116 



CASE weeks the juice is scraped off with a broad iron spatula 



60. and put into a cup. At each collection a thin transvers«- 

 slice is taken off, which causes the juice again to flow, ami 

 this is done till the root is exhausted. The contents <»r 

 the cups are emptied into large vessels, and the juice 

 exposed to the sun lo harden. Asafoetida is mostly mvx 

 with in commerce in lumps, and rarely in separate tears, 

 varying in size from that of a pea to a walnut. It is a 

 stimulant, antispasmodic, and expectorant, used to some 

 extent in veterinary practice ; much more, however, on 

 the Continent than in England. In India and Persia it is 

 also used as a condiment. 



Observe stems, fruits and umbels of Ferula foetUhiy. 

 also umbel of F, alliacea,, Boiss., from Kerman, Persia, 

 yielding the Asafoetida exported to Bombay under the 

 name of Hing. 



CASE No. 301. Gum Galbanum, afforded by Ferula 



61. galhanifiua^ Boiss. and Buh., native of Afghanistan and 

 Persia, and F. ruh^Hcaulis, Boiss., of Persia. Ferula 

 Schair, Borszc, of the desert regions of the Syr-Darja, on 

 the confines of Siberia and Turkestan, is also a source of 

 the drug. In the first-mentioned species the stem, on 

 injury in an early stage of growth yields an orange-yellow 

 gummy fluid which slowly consolidates. The gum is 

 commonly found adhering to the lower portions of the 

 stem. No artificial means are employed in its collection. 

 Galbanum finds its way by the Persian Gulf to Arabia 

 and India and thence to Europe, but the principal supply 

 is by way of the Levant. It occurs in commerce eirher 

 in tears or masses formed of agglutinated tears with 

 impurities of various kinds. It is separated from these 

 by melting and straining. Galbanum is an antispasmodic 

 and stimulant expectorant ; externally, it is applied as a 

 plaster in chronic pulmonary affections. It is, however, 

 not so much used as formerly. 



No. 302. Gum Ammoniacum, obtained from Dorerna 

 Ammoniacum^ Don, a large herbaceous plant, found in 

 South-west and Northern Persia and Northern Afghanistan. 

 It contains an abundant milky juice, which exudes upon 

 the puncture of beetles, and dried by exposure to the air 

 constitutes Ammoniacum of commerce. For commercial 



