OLIBANUM. 



133 



per cent, of quassiin. A watery infusion of quassia, especially if a 



(1877) 



- - - ^ drug, displays 



escence, due apparently to quassiin. Goldschmiedt anc 

 failed in obtaining quassiin. They isolated the yellow resin which we 

 mentioned above, and stated that it yields protocatechuic acid when 

 melted with potash. Quassia wood dried at 100'' C. yielded us 7'8 per 

 cent, of ash. 



Commerce — The quantity of Bitter Wood shipped from Jamaica 

 in 1871 was 56 tons/ 



Uses 



•The drug is employed as a stomachic and tonic. 



It is 



poisonous to fliesj and is not without narcotic properties in respect to 

 the higher animals. 



Quassia amara h., the Bitter Wood of 



Substitutes 



Siirinamy bears a close resemblance, both external and structural, to the 

 drug just noticed ; but its stems never exceed four inches in diameter 

 and are commonly still thinner. Their thin, brittle bark is of a 

 greyish yellow, and separates easily from the wood. The latter is 



'inoTiished 



medullary rays 



.posed 



less frequently of a double row of cells, whereas in the wood of 



ricrcBna excelsa, they consist of two or three rows, less frequently of 

 only one. 



Surinam Quassia Wood is exported from the Dutch colony of 

 Qn^^^^" "^^^ quantity shipped thence during the nine months ending 

 ^Oth Sept, 1872, was 264,675 Ib.^ 



The bark of Samadera indica Gartn., a tree of the same natural 



order, owes its bitterness to a principle ^ which agrees perhaps with 



quassun.^ The aqueous infusion of the bark is abundantly precipitated 



7 tannic acid, a compound of quassiin probably being formed. A 



similar treatment applied to quassia would possibly easier afford 



quassnn than the extraction of the wood by means of alcohol, as per- 

 formed hv Win-rr^v.., *^ 



8 



gers. 



BUESERACE^. 



OLIBANUM. 



asculum * ; Olihanum, Fmnk- 



Encens : G. Wi 



Botanical Origin— Olibanum is obtained froni the stem of several 



species of Boswellia, inhabiting 



o 



Eastern 



for 



187?"' ^'"'^■' ^^^^"'1 of Jamaica, 

 4^S:j^Jf [|1'3.^- 3. P-euted to 



* The X -i^^^ ^^^- 654. . 



Oft'-a^L. '""" ""L *^e Greeks, the Latiu 

 ""'»'. as well as the Arabic Lubdi?, 



and tlie auulogous sounds in other lan- 

 guages, are all derived from the Hebrew 

 Leiwnahy signifying milk: and modem 

 travellei-a who liavc seen the frankmcense 

 trees state that the fresh juice is milky, 

 and hardens when exposed to the air. The 

 word Thus, on the other hand, seems to 

 be derived from the verb dutiv, to saa^i- 



fice. 



