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B U R S E R A C E M. 



chest, in coughs, spitting of blood, and various fluxes. 

 Jt was also employed in fumigations, as a perfume 

 in sick-rooms, and externally as an application to 

 wounds. It was formerly an ingredient of the famous 

 Friar's balsam. It is now chiefly used in forming the 

 frankincense plaister which is applied in cases of 

 weakness of the large muscles, as of the loins. The 

 resin of Bosivellia glabra is used in India as frank- 

 incense, and is administered by the native practi- 

 tioners in various diseases. When mixed with coarse 

 oil, it is used for pitching ships. The wood of the 

 tree is heavy, hard, and durable, and has been em- 

 ployed in ship-building. 



Another genus of the order is Balsamodendron, 

 which furnishes several important resinous substances. 

 Balsamodendron Giliadeiue yields the liquid resin 

 called Balm of Gilead. This tree grows in Arabia, 

 on the Asiatic side of the Red Sea, near Mecca. 

 It appears to have been cultivated in very early times, 

 and frequent allusion is made to it in Scripture. Thus 

 it is stated in Genesis, that the Ishmaelites who pur- 

 chased Joseph " came from Gilead, with their camels 

 bearing spicery, and balm and myrrh ;" and balm is 

 noticed among the substances which Jacob ordered 

 nis sons to take as a present to Joseph. The pro- 

 phets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, also mention the balm 

 of Gilead as being held in high repute. Pliny states 

 that this resin was brought to Rome by the generals 

 of Vespasian. According to Josephus, the balm-tree 

 was first carried from Arabia to Judea by the queen 

 of Sheba, as a present to Solomon, where, being 

 afterwards cultivated for the sake of its fragrant 

 medicinal juice, particularly on Mount Gilead, it 

 acquired the name of Balm of Gilead, or Balsamum 

 'Judaicum. 



The balm is procured from the tree by incisions in 

 the bark and branches, and also by the decoction 

 of the leaves and young branches in water. It is 

 furnished in very small quantities, and hence generally 

 commands a high price when pure. It is very liable 

 to adulteration. It has a strong pungent odour, an 

 aromatic bitter and astringent taste, and, when fresh, 

 is of a bright yellow colour. The balm was formerly 

 highly esteemed on account of the many miraculous 

 cures which it was said to effect. In Egypt it was looked 

 upon as a panacea, and was prescribed in wounds, ul- 

 cers, poisonous bites, nervous and pulmonic diseases, 

 as well as in affections of the stomach. It is still looked 

 upon by the Egyptians as an antidote to the plague. 

 Mahomet affirmed, that a grove of balm trees sprung 

 up from the blood of his own tribe killed in battle, 

 the juice of which cured the wounds of the faithful, 

 however deadly. The wonderful properties ascribed 

 ' to this resin are not entitled to much credit, and it is 

 now nearly discarded from European practice, as 

 being in no way superior to the balsams of Canada 

 and Copaiba. By eastern nations, however, it still 

 continues to be valued as a medicinal agent, and as 

 an odoriferous unguent. In Turkey it is prized as a 

 cosmetic. The Turkish ladies, after having been in 

 a hot bath, anoint the face and breast with it, and 

 repeat the process every third day for a month. Oil 

 of almonds, and other cosmetics, are then rubbed over 

 the parts, and thus the complexion is said to be greatly 

 improved. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu tried this 

 cosmetic, but suffered severely from the swelling, 

 redness, and pain which it occasioned. 



The dried fruit of this tree was formerly sold 

 under the name of Carpobalsamum ; it entered into 



the composition of the celebrated Mithridute. The 

 dried twigs, called xylobalsanntm, are burned in 

 temples, and in the palaces of Sultans. 



The balsam of Mecca is the product of another 

 species of Balsantodendron, which has received the 

 name of Opobalsamum. This resin is similar to the 

 balm of Gilead, but is said to be purer and much 

 more valuable. All the properties ascribed to the 

 latter are said to reside in a still greater degree in 

 the balsam of Mecca. The value of this balsam may 

 be judged from the fact, that it is considered a great 

 privilege of the Governor of Cairo to receive one 

 pound of it yearly. 



Balsamodendron Kataf, formerly Amjus Kataf, a 

 native of Arabia Felix, appears to be the tree which 

 yields the gum-resin commonly known by the name 

 of myrrh, and which is imported into this country 

 from the East Indies. Though this substance was 

 well known to the ancients, and is frequently men- 

 tioned in Scripture, still great obscurity lies over the 

 tree which produces it, as well as the mode in which 

 it is procured. Myrrh is met with in commerce in 

 the form of irregular, fragile, and semi-transparent 

 grains of a reddish-yellow colour, having an agreeable 

 odour, and a bitter aromatic taste. It consists of 

 resin, essential oil, and gum. Alcohol extracts that 

 part in which its bitterness, virtues, and flavour re- 

 side. 



Myrrh was used for various purposes by the 

 ancients. The native practitioners in India order it 

 in cases requiring cordials. It is much more used in 

 Britain than in France. In doses of six or ten grains 

 it is tonic, promotes digestion, and increases the 

 appetite. In larger doses it is stimulant, and is 

 prescribed in asthma and chronic catarrh. It is often 

 combined with other tonics, and with purgatives, 

 such as aloes. In the form of tincture it is used as a 

 gargle, as an application to foul ulcers, and as a wash 

 for the teeth and gurns. 



Idea is another genus deserving notice. Idea 

 neptaphylla furnishes the resin called Elemi. This 

 resin formerly came from Egypt and Ethiopia! in 

 masses of two or three pounds, wrapped up in palm 

 leaves. It is now imported in tin cases from Brazil, 

 New Spain, and the warm regions of America. The 

 resin is got by incision into the bark, and occurs in 

 semi-transparent masses of a yellowish colour, having 

 a strong odour, somewhat like fennel, and a hot bitter 

 taste. It consists of resin, a bitter extractive matter, 

 and an essential oil, to which its odour is owing. It is 

 a stimulant, and is chiefly used externally in the form 

 of plasters and ointments. It is an ingredient in the 

 balsam of Fioravenii and the liniment of Arceem, or 

 the compound ointment of Elemi. The resin got 

 from two other species of icica, viz., Icicariba and 

 Carann, is very similar to elemi, and is often mixed 

 with it. Idea heterophylla, or Acuchini, furnishes the 

 balsam of Acoiichi. The exudation from Idea Guia- 

 nensis is made into a varnish. This tree is called in 

 Cayenne Bois d'enccns. The stimulant tonic resin 

 called Tacamahae, which is generally procured from 

 the Fagara octandra and Popuhm balsmnifera, is also 

 obtained from one of the species of Idea.* 



Canarium commune, another of the Burserace<p, is a 

 resinous tree found in the Molucca Islands and New 

 Guinea. It yields a balsamic substance similar to 

 Copaiva. The nuts of this tree are eaten by the 

 inhabitants of Java and Celebes, either raw, or made 

 into a kind of bread, and an oil is expressed from 



