ON  THE  DRUGS  OBSERVED  AT  ADEN,  ARABIA. 
151 
Hotai  is  the  name  of  a  gum  produced  by  a  small  thorny  tree 
which  grows  in  the  Somali  country  about  Bunder  Murayeh.  The 
tree  or  shrub  is  in  appearance  not  unlike  that  which  produces  the 
myrrh,  and  attains  the  height  of  about  six  feet.  The  use  of  the 
gum,  as  far  as  I  know  at  present,  is  confined  to  the  Somalis  them- 
selves, and  more  especially  to  the  females,  who  consider  it  a  good 
detersive  for  the  hair,  and  almost  the  only  one  they  know  or  ever 
use.    When  steeped  in  fresh  water,  it  yields  a  slight  lather.* 
Olibanum,  styled  Lubdn  by  the  Arabs  and  by  the  Somalis  on 
the  opposite  coast,  where  the  tree  affording  it  grows  in  abundance. 
I  believe  that  Olibanum  is  also  known  in  Persia  and  in  many  parts 
of  India  under  the  name  of  Kundor  and  Koodricum,  but  not  by  the 
Arabs  or  Somalis.  The  Lubdn  tree  is  a  native  of  the  eastern 
coast  of  Africa,  and  flourishes  on  the  high  lands  which  intersect 
the  whole  of  the  Somali  country,  where  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  it  in  1843,  not  far  from  Cape  Gardafui.  The  hill-ranges 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa  are  composed  entirely  of  white  lime- 
stone, in  some  parts  so  compact  as  to  resemble  alabaster.  This 
appears  to  be  the  soil  most  genial  to  the  tree,  and  in  no  instance 
did  I  find  it  growing  in  sand  or  loam  as  has  been  supposed  was  the 
case.  The  tree  is  first  met  with  a  few  miles  inland  from  the  coast, 
and  at  an  altitude  of  about  three  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.    Its  appearance  is  strikingly  singular,  seeming  at  first 
was  formerly  known  as  East  Indian  Myrrh,  but  is  now  seldom  so  distin- 
guished. A  package  from  Bombay  has  been  offered  in  the  London  market 
this  year  as  Gum  Bhesaboll.  Bissa  B61  is  the  Myrrha  Indicaoi  Drs.  J.  and  E. 
Martiny  ( Encyklopddie  der  Medicinisch-'pliarmaceutisclicn  Nataralien  und  Roh- 
uiaarenkunde)  band  2,  p.  98) ,  as  I  found  by  a  comparison  with  specimens  in 
the  possession  of  Dr.  Julius  Martiny.  It  is  quite  distinct  from  Indian  and 
African  Bdellium — D.  H. 
*  Gum  Hof.ai,  judging  from  the  sample  sent  to  England  by  the  author,  con- 
sists of  irregular  pieces  l^to  1  inch  in  their  longest  diameter,  frequently 
rounded  on  one  side,  as  if  portions  of  large  tears,  of  entire  smaller  tears,  and 
of  angular  little  fragments,  produced  by  the  fracture  of  the  masses.  It  is  of 
wax-like  opacity,  cracked  in  all  directions,  and  readily  breaking  up  into 
angular  pieces.  On  the  exterior,  the  larger  pieces  are  yellowish,  brownish, 
or  somewhat  liver-colored,  and  occasionally,  incrusted  on  one  side  with  a 
reddish  sand,  upon  which  they  appear  to  have  fallen  when  in  a  soft  state. 
Internally,  the  colors  are  generally  paler  or  nearly  white,  sometimes  darker 
toward  the  centre  of  the  tear.  The  gum  is  nearly  inodorous,  but  in  taste  is 
slightly  bitter  and  acrid  to  the  throat.  A  few  fragments  agitated  with  water 
in  a  vial  speedily  afford  an  emulsion  which  remains  frothy  and  milky  for 
many  days.— D.  H. 
