%^'i7h6?rm- }     Medicinal  Gum  Resins  of  Persia.  5 1 3 
two  inches  thick,  which  I  cut  through,  were  so  full  of  resin  that  a 
thick  sap  ran  over  ;  later  on,  after  exposure  to  the  air,  it  thickens  and 
becomes  of  a  yellowish-brown  color.  There  are,  however,  some 
plants  which  give  no  gum  and  bear  no  fruit.  The  inhabitants  call 
these  male  plants,  while  they  term  the  fruit-bearing  ones  female  plants. 
The  maximum  temperature  on  this  day  was  25°C.  The  saline  well- 
water  boiled  at  94j°C.  On  my  return  journey,  on  the  1st  of  August, 
I  found,  in  the  same  place,  that  most  of  the  seeds  had  been  blown 
away  by  the  wind,  but  many  of  the  plants  still  bore  their  fruit,  so  that 
I  succeeded  in  obtaining  several  pounds  without  dismounting  ;  ripe  as 
they  were,  and  carefully  as  I  guarded  them,  they  would  not  germinate 
in  Europe.  On  this  day  the  temperature  after  sunrise  was  15°,  the 
maximum  20,°C.  Gum  ammoniacum  is  in  this  district  abundantly 
gathered,  and  sold  in  Ispahan.  In  the  country  it  is  much  used  as  an 
inward  medicament,  and  also  frequently  for  greasing  the  spinning- 
wheels,  as  it  is  very  cheap.  The  plant  is,  above  all,  an.excellent  food 
for  sheep.  At  the  Vienna  Exhibition  there  was  a  lump  of  gum  am- 
moniac, shown  in  Morocco,  stated  to  be  obtained  in  that  country. 
Galbanum  resin  [Ferula  ga lb anum)  is  called  Barzed  and  Baredsche 
in  Persian,  and  Khasni  in  Turkish  (though  the  name  Khasni  is  also 
used  in  some  Persian  districts).  This  plant  requires  a  greater  eleva- 
tion above  the  level  of  the  sea  than  the  ammoniacum.  I  found  it  at  a 
height  between  7,000  and  8,000  feet  on  the  mountains  adjoining  the 
Valley  of  the  Laar,  where  I  collected  a  few  ounces  of  the  best  gal- 
banum. It  is  also  frequently  found  on  the  mountains  by  the  village  of 
Dehgirdu,  at  an  elevation  of  6,000  feet.  The  leaves  resemble  the 
other  ferulas  in  their  structure.  When  I  passed  by  the  village  on  the 
27th  of  June,  1859,  tne  leaves  had  already  fallen,  but  the  flowers  had 
not  yet  developed  their  light  orange  color.  The  plants  were  covered 
with  tears  of  resin  ;  the  root  was  of  a  roundish  form  and  about  the 
same  size  and  shape  as  a  large  black  radish,  with  two  spreading  shoots. 
The  temperature  on  Jthis  day  (27th  of  June)  was,  in  Dehgirdu,  before 
sunrise  7°C,  at  mid-day  2i°C.  Water  boiled  at  92j°C.  Galbanum 
is  frequently  used  for  plasters,  and  inwardly  for  menstrual  illnesses,  in 
the  country  ;  it  is  also  exported  from  the  above  district  to  Constan- 
tinople under  the  name  of  Khasni. 
Ferula  Asafoetida,  Lin. — In  Persian  the  resin  is  called  Anguze 
(from  which  the  abbreviation  asa.  may  have  been  derived).  In  Arabian 
