OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 327 



Astragalus aristatus of the mountainous portion of the Mediterranean countries. Called in 

 Greece " kolldstoupa " or "tStragkatho" or " tragakantha " (Sibth.) ; in which we recognize the 

 " tragakantha " gum tragacanth found about this time to be produced in other countries besides 

 Crete, and especially of excellent quality in the Peloponnesus — (Theophrast. ix. 1. 3 to 15. 8), 

 mentioned also by Dioscorides, and Galen : A. aristatus was observed by Sib.thorp, and Fraas, on 

 mountains from the Peloponnesus to Thessalonica and Cyprus, and the collected gum exported from 

 Patras ; a fact confirmed by Bory and Chaubard. Westward, "tragacantha " is mentioned by Celsus 

 iv. 4, and Pliny xxvi. 87, doubtless the imported article ; but the living A aristatus is described by 

 Garidel pi. 104, and is known to grow on the Alps, and Pyrenees (Hall. 177, All., Pers., and 

 Spreng.). 



Astragalus verus of Persia. Perhaps yielding the "tragakantha" about the same time ascer- 

 tained to be produced in Media — (Theophr. ix. 1. 3) : A. verus was observed by Michaux in Persia, 

 and was found by Olivier trav. iii. pi. 44 to yield the principal part of the gum tragacanth of 

 commerce: "ketire adjami " from Persia was found by Forskal mat. med. in the drug-shops of 

 Egypt; and "cake tragacanth" is regarded by Th. Martius as the product of A. verus (Lindl. ; see 

 A. gummifer). 



"328 B. C." (Arrian, and Clint.), after spending in the same quarter his "Seventh" campaign, 

 Alexander wintered at Nautaca "about twenty-two miles from Samarcand, and two hundred and thirty 

 miles North of Bactra." 



Amygdalus persica of Central Asia. Called in Britain peach, by old writers " peshe " or " peesk," 

 in France " peche," in Old French "pesche," in Spain and Persia " al-berchigo " (Prior), in Germany 

 "pfirsiche," in Italy "peskanoce" or "perseg nos " (Lenz), in Greece "rothakekSa" and its fruit 

 "rothakena" (Fraas), in Egypt "khoukh" (Del.), in Yemen "choch" or "fersik" (Forsk.) ; and 

 possibly in this campaign first made known to the Greeks : — Theophrastus iv. 4. 2 to vii. 13. 7 had 

 heard of the " pSrsikon " as growing in Media and Persia, yet supposed the almond to be the only 

 tree that puts forth flowers before the leaves ; the "persica " was planted in the East Mediterranean 

 countries in the days of Diphilus Siphnius, Philotimus, Dioscorides, Athenaeus iii. 24, and accord- 

 ing to Pliny xv. 13 came by the way of Egypt : the " choch " is mentioned by Ebn Baitar : A. persica 

 was observed in Egypt by Forskal, Delile, and Clot-Bey ; by Forskal, under cultivation on the moun- 

 tains of Yemen; and by Fraas, cultivated with great success in Greece. Westward, is not men- 

 tioned by Cato, and only at a late period came from Asia and Greece into Italy (Plin.) ; is not 

 mentioned by Virgil, but is figured in the Herculanean paintings ; and at the present day, is cultivated 

 from Italy throughout middle Europe (Pers., and Lenz). Eastward from Persia, is called in Hin- 

 dustanee "shaftalu " or " alubalu " or "alubukhara" (D'roz.) ; has been long known in Northern 

 Hindustan (A. Dec), and within the Tropics according to Graham "thrives well in the Deccan." 

 Farther East, several kinds came from Persia, Samarcand, and Thibet into China, and the emperor 

 " Vou-ty who began to reign B. C. 130" had in his garden from distant lands peaches, some yellow, 

 others with cloven fruit, and others with fruit detaching itself from the stone (Cibot mem. Chin. xi. 

 280). By European traders, and colonists, A. persica was carried to America and the islands of the 

 Pacific, succeeding very generally in Temperate climates, in our Middle States, Chili and Juan Fer- 

 nandez, New Zealand, and Australia ; but in low moist Tropical countries rarely ripening fruit. 



Pistacia vera of Central Asia. The pistachio nut is called in Italy "pistacchio" or "pistacchio 

 verde " (Lenz), in Greece "phistakia" or "psittakia" (Fraas), in Egypt " festoq " (Del.), in Persia 

 "bstk" (Spreng.) ; and the rare " tSrminthou " bushes, the only thing like a tree found by Alexander 

 in crossing the mountains into Bactria — (Strab. xv. 2. 10), may be compared : a Bactrian tree resem- 

 bling the terebinth but bearing almond-like nuts, is mentioned by Theophrastus iv. 4. 7 : pistachio 

 nuts are called in Hindustanee "pista'' or " fistak " (D'roz.), and P. vera is known to grow wild in 

 Affghanistan (Royle). The tree was afterwards introduced into the Mediterranean countries, for 

 "pistaki amugthaloSnta " are mentioned by Nicander ther. 891 ; the " vistakion" by Posidonius the 

 Stoic, Athenaeus, and Hesychius ; "pistakia" growing in Syria, by Dioscorides; "psittakia" from 

 growing in the city of Psittace on the Tigris, by Damophilus, Athenaeus, Eustathius, Stephanus 

 Byzantinus, Nonus morb. cur. 91 to 240, and the Geoponica : P. vera was observed by Chaubard, 

 and Fraas, under cultivation in the Peloponnesus ; by Forskal, and Clot-Bey, in the gardens of 

 Egypt, and the importation besides of the nuts from Aleppo is mentioned by Abd-allatif, and Delile. 

 Farther West, the "pistacia " tree was introduced into Italy by Vitellius, and at the same time into 

 Spain by Flaccus Pompeius (Plin. xv. 24) ; its cultivation in Italy is mentioned by Palladius xi. 12. 3 ; 

 P. vera was observed there under cultivation by Lenz, and is known to have become naturalized in 

 various parts of Southern Europe (Pers., and Lindl.). 



" 327 B. C." (Aristobul , and Clint.), Alexander next proceeded South, to and across the 

 Paropamisus ridge of mountains ; and spent " about ten months " in the country West of the 

 Upper Indus. A "cave" in the Paropamisus was regarded by the Greeks as the one in which 



