276 ODOROGRAPHIA. 
characterized as ‘ African”? and “ Indian,” which are misleading 
terms, as both are produced from the above-mentioned trees in 
Southern Arabia and North-eastern Africa, but as it is partly 
shipped direct, and partly shipped first to Bombay before being 
forwarded to London, the mistaken idea may have arisen that 
some of it was produced in India, and was thought to be yielded 
by the Boswellia serrata of Colebrooke, but it is now known that 
although this tree furnishes an aromatic gum-resin used as incense 
in India, it is not found im any notable quantity in any European 
market. Therefore the “ Indian” and the “ African” olibanum 
do not differ in their origin and nature, but only in their quality. 
The description given by Vaughan * on the subject of African 
Olibanum is as follows:—“‘The Lubdn tree is a native of the 
eastern coast of Africa and flourishes on the highlands which 
intersect the whole of the Soumali country, where I have had an 
opportunity of seeing it not far from Cape Gardafui. The hill- 
ranges on the eastern coast of Africa are composed entirely of 
white limestone, in some parts so compact as to resemble alabaster ; 
this appears to be the soil most genial to the tree, and in no 
instance did I find it growing in sand or loam. ‘The tree is first 
met with at afew miles inland from the coast, and at an altitude of 
about 300 feet above the level of the sea. its appearance is strikingly 
singular, seeming at first to be destitute of roots and clinging to 
the hard uncreviced rock by masses of a rhomboidal and fantas- 
tically shaped wood, with the most obstinate adherence. The 
stem is nearly at right angles with this substance, ascending 
almost invariably in an upright direction, and attaining the height 
of from 12 to 15 feet. At the base the circumference is equal to 
that of a man’s thigh, gradually tapering towards the top, where 
it shoots off its branches and leaves. The wood is white, fibrous, 
and somewhat soft, the bark is of a light brown colour, very 
succulent, and covered with a glossy cuticle. This usually bursts 
or cracks with the natural increment of the tree, and may then be 
removed in cutaneous flakes, when it presents an appearance not 
unlike that of prepared oil-paper, and something akin to a similar 
coating observable on the English birch. The old and decayed 
portions of the tree assume a cinereous hue, whereby they are 
easily distinguishable from the younger and more healthy plants. 
At the proper season incisions are made in the stem, from which 
* Pharm. Journ. 1853, xii. p. 228. 
