LEGUMINOSiE. I. MYROSPERMUM. II. SOPHORA. 



109 



seed, which is crescent-shaped, projecting from the cell, and be- 

 tween this and the lining of the pericarp is filled with a yellow 

 liquid balsam, which in time dries and becomes a hard resin. The 

 tree grows in the mountains of Panatahuas, in the forests of 

 Puzuzo, Muna, Cuchero, and in many other countries near 

 the river Maranon, in low, warm, and sunny situations. The 

 natives of these countries call the tree by the name of Quinquina, 

 and its bark and fruit by that of Quinquina, a plant very different 

 to the Quina. The Indians of Puzuzo and the above-mentioned 

 countries do not collect the balsam of this tree, they only 

 collect the barks most filled with resin, condensed into drops 

 and lumps, and the fruits, in order to sell them in the neigh- 

 bouring provinces, both of which are used for the purpose of 

 perfuming cloth and apartments. It is called perfume of 

 quinquina, to distinguish it from the true perfume, which 

 is a composition of Benzoin, storax, and ambergris, these 

 substances being formed into a paste, from which they make 

 pastiles. The fruit as well as the bark being reduced to a coarse 

 powder, they mix it with oil of maria, carana, jacamaca, lera, 

 or sebo, and make with it little plasters, which they apply upon 

 the temples and behind the ears, to mitigate the pains of the 

 head-ache and the tooth-ache. It closes recent wounds, 

 strengthens the brain, mitigates pains proceeding from agues, 

 and dissipates the shivering produced by fevers. The balsam 

 of quinquino is procured by incision at the beginning of spring, 

 when the showers are gentle, frequent, and short ; it is collected 

 into bottles, where it keeps liquid for some years, in which state 

 it is called white liquid balsam. But when the Indians deposit 

 this liquid in mats or calabashes, which is commonly done in 

 Carthagena, it hardens into a resin and is then denominated dry 

 white balsam. The wood of the quinquino is compact, heavy, 

 and durable, but is difficult to work on account of its uneven 

 grain. It is never exposed to attacks of worms, wherefore the 

 Indians make use of the trunks for beams and stanchions. 



Pubescent Myrrh-seed, White Balsam, or Quinquino. Fl. 

 Aug. Sept. Tree 40 feet. 



3 M. PERUI'FERUM (D. C. prod. 2. p. 95.) leaflets coriaceous, 

 permanent, and are as well as the branches glabrous ; legume 

 with a very thick wing; style deciduous. J? . S. Native of 

 Peru, New Granada, Colombia, Mexico. Myroxylon perui- 

 ferum, Lin. fil. suppl. 233. Bert, amoen. p. 26. t. 1. H. B. et 

 Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 6. p. 374. M. pedicellatum, Lam. diet. 

 4. p. 191. ill. t. 341. f. 1. Flowers white, disposed in axillary 

 racemes. Legume coriaceous, with the stipe inclosed in the 

 calyx, about 3 inches long. There are varieties of this tree, 

 or perhaps distinct species, differing in having quite entire or 

 crenated, oval, or ovate, obtuse or emarginate leaflets, marked 

 with oblong or roundish pellucid dots. The lower leaflets alter- 

 nate, and the upper ones more or less opposite, to the number 

 of 2-5 pairs. It is a very beautiful tree, with a smooth bark 

 full of resin, as are all parts of the plant. The leaves are 

 abruptly pinnate, usually with about 2 pairs of ovate-lanceolate, 

 entire, emarginate leaflets, which are full of transparent, linear, 

 resinous dots. The balsam of Peru is the produce of this tree, 

 according to Joseph Caelastine Mutis. This balsam, when 

 brought to us, is of the consistence of thin honey, of a reddish- 

 brown colour, inclining to black, an agreeable aromatic smell, 

 and a very hot biting taste. It is said to be obtained by boiling 

 the cuttings of the twigs in water, and skimming off with a 

 spoon the balsam, which swims on the top. Peruvian balsam 

 consists of a volatile oil, resin, and benzoic acid ; it is accord- 

 ingly entirely soluble in alcohol and in essential oils. Water 

 dissolves part of the benzoic acid, and fixed oil combines with 

 the resin. It may be suspended in water by trituration with 

 mucilage and yoke of eggs. Balsam of Peru is a very warm 

 aromatic medicine, considerably hotter and more acrid than 



copaiva. Its effects are stimulating and tonic. Hence its use 

 in some kinds of asthmas, gonorrheas, dysenteries, suppres- 

 sions of the uterine discharges, and other disorders proceeding 

 from debility. It is also employed externally for cleansing and 

 healing wounds and ulcers, and sometimes against palsies, and 

 rheumatic pains. 



