THE EESmS. 249 



or six feet high, and has leaves much like the Feunel. The 

 whole plant has the peculiarly nauseating odor of asafce- 

 tida. This substance is obtained as follows : The stem is 

 out off at the root, and the whitish, resinous juice 

 exudes, and gradually hardens. This is removed, and 

 the top of the root again cut off. After a few days, in 

 case of Scorodosma, more of the resin can be removed, and 

 the same process repeated several times with one and the 

 same root. From the large, elevated roots of Narthex the 

 resin is allowed to flow for one or two weeks into slight 

 hollows made in the ground. At'first the resinous substance 

 is soft, but becomes hard later, and in the cold is pulver- 

 izable. In commerce it occurs in granules or in masses. 

 The former is better, the latter containing more impurities: 

 The odor is leek-like and nauseating; the taste bitter and 

 persistent. Its chief constituents are gum, volatile-oil 

 (three to five per cent.), and resin (iifty per cent). The 

 resin contains fifteen to twenty per cent, of sulphur. In 

 the East it is used as a condiment for flavoring sauces and 

 food. The leaves of the plant are also eaten, and the root 

 roasted for the same purpose. In medicine asafoetida is 

 extensively used as an expectorant and antispasmodic or 

 nervous stimulant. 



214. The resinous gum Galbanum, or Galban, is yielded 

 by a Persian plant called Ferula erubeseens. It is'a mem- 

 ber of the Parsley family ( UmbellifercB). Galban occurs 

 in commerce in the form of grains (tears), which are some- 

 times translucent or pearly white ; or it may be in masses 

 or lumps, which are brownish, yellow or sometimes greenish. 

 It is soft, and can be kneaded in warm weather. With 

 water it forms an emulsion, and is soluble in alcohol. The 

 taste is bitterish, hot, and acrid. The odor, balsamic, pecul- 

 iar, and disagreeable. Among its constituent substances 



