150 
ON   THE  DRUGS  OBSERVED  AT  ADEN,  ARABIA. 
Four  hundred  and  fifty  hundredweights  of  myrrh  passed  through 
the  Aden  custom-house  last  year,  some  of  which  was  taken  to 
America  by  American  vessels,  but  the  greater  part  was  shipped 
for  Bombay.  The  selling  price  here  is  9|  rupees  the  maund  of 
twenty-eight  pounds.* 
Bissa  Bol  (Arabic),  Hebbakhade  of  the  Somalis. — This  is  the 
name  of  another  gum-resin  which  is  collected  by  the  Somalis  on 
the  opposite  coast  and  brought  hither  for  sale  or  exportation.  In 
appearance  it  resembles  the  myrrh  already  described  ;  and  the 
natives  tell  me  that  the  tree  from  which  it  is  obtained  also  re- 
sembles the  Heara  B&l  tree,  but  is  neverthles*  a  distinct  variety. 
I  have  not  met  with  any  description  of  this  gum,  and  my  impres- 
sion is,  that  the  tree  which  produces  it  is  yet  unknown  to  Euro- 
peans. It  is  brought  over  with  the  myrrh  and  other  gums  by  the 
Somalis,  but  does  not  appear  to  be  very  plentiful,  as  I  find  that  only 
seventy  maunds  passed  through  the  custom-house  last  year.  Here 
it  realizes  2|  rupees  per  maund,  and  is  sent  from  Aden  to  India 
and  China,  where  it  is  mixed  with  the  food  given  to  milch  cows 
and  buffaloes,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  quantity  and  im- 
proving the  quality  of  the  milk.  It  is  also  used  as  a  size,  and 
when  mixed  with  lime,  it  is  said  to  impart  a  bright  gloss  to  walls 
"which  are  covered  with  it.  I  am  not  aware  to  what  other  purposes 
it  may  be  applied  ;  possibly  it  may  possess  other  useful  properties, 
with  which  the  natives  are  unacquainted.  So  far  as  my  infor- 
mation extends,  none  of  this  particular  gum  has  yet  found  its  way 
to  Europe.f 
*  Specimens  of  two  kinds  of  myrrh  have  been  received  from  Mr.  Vaughan. 
One,  labelled  Somali  or  African  Myrrh,  is  the  so-called  Turkey  Myrrh  of 
commerce.  The  other,  which  is  that  produced  forty  miles  to  the  eastward 
of  Aden,  is  a  gum-resin  distinctly  different,  and,  as  the  author  suggests  in 
another  communication,  doubtless  the  produce  of  some  other  tree  than  that 
affording  common  myrrh.  It  is  in  irregular  pieces,  varying  in  size  from  that 
of  a  walnut  to  less  than  that  of  a  pea,  not  coated  with  dust  like  pieces  of 
Turkey  myrrh,  but  having  a  somewhat  shining  exterior.  Each  laige  piece 
appears  to  be  formed  by  the  cohesion  of  a  number  of  small,  rounded,  some- 
what transparent,  externally  shining,  tears  or  drops.  The  fracture  much  re- 
sembles that  of  common  myrrh,  but  wants  the  semicircular  whitish  markings. 
In  odor  and  taste  it  agrees  closely  with  true  myrrh.  Portions  of  a  semi- 
transparent  brown,  papyraceous  bark  are  occasionally  attached  to  pieces  of 
it.  I  have  recently  noticed  a  small  quantity  of  this  myrrh  in  the  hands  of  a 
London  drug  broker.— D.  H. 
t  This  substance  of  which  the  author  has  forwarded  a  fine  specimen,  is 
suually  regarded  in  England  as  a  species  of  myrrh  of  inferior  quality.  It 
