24G 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 23, 1871 
in large-mouthed bottles, with ground-glass stoppers. 
In default of a ground-glass stopper, a cork that has 
been steeped for some time in paraffin may he used. A 
cork so treated resists perfectly the vapour of iodine, 
which is so destructive to ordinary corks. 
When cotton is placed in a concentrated solution of 
iodine in ether or sulphide of carbon, and exposed to 
the air, it pretty quickly parts with the solvent, and 
retains only traces of the iodine, becoming white very 
soon. With an alcoholic solution of iodine, the cotton 
retains a large proportion of the iodine. But the em¬ 
ployment of solvents to fix the iodine yields but me¬ 
diocre results, and entails the loss of a large quantity of 
valuable liquid out of all proportion with the results. 
It was thought that by dissolving the iodine in ether 
before mixing it with the cotton a more complete state 
of division would be obtained, and the operation would 
become more rapid. But in practice this plan was 
found to be defective, and it was abandoned in favour of 
the mode of preparation previously indicated .—Journal 
de Pharmacic ct de Chiinie. 
THE SOURCE OF THE RADIX GALANGIE 
MINORIS OF PHARMACOLOGISTS. 
BY H. F. IIAXG'E, PH.D., ETC. 
Whilst it is, I believe, fully established that the 
“ Greater Galangal ” is produced by Alp ini a Galanga , L., 
the plant which yields the lesser kind has hitherto re¬ 
mained altogether doubtful, though some writers have 
hazarded the opinion that it is the rhizome of A. chi- 
iicusis , Rose. It is now more than twelve years since 
my attention was first drawn to the subject by my 
esteemed correspondent Mr. Daniel Hanbury,'j who 
begged me, if possible, to set the question at rest. 
I have never lost sight of Mr. Hanbury’s wishes ; but, 
although the drug forms a considerable article of export 
from Southern China,* my want of success will not 
seem surjjrising when it is borne in mind that many 
vegetable products shipped from Canton come from dis¬ 
tant parts of the empire, and pass through a number of 
hands before they reach those of the native merchants, 
and that these latter arc quite incapable of comprehend¬ 
ing the interest attaching to the solution of a doubtful 
scientific point, or of troubling themselves about what 
seem to them matters of aimless and puerile curiosity. 
Those who have tried know well how difficult it is to 
get reliable information from the natives, who will fre¬ 
quently invent answers rather than seem ignorant, and 
are especially prone to reply in the affirmative to direct 
or leading questions, as if they supposed the object of an 
inquirer was rather to obtain the confirmation of his 
own views than to elicit the truth. 
* Galangal is not used in British medical practice ; and 
even on the Continent, Endlicher speaks of it as “ exoleti 
fere usus.” The following statement of the export of this 
drug during the last three years is compiled from the official 
returns published by the Foreign Inspectorate of Maritime 
Customs, the quantities and value being, however, for greater 
convenience, reduced to British weight and currency. 
Years. 
From Canton. 
From Shanghae. 
Total. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
1867 
1868 
1869 
lbs. 
32,800 
15,233 
None. 
£. s. d. 
123 10 10 
57 10 0 
lbs. 
79,200 
162,308 
370,600 
£. 8. d. 
354. 9 9 
1149 3 5 
3046 16 9 
lbs. 
112,000 
177,641 
3/0,800 
£. 8. d. 
478 0 7 
1206 13 5 
3046 16 9 
From this table it would appear that the demand for Galan¬ 
gal is increasing; but I cannot explain why the export of a 
product of the extreme south of China should be transferred 
from Canton (the nearest port) to Shanghae, situated 80 
degroes further north. 
In November, 1867, I had the opportunity of making 
a visit—at the invitation of, and in company with, the 
Commissioner of Maritime Customs at Canton—to the 
Island of Haenan. During this excursion, and wffiile 
at anchor off Pak- sha, a fishing-village on the south 
coast of Ivwangtung, about seventeen miles from, and 
rather to the east of Iloi-hau, on the north coast of 
Haenan, we landed, and some of the party went about 
six miles inland to a ruinous walled city named Hoi- 
on ; but, being slightly indisposed, I preferred botaniz¬ 
ing over the low hills near the coast. On their return, 
Mr. Sampson, who was one of the party, informed me 
that they had seen a large quantity of what he took for 
ginger (but which he described as bearing the inflores¬ 
cence on the leafy stems) under cultivation; and an¬ 
other gentleman produced—asking if I knew what it was 
—some pieces of rhizome, of which quantities had been 
passed, exposed to the sun in shallow bamboo baskets to 
dry. This I immediately identified as Galangal; and 
as some inquiries made of a linguist who had accom¬ 
panied them left no doubt that the rhizome belonged to 
the plant seen growing, I had the mortification of know¬ 
ing that the true Galangal plant had been met with, 
and no specimens obtained, whilst our arrangements did 
not admit of further delay. 
Fortunately, however, at the close of the year, an¬ 
other expedition to Haenan was planned; and on this 
occasion Mr. E. C. Taintor, an American gentleman in 
the service of the Imperial Customs, to whom I was in¬ 
debted for the specimens of the Oaks on which the 
North Chinese wild silkworm is fed, respecting which I 
have already communicated a paper to the Society, 
accompanied it. Mr. Sampson took great pains to indi¬ 
cate to Mr. Taintor the locality where the plant had 
been seen; and I am happy to say that Mr. Taintor’s 
researches were crowned with complete succees, he hav¬ 
ing brought back fine living plants with the rhizomes 
attached, an examination of which, and comparison with 
authentic specimens of the drug from Mr. Hanbury and 
others, procured here, leave no doubt whatever of the 
species being the true officinal one. 
The following account from Mr. Taintor’s notes will 
explain how he obtained the plant:—“The locality is 
about one mile north of the small village of Tung-sai, 
situated upon the Bay of Pak-sha, at the southern ex¬ 
tremity of the peninsula of Lui-chau-fu, or Lei-chau-fu, 
and directly opposite Hoi-hau, the port of Ixiung-chau- 
fu in Haenan. The plant was growing at an elevation 
of about 100 feet above the level of the sea, in a very 
dry hard red soil, evidently composed of disintegrated 
volcanic rock. The plant grew in masses, which had 
been originally planted and cultivated, but were now 
apparently neglected and running to waste. The roots 
were in dense masses of sometimes more than one foot 
diameter, and with as many as twenty-five or thirty 
stalks springing from each. Rarely more than one or 
two of these stalks, however, bore flowers at the date of 
collection, January 5th. My plan, to ensure that I was 
getting the real plant, was to write the two characters 
Liang-kiang (guild or gentle ginger , the Chinese name), 
and tell an intelligent-looking villager that I wanted to 
see the flower. He led me, without the least hesitation, 
directly to the spot where I obtained the plants.’’ 
I must add that Mr. Swinhoe has since found the 
plant growing wild in dense jungles on the south coast of 
Haenan, one of his specimens being now before me, and 
that he has informed Mr. Hanbury, as I quite recently 
learnt from that gentleman, that there is good reason 
for believing that its fruit is the Bitter-seeded Cardamom , 
figured in Mr. Hanbury’s valuable paper* “ On some 
rare kinds of Cardamom.” 
In endeavouring to determine the specimens collected 
by Mr. Taintor, I found in my herbarium, for the pur¬ 
pose of comparison, only the Hongkong species of 
* Pharm. Journ. Yol. XIY. p. 418, fig. 8. 
