INTRODUCTION, xv 



«(»f India, and has been monopolized by tlie Casli- 

 merean goveramenU The chiimis is prepared from 

 \k^ and sold in India, where it is mixed with tomakoo 

 ( tobacco ), and used for the purpose of producinj^ 

 intoxication, principally by the faqiieers, who smoke 

 it through the hooka. Besides the hemp-plant, two 

 other valuable productions of the country, saffron 

 ( Crocus sat. ) and the putchuk-root ( Costis nigt\ 

 Cashm. ) have also been monopolized by the govern- 

 ment. Notwithstanding this fact, and the proximity 

 ,cf the country, it is stated in the Bengal Dispensa- 

 tory^ p. 692, •' Putchuk-root is brought from Lahore, 

 where it is called kooi^ it is of unknown origin ; it is 

 chiefly exported to China, where it is used as in- 

 cense," &c. (!) 



Twenty years ago, when I was still ignorant of 

 what drugs were to be obtained in the Bazaar at La- 

 hore, I sent to an apothecary in Calcutta, for Stry- 

 chnos faba St. Ignatii^ and succiis sepioe ; instead of 

 the first, I received Strychnos nux vomica^ which 

 belongs to the family of the Strychnos ! and instead 

 of the latter ( the tint of the cuttle-fish ) I received 

 cuttle-Jish shells, although, as the reader may be 

 aware, the latter have a different color and a different 

 effect. All these species of Strychnos and ossa sepioe 

 can, however, be procured in any quantity at the 

 Lahore Bazaar. 



My long residence in " the land of the five rivers" 

 afforded me the opportunity of becoming well ac- 

 quainted not only with the country and its produc- 

 tions, but, also with its endemical and epidemical 

 diseases ; its medicinal substances, and the verna- 

 cular names both of diseases and medicaments ; all 

 of which are less known to English physicians than 



