________________
DECEMBER, 1885.]
"
pale yellow colour. It has a sweet smell, and is one of the best substitutes for olive oil.
20. KOSTOS (KóσTOS).
Aucklandia costus, Falconer. Sansk., Kushtha. According to the author of the Periplus, kostos was exported from Barbarikon, at the mouth of the Indus, and from Barygaza, it having come from Kabul, through Proklais, &c. ""
Much doubt existed as to the identity of this drug, till it was ascertained by Dr. Falconer to be the root of the above-named plant, which belongs to the order Asteraceae. It inhabits the moist open slopes surrounding the valley of Kaśmîr, at an elevation of 8,000 or 9,000 feet above sea-level.
The roots have a strong aromatic pungent odour, and are largely employed on account of their supposed aphrodisiac properties.
Considerable quantities, under the name pachak, are still exported from Calcutta to China-or were some years ago; but it is possible the route from Lahore, whence they were brought to that port, has now been changed in favour of Bombay or Karachi. In China it is used in the manufacture of incense. Two varieties are distinguished by their colours and qualities.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS OF INDIA.
21. MARINE TREES. Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Lam.-Mangroves. Kákṛá, Beng.
According to a passage in Antigonos, we learn that Megasthenês, in his Indika, mentioned that trees grow in the Indian seas.
These were doubtless mangroves, which flourish in Sind, in the estuaries of the Indus, as well as on various parts of the coast of the peninsula, and the islands of the Bay of Bengal, spreading thence to the Northern parts of Australia. As is well known, mangroves grow below high-water mark, and, with their stems supported above ground by numerous roots, they present a singular appearance-one sure to attract the attention of European travellers in India.
Pliny's accounts of marine trees may possibly include the mangrove, but they are somewhat
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, by J. W. M'Crindle, Topsell's fantastic figure of the Martikhors, given in his History of rour-footed Bests, which is reproduced
P.
20.
341
vague; they seem to refer rather to the appearances presented by different corals and algae.
APPENDIX.
My attention has been drawn by Professor Haddon to an article in the October 1884 History of Animals. Aristotle's history has number of the Edinburgh Review on Aristotle's not been often quoted in this paper, for the simple reason that it contains little or nothing of importance about Indian animals which is at the same time original. The statement of Pliny and Athenæus, that Alexander sent Indian animals to Aristotle, has been rejected as being without foundation by Humboldt, Schneider, and Grote. With this opinion, which is endorsed by the writer of the review, I fully agree, on account of the absence of original remarks regarding them; but I must. take exception to part of what he says about Ktêsias, for although he objects to Aristotle's mention of him as a man "unworthy of credit" (our r diómoros), and as a "manifest liar" (parepòs évevouévos), he himself says that the following, together with some of the races of men mentioned by Ktêsias, are "simply creatures of the imagination," or "altogether fabulous." The animals so denominated are the Skole, Dikairon, Martikhora, and the Indian ass, the origin of the stories regarding each of which, and their respective identifications, I venture to believe I have successfully explained in the foregoing pages. His opinion as to the identity of the Krokottas agrees, I observe, with mine.
40
It has occurred to me that the Leucrocotta of Pliny (B. VIII. ch. 30) was the Nilgai (Portaz pictus). According to his description it was the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a stag, the neck, tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth. The last item I cannot explain; but the mane and tail of the Nilgai sufficiently resemble those of the lion to have suggested the comparison.
The Hippelaphas of Aristotle has also been supposed to be the Nilgái by some writers.
by Miss Phipson in her Animal Lore of Shakespere, might easily be spoken of as a creature of the imaginatida.
