Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1887. 
Plants  of  Afghanistan. 
45 
koh  and  SafM-koh  and  the  Ar-dewan  pass,  forming  regular  thickets; 
these  are  also  the  noted  localities  for  obtaining  the  manna.  During 
July,  as  the  corn  ripens,  the  smaller  branches  of  the  cotoneaster  be- 
come covered  with  the  exudation,  and  this  is  collected  by  merely  shak- 
ing the  branches  over  a  cloth.  It  is  eaten  largely  by  the  people  as  a 
sweetmeat,  and  exported  in  quantity  to  Persia  and  India. 
The  second  kind  of  manna  is  that  yielded  by  the  camel-thorn, 
Alhagi  Camelorum,  Fisch.  This  is  a  thorny  shrub  of  from  two  to 
three  feet  in  height,  growing  generally  over  the  country  at  an  altitude 
of  two  thousand  feet,  very  frequently  gregarious,  forming  a  dense 
shrub.  In  certain  years,  during  the  months  of  July  and  August,  this 
manna  is  developed  on  the  branches  of  the  camel-thorn  (Shutar-khdr),  or 
goat's-thorn  (Khdr-i-buzi).  The  manna  is  called  Taranjabin,  which  means 
the  honey  from  the  green  (bush),  this  name  probably  originating  from 
the  shrub  remaining  vividly  green  over  the  country  long  after  all  other 
plants  have  dried  up  and  disappeared.  The  country  round  Pui-khauf, 
in  Persia,  is  celebrated  for  this  product,  whence  it  is  exported  in  all 
directions. 
The  third  kind  of  manna  is  that  yielded  by  Tamarix  gallica,  Linn., 
var.  mannifera.  I  collected  specimens  of  this  plant  in  the  Badghis, 
where  it  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  a  Persian  as  being  the  shrub  that 
in  Khairan  Persia  yielded  Gaz-shakar.  The  plant  in  Afghanistan  is 
called  Gaz,  and  the  manna  it  yields  Gaz-anjabin;  the  latter  I  did 
not  find. 
At  Sha-Ishmael,  on  October  8, 1884, 1  collected  a  quantity  of  manna 
in  the  form  of  milk  drops  from  the  foliage  of  Salsola  fcetida,  Del. 
It  was  pleasant  to  the  taste,  with  a  slightly  aromatic  flavor.  This,  I 
regret  to  say,  has  been  lost. 
Glycyrrhiza  glabra,  Linn.,  and  its  variety  glandulifera,  Peg.  et 
Herd. — This  shrub  in  one  form  or  other  is  very  common  all  over  the 
Badghis,  and  throughout  the  Hari-rud  and  Khorasan  districts,  near 
water.  Its  annual  stems  grow  to  great  coarse  shoots  of  from  four  to 
five  feet  in  height  from  enormous  underground  root  stocks.  The 
Turkomans  prepare  from  its  roots  the  extract  liquorice,  which  as  well 
as  the  shrub  they  call  Mahk.  The  Persians  call  the  plant  Stis,  the 
root  Behk-sus,  and  the  extract  Mob-i-sus.  Liquorice  is  not  manufac- 
tured at  Meshad,  but  I  was  told  that  it  was  imported  from  Yczd  and 
Fars  in  Persia,  as  well  as  from  Turkistan.  I  obtained  a  preparation 
of  it  made  by  boiling  the  extract  down  in  whey,  which  gives  it  a 
