1 During* my stay at Cashmere, J did not neglect any,. oppor
2 tutiity of acquiring a knowledge* of its botanical treasures, or. of
3 collecting such plants as appeared likely to lie of any service for
4 medicinal purposes; I thus gathered a considerable herbarium
5 vivwri; The drawings of those which I considered as most
6 valuable in medical botany, may be seen in the second volume,
7 and their properties and effects (as far as I was able to dis¬
8 cover) are also detailed in the pages of I hat volume, beside-
9 the Flora Medina Cashmcreanu, there are also descriptions
10 of other plants, which I collected in the plains of the Punjab,
11 the virtues of which I tested, and now communicate. Many of
12 them are, probably, already known to European phys iar.s,
13 but, as 1 have written not for .Europe alone, but also for the
14 East, I have introduced tlu in, because many of the Indian physi¬
15 cians arc not thoroughly acquainted with them—not even with
16 their forms or properties. It would have heut easy for me to
17 have doubled or tripled the number, bad the limits of this work
18 permitted.
19 Many of my readers may possibly question the utility of
20 these descriptions, on the ground, that, oven supposing the
21 efficacy of the plant- to be established, and their utility in
22 medicine practically and successfully proved, the knowledge
23 of them cannot be of any service to European pliy.-u.iaus, as
24 ting' will not be able to procure supplies. 1 his, however, is
25 not the case; for, although their principal use may he in India,
26 the shawl merchants of Cashmere, who are in constant com¬
27 munication with France and England, would willingly for¬
28 ward whatever might bo required, to any part of India or
29 Europe. On this point, \ have only to Observe, that their
30 transport should not be by the long route round the Cape,
31 of Good Hope, but hy the Red Sea and the Mediterranean;
32 or, if possible, entirely overlund; because, unless they are in
33 hermetically-sealed packages* they invariably suffer by a sea pas¬
34 sage. I nuiv further mention, that my catalogue of Caslunere.au
35 plants is not By any means complete, and that* should Hea . en
36 permit me to fulfil my intention, of again visiting that country