GALAM BUTTER, a reddish-white solid oil obtained from Bassin butyracea.—Simmonds' Dict. GALANGAL, Gafitnga.
Kust-talkh, . . . ARAB. Langkwa, . . MALAY. Kolangan, . . . . „ Kalgan, . . . . Rus. Laun.don, . . . CHIN. Kolanjana, . . SAME.
. . . . G En.
A brown tuberoso root, with a faint aromatic smell and pungent taste, like a mixture of pepper and ginger. It is a good deal used in China, and fetches in the London market from 12s. to 16s.
per cwt. in bond. 1286 cwt. of galangal root, valued at 2880 dollars, was exported from Canton in 1850. It is mentioned by /Etius and by the Arab writers, but the plant or plants yielding the lesser and greater gakngal remain unidentified, —a pepper, an iris, the Acorus caltunus, Maranta galanga, and Cyperus longus, have been men tioned. Dr. Ainslie, the Rev. Messrs. 1Villiams and Smith, considered the greater and lesser galangals to be four different plants. The fonner may be from species of Kternpfera (K. galanga
and K. mutans), and the latter from Alpinia (A. alba, A. Chinensis, A. galanga, and A. racemosa). A. galanga, 1Villde., is a native of China and the Malayan Archipelago. Several species of this genus have roots with somewhat similar properties. Thus A. alba and A. Chinensis are much used by tho 3falays and Chinese ; the former has hence been called Galanga alba of Kcenig ; and the latter has an aromatic root with an acrid burning flavour. The fragnint root of A. nutans also is sometimes brought to England, according to Dr. Roxburgh, for Galanga major. Its leaves, when bruised, have a strong smell of cardamoms. According to Dr. IIonigberger (p. 278), the natives of Lahore are of opinion that the root of Piper betel (pan ki-jar) is what the Persians call ; Ains.; Williams' Middle Kingdom, ii. 400; Itoyle; Eng. Cyc.; Simmonds' Coin. Prod.; Smith.