1834.] Himalayan Mountains and of the Flora of Kashmir. 535 



men ignoro, quia nascitur regionibus Sinensium provinciae vicinis. Magno vero 

 emitur Geidwar ; nee facile invenias, nisi apud circumforaneos quosdam et circu- 

 latores, quos Indi jognes, Mauretani Calandares appellent, hominum genus quod 

 peregrinationibus et stipem amendicando vitam sustentat. Ab his enim et reges 

 et magnates Geiduar emunt." " Utile est autem istud Geiduar ad plmima, 

 sed praesertim adversus venena, et virulentorum animalium ictus morsusque." 

 Clusius, at p. 378 of the same work, " Exoticorum libri decern," having ob- 

 tained some specimens, " Gedwar veri nomine inscriptas," gives a figure, and 

 compares them with the roots of Anthora, which was at one time thought to be 

 the Zedoary ; they resemble a good deal those of atees, as represented ia pi. 13. 

 The Persian authors, after giving the synonyraes, mention that there are five kinds 

 of Judivar. The best, called Khutai, or Chinese, procured from the mountains 

 of that country. The two next kinds are the produce of the mountains of Tibet, 

 of Nepal, of Morung, and Rungpore ; the fourth kind is from the hills of the 

 Dukhun ; and the fifth, called Antulah, is the produce of Andaloosee, or Spain. 

 A long account follows of the properties and uses of Judwar, of which it is need- 

 less to adduce more than that it is considered a powerful antidote to poison, par- 

 ticularly of the bish ; more so, indeed, than the tiryak farook, the ingredients of 

 which are given by Prosper Alpinus De Medicin. ^Egypt. lib. iv. c. 9. It is 

 therefore probable, that the Nirbisi is the true Zedoary or Geiduar of Avicenna, 

 whatever may be the plant which produces it ; that it is not likely to have been 

 what is now so called, the produce of a species of Curcuma, is evident from the 

 difficulty which Garcias ab Orta had in procuring it even in India. Further, if 

 the descriptions in the Persian works on Materia Medica be compared with those 

 of the old Arabian authors, they will be found to refer to the same article, of 

 which in India the name is Nirbisi. It may therefore be recommended as an in- 

 teresting subject of inquiry for travellers in the Himalayas from Silhet to Cash- 

 mere, to ascertain the plant or plants which furnish the different kinds of Nirbisi, 

 Judwar, Zudwar, or Antuleh. Cissampelos convolvulacea is called dukhnirbisee 

 in the N. W. provinces." 



Since selecting the above extract for press, the Third Part of Dr. Royle's 

 Illustrations has reached India. It contains plates of fourteen new plants ; — two 

 zoological ; and one plate of the fossil plants of the Burdwan coal formation* . 

 Under the family malvaceee, we find a luminous and highly useful account of the 

 cotton plant and its cultivation in various parts of the world, which we regret 

 having no space to notice further at present. The author has also supplied a 

 desideratum in botany by his monographical epitome of the gossypia, which he 

 distinguishes into eight species. 



Lieut. Arthur Conolly's Overland Journey to India, and Lieut. A. Burnes' 

 Voyage up the Indus and subsequent Mission to Kabul and Bokhara^ have both 

 appeared among the recent arrivals from England. As the Gleanings in Science 

 have already given an epitome of the former journey, and the Journal As. Soc. 

 of the latter, we need say no more than that, both works do credit to our enter- 

 prising travellers. 



* What has become of the valuable series of drawings of these fossils prepared from 

 the specimens in the Society's museum by Dr. Falconer three years ago ? — Ed. 



