Calcutta.] 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



305 



stalks, which in chewing have a bitter, warm, pungent taste, accompanied 

 with some degree of that kind of glow in the mouth which cardamums occa- 

 sion. Chuse such as are dry, of a yellmvMi red. or cinnamon colour, fresh, 

 with long fibres, and a sweet scent* Those which are moist, and without 

 fibres, should Ijl- rejected. It i< seldom imported into England. Ten Cwt. 

 of spikenard are allowed to a ton. 



Sir Wm. Jones has demonstrated that the ancient spikenard was the 

 plant called by Dr. Roxburgh Valeriana Jatammtri, (Jatamami, Hind, 

 and San., SumlmLul-Hind, Arab.), which is materially different in cha- 

 racter from the foregoing. 



Storax. — Solid storax is the odoriferous resin of a tree {Styrax) of a 

 middling size, bearing a filbert-like fruit, growing in various parts of India. 

 Two sorts of this resin are distinguished : storax in the tear, and common 

 storax in larger masses. The former is very rarely in separate tears ; but 

 generally in masses, composed of whitish and pale reddish brown tears, or 

 having an uniform reddish yellow, or brownish appearance, being unctuous 

 and soil like wax, and free from visible impurities. This is preferred to 

 the common storax in large masses, which are lighter, and less compact 

 than the preceding, and having a large admixture of woody matter, like 

 saw-dust Although the impurities of this kind of storax render it less 

 valuable than the other, it is not less useful, nor its medical qualities, when 

 purified, less potent : this is done by softening it with boiling water, and 

 pressing out the impurities between warm iron plates ; a process which is 

 unnecessary with the former kind. Storax should be chosen of a reddish 

 brown colour, rather softish, and unctuous to the touch, yet brittle and 

 friable, and of a pleasant sweet smell. 



This article is in little demand, and seldom imported from India. 



Sugar. — A solid, sweet substance, obtained from the sugar-cane, or 

 Sacchanuii nf/ir'nia/r, << '. mul Irahn, San.) which is common in the Past 

 and West Indies, China and other places ; or, according to chemists, an 

 essential salt, capable of crystallization. It is of a sweet and agreeable 

 flavour, and is contained in a greater or less degree in almost every species 

 of vegetable, but most abundant in the sugar-cane. The expressed juice of 

 the cane is clarified, and boiled down to a thick consistence ; it is then 

 removed from the fire, and the saccharine part concretes into brown 

 coloured masses, and is the su^ar in its raw state, as we see it. 



The sugar-cane is a smooth jointed reed, of a shining greenish colour, 

 which, as the plant approaches to maturity, changes by degrees to a yellow- 

 ish one. The sizes of the canes vary much, according to the soil, season, 

 and circumstances ; the usual height is from four to seven feet, the thickness 



U 



