248 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 23, 1871- 
Pus demura extus stramineo-arefactis nitidis intra mar- 
gineque scaiiosis cucullatis flore pluries longioribus vcl 
simul apicibus invicem convolutis basique solutis calyp-j 
tratim secedentibus vel intcriore paulo serins decidua, 
floribus ebracteolatis arete subsessilibus 15 lin. longis, 
perigonio exteriore albo tubuloso tomentcllo apice brc- 
viter 2 - 3 -lobo lobis scariosis rotundatis ciliatis, perigonii 
intcrioris albi tubo extus intusque tomentcllo lobis ob- 
longis obtusis cucullatis 8-11 lin. longis 2-2 5 lin. latis 
tertio paululum majoro et latiore, labello albo medio 
striis vinoso-rubris juxta apicem in maculam distinctam 
tlabellatim dilatatis percurso aliisque pallidioribus a lmeis 
medianis intcrioribus marginem versus pinnatim radi- ' 
antibus elegantissime picto sessili ovato integro apice j 
acutiusculo vel bilobo crispulo-eroso 10 lin. longo 8-9 lin.! 
lato basi corniculis binis rigidulo-carnosis subulatis sub- j 
refloxis 1 - 1 ^-linealibus pilis capitatis consitis basique 
glanduloso-incrassatis conniventibus tubum occludenti- 
bus aucto, stamine labello dimidio breviore, ovario dcn- 
sissime albo-tomentoso, stylo apice sensim dilatato paulo 
ultra antheram producto, stigmate concavo margine 
ciliato, glandulis ‘epigynis y-linealibus luteolis oblongis 
apice truncatis integris vel lobulatis. 
Habitat in interioribus insulin Haenan; vix dubie 
etiam in silvis australiorum imperii Sinensis provinci- 
arum, ubi conunercii ergo large colitur (Exsicc. n. 16866). 
British Vice-Consulate , Whampoa, 
September 1870. 
HISTORICAL NOTES OP THE RADIX GAL ANGIE 
OP PHARMACY. 
BY DANIEL HANBUItY, F.B.S., E.L.S. 
In discovering and describing the plant which, yields 
the Radix Galangce minoris of pharmacy, Dr. Hance has 
added an interesting chapter to the history of a sub¬ 
stance which for many centuries has been an object of 
trade between Europe and the East. Galangal does not, i 
indeed, possess properties which can claim for it the j 
rank of an important medicine, being simply a pungent 
aromatic of the nature of ginger; but it has so long held 
a place in the pharmacopoeias of Europe, and enters into 
so many ancient receipts, that I need hardly apologize 
for offering to the Linnean Society a few notes on its 
pharmacological history. 
Galangal was apparently unknown to the ancient 
Greeks and Romans; at least no mention of it can be 
found in the classical authors. Its introduction into 
Europe was due to the Arabians, in vdiose writings it is 
noticed at a very early period. 
Thus Ibn Khurdadbah, an Arab geographer who 
-served under the Khalif Mutammid, a.d. 869-885, has 
left some information respecting China, after w r hich he 
speaks of the country of Sila, wdiich exports .... musk, 
aloes [7. c. aloes-wood], camphor,.pci-oclcun, satin, 
cinnamon k c,DO * a ], ana galangal.* 
me celebrated geographer Edrisi, who wwotc a.d. 1154, 
observes of Aden, that it is the port for Scindc, India, 
and China, from wdiich last country are brought musk, 
aloes-wood, pepper, cardamoms, cinnamon, galangal , 
mace, myrobalans, camphor, nutmegs, cloves and cu- 
bebs.f 
The Arabian physicians, from Rhazcs and Alkindi in 
the tenth and eleventh centimes downwards, make fre¬ 
quent reference to galangal as an ingredient of the com¬ 
plicated medicines then in use. 
Among the later Greeks I cannot find any mention 
* “ Le Livre des Routes et des Provinces, par Ibn Ehor- 
dadbeh, traduit et annote par C. Barbier de Meynard,” Journ. 
Asiatique, ser. vi. tome v. (1865), p. 294. 
f ‘ Geographic d’Edrisi, traduite par A. Jaubert:’ Paris, 
1836-40, 4to, tome i. p. 51. 
made of this drug prior to Myrepsus, wdio probably re¬ 
sided as physician at the court of the Greek Emperors 
at Nicaia iu the thirteenth century; though several 
authors declare it is referred to much earlier. It is con¬ 
stantly named by Actuarius, who may have been con¬ 
temporary with Myrepsus. 
