SACKED BOTANY. 
deemed inferior to that of Silket. This tree he named Aquilaria Agallochum. Another species, the 
A. malaccensis (also called A. ovata), the Garo cle Malacca, on the authority of Sonnerat, yields the 
hois cVaigle of commerce. Thus two allied trees of the genus Aquilaria are ascertained to weld the 
fragrant wood under consideration. 
A plant called by Loureiro both Aloexylon Agallochum and the Lignum Aloes, a large tree 
growing on the lofty mountains of Champava, belonging to Cochin China, has also always been 
admitted as one of the trees yielding true Agallochum. Another plant mentioned by Humphius and 
called Exctecaria Agallochum—so named “ because its wood is similar to, and often substituted for 
Agallochum!’■ —a Euphorbiaceous tree common in the delta of the Ganges, and often the only one 
quoted as yielding agila-wood, is ranked as a spurious kind, though Dr. Hoyle thinks it may in some 
situations yield a substitute for the true sort. 
The Malay name of the Agallochum as already intimated, is cigila ; and it is exceedingly interesting to 
find this so little different from the Hebrew. It is probable that it was by the name agila, that this 
wood was first known in commerce ; certainly the Portuguese obtained it under this name whence they 
called it pao cVaguila, or Eagle wood, which 
is the origin of the generic name Aquilaria. 
This term cigila, which Dr. Hoyle supposes 
to have been converted in Hebrew into ahel 
(masculine), and from which were formed 
ahaloth and ahalim (plural), appears to have 
been the source of its confusion with the 
true Aloes; for Sprengel suggests that the 
primitive name is preserved in the Arabic 
cilloeh and (illicit, which come externally 
near aeliva, pronounced die a —the Hindoo 
name of the medicinal Aloe.—( Cyclop. of 
Biblical Bit.) 
The garo, one of the genuine kinds of 
agallochum, has long been an article of 
export from Malacca and Siam, the greater 
part being exported to China; though in 
Siam there is considerable home consump¬ 
tion. It is stated that the Chinese use it in 
a very economical manner ; the wood being 
reduced to a fine powder, and mixed with 
a gummy substance, is thickly coated over 
small slips of wood, which being lighted 
give out a feeble but grateful perfume. 
The Agallochum of Silhet, according 
to a MS. account quoted by Dr. Hoyle, 
welds four different qualities from the same 
tree:—1. Ghurkee, which sinks in water, and sells from 12 to 16 rupees per 
Doim, 6 to 8 rupees per seer: 3. Simula, which floats in water, 3 to 4 rupees ; 
Aquilaria Agallochum. 
seer of 2 lbs.; 2. 
4. Choorum, 
which is in small pieces, also floats in water, 1 to \\ rupee per seer. Sometimes 80 lbs. of these 
four kinds are obtained from one tree. Another account, by Mr. Colebrooke, quoted by Lady 
Calcott, gives the name of the heaviest dark coloured pieces which sink in water as gharkhi; that of 
the next quality, nim gharkhi; and that of the two inferior sorts, temlah. All the frees do not produce 
the aggur, nor does every part of even the most productive. The natives cut into the wood until they 
observe dark coloured veins yielding the perfume; these guide them to the places containing the aggur, 
which generally extends but a short way through the centre of the trunk or branch. An essence or 
attur is obtained by bruising the wood in a mortar and then infusing it in boiling water, when the 
attur floats on the surface. A large specimen of the tree in the Museum of the East India House 
displays a cancellated structure, in which the resinous parts remain, the rest of the wood having 
been removed apparently by decay. Lady Calcott mentions that the choicest pieces sell for their 
weight in gold; they seem to have no smell until warmed by the hand, when they become dewy, 
and exhale a most delicious odour. The resinous substance to which the fragrance of the wood is 
owing, is considered a cordial by some Asiatic nations; and has been prescribed in Europe in gout 
and rheumatism. 
