ON THE SPIKENARD OF THE ANTIENTS. 10*} 



dom of a searcher for truth, but without any diminu- 

 tion of that respect to which his knowledge and can- 

 dour justly entitle him. 



In the first place, there is a passage in Dr. 

 Blank's paper, which I could not but read with sur- 

 prise ; not because it is erroneous or disputable (for 

 nothing can be more certain) but because it is deci- 

 sive against the very proposition which the writer 

 endeavours to support. " Dioscoridrs mentions the 

 *' Syriack nard," says the Doctor, " as a species dif- 

 ci ferent from the Indian, which was certainly brought 

 iC from some of the remote farts of India ; for both he 

 " and Galen, by way of fixing more precisely the 

 " country whence it came, call it also Gangitcs" 

 We may add, that Ptolemy, who, though not a 

 professed naturalist, had opportunities in Egypt of 

 conversing with Indian merchants on every thing 

 remarkable in this country, distinguishes Rdngamati 

 as producing the true spikenard ; and it is from the 

 'borders of that very district, if we believe modern 

 Indians, that the people of Bntan bring it yearly into 

 Bengal'-. Now, it is not contended that the 

 new species of Andropogon (if it be a new species) 

 may be the Indick nard of Dioscorides \ , be- 

 cause it was found by Mr. Blane in a remote part 

 of India (lor that solitary fact would have proved 



* Ptole'me'e distingue le canton de Rhandamarcotta, en ce 

 qu'il tournit la plante, que nous appellons Spic nard, ce q >i pent 

 convenir a Raagamati; et des ditferentes especes, VInaiqUt est 

 bicn la plus esttmee. D'An v. Jntiq. Gcogr. Ikd. 3i. 



•f Dr. Roxburgh with great reason supposes it to be the Mu- 

 ricatcd Andropogom of Koenig, who mentions the roots as 

 oiioriferbus when sprinkled with water.Ste RtTz. III. FastTe. x ■, 

 aud v. 2j. 



nothing ) ; 



