370 STYRACEZ. 
the earlier Arabian physicians, were acquainted with it There 
is however no doubt that in the original and legitimate Storax 
they were acquainted with a fragrant resin in separate or more | 
or less agglutinated tears, somewhat resembling Benzoin, and 
produced by the Styraz officinalis of Linneeus. Specimens of - 
this amygdaloid storax are still to be found in old Materia Me- 
dica collections. (Hanbury’s Science Papers, p. 129.) Benzoin 
is first mentioned by the Arabian traveller Ibn Batuta, who 
visited Sumatra between A. D. 1325 and 1349, He calls it 
Lub4n J4vi or Java Lubén, Java being a general name among 
the Arabs and Persians for the Hastern Archipelago. It is not 
mentioned by the Persian druggist H4ji Zein, A. D. 1368. In 
more recent Arabic and Persian works, Benzoin is called Hasi- 
lubén-el-Javi, which may be translated ‘ pebbly or amygdaloid 
frankincense from Java,’ and seems to imply the existence of 
another kind of pebbly frankincense.. The author of the 
Makhzan-el- Adiwya states that Hasi-lubdn-el-Javi is the same 
as Darv or Zarv (974). On turning to this article, we find 
the following. synonyms given: Fdztkas* (Greek), Zarwa 
(Syrian), Fashashish (Turkish), Dur-i-haskhak Arisa, Kalan- 
gira, and Kamkdém (Persian). This tree is said to grow in 
the Hejaz, Yaman, India and other countries, and to resemble 
the oak, the leaves being soft and reddish at the edges, and 
the fruit a cone like the fir, but with larger seeds; its bracts 
and spines turn red when ripe. The exudation is at first like 
a grain of wheat, but gradually increases until it reaches the 
size of a melon; from it a dark pitch-like substance may be 
separated. ” “A decoction of the leaves is mentioned, and an oil 
which is obtained from the seeds. This description might do 
for Liquidambar orientale, but cannot apply to Styrax Benzoin. 
As regards the drug benzoin, Mir Muhammad Husain must 
have been well acquainted with it, as it was in common use in 
India before his time. He probably regarded it asa kind of 
amygdaloid storax. Ainslie mentions its use in Southern India 
by Tamool physicians as a remedy in phthisis.and asthma. 
' * Probably a corruption of (eyes, a name > applied to - Storax tree — 
by the modern Greeks. 
