NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 265 



in weight, while some of excellent quality is met with as small 186O-62. 



chips and splinters. The larger pieces have mostly been scooped Lign Aloes. 



and trimmed with great care, so as to remove, as far as possible, 



all the ]ess resinous portions. The wood is of a deep brown 



colour, marked more or less distinctly with innumerable coarse 



parallel veins loaded with resinous matter. A good sample yielded 



me 48 per cent, of matter soluble in rectified spirit. The wood 



has a slightly bitter, aromatic taste ; its odour is peculiar and not 



remarkably agreeable ; some persons compare it to sandal wood, 



others to ambergris. In the Bible we find it associated with Biblical 



other perfumes, as in the Psalms 1 and Proverbs 2 with cassia or associations. 



cinnamon, and myrrh, in the Canticles 3 with spikenard, saffron, 



calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, and myrrh, and again with 



myrrh in the New Testament, 4 where it appears such a mixture 



was used in embalming the body of our blessed Lord. 



In the present day, aloes wood is chiefly used in China, where 

 it is principally consumed as incense. It is, however, to be met 

 with in all Eastern bazaars, including those of Syria, where I 

 .have myself seen it for sale. In Silhet it seems to be chiefly 

 collected for the sake of extracting from it a sort of essential 

 oil or oleo-resin, which is obtained, according to one account, 

 by distillation, according to another, by infusing fragments of 

 the wood in boiling water, and collecting the " uttur" (oil) that uuur. 

 rises to the surface. I have a sample of this uttur which has 

 been prepared, as I judge, by the former process. 



Aloes wood has long had a place in the Materia Medica of 

 the Pharmacopoeias of Europe, but the finer qualities of the 

 drug have hardly ever been imported. It does not appear to 

 possess any properties that call for. its admission to modern 

 medical practice. 



>T W Ya-heang ; Wood of (?) Aquilaria Chinensis, Ya-hcang. 

 Spreng. (Aguilarinece) ; a light, spongy wood formed of coarse 

 parallel fibres, devoid of aroma, but having a bitterish taste. 

 I have referred it, upon the authority of Mr. S. Wells Williams, 5 



1 Psalm xlv. 8. 3 Prov. chap. vii. 17. 



3 Cant, chap. iv. 14. 4 John, chap. xix. 39. 



5 English and Chinese Vocab., p. 103. 



