176 BOTANICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL INQUIRIES. 



1859. this tree is capable, under favourable circumstances, of yielding 

 a highly fragrant resin which was once much valued. Authen- 

 tic specimens of this resin, which is the original and legitimate 

 Storax, are much desired. It was formerly produced in the 

 south of Asia Minor, where the tree is still found in great 

 abundance. 



SALEP. Obtain specimens of the different plants which yield 

 salep in Asia Minor, Persia, and Cashmere, and especially of 

 those that afford the best kinds. What is the plant which affords 

 the drug called Badshah Saleb, or Eoyal Salep ? Where is it pro- 

 duced, and for what purpose is it valued ? It has been exported 

 to England from Bombay. 



SUMBUL ROOT. Nothing definite is known respecting the 

 botanical origin of this remarkable root, which is said to come 

 into Europe by way of Russia. It is probably produced some- 

 . where in Central Asia. 



ASSAFCETIDA. Although the ordinary assafcetida of commerce 

 is doubtless the produce of Narthex Assafcetida, Falc., there are 

 some varieties of the drug which, it is reasonable to conclude, 

 are derived from other species. One of those sent from India to 

 the Great Exhibition of 1851 was a brown pellucid gum resin, 

 containing pieces of the stalk of the plant, and differing con- 

 siderably from ordinary assafcetida. 



Another variety, which has long been known, has been called 

 Stony Assafcetida, from its containing about 50 per cent, of 

 gypsum, an addition which, in the case of so cheap a drug, it is 

 difficult to understand. Assafcetida is produced in Persia, and 

 reaches Europe by way of Bombay. 



SAGAPENUM, a gum-resin resembling assafcetida, but not ac- 

 quiring a pink colour upon exposure to the air, and of not so 

 strong an alliaceous odour. As it is occasionally shipped from 

 Bombay, it is presumed that it is produced in Persia. Though 

 it has been used in medicine for ages, its botanical origin is not 

 ascertained ; from analogy, however, we may infer that it is the 

 produce of some large plant of the Nat. order Umbellifera;. 



