Allied Substances.
Hing from Abushahir, also in Bombay simply called Hing.
Among the natives of Bombay, a peculiar form of asafœtida is in use that commands a much higher price than those just described; it is also the only kind admitted there in the government sanitary establishmente. This is the Abushaheree Hing, imported from Abushir (Bender Bushehr) and Bender Abassi on the Persian Gulf. It is the product of Ferula alliacea Boiss.[1208] (F. Asafœtida Boiss. et Buhse, non Linn.) discovered in 1850 by Buhse, and observed in 1858-59 by Bunge in many places in Persia. This Hing is collected near Yezd in Khorassan, and also in the province of Kerman, the plant being known as angúza, the same name that is applied to Scorodosma.
Abushaheree Hing is never brought into European trade.[1209] It forms an almost blackish brown, originally translucent, brittle mass, of extremely fœtid alliaceous odour, containing many pieces of the stem with no admixture of earth. Guibourt, by whom it was first noticed,[1210] was convinced that it had not been obtained from the root, but had been cut from the stem. He remarks that Theophrastus alludes to asafœtida (as he terms the Silphium[1211] of this author) as being of two kinds,—the one of the stem, the other of the root; and thinks the former may be the sort under notice. Vigier,[1212] who calls it Asafœtida nauséeux, found it to contain in 100 parts, of resin and essential oil 37·5, and gum 23·7.
We find the odour of the Hing much more repulsive than that of common Asafœtida. The former yields an abundance of essential oil, which differs by its reddish hue from that of asafœtida. The oil of Hing, as distilled by one of us (1877) has also a higher specific gravity, namely, 1·02 at 25° C. We find also its rotatory power stronger; it deviated 38°·8 to the right, when examined in a column of 100 millimetres in length. The oil of common asafœtida deviated 13°·5 under the same conditions.
By gently warming the Abushaheree Hing with concentrated hydrochloric acid, about 1·12 sp. gr., it displays simply a dingy brown hue. By shaking it with water and a little ammonia no fluorescence is produced. In all these respects there is consequently a well-marked difference between the drug under examination and common asafœtida.
F. teterrima Kar. et Kir., a plant of Soungaria, is likewise remarkable for its intense alliaceous smell; but the plant is not known as the source of any commercial product.[1213]
GALBANUM.
Gummi-resina Galbanum; Galbanum; F. Galbanum; G. Mutterharz.
Botanical Origin—The uncertainty that exist as to the plants which furnish asafœtida, hangs over those which produce the nearly allied drug Galbanum. Judging from the characters of the latter, it can scarcely be doubted that it is yielded by umbelliferous plants of at least two species, which are probably the following:[1214]—