ON SUMBUL OR J AT AM ANSI. 
225 
powerful lens, small transparent points, having the appearance of 
granules of fecula can be perceived. 
Two remarkable physical characteristics attract the attention 
during the examination of this root. In the first place its perfume, 
which can hardly be distinguished from the purest musk, and 
secondly, the powerful odor which it exhales when chewed. This 
musk-like odor is so marked, that some have even supposed the 
sumbul to have derived this quality from its contact with musk it- 
self, during its progress from Asia to Europe, but such an idea falls 
to the ground before the facts that the sumbul retains this perfume, 
even when very old, that even when the outer portions are removed 
the interior is still strongly odorous; that the odor-giving principle 
itself can be isolated by chemical manipulation, and its very name, 
as given by botanists, is an argument of some weight. It is called 
mochus-wurzel or musk-root. 
The aromatic taste is a no less distinctive characteristic. The 
first impression received upon tasting it is a slightly sweetish 
flavor, followed rapidly by a balsamic taste, and succeeded by a 
not unpleasant bitterness. As the mastication proceeds, there is 
felt in the mouth and fauces, a very marked aroma, accompanied 
by a sensation of warmth, the penetrating odor of this substance 
being imparted to the breath. These effects are much more evi- 
dent, if in place of the root the alcoholic tincture is tasted, in 
which case the aromatic and stimulant flavor is very decided. 
The chemical analysis of sumbul has been the subject of research 
by many German chemists — Reinsch, Schnitztin, Frichinger and 
Kalthofer. According to Reinsch, this root contains besides water, 
traces of an ethereal oil, two balsamic compounds, {resins) of 
which one is soluble in ether, the other in alcohol, wax, aromatic 
spirit, and a bitter substance soluble in alcohol and water. 
A solution of this bitter substance, treated with lime and chloride 
of sodium, gives a sediment composed of gum, starch and saline 
matters. The balsams appear to contain the perfume, which, it 
may be remarked, becomes more intense if diffused in water. 
The sumbul also contains an acid, to which Reinsch proposes 
to give the name of sumbulic acid. 
Kalthofer has, moreover, investigated its pharmaceutical proper- 
ties. He has obtained a yellowish alcoholic tincture of a musk- 
like odor, and a rather bitter taste, a yellow ethereal tincture of 
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