162 
SPIKENARD. 
Now, from the extraordinary high rate at which the article sold, namely, three 
hundred pence (about £9 7s. Qd.) for a small alabaster box of the ointment (Mark, 
c. xiv., v. 3 — 5), it would appear more probable that the true Spikenard must have 
been imported at considerable expense and trouble from some far-distant land, 
instead of growing plentifully in the immediate neighbourhood. 
The late Sir William Jones, in two interesting papers inserted in the "Transactions 
of the Asiatic Society," has advanced many and good reasons to show that the oint- 
ment of Spikenard is not prepared from Lavender, but from a Valerianaceous plant, 
a native of the Himalayan Mountains of India, whence it is imported for that 
purpose. 
Many objections have been advanced against Sir William's opinion, because it is 
well known the fragrance of all Valerianaceous plants is by no means agreeable to 
Europeans ; yet Eastern nations appear to differ widely from us in this respect, as 
the roots of Valeriana celtica (d) and V, Saliunca are procured from the mountains 
of Austria, at considerable cost, to aromatise their baths, and form an ingredient in 
their finest perfumes. 
The roots of many kinds are valuable in medicine, Valeriana officinalis, V. Phu, 
and V. celtica, are tonic, bitter, aromatic, and antispasmodic. V. Dioscoridis, which 
is probably the Pha of Dioscorides, acts as a very powerful stimulant, producing 
intoxication, and in large doses convulsions and death. V. Sitchensis, a native of 
North America, is perhaps the most powerful of all. They possess these properties, 
however, in a much less degree when grown in low, wet situations. 
The odour of all the Valerians is very grateful to cats : they will bite the roots, 
roll upon them, and appear for a time spell-bound and intoxicated under the 
influence. Rats are also attracted in a similar manner ; the roots are therefore 
used by rat-catchers, in the same manner as they use oil of aniseeds, and the same 
effects are said to be produced. 
The plant now generally believed to be the true Spikenard of the ancients is 
small and slender, rising from 6 to 10 inches high, growing abundantly on 
the Himalayan Mountains, upon projecting rocks, near to the regions of eternal 
snow, where it is obtained with great difficulty and danger by the peasantry, who 
collect and sell it to merchants trading to Turkey and Egypt. It has been named 
by botanists — 
Nakdostachys jatamansi (derived from nardos, a shrub, and stachys, a spike). 
It is the Valeriana Jatamansi of Sir W. Jones's "Asiatic Researches," vol. ii., 
p. 405, and vol. iv., p. 109, and Roxburgh's "Asiatic Researches," p. 451. The 
Valeriana spica of " Vahl. Enum.," 1, p. 13. Patrinia Jatamansi of Don's " Pro- 
dromus Flora Nepalensis," p. 159. Nardus Indica, J. Bauh. "Hist.," iii., p. 
Jatamangsi of the natives of India. The Nardostachyon, Spica nardi, Nardus 
Gangites, and Nardus Syriaca of the ancients. 
Description. — An herbaceous perennial. Roots simple, perpendicular, fleshy, 
very fragrant, with a multitude of slender fibres about the collar, four to six inches 