In a work published some years ago in Paris, entitled 
‘Assises de Jerusalem, ou Recueil des Ouvrages dc Ju¬ 
risprudence composes pendant le xiii e sieelo dans lea 
Royaumes dc Jerusalem et de Chypre,’ * * * § there is a re¬ 
markable list of commodities liable to duty during the- 
twelfth century at the port of Aeon in Syria (the modern 
Akka), at that period a great emporium of Mediterranean 
trade, in which many Indian spices and drugs, including 
galangal , are enumerated. 
We find galangal also noticed, together with ginger 
and zedoary, as productions of India imported into Pa¬ 
lestine, by Jaques de Yitri, Bishop of Aeon in the early 
part of the thirteenth century ;f and in the ‘ Romance- 
of Godefroi de Bouillon,’ a poem written in the twelfth 
century, it is named as one of the rarities of the East,, 
which the Crusaders were deluded into believing would, 
be found in plenty in the Holy Land. ]; 
Marco Polo, in his travels in Asia in the thirteenth 
century, observed galangal to be produced in Southern 
China (Province of Foochow?), as well as in Java.§ 
About this period it was also known in Western Eu¬ 
rope. St. Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, wdio died in 
a.d. 1179, names it as galgan , and comments upon its. 
medicinal virtues.|| 
Galangal is catalogued with other spices (as ginger, 
cinnamon, cloves, and nutmegs) in the tariff of dutie 3 
levied in the port of Colibre (Collioure), in Roussillon, in 
a.d. 1252.** 
A more interesting notice of the drug is contained in 
the journal of expenses of John, King of France, from. 
July 1, 1359, to July 8 , 1360, during his residence in 
i England, preserved in the ‘ Comptes do l’Argenterio des 
Rois de France.’ Besides purchases of sugar, mace, 
ginger, cloves, pepper, cardamoms, calamus aromaticus, 
and many other drugs, we find three entries for galangal r 
namely, for ^-lb. 18(7., for 2 lb. 6 s., and for 1 lb. 22<7.ff- 
As the price of gold happens to be also mentioned in one 
part of the account, it is easy to form an estimate of the 
relative value of galangal. This shows the price of 3s. 
per pound to be equivalent to 10 s. of our present money 
—not extravagant for a commodity transported from the- 
remotest Asia to the centre of England. 
In Professor J. E. Thorold Rogers’s 4 History of Agri¬ 
culture and Prices in England,’ there are eleven entries 
indicating the price of galangal in England between. 
a.d. 1264 and 1376. The highest was in 1307, when 
2 lb. of the spice purchased for the Crowm w r cre paid for 
at the rate of 6 s. Sd. The other entries indicate the. 
price as from Is. 6(7. to 3s. per lb. 
* Paris, 1841-43, fob tome ii. chap. 142. 
t Vitriaco (Jac. de), ‘ Historia Orient-alls et Occidentalism 
1597, 8 vo, p. 172. 
+ ‘ Bibliotheque de 1’Ecole des Cbartes,’ tome ii. (1840-41), 
p. 437. 
§ ‘Le Livre de Marco Polo’ (ed. Pauthier: Paris, 1865)^ 
pp. 522, 561. 
|| ‘ S. Hildegardis Abbatissce Opera omnia, accurante J. P- 
Migne;’ Paris, 1855, p. 1134. 
** Capmany, ‘ Memorias Ilistoricas sobre la Marina, Co- 
mercio y Aides de la Ciudad de Barcelona,’ 1779, tomo ii. 
p. 20 . 
ff The original entries are as follows :— 
“ Lundy Vll e jour d’oc f obre. Jehan Kellesliulle, espicier 
a St. Boutoul, pour espices prises de li pour le lloy .... 
Galingal, demie livre 18c/. Jeudy XIII e jour de fevrier_ 
Galingal, 2 livres, 6 s. Samedy XXVII e jour de juing .... 
Berthelemi Mine, espicier . . . . Galingal, une livre, 22c7.” 
L. Douet D’Arc-q, ‘ Comptes de l’Argenterie des Rois do- 
France au XIY C siecle.’ Paris, 1851, 8 vo, pp. 21S, 232, 265, 
£60. 
