ugh not in any large quantity. No drug
was in higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and
though the Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not
only to the Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems
to have been exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely
used by druggists, however little esteemed by physicians.

The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to
furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum
tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the _Ferula persica_. Of
these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important
article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil
is at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and
cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual
produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good
spices.

The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre,
salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following
obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The
nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in
small quantities, and was called "halmyraga." It was found in certain
dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained
there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the
Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan.

The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it
forms naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete
saturation of the water than at present exists, even in the driest
seasons. The gems above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by
Pliny. The Median emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size;
they varied considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the
sapphire, in which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws
in them. They were far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other
countries. The Median lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of
its kind. It was of three colors--light blue, dark blue, and purple.
The golden specks, however, with which it was sprinkled--really spots
of yellow pyrites--rendered it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny's
time. The zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of
inferior value. As they have not yet been identified with any known
species, it