BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM 249 



262. BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM BALSAM or PERU 



BALSAM OF PERU 

 A balsam exuded from the bruised trunk of Tolui'fera perei'rae Baillon. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. A leafy tree, with wood containing a liquid balsam. 

 Leaves imparipinnate ; leaflets 5 to n, alternate. Racemes 6 to 7 inches long. 

 Fruit a one-celled, one-seeded pod about 3^ inches long; mesocarp fibrous, 

 the inner part with receptacles of oleoresin. 



FIG. 134. Toluifera pereira Flowering branch'and fruit. 



SOURCE AND COLLECTION. This valuable tree grows in the wild forests 

 of San Salvador, singly or in groups. The trees, owned by individ- 

 uals, are carefully guarded. The balsam is collected by loosening 

 the bark with a blunt mallet for some distance in four alternate sec- 

 tions so as not to kill the tree. The loosened bark soon splits; it is 

 set on fire and charred, leaving the wood bare. Pockets thus made 

 are covered with rags to Absorb the exuding balsam. These, when 

 saturated, are thrown into boiling water, as a means of separating the 

 balsam, which collects at the bottom of the vessel. The annual yield 

 per tree is about twenty pounds. The fruit yields by expression a 

 white balsam (balsam bianco, white Peru balsam), having a tonka- 

 like odor, which contains a crystallizable resin. The name Myroxy- 



