug of commerce, a portion is probably contributed by other 

 umbelliferous plants. See " Condiments and Spices," and " Gums and 

 Resins." 



Ophoidia galbanifera. Don. 

 Galbanum officinale. Don. 



Linn. Syxt. Pentandria Digynia. 



The gum-resin, Galbanum. 



Vernacular. Bireja, Hind. Barzud, Arab. Kinneh and Nafeel are 

 given in the Ulfaz Udwiyeh as Arab names of the plant. 



Habitat. O. galbanifera, Khorassan. G. officinale, Syria. 



Remarks. Galbanum is the Khelbenah of Moses, and the ^aX/Sdi/?/ of 

 Hippocrates and Dioscorides. Probably the ancients referred to the Syrian 

 kind, the Levant Galbanum of modern commerce, and not to Persian 

 Galbanum, as Dioscorides says that Galbanum is the ^royinov growing in 

 Syria. Is the Syrian plant the rrai/oKes ev 2upm of Theophrastus which 

 Sprengel would identify with Ferula persica, W. ? See " Gums and 

 Resins." 



Opopanax Chironum, Each. 



Linn. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. 



The gum-resin, Opopanax. 



Vernacular. Juwashur, Arab, and By. Gawsheer, Pers. 



Habitat. The Levant, Croatia, and northern shores of the Medi- 

 terranean. 



Remarks. Hippocrates mentions navaKes and Dioscorides states that 6iro- 

 irdra is obtained from the iravaKes rjpa<\fiov. Sprengel makes the navaKts 

 Xtip&vetov of Theophrastus the above plant ; and the ^pd/cXeioi/ of that botanist 

 the Heracleum Panaces of Willdenow, a Siberian plant. See " Gums and 

 Resins." 



Pimpinella Anisum. Linn. Anise. 



Linn. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. 



The fruit, Anise-seed. 

 42 



