534 Illustrations of the Botany and Natural History of the [Oct. 



of the country resemble one another, as well as those attached to the plant. They 

 are about an inch in length, of an oblong oval-pointed form, light greyish colour 

 externally, white in the inside, and of a pure bitter taste. That its substance is 

 not so injurious as the Bish, I conclude from its being attacked by insects, while 

 the other remains sound and untouched. The natives describe it as being of two 

 kinds, one black, the other white, and both as bitter, astringent, pungent, and 

 heating, aiding digestion, useful as a tonic and aphrodisiac. By inquiries in Nepal 

 it might easily be ascertained whether this has any resemblance to the Bikhma of 

 Dr. Buchanan. 



Respecting the third kindof Bish, Nirbisi, Nirbishi, or Nirbikhi, the uncertainties 

 are also considerable; as we have only the information that it is a tuberous root 

 without deleterious properties ; while Dr. B.'s specimens of Caltha? Nirbisia are 

 not to be distinguished from those of his Caltha ? Codoa, which have been shown 

 to be those of Aconitum ferox in a young state. It is evident, therefore, that the 

 people employed did not take the necessary precautions, and, perhaps, brought 

 the leaves of the latter plant, because they thought it was like the true one, and it 

 may therefore be supposed to be one of the Ranunculacere, particularly as the au- 

 thor, in the mouutains of Sirmore and Gurhwal, found the name Nirbisia applied 

 to Delphinium pauciflorum ; and the roots brought down from these mountains 

 with that name have the closest resemblance to the roots of some species of this 

 genus, though he did not succeed in tracing it to the particular one ; but that 

 which is reckoned the best kind of Nirbisi in the Indian bazars is of a very differ- 

 ent nature, and brought down from Bissehur and from Umritseer, the commercial 

 capital of Lahore. This kind is fusiform, somewhat flattened and wrinkled, of a 

 black colour externally, and in some respects resembling the Bikh itself ; when 

 cut, the substance is found to be compact, and of a brownish colour, with a slight 

 degree of bitterness and acrimony, 



The name Nirbisi, with its Persian and Arabic synonymes, judwar and zudwar, 

 has been already applied by Mr. Colebrooke to the roots of Curcuma Zedoaria, 

 because they agree pretty well with the round zedoary {zedoaria rotunda) of the 

 shops ; but that distinguished scholar, with a caution dictated by his extensive 

 knowledge of the subject, observes, that if the drug be not the true zedoary, the 

 synonymes must be transferred to some otherplant. The term Nirbisi, as observ- 

 ed by Mr. Colebrooke, implies that the drugis used as an antidote to poison, be- 

 ing composed of the privative preposition nir and bis, poison ; and in the Mukh- 

 zun-ool Aiwieh, it is farther explained, as repelling from and purifying the body 

 from deadly poisons. It may therefore be considered as a medicine of considera- 

 ble importance in Eastern countries, and that it is not only so at present, but has 

 been reckoned such from very ancient records, will appear from the following 

 quotations. The Arabic synonyme Zudwar, leads us at once to the accounts of 

 the Zedoaria of old authors and the Geiduar of Avicenna. Thus, Mathiolus 

 {Commentaries on Dioscorides, lib. ii. c. 154), tells us, " Zedoaria (ut cap. clxxii. 

 testis est Serapio) convehitur e Sinarum regione ultra extremas Indise oras ;" ad- 

 ding, after giving the medical properties, " et in antidotis additur. Ideoque dixit 

 Avicenna nihil esse ea prastantius ad ebibitum Napellum." Garcias ab Orta, 

 who was for so many years one of the physicians at Goa, writes : " Quod nos hie 

 Zedoariam appellamus, Avieennce, lib. ii. cap. 734, Geiduar dicitur ; aliud no- 



