314 UMBELLIFER^. 



incense.^ The largest roots, for which we are indebted to Professor 

 Dymock, are three inches in diameter at the crown, by 8 inches in 

 length. They are easily distinguished from the Sumbul by their 

 decidedly yellowish hue as well as by the absence of any musky odour. 

 We extracted by alcohol, from the root dried at 100° C, 26 per cent, of 

 a resin identical with that afforded by commercial Ammoniacum. 



Bombay Sumbul agrees with the Indian Sumbul as described by 

 Pereira." 



ASAFCETIDA. 



Gummi-resina Asafcetula vel Assafoetida; Asafoetida; F. Asafcetida; 



G. Asant, IStinkasant. 



Botanical Origin — Two perennial umbelliferous plants are now 

 generally cited as the source of this drug ; but though they are both 

 capable of affording a gum-resin of strong alliaceous odour, it has not 

 been proved that either of them furnishes the asafoetida of commerce. 

 The plants in question are : — 



1. Ferida Narthex Boiss. {Narthex-Asafmtida Falconer), a gigantic 

 herbaceous plant, having a large root several inches in thickness, the 

 crown of which is clothed with coarse bristly fibres ; it has an erect 

 stem attaining 10 feet in height, throwing out from near its base 

 upwards a regular series of branches bearing compound umbels, each 

 branch proceeding from the axil of a large sheathing inflated petiole, 

 the upper of which are destitute of lamina. The radical leaves, 1| feet 

 long, are bipinnate with broadly ligulate obtuse lobes. It has a large 

 flat fruit with winged margin. When wounded, the plant exudes a 

 milky juice having a powerful smell of asafoetida. It commences to 

 gi'ow in early spring, rapidly throwing up its foliage, which dies away 

 at the beginning of summer. It does not flower till the root has 

 acquired a considerable size and is several years old. 



F. Narthex, which now exists in several botanic gardens and has 

 flowered twice in that of Edinburgh, was discovered by Falconer in 

 1838, in the valley of Astor or Hasora (35° N. lat., 74°-30 E. long, north 

 of Kashmir.^ 



2. Ferula Scorodosma Bentham et Hooker (Scorodosma fcetidum 

 Bunge ; Ferula Assa fcetida L. in Boissier, Flora orientalis ii. 994) — In 

 form of leaf, in the bristly summit of the root, and in general aspect, 

 this plant resembles the preceding; but it has the stem (5 to 7 feet 

 high) nearly naked, with the umbels, which are very numerous, collected 

 at the summit; and the few stem-leaves have not the voluminous 

 sheathing petioles that are so striking a feature in Narthex. In 

 Narthex, the vittse of the fruit are conspicuous, — in Scorodosma almost 

 obsolete ; but the development of these organs in feruloid plants varies 

 considerably, and has been rejected by Bentham and Hooker as afford- 

 ing no important distinctive character. Scorodosma is apparently 

 more pubescent than Narthex. 



^ Pharm. Journ. vi. (1875) 321. ^ We refrain from citing localities in 



'■'Elements of Mat. Med. ii. p. 2 (1857) Tibet, Beluchistan and Persia, where plants 



208 ; also Bentley, PAorm. /oMr». ix. (1878) supposed to agree with that of Falconer 



479. have been found by other collectors. 



