1 1 



KESINA BENZOE. 



405 



same record, the price of benzoiti (beijoim) in Alexandria was 1 cniza^^o 

 per arrafcl, half the value of aloes wood. 



From 



The Portuguese traveller Barbosa^ visited in 1511 Calicut on the 

 Malabar Coast, and found Benzui to be one of the more valuable items 

 of export, one farazola (22 lb. 6 oz.) costing G5 to 70 fam 

 fetched nearly the same price, and mace only 25 to 30 /( 

 other sources we gather that benzoin was an article of Venetian trade 

 in the beginning of the 16th century. 



Garcia de Orta, writing at Goa (15G3), was the first to give a lucid 

 and intelhgent account of benzoin, detailing the method of collection, 

 and distinguishing the drug of Siam and Martaban from that produced 

 in Java and Sumatra. 



It began then to bo regularly imported into Europe,^ being frequently 

 called Asa dulcis. The chemists of that time submitted it, like many 

 other substances, to dry distillation. Benzoic acid occasionally 



and 



separating from the oily products {'' oleum. Benzoes'') was noticed 

 already by Nostredame,^ Rosello,* Liebaut,® Blaise de Vigen^re,^ 

 others. It was a common pharmaceutical preparation, under the name 

 0^ Flares Benzoes, since the 17th centuryj 



In the early part of the 17th century, there was direct commercial 

 intercourse between England and both Siam and Sumatra, an English 

 factory existing at Ayuthia (Siam) until 1623 ; and benzoin was doubt- 

 less one of the commodities imported. The import duties levied upon 

 it in England in 1635 amounted to 10s. per Ib.^ 



Production— Benzoin is collected in Northern and Eastern 

 Sumatra, especially in the Batta country, lying southward of the state 

 of Achin.^ The tree grows in plenty also in the highlands of Palembang 

 iu the south and its resin is collected. It is chiefly on the coast regions 

 that considerable plantations are found. Teysmann saw the cultivation 

 in the tracts of the river Batang Leko, the trees being planted about 

 15 feet apart. The benzoin from the interior is mostly from wild trees, 

 which occur at the foot of the mountains at an elevation of 300 to 

 1000 feet. 



The trees, which arc of quick growth, are raised from seeds 



'no particular 



s 



about or 



grown on the [edges of?] rice-fields; thej 



attention beyond being kept clear of other plants, 



7 years old, when they have trunks 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and 



rcquu'e 



until 



Lardanus, Les livres de la suhtilitey 

 ^ans, 155G (first edition, 1550), page 160 

 0. states: *'belzoi est de vil prix pour 

 iaboudance." 



^ ^^dhntet moult utile opuscule a touts 

 ^^^cessaire qui deairent avoir cognoissancG de 

 P^^i^icurs exquises receptes, 1556. 

 Alexii Pedenioutaui (or 

 A^sello), De secretis libri vL, Basil, 1560, 

 pa;?el07. 



Quatre Hires de secrets de medechie ct 

 «« ^d pltllosophie ckimhue, Taris, 1579, 



' ^'S^^^ */." /^'^ e^ ^?''' -^e?, Taris, 1622, 

 \tpf — Vigenfere speaks distinctly of 



n ametis ou aiguilles," Le. crystals.— He 

 ^led lu 1506. 



Illeron. 



y riiickiger, Pharm. Journ. vi. (1S76) 



1022. 



8 '(The Bates of Marckandlzes^ London, 



1635. -r^ r* . 



9 Miquel, Prodrovius Floroe Sumatran<e, 

 1860 72; Marsden, Hi^t. of Sumatra, 

 London, 1783. 123. -The latter author 

 resided at Bencoolcn, as an official of the 



English Government. . , , .^ . 



The statement of Crawfurd, Lc,, that 

 benzoin is collected in Borneo ''on the 

 northprn coast in the territory oj f nam. is 

 to us inexplicable. Mr. St John, British 

 Consul in Borneo, in an official report ou 

 the tra<le of Brunai, dated from that place 

 29 January 1858, enumerates the various 

 productions of the district, but docs not 

 name benzoin. 



