Ball — On the Colloquies of Garcia Be Orta. 409 
on India. The Portuguese appear to have derived the name from that 
in use by the Mahommedans, who regard the plant as having furnished 
the leaves with which Adam and Eve clothed themselves in the Garden 
of Eden. 
Garcia states that the native names are queli in the Deccan, Gujarat, 
and Eengal ; palam in Malabar ; pigam in Malaya (Borneo ?) ; musa and 
amusa by the Arabs ; lananas in Guinea ; ininga by the Caffres. 
Garcia quotes Avicena,^ Easis,^ and Serapion^ on the therapeutic 
qualities of the fruit. It is, they say, an aphrodisiac ; but possessing 
little nutriment, it lies heavy on the stomach. It may be applied with 
advantage to the lungs and breast to reduce inflammation. He com- 
mends a dish of them when roasted, steeped in wine, and sprinkled 
with cinnamon. 
A well-flavoured variety, green and long, from Malabar, is, he says, 
called chicapaloes. He refers to it being found in Brazil, and being 
cultivated in Portugal. 
[Eeferences. — Clusius (Acosta), p. 67; Linschoten, ii., p. 37; Ainslie^ 
I., p. 316.] 
COLLOQUY XXIIL 
Do FOLIO InDIO 017 FOLHA DA InDIA. 
[Of Malabathrum, leaves of Cmmmomum tamah, Fr. Nees.] 
Called tamalapatra in India ; cadegi Indu {sadaj-iSitidi) Arab ; 
malalatrum of Greeks and Latins* ; lingua de vaca^ lingua de passaro, 
and melao da India are mere translations of the Arabic name. 
He says the accounts by Pliny and Dioscorides are incorrect as to 
the plant being like a water bean, for these leaves are borne on a tree 
(which is quite true). He denies that it grows in marshes, and states 
that it occurs on dry land. It is not found, he adds, in Abyssinia, 
and doubts its occurrence in Egypt and Syria. It was said to have 
the same qualities as spikenard, was useful as a diuretic, and for pre- 
serving clothes from moths, &c. 
[Eeferences. — Zinschoten, ii., p. 131; Fluchiger and Hanhury^ p. 
480 ; Ehory, p. 472.] 
^ Cap. 492, lib. ii. ^ Almansorem, cap. 3. ^ Cap. 84. 
* Dioscorides, lib. i., cap. 2, Galen's, Simplicium }nedi,cameniorum. 
K.I.A. PKOC, SEE. III., VOL. I. _ 2 G 
