This at Kerman itself is the soot produced by the flame of
wicks, steeped in castor oil or goat's fat, upon earthenware saucers. In
the high mountainous districts of the province, Kubenan, Pariz, and
others, Surmah is the soot of the Gavan plant (Garcia's goan). This plant,
a species of Astragalus, is on those mountains very fat and succulent;
from it also exudes the Tragacanth gum. The soot is used dry as an
eye-powder, or, mixed with tallow, as an eye-salve. It is occasionally
collected on iron gratings.
"Tutia is the Arabicised word dudha, Persian for smokes.
"The Shems-ul-loghat calls Tutia a medicine for eyes, and a stone used for
the fabrication of Surmah. The Tohfeh says Tutia is of three kinds - yellow
and blue mineral Tutia, Tutia-i-qalam (collyrium) made from roots, and
Tutia resulting from the process of smelting copper ore. 'The best
Tutia-i-qalam comes from Kerman.' It adds, 'Some authors say Surmah is
sulphuret of antimony, others say it is a composition of iron'; I should
say any black composition used for the eyes is Surmah, be it lampblack,
antimony, iron, or a mixture of all.
"Teixeira's Tutia was an impure oxide of zinc, perhaps the above-mentioned
Tutia-i-safid, baked into cakes; it was probably the East India Company's
Lapis Tutia, also called Tutty.
