420  Indian  Drugs.  IZ^^o'"^' 
cardamoms"  Hist.  Nat.,"  6eme  ed,  tom.  ii,  p  213).  The  round 
zedoary  is  one  ot  the  two  zurambads  (zerumbets)  described  by  Maho- 
metan writers,  the  other  being  the  nar  kachoora  of  India,  which  does 
not  appear  to  be  known  in  Europe. 
Description. — Guibourt's  description  already  given  agrees  exactly  with 
the  kachoora  of  India,  but  it  is  often  cut  into  transverse  slices  instead 
of  into  halves  and  quarters. 
Microscopic  Structure. — This  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  tur- 
meric, but  the  resin  and  essential  oil  in  the  cells  are  of  a  yellowish- 
white  color,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  starch  grains  are  ovoid  or 
pyriform  instead  of  narrow  and  elongated  as  in  turmeric. 
Chemical  Composition. — ^Zedoary   contains,  according    to  Bucholz 
Repert  Pharm,,"  xx,  p.  376),  volatile  oil,  a  bitter  soft  resin,  a  bitter 
extractive  matter,  gum,  starch,  etc.  The  oil  is  turbid,  yellowish-white 
and  viscid,  has  a  camphoric  taste  and  smell,  and  consists  of  two  oi  s, 
one  lighter,  the  other  heavier  than  water.  TrommsdorfF  obtained  from 
the  root  a  substance  which  he  called  zedoarin,  but  did  not  further 
describe  it  (Watt's  "Diet,  of  Chem.,"  vol.  v,  p.  1066). 
Commerce. — The  Bombay  market  is  supplied  with  Kachoora  from  the 
Madras  Presidency.     Value,  Rs.  20  to  30  per  kandy  of  7  cwt. 
Curcuma  Sp.  Amomaceje.   The  rhizome.  Fernacular :  N ar-kachooka 
(Hind.,  Bomb.). 
History^  Uses^  etc. — This  drug  is  one  of  the  two  zurambads  of  Arabic 
and  Persian  writers  on  materia  medica  and  the  nar-kachoora  of  India. 
Strange  to  say  it  is  not  noticed  by  recent  writers  on  Indian  materia 
medica,  though  it  is  a  well-known  drug  and  to  be  found  in  all  the  shops. 
Meer  Muhammad  Husain  states  that  the  plant  blossoms  from  the  centre 
of  the  leaves  like  turmeric,  which  it  also  resembles  in  foliage.  Can  it 
be  the  C.  viridijiora  of  Roxburgh  and  tommongiring  seu  giri  of  Rum- 
phius  (Amb.  5,  169)  \ 
Description. — The  drug  consists  of  small  globular  central  tubers,  from 
which  spring  numerous  lateral  rhizomes  about  the  size  of  the  little 
finger.  It  is  of  a  dark  grey  color  externally  and  marked  with  circular 
rings  ;  internally  it  is  very  hard  and  horny,  of  a  greyish-orange  when 
cut  in  thin  slices;  odor  camphoraceous,  taste  bitter  and  camphoraceous* 
Microscopic  Structure. — The  minute  structure  of  this  rhizome  hardly 
differs  from  that  of  the  zedoary.  The  starch  contained  in  the  paren- 
chyme  cells  has  been  altered  Dy  heat  and  appears  as  a  finely  granular 
mass  nearly  filling  the  cell.    The  resin  cells  are  about  as  numerous  as 
