Jl6 BOTANICAL OBSERVATIONS 



some oval, pointed, irregularly notched, alter- 

 nate (some opposite), crowded, crisp, very roucdi 

 veined, and paler beneath, smoother and dark 

 above. Berry , deep yellow. The Pandits having 

 only observed the male plant, insist that it bears 

 no fruit. Female flowers axillary, from one to four 

 or five in an axil. 

 68. Virana : 

 Syn. Viratara. 

 V u l g . Bend Gdnda r Caul, 

 R e t z . Murlcated Andropogon. 

 Roxb. Aromatic Andropogon. 



The root of this useful plant, which Ca'lida's 

 calls us'i'ra, has nine other names, thus arranged in a 

 Sanscrit verse : 



Abhaya> Nalada, Sevya Amrinala, Jalds'aya y 

 Lamajjaca^ Laghulaya, Avaddha, Ishtacdpafha* 

 It will be sufficient to remark, that Jd las ay a means 

 aquatic, and that Avaddha implies a power of allaying 

 feverish heat ; for which purpose the root was brought 

 byGAUTAMi' to her pupil Sacontala'. The slender 

 fibres of it, which we know here by the name of 

 Chas or Khaskhas, are most agreeably aromatic 

 when tolerably fresh; and, among the innocent luxu- 

 ries of this climate, we may assign the first rank to 

 the coolness and fragrance which the large hur- 

 dles or screens in which they are interwoven, impart 

 to the hottest air, by the means of water dashed 

 through them; while the strong southern wind spreads 

 the scent before it, and the quick evaporation contri- 

 butes to cool the atmosphere. Having never seen 



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