'^ 



202 LEGUMINOS^. 



Uses — Eed Sanders Wood 



for colouring the Compound Tincture of Lavender ; but it has numerous 

 uses in the arts. The latter applies also to the wood of Pterocarpus 

 angolensis DC, whixih is largely exported from the French' , colony of 

 Gaboon ;_ it is the " Santal rouge d'Afrique of the French," or Barwood of 

 the English commerce. 



BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. 



Balsam of Tolu ; F. Baume de Tolu ; G. Tohibalsam. 



Botanical Ovigln—Myroxylon Toluifera H B K. (Toluifera Bal 

 samum Miller, Myrospermum toluiferum A. Rich.)/ an elegant and 

 lofty evergreen tree with a straight stem, often as much as 40 to 60 

 feet from the ground to the first branch. It is a native of Venezuela 

 and New Granada,— probably also of Ecuador and Brazil. 



History— The first published account of Balsam of Tolu, is that of 



West 



Monard 



m 1574/ relates how the early explorers of South America observed 

 that the Indians collected this drug by making incisions in the trunk 

 of the tree. Below the incisions they affixed shells of a peculiar black 

 wax to receive the balsam, which being collected in a district near Car- 

 tagena called Tolu, took its name from that place. He adds that it 

 is much esteemed both by Indians and Spaniards, that the latter buy 

 it at a high price, and that they have lately brought it to Spain 

 where it is considered to be as good as the famous Balsam of Mecca. 



Francisco Hernandez, who lived in 1561-1577 in Mexico, stated ^ 

 that the balsam of the province of Tolu was thought to be quite as 

 useful as, if not superior to, " balsamum indicum," i.e. peruviauum. 



A specimen agreeing with this description was given to Clusius^ m 



> 



Morgan, apothecary to Q 



drugs of the city of Frankfort of 1GG9, Balsamus tolutanum (sic) 

 IS expressly mentioned,^ but there can be but little doubt that Bed- 

 samum Americanum resinosum^ or siccum or durum as occurring m 

 many other tariffs of the 17th century, printed in Germany, was also 

 the balsam under notice ; Mn a similar list emanating from the city o 

 J^asle in 1646,' we noticed B. indicum album, B. peruvianum and 



Plllf ^fJtTnT,..^''^ , '■^^^^^°' ^^^- * Exotkor. etc. 1605. lib. x. fol. 305. 



ii^tZ ^"'*T™- Jt^'t *^" ^^^"g« ' Pharmaceutical tariflf (" Taxa ") of the 



ruleTS ' ,^'^? ^' ^^'*'^'/ ^y. ^^^ ^*"«t «ity of Wittenberg 1632 {in the Hamburg 

 rules of priority, we are of opinion that at librarv^ 



ITZTcU^Z T?r. ^^l^^^^p—Myroxy. Pkarmacif, Halle, 1876. 49. 50. ^^3 ^ 



Sow nearlv?11 '^1 ' ^ ^'t'^ '*^*''^ ^ Balsamum Peruvianum first occurs in t^ 



& Amfrfn °^'' "f ''T^^'"™ P""*^ «f tariff of the city of Worms of 1609. 



species bvB?nfl '' 'f '."'^ *'' *^" ^^'"« DocnmeMe, p. Sof Pharm. Jonrn.l. c 



' //Lon-a X 1J """"'^ ^ '"""'=°- ^Contained in the Medicine Tarf,^} f^ 



rnJJrt ndfL t'TTi ''"' '' '^«^" '^' library of the British Museum, hound to 



samo de Tolu. ^ vici ^^ai getherin one volume (-j- ^. ^^^i ^^ 



" -A^ora Plantarum, animal, et mineral Schweinfurt 1014, Bremen 1644, l^as 



niexicanorum. Historia, Reecho's Td t ion 16*7, Rostock 1659, Q^^^^'^^Yt^T 



Rom*, 1651. fol. 53. ''^'*'°''' Frankfort on Main 1669 (quoted above). 



