178 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [April, 1913. 
This ae is described as a tall shrub with long white 
hoary tomentose spines. The flowers are shortly pedicelled. 
Calyx adpressed, ‘tabulate: opening with five lanceolate, subulate 
teeth. Vexillum oblong. Pod as large as a grain of rice in the 
husk, covered with a tomentum of white, cotton-like down, con- 
sisting of long simple hairs matted together; some of the pods 
are abortive and full of gum. Seed vetch-like, diameter } in. ; 
when soaked in water it swells and bursts and a mass of gum 
protrudes. 
Dymock gthetes the plant in 1891 in ‘ th 
Indica ’’ as A. ocolla. Aitchison in 1892 considered it pre- 
mature to ns it as a new species as in all probability , 
he said, it would be found to be a species described by Bunge 
or Boissier. This supposition has been confirmed. 
It is remarkable that some ee have attributed the 
source of sarcocolla to species of Penaea as P. mucronata, P. 
sarcocolla and P. squamosa, plant from ‘Ethio ia and Cape of 
Good Hope. The source of this peculiar error is indicated in 
Dr. Ainslie’s Materia Indica, who refers to an account of the 
(Penaea) plant in so ‘* excellent Edinburgh Dispensatory ”’ by 
r. Dunean, Juni 
Dr. Aitchison refers to Microrhynchus spinosus, Benth.., 
another Persian plant, of the composite order, as the origin of 
false recat a substance having a most nauseous and offen- 
sive odou 
The Fe rug consists < spongy light yellow gummy or 
resinous grains, from the size of a pea to a sandy powder. It 
has the appearance of Scathied resin, bread crumbs or a form 
of brown sugar, but more irregular. The tears are whitish, 
1 A sample of the gum from the Lahore bazar was attacked by 
insects. These were identified as Lastoderma testaceum, Redt. and Tre- 
lobivm erie) Fabr. 
2 imp.J. i, ¢. 
& Ca, anon Med lib. i, ack ii, ve 