Balsam of Peru-tree. Tree 40 feet. 



4 M. TOLUI'FERUM (Ach. Rich. ann. sc. nat. 1824. jun. p. 

 1 72.) branches and leaves glabrous ; leaflets oblong, acuminated, 

 equal-sided, rounded at the base. Tj . S. Native of South 

 America, on the mountains of Tolu, Turbaco, and on the banks 

 of the river Magdalena, between Carapata and Mompox. Bal- 

 samum Tolutanum, C. Bauh. pin. 401. Toluifera Balsamum, 

 Mill. diet. Lin. mat. med. 201. Woodv. med. bot. 3. p. 526. 

 t. 193. Myroxylon toluiferum, H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. 

 amer. 6. p. 375. A large spreading tree, with very thick, rough, 

 brown bark. Leaves oblong-ovate. Flowers yellowish, dis- 

 posed in small axillary racemes. The balsam of Tolu is the 

 produce of this tree ; it flows from incisions made in the 

 bark, during the hot season, and is brought to us in little 

 gourd shells. It is of a yellowish-brown colour, inclining 

 to red ; in consistence thick and tenacious ; by age it grows 

 hard and brittle. The smell of this balsam is extremely 

 fragrant, somewhat resembling that of lemon, its taste warm 

 and sweetish. Lewis says that he has sometimes procured 

 benzoic acid from it. It yields very little volatile oil, although 

 it impregnates the distilled water strongly with its flavour. By 

 dissolving a proper quantity of sugar in this water a more 

 elegant syrup is obtained than that prepared in the common way 

 with a decoction of the balsam ; in its medical virtues it agrees 

 with other balsams. 



Balsam of Tola-tree. Clt.1733 Tree 40 feet. 



Cult. Fresh imported seeds of any of the species will grow, 

 if sown in a pot immediately on their arrival in this country, 

 and placed in a hot-bed. The plants are to be potted off separ- 

 ately when they are 3 inches high, in a mixture of peat and 

 loam ; young cuttings will also root, if planted in sand, with a 

 hand-glass placed over them, in heat. 



II. SOPHO'RA (altered from sophero, the Arabic name of 

 a papilionaceous flowering tree). R. Br. hort. kew. ed. 2. 

 vol. 3. p. 2. D. C. leg. mem. 5. prod. 2. p. 95. Sophorse, 

 spec. Lin. gen. no. 508. exclusive of some anomalous species. 



LIN. SYST. Decandria, Monogynia. Calyx 5-toothed (f. 22. 

 a.\ campanulate at the base, or somewhat attenuated. Petals 

 of the keel usually concrete at the apex. Legume some- 

 what moniliform (f. 22. d.\ wingless, many-seeded. Trees, 

 shrubs, or herbs, with impari-pinnate leaves, which are usually 

 exstipulate and terminal, simple racemes or panicles of yellow, 

 white, or blue flowers. 



SECT. I. EUSOPHORA (from tv, eu, well or good, and sophoru ; 

 genuine species). D. C. prod. 2. p. 95. Stamens 10, free. 



1 S. JAPONICA (Lin. mant. 68.) arboreous; leaflets 11-13, 

 oblong-ovate, acute, glabrous ; panicle terminal, loose ; legumes 

 glabrous. ^ . H. Native of Japan. Red. in Duh. ed. nov. 3. 

 t. 21. S. Sinica, Rosier, journ. phys. 14. p. 248. D. C. leg. 

 t. 4. f. 1. germ. Flowers beautiful cream-coloured. Legume 

 with from 1-7 rather distant contractions, when young replete 

 with an austere pulp inside. An elegant tree when in flower, 

 and well fitted for ornamental plantations. 



Var. /3, variegdta ; leaves variegated. 

 Far. y, pendula ; branches pendulous. 

 Japan Sophora. Fl. Aug. Sept. Clt. 1 763. Tr. 30 to 40 ft. 



2 S. CHINE'NSIS (Lodd. cat. Loud. hort. brit. p. 162.). We 

 have not been able to obtain a description of this species. It is 



