THE LONG-llOOTED TURMERIC.

685

S ' ni p. The syrupus zinqiberis of the United States Pharmacopoeia isin this way.

Curcuma lon'ga, Linn. L. E. D.— The long-rooted Turmeric.

Sex. Syst . Monandria, Monogynia.

(Iihizoma, L. E. Radix, 2>.)

History. —Turmeric is probably the KvTrctpoe’lvSiKog, ( Cyperus indicus)Hioscorides (lib. i. cap. iv). Both Dioscorides and Pliny {Hist. Nat.j. Xxi. cap. lxx. ed. Valp.) state that this Indian Cyperus has theof ginger, and that, when chewed, it colours the saliva yellow likej r °n. The word Curcuma is derived from Kurkum, the Persian name° r saffron (Royle, Essay on the Antiq. of Hindoo Med. p. 87).

Hotany. Gen. Char. — Tube of the Corolla gradually enlarged. H ards ; limb two-lipped, each three-parted. Filament broad. Antherciimbent, with two spurs at the base. Style capillary. Capsule tliree-Wled. Seeds numerous, arillate.—Stemless plants, with palmate tube-roots. Leaves with sheathing petioles, bifarious, herbaceous.. °ope simple, lateral or central. Spike simple, erect, comose, somewhatbricated at the base with bracts or saccate spalhes. Flowers dull*°'v, three to five together, surrounded by bracteolae. (Blume, op. cit.). ‘3J‘. Char. — Bulbs small, and with the numerous, long, palmate tubers,^'vardly of a deep-orange yellow. Leaves long-petioled, broad-lanceolar,a Uniform green (Roxburgh).

Hsus .-—Much cultivated about Calcutta, and in all parts of Bengal ,

till

m China and Cochin-China . One acre yields about 2000 lbs. ofe h'esh root.

Description.—T he tubers, called in the shops turmeric {Radix Cur-f - seu Terra Merita ), are distinguished by their place of growth intov lna > Bengal , and Java turmerics; the first being the best and mostan Prom their shape they are sometimes divided into the round

t hug. The first ( Curcuma rotunda) is round, oval, or ovate, aboute u inches long, and one inch in diameter, pointed at one end, markedj s ^*11 ally with numerous annular wrinkles. The second {Curcuma longa )Cylindrical, not exceeding the thickness of the little finger; two orre ® inches long, somewhat contorted, tuberculated. Both kinds arcK. a y is h-yell°w externally, internally more or less orange-yellow passingi s 0 brown. The fractured surface has a waxy appearance. The odourC r oinatic, somewhat analogous to ginger, but peculiar: the taste isC'latic. When chewed it tinges the saliva yellow. Its powder ispb re -yellow. The tubers are frequently worm-eaten.

^position.—T wo analyses of turmeric have been made: one by|> J' (Gmelin’s Handb. d. Chem.), and a second by MM. Vogel andie tier ( Journ. d. Pharm. i. 289).

John’s Analysis.

d](„ v volatile oil• •r, lo 'v extractive

\v m ■ •

W 0o dy fibre■net and loss

10 to 11

11 to 12

. 14377 to 5

Uri »‘eric .

100

Vogel and Pelletier's Analysis.

Acrid volatile oil.

Curcumin.

Brown colouring matter.

Gum (a little).

Starch.

Woody fibre.

Chloride of calcium.

Turmeric.