728 GRAMINE.E. 



But the most remarkable use made of any grass oil is that for adul- 

 terating Attar of Rose in European Turkey. The oil thus employed is 

 that of Andropogon Schoenanthus L. (see p. 725) ; and it is a curious fact 

 that its Hindustani name is closely similar in sound to the word rose. 

 Thus under the designation Rusa, Rowsah, Rosa, Rose, Roslie^ it is 

 exported in large quantities from Bombay to the ports of Arabia, pro- 

 balDly chiefly to Jidda, whence it is carried to Turkey by the Mahom- 

 medan pilgrims. In Arabia and Turkey, it appears under the name 

 Idris ydghi, while in the attar-producing districts of the Balkan it is 

 known, at least to Europeans, as Geranium Oil or Palmarosa Oil. Before 

 being mixed with attar, the oil is subjected to a certain preparation, 

 which is accomplished by shaking it with water acidulated with lemon 

 juice, and then exposing it to the sun and air. By this process, 

 described by Baur,^ the oil loses a penetrating after-smell, and acquires 

 a pale straw colour. The optical and chemical differences betw^een 

 grass oil thus refined and attar of rose are slight and do not indicate a 

 small admixture of the former. If grass oil is added largely to attar, 

 it will prevent its congealing. 



Adulteration — The grass oil prepared by the natives of India is not 

 unfrequently contaminated with fatty oil. 



Other Products of the genus Andropogon. 



Herba Schcenanthi vel Squinanthi, Juncus odoratus, Foenum 

 Camelorum. 



The drug bearing these names has had a place in pharmacy from the 

 days of Dioscorides down to the middle of the last century, and is still 

 met with in the East. The plant which affords it, formerly confounded 

 with other species, is now known to be Andropogon laniger Desf, a 

 grass of wide distribution, growing in hot dry regions in Northern Africa 

 (Algeria), Arabia, and North-western India, reaching Thibet, where 

 it is found up to an elevation of 11,000 feet. Mr. Tolbort has sent us 

 specimens under the name oi Khdvi, gathered by himself in 1869 between 

 Multan and Kot Sultan, and quite agreeing with the drug of pharmacy. 

 The grass has an aromatic pungent taste, which is retained in very old 

 specimens. We are not aware that it is distilled for essential oil. 



Cuscus or Vetti-veP — This is the long fibrous root of Andropogon 

 niuricatus Retz, a large grass found abundantly in rich moist ground in 

 Southern India and Bengal. Inscriptions on copper-plates lately dis- 

 covered in the district of Etawah, south-east of Agra, and dating from 

 A.D. 1103 and 1174, record grants of villages to Brahmins by the 

 kings of Kanauj, and enumerate the imposts that were to be levied. 

 These include taxes on mines, salt pits and the trade in precious metals, 

 also on mahwah (Bassia) and mango trees, and on Ouscus Orass.^ 



Cuscus, which appears occasionally in the London drug sales, is used 

 in England for laying in drawers as a perfume. In India it serves for 



^ 50 cases, containing about 2250 lb. , im- name adopted by the English in India, is 



ported from Bombay, were offered as "Rose probably from the Persian Klias. Vetti-ver 



Oil" at public sale, by a London drugbroker, is the Malyalim name of the plant. 



31 July, 1873. * Proc. o/Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, Aug. 1873. 



2 See p, 267. 161. 



^ Ctwcus, otherwise written Khus-khus, a 



