is the Jatámúnsi of Amarsinh. I am persuaded, that the true nard is a species of Valerian, produced in the most remote and hilly parts of India; such as Népál, Morang, and Butan, near which Ptolemy fixes its native soil. The commercial agents of the Devarája call it also Pampi; and, by their account, the. dried specimens which look like the tails of ermines, rise from the ground, resembling ears of green wheat, both in form and colour: a fact which perfectly accounts for the names Stachys, Spica, Sumbul, and Khúshah, which Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Persians have given to the drug, though it is not properly a spike, and not merely a root, but the whole plant, which the natives gather for sale, before the radical leaves, of which the fibres only remain after a few months, have unfolded themselves from the base of the stem. It is used, say the Butan agents, as a perfume, and in medicinal unguents, but with other fragrant substances, the scent and power of which it is thought to increase: as a medicine, they add, it is principally esteemed for complaints in the bowels. Though considerable quantities of Jatámánsí are brought in the caravans from Butan, yet the living plants, by a law of the country, cannot be exported without a license from the sovereign; and the late Mr. Purling, on receiving this intelligence, obligingly wrote, for my satisfaction, to the Devaraja, requesting him to send eight or ten of the plants to Ranpur: ten were accordingly sent in pots from Tasisúdan, with as many of the natives to take care of them, under a chief, who brought a written answer from the Rájá of Butan; but that prince made a great merit of having complied with such a request; and my friend had the trouble of entertaining the messenger and his train for several weeks in his own house, which they seem to have left with reluctance. An account of this transaction was contained in one of the last letters

that Mr. Purling lived to write; but, as all the plants withered before they could reach Calcutta, and as inquiries of greater importance engaged all my time, there was an end of my endeavours to procure the fresh Jatámánsí, though not of my conviction, that it is the true nard of the ancients,

ON THE

DHANE'SA, OR INDIAN BUCEROS.

BY LIEUT. CHARLES WHITE.

COMMUNICATED BY LIEUT. FRASER.

THE

HERE are two distinct species of this bird; one called Bagma Dunnase, and the other Putteal Dunnase.

I shall first treat of the Bagma, which is divided into two kinds; the specific marks of which I shall hereafter mention.

The Bagma Dunnase is a very remarkable bird, and, I believe, has not hitherto been described. As far as lies in my power, I shall endeavour to rescue it from a situation so unworthy the distinction it has a strong claim to, among the curious productions of

nature.

It may be necessary to premise, that the names of black-horned and white-horned are given by myself, the natives not making any distinction between them. I have bestowed upon them these names from the difference of the bases of their horns.

Black-horned, Bagma Dunnase, with a large double beak, or a large beak surmounted by a horn shaped

like the upper mandible, which gives it the appear ance of a double beak. The horn is hollow; at the base brown, with a broad edging of black, quite hard; a black mark runs from about one inch from the base to the point of the horn, very irregu lar in its breadth, in the centre reaches to the junction of the horn with the upper mandible; upper and lower mandible serrated, and separate from each other about three inches in the middle of the beak longitudinally; upper mandible marked with black at its junction with the head, which part is quite hard; immediately below this the lower mandible has a large black mark, which appears on both sides, and joins at the bottom; joining to this, and covering the base of the lower mandible, is about an inch of white shrivelled skin; between these, at the edge of the mandible, is a small brown spot covered slightly with feathers; the rest of the beak and horn creamcolour, patched with yellow, except the point, which is much whiter; the nostril placed at a small distance from the head, in the junction of the horn with the beak head, neck, back, and coverts of the tail, black; breast, belly, thighs, and coverts of the vent, white; scapulas, greater and lesser coverts of the wings, black, varying to a greenish tinge; under coverts of the wings, white; primaries, white at their base, then black, with three inches of white at their ends; secondaries, nearly the same; tertials black; a few white feathers on the outward edge of the wing, just below the shoulder; tail cuneiform, two middle feathers black, longer than the rest, which are white, four on each side crested, close; the feathers extending a little way down the neck; eye, speculum black, irides reddish brown; the cheek immediately round the eye, and extending from the beak to the ear, devoid of feathers, consisting of a shrivelled skin, which is nearly black; ear-feathers about an inch long, extending partly