THE KOSSO, OR BRAYERA ANTHELMINTIC A. 321 
I have seen only one package of kosso ; this was kindly 
opened in my presence by M. Simond of the firm of Cay- 
lits, Simond, & Co., the agents of M. Rochet d'Hericourt. 
It was a deal box, containing about 30 lbs. of the dried flow- 
ers, wrapped up in a large skin of red leather. On remov- 
ing the lid of the box, and untying the leather package, the 
fragrant or balsamic odour of the dried flowers was very 
powerful. It appeared to me to be somewhat similar to the 
combined odours of tea, hops, and senna leaves. The flow- 
ers had apparently undergone no preparation beyond that of 
dessication. The bunches of flowers were perfect and un- 
broken, though of course compressed. The general colour 
of the dried mass was greenish yellow ; but when the flow- 
ers were more closely examined, the edges of the petals were 
seen to have a reddish or purplish colour. 
The taste of the dried flowers is at first not very marked, 
but after a few minutes, a feeble, senna-like, acrid, unpleasant 
taste becomes perceptible. By soaking the dried flowers in 
water, they may be unfolded sufficiently to determine their 
botanical character. When submitted to microscopic exa- 
mination, the hairs are perceived to be simple lymphatic 
hairs tapering at their distal extremity. 
In Abyssinia two sorts of kosso are distinguished, viz. : 
1st, the red kosso produced by the female flowers ; 2d, the 
male flowers known as kosso esals. In commerce the two 
are always mixed. 
Adulteration.— Considering the enormous price (about $8.50 
per ounce) at which kosso has been hitherto sold in Paris, 
and the very limited quantity originally supplied by M. Ro- 
chet d'Hericourt, it cannot be surprising that the article 
should be extensively adulterated. Indeed I have been as- 
sured on creditable authority, that the powder now selling 
as " kousso" is, in fact, the powder of pomgranate bark ; 
and that legal proceedings are about being commenced in 
Paris, to put a stop to the fraud, which is well calculated to 
injure the reputation of the genuine Abyssinian remedy. 
