Note 423 — PHARMACOLOGIA. (continued 2)

Assafœtida was used by the ancients as a condiment, under the name of σιλφὶον, Laserpitium, (Pliny); and according to Kempfer, the Persians use it for the same purpose. The Arabian writers on the materia medica class this article among their Mobehyat (Aphrodisiaca). The term Assafœtida is derived from the monks of the Salernian school; some of the writers of the middle ages call it Opium Cyrenaicum, i. e. the Juice from Cyrene.