FERULA ASS AFCETIDA.— ASS AF(ETID A. 
Class V. PENTANDRIA.— Order II. DIGYNIA. 
Natural Order, UMBELLIFERJ2. — THE UMBELLIFEROUS TRIBE. 
Fig. (a) and (6) the seed; (c) the corolla, magnified. 
This species of Ferula is a native of the south of Persia, growing on the mountains in the provinces of 
Chorasaan and Laar, where it is named Hingisch. The following description we copy from Kaempfer, who 
saw the plant growing during his travels in Asia. 
“ The root is perennial, tapering, ponderous, and attains the size of a man’s arm or leg, covered with 
blackish coloured bark, and near the top beset with many strong rigid fibres ; the internal substance is 
white, fleshy, and abounds with a thick, foetid, milky juice ; the stalk is simple, erect, straight, round, 
smooth, striated, herbaceous, about six or seven inches in circumference at the base, and rises to the height 
of two or three yards ; the radical leaves are six or seven, nearly two feet long, bipinnate ; the pinnes are 
alternate, variously sinuated, lobed or lanceolate, smooth, of a deep green colour, and foetid smell ; the 
umbels are compound, plano-convex, terminal, and consist of many radii ; the seeds are oval, flat, foliaceous, 
of a reddish brown colour, rough, marked with three longitudinal lines, have a porraceous smell, and a sharp 
bitter taste. 
This plant is said to vary according to the situation and soil in which it grows, not only in the shape of 
the leaves, but in the nauseous quality of the juice with which they are impregnated, sometimes becoming so 
mild as to be eaten by the goats. The gum resin known in commerce under the name of Assafcetida, is the 
concrete juice of the root of this plant. When the plants are about four years old, the roots are sufficiently 
vigorous to yield the Assafcetida. In the provinces of Chorasaan it is procured in the following manner : — 
at the season when the leaves begin to decay, the oldest and most vigorous plants are selected, the earth 
from the upper part of the root is cleared away, the stem and leaves twisted off ; it is then left in this state 
for forty days, being previously screened from the sun by covering it over with the decayed leaves ; at the 
expiration of this time the covering is removed, and the top of the root cut off transversely, and left for forty- 
eight hours for the juice to exude, when it is scraped off by a proper instrument, and exposed to the sun to 
harden. This operation is repeated three times, after which the root is again covered up, and suffered to 
remain for eight or ten days, when it is again uncovered and another transverse section is made as before. 
In this way the Assafoetida is collected eight times, when the root becomes exhausted of its juice, and soon 
after perishes. The collecting of the Assafoetida is performed by the peasants who live in the neighbourhood 
of the mountains ; the juice from a number of roots is collected at the same time, put together, and exposed 
to the sun to harden. 
Sensible and Chemical Properties. Assafoetida comes to market in large irregular masses of a 
heterogeneous appearance, composed of various shining little lumps or grains, some of which are white, 
others of a brown or reddish colour, and some of a violet hue. Those masses are esteemed the best which 
are clear, of a pale reddish colour, and variegated with a great number of fine white tears. Assafoetida has 
a strong, fetid, and to most persons, a disagreeable odour, and a bitter, subacid taste ; it becomes brittle by 
exposure to the air, but is not readily reduced to powder. It is composed chiefly of gum, resin, and essen- 
tial oil, the latter of which is obtained by distillation, either with water or alcohol. Its odour and taste 
reside in the resin and oil, which are readily dissolved by ether and alcohol ; hence the alcoholic and ethereal 
tinctures combine the virtues of this drug, the former dissolving three parts out of four. By trituration 
with water Assafcetida forms an opaque milky solution, about 60 per cent, being readily dissolved, which is 
chiefly extractive matter. 
