4*3 
arger than the calyx, and fupports two or three ftyles, terminated by 
reflexed clubbed ftigmata : the fruit is of the drupous kind, con- 
taining an egg-fhaped fmooth nut. The .flowers appear in May, and 
the fruit ripens in Auguft. 
This tree, which is a native of the South of Europe and the 
Levant, appears by Evelyn's Kalendarium Ilortenfe to have been 
cultivated in Britain in i66^ r f but in this country it is of flow vege- 
tation, and feldom healthy enough to give us a competent idea of the 
plant in its natural fituation, fo that we have been enabled to publidi 
a more correct figure of the Lentifcus, from a dried fpecimen of it in 
the Linnean Herbarium, than couid have been doue from the living 
plant as found in any of -the gardens 'in the vicinity of London, b 
In the ifland of Chio, the officinal Maftich is obtained moil 
abundantly, and, according to Tournefort, c by making tranfverfe 
Incifions in the bark of the tree; from whence the Maftich exudes in 
drops, which are fuffered to run down to the ground, when, after 
fufflcient time is allowed for their concretion, they are collected for 
ufe. The time chofen for making thefe incifions is the firft of Auguft, 
s 
d 
when the weather is very dry; on the following day the Maftich begin 
to appear in drops, which continue to exude till the latter end of 
September. 
Maftich is a refmous fubftance, brought to us in fmall yellowifh 
tranfparent brittle grains or tears : " it has a light agreeable fmell, 
efpecially when rubbed or heated.: on being chewed, it firft crumbles, 
foon after fticks together, and becomes foft and white, like wax, 
without imprefling any considerable tafte. It totally diflbives, except 
the earthly impurities, which are commonly in no great quantity, in 
re&ified fpirit of wine, and then difcovers a degree of warmth and 
a See Alton's Hort. Kew. 
The only tree of this fpecies which we have obferved to flower in E 
fuccefsfully 
Chelfea, where many 
o 
c Voyage du Levant. U.i. p. 44. See alfo Du Hamel, /. c. De la Motraye, Voyage 
b?c. t. u p. 190, Thevenofs Levant, p. 180. Haffelquift Refa. p. 532. 
* Vers la fin de Septembre les memes incifions fourniffent encore du maftic, mais en 
moindre quantite. Tourn, he. 
N 
5 
bitternefs 
