OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 143 



ins 



of Celsus, and Dionysius Periegetes ; and the " akoron '' of Dioscorides having leaves like the 

 but narrower, roots jointed at intervals and extending near the surface, acrid to the taste and fragrant, 

 mentioned also by Galen : A. calamus was observed by Sibthorp in the Peloponnesus ; its root is 

 enumerated by Alpinus among the ingredients of the Egyptian theriac, and by Forskal mat. med. as 

 imported into Egypt from Greece. Westward, the " acorus " is mentioned by Celsus, and Pliny xii. 

 48 to xxv. 100 : A. calamus is termed "a. verus sive calamus aromaticus officinarum " by C. Bauhin 

 pin. 34 ; was observed by Lenz in North Italy, and is known to grow throughout middle Europe as 

 far as Sweden (Engl. bot. pi. 356, Dec, and Wats.). Eastward from Syria, " kalamos ar6matikos " 

 produced in India is mentioned by Dioscorides i. 17 : A. calamus was observed by Rheede xi. pi. 48, 

 Roxburgh, and Lush, under cultivation in Hindustan, by Nimmo seemingly wild in the Southern 

 Concan; is called in Hindustanee and Bengalee "bach," in Telinga "vasa" or "vadaja," in Tamil 

 " vashambu " (Drur.), in the environs of Bombay " yekund " and " employed in medicine as a febri- 

 fuge " (Graham) : was observed by Mason v. 496 " exotic " in Burmah, cultivated " to a small extent 

 for its medicinal properties" and called "len-has;" by Thunberg, near Nagasaki in Japan; and by 

 Gmelin, wild throughout Siberia. Farther East, by Drummond on the Saskatchewan river at 54° in 

 central North America ; by Nuttall on the Arkansas, by Short in Kentucky, by myself from 43 to 38 

 along the Atlantic, by Croom at 35°, and is known to grow as far as Florida (Ell., and Chapm.). The 

 root according to Lindley is in Constantinople "made into a confection " which is "eaten freely 

 during the prevalence of epidemic diseases," but in Britain is "chiefly employed by perfumers, in the 

 manufacture of hair powder." (See Andropogon Martini). 



Cinnamomum aromalicum of Mindanao. Imported cinnamon is called in Arabic "dar-sini" 

 (Sontheim.), in Hindustanee and Bengalee "dar-chini" (D'roz.), in Sanscrit "dhal-kinna" China- 

 wood (. . . ) : the "knmwn" in the anointing oil, — and of Prov. vii. 17, and Cant. iv. 14, is referred 

 here by writers : "the best cinnamon of any " according to Pigafetta 121 grows on Mindanao, is 

 called there " cainmana " from " cain " wood and " mana " sweet, " is a small tree not more than three 

 or four cubits high," and " its wood and leaves when they are green have the taste and force of the 

 bark itself : " C. aromaticum, furnishing according to Nees von Esenbeck the valuable Chinese cinna- 

 mon, was seen by Roxburgh, and Wight, under cultivation in Hindustan ; by Graham, " in gardens 

 Bombay, rare." 



The name however seems to indicate the route of transmission of the earliest-known article, and 

 that the Hebrew " kn " really means China or possibly Siam, appears from the Sanscrit " kinna " — 

 occurring in the Greek words " kinnamomon " and "kinnavar " (another product of China, and men- 

 tioned by Ctesias). China is called in Egyptian "ielopon " (Mar., and Kirch.) 



The concluding Hebrew syllable "mwn" is perhaps the Tamil "maun" signifying tree, in 

 accordance with the above Sanscrit name ; and if so, may prove the earliest specimen known of the 

 Tamil language. 



Cinnamomum cassia of Java and Ceylon. A tree furnishing the cinnamon of commerce or Cey- 

 lon cinnamon ; probably the "knmwn " of Moses, — and Solomon, "kinnamdmon " of Herodotus iii. 

 in, Hippocrates, Theophrastus, Strabo, Dioscorides, and Galen, "cinnamomum" or "cinnamum" 

 of Ovid, Pliny, and Claudian, and " dar-sini " of Ishak ben Amran, Avicenna, and Ebn Baitar. The 

 bark of the roots and coarser branches according to Marshall is the cassia of commerce, and accord- 

 ing to Galen antid. i. p. 70 the two spices are from the same tree : the " kasia " brought by the 

 Arabs is mentioned also by Herodotus iii. ill, Theophrastus ix. 5. 1, Agatharchides, Strabo xvi. 4, 

 Dioscorides, Pliny xii. 42, and Dionysius Perigetes 939 : C. cassia is known to be " cultivated to a 

 great extent in Ceylon " (Graham) ; and a degenerate variety according to Nees von Esenbeck 

 was by Europeans carried to the neighbouring portion of Hindustan, where it has become naturalized 

 (Wight pi. 123). By European colonists also, C. cassia was carried to various places within the 

 Tropicks, and is now cultivated even in America (Lindl.). 



Galbanum officinale of central Asia. The imported gum-resin galbanum is called in Egypt 

 " qanavascheq " (Forsk.), in Egyptian " kakonia " (Edw.) ; and the "hlbng," an ingredient of the 

 perfume enjoined ex. xxx. 34, — is referred here by writers : " halvane " is regarded by Theophrastus 

 ix. 7.2 as the product of a Syrian plant called "panakous," of a "narthekos" according to Dio- 

 scorides, of a "ferula" called " stagonitin " according to Pliny xii. 56, and " halvanis riza " is men- 

 tioned by Nicander ther. 938 : " galbanum '' is mentioned by Celsus, and Juvenal ; and its odour 

 driving away reptiles and insects, by Nicander ther. 555, Virgil geor. iii. 415, and Pliny xix. 58: 

 "kinnah" is mentioned by Ebn Baitar, the " narthex " of the Greeks being called "kana" (Son- 

 theim.); and "galbanum" was found by Forskal mat. med. imported into Egypt "from Persia." 

 Farther East, the drug is called in Hindustanee " qanna " or " birzad " or "barija" (D'roz.) ; and 

 Royle learned that the plant is called " kinneh " or " nafeel : " but according to Lindley, " nothing is 

 known of this plant except " the imbedded seed described by Don (which may belong elsewhere), 

 "the drug comes from Smyrna and India." 



