&0YLE*S MANUAL OF MATERIA MEDICA, ETC. 
2G7 
Dicotyledonous or Exegenous, and Monocotyledonom or 
Endogenous. The plants belonging to this class are most 
highly organized, and of course are most likely to attract 
attention. Our author has commenced with them, and in 
this respect differs from Pereira, who commences with vege- 
tables the least organized and terminates with those the 
most complex. The four great subdivisions have been pro- 
minently introduced, and serve as a bond of further associa- 
tion ; such are the Thalamiflorae, Calyciflorae^ Corollijlorse, 
and Monochlamy dent or Apetalse. 
We have already noticed the fact, that this book contains 
much new and interesting information respecting the plants 
affording, and the substances constituting, the vegetable 
Materia Medica. We refer as evidence of this to the arti- 
cles Gambogia, Elemi, Catechu, Senna, Kino, Assafoetida, 
&c. The account of the latter substance is so original, that 
we think it important to present it to our readers, as in ad- 
dition to general points of novelty, it introduces to pharma- 
cologists a new plant. 
" Assafoetida, a produce of Persia and Afghanistan, is men- 
tioned in the ancient Sanscrit Am era Cosha. The ancients 
highly esteemed a gum-resin which the Romans called Laser, 
and the Greeks oito^xv^vaixb^ or the Cyrenaic Juice, from 
being produced in that region. The plant §i%$iov yielding it 
was an Umbellifer, and is represented on the coins of Cyrene, 
It has been discovered of late years, and named Thapsia 
Silphium. This Laser had become scarce even in the time 
of Pliny, who as well as Dioscorides describes another kind 
as obtained from Persia, India, and Armenia, which was pro- 
bably the same that was known to the Hindoos. Avicenna 
describes hulteet as of two kinds : one, of good odour, from 
Chiruana (Cyrene ?), and the other foetid, the present Assa- 
foetida. The term assa is no doubt of oriental origin, since it 
is applied to other gum-resins. Thus Benzoin is called 
hussee-looban ; it used to be called Jlssa dulcis in old works. 
Dr. Lindley has received the seeds of a Ferula called hooshee. 
Anjedan, the fruits or seeds (yvihov of the Greeks,) is usually 
translated Laserpitium. The plant is called Angoozeh by the 
