THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 8, 1873. 
021 
Thymelacece. 
Adad. —Daphne Mezereum , W.—Purgative; and 
used for fumigation in dropsy. 
Zingiber acece. 
Kedilsham. — Alpinia galanga, Swartz.—Infusion 
of root used in gonorrhoea and uretliral discharges. 
Asclepiadaccce or Apocynce? 
Waskiza. —Used as an emetic for children com¬ 
bined with Tascrkina. 
Cruciferoe. 
1 L’fuely. —Raphanus sativus, L.— Radish. The 
root, when pounded, is applied to wounds. I saw 
radishes in Morocco city of enormous size, quite as 
large as ordinary mangold wurzel roots. 
Liliacece. 
B’selt Dib (trans. Jackal’s onion). —Scilla mari- 
tima, L., or more probably 8. indica .— This, when 
boiled in oil, is highly esteemed as a sexual stirnu- 
ant. 
1 rid acece. 
Hamber Elhor. —Iris Germanica, L. —Orris root. 
—It comes in large quantities from the city of 
Morocco to Mogador, from whence it is shipped to 
England and France. It is not yet two years since 
this trade sprang up, and at the present time many 
tons of the root are exported monthly. 
Elfoa, Madder.—Long thin, almost tasteless root. 
Infusion used for diarrhoea, also as an application 
to sore ejms ; taken by women as an emmenagogue, 
and to improve the complexion. 
? 
Oden Elhalof (trans. Boar’s ears.) — Taken by 
women in decoction to induce fatness. 
9 
Towsergent. —The grated root is mixed in bread 
to induce fatness. 
9 
Taserka. —This root is emetic. 
9 
Beresimis. — Infused in water when given in 
fever, with the view of preventing the water from 
being injurious. 
Ar acece. 
Irene. —Arum Arisarum ? —The interest w hi ch 
belongs to this plant lies in the circumstance that it 
yields a useful starch. In times of famine, which 
occasionally happen from drought or from a visita¬ 
tion of locusts, the tubers are dug up, washed, dried 
in the sun, and ground between hand-millstones. 
Without further preparation the meal is then cooked 
by steam, like kuskusso, the national dish, made of 
granulated wlieaten flour. As happens in the case 
of the allied plant, Arum maculatum, which yields 
Portland arrowroot, Irene tubers contain an acrid 
poisonous principle which should be removed by re¬ 
peated washings. As this is neglected by the Moors, 
it is not surprising that people who live entirely upon 
this food suffer severely from abdominal pain, and 
that many of them die. When travelling between 
Safli and Mazagan in the early part of November, 
the ground was in many places studded all over 
with the single leaf of this plant, which had then 
just appeared above ground. I may add that I 
succeeded in bringing home some growing plants, 
which are now flourishing in Kew Gardens. 
Exudations. 
Euphorbi acece. 
Phorbium. — Euphorbium resinifera, Berg.—Eu- 
phorbium gum. I have little to add about this sub¬ 
stance to wliat is already known. It is produced in 
the inland provinces of JDeminet and Antife, but the 
plant is found in other places. A plant which grows 
freely in the neighbourhood of Mogador was pointed 
out to me as that yielding the gum, but it proved to 
be Kleinia pteroneura. A kind of honey from 
the province of Haha is sold in the Mogador market. 
This when eaten causes a burning sensation in the 
mouth and throat. It is on this account regarded as 
of a heating nature, and like the squill is valued as 
an aphrodisiac. I w T as assured that these properties 
are due to the euphorbium flowers, from whence bees 
obtain the honey. It calls to mind the intoxicating 
effects of honey, as experienced by some of the ten 
thousand Greeks in their retreat under Xenophon, 
effects attributed to the Azalea Pontica. But poison¬ 
ous honey is found in various countries, and the 
poison seems due to many different plants. The 
people who pack euphorbium at Mogador wear veils 
to protect themselves from tlie dust which is so irri¬ 
tating to the eyes and nostrils. Pliny tell us (b. 
xxv. c. 28) that persons engaged in collecting the 
juice of the euphorbium plant were on account of its 
acrid nature obliged to stand at a distance and 
pierce it with a pole shod with iron, and that the 
juice flowed into kid-leather receivers placed beneath. 
Serapion makes the same statement, except that the 
stomachs of animals were employed as receivers.'*' 
Avicenna says that Euphorbium loses its virtues 
after three or four years. But he adds, some think 
these may be restored by placing the gum for some 
time in a vessel containing decorticated beans.f 
TJmbelliferae. 
Feshook. — Ferula species ?—Gum ammoniac. It 
is called fasoy by the Barbary merchants. The 
plant is called kelth, and is abundant in Woled Bu- 
sebbali, two days’journey from Mogador on the road 
to the city of Morocco. It grows very quickly after 
the first autumnal rain. The stalk exhibited is one 
inch and a quarter in diameter, and was obtained at 
Mogador. 1 Before parting with it the Moor broke off a 
portion, intending it. as he said, to fumigate his sore 
eyes. By virtue of its adhesiveness, the gum is also 
used -by the Moors as a depilatory. Very little am- 
moniacum is sent to Europe. But a great deal is 
carried by pilgrims to Egypt and Arabia, where it is 
used for incense. It is chiefly shipped from Maza¬ 
gan to Gibraltar for reshipment to Alexandria ; a 
little is sent from Mogador, and none from the other 
ports. Pereira was of opinion that the Greeks and 
Romans were unacquainted with Persian ammonia- 
cum (the produce of Dorema ammoniacum , lion.). 
The name ammoniacum is stated by Pliny (b. xii. 
Chap. 49) to be derived, like that of the oracle of 
Jupiter Ammon, near which the gum was produced, 
from u/iaof (sand), in reference to the surrounding 
sandy county. This would indicate that it was 
brought from Lybia, the modern Tripoli. The 
Arabian physician, Serapion, writing at the com- 
* “ Serapionis, Medici Arabis celcberrimi Practica” Vene- 
tiis, apud juntas 1500, p. 179. 
t Avicenna, Yenetiis, apud juntas, 1595, B. 2, p. 313. 
