115 



of Jellico, (no doubt a corruption of Angelica, which CASE 

 the plant resembles,) and eaten raw. 59. 



Fi'uits are also exhibited of the FENNEL {Foeniculum 

 vi/l(/are, Mill.), a well-known garden herb. They are 

 aromatic and carminative. Large quantities are used in 

 cattle medicines, and the oil in cordials. 



Observe also the fruits and roots of Prangos paJmlaria^ 

 Lindl., a perennial herb, known as the Hay PLANT of 

 Tibet, used as a fodder plant, for which its cultivation in 

 other countries has attracted some attention. 



No. 299. SuMBUL or Musk Root {Ferula Sicmhul, CASE 

 Hook. f.). A perennial, dying after flowering, discovered 60. 

 in 1869 in the mountains south-east of Samarkand, at an 

 elevation of 3-1,000 feet. Sumbul root, of commerce, is 

 in roundish pieces, — transverse sections of the root, which 

 vary considerably both in diameter and thickness. It has 

 a bitter, aromatic taste and a strong, but pleasant, musky 

 smell, which it retains for a long period. It is imported 

 into this country and America exclusively from Russia, 

 and is used in dysentery, diarrhoea, hysteria, and similar 

 cases. 



Note specimens of GuM Sagapenum, a rare drug, 

 believed to be the produce of an Umbellifer of Western 

 Asia, perhaps Ferula jjerslcay Willd., or F. Szotvitsiana, 

 DC. Also on middle shelf a stool made of pieces of the 

 stem of Ferula communis, L., from the Island of Amorgos, 

 Greek i^rchipelago. 



No. 300. ASAFOETIDA. A gum-resin obtained from 

 the thick roots of Ferula Narthex, Boiss., F. foetida, 

 Regel, and probably other allied species. These species are 

 lar^e perennial herbs, which die after flowering. The first 

 is a native of dry sunny places on the northern slopes of 

 the mountains dividing Kashmir from Western Tibet, and 

 yields Tibetan Asafoetida. The second grows on the east 

 of the Sea of Aral, and also south-east of Samarkand and 

 in Northern Afghanistan : it probably extends over a wide 

 district in South Western Asia. It furnishes Persian 

 Asafoetida. The gum-resin is collected about the middle 

 of April or somewhat later, when the plant has ceased to 

 grow. The root is cut with a sharp knife, covered with a 

 small domed structure of twigs and clay, and after six 



