1 XV
2 India, and lias been monopolized by the Cashmerean
3 government. The churrus is prepared from it, and sold
4 in India, where it is mixed with tomakoo (tobacco), and
5 used for the purpose of producing intoxication, prin-
6 cipally by the faqueers, who smoke it through the
7 hooka. Besides the hemp-plant, two other valuable
8 productions of the country, saffron ( Crocus sat.) and
9 the putchuk-root ( Costis nigr. Cashm.) have also been
10 monopolized by the government. Notwithstanding this
11 fact, and the proximity of the country, it is stated
12 in the Bengal Dispensatory , p. 692, “ Putchuk-root is
13 brought from Lahore, where it is called koot, it is of
14 unknown origin; it is chiefly exported to China, where
15 it is used as incense,” &c. (!)
16 Twenty years ago, when I was still ignorant of
17 what drugs were to be obtained in the Bazaar at Lahore,
18 I sent to an apothecary in Calcutta, for Stryclinos faba
19 St. Ignatii , and succus sepice ; instead of the first, I re-
20 received Strychnos nux vomica , which belongs to the
21 family of the Strychnos! and instead of the latter
22 (the tint of the cuttle-fish) I received cuttle-fish shells ,
23 although, as the reader may be aware, the latter
24 have a different color and a different effect. All
25 these species of Strychnos and ossa sepice can, how-
26 ever, be procured in any quantity at the Lahore Bazaar.
27 My long residence in “ the land of the five rivers”
28 afforded me the opportunity of becoming well ac-
29 quainted not only with the country and its productions,
30 but, also with its endemical and epidemical diseases ;
31 its medicinal substances, and the vernacular names both
32 of diseases and medicaments ; all of which are less
33 known to English physicians than those of the lower