HORTICULTURE IN RELATION TO MEDICINE. 



43 



chloroform now, and the singular legends that arose concerning the 

 danger of death to those who gathered the root were doubtless circulated 

 to prevent, if possible, its use for criminal purposes of robbery and murder. 

 This danger is illustrated in the use of cannabis in the time of the 

 Crusaders and by that of Datura alba in India by the Thugs, and by its 

 present use in China. The celebrated ginseng root of China (fig. 9) often 

 presents a great similarity to the human form, and is likewise used as a 

 remedy for sterility, and given as a powerful invigorating tonic to 

 moribund persons to prolong their life when necessary for legal purposes 

 for a few hours. Selected pieces of this root are sold for their weight in 

 gold, and the cultivation of the plant is carried to a very large extent in 

 Corea, Manchuria, and Japan, and proves a very lucrative industry.* 



Fig. 8. — The Mandrake (Ateopa Maxdragora). 



It is difficult to estimate the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians in the 

 art of horticulture, for it would seem from the passage in Deut. xxii. 9 

 that the cross-fertilisation of flowers and hybridisation were understood, 

 for the sacred record directs that " thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with 

 divers seeds : lest the fruit of thy seed which thou, hast sown, and the fruit 

 of thy vineyard, be defiled." 



It is possible that a few medicinal plants were brought from abroad 

 and cultivated in Egypt, for there are sculptures existing which show that 

 in the reign of Queen Hatsasu specimens of the trees yielding frankincense 

 (fig. 10) were brought to Egypt from the land of Punt (probably S.E. Arabia, 

 as the plants are represented as being brought by ships, which would not 

 have been the case if by Punt was meant Somaliland, where these trees 

 are abundant). But it may have been that frankincense trees were 

 valued on account of the fragrant resin, used as incense, obtained from 

 them, and not for their medicinal properties. 



* Pharm. Journ. (4) xviii. 498, 652. 



