GUAIACUM OFFICINALF. 
binate, on a short pedicel, smooth, and of a pale ferruginous 
hue, pentagonous, with ribbed angles, and five—celled, but two 
or three of the cells are often abortive. The seeds are solitary. 
All the parts of this tree possess medicinal qualities, but the 
wood and the peculiar substance afforded by it, are the only 
parts used. The virtues of the wood depend altogether on the 
peculiar matter it contains. This is spontaneously exuded from 
the tree, and is called native gum, it concretes in tears, which 
are semi-pellucid and very pure, but the greater part of it is 
obtained by making incisions into the trunk, or as it is termed, 
jagging the tree. This operation is performed in May, and the 
juice which flows copiously is concreted by the sun. It is aiso 
obtained by sawing the wood into billets, and boring a hole 
longitudinally through them, so that when one end of a billet is 
laid on a fire, the guaiac, melting runs through the hole from the 
opposite end, and is collected in a calabash. Boiling the chips 
or raspings in salt and water, also separates the guaiac, which 
as it rises to the surface may be collected by skimming. 
The wood is brought to market either in large solid pieces 
which weigh from four to five cwt. each, and are covered with 
a yellowish alburnum, or it is already rasped. 
The guaiac, or gum as it is improperly termed, arrives in 
casks and mats, the former containing from one to four cwt., 
the latter generally less than one cwt. each. 
Jguaebane ns: AND MEDICAL PROPERTIES AND USES. 
The iia BS Cites is alee. but when sated it pe 
an aromatic odor, and the taste is bitterish, sub-acrid, and biting. 
It is heavier than water, its specific gravity is 1,333, externally — 
yellowish and internally of a blackish brown color mixed with 
green streaks, Its goodness may be ascertained by exposing it to 
the fumes of nitrous acid, which give it a bluish green color, if it be 
good, yet the decoction is not affected by nitrous acid. The resin 
or guaiac has a fragrant odor, with scarcely any taste, but occa- — 
sions, when swallowed, a sensation of heat in the throat. It hasa 
resinous aspect, is of a greenish brown color, externally and inter- 
nally presents a mixture of greenish, reddish, and brownish tints. 
It is somewhat translucent, breaks with a vitreous fracture, and 
is easily reduced to a powder which is grey at first, but becomes 
green in a short time when it is exposed to the air and light, a tee 
