PART IU

Materia Medica.

175

Species 11. F. Assafcetida* Assaftietida. Kcempfer. Amcenitates

Exotica, 535. t. 536-Officinal. AssAFffiTiDiE gummi-resin'a.. Lond. Edin. Assa-

itETiDA. Dub. Assafcetida.

ilyn. Asjafcefida (F.) Stinkender Asand (<?.) Assafetida (/.) Asafetida (6V) Hiltect{Arab.) Hing (H.) Iliirga (Sort.)

This species of ferula is a native of the south of Persia,chiefly growing on the mountains in the provinces of Chora-saan and Laar, where it is named hingisch. The root is pe-rennial, tapering, and ponderous; when fully grown, the sizeof a man's leg, covered with a blackish coloured bark, andnear the top beset with strong rigid fibres. The internal sub-stance is fleshy, white, and abounds with a thick, very fetidmilky juice. The stem is round, smooth, and striated: risingerect to the height of nine feet, and is about seven inches incircumference at the base; surrounded with six or seven ra-dical leaves, nearly two feet long, bipinnate, with alternatepinnules, smooth, sinuated, lobed, or lanceolate; of a deepgreen colour, and fetid odour. The flowers are in plano-convex, terminal, compound umbels: the seeds oval, flat, fo-liaceous, of a reddish brown colour, rough, with three longitudi-nal lines; and have a porraceous odour, and a sharp bitter taste.

"When the root is four years old it .is fit to yield the assa-fcetida, which is procured in the following manner. At theseason when the stem and leaves begin to decay, they aretwisted off from the root, which is then exposed by diggingaway the earth that surrounds it. It is left in this state screenedfrom the sun for forty days; then the top is cut off transversely;and after forty-eight hours the juice which has exuded is scrapedoff, and another transverse section is made. This operation isrepeated three successive times, and then the root is allowed toremain untouched for eight or ten days, before another sectionis made. The root perishes after it is exhausted of the juice.The juice collected from a number of roots is put together anddried in the sun.

Assafcetida is brought to this country packed in cases, mats,and casks; that in the cases proving generally the best. It isin irregular masses, adhering to each other, externally of abrownish yellow colour, and containing many little shiningtears of a whitish, reddish, or violet hue. The best is clear,and of a pale reddish colour, contains many of the white tears,and has the odour very strong.

Qualities. — Assafcetida has a strong, very disagreeable, allia-ceous, fetid odour, and a bitter subacrid taste: but these cjua-

1 The plant described and figured by Dr. Hope of Edinburgh, fci the 7sth volume ofthe Philosophical Transactions, as that which yields the officinal assafcetida, is the Feru'aPernca of Willdenow, and a native of the north of Persia.