GALA NGAL is the name of a medicinal root, and the produce of a plant of the same name. There are two kinds of galangal, the great and the small ; the last of which is generally held in the greatest estimation. The great ga langal is a tGugh woody rout, about 11 inch thick. It is whitish within and brown without, and has a thin bark, co vered with kings or circles about one-fourth of an inch dis tant. It has a bitterish and a somewhat aromatic taste. The small galangal, which is superior in all its qualities to the great galangal, is a much shorter and smaller root, of an irregular form. It is commonly the size of the little finger, being seldom more than half an inch thick, and two inches long. It is of a pale red colour, with a small ad mixture of brown on the inside, and of a brownish-red co lour on the outside, and is surrounded with many circular rings, that project a little beyond the rest of the surface. It is not heavy, but its texture is firm and compact. It cuts with difficulty with a knife, and leaves a polished surface. Small galangals must be chosen full and plump, of a bright colour, compact and sound, and leaving an acrid and insup portably hot taste.
The permanent duty upon galangals is 11. 8a. per cwt. and the war duty 9s. 4d. ; amounting in all to I/. : 17 4.
The following Table shews the quantity of this root ported and sold by the East India Company, from the years 1804 to 1806 inclusive : frequently in masses composed of a number of these blend ed together. The drops, when perfect, approach near to a roundish or oblong figure ; but they commonly lose their form in the masses. These are pale coloured, semi-trans parent, soft, and tenacious. In the best specimens, they ap pear composed of clear whitish tears, often intermixed with stalks and seeds of the plant. NVhen fresh, the masses and
tears are white, and with age change to yellow or brown.
" When the tears can be procured, they are to be pre ferred to the masses or cakes. These tears should be fat tish, moderately viscous, and glossy on the surface ; such as are too fat, of a dark brown colour, and mixed with sticks and other foreign substances, are to be rejected. The best cakes are those of a light yellow colour, of a strong, pierc ing, and, to most persons, a disagreeable smell, of a bitter ish warm taste, not very humid, nor yet quite dry, being of a nature between a gum and a resin, flaming in the fire, and with difficulty dissolved in oil. The fewer chips, dirt, stalks, or other impurities, the better. A mixture of two parts of rectified spirits of wine, and one of water, will best shew its quality, by dissolving all the pure galbanum, and leaving the impurities. When its foulness renders it of little value, it is best purified by enclosing it in a bladder, and keeping it in boiling water till it melts, or becomes soft enough to be strained by pressure through a hempen cloth. If this process be skilfully managed, the galbanum loses but little of the essential oil, some of which is generally car ried off in evaporation." The following is an account of the quantities imported and sold at the East India sales in the years 1804 to 1808 inclusive, with the sale amount and average price per cwt.
Twelve cwt. of are allowed to a ton. SeeLew is's Materia Medica; and Milburns's Oriental Commerce.