June 21, 1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
1013 
of Cyrenaica (‘Numismat. de l’ancienne Afrique,’ vol. i., 
“Les monnaies de la Cyrenaique,” 1860), asked tlie aid 
of the author on the question of the silphium; and it was 
then discovered that a figure on the coins which had been 
supposed to represent a heart (Dujalais in 1850 (‘Rev. 
Numism.’ pp. 256-264) had correctly explained its nature) 
was the fruit of the silphium. A close examination 
showed that this figure presented with considerable clear¬ 
ness the charactei's of the genus Ferula, or a closely-allied 
genus. 
The foetid gum-resin called assafoetida was also known 
to the ancients, and considered by them as closely allied 
to the silphium, being called medicinal silphium. The 
plant yielding this drug was first ascertained by Kaempfer, 
who in his ‘ Amoenitates Exoticse’ (1712), which contains 
the results of his travels in Asia from 1683-1693, gives 
(p. 536) an account of it, which, though remarkable for 
its precision and accuracy, has no exact description of 
the fruit. This was only supplied a few years ago, when 
Lehmann, Bunge, and Borszczow again discovered the 
plant, which was described by Bunge* as the type of a 
new genus, under the name of Scorodosma feetidum. Be¬ 
sides Kaempfer’s plant we know now, however, a second 
plant yielding assafoetida, discovered in 1838 by Falconer 
in North Cashmere, and described by him in 1846 as a 
new genus, Narthex. This flowered in the Botanic Garden 
at Edinburgh, and Sir W. Hooker published an excellent 
figure of it in Bot. Mag., t. 5168. The plant is 7 feet 
high, the leaves grow in pairs close together, and the 
sheaths closely cover the thick, upright stem in a way 
very unusual in umbelliferse. The first glance at Hooker’s 
figure recalled to the mind of the author the silphium 
plant on the coins, and a closer examination confirmed 
him in considering N. assafoetida, Falc., to be very nearly 
allied to it. 
In the determination of their affinity it is important to 
insist upon the accuracy with which other plants and 
animals (e. g., the date-palm, the horse, sheep, gazelle, and 
jerboa) are represented on these coins; we cannot doubt 
that in the case of so valuable a plant equal accuracy 
would be employed. A minute comparison of the figures 
of the two plants will strengthen our belief in this. 
If we reduce the picture of Narthex to the size of the 
representation of the silphium on the coins, and place the 
one by the other, we shall remark a surprising likeness in 
the appearance of the two plants. The stem, and form 
and arrangement of the leaves and flower-stalks, are quite 
the same, and a comparison of each distinct organ brings 
out still more clearly this resemblance. The root, or 
rather the root-stock, of both plants is of the same form 
and ramification. The erect, thick stem, longitudinally 
furrowed, which characterizes Narthex, is also found in 
the silphium; these furrows are very clearly depicted on 
the coins. There is also, particularly if one examines the 
best representations on the coins, a remarkable resem¬ 
blance in the arrangement of the leaves; we can see that 
these are not truly opposite, but only approximate in 
pairs ; the sheaths are very large, with conspicuous longi¬ 
tudinal nerves; the blade is divided into three to five 
segments, on which again subdivisions are indicated. 
That these notches should not be represented on the com¬ 
mon coins in so small a space is quite natural; if, however, 
we compare the outline of the Narthex leaves with the 
representation of the leaf-surface of the silphium, there is 
a great resemblance. The form and size of the flower- 
stalks agree entirely in both plants. As to the fruit, we 
see from the coins that the silphium quite agrees with 
Narthex and Ferula. In these umbelliferse the fruit is 
very closely compressed, and furnished with a thin mem¬ 
branous border, for which reason Theophrastus character¬ 
izes it as foliaceous. The small differences in the structure 
of the vittse, by which these genera have been separated, 
we need not of course expect to find drawn on the coins. 
On the other hand, there may be usually observed at the 
# Mem. de l’Acad. Imp. des Sc. S. Petersb., 1860, 1S61. 
bottom and top of the fruit of silphium small globular 
bodies, of which the first represents the base of the fruit- 
stalk, and the second the stylopode. On one coin the 
carpophore is represented between two mericarps, with 
their apices turned towards each other. So far as the 
coins go the silphium plant might be referred equally well 
to Ferula or to Narthex. As, however, it so entirely 
agrees with the only known species of Narthex in habit, 
it is in every way more probable that it should belong to 
that genus.* As a species it is not of course to be identi¬ 
fied specifically with N. Assafoetida; not only does the 
obcordate form of the fruit forbid this, but the properties 
of the gum-resin. That obtained from the Indian plant 
entirely agrees with the Pei’sian assafoetida. The author 
proposes t6 call it N. Silphium. 
According to Pliny (Nat. Hist. xvii. 2) there were three 
distinct zones of vegetation to be distinguished in Cyrenaica 
—the wooded coast zone, an intermediate zone in which 
agriculture was carried on, and a hilly and desert zone 
where the silphium grew. This description is equally 
applicable at the present day. The slope of the plateaux 
from Barka towards the coast is still covered with a lux¬ 
urious growth of wood, amongst which is especially note¬ 
worthy the occurrence of the cypress, of which Rohlfs 
brought with him fruiting specimens. As soon, however, 
as the heights are attained, the appearance of the land¬ 
scape changes; only low, stunted bushes, artemisias, and 
thistles clothe the ground, whilst splendid ruined towns 
attest the density of the earlier population. Farther on 
towards the south the land takes a wilder character, and 
it was hei-e that the silphium grew in the past. As Barka 
has not yet been thoroughly explored (since the collection 
of Della Celia, which laid the foundation for Viviani’s 
“Florae Libycse Specimen,” and Pacho’s small collection, 
we have only the very considerable collection of Gerhard 
Rohlfs), the hope need not be given up that the silphium 
plants may still be found either there or farther into 
Africa. Other plants which have disappeared from the 
places in which they were known to the ancients are 
often refound in distant regions; for instance, the African 
papyrus, which rvas formerly very common in Egypt, is 
now no longer to be found there, but occurs again in the 
distant swampy regions of the White Nile. 
EDUCATION OF DRUGGISTS’ APPRENTICES. 
[At the present time, when the subject of education is 
attracting so much attention, and the organization of a 
general educational system is felt to be a necessity, the 
following paper, taken from the New York Druggists' 
Circular , though referring especially to America, will 
doubtless be of interest.] 
A year ago I contributed some hints upon this subject 
for the readers of the Druggists' Circular, and have till 
now failed to redeem my pledge of adding further thoughts 
upon the subject. 
The points then urged were, preliminary education, 
study, attention to business ; and nothing surely is more 
important than these. If there was need to direct the 
thoughts of the rising pharmacists then, that need is still 
as urgent as ever. Our colleges of pharmacy are being 
multiplied, but the field is vast, and colleges cannoo be 
brought to every man’s door. The public demand at our 
hands that we give reliable medicines, that we dispense 
them with care, 'that we know our business. The increas¬ 
ing classes in attendance upon the lectures of the various 
colleges of pharmacy during the past winter, and the 
large number of graduates this year, show the desire of 
the young men to perfect their education. But these are 
few, compared with the great number of young men to 
whom such privileges are, from various causes, denied. 
* The genera Narthex and Scorodosma are both reduced 
to Ferula by Boissier (FI. Orient, vol. ii., p. 994) and 
Benthani (Gen. Plant, i., p. 918). [Ed. Journ. Bot.] 
