[00 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. [du^jh of Persia. 



no greenish matter dissolved in the liquors, as those powders do in which 

 the bczoar-tincture has heen imitated by certain vegetable matters. 



Bkimstone, or Sulphur, (Gand?tac 9 Hind. Gandhaca, San.) is a 

 well-known substance, hard, brittle, and inflammable, of an opaque yellow 

 colour ; it is found, more or less pure, generally in the neighbourhood of 

 volcanoes ; it is an article of trade from Persia to the British settlements, 

 but not to any extent It is contraband in China. 



COLOQUKVTIDA, CoLOCYNTH, OR BlTTER Al'PLE, is R fruit about tlie 



size of an orange, that grows on the Cucumis Colonfuthis {Indrasini, Hind. 

 Indravaruni, San.) a climbing plant of the gourd kind, in Persia, Arabia, 

 and Egypt; it is light, and of a fungous texture, with a number of round- 

 ish seeds in the cavities, which are unctuous, ami sweetish to the taste ; 

 the other part is acrid, nauseous, and extremely bitter. Chuse the largest 

 white apples, that are light, round, and not cracked or broken, as the 

 seeds are the most material part of the fruit. The freight is calculated at 

 8 Cwt. per ton. 



Cummin- Seeds. — The plant which produces these seeds, the Cuvinium 

 Cymhium, (Jira, Hind. Jiraca, San.) somewhat resembles fennel, and 

 grows in various parts of India, Persia, and Egypt; it is an article of trade 

 with Surat. The seed is a kind of carraway, of a bitterish, warm, aromatic, 

 but disagreeable flavour. They are to be chosen fresh, and of a greenish 

 colour. There are several sorts of cummin seeds to be met with. 



Earth, Red, or Indian Red, is procured from some of the Islands 

 in the Persian Gulph, and carried from thence to Surat, Bengal, and other 

 parts of India, where it is used in painting houses, &c. It is much esteemed 

 among painters, but it is diificult to be procured genuine in England. 

 The best kind is of a fine purple colour, extremely heavy, and of very 

 great hardness ; of a firm, compact, solid texture, and always full of bright 

 glittering particles ; of a rough and dusty surface, colouring the hands 

 very much ; it adheres firmly to the tongue, melts with difficulty in the 

 mouth, and is of a rough, austere, and very astringent taste ; thrown into 

 water, it makes a very considerable ebullition, but moulders or breaks with 

 difficulty in it. In the fire it burns to a greater hardness, with very little 

 change of colour. 



Elemi Gum is a concrete resinous juice exuding from the Amyris 

 Ekmifera, a tree of the olive kind, growing in the East as well as West 

 Indies. The East India Elemi is generally brought in cakes of 2 or 3 lbs. 

 each, of an oblong, roundish form, wrapped up in Hag leaves; it is semi- 

 transparent, and of a pale yellow r colour, a little inclining to green. Chuse 

 thai which is soflish, of a pale whitish yellow colour, and of a strong, not 



