att 
346 
(which was identified by Trimen as A. Schoenanthus, var. versi-' 
color) is particularly common in the Island of Delft in Adam’s 
Strait, and has, under the name ‘Delft grass,’ the reputation of 
being a good fodder for horses. I have seen no specimens mia 
that locality. 
In 1902, a volatile oil was prepared from a sample of the grass 
collected on the hills about Ootacamund by Mr. Proudlock. The 
average yield is given as 0°25 per cent.; but so far no analysis 
seems to have been made of it. 
11. Vetiveria zizanioides, Stapf. arly VG 03 
(Andropogon muricatus, Retz.) 
Khas Khas (Hind. ?)—Vetiver (Tamil). 
KARLY HISTORY.—If we admit certain deductions of the 
Sanscritists—and there is no objection to them from the botanist’s 
point of view—this grass, best known as ‘ Khas Khas’ or ‘ Vetiver,’ 
must have been popular with the peoples of Northern India for a 
very long time. W. Jones,“ as long ago as 1795, identified the 
Usira of Kalidasa with ‘Khas Khas,’ and Hesslerf did the same 
in his translation of the Ayurvedas, whilst among the more recent: 
interpreters of Sanscrit plant-names Duttt has come to the same 
conclusion. Other Sanscrit names which have been interpreted in 
the same sense are Virana, Lamajjaka (or Lamaja) and Bala. 
According to the ‘Pharmacographia Indica’ (vol. iii., p. 571), 
“In Vedic times the ancient Hindus were instructed to build 
their houses in a place where the Virana and Kusa (Desmo- 
stachya bipinnata, Stapf) were abundant.” Lamajjaka is, in the 
same work (l.c., p.562), referred to ‘Camel’s Hay’ (C. Schoenanthus), 
but the synonyms ‘ Dirgha-mulaka’ (long-rooted) and ‘Jalasaya’ 
(aquatic) with which Lamagyjake i is connected in the Nighandas, are 
much more descriptive of ‘ Khas Khas,’ and Heyne’s§ and Elliot’s| 
interpretation of the term as connoting the latter is therefore 
m more plausible. Hessler also renders the Bald of SuSruta with 
i Andropogon muricutus. According to Dutt it stands for 
| Pavonia odorata, another plant whose aromatic roots are 
; frequently used in Hindu medicine. But the fact that Bala in 
i | Hindi actually also denotes the roots of ‘ Khas Khas’ and that the 
i Bengali, Gujerati and Mahrati synonyms Vala and Valo are applied 
in the same sense, supports Hessler’s identification. In proof of 
the assumption that ‘Khas Khas’ wasan article of some importance 
long ago, the authors of the ‘Pharmacographia Indica’ (vol. rahe 
p. 0/72) also refer to the discovery of some copper plates in the 
village of Basahi in: the district of Etawah, south-east of Agra, it 
being stated that on these copper plates, which are dated A.D. 1108 
and ‘LITA, the grass is mentioned among the articles subject to 
royalties. The actual term used is ‘turushka-danda,’ which 
* Jones in Asixt. Research. vol. iv. (1795), p. 306. 
+ Hessler, SuS:uta’s Ayurvedas, vol. iii. (1850), p. 174. 
+ Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind. (1900), p. 321. 
§ Heyne, Tracts Hist. Stat. inde (1814), p: £30, 
|| Elliot, Fl. Andh. 1859), p. 106, 
€ Dutt, ‘Le, p. 293, 
