AmjuJn°eU,ri8i?arm-}     Notes  on  Some  Saps  and  Secretions,  323 
India  and  the  vegetarian  Hindoo  classes,  as  a  favorite  ingredient  in 
their  curries,  sauce  for  pillaus,  and  other  dishes,  especially  mixed 
with  rice  and  dal  or  pulse  on  account  of  its  stimulant,  stomachic 
properties.  The  Turkomans  are  very  fond  of  the  young  shoots 
dipped  in  vinegar.  But  it  is  not  an  article  of  general  consumption 
in  Afghanistan  itself.  The  fresh  leaves  of  the  plant,  which  have  the 
same  peculiar  odor  as  its  secretion,  when  cooked,  are  commonly  used 
as  a  diet  by  those  near  whose  abode  the  plant  grows.  The  white 
inner  part  of  the  stem  of  the  full-grown  plant  is  considered  a  deli- 
cacy when  roasted  and  flavored  with  salt  and  butter.  India  seems 
to  be  the  principal  consumer  of  this  gum  resin,  as  the  imports  there 
range  from  eight  to  nine  thousand  hundredweight  annually.  Its 
uses  in  Persia  are  very  numerous,  especially  as  a  medicine.  There 
are  people  there  who  are  so  accustomed  to  its  use  for  nervous  com- 
plaints that  it  is  like  opium  to  the  opium  eaters — one  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  Its  excellent  anti- spasmodic  qualities  are  too  little 
known  and  appreciated  in  Europe. 
The  liquid  form  of  asafcetida  has,  from  the  remotest  times,  been 
held  in  great  estimation  by  Eastern  doctors,  and  was  once  regarded 
as  worth  its  weight  in  silver.  It  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  carminative 
and  condiment.  If  taken  daily  it  is  said  to  prevent  the  attacks  of 
malarious  fever. 
Among  the  ancients,  condiments  to  stimulate  the  .sluggish  appe- 
tite seemed  to  be  in  chief  demand.  Amongst  these  asafcetida, 
which  is  to-day  highly  relished  in  Persia  and  the  East,  was  an  indis- 
pensable ingredient;  and  it  is  even  now  used  moderately  by  cooks 
in  Europe  to  give  flavor  to  some  dishes  and  meats. 
Opopanax  Chironium,  Koch.  This  gum  resinous  exudation  from 
the  juice  of  the  roots  is  met  with  in  lumps  and  tears,  is  opaque,  of  a 
disagreeable  balsamic  odor,  of  a  bitter  acrid  taste.  It  has  a  slight 
resemblance  externally  to  myrrh.  In  most  of  its  properties  it 
closely  resembles  asafcetida,  and  is  now  scarcely  used  in  medicine  in 
Europe,  although  found  in  the  bazars  of  India. 
Papaver  somniferum,  Linne.  The  concrete,  inspissated  juice  from 
the  capsules  of  this  poppy,  known  as  opium,  is  a  valuable  narcotic 
and  anodyne,  obtained  by  scratching  the  capsules  and  collecting  the 
juice.  Great  Britain  imports  from  400,000  to  500,000  pounds  of 
opium  annually  for  medicinal  purposes,  chiefly  from  Turkey  and 
Persia.    The  imports  into  the  United  States  since  the  duty  has  been 
