58 VEGETABLE DRUGS WITHOUT ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 



MASTICHE. 



Mastiche is a resin derived from trees of the natural 

 order Anacardiacese or the Cashew family, the most 

 common being Pistacia lentiscus, a tree about fifteen feet 

 high, a native of the Mediterranean basin. 



In the tree the resin lies in a number of passages among 

 the sieve tubes of the phloem portion of the stem, from 

 which it exudes through artificial incisions made about 

 the middle of June. The incisions are made numerous 

 and small, from the root and running up to the branches 

 in a longitudinal direction. The resin in the main stems 

 exudes freely, being very fluid and aromatic. After ten 

 to twenty days it is sufficiently hard to collect and pack. 

 From the twigs the small pea-like pieces are collected. 

 According to Fliickiger, the whole process lasts two 

 months and a single tree yields about ten pounds. 



Description. — The better sorts of mastiche are small, 

 spherical or ovoidal lumps about o. 5 to 2.0 cm. in diameter, 

 colorless or clear yellow in color, transparent, with a shiny 

 glassy surface, which may later become clouded by means 

 of dust. The fracture is sharp and brittle with little dust. 

 In hardness it is intermediate between dammar and san- 

 darac. The odor is slightly aromatic, the taste somewhat 

 terebinthinate. The resin, when crushed in the teeth, 

 holds together and can be chewed. 



Inferior sorts are darker in color, more irregular in 

 shape, and are often contaminated with portions of the 

 bark and with foreign particles and dust. 



Chemistry. — Its specific gravity is 1.07. It softens at 

 about 100° C, and melts at 103° to 108° C. It is readily 

 soluble in amyl alcohol and oil of cloves. The greater part 

 is soluble in alcohol ; this part has an acid reaction, and has 

 been called X resin or Masticin acid, 80 to 90 per cent., 

 CjoHggOj; the insoluble portion, soft or B resin, 10 to 20 

 per cent., has been termed Masticin, C20H32O. It con- 



