BOOK XII. XXIV. 41-xxvr. 43 



XXIV. The country neighbouring on these islands, utuuy trees 

 Arabia, calls for some detailed account of its products ^^ ^'■^*'"- 

 — inasmuch as the parts of trees that are utilized 

 include the root, the trunk, the bark, the juice, the 



gum, the wood, the shoots, the blossom, the leaves 

 and the fruit. 



XXV. In India a root and a leaf are held in the Thecostus 

 highest value. The root is that of the costus," which °f ^'^''^' 

 has a burning taste and an exquisite scent, though 



in other respects the plant is of no use. In the 

 island of Patale just in the mouth of the river 

 Indus, there are two kinds of costus plant, the black 

 and the white ; the latter is the better ; it sells at 

 5J denarii a pound. 



XXVI. About the leaf, which is that of the nard, ^ard. 

 it is proper to speak at greater length, as it holds 



a foremost place among perfumes. The nard is a 

 shrub, the root of which is heavy and thick but 

 short and black, and although oily, brittle ; it has a 

 musty smell hke the gladiolus, and an acrid taste ; the 

 leaves are small, and grow in clusters. The shoots of 

 the nard sprout into ears, and consequently both the 

 spikes and the leaves of the nard are famous — a two- 

 fold product. Another kind of nard growing by the 

 Ganges is entirely ruled out by its name, 'putrid* 

 nard,' having a poisonous smell. Nard is also 

 adulterated with a plant called bastard nard, which 

 grows everywhere, and has a thicker and broader 

 leaf and a sickly colour inchning to white ; and also 

 by being mixed with its own root to increase the 

 weight, and wuth gum and sih^er-spume or antimony 

 and gladiolus or husk of gladiolus. Unadulterated 

 nard can be detected by its hght weight and its 

 ruddy colour and sweet scent and particularly by 



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