It seems certain, from the researches of 

 Falconer and others, that this plant pro- 

 duces some of the asafoetida of commerce, 

 while Scorodosma fcetida, a gigantic umbel- 

 liferous plant found in the sandy steppes 

 east of the Caspian, as well as some other 

 allied plants, also furnish the drug. On 

 cutting into the upper part of the root, a 

 juice exudes which hardens by exposure, 

 and is collected and sent to this country 

 from Bombay. The drug is well known 



Narthex asafcetida. 



for its disgusting odour, which it seems 

 has charms for some people, as the 

 Persians and other Asiatics use it as a 

 condiment. It has even been called the 

 ' food of the gods,' a strange contrast to 

 its popular name in this country, namely, 

 'Devil's dung.' In medicine this drug is 

 used as a stimulant in hysteria with ex- 

 cellent effect; also in cases of flatulence 

 and chronic catarrh. Its smell is a very 

 serious impediment to its use. [M. T. M.] 



NARUNGEE. An Indian name for the 

 Sweet Orange. 



NASE BERRY. Achras Sapota, some- 

 times called Neesberry or Nisberry. 



NASEBERRY-BULLY TREE. Achras 

 Sideroxylon. — , BROAD-LEAVED. Lu- 

 cuma multiflorum. 



NASITORT. (Fr.l Lepidium sativum. 



NASSAU VI ACE^E, or NASSAVIACEiE. 

 A tribe of composite plants included in the 

 suborder Labiatiflorm. In this suborder the 

 hermaphrodite florets, or at least the uni- 

 sexual ones, are two-lipped. The tribe is 

 distinguished byits style not being tumid, 

 and its arms being long linear truncate, 

 fringed only at the point. [J. H. B.J 



NASSAUVIA. A genus of Composite, 

 the type of a tribe of Labiatiflorw. It 

 consists of low much-branched perennial 

 herbs or undershrubs, with crowded stem- 

 clasping entire or toothed leaves, almost 

 always prickly, and solitary or clustered 

 heads of yellow or white flowers. Each 



head contains five bilabiate florets in an 

 oblong cylindrical involucre ; the recepta- 

 cle is naked, the achenes glabrous, with a 

 pappus of linear or capillary bristles. There 

 are about twenty species known, all natives 

 of extratropical South America. 



NASTANTHUS. A genus of Calyceracece, 

 comprising nine species from elevated dry 

 rocky and exposed situations in the Andes 

 of Chili, all stemless glabrous herbs, with 

 spreading radical leaves mostly cut or 

 toothed, and short succulent scapes bear- 

 ing numerous flower-heads closely collect- 

 ed into one large terminal globular head. 



NASTURTIUM. A genus of Cruciferw, 

 or Brassicacece consisting of dwarf un- 

 interesting weedy-looking plants whose 

 stems and leaves partake more or less of 

 the acrid flavour peculiar to crucifers. 

 ' The genus is said to have derived its name 

 from the effect its acrimony produces on 

 the muscles of the nose— nasus tortus sig- 

 nifying a convulsed nose.' 



N. officinale, the Common "Watercress, is 

 a well-known hardy perennial, indigenous 

 to Britain, and usually found in abundance 

 near springs or open running water- 

 courses. It is of a creeping habit, with 

 smooth shining brownish-green pinnatifid 

 leaves, and ovate somewhat heart-shaped 

 leaflets, the terminal one being much 

 larger than the rest. The flowers are small 

 and white, produced towards the extremity 

 of the branches in a sort of terminal pa- 

 nicle. 



As a spring salad the young shoots and 

 leaves of Watercresses have been used 

 from time immemorial. They are stated 

 to have been eaten by the ancients along 

 with lettuces, to counteract the coldness of 

 the latter by their warm and stimulating 

 qualities ; and at the present day they are 

 to be found almost on every table, the 

 popular belief being that, when eaten fast- 

 ing, they possess the property of exciting 

 the appetite, and acting as a powerful anti- 

 scorbutic. The first attempt to cultivate 

 watercresses by artificial means in Europe 

 was made by Nicholas Meissner at Erfurt, 

 the capital of Upper Thuringia, about the 

 middle of the sixteenth century. The soil 

 and other circumstances being highly fa- 

 vourable for their growth, the experiment 

 proved successful, and the watercresses of 

 Ei-furt soon acquired that celebrity for 

 their superior quality which they still 

 maintain, most of the cities on the Rhine 

 as well as the markets of Berlin, 120 miles 

 distant, being constantly supplied with 

 them. In the neighbourhood of London 

 the mode of cultivating watercresses was 

 first introduced by Mr. Bradbury at North- 

 fleet, Springhead, near Gravesend, and has 

 continued to spread, particularly in loca- 

 lities favourably situated with regard to 

 springs of water. Near Rickmansworth 

 in Hertfordshire, "Waltham Abbey in Essex, 

 Uxbridge in Middlesex, and various other 

 places, there are plantations many acres 

 in extent, which are scarcely sufficient to 

 j supply the great demand for this popular 

 i salad herb during the season. [W. B. B.] 



