cvinshaddinnats. ORD. XVII. Bicornes. ey 
quires about seven or eight inches in diameter; the bark is then 
cut through longitudinally, or somewhat obliquely, at the origin 
of the principal lower branches,’ from which the drug exudes in a 
liquid state, and by exposure to the sun and air soon concretes, 
when it is scraped off from the bark with a knife, or chissel. The 
quantity of Benzoine which one tree affords never exceeds three 
pounds,* nor are the trees found to sustain the effects of these 
annual incisions longer than ten or twelve years." The Benzoine 
which issues first from the wounded bark is the purest, being soft, 
extremely fragrant, and very white; that, which is less esteemed, 
is of a brownish colour, very hard, and mixed with various impu- 
rities, which it acquires during its loig continuance upon the 
trees.' HEschelskron * distinguishes Benzoine into three kinds, viz. 
Camayan poeti, or white Benjamin, which, upon being melted in a 
bladder by the heat of the sun, appears marked with red streaks, or 
veins. Camayan bamatta is less white than the former, and often 
spotted with white circles, called eyes, from the number of which 
its goodness is estimated: it likewise melts by the heat of the sun. 
Camayan itam, or black Benjamin, which requires to be melted in 
hot water for its preservation in bladders. In Arabia, Persia, and 
other parts of the East the coarser kinds of Benjamin are consumed 
for fumigating and perfuming the temples, and for destroying 
insects. 
The Benzoine which we find here in the shops “is in large brit- 
tle masses, composed partly of white, partly of yellowish or light 
brown, and often also of darker coloured pieces: that which is 
clearest, and contains most white matter, called by authors benzoe 
amygdaloides, is accounted the best.” “ This resin has very little 
taste, impressing on the palate only a slight sweetness: its smell, 
especially when rubbed or heated, is extremely fragrant and agree- 
able. It totally dissolves in rectified spirit, the impurities excepted, 
f Vide Grimm & Marsden, 1. c. p» 124. 
8 Grimm. lc. » Marsden} l. c. 
* Grimm. 1, c. ® Cfr. Eschelskron Beschreib. von Sumatra. p. 62. 
No 25.—vor. 2, ' AF 
