The Balm of Gilead 431 



This fact was already known to Theophrastus, 1 who gives this account: 

 "Balsam grows in the valley of Syria. They say that there are only 

 two parks in which it grows, one of about four acres, the other much 

 smaller. The tree is as tall as a good-sized pomegranate, and is much 

 branched; it has a leaf like that of rue, but it is pale; and it is ever- 

 green. The fruit is like that of the terebinth in size, shape, and color, 

 and this too is very fragrant, indeed more so than the gum. The gum, 

 they say, is collected by making incisions, which is done with bent 

 pieces of iron at the time of the Dog-star, when there is scorching heat; 

 and the incisions are made both in the trunks and in the upper parts 

 of the tree. The collecting goes on throughout the summer; but the 

 quantity which flows is not very large: in a day a single man can 

 collect a shell-full. The fragrance is exceedingly great and rich, so that 

 even a small portion is perceived over a wide distance. However, 

 it does not reach us in a pure state: what is collected is mixed with 

 other substances; for it mixes freely with such, and what is known in 

 Hellas is generally mixed with something else. 2 The boughs are also 

 very fragrant. In fact, it is on account of these boughs, they say, that 

 the tree is pruned (as well as for a different reason), since the boughs 

 cut off can be sold for a good price. In fact, the culture of the trees has 

 the same motive as the irrigation (for they are constantly irrigated). 

 And the cutting of the boughs seems likewise to be partly the reason 

 why the trees do not grow tall; for, since they are often cut about, they 

 send out branches instead of putting out all their energy in one direc- 

 tion. Balsam is said not to grow wild anywhere. From the larger park 

 are obtained twelve vessels containing each about three pints, from the 

 other only two such vessels. The pure gum sells for twice its weight 

 in silver, the mixed sort at a price proportionate to its purity. Balsam 

 then appears to be of exceptional' value." 



As the tree did not occur wild in Palestine, but only in the state of 

 cultivation, and as its home is in southern Arabia, the tradition of 

 Josephus appears to be well founded, though it is not necessary to 

 connect the introduction with the name of the Queen of Saba. 



Strabo, 3 describing the plain of Jericho, speaks of a palace and the 

 garden of the balsamum. "The latter," he says, "is a shrub with an 

 aromatic odor, resembling the cytisus (Medicago arborea) and the 

 terminthus (terebinth-tree) . Incisions are made in the bark, and vessels 



1 Hist, plant., IX, 6 (cf. the edition and translation of A. Hort, Vol. II, p. 245). 



2 E. Wiedemann (Sitzber. phys.-med. Soz. Erl., 1914, pp. 178, 191) has dealt 

 with the adulteration of balsam from Arabic sources. 



* XVI. 11, 41. 



