February s, 1873 ] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
621 
NOTES ON SOME DRUGS COLLECTED IN 
MOROCCO* 
BY ARTHUR LEARED, M.D., F.R.C.P., M.R.I.A., 
Senior Physician to the Great Northern Hospital. 
In the latter part of the past year while travelling 
in the empire of Morocco, I had a good opportunity 
of making myself acquainted with the products of 
that extensive and little-explored country. My at¬ 
tention turned to the drugs and remedies employed 
by the people, and I set myself the task of collecting 
specimens and procuring as much information about 
them as possible. But the difficulties which at every 
step beset the inquirer in Morocco, from ignorance 
and fanaticism, almost exceed belief. That strange 
mediaeval jumble of astrology and pharmacy may 
be daily witnessed in the Moorish towns. The 
turbaned and cross-legged medicine-man, before he 
prescribes, displays mysterious diagrams and consults 
your stars. Such information as a man of this kind 
possesses he will not impart. He would, if possible 
and convenient, destroy instead of benefiting the 
infidel. And although the Arab race is numerous 
in Morocco—the race which produced an Avicenna 
and a Uliazes—the state of barbarism into which 
this fine country has fallen is such that it possesses 
no native physician or pharmaceutist worthy of the 
name. 
A few preliminary remarks on the climate, soil, 
and general productions of the country will not be 
out of place. 
The vegetable productions of Morocco are those 
of a sub-tropical country, in which there is great 
variety as regards the nature of the soil, elevation 
above the sea-level, and irrigation. My own travels 
extended from about 30° to 31^° of north latitude. 
In the neighbourhood of Tangier in the north, the 
country consists, to a great extent, of a succession of 
low hills closely succeeding each other. They are 
in general sandy, and the succulent plants which be¬ 
long to this kind of soil thrive luxuriantly. The 
aloe, and the prickly-pear (which is said to have been 
introduced from the Canary Islands) both attain large 
dimensions. Thousands of acres in the open coun¬ 
try are clothed with the palmetto, which forms one of 
its main features. Junipers and various prickly 
shrubs cling to the st my hillsides, and, in some 
places, constitute extensive thickets, which afford 
shelter to boars and other wild animals. But any¬ 
thing worthy of the name of a tree is seldom seen. 
As one proceeds south, fine level plains having a 
deep loamy soil are met, and in the rainy season 
they are covered with rich herbage, dotted with a 
variety of bulbous-rooted flowers. 
In a journey of about 130 miles, from Mogador to 
the city of Morocco, and from thence to the coast 
again to the town of Sails, I had a good opportunity of 
judging of the interior of the country. From Moga¬ 
dor to the city the route is almost due east, and the 
elevation of the ground, I found by an aneroid baro¬ 
meter, at about 50 miles from the sea, to be 1250 
feet. At this point the plain of Morocco begins, and 
the elevation in the next 80 miles is only 250 feet 
more, attaining its highest point at the city itself. 
A day’s journey further east takes one to the foot of 
the great Atlas range, which, by forming a barrier 
towards the east, protects Western Morocco in a 
* Read at the Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 
Society of Great Britain, February 6, 1873. 
Third Series, No. 137. 
great measure against the scorching desert winds 
which are so hurtful in many countries. 
But the point which at present deserves attention, 
as bearing on the productions of the country, is the 
great diversity of climate and soil experienced within 
short limits. When leaving Mogador on September 
20th, the weather was, as usual, pleasantly warm; 
when inland, four days afterwards, the thermometer 
stood at 01° F. in the shade. Rain, which is usual 
between September and March, had not yet com¬ 
menced to fall. The country, except where a rare 
irrigation afforded the grateful sight of patches of 
green maize, was, in general, parched and arid. 
In this journey one thing arising out of the cir¬ 
cumstances mentioned struck me forcibly, namely, 
the peculiar distribution of the vegetable products. 
It almost seemed as if the trees and plants of the 
soil, like the people who inhabit it, are possessed 
with those exclusive tendencies which prevent one 
race or one sect from mixing with another. Thus, on 
leaving Mogador the path lies through miles of deep 
sand, covered with nothing but the waving branches 
of the “ artim ” or white broom ; then a tract is en¬ 
tered where the “argan”-tree prevails, at times 
to the degree which constitutes a forest. Gra¬ 
dually this tree drops out of the landscape. A zone of 
palmettoes is now passed through. Tnen broom re¬ 
appears, and next on the plain of Morocco the whole 
country is covered with a thorny ill-conditioned 
shrub of moderate size, the name of which I am not 
acquainted with. After this, at Seshowia, about 83 
miles from Mogador, where there is a river, the 
“sidra ’’-tree commences, and prevails to Mouzoudia, 
a distance of about 17 miles. This is now replaced by 
a shrub about 3 feet high, called “ shey,” which gives 
the road a monotonous and dreary aspect. Finally, 
this is succeeded by the date-palm plantations, 
which, for many miles, surround the city of Morocco. 
As nothing of the kind is to be seen in the previous 
journey, and their limits are sharply defined, these 
trees present a magnificent appearance to the eye, 
and their pleasant shade is hailed with delight. 
The city of Morocco is well supplied with water, and 
the numerous gardens in and about it are stocked 
with fine fruit- and shade-trees, amongst which the; 
orange, the olive, and the banana are conspicuous. 
I have been somewhat minute in describing the 
vegetation of a portion of the country traversed, on 
account of its bearing on the diversity of the drugs 
to be described. Thus caraway seed, which is the 
product of a cold climate, is an article of export; an l 
while many of the articles are produced in our own 
country, others belong exclusively to hot climates, 
and some, as argan nuts, ammoniacum and euphor- 
bium gums, are peculiar to Morocco. In a few 
cases, the drugs are not products of Morocco, but 
have been added to the list to show the medicines in 
common use amongst the Moors. 
Almost all the information about drugs which I 
possess, has been obtained from the Jews of Mo¬ 
rocco. These people, degraded, oppressed, and cmse- 
quently ignorant and superstitious, are observan an l 
communicative. But there are some exceptions 
of educated and enlightened gentlemen amongst 
them. To one of these, Signor Yusef de Elmaleh, 
High Priest at Mogador, I am much indebted for 
many additions to my collection, an l for informa¬ 
tion that may be relied upon. Tuis collection, 
made at most of the coast towns from Tangier to 
Mogador, but principally at the latter place, and also 
