ASSAF(ETIDA. 



533 



salad, is found to be one of the best cures for 

 scurvy, brought on by long sea voyages and a 

 diet of salted provisions. This disease has, 

 however, in a great measure been obviated in 

 modern times by a supply of citric acid or 

 lemon juice on board of ship; and in domestic 

 diet great and important improvements have 

 taken place by the continued supply all over 

 the year of fresh provisions, and abundance of 

 vegetables. 



AssAFCETiDA {ferula assafcetida). Natural 

 family, umhelliferw; pentandria, digynia, of 

 LinnoBus. The well known gum assafcetida is 

 the juice of several species of a plant which in 

 its general appearance and habits resembles 

 hemlock. Dr Hope was the first who introduced 

 this plant into Europe; and in 1784, a fine speci- 

 men grew in the botanic garden of Edinburgh. 

 The plant is a native of Persia ; the root is per- 

 ennial, tapering, and grows to the size of a man's 

 arm; it is covered with a dark coloured bark, 

 with many stiff fibres on the upper part. The 

 internal white fleshy substance abounds with a 

 thick milky juice, which has a strong fetid smell 

 resembling garlic. The stalk is round, smooth, 

 striated from six to eight feet in height, and six 

 or seven inches in circumference. The leaves are 

 ladical, six or seven in number, and nearly two 

 feet in length, bipinnated, of a deep green colour 

 and fetid smell. The flowers form an umbel, 

 and produce oval seeds. The plant varies much 

 according to the nature of the soil in which it 

 gi-ows, not only in the shape of the leaves but in 

 the intensity of the odour of the juice. Some- 

 times this is so slight, that goats feed on the 

 plant. 



Assafcetida is collected from plants grow- 

 ing in the mountainous provinces of Chorassan 

 and Loar in Persia. At the season of the year 

 when the leaves begin to decay, the oldest plants 

 are selected. First, the firm earth which encom- 

 passes the root is rendered light by digging, 

 and part of it is cleared away so as to leave a 

 portion of the upper part of the root above the 

 ground ; the leaves and stalk are then twisted 

 ofl^ and used with other vegetables for a cover- 

 ing, to screen the root from the sun ; and upon 

 this covering a stone is placed, to keep the whole 

 from being blown away. In this state the root is 

 left for forty days, after which the covering is 

 removed, and the top of the root is cut off^ trans- 

 versely. It is then shaded from the sun for 

 forty-eight hours more, which is thought a suffi- 

 cient time for the juice to exude upon the cut 

 surface of the root. The juice is then scraped 

 off", and exposed to the sun to harden. A second 

 transverse section of the root is again made, but 

 no tliicker than is necessary to remove the 

 remaining superficial concretions which would 

 otherwise obstract the farther eff'usion of fresh 

 juice. It is a second time shaded for forty-eight 



hours, and the juice scraped off as before. This 

 process is repeated eight times on each root; after 

 every third collection, ten days of an interval is 

 allowed to elapse, in order to give the root suffi- 

 cient time to secrete the juice. Thus from the 

 first incision to the last, a period of five or six 

 weeks is required; after this the root isabandoned, 

 and it soon perishes. The whole of this pro- 

 cess is conducted by the peasants who live in 

 the neighbourhood of the mountains where the 

 plants grow, and as they collect the juice from 

 a number of roots at the same time, and expose 

 it in one common place to harden, the sun soon 

 gives it that consistence and appearance in whicli 

 it is imported into Europe. Assafcetida has a 

 bitter, acrid, pungent taste, and a powerful and 

 peculiar fetid smell, the strength of which is the 

 surest test of its genuineness. As this odour is 

 very volatile, the gum loses much of its strength 

 by keeping, and when recent the odour is much 

 more powerful than after its transportation to 

 Europe. It comes to us in large irregular masses, 

 of a heterogeneous appearance, composed of 

 various little lumps, or grains of a white 

 brown, reddish, and violet colour. The best 

 masses are those which are clear, reddish, and 

 variegated with whitish tears. It is a gum resin, 

 the smell and taste residing in the latter, which 

 is readily dissolved in spirits, and to a consider- 

 able extent in water. 



In medicine it is of very' general use as a 

 stimulant and antispasmodic in nervous afli;c- 

 tions; especially nervous aff^ections of the 

 stomach, combined with hysterical disease, 

 flatulence, and colic pains. It is given in tinc- 

 ture, or emulsion, or in pills combined with 

 aloes or colocynth. In some countries it is 

 used as a condiment in food, in a similar way as 

 garlic, which it in many respects resembles. 



Inula or Elecampane (inula heleniumj. 

 Natural family, composit(P,' syngenesia polt/gamia, 



Blecampaue. 



of Linnffius. This plant is a native of England, 

 and grows in moist meadows ; it is also not unfre- 

 quently met with in the cottage garden. The root 

 is perennial, large, thick, branched, externally 

 brown and of a whitish gray within. The stalk is 

 uj)ri(rht, strong, round, striated, hairy, and about 



