422 
Indian  Drugs, 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Aug.,  1 880. 
formula  is  CjQHjgO.  Brandes  extracted  from  galangal  with  ether  a 
neutral,  inodorous,  tasteless  crystalline  body,  kampferide,  which  requires 
further  examination.  The  resin,  which  is  probably  the  acrid  principle, 
has  not  been  examined. 
Commerce.— (j2\2i'^^2\  arrives  in  Bombay  from  Canton  and  other 
Chinese  ports.  The  imports  are  about  400  quintals  yearly.  Value, 
Rs.  3  8a.  per  maund  of  37J  lbs. 
The  Great  Galangal,  though  not  so  much  used  as  the  lesser,  is 
well  known  in  Bombay  as  bare-pan-ki-jar,  malabdree-pan-ki-jar  or  kost- 
kulijan.  The  native  dealers  all  state  that  it  is  imported  from  the  Mal- 
abar coast.  This  drug  is  generally  considered  to  be  produced  by  the 
Alpinia  galanga^  Swartz,  a  native  of  Java.  It  is  easily  distinguished 
from  the  lesser  galangal  by  its  larger  size,  orange-brown  exterior  and 
yellowish-white  interior.  It  is  also  less  aromatic  and  pungent.  Value, 
Rs.  50  per  kandy  of  7  cwt. 
Hedychium  spicatum.  Smith.  Amomacej^:.  The  rhizome.  Ver- 
nacular: Kafur-kachri,  Kapoor-kachri  (Hind.,  Beng.,  Bomb.)^ 
Shimai-kich-chilik-kizhangu  (Tam). 
History^  Uses^  etc. — I  have  not  met  with  any  account  of  this  drug  in 
native  works  on  materia  medica,  which  seems  strange,  as  it  is  very  well 
known  and  a  considerable  article  of  commerce  in  India  and  China,  and 
is  also  exported  to  Europe.  Two  kinds  of  kapur-kachri  are  found  in 
the  Bombay  markets,  viz.,  Chinese  and  Indian.  The  latter  was  sup- 
posed by  Royle  to  be  the  sittarittee  or  lesser  galangal  of  Ainslie  ("  Mat. 
Ind.,"  vol.  i,  p.  140),  but  Moodeen  Sheriff  states  that  the  sittarittie  of 
the  Tamils  is  the  true  lesser  galangal,  which  statement  appears  to  be 
correct.  Kapur-kachri  is  used  in  perfumery  and  to  preserve  clothes 
from  insects.    The  Indian  is  preferred. 
Description. — Indian  kapur-kachri  occurs  in  slices,  mostly  circular, 
but  sometimes  the  section  is  made  in  a  sloping  direction.  The  slices 
are  half  an  inch  or  less  in  diameter,  and  vary  much  in  thickness;  they 
are  white  and  starchy,  and  when  freshly  pared  exhibit  a  faint  line 
dividing  the  cortical  from  the  central  portion.  The  edges  of  each  slice 
are  covered  by  a  rough  reddish-brown  bark,  marked  with  numerous 
scars  and  circular  rings;  here  and  there  rootlets  remain  attached.  The 
odor  is  like  that  of  orris-root,  but  more  powerful  and  strongly  camphor- 
aceous.  The  taste  is  pungent,  bitter  and  aromatic.  Chinese  kapur- 
kachri  is  a  little  larger  than  the  Indian,  white  and  less  pungent.  The. 
bark  is  smoother  and  of  lighter  color. 
