Nardus Indica quae spica, spica nardi, & fpica indica officinarum C. B. Indian nard, or spikenard: the bushy top of the root, or the remains of the withered stalks and ribs of the leaves, of an Indian grassy-leaved plant of which we have no particular description. The nard, as brought to us, is a congeries of small tough reddish brown fibres; cohering close together, but not interwoven, so as to form a bunch or spike about the size of a finger: some-times two or three bunches issue from one head, and sometimes bits of leaves and stalks in sub-stance are found among them.

The Indian nard, now kept in the (hops chiefly as an ingredient in the mithridate and theriaca, was formerly employed in the same intentions as the Celtic, and is said to be used among the orientals as a spice. It is moderately warm and pungent, accompanied with a flavour not disagreeable.