422 
EASSIA  FLOWERS. 
trees  which  are  most  abundant  in  the  opener  parts  of  Guzerat 
and  Raj  warra.  The  ripe  flower  has  a  sickly  sweet  taste,  re- 
sembling manna.  Being  very  deciduous,  it  is  found  in  large 
quantity  under  the  trees,  every  morning  during  the  season.  A 
single  tree  will  afford  from  200  to  400  pounds  of  the  flowers. 
The  seed  affords  a  great  quantity  of  concrete  oil,  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  soap.  The  forest  or  Bheel  population  also  store 
great  quantities  of  the  dried  flowers  as  a  staple  article  of  food  ; 
and  hence  in  expeditions  undertaken  for  the  punishment  or  sub- 
jection of  those  tribes  when  unruly,  their  bassia-trees  are 
threatened  to  be  cut  down  by  the  invading  force,  and  this  threat 
most  commonly  ensures  the  submission  of  the  tribes. 
"In  Guzerat  and  Rajpootna,  every  village  has  its  spirit  shop 
for  the  sale  of  the  distilled  liquor  from  the  flowers  ;  in  the  island 
of  Caranja,  opposite  to  Bombay,  the  government  duty  on  the 
spirit  distilled  (chiefly  from  the  flower)  amounts  to  at  least 
£60,000  per  annum  ;  I  rather  think  that  X80,000  is  most  gene- 
rally the  sum.  The  Parsis  are  the  great  distillers  and  sellers 
of  it  in  ail  the  country  between  Surat  and  Bombay ;  and  they 
usually  push  their  distilleries  and  shops  into  the  heart  of  the 
forest,  which  lines  the  eastern  border  and  hills  of  those  countries. 
The  spirit  produced  from  the  Bassia  is,  when  carefully  distilled, 
much  like  good  Irish  whiskey,  having  a  strong,  smoky,  and 
rather  foetid  flavor ;  this  latter  disappears  with  age.  The  fresh 
spirit  is,  owing  to  the  quantity  of  aromatic  or  empyreumatic  oil 
which  it  contains,  very  deleterious,  and  to  the  European  troops 
stationed  in  Guzerat  some  thirty  years  ago,  appeared  to  be  quite 
as  poisonous  as  the  worst  new  rum  of  the  West  Indies.  It  exci- 
ted immediate  gastric  irritation,  and  on  this  supervened  the 
malarious  fever  so  common  in  those  countries."* 
Under  their  Tamil  name  Elloopa,  the  flowers  of  Bassia  longi- 
folia  L.  have  lately  been  imported  into  London,  we  presume  as 
an  experiment  to  ascertain  if  they  can  find  here  any  useful  ap- 
plications. The  sample  we  have  examined  consists  of  fleshy 
corollas,  of  a  ferruginous  brown  color  and  moist  appearance  as 
^Note  on  the  various  Vegetable  Substances  used  in  India  for  the  pur- 
pose of  producing  Intoxication.  Hooker's  Journ.  of  Bot.,  vol.  v.  (1853,) 
p.  90. 
