Culph of Persia.} ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



105 



attention to. The best is of a fine amber colour, strongly partaking of the 

 flavour of the roses, and will keep several years without losing its fragrance. 

 The rose water brought to England is commonly what remains after the 

 attar or oil of roses has been collected. 



Ruinas. — This root grows in Persia, is somewhat like liquorice both in 

 size and appearance, yields a beautiful red, and is said to give that fine 

 colour which the Indian calicoes have. The roots, when pulled, are very 

 long; they are cut in pieces about a foot long, packed in bags, and sent to 

 various parts of India. When fresh, they are full of juice, 



Sal Ammoniac, or Muriate of Ammonia, {Nosadrr, Hind.) is 

 brought from Egypt and the East Indies, sometimes in conical loaves, com- 

 monly in round cakes, convex on one side, and concave on the other. It 

 should be chosen of a very sharp penetrating taste, white, clear, transparent, 

 dry, the internal part perfectly pure, and of an almost transparent whiteness; 

 the outside is for the most part foul, of a hue inclining to yellow, grey, or 

 black : it should be in every respect as clear as it can be procured. When 

 broken, it should appear as if full of needle points. — Freight 16 Cwt. to 

 the ton. 



Sarcocolla is a gummy-resinous juice, of a peculiar kind, procured 

 in Persia and Arabia, from a shrub of the Pvn/vn genus, but not accurately 

 ascertained, in small, crumbly, spongy, light yellow grains, with a few 

 inclining to red mixed with them. Their taste is somewhat bitter and acrid, 

 followed by a nauseous kind of sweetness ; the tears are about the size of a 

 pea ; and the whitest, as being the freshest, arc preferred. This gum softens 

 in the mouth, bubbles and catches flame from a candle, and dissolves almost 

 wholly in water, when pure and genuine, i 



Schiraz Wine is much esteemed by the Persians; when old, it 

 is rich, lull, and generous, and may be compared with the best production 

 of any country or climate; when new, it has a disagreeable roughness, 

 which age wears off. There are two sorts, white and red, but the former 

 is most esteemed. It is said that 4000 tuns of this wine are annually made 

 in Persia. Its quality has latterly much deteriorated. 



Scammony, {Sukmunya, Hind, and Arab.) is the concrete, gummy - 

 resinous juice of a species of Convolvulus, growing in Turkey, Syria, and 

 Persia, extracted by laying bare the upper part of the root of the plant, 

 wounding it pretty deeply, and placing a shell, or some other receptacle, to 

 receive the milky juice, which hardens into masses. Scammony is of two 

 kinds, Aleppo and Smyrna. Aleppo Scammony, which is preferable to the 

 other, is in irregular, light, friable masses, of a spongy texture, and different 

 shades of colour, from grey or yellowish white, almost to black. Its surface 



