The Source of Badsha, or Royal Salep. 
BY 
J. E. T. AITCHISON, M.D., C.I.E., F.R.S. 
With Plate X. 
HEN accompanying the Afghan Delimitation Com- 
V V mission during 1884, I carried with me some specimens 
of what is known as Badsha Salep, hoping to be able to 
discover the plant yielding it, and thus extend our limited 
knowledge of this little-known drug. In the vicinity of Herat, 
and at Meshed, I showed the product to many who might 
be likely to give me information regarding it, but it appeared 
to be quite new to all to whom I applied for the information. 
Upon examination at Kew of the various substances which 
I had obtained whilst on my Afghan journey, to enable me 
to read a short summary regarding the drugs I had collected 
in those regions before the Pharmaceutical Society of London, 
I chanced to show some specimens of this Salep to Mr. Baker, 
who drew my attention to Mr. Daniel Hanbury’s article in 
the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions for April 1, 
1858. From the evidence which this article afforded there 
could be no doubt that my specimens were identical with 
those so well depicted and described by Mr. Hanbury. 
Mr. Baker, at the meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society 
on December 8, 1886, at which I read my paper, was of 
opinion that he had identified the bulb as that of Ungernia 
trisphaera , a plant of the order Amaryllidaceae. This, however, 
was an error due to the bulb that he examined having been 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. III. No. X. May 1889.] 
