ASAFCETIDA. 315 



F. Scorodosma was discovered by Lehmana in 1841, in the sandy 

 deserts eastwards of the Sea of Aral, and also on the hills of the 

 Karatagh range south of the river Zarafshan, — that is to say, south- 

 east of Samarkand. In 1858-59, it was observed by Bunge about 

 Herat. At nearly the same period, it was afresh collected between the 

 Caspian and Sea of Aral, and in the country lying eastward of the 

 latter, by Boi-szczow, a Ru.ssian botanist, who has made it the subject 

 of an elaborate and valuable memoir.^ 



The most detailed account of the asafoetida plant we possess is that 

 of the German traveller Engelbert Kampfer, who in 1G87 observed it in 

 the Persian province of Laristan, between the river Shur and the town 

 of Kongiin, also in the neighbourhood of the town of Dusgan or Disgun, 

 in which latter locality - alone he saw the gum-resin collected. He 

 states that he found the plant also growing near Herat. Kampfer has 

 given figures of his plant which he calls Asa foetida Disgunensis, and 

 his specimens consisting of remnants of leaves, a couple of mericarps 

 (in a bad state) and a piece of the stem a few inches long, are still 

 preserved in the British Museum. 



These materials have been the subject of much study, in order to 

 detemiine which of the asafoetida plants of modem botanists should be ' 

 identified with that of Kampfer. Falconer and Boi"Szczow have arrived 

 in turns at the conclusion that his own plant accords with Kampfer's. 

 But Kampfer's figures agree well neither with Kartkexnor with Scoro- 

 dosma. The plant they represent does not form, it would seem, the 

 branching pyramid of the Karthex (as it flowered at Edinburgh), 

 nor has it the multitude of umbels seen in Borszczow's figure of 

 Scorodosma.^ 



Whether Kampfer's plant is really identical with either of those we 

 have noticed, and whether the discrepancies observable are due to care- 

 less drawing, or to actual difi*erence, are points that cannot be settled 

 without the examination of more ample specimens. 



Great allowance must be made for the period of growth at which 

 these plants have been observed. Kampfer saw his plant when quite 

 mature, and not when its st^m was young and flowering. JSaHhex is 

 scarcely known except from specimens grown at Edinburgh, those ob- 

 tained by Falconer in Tibet having been gathered when dry and 

 withered. Even Borszczow's plant appears never to have been seen by 

 any botanist while its flower-stem was in a growing state. 



History — Whether the substance which the ancients called Laser 

 was the same as the modem Aasafoetida, is a question that has been 

 often discussed during the last three hundred years, and it is one upon 

 which we shall attempt to ofier no further evidence. Suffice it to say 

 that Laser is mentioned along with products of India and Persia, among 

 the articles on which duty was levied at the Roman custom house of 

 Alexandria in the 2nd century. 



" Hingu" doubtless meaning Asafoetida, occurs in many Sanskrit 

 works, especially in epic poetry, but also in Susruta. 



^ DiePharmacetUisch-wichtigenFerulaceen dosma in part 24. 



iler Aralo-Caspischen Wiiste, St. Petersb. • - Which we cannot find on any map. 



1860, pp. 40, eight plates.— In the Medi- ^ Kampfer figures his plant with about 6 



c'mal plants of Bentley and Trimen, Nar- umbels ou a stalk, while Scorodosma, as 



thex is figured in part 29 and Scoro- represented by Borszczow, has at least 25. 



