Am.  Jour.  Pharir  .  > 
Aug.,  1880.  J 
Indian  Drugs, 
419 
Zedoaria  of  Roscoe  (Confer.  Guibourt,  "Hist.  Nat.,"  6eme  ed.,  tome 
ii,  p.  214).  It  would  appear  also  that  it  is  identical  with  the  cassumu- 
nar  described  by  Pereira  and  the  turmeric  colored  zedoary  of  Ainslie. 
(Confer.  Pereira,  Mat.  Med."  vol.  ii,  parti,  p.  236).  Lastly  it  would 
appear  to  be  the  same  as  the  Cochin  turmeric  noticed  by  Fluckigerand 
Hanbury  ('*•  Pharmacographia,"  p.  580).  The  properties  of  this  drug 
are  very  similar  to  those  of  turmeric,  but  its  flavor  is  not  so  agreeable  ; 
in  Bombay  it  is  used  medicinally  in  combination  with  other  drugs  as  an 
external  application  to  bruises,  sprains,  etc. 
The  plant  grows  wild  in  the  Concan.  I  have  not  seen  it  in  flower. 
The  foliage  is  like. that  of  the  C.  Z^-^^^^^r/^?,  Roscoe,  pale  yelloivish-green 
with  a  purple  stain  down  the  midrib  of  the  leaf.  A  good  deal  of  the 
drug  is  sent  from  Bombay  to  Europe,  where  it  appears  to  be  used  as 
zedoary.  A  European  chemists'  firm  in  Bombay,  writing  home  for 
zedoary  root,  was  supplied  with  this  article.  The  name  cassumunar  is 
probably  a  corruption  of  the  Malay  Kattu-mannar. 
Description. —  Central  rhizome  oblong  or  conical,  often  more  than 
two  inches  in  diameter,  external  surface  dark  grey,  marked  with  circu- 
lar rings  and  giving  off  many  thick  rootlets  ;  lateral  rhizomes  about  as 
thick  as  the  finger,  with  a  few  fleshy  rootlets  ;  at  the  ends  of  some  of 
the  rootlets  are  orange-yellow  tubers  about  the  size  and  shape  of  an 
almond  in  its  shell.  Internally  the  central  and  lateral  rhizomes  are  of 
a  deep  orange  color  like  turmeric.  The  odor  of  the  fresh  root  is  like 
turmeric,  but  more  camphoraceous. 
Microscopic  Structure. — Similar  to  that  of  turmeric. 
Commerce. — The  Bombay  market  is  supplied  from  the  Malabar  coast. 
Value,  unpeeled  Rs.  24  to  25  per  kandy  of  cwt.  ;  peeled  Rs.  24  to 
27.  I  have  the  plant  in  cultivation,  but  it  has  not  yet  flowered.  Can 
it  be  the  C  %anthorrhixa  of  Roxburgh  ? 
Curcuma  aromatica,  Salis,  Amomace^.    The  rhi%ome.  Vernacular 
Kachoora  (Hind.,  Beng.,  Bomb.). 
History^  Uses^  etc. — This  plant  affords  the  round  zedoary  of  Guibourt, 
which  he  tells  us  is  the  zerumbet  of  Serapion,  Pomet  and  Lemery.  The 
following  is  his  description  of  the  drug:  "The  round  zedoary  is 
greyish-white  externally  ;  heavy  compact,  grey  and  often  horny  intern- 
ally, having  a  bitter  and  strongly  camphoraceous  taste,  like  that  of  the 
long  zedoary,  which  it  also  resembles  in  odor.  The  odor  of  both  drugs 
is  analogous  with  that  of  ginger,  but  weaker  unless  the  rhizome  be 
powdered,  when  it  develops  a  powerful  aromatic  odor  similar  to  that  of 
